Gade
outside the Moonstone Cave, my shoulders slump as I realize the much-anticipated child-making practice must be delayed.
Aer waits for us near the tournament ground, the sky dark and rumbling above her, marring the otherwise bright and sunny morning.
“Hide,” I whisper roughly, sliding my body in front of Holly’s.
She lifts her chin, returning to my side. “Never.”
Aware there is no point arguing with her, I take her hand and hold it tightly. If Aer doesn’t kill me today, it won’t be long before this girl will be the death of me.
The air mage vaults into the sky from the black cliffs above the oval, her arms and legs morphing into the black-scaled limbs of an air dragon as she spirals through storm clouds, roaring as the bones in her face crack and lengthen.
“We had a bargain,” I shout. “Stop posturing. Come down and speak civilly, if you’re brave enough.”
“Brave enough,” she screeches, her snout disappearing as she partially shifts back into her fae form and drops to the ground in front of us, a spiked black tail whipping the air behind her. “Had I a mind to, I could slay every fae in the realm with ease, future kings and queens included.”
It’s unnerving to see Aer’s lovely head enlarged and atop the body of a dragon. I draw my sword and sink into a crouch in front of Holly, ready to spring and cut the mage’s tail off before it slices us to pieces.
The dragon’s body makes a slithering, sucking noise as it changes, leaving the regal mage standing before us dressed in her usual layers of golden silks.
“So, Gadriel, you have truly done it. You’ve brought a mortal queen of Faery home. Your poor taste astounds me,” she says, stalking a close circle around us.
Holly doesn’t shudder or tremble, only squeezes my hand tighter.
“Well, then,” continues Aer. “You’ve made your choice and now the price must be paid.”
“What price?” asks Holly, her gaze flitting between Aer and me.
“In exchange for your safety, mortal, your future king has agreed to give up a material item that he holds dear.”
Dressed in the pale-green muslin gown she wore to her sister’s wedding, Holly looks vulnerable and very human, but she squares her shoulders and holds the mage’s gaze. “And what might the item be?”
Aer smirks. “First, Gadriel must tell me what he plans to do about the Merits now that his uncle is gone and his treachery revealed.”
“As was yours,” I say. “You played a role, at least in enabling and hiding Fyarn’s deceit.”
She shrugs and spins on her heels, arms outstretched like a child playing a game. “That may be so, but the Merits swear they didn’t murder your parents, Gadriel, and you’ll likely go to your deathbed never knowing what became of fair Queen Aisheel and brave King Bryar. Since you cannot directly blame the Merits for the woes of your land, will you live in peace with them?”
“Never. Before long, I will march on their capitol with your sisters behind my banner.”
“Besides me, there are others who won’t support a war with the Unseelie fae.”
“Name them,” I demand.
“The moss elves will not fight. Many of them have made happy marriages with Merit fae and live in the forests surrounding the city. They won’t use magic against their own kin.”
“Then I’ll banish them.”
“Even Mapona, your prized healer?”
“Even her. As my queen, Holly will be made immortal and will grow into her fae powers. Herbs are her natural passion, so if she is willing to accept the position, I’ll gladly make her our kingdom’s healer.”
“Fine. The price that you’ll pay me now will make your war plans difficult. This pleases me. Now get down on your knees and kiss the earth, warrior prince of Talamh Cúig. Do it now, and say goodbye to Castle Black, your beloved home, for which all know you would give your final breath to protect.”
Shock shudders through me, an animal sound of pain rumbling from my chest. “Your price is the destruction of my home? No. The cost is too high.”
“You refuse to pay it?” Aer swoons, her eyes rolling back in her head as if a vision overtakes her.
“Kill her,” Holly says. “Now, while you have a chance.”
“Her power is linked to the land and our magic. If the air mage is destroyed, we all are.”
Aer chants a song about a different human girl and another prince called Never or Ever—perhaps glimpses of future events or simply images flickering through her mind sparked by madness.
