Eilidh pushed her fear aside with some effort, even though the queen had been surrounded. Eilidh knew Cadhla, with her centuries of experience, more than matched her own untrained abilities. “Your words of surrender and no others,” she said. “I am tired of your speeches.”
Cadhla shouted, “Remember your loyalty. This usurper cannot be trusted. She lies and changes her words as easily as she changes her face. She is twisting your minds, making you question your rightful queen. Resist. Be strong of mind and resist her deceits.” Then the queen smiled at Eilidh, a gleam in her eye. “My
rafta
have returned.”
A volley of blue-flamed arrows went up overhead. Eilidh was jostled to the ground as soldiers moved quickly and hands grabbed her roughly from all sides. The queen yelled, “Kill the traitors. Steel your minds against their illusions!”
Eilidh was dragged away from Griogair and the queen, but not before she heard him let out a long, anguished shout. She couldn’t see for all the faeries around her, pulling her this way and that, or hear for all the shouting and chaos. Swords clashed, arrows flew, the earth shook, and lightning flashed in the sky. Monster dragons flew overhead, and Eilidh knew Oron and the other elders were taking part, trying their best to scatter any soldiers still loyal to Cadhla.
It broke her heart to hear the screams and sickening sounds as faeries fell to the ground dead. Although she had access to earth magic through Munro, Eilidh never learned combat with the elements. Still, even though bodies pressed in around her, some trying to defend her, some wishing to attack her, she had no desire to spill one drop of fae blood.
Suddenly the soldiers around her, who fought to protect her, melted away, and six
rafta
descended on her. She felt anguished. They would kill her, and she would never be able to save Trath and the hundreds of others hidden with him. She only hoped Oron and the druids survived, praying they would be able to help him where she had failed.
The
rafta
grabbed her and one said, “Tell them the queen is dead. Quickly.”
“What?” she said, dazed. “Cadhla is—”
“Mind-speak, Eilidh. Tell them their queen has fallen, so we can save as many lives as possible.” The face in front of her changed to that of the elder Qwe.
Eilidh nearly wept with relief as she closed her eyes and sent the message to every mind within a hundred miles.
The battle ended quickly with word of Cadhla’s death. The commanders loyal to Griogair took control, and he regained some semblance of order. Amnesty was given to all except the
rafta
, and Eilidh was pleased that Griogair proved to be even-handed and merciful.
Although many looked to her to give orders and take control immediately, Eilidh refused, saying the Caledonian conclave should raise a queen to replace Cadhla from among the Caledonian nobility, with no suggestion of who they should choose.
“They will choose you,” Griogair said to her after she delivered the message to his commanders, asking them to convey her offer of peace to their conclave. A cheer went up around them, as hundreds of soldiers waited to hear her response.
The elders and Griogair had orchestrated this moment, as well as given her the proper response. “If asked to serve my people, I will do so,” she said, bowing slightly to the prince. “On one condition.”
The cheers stopped, and a hush went through the crowd.
“What is that, Lady Eilidh?”
“That you become my prince-consort and rule by my side.” She smiled at him, doing her best to hide how tired she felt. “If the conclave wills that I serve.”
Griogair returned her smile and bowed deeply, but his answer was drowned out by further cheers. Eilidh knew the jubilant reaction wasn’t universal, that many had yet to be won over. Some fears would take a long time to quiet, but it was a start.
Only then did she see Munro staring at her from the crowd. She wanted nothing more than to run to him, but she carefully maintained her bearing. Relief flooded over her when he smiled and began to push his way through the fae soldiers, followed by the other druids. She whispered to one of those who still guarded her to tell the others to let the humans pass.
When they approached, Munro bowed low. “My lady,” he said, then rose, meeting her eyes boldly. She had to smile at the way he spoke the words so possessively, asserting that even though she’d just publicly proposed to another, she would always be
his
lady.
She tilted her head in formal acknowledgement, then leaned forward to whisper, “Now the hard part begins.”
Munro nodded and whispered back, “Wings?”
She couldn’t help but laugh and was pleased to see the surprised, yet happy expressions on the fae soldiers’ faces. They would have to get used to a queen who laughed.
The pair gathered the druids and Griogair and repeated the ritual they had performed to bring Trath back from the time-warped dimension where he’d hidden the azuri. The kingdom faeries stared at Eilidh in awe, even though it was Griogair’s love for his son, the druid’s connection and Munro’s star talisman that allowed her to link to Trath’s magic and make the entire colony reappear in a stunning flash of blue light. Part of her wanted to insist she didn’t deserve the accolades, but instead she stood and smiled serenely as the newly returned azuri all bowed before her upon their return.
The ancient coronation ceremony was simple. A mere two weeks later, with only the two conclaves, Eilidh, Munro, Griogair, Trath, and her father in attendance as her honoured guests and witnesses, she went to a sacred grove in the Caledonian Otherworld. This marked the beginning of a month of public ceremonies and appearances, orchestrated so every faerie would have the opportunity to see the new queen. There were also many pending meetings to negotiate how the azuri Higher Conclave and the recognised kingdom conclave would work together, but this moment marked private communion between Eilidh and the Mother of the Earth and the Father of the Azure. For the first time in a millennium, the Father had been recognised during a coronation, but Eilidh insisted, and none objected.
She stood nude in the centre of a circle of trees, with all witnesses standing outside the barriers looking in. She knelt before the largest tree and picked up a knife that lay on the ground inside the sacred circle. With one smooth movement, she cut her left palm and then her right, squeezing her hands together, blood dripping into the earth.
“I come before you humbly, Mother of the Earth and Father of the Azure, and swear with my blood to serve you and your people, to let no voice be louder than your own, to act with justice and with mercy, to remember always that my every breath belongs to my kingdom, from this day until the last of all days, in this realm and beyond.”
