“
Faolán would not have done what Cailean says. He was sent to retrieve you, to be given to the Horde to end the war that had started back up soon after we had sent you to the humans. After a few months of you being inside the human world, we reported your death to the Horde King; in essence, that was what it was like when we cut ties with you. You were, in a sense, dead to us when I cut the bond. We took a young child that had recently passed to the Harvest Feast that year, and buried her small body in a grave that was marked as your own. We’d been foolish to think it would work against the Horde, but we were desperate. Somehow, he knew you hadn’t died, and he demanded we find you and bring you back, or give them Liam again, which we could never do. War started again soon after, and there’s only one way to end it now. I can’t let it become a full out war again. I’m sorry, my daughter.”
I swallowed and prepared to say I had understood his dilemma,
but before I could answer him, someone sifted in behind me, and a silver torque was placed around my neck and locked in place.
“
Sorry, little sister,” a rough voice whispered. “But I can’t go back to
him
.”
“
What the hell is this?” I demanded, whipping around and off the rocking chair to look at a blonde haired man, who had scars marring his beautiful face. Piercing blue and violet eyes met and held mine.
“
I’m sorry, little one, but you have to go to him. This will prevent you from escaping until then. This war is a lost cause, and, without you, we will eventually lose to them. The Darkest Fairy still haunts my sleep, and I won’t go back alive. He’s induced sickness into our lands. He’s promised it will stop if he is given what he asked for.
You
,” the newcomer said softly. I knew that I was looking at Liam; the one I’d been traded for.
I was locked inside the small nursery
and left alone. Only minutes had passed since they’d left me in here, but it irked me that I’d been so stupid! I’d felt sorry for the Blood King, and the sacrifices he’d made to save his son. I was such an idiot! I felt hot tears rush to my eyes, but I pushed them away angrily. Tears were useless; I needed to figure out how to escape this place. I was still glaring at the door when I felt a presence behind me. I turned and glared at the Queen of the Blood Fae.
“
You look much like I had thought you would, daughter,” she said and stepped closer. Her eyes scanned my face as I backed away warily. Another woman, who looked almost identical to the woman who stood before me, sifted in, and stood behind my mother. “You must hate us for what we did to you,” my mother said softly as she warily tried to get a step closer to me.
“
No, I could get past that. It’s the whole ‘you’re still to be gifted to the Horde’ part that is pissing me off,” I snapped as I took a small step back.
“
Shut your mouth! You have no idea what we have been through. You will speak to my mother with respect! She is the Queen here.” My mother’s look-a-like snapped back with fire in her eyes.
“
No, I don’t think I will. How would you feel if you were the one being gifted to a monster? I wonder if you’d be so quick to be respectful then,” I replied, never taking my eyes off the woman.
“
Enough,” the Queen said and shook her head. “My name is Madisyn; this is your sister Caera. She indicated the girl behind her with a small motion of her hand. Your brothers and sister in-law are waiting downstairs to meet you. I was told that you were in a marriage celebration to the Dark Heir. Was it completed?”
“
No, I am not married to Adam,” I said, watching pain flash through her ageless eyes. She was trying her best to hold her emotions in, as was I. At this point, I wasn’t sure what to feel or think; the whole situation was rather overwhelming.
She nodded softly.
“That’s good. We would like to assist you in dressing, if we may, Sorcha—”
“It’s Synthia,” I interrupted.
Sorcha was cool, but I liked my name better. She nodded and a flash of pride showed in her eyes.
“Synthia was actually the name I h
ad hoped they would give you. Lasair, and I had talked about it, but I didn’t know on which name they had decided for you.” She nodded with a watery smile; she looked so sad and full of regret. “Were they good to you?” she asked wistfully.
“They were very good to me. There’s not a day that goes by that I
don’t miss them.” I tried to hold the tears back. No, no matter what happened, they wanted the best for me. She nodded and it looked like she was fighting tears with the relief that this information brought. My mother abruptly cleared her throat and continued.
