Remnants of Magic (42 page)

“Certainly not,” Manannan dismissed the notion, “But they are the weaker court. Their strength is waning. The time for division is declining. We shall soon embrace our wayward brethren in one united court.”

Though ruled by their king, the Seelie Court moved by Danu’s bidding. She crowned the king for whatever term she deemed appropriate. Lugh himself had held the crown twice, and served his court with the love and dedication that ruled his life. While each king governed in his own fashion, no other had drawn more controversy than Manannan, crowned only a mere century earlier. Almost immediately the prophetess of the Unseelie Court spoke against him. Aoife predicted a grave doom would befall all fey should the courts be united, and that Manannan would drive them toward that doom with a relentless passion. Before she’d spoken of it, Lugh would have never even suspected such a thing as uniting of the courts would be possible, but Manannan embraced the prophecy as a challenge, as a prediction not of doom, but of his success and the Unseelie fear of it. A legacy no other Sidhe could outshine. The unification of the Sidhe. One people. One court. And, of course, all ruled by one king.

Ambitious, even for the arrogant Seelie.

Lugh gave no credence to predictions, Aoife’s or anyone else’s. Too often circumstances changed, defeating the disasters before they even manifested. But there were many that saw conspiracy woven into every action and every utterance, unconsciously determined to fulfill the very prophecy they claimed to battle. This movement among the fey, this undercurrent of fear, alone should have been enough to defeat the summit’s goal to find peace between the courts. In truth that was probably the very reason Aoife spoke of it, a political maneuver rather than a true vision. How Manannan thought this time would be any different than any other, Lugh could not fathom. The Unseelie queen and her king declined to even attend the last several times Manannan invited them to discuss the issue.

The king raised his empty goblet in a comradely salute, “Don’t trouble yourself about this tonight Lugh. Let us freshen our drinks and find ladies in need of a dance.”

As Lugh casually surveyed the room, he noticed one of the wood elf waiters moving too quickly through the crowd. He did not offer the glasses on his tray to any of the guests. In fact, his gaze was fixed on his destination. His target.

Lugh’s heart nearly stopped, the wrongness struck him that bluntly. Though he had no doubts that the summit would once more fail, there were those who feared it enough to do even the unthinkable to defeat it. It would not be the first time an assassin struck in public.

Lugh departed from Manannan without taking his leave. He cut through the crowd. Closing the distance.

The elf headed for Kaitlin, a princess and Manannan’s sister-in-law. The princess saw the elf coming. Her chin lifted. Eyes lit up. She breathlessly froze in anticipation.

Lugh slowed mere strides before reaching the elf. Had Kaitlin seemed frightened, or even unsuspecting, he’d have quietly detained the elf and discovered his true intent, for serving drinks certainly was not it. The elf removed a folded napkin from his tray. As he moved passed Kaitlin he passed the napkin to the girl without slowing down.

Kaitlin accepted it and then cast an anxious glance about her. Lugh turned away before her eyes could fix upon him. He murmured a random compliment to one of the ladies and she rewarded him with a musical laugh. When he pivoted back toward the princess she no longer faced in his direction, but rather slipped through the crowd with hast. The silk of her dress flowed about her lithe, dancer’s figure. Her loose hair spilled down her back before curling into soft ringlets that bounced youthfully against her back, too eager to make her escape to depart without noticeable excitement.

Curiosity sharp, he trailed behind her. The barrier over the castle prevented Glamour as well as teleportation. Not that following the young princess required an inordinate amount of stealth. Once he saw her safely to her private chambers, he suspected he knew her intentions. And the potential dangers.

###

~We hope you enjoyed the sample chapter of
In Whom You Trust

Read the beginning of Season One of The Sidhe in~

Scattered Magic

P.S. - Don’t get confused!
The three mini-series that comprises Season One of The Sidhe are also available as individual collections. (Touched, Rise of the Unseelie, Champion of the Sidhe)
These three collections contain the same 15 episodes as Scattered Magic and Remnants of Magic
. So why do we have the episodes released in two different ways? Some folks only want to read one or two mini-series, while some want to have all the episodes in the recommended reading order. We want you to be able to have the stories YOUR WAY!

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Glossary and Name Pronunciation Guide

Names and Pronunciations

Amon:
Pronounced ‘Ah-mun’

Aoife:
pronounced ‘A-oaf-E’

Bain Greim:
Pronounced ‘Bane Grimm’

Crom:
Pronounced ‘krom’

Danu:
pronounced ‘Dan-oo’

Eircheard:
Pronounced ‘ER-chart’

Jhaer:
pronounced ‘Ja-hair’

Jonathan Wyndracer
: Pronounced Jonathan ‘wind-racer’

Kieran:
Pronounced ‘Kear-an’

Lugh Samildanach:
Pronounced ‘Loo Sa-mul-da-knock’

Leannan:
pronounced ‘Lee-an-nan’

Manannan:
pronounced ‘Ma-nan-an’

Rhiannon:
Pronounced ‘Re-on-nan’

Rehnquist:
Pronounced ‘Ren-quest’

Seamus:
Pronounced ‘Shae-mus’

Tethor:
pronounced ‘Tee-thor’

Tiberius Laven Davort:
Pronounced ‘Tie-beer-E-us La-vin Da-vort’.

Tiernan:
Pronounced ‘Tear-nan’

Willem Phillip Brodie ‘Mac ind Óclaich
: Pronounced Willem Phillip Brodie ‘Mac end O’clock’.

Glossary

All-Mother:
A title given to Danu respectfully acknowledging her connection to all fey connected to the Mounds.

Aspect of magic:
In addition to the Touch