The Book of Dreams (64 page)

“It’s not here,” she said, suddenly. “The bird who gave me this feather. It’s still in the Earthworld.”

“Ah,” said the High Queen, catching her breath, “hope is still on the wing.”

• • •

Word had reached the Court that Dana would attend the celebrations later that night. The news was met with joy. The revels commenced in earnest. Music filled the air. Bright lords and ladies twirled over the marble floors. The hall blazed with the light of a thousand candles. Green garlands draped the walls and pillars. The long tables clothed in snowy lace groaned beneath the weight of a fabulous feast. Gold and silver dishes offered every kind of sweetmeat and savory, delicacy and dainty. Fountains bubbled with champagne and spiced wine.

Many who had fought on the Plain of the Great Heart came to enjoy the victory ball. The Canadian fairies were greeted with a tumultuous welcome. Time had passed in both worlds since they were last seen. Friends and family embraced them with open arms. When a troop of Chinese dragons arrived, they were hailed as heroes. Stories and songs were already being composed to praise their part in the battle.

• • •

Dana’s aunts were brought to the palace by Daisy Greenleaf. To their own huge surprise, they had acquitted themselves well on the battlefield, suffering only minor wounds. Coloring the air with curses as they fought back-to-back, they had proved both skilful and lucky at war.

“We can’t go to the ball like this!” Yvonne said with dismay.

“Cinderellasville,” Dee agreed.

Both their wings and finery had disappeared at midnight. Their own clothes were in tatters.

Daisy waved her hand over them. Now Yvonne wore a dress of sparkling red, while Deirdre sported a black satin gown sprayed with silvery stars.

After being told that they would see their niece later, they were ready to party. Both looked around the hall, overcome with the dazzling beauty of it all.

“There’s Andy and Tom!” said Dee suddenly.

The handsome brothers were also scanning the crowd. As soon as they spotted the two sisters, they hurried toward them.

“Sport?” said Dee, raising her eyebrow.

“Play,” Yvonne concurred with a nod.

• • •

There was one of Dana’s guard who couldn’t come to the feast. When the battle ended, Gwen was discovered deep in enemy lines, badly wounded and unconscious. Brought to a healing tent, she finally woke to find Dara leaning over her.

“Are you really here or have I died, beloved?” she asked. His eyes darkened as he relived the terror of that moment when he came through the portal and couldn’t find her.

“No, you haven’t died,
mo stór
,” he said gently. “You’re made of stronger stuff than that.”

His Irish accent fell gently on her ears. She smiled to hear it. He took her hand in his.

“I’ve been watching over you,” he said quietly, “and I’ve been thinking. It’s time you and I were married. No more nonsense about it. We can sort the rest out as we go along. What do you say to that?”

Her smile widened. “Yes, of course. Yes! What else could I say?”

Despite the pain that wracked her body, she managed a small laugh.

“You have a brilliant laugh,” he murmured.

• • •

When Laurel entered the fairy hall, she did so with a divided heart. Surveying the great assembly, she wasn’t sure whom she hoped to see first, Honor or Ian. As it turned out, the High Queen had gone missing along with Dana, which saved Laurel from choosing.

He came to her as the Summer King, resplendent in a crimson mantle. A golden circlet bound his raven-black hair. The blue eyes of Faerie regarded her with careful concern.

“Art thou well, Lady?”

She was dressed in a long green gown seeded with pearls. Her fair hair fell to her shoulders. Though one of her arms was bandaged, most of her wounds had been healed.

“I’m feeling better, thanks. My friend, Gwen, got the worst of it when she rescued me. There were so many …” Laurel choked. “We’re lucky we survived. Many didn’t.”

She managed to appear calm as she spoke, but inside she was in turmoil. Overjoyed to see him safe and sound, she wanted to throw her arms around him. But she knew he had every reason to be wary. She was the one who had ended their relationship.

“All the time the worlds were divided, I thought of you,” he said quietly. “I knew there would be a great battle and that you, being you, would be caught up in it somehow.”

Remembering her original refusal to join the mission, Laurel’s smile was wry. “It wasn’t my quest, but I played my part.”