“Just to make you aware, the couriers have been sent in preparation of what is going to happen
—we can’t delay any longer, without risking more of his wrath for our actions. Tomorrow, there will be a feast held here for the celebration of your return. The Horde King will be welcomed, as will the rest of the castes, to witness the exchange for the gift of peace.” I barked with laughter at her sober words.
“So
, I really was the
‘Gift’
!”
“Sorry?” She looked confused.
“When Faolán came to get me, he kept demanding to know where the
Gift
was. For over fifteen years, I have been left to wonder what he had been talking about.”
“For years, that wa
s what the family called you; it just hurt less to think of you that way.” Tears began to run down her face, and my sister rushed to hug her. I felt very awkward for a moment and reached out tentatively to her, and, the next thing I knew, I was engulfed by my tearful mother who cried like her heart was breaking. After a few moments of just holding her tight, she whispered in my ear.
“
I’ve read the Blood Oath a thousand times, Synthia. I’m afraid there is no way out of it. You must be presented to the Horde King, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay his.”
I felt my hands tremble. She was trying to tell me there was a way out?
“Speak plainly. I don’t like word games.”
“
Kill him, and then you can come back to us, or go…home, to the human world. If you can escape after it is done, you will have to decide on what it is you want. He has many sons, as the Horde does not often breed female children. It’s why Alazander wanted the Light Fae in his lineage. It stands to reason that his sons might allow you to live, even if you had killed the king. They need us; The Light is the one breed that usually ensures female children. Your brothers and father can’t know that we plot; to do so, is to go against everything the Blood Fae stand for. Your sister and I have thought long and hard on how to fix what is in the contract. This is the only solution we have found.” I looked at my sister, who nodded solemnly at me, and then back, at our mother. Then, I stepped away, shaking my head.
“
You want
me
to
kill
the Horde King? Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds? He’s the biggest scariest thing in this world, and my own. He is the only person who can kill the Fae, and make them really dead. I was an Enforcer for the Guild; I did assassinations for a living and even I won’t go down that road of crazy!”
“
If you fail, you only lose your life. You will lose it anyway if he keeps you, child.” Her voice was urgent and filled with more tears. She was trying hard to hide the emotion, but, like me, she was failing. “I can’t live knowing that you belong to
him,
when it should have been me. How was I supposed to choose one child over another? I died the day that I handed you to your father to take away. He ordered the guards to lock me inside my room and guard me, because he knew I’d come after you, and I tried to. I never stopped looking over my shoulder, wondering if I’d see you in a crowd, or wondering if you would find your way back to us. Not knowing if you were okay, or if your family loved you enough, was worse than knowing what was happening to your brother at the hands of that monster. I replaced one hell with another.”
“
You tried to stop the trade. Why?” I asked with my throat closing up.
“
Because you were mine, and I loved you too much to just let you go, and Lasair knew it. We made the choice together, but when it came time to hide you, I just felt as if my heart was being torn from my chest. Liam knew that I loved him, but you,” she stopped, and cleared her throat. “You would never know that we had loved you. You were just a baby, so sweet and innocent. I had no idea where he was taking you to, or if they were good people. He thought it best that I didn’t know which family he had given you to either, or which country in the human world he’d placed you in.”
“
They died protecting me from
your
son. They gave their lives to keep me safe. I was loved by them. I was cherished until the day they died,” I said, trying to make her feel better, but unsure why I felt the need. She smiled through the tears in her eyes and nodded.
“
You seek to give me comfort, while knowing that I have to hand you over to that monster. You must have had a wonderful mother indeed,” she replied squeezing my hand softly.
“
I did, until Faolán raped her and turned her mind to mush to do his bidding. She would have shot me, had I not been able to cast magic from an early age. He meant to kill me, and would have if he had found my hiding place. He tried again right before I came out as the Light Heir, and he would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for the Dark Fae warrior who saved me. From what I saw and heard, he isn’t yours or your husband’s biggest fan.” She shook her head in confusion, trying to deny my damning words.
“
Faolán tried to collect you when the war started up again. The Horde King kept demanding you and wouldn’t believe you had died. Of course, we fought to buy time, but, in the end, your father had to send him,” Madisyn explained.