Tears welled in Eilidh’s eyes. When she’d memorised the ceremony, it seemed simple compared to the daunting public meetings she would face in the weeks ahead. But kneeling now, looking up at the full blue moon overhead, Eilidh wept, feeling unworthy of the titles she was about to receive, of the burdens and responsibilities she would soon bear.
She felt Munro, standing nearby, his presence filled with pride and love. It propped her up, and she inhaled the night air, drinking in his strength.
Standing, she turned and faced the highest of the kingdom conclave, Setir. He walked toward her, breaking the circle, followed by the other eleven of his assembly. He lifted a delicate diamond crown over her head. “In the name of the Mother and of the Father, we consecrate Lady Eilidh of Caledonia and Skye as their holy servant and lift her up as first among us.”
He smiled, and she felt a cloak of fur being wrapped around her shoulders. “Queen Eilidh,” he said. Then he and the entire company knelt.
She solemnly looked around. Every person she cared most about was in the glade. She promised herself not to let them down. “Rise, my friends,” she said. She went to them one by one speaking ritual words of promise as the last part of the ceremony. First she approached the members of the kingdom conclave, then the azuri conclave, then Griogair and Trath, then to her father, who embraced her. Although Munro was human, and many had argued against him witnessing the sacred ceremony, Eilidh spoke to him as well. As with all the others, she kept her voice low, because her promise to him was for him alone. “I will always honour the sacrifices you have made, druid,” she said, then leaned forward and whispered. “I love my people, but you will always have my heart.”
He nodded but didn’t reply. Eilidh knew the changes were overwhelming, that he feared they would grow apart once she mated with Griogair the following night. Munro wasn’t certain how he would fit into this new world, but she had faith. Despite the battles, death, destruction and heartbreak caused by Cadhla, as well as the confusion felt by many at the quick raising of an unknown outcast faerie to rule them, Eilidh believed they would make it through. The future would be better, she could make changes that mattered, and save lives.
Munro hoped to have one last night with Eilidh, but after the coronation, elders shuttled her off to meetings that clearly did not include him. It felt good to be in the Otherworld again, and one of Eilidh’s first decrees had been to invite the remaining azuri fae and the druids to the kingdom.
He went back to the Skye gate with Trath to deliver the word and meet the druids. It turned out bringing Trath back the second time was easier and more straightforward than the first. Trath was getting stronger, and Munro wondered what else the temporal faerie could do. As they travelled from the Skye gate back to the azuri village, he asked the prince what he knew about temporal magic.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Trath replied. “What does anyone know about it?”
Munro chuckled. He liked Trath. He was like Griogair, but less hard, more open, and less subtle. “Nothing, as far as I understand.”
“Will you teach me what you know about bonding? Queen Eilidh had said she would, but she is…”
“Yeah, occupied.” Munro expected her distance. The coronation, the royal wedding, all the public appearances. knowing it was coming didn’t make it less difficult. He sensed her tiredness, her inner conflict and how overwhelmed she felt. “Sure,” he said to Trath. “Creating the bond is easy. Living with it afterward is hard.”
“You love her. I can see that,” Trath said. “It must be difficult, knowing she will take my father as her mate. Does it make things awkward between us? Should I not have asked for your help?”
“No,” Munro said. “Eilidh has a duty. I understand duty.” They ran in silence for a few minutes before he said, “When Eilidh and I bonded, we said the words
dem’ontar-che
.”
Trath looked surprised. “Those are sacred words of extreme power, but of servitude. Even our mating ceremonies do not require such bondage.”
Munro smiled. “Now you know why I’m not worried about Eilidh marrying your father.”
“Yes, her vow to you would supersede all others, even perhaps her coronation vows.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Eilidh will never choose me over her people.” They slowed down as they neared the village. “I wouldn’t let her, even if she wanted to.”
Trath inclined his head. “You do understand duty, Munro.” They walked slowly toward the house. “How do we say the words? Do we need a priest or a ceremony?”
“Eilidh and I weren’t even together when we said our words. I barely even knew what I was saying. I was so delirious and sick from the recent unlocking of my druidic powers. Eilidh said them with Beniss, an azuri elder, but she wasn’t any kind of priest or anything. She only rushed to say them because a blood faerie was cutting out my heart at the time.” Munro chuckled at the way Trath went pale. “Look, there’s no rush. Say them right now if you want. Douglas will say them when he’s ready. Believe me, you’ll know if it happens. Or take your time and say them next year, in five years. I’ll be around. I’ll tell you what happened with me, but I can’t promise that’s what’ll happen for you. I don’t think there are any experts alive on this subject. If there were, I certainly wouldn’t be one.”
Trath nodded.
“The druids won’t be able to run as fast or as long as you can, at least until we get to the Otherworld, if it works the same for them as it did for me. My abilities might have been due to the Otherworld air, or maybe it was my bond to Eilidh. Who knows? I get the feeling I’m the first human in a long time to visit the faerie realm. We’ll talk as we travel. It’ll give all of us, the azuri fae as well, a chance to discuss how bonding happens. They seem to think we just pick someone, but it doesn’t work like that.”
Trath nodded. “When I first saw Douglas, I knew he felt different. I wondered if he was perhaps part fae. And the more time we spent together, the more it seemed as though I’d known him all my life, like a twin, or a part of me that had been missing.”
Munro nodded. He knew that sensation well. He’d never thought of Eilidh as a sister, but then, he supposed it could work differently for everyone.
When they arrived at the druid house, they found it empty, so they headed for the village hall. Munro was surprised that every faerie from the azuri colony plus all the refugees from other kingdoms were there, ready and waiting to go. They buzzed with excitement, and he and Trath were deluged with questions about the coronation.