Crimson Dawn (33 page)

I was so busy taking in the lay of the chamber that I didn't even notice the hundreds of Sidhe that had gathered inside. By the time I did see them, it was too late. FaeVar hauled us to the dais in front of everyone and pulled me to his side.

"People of Mag Mell," he called out, his voice a boom that carried across the immense room. "What once was lost has found its way home. I give you a Child of the Lands, my granddaughter, and your Princess, Valeria."

The bottom dropped out of my stomach, but I don't know why. I was used to attention. The paparazzi have hounded me for years, but this was different. Celebrity hunters didn't look at me as if I was the second coming. These people looked at me as if I was the center of their universe, and that made me uncomfortable.

I wiggled a few fingers and moved closer to Irulan so I could grasp her hand. That caused more than a few eyebrows to twitch. My grandfather smiled, caught our joined hands, and raised them in the air. "Today is a day to celebrate not only the return of my granddaughter to me, but her union as well."

The collective gasp that came from the crowd sounded anything but positive. FaeVar ignored it and kept talking. "By taking Princess Irulan Nightingale as her mate, my granddaughter has brought the two great houses of Light and Dark together, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since the days of the Nemedians.” He dropped our hands and pushed us ahead of him. "This isn't a time to let old grievances cloud our reveling. Nightingale is a child of my own now."

As we stood there, the gasp turned to shouts and cheers. Irulan giggled and leaned towards my ear. "This is why I don't look down on the Dark Court like other Seelie. They definitely have their prejudices, but if you win the king over, then you've won them all."

"It's good I had an advantage then.” I nodded at a face here and there but after a few moments, I'd had enough of being the center of attention. I waved at the masses, and then turned to face my grandfather. "As much as I appreciate the applause, FaeVar, I need to speak with you privately. There's a lot I need to know before we leave for Tir Na Nog."

He nodded and spared another look towards the celebration that was beginning before turning and leading us down another corridor. This time he led us to a small library. Once we were inside, he waved his hand across the door and I felt the unmistakable hum of magic engulf us. I raised my eyebrows as I looked at him.

"I assure you it's just a precautionary measure. This old palace has ears.” He pointed at three plush chairs before sitting down himself. "So, child, tell me what you need to know."

"Well for one, do you have any idea of what's happening to me? What changes can I expect?"

FaeVar frowned. "No, Valeria, you're the first such child that I have come across. I have no idea how the Sidhe and Vampire will combine, but I can tell you this. Our family is gifted with the power of mind over matter."

I looked between him and Irulan, "You mean like telekinesis?"

"Exactly," said Irulan. OK that's definitely cool.

FaeVar held out his hand and an old, worn book floated from its resting spot and into his hand. "This book holds the history of our family.” He opened the large tome to a page containing a family tree. I gasped when I saw that my name was already on its own neat little branch.

"The Land knew you the moment you set foot here. Your name appeared in the book over an hour ago. I just wasn't expecting to find a Vampire at my door."

I shrugged. "I'd apologize, but I can’t help what I am."

"No, child, that's not what I meant. I would have held my guards at bay if I had known.” He turned to Irulan and smiled. "I owe you a debt of gratitude for returning her to the Lands before it was too late, and for watching over my progeny all these years. It seems my son and I have a lot to discuss."

Irulan dipped her head and smiled. "There's no need for thanks, FaeVar, but there is something that I might ask of you."

"Just name it. If it is within my power, you'll have it."

"Once I return home with Valeria, my court isn't going to recognize a Vampire mating. We're going to need a proper Sidhe ceremony, or I can't guarantee her safety once we get there."

FaeVar laughed and clasped his hands. "Is that all? It would be my honor to preside over the union. I'll begin the preparations immediately.” He stood, rushed over to a shelf, and pulled down a small bowl filled with an iridescent liquid. "We will hold the ceremony at Avalon and call all the lower kings to bring their entire courts..."

I jumped up and threw my hands out. "Hold up, slow your roll, gramps.” I looked back and forth between the two of them, not knowing exactly where to start.

"You," I said as I pointed at Irulan. "You know we don't have time for a wedding, or whatever it is you're asking for.” I pointed to FaeVar, "And you, I know you mean well, but I don't want to be the center of attention for the entire UnSeelie population. I've lived the last fifty years in front of the media's cameras. If I have a wedding, I want it to be mine, not everyone else's."

FaeVar sat the bowl on a nearby table and closed the space between us so he could take my hand. "Anything you like, Valeria, but your Irulan is right. You need to be joined in a Sidhe ceremony before you leave my kingdom."

"So go ahead, let’s do it right here, right now."

My grandfather frowned. "My word, you aren't a typical princess, are you? Your aunts would have never been satisfied with such meager settings."

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "What can I say?"

He laughed and pulled me to his side. "It's rather refreshing. I'll tell you what. Give me half an hour to prepare."

I warily eyed him, and looked out a window at the darkened sky. Another hour or so shouldn’t hurt our travel time by too much. I had at least four more hours of night left before I had to take cover from the sun. "OK, thirty minutes, then we do this ceremony. After that we need to get on the move or I'm going to lose the cover of night."

FaeVar kissed me on the forehead and headed for the door. "Take the time to familiarize yourself with our history. You might find something in the book that could be of service to you."