Air is a difficult element and requires a sharp, disciplined mind to control it or risk succumbing to insanity, and the Sorceress of the Seven Winds was never worthy of governing it.
Snickering, she jolts out of her trance and stalks forward. “Well, if that is truly your choice, Gadriel—a building of stone and wood over your mortal, then give her to me now. She is mine.”
I lunge forward. “Stop. Wait… Of course I’ll adhere to the terms of our bargain. I was shocked that your wish to hurt me also extends to harming your own people. Where will they live when their home has been destroyed?”
“That’s your problem, princeling, not mine. Marry this weak girl, restore your powers, and begin rebuilding.”
“No, Gade. Don’t do it.” Holly paces in front of me. “She asks too much. I won’t let you.”
“Holly… I’m so sorry,” I say.
Rage shoots through my veins as tears spill down her cheeks. Pain grips my chest like a band of iron, the pain so intense I can hardly speak. Does she really think I would choose the castle over her? How little she knows me.
I grip her shoulders, dipping my head close. “I will always choose you, Holly O’Bannon. Above all things; it will always be you.”
Surprise flickers over her face. “But, Gade, your people…”
“The only reason I’m sorry is because I know you’ll always blame yourself for the destruction of the city. But this is my choice, and I choose you. I never thought I could love anyone, and you’ve proved me wrong. Our love will temper a curse, restore my power and the health of our kingdom, and we will always have each other. What is a castle but reformed earth and rubble, when what we have will last forever? We’ll rebuild a better city. Together.”
Aer snarls as I take Holly in my arms, press a soft kiss against her mouth and dry her tears.
Holly nods. “Then do what you must, Gade. I will always stand beside you.”
Without warning, the mage shoots air magic from her palm, knocking me several feet away from my mortal. “Your life is joined to the earth, Prince of Five. Kiss the ground, and give me your blessing to destroy the castle that sits upon it.”
“My blessing wasn’t bargained for.” Magic kindles in my chest, but I push it down.
Without a doubt, my next words will infuriate Aer. She will retaliate, and I can only stand by and watch until the terms of the bargain have been settled.
“Do your worst to my castle, but know this; you will never have our respect or love. You will never beat us down, never cower us. And one day you will realize, that you will never, ever win.”
The mage releases a long, drawn-out moan, a storm gathering above her halo of yellow hair. “Oh, Gadriel, why must you always choose the most difficult path?” She howls, and her lower jaw unhinges, opening wide to the sky as elemental power pours down her throat and shudders through her shaking limbs.
“What’s happening?” Holly asks, attempting to weave her fingers through mine.
“Move. Quickly!” I push her away just as the air mage flicks her hands out in front of her chest.
My body flips and shoots off the ground, and I’m dragged back and forth over grass and rocks, then thrown hard against the black cliffs below the castle. Unseen hands hold me upside down by a boot as Aer twirls her fingers, her gold eyes turned black with rage.
I hear Holly’s voice, urging me to fight, but I can’t. I won’t risk Aer turning her wrath on my human. Let the mage use me instead. I’ll do anything to keep Holly safe. Anything.
I’m flung this way, then the other, until finally Aer tires of the game, dumping me on the grass and wiping her hands in satisfaction.
Holly rushes over and checks my body for broken bones, but only my dignity has been injured, a small price to pay for her safety.
Aer watches us with disgust. “Unless you prefer to see your people perish, Gadriel, call them from the castle, then watch every happy memory collapse before your eyes—your carefree childhood, life with your loving parents, the once-flourishing city. Watch me destroy it all.”
I cup my shaking hands around my mouth and call Lleu, who is fishing far out over the ocean. When he feels my distress, he arrives in a flash of golden air magic and circles above me. I concentrate on images, indicating what I need him to do, which is to find my sister, show her that the castle is about to fall, and help her guide our people into the Emerald Forest.
