Faerie (22 page)

She waved her hand over them and Lily felt the strangest tingling sensation. When she looked down, both she and Connor were clean, all traces of filth and dirt gone. Lily fingered the dry fabric of her hoody hem, and wriggled her toes in her spotless trainers.

“That’s magic,” Lily said, laughing. She felt as if she’d had a wonderful hot bubble bath and put on brand new clothes.

“Please, make yourself comfortable, I will have food and refreshment brought to you at once,” Virginia said, with a gracious wave of her hand.

She motioned them towards the low couch that Lily had sat on when she’d visited Virginia in her dreams, and then clapped her hands as if she expected someone to come. Someone did. The strangest little creature that Lily had ever seen came through the doorway. Lily recognised it at once as a Urisk – a Brownie.

She was definitely female, about four feet tall, and looked as if she were made entirely of sticks and dried twigs. She was wearing a simple white chiton, the sort of garment a slave might wear, but she had a bright beaming smile on her odd little face. Lily was fascinated. The creature’s hair was coarse and black, spiking out all over in a wild spray of hair that looked as if it had had a serious argument with her head. Her skin was a soft brown colour, darker than most tans, a nut brown and so wrinkled it reminded her of rolled tobacco leaves, or old leather, the kind of face that she’d seen in photographs of really old Native Americans who had spent their lives under a burning sun.

The creature came in and bowed to Virginia, blinking at her with those enormously large eyes – no irises – just solid black orbs set in her pointed face. Despite her oddities, there was something strangely beautiful about the creature.

“Sun Lin, would you be so kind as to bring food for our guests?”

The creature flashed another smile, as if her mistress had just offered her her body weight in gold, and trotted off with a strange angular gait that seemed to be all arms and legs.

“I take it that you’ve never seen a Gruagach before?” Virginia said, a teasing smile on her lips.

“I’ve never seen another fey, apart from Connor. I’ve only heard them called Brownies or Urisk before.”

“Ah, yes. Sun Lin has been with me many years, as were her mother and grandmother before her. She is a great comfort to me.”

“You said that you were trapped here in your domain by the Black King?” Lily prompted.

Virginia's face fell into a troubled frown and her next words came out heavy with regret.

“Yes, for almost eighteen years.”

Lily didn’t need to be a mathematician to work that one out. She gave a little sigh.

“Since you brought us through to this world... I’m sorry if we had anything to do with that.”

Virginia waved a careless hand at her.

“Should I blame you for the Black King’s evil? Besides, my story is not important. You are here to complete your story,” Virginia said, the warmth returning to her face, her eyes full of mirth and good humour again. The smile she gave was beatific and Lily found herself slipping into a wonderful place of peace and contentment, snuggling into the cushions, and letting Connor wrap her in his arms. He seemed as relaxed and happy as she was. There was something about this place, about Virginia, that drove away all negativity, all sad thoughts, and made her feel more at peace with herself than she had been for as far back as she could remember. It was enchantment, she knew it, but right at that moment she didn’t care.

“Can you make Connor better? He’s suffering so much,” Lily asked.

Virginia looked surprised at the question.

“Of course I can. It’s time for Connor to come back to us. Give me the ash branch. It will channel healing power.”

Lily took the ash branch from her holdall and handed it over. 

“Now hold Connor’s hand; it will help to anchor him in this reality. Its situation halfway between Elphame and Midgard, the world of men, will make it easier for him.”

Lily did as she was told and Virginia took a small gold knife from the table beside the couch and began to whittle it, stripping off the bark and making it straight and true, about two feet in length. She held it in front of her and said:

“Sacred ash, sacred ash, give this wand to me.”

Nothing happened, but Lily wasn’t sure that it was supposed to. She simply watched as Virginia moved to the small table just to the right of her, and bowing her head, said a silent prayer. Lily could have sworn that the table hadn’t been there before, but she wouldn’t disbelieve anything that happened in this place. The table was laid out with an assortment of magical paraphernalia – a white candle, that was burning bright with a blue flame, a silver chalice filled with what looked like water, and another silver bowl filled with earth. Virginia passed the branch through the candle and sprinkled it with water, passing it through the air and touching the earth with it ten times.

“Through fire, water, air and earth, I consecrate this wand in the names of the spirits of the elements,” she intoned.

Lily felt Connor’s anger subside, like tide going out from a beach, as Virginia performed the ritual. They could feel the power around them, strong magic that made her skin tingle, her cheeks burn.

Virginia touched the wand to Connor’s head and then placed her hands over Connor’s shoulders, muttering something else under her breath. Connor pulled in a small gasp and started, as if someone had struck him. He blinked across at Lily, his eyes wide, his breathing ragged.

Then he smiled, lifting his hand and examining it, turning it around as if it had suddenly appeared at the end of his arm.

“I can see everything, I’m...” His eyes filled with tears and they spilled over, running down his cheeks. He broke down, sobbing. Lily folded her arms around him and began to cry as well.

“Is it really better?” Lily asked.

Connor couldn’t answer, his throat choked with tears. He finally managed to say:

“It’s like being born again. The world is so beautiful.” He turned to Lily.” You’re beautiful.” He touched her tear-streaked face, tracing the outline with his finger tips and smiled.

Virginia tutted.