She saw that he was about to leave. Was he hesitating? Would he forgive her? Or reject her? It was now or never. She would have to put aside her pride and take the risk. Either she reached for her dream or lost all hope of getting it. The words tumbled out.

“When I thought you might be dead … or even injured … I … My heart was broken. The thought of never seeing you again. It was the reason I took the mission. When I went into battle, it was for
you
I was fighting.”

He looked as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. With a pang, she realized that in all their time together, she had never spoken so honestly to him. He searched her features. Could he see that she was different? That she had changed?

“Come, Lady,” he said, catching her hand. “Dance with me.”

• • •

When Dana arrived, a hush fell over the great hall. Everyone knew that something was amiss. It had been announced before she arrived that she would not join the feast. She had come only to seek an audience with Midir, the High King. This had caused a lot of whispering and speculation. Refusing to eat or drink in Faerie was the customary sign that one didn’t intend to stay.

Dana made her way across the marble floor toward the dais where the High Majesties were enthroned. She was not garbed in shining raiment, nor was she bedecked in jewels. Instead, she wore the clothes the Sasquatch had given her; her battle-dress. The black feathered cape folded like wings over the deerskin shirt and leggings. The cedar-bark apron fell to her knees. On her feet were moccasin boots. In her hand, she carried the staff of carved pine. Her hair was braided and draped with the feather of the soul-bird still on the wing. On either side of her loped two great wolves, the silver-gray that was
grand-père
and the black that was Jean.

A ripple of shock ran through the gathering. The North American clans grinned their approval. She didn’t look like an Irish fairy. She looked like a
man-i-tou
, a spirit of Turtle Island.

When she called out her challenge, her Voice was steady.

“I have rescued Fairyland. I request a boon for my companions.”

The High King frowned. His red-gold hair fell in a mane to his shoulders. His eyes were solemn. Though he wore no crown, the star of sovereignty glittered on his forehead. At his left hand stood Edane, watching her daughter anxiously. On his right was Honor, his wife. The High Queen sat stiffly, her features a mask of control, but her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Midir’s frown was not directed at Dana, but rather at the wolves.

“This enchantment is not of Ireland or Faerie.”

“It’s a French-Canadian thing,” said Dana.

“We have no power over magics that are not our own,” he told her.

“The High Queen is or was Canadian,” Dana pointed out succinctly.

Clan Creemore let out a cheer. Honor barely managed to stifle a giggle.

“Also, as I’ve recently discovered,” Dana continued, “there has long been commerce between Turtle Island and Faerie. The two are bonded in many stories.”

Dana thought she saw amusement and admiration in Midir’s look. He nodded his head, an encouraging sign. After what seemed an eternity, he answered.

“I will take counsel with the Old Ones of Ireland: the Salmon of Assaroe, the Old Woman of Beare, Blackfoot the Elk of Ben Gulban, the White Lady of the Waters, and Laheen, the Golden Eagle, King of the Birds. The Five Ancients came before Faerie and the New Magic of our realm. They will know if the spell can be broken.”

Dana was overjoyed. This was definitely a “maybe” as opposed to a “no.” They had a chance.

“I’m not finished,” she said quickly. “I haven’t stated my full request. There’s three parts to it. I’m asking not only that Jean and
grand-père
’s humanity be restored, but mine too.”

Before Midir could accuse her of asking too much, the High Queen spoke up.

“Three is the sacred number of the Summer Land. It befits the boon requested, my Lord.”

Midir glanced at his wife with sudden suspicion. She made an admirable effort at returning his look with some semblance of innocence. His features showed his struggle not to laugh out loud. Like his subjects, the High King took great delight in the way his wife flaunted the rules. Yet, these were serious matters.

“You agreed to be the gift,” he said gravely to Dana. “You offered yourself as the sacrifice.”

“And I died willingly,” she agreed. “But there is another law in the universe.
Love is as strong as death.
”

Midir, indeed, was impressed.

“So be it,” he declared. “The three-fold boon will be put to the Ancients. You shall have your answer before the night is done.”

