“Aedhna,” I said in a hushed voice. “Is it time?”
“Yes.” She held out a hand to me. “Come here, my child.”
My heart thudded against my ribs as I walked to her. When I reached her, she took my hand in hers, and calm descended over me.
She smiled. “Is that better?”
“Yes, thanks.” I looked away, embarrassed that she had sensed my fear.
“Today, I will explain what must be done to heal Faerie and the human realm. Tomorrow, your work will begin.”
I swallowed hard, unable to think of a thing to say.
Aedhna released my hand and walked to the balcony rail. “Do you remember what I told you about the ke’tains during our first conversation?”
Ke’tains? Plural? I dug through my memory of talking to her during my conversion. It was still a bit hazy, but it all came back to me.
“You said there are four of them, and their energy keeps Faerie alive. And that the three hidden stones were weakened because they had to work harder when the fourth one was taken from Faerie.”
She nodded. “Now we must correct the imbalance created during that time.”
I followed her to the rail. “But you said the world would heal on its own once the ke’tain was back.”
“It can, but it will take a long time and only if it is closed off completely from the human world. That will save Faerie, but not the world you still call home.”
“That’s what Queen Anwyn wants to do.” I braced my hands on the stone rail. “I can’t let that happen.”
“King Oseron will argue against it, but eventually, he will accept it is the only way,” Aedhna said, and every word was like an arrow in my heart. “Unless we can restore the balance.”
Understanding dawned. “You waited to come to me because you knew what Queen Anwyn was going to say in the meeting, and you wanted me to hear it.”
“Yes.”
I spun to her. “Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
Aedhna clasped my hands in hers. “The ke’tain in the temple must be restored to its full power. To do that, it has to replenish its energy from the three other stones.”
“How?”
“You will take the temple ke’tain to each of the hidden stones,” she said as if it was no big deal. “After each pairing there will be storms, but do not be alarmed by them. As the temple ke’tain grows stronger, Faerie will begin to heal itself.”
I couldn’t tell if my heart was racing from excitement or fear. “The ke’tain is under constant guard in the temple, and it’s protected by wards. How am I supposed to take it without getting caught?”
“The stone I gifted you will allow you to increase your own magic to enter the temple unseen and pass through the wards around the ke’tain.”
My excitement dimmed, and I grimaced. “I’ve only used my magic once to create a portal, and it didn’t go as planned.”
She laughed softly. “I will teach you how to use it.”
“Am I going to create portals to get to the other ke’tains?”
“No portal can take you where you need to go,” she said. “Your drakkan will fly you there.”
“Gus is not exactly my drakkan,” I reminded her. “How do I find him and tell him where to go?”
Aedhna squeezed my hands. “I will teach you that as well.”
Apparently, she had thought of everything. I puffed out a breath. “Okay then. Where do we start?”
* * *
I got off the lift and walked to the main hall. The guards attentively watched me approach, but none of them spoke when I crossed the hall and opened the smaller door. I stepped outside and gave a little wave to the two other guards posted there before I set off toward the road to town.
It wasn’t until I rounded a curve and the entrance to the mountain was no longer visible that I was able to breathe normally. People left court all the time to go to town, so it was the perfect cover for my absence today. With Lukas and the others fully occupied by the Seelie visit, there wasn’t anyone who would miss me. I’d left a note in my quarters in case one of them did go there looking for me.
The fork in the road came into view, and I glanced around to make sure I was alone before I took the road to the right. The trees were so tall they formed a canopy over the road and blocked out the sun, giving the impression I was in a long eerie tunnel. A shiver went through me. I was a city girl, and I could handle alleys and dark buildings. The woods, not so much.
Half a mile in, I came to a spot where the trees thinned out to show a wide patch of blue sky. I stopped and listened, but all I could hear was birds.
I reached up and touched the goddess stone in my hair. Closing my eyes, I pictured Gus, and an image formed of him perched on the edge of a cliff eating some kind of fish with tentacles. Gus, I called in my mind, and he responded by cocking his head to the side. I called again. Come to me, Gus.
He dropped the fish and stood. Stretching out his wings, he leaped off the cliff and flew in my direction.
It worked! I let go of the stone and jumped up and down exuberantly.
Having nothing else to do but wait, I sat on a fallen tree at the side of the road and whiled away the time going over my plans for what to do when I got to the island. Aedhna had spent hours with me last night, patiently teaching me how to create illusions, but I wasn’t as confident about my ability as she’d been. Everything hinged on this, so I could not fail.
A branch cracked, and I jerked my head in the direction of the sound. I sucked in a breath as the biggest boar I had ever seen shuffled onto the road a dozen yards from me. The creature was at least six feet tall at the shoulder with spiky, black hair and bottom tusks that reached his ears.
I scrambled to remember what I’d read about Fae boars. In my world, wild boars could be vicious, so I expected no less from those in Faerie. Drakkans kept most dangerous creatures out of the valley. Predators preferred to stick to the forest where game was abundant, and they were sheltered from the drakkans. I’d never come this close to the forest or considered the dangers lurking inside.
The boar ambled to the other side of the road and sniffed at the ground. I sat very still, barely breathing and hoping the animal was too busy foraging for food to notice me. I thought about hiding behind the tree I sat on and dismissed that idea because moving might draw the boar’s attention. I had the staff and one of the knives I’d gotten for my birthday with me, but they’d be useless against a creature the size of a bull moose with a hide thicker than that of a rhinoceros.
A bird took flight from the underbrush, and the boar lifted its snout from the ground. It sniffed the air and swung its head slowly in my direction until its beady black eyes found me.
Neither of us moved. The boar grunted and sniffed. One of its front hooves scuffed the ground, drawing my eyes to the short, pointed horn protruding from each hoof.
I tensed as my fight-or-flight mode kicked in. Outrunning a wild boar wasn’t an option and neither was fighting it off. That left one avenue of escape. The lowest branches on most of the large trees were too high to reach, but I spotted one I might be able to climb. The only problem was I didn’t know if I could get to it before the boar got to me.
The boar growled. I sprang to my feet as it charged.