“Oh, enough of this weeping, tears of joy can be just as annoying as tears of woe,” she said. “It’s time I told you the rest of your story, now that Connor has come back to us. I’m sure you want to know who you are and where you came from. I am so desperately sorry that Connor has had to suffer the way he has, all these years, but there was nothing I could do until you came here to me, where my magic is at its most powerful. As I was bringing you through to this world, the Black King tried to stop me, and when he found that he couldn’t, he tried to lay a befuddlement curse on you both – the one that now plagues Connor. I couldn’t protect you both, but I enchanted the shawl you were wrapped in, Lily, to keep you safe, at least. I thought that Connor would be able to bear it better than you could, and I know I made the right choice. I gave you to Maggie to raise and she did a good job, Connor I placed with another witch, but the poor woman was murdered within just a few weeks of receiving him into her home. I had planned for his adopted mother to remove the curse, but she was killed before she was able to do it, and Connor was taken into foster care, just as you were when your mother was murdered.”

“Murdered?” Lily asked.

“Yes, didn’t you realise that it was the Black King who took your mother's life?” Virginia asked, shocked.

Lily let out a little sob.

“Of course I didn’t know. I thought it was an accident!”

Virginia let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry, I would have broken it to you more gently if I’d known. Forgive me,” she said.

“I didn’t know either...” Connor said, a little falteringly, still getting used to his new voice.  His face darkened and Lily felt great pulsing waves of pure rage pouring from him; it tingled along her spine, great waves of bright red anger.

“Connor, I can feel your rage,” Virginia said, “but that won’t help you get your children back. It’s time to look forwards, not back. And right now, you need to put aside your anger and get your strength back. You need food.”

Virginia clapped her hands and the little Urisk came back in, carrying a huge tray of food that looked far too heavy to be supported by those skinny stick arms. She put it down and laid the food out in front of them. There was a wonderful array of food, no meat, but fruit, bread, cheese and cakes. Lily couldn’t help but wonder where they got milk from to make the cheese, but in a place like this anything was possible. Connor, still wiping tears from his eyes, grabbed hold of a piece of soft white bread and tore it apart, dipping it into what looked like some kind of humus. He crammed it into his mouth, a look of pure ecstasy on his face, making orgasmic noises. Lily was still awestruck by the change in him; and for the merest heartbeat she felt a little pang of... not regret exactly, because she was overjoyed that he was better, but she felt... uneasy. What if she didn’t like this new Connor? She loved the old one with all of her heart, but there was the tiny twinge of fear that the new Connor would be so different that whatever she felt for him would change as well – and not for the better.

“This is so good,” he said, through a mouthful of food. He swallowed it almost whole. “This is the first time I’ve tasted food in my whole life. Before, everything tasted wrong; sometimes chicken tasted like cake, other times it tasted of nothing at all. I can taste this – it’s wonderful.” He picked up an apple and ate it in three bites, core and all, grinning inanely. Lily helped herself and found that it even tasted better to her, so much tastier than anything she’d ever had Midgard.

“Enjoy, you’ve certainly earned it,” Virginia said, beaming at them.

“We have so much to ask you,” Lily said.

Virginia selected a grape from the bowl. She gave them an enigmatic smile as she popped it between her teeth, and slipped it into her mouth. Lily glanced at Connor and his eyes were fixed on Virginia's mouth, and it wasn’t hard to see what he was thinking. She had heard of the Korrigan’s power to seduce men, but seeing it in action was something else entirely. Connor suddenly realised that Lily had caught him out and looked chagrined, colour flooding to his cheeks. She decided it was best to ignore it and move on, but she’d made a note of it.

“I think I already know, but would like it confirmed. What’s the Black King’s ultimate goal and why does he want to destroy us? We’ve done him no harm.” Lily said.

Virginia waved a careless hand, as if it was really nothing for them to worry about.

“Oh, he wants to destroy you – you and all mankind. You must have noticed that things are not going well in Midgard. He and his associates have been at work plaguing mankind since time immemorial, but the Black King has got so much stronger of late and he is raging through the world and doing as much damage as he can. The recent spate of troubles around the world – they are all his work.”

“What can we do to stop him?” Connor asked.

Virginia looked grave.

“The only way to stop him is to kill him. And you and Lily are the only ones that can do that.”

Lily tried to work out all of the various implications of what Virginia had just said. The first thought in her mind was how the hell could she and Connor defeat a creature that had already proved himself to be more powerful than they were? They had survived, yes, but only be a cat’s whisker and although Connor seemed to be better at driving the djinn back than she was, she still didn’t think that he had the power to defeat the Black King in a stand up fight.

“So how do we kill him?” Connor asked. “We haven’t done very well against him so far.”

Virginia shrugged.

“I can only tell you what I see, what is given to me, but what I see always comes to pass. I can promise you that you will kill him and take your rightful place. Somehow you will find a way.”

“And what is our rightful place?” Connor asked.

Virginia gave a light laugh that was so bright and beautiful it seemed to fill the air with music.

“My dear children – you are Tuatha Dé Danann, children of the old race, and there are few of you left.”

Lily and Connor exchanged glances and Lily didn’t need to read his thoughts to know that Connor was as bewildered as she was.

“That’s... not... I mean... how is that possible, all of the Tuatha Dé Danann are gone, aren’t they?” Lily stammered, her mouth and her words having a serious argument with one another before they finally escaped.

Virginia’s eyes twinkled with benign mischief.

“Almost. The Hidden People have only survived by staying hidden, just the way I hid you. It’s taken the Black King all of these years to gather the strength he needed to attack you. Even now, Connor is a match for him – at least now that he has regained himself.”

Lily knew of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but had always believed that they were just legend. They had lived in Ireland since the dawn of time, these glorious creatures who were supposedly part angel. After many battles with other worldly beings they had withdrawn to the sidhe, the fairy mounds, where they lived for generations before moving to other lands, to Scotland, England and Wales. The Hidden People, took many forms and splitting eventually into the Seelie and Unseelie courts, light and dark. Lily had always believed that she was a descendant of these mythical creatures, but actually being one?  That was ridiculous.