He takes to the sky, and before long, fae can be seen pouring down the hillside to take cover in the forest caves.
“It is time,” says Aer, pushing on my shoulders until my palms brace against the earth.
She presses her hands over mine and begins to hum. Immediately, the earth quakes and rolls, and with a terrible roar, my home disintegrates, slabs of shiny, black stone turning to glittering dust before my eyes in the space of seven heartbeats.
Above my people’s screams and the groans of a falling kingdom, Holly and I whisper words of love and hold each other tightly, tears painting our faces, while the mage laughs and taunts, dancing in rhapsodic glee.
We hold our heads high and ignore her.
“Love is priceless,” I tell Holly. “I would pay the same over and over again to have you with me.”
Memories rush by—the iolite hallways Mern and I raced through as children, my parents’ massive bed of gold in their equally gilded chambers, the mirrored music room, the marble bathhouse, our laughter that I presumed would echo through each beloved room for all eternity—all of it destroyed by bitterness and jealousy.
When only the ruined foundation walls of the city remain standing and dust chokes our lungs, Holly says, “Kiss me, Gade. Strengthen your power and wash away the horror.”
We kiss, our bodies spinning slowly through a whirlwind of debris. As we turn, rain falls, drenching our hair and clothes, then snowflakes cascade from the sky, sparkling on our eyelashes and shoulders. I conjure tiny flames that lick us dry, then use the heat to turn the fine dirt and dust to gemstones of every shade, transforming ruin into beauty.
Laughing, Holly opens her arms, jewels falling between her fingers as she dances around and around. “Jewels and fine palaces matter not, only people and dear creatures of land, sea, sky, and flame do,” she shouts like a glorious madwoman, a formidable future queen of Faery, who understands the nature of all.
I join her in the jubilant dance, and we twirl in each other’s arms around the edges of the tournament oval. We ignore Aer when she calls us names, the mage’s fury at our unbroken spirits evident in the black cloud above her head that pelts her skin with hail and sleet.
“We must reassure our people,” I tell Holly. “With magic and an army of enthusiastic fae, we will have a new home in no time.”
Ether appears in a mist of white light, striding toward Aer who is huffing and howling on a boulder below the ruins, her hair a wet tangle and her fine silks in muddy tatters.
“Sister,” says the High Mage, “when will you learn that destruction begets naught but pain and suffering, and bitterness brings only loneliness? You seek to be esteemed above all others, as Queen Mab of old was, but only through acts of love that bring your subjects joy and happiness will they grant you a place in their hearts.”
Aer rises, her fists twisted into the muddy fabric of her gown. “And will you punish me for what I have done this day?”
“As you well know, our power is connected, and the five elements balance the whole. Aer, you remind me of a child who screams and rails against the very people you seek approval from. Living with the results of your actions will be punishment enough. Your exile in the mountains will continue, and when I have done all I can to set things right here, I will come to you, and you’ll swear so many vows of protection toward the city, land, and people that you won’t have leave to scratch your nose without my permission.”
Aer’s knuckles crack, but she makes no reply. How can she? Ether is all powerful, and none can stand against her.
“In the meantime, I will give a gift to Gade and his future bride, something to ease their people’s sorrow. And, Aer, you must vow that you will never interfere with it, ruin, or harm it in any way.”
“Can I refuse?” Aer asks.
Ether shakes her head, and her sister repeats the words of the vow. Then the High Mage turns to Holly. “What is your favorite gemstone?”
Without a second thought, she says, “Emerald. If Father could’ve afforded it, that’s what my mother would have had for her wedding ring.”
“Lovely,” says Ether. “That shall do nicely.”
Power radiates from the High Mage’s body. The trees in the distance blur and shake, the ground rocking and rumbling as if the entire realm is folding in on itself. My jaw drops as emerald spires spear through the trees atop the mountain on the site where we had always planned to build the new city of Talamh Cúig.
Beside me, Holly gasps and claps. “Ether’s magic is astounding.”