“
Well, he’s lousy at following instructions. He called the king a weak idiot, and said he would finish this. He wanted war, and, even now, he is working with the Mages who destroy this world. You sent a coldblooded killer to my door; one who wanted
me
dead.”
“
My son wouldn’t do that,” she argued, but I could see the sliver of doubt in her eyes.
“
When is the last time he was home? It hasn’t been recently, and I’m willing to bet he reported his findings, or rather lack of finding me, without a hint of what he did to my parents in his story. Even as a child, I could tell he was kind of an evil nutcase. I don’t know what his problem is, but he’s definitely trying to take the Blood King and the Horde down. I Transitioned, and I can’t lie—not that I would make anything like this up, because it was a pretty crappy thing to go through.”
She turned pasty white
as she wrung her hands in front of her. I hated telling her everything that happened, because, for some reason, I felt sorry for this beautiful woman and it made me reluctant to hurt her. “I’m sorry. I’m not saying this to upset you. You need to know what he’s been up to. I won’t be the only one after his head if the rest of the Fae find out he’s the one helping the Mages poison this land. I already know of some Fae that have him on video in connection with an attempted mass murder of Fae in the human world.”
“
If what you say is true, then Faolán is lost to us. Faery will claim him as a sacrifice to the Goddess Danu. He will pay with blood for his trespass on her children. Only she can pass judgment on her children.”
My sister nodded sadly and moved to hug her again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A little while later, I was in less clothing
, and glad of it, since the other dress made moving near impossible. The shredded, bloody wedding dress was gone, and I’d changed into a more comfortable dress that was made of soft green silk that at least moved and flowed easily and covered me to my ankles. My mother—it sounded weird saying that, had done my hair. She’d smiled the entire time as she and my new sister talked happily around me, as if the Horde King wouldn’t be here tomorrow, and everything was right as rain in their world.
Frankly
, I felt like I had leaped from the frying pan and straight in to the fire.
I’d
wondered how it would have been if I’d grown up around them. They talked about everything, including the noble my sister had been crushing on. I’d been quiet and had just listened the entire time. They were close, and it made me miss Larissa painfully.
We
walked down the long winding staircase slowly, and it seemed like they wanted to treat me as family, not an unwilling guest. My mother and sister didn’t seem to want to sift while I couldn’t do so. Not that I could do it well every time, but, right now, I’d take landing at Ryder’s feet over the Horde King’s. When our feet were firmly on the floor, the entire room hushed around us.
I felt
the mask go firmly into place as I leveled the Blood King with an unaffected look. Oh I was pissed, to be sure, but I could play the docile sheep when needed. We walked toward him, and a few blonde haired men moved closer to him, guarding him from any unseen threat; much like Ryder’s men often did.
“
Wife,” he said with love shining in his cobalt and violet eyes. It was a true love match that these two had together. I don’t care what Kier said about the Fae having a tough time understanding love, these two had it bad for each other. It made my mind wander to Ryder. Was he even looking for me? If anyone could save me from the Horde King, it would be him.
“
Where is Faolán?” Madisyn asked bluntly.
“
The messenger could not find him to deliver the message. The rest of our children are home though, and it is known throughout the lands. I had Liam ring the bell of celebration.”
“
As it should be. Brenton, Liam, Adaryn, and Cameron, this is your sister, Synthia,” Madisyn said stepping aside for them to see me. No one said anything. We just stood there sizing each other up. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, and made more so as we continued in silence.
“
I don’t understand why we need to do this,” Adaryn finally said.
“
Adaryn! She’s making a sacrifice for us all. For our people,” Madisyn said, but no one agreed.
“
Not willingly,” I finally said. “If I had a choice, I’d sift the flip out of here, and not look back. I don’t owe anyone here anything.” I surprised myself as I said it, but the smirks from the men around us said they approved.
“
She might be related yet,” the one called Adaryn said. He was a few inches taller than the others, and a little more built in the chest area.
“
Look at those eyes. Do you still doubt it? Do they not look like mother’s?” The one Madisyn had introduced as Cameron said as he stepped closer. I instantly stepped away from him as he continued.