He left and I sat down on the floor pulling Irulan and the huge book with me. "Come on, study buddy," I said. "If I've got to spend this time with my head stuck in a book, then so do you."

Irulan stuck her tongue out at me as she flipped the book open. "Unlike you, Valeria, I don't look at the pursuit of knowledge as punishment."

"Oh no, you didn't," I giggled as I poked her in the rib.

"Oh yes, I did," she laughed as she tackled me. We rolled across the floor, giggling as we each tried to best the other and land on top.

After a little struggling, I came out on top and pinned Irulan's arms to the floor over her head. I was going in for a kiss when she flipped me over her head and crawled away from me. "Uh-uh, no. We aren't going to accomplish anything at this rate.” She held up the book and waved it at me.

"I don't remember you being such a spoil-sport with your other girlfriends," I said as I crawled to her side and took the book from her."

"You're not my girlfriend, and you need to at least look at a few of the pages. You just might actually learn something."

I took the book and opened it. As I started to read, I was pleasantly surprised that it held my attention. Usually if the book didn't have Marvel or classified stamped on the front, I didn't give it the time of day. Before I knew it, FaeVar was looking down on us with a broad smile.

"I trust the book proved helpful."

"Actually, yeah, it was."

He looked puzzled by my skepticism. "You didn't expect it to be?"

Irulan laughed and kissed me on the cheek. "Your Highness, we're dealing with someone who doesn't read books unless they come with pictures in them, so please overlook her for the moment."

I shoved her away from me, "You fucker.” I held out the book for my grandfather to take. "I'm not much of a reader, but it's not bad."

FaeVar frowned ever so slightly. Great, now the man thinks I'm a dunce. "Ok, well then. If you're ready I can perform the ceremony now."

I grabbed Irulan’s hand and nodded. "If it's necessary, then yes, we're ready."

"Very well," he turned his head towards the opened door as he talked. "The one element that we were missing was one that couldn't be overlooked. A Sidhe wedding needs two kings present, one to represent each party involved.” He spared Irulan a glance before turning back to the door. "Since Kent can’t be here, I required the time to await an appropriate substitute."

Irulan smiled as a man who was the spitting image of my grandmother Caroline walked in. "Mikilos, it's good to see you after all these years."

He slowly walked into the room. "Father," he said with a nod before he came over and took Irulan’s hand. "Thank you for everything you've done.” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye before frowning. "Although, I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to bed one of my daughters. Nevertheless, I daresay, she's lucky to have you. Your father would have smiled upon the union."

Irulan smiled and turned away so we wouldn't see the tears that had pooled in her eyes slide down her face. Mikilos let Irulan’s hands go and turned to me, giving her the privacy she needed. He looked me over, his face unreadable the entire time, until he got to my face.

"Child, you have my father’s eyes.” He looked at FaeVar and smiled.

"So I've noticed," I said, rather sarcastically. "So, it's your fault I almost died before I finally found out what was wrong with me."

He looked back at FaeVar and frowned. "What's she talking about, Father?"

"Don't ask him, I'm the one who's talking.” I waved a hand in front of his face to draw his attention back to me. "I'm talking about that damn vow you made Irulan take. My ass almost faded to nothing before she could tell me what was going on."

Again, he looked back at FaeVar, who in a carbon copy of me, shrugged his shoulders and copped a nonchalant look. "She's rather spirited, Mikilos. She’s your child after all."

After explaining to yet another grandfather the circumstances that brought me to the FaeLands, I was sick of talking. There was too much of it going on and not enough action. "I know you've probably got tons of questions for me, Mikilos"

"Call me, Grandfather."

"OK, whatever. Grandfather. This ceremony that Irulan and grandfather FaeVar are talking about, we need to get on with it. I need to get to the Tuatha court."

At the mention of the Tuatha lands, Mikilos rounded on FaeVar. "Father, tell me you didn't agree to this. She can't face that aberration the Tuatha's harbor."

"Excuse me.” I almost didn't believe what I was hearing. "I don't need permission to do anything. You've known me for what, a few minutes? You don't have the right to act all parental."

Mikilos frowned and started pacing back and forth. "You don't understand, child. That thing is all part of the Djin’s plans for you."

OK, now he had my attention. "What do you know about the Djin?"

Mikilos laughed, drew a small leather journal out of a pocket, and handed it to FaeVar. "I know that your foolish grandfather, Kemet, put targets on all of your backs. That's why I required Irulan’s help in keeping an eye on you."

Irulan looked at me and threw her hands in the air, "I swear to the Goddess, Val, I had no idea about the Djin."

I turned to Mikilos. "What do you know about my grandfather?"

FaeVar's face fell as he flipped through the journal. I stomped my foot on the ground and growled. "Sometime today."

Mikilos frowned. "Believe me, I don't know nearly enough. But I do know that Kemet has a deal for power with Ahmad. Your grandfather wasn't born into a powerful family, but with that Djin’s machinations, the Trumaines have risen to become one of the Five. Am I right?"

He held out his hand and FaeVar passed him the book. "I haven't been able to ascertain for certain what the Djin wants in exchange for his help, but I do know that Kemet has systematically married his offspring to powerful families. I don't know how the Djin found out about Catherine's bloodlines, but once he did, he waited until the line was entrenched in every powerful Pureblood family."