• • •

Dana didn’t feel like joining the ball. The suspense was too great. Instead, she sat by a fountain in the palace gardens with the two wolves at her side. Gazing into the falling water, she could only wonder: what did Fate hold in store for them?

One by one, the others came to express their support.

“We’ll raise blue murder if you don’t get what you want,” Dee told her. “Nothing short of a happy ending is acceptable.”

“Being a fairy is all very well, but we’d rather have you in our world,” Yvonne agreed. “They say even the gods want to be human.”

“
They
say a lot of stuff, don’t they,” Dee remarked.

When Laurel arrived with a handsome young man by her side, Dana noticed that the two were holding hands. Laurel looked more like her sister now, lighthearted and happy.

The Summer King bowed to Dana.

“May you be restored to your beloved, Light-Bearer, as I have been to mine.”

Wild shouts heralded the arrival of Clan Creemore. In a blast of wind they appeared around her.

“It’s our wish that you return home with us!” said Daisy Greenleaf.

“Home to Creemore,” Alf Branch added, “where Gowans belong.”

Brendan came to wish her well before he set sail for home. As he sat down beside her, he clasped her hands.

“I have prayed that your intentions be granted,” he said, “and that your book ends as joyfully as mine.”

“So
The Book of Wonders
is finished, then?”

Dana was pleased for the saint. Brendan nodded happily.

“As soon as I stepped through the portal into this wondrous land, a rider approached me on a white horse. She wore a purple mantle and gold-embroidered gloves and her feet were shod with sandals of white bronze. In her hand she carried a silver branch that dangled three golden apples. I bowed before her.

“‘You are the Queen of Tír Tairngire, the Land of Promise,’ spake I, ‘as described in the book that I am restoring.’

“‘Indeed that name belongs to me,’ she said in her melodious voice. ‘I have come to tell you that your work is done. Your pilgrimage is fulfilled and you may return home.’”

Dana smiled to herself as she imagined Honor enjoying that task.

Gwen had requested to be brought to Dana, though the healers had yet to release her. Still pale and weak, she was carried on a silken palanquin supported by her friends from Ireland. Her eyes shone with happiness as she introduced Dara and the other members of the first Company of Seven. Dana thanked them for their help with her mission.

“We all had our part to play, whether big or small,” said Granny, the fairy doctress. Her visit to Faerie had fully restored her health. She looked younger and livelier.

“I was glad to do more than throw money at the problem,” Matt stated.

“Thank God we woke up in time to do something!” were Katie’s heartfelt words. “We nearly slept the whole thing out!”

Gwen leaned over to Dana and spoke quietly just to her.

“It was an honor to be your guard in battle, but you know what? I’d rather be standing in front of you in class, with Jean there as well. Would that be too dull for you?”

“It’s a dream of mine,” said Dana fervently.

• • •

It was almost dawn in Faerie when their Royal Majesties returned. The festivities had waned, but everyone was still there. All had remained in solidarity with the Light-Bearer’s Daughter, for whom they wished only happiness.

Dana saw immediately that the news was not good. The faces of the High King and High Queen were sorrowful. Beside them, Edane looked distraught as she leaned on her husband, King Lugh.

Silence gripped the hall. The air crackled with tension. Dana went down on one knee to put her arms around the wolves.

“The humanities of the three may be restored.” As soon as he made his announcement, Midir raised his hand to stay the applause.

“Here comes the ‘but,’” Dee muttered.

“However, it is not a simple matter. The boon requires both High Magic and Old Magic. As it has been since time began, High Magic calls for a noble sacrifice and Old Magic calls for a death.”

Dana’s hold on the wolves tightened. Jean and
grand-père
bared their teeth.

“What must be done?” she asked steadily.

“The three of you will go beyond the Black Gates of Faerie to meet Crom Cruac. The Great Worm is the guardian of the balance between the worlds. It was his shadow you appeased, for he is the one who presides over death and sacrifice. The death is twofold. The wolves must die to allow the men to live. They will be fully human and
loup-garou
no more.”

The High King’s eyes grew darker. It was obvious that what he had to say next caused him great pain.

“The noble sacrifice is the act of an immortal. To regain your humanity, you must offer up your fairy self.”