“She is truly a goddess among fae, and all will be well in our land as long as she stands with us.”
Aer rocks back and forth, her face flickering between the scaly skin of the dragon’s, then back to the ethereal mage’s. Red swallows her golden irises as madness overtakes her mind.
Ether calls Lleu down from a nearby fir tree and instructs him to lead my people to their new home. Holly and I will join them soon.
Then Ether turns to her sister. “Your powers will be stripped in their entirety if you break your vow and interfere with the Emerald Castle.”
“You cannot do that,” Aer says. “My power is joined with the land and—”
“For now…” warns Ether, her body glowing silver. “One day, it will not be so. I will continue to help you bring the fated girls to Faery to save the future princes, for one of them will be the cure to the curse, and unlike you, Sister, I want the Land of Five and its people to thrive. Cross me on this matter, and mark me, you will regret it.”
“Gade?” Holly whispers, drawing me toward the cliff edge overlooking the sea. “If we have a son, he will bear the same horror you’ve endured—the transformation of his personality from light to dark, the pain. How can we dream of happiness when we know this fate awaits him?”
“My love, we must make the best of all circumstances, even terrible ones. We’ll learn the girl’s mark from the mages and help our son find his mate, and he will do the same for his heir, and so on until the curse no longer lives in the blood of our line.”
I take Holly over to Ether, and we kiss the mage’s cheeks in turn. “I thank you, High Mage, for your wondrous gift and for all that you do for our kingdom,” I say. “In your honor, we vow to rule over it with love and kindness.”
Bowing, I kiss her hand.
“Rise, Prince of Five. I cannot remove the curse from your veins, but I can offer further protection, a boon like none ever bestowed upon your line. As compensation for the heirs’ affliction, each male after you, including your son, will be born with the ability to shift into magnificent creatures aligned with their element—dragons, griffins, phoenixes, and the like.”
Aer screeches as Ether seizes my blade and slices it across her palm, mine, then Holly’s, letting our blood flow together and drip into the earth.
“By wind and soil, tears and rage, and never-ending love,
Creatures of Five from below and above,
Enter these vessels, this bloodline of fate,
Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Spirit make haste,
As love sets us free,
So mote it be.”
At the exact same moment, Holly and I double over with the force of the spell as it tears through our flesh and bones.
When we recover, I kneel before Ether. “How can I ever repay you for the gifts you’ve given us today?”
Her long talon of gold tips my chin up. “Gadriel, when the Silver One and his right hand end the curse, you and your queen will have long reigned together in the Otherworld. That day will be thanks enough, and although I can say no more about the answer to the cure, which Aer has hidden where none would think to seek it, know this: the two keys will find each other. Their paths will not be easy to navigate, but walk upon them they shall. One day, there will be peace within for the Heirs of Five; I swear it upon the source of all things.”
“Thank you, High Mage,” says Holly, dropping into a low curtsy.
Ether places her palm over Holly’s forehead. “Child of earth and bone, share your kindness and wisdom with Faery. The folk have much to learn from you.” A purple halo appears above Holly’s tawny head, then dissolves into her body.
The High Mage has blessed her with fae powers before our marriage ceremony, a great honor. I squeeze Holly’s hand, grateful that she can now defend herself from any who seek to harm her. I grin at her trembling form, her stunned expression, eager to find out which element Ether gifted her with.
We bow to Ether and amble up the hill toward the forest that leads to our new home. We turn as Ether picks up her sister’s unconscious body and calls out, “After you’ve inspected the Emerald Castle, no doubt you’ll be busy planning a grand feast for me to attend tonight.”
“Indeed, but first, we must practice,” I reply.
“Practice what?” asks Ether.
“I dare not say. But there is one thing in particular we aim to perfect before we leave our chambers today.”
The High Mage harrumphs, and Holly and I laugh as we make our way through the forest, our arms wrapped tightly around each other.
