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Hours must have passed, and still the moon had not set. Etain was starting to think she wouldn’t know when it did set because of the heavy canopy of trees. She was losing her mind out there; she even thought she heard someone calling for her. She felt a sinking in her stomach. Wild ideas began to torment her. What if Seamus wasn’t really dead, and he was coming after her? Or what if whoever Seamus was supposed to meet was chasing after her to get revenge for killing him?
It almost sounded like the voice was getting closer, and Etain bolted through the woods again. As her body had been close to passing out, she came across a funny shaped little hut. It looked decrepit, and Etain wasn’t sure if anyone was home. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure she wanted anyone to be home. The top of the hut looked so much like a mushroom cap covered in moss. So much so, Etain thought perhaps it truly was a mushroom cap. The walls were made of crooked wooden boards, some of them cracked as if the structure was often dropped. There were no windows or chimney, only a single door in the front.
Etain was getting up the nerve to cross the clearing to knock on the door, when it blew open. A woman walked out. Etain couldn’t see her face very well from where she was, but she had the strangest feeling she knew this woman. She hadn’t even realized she had begun walking towards her until she heard the woman say, “I have been waiting for you, my child.”
Etain froze mid step. This could all be a terrible trick; after all, she was in the Fae Realm. Etain’s heart told her she could trust this woman, even if her own mind was uncertain. Etain grew close enough to finally see the woman’s face and gasped in shock. This was no woman – at least notonewoman. The woman’s face was constantly shifting between so many different faces Etain never saw a single one twice. Every time her face shifted, Etain could swear it was a different woman staring back at her. Etain dropped to her knees, for the being standing in the doorway of the silly little hut was the Many Faced Goddess.
“Oh, don’t be silly, child – come in and have some tea. We have much to discuss.”
Etain entered the mushroom hut and was surprised by the size of the home.
The goddess must have read the look on her face because she chuckled. “Don’t believe everything you see my dear. This realm is full of surprises.”
The room she was standing in reminded her of the main room of her two-room home back in the Human Realm, only more of everything. It was larger and filled with even more drying herbs and many jars filled with a wild assortment of…things. There were books and scrolls shoved into every nook and cranny, and hundreds of candles strewn and stacked everywhere. Between the candles and the overly large hearth with the blazing fire, the room was brightly illuminated.
The goddess indicated a chair Etain should sit in at her table by the hearth. Etain sat while the goddess retrieved a kettle from the hearth and poured them each a cup of strong herbal tea. Etain took a sip and felt strength already returning to her body, and she began to relax. The goddess’ face began to slow down its incessant shifting and morph into something vaguely familiar to Etain.
“I have a gift for you child. This face has been screaming from the background since you came into my presence.”
Etain was stunned. Her hand flew to her mouth and tears began to slide down her face. “Mother.”
Thirty Three
Kesgrabbedholdofthe dead king’s hand and dragged him across the ground towards the wagon, uncaring if the body was damaged along the way. Once he stood beside the wagon, he reached down to pick up Reminold’s body and unceremoniously dumped him into the back of the wagon. Kes could tell Anin was nervous about what the Day Court King’s death in the Night Court would mean for them all. Truth be told, he was feeling rather unsettled about it himself.
Kes decided that was a problem for another day, for now they had to figure out what to do with the body, and he desperately needed to bathe all the dried blood off himself. He was beginning to itch, and now that he was sure Anin was safe, he started to take issue with the way his feathers were matting together.
“We need to send the body back to the Day Court border. There is no point attempting to hide it. The queen is aware her mate is dead.”
Anin nodded her agreement and walked up to the horse that pulled the wagon; she touched its head for a few moments. Before he could even ask what she was doing, the horse began moving. Kes watched in amazement as the horse, wagon, and dead king made their way towards the Day Court border at a leisurely pace.
“Wood nymph magic,” Anin said with a smirk. “We can talk to the animals. I simply asked him to continue his journey without a driver and luckily, he was rather agreeable. They aren’t always.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal, and he supposed to her it likely wasn’t.
He found himself wondering what other things her magic did that he had yet to see. He had really only seen her use her vines, but he felt her deep well of power and knew there were secrets she was keeping.
“I desperately need a bath. Let’s get back to the palace. After we freshen up, we can try to locate Ciaran and see if he’s had any luck hunting down Etain,” Kes said as he scratched away a bit of dried blood on his neck.
“What do you mean ‘hunting down Etain?’ What happened to Etain?”
Kes had forgotten Anin did not know Etain was missing as well, and he kicked himself for not being more delicate in sharing the news of her friend. While the two had only become friends a few nights ago, it was clear they were already quite fond of each other.
“Ah, yes, it seems you were not the only one taken the night of the festival. We had hoped to find Etain with you, but in true Day Court fashion they had several beings involved with the events leading up to your kidnapping. I am positive the dearly departed king is who I had to thank for the trap which nearly killed me.” Kes did not think he would ever be satisfied with the king’s death. He deserved a bloody, painful end like the one Kes had been quickly approaching.
Kes told Anin about the trap he had foolishly walked right into and how Ciaran had barely kept him from death’s open arms. Luckily, the pain Kes had experienced in his body had been frozen in healing. There had been no greater pain than the need to find her. It was agony not knowing what had happened to her, but knowing something had to of happened since he could not hear or smell her in his chambers. Anin’s face had softened when he told her, and it made his chest feel like there were wings flapping inside it.
Anin was deep in thought for several minutes, but Kes was really starting to itch. He mentioned returning to the palace again, but it was as if Anin couldn’t hear him. He was contemplating the merits of not asking and porting them to his chambers. As he was trying to gauge how mad that would make Anin, her eyes flew wide and locked on him.
“We can’t go back just yet. I need to get to the Silver Moon Coven.” She must have noticed his confusion. “It’s where I grew up. I must warn the witches.”
Kes groaned at the idea of not being able to get clean immediately, but then he processed what she said. “Why do you need to warn the witches?”
“I grew up in the Borderlands between the Day and Night courts at the Silver Moon Coven. For the past several years, many of the most powerful witches from the coven have left to join the Day Court.”
Kes’s downy brows lifted in surprise.
“There had been nothing in particular that made me think something was amiss; never any screaming or signs of a struggle. Only a note left on their beds and most of their belongings left behind,” said Anin.
“Why would they leave their belongings if they were moving to the Day Court permanently?” Kes asked. He had always thought the witches were neutral. It made no sense any of them would join one court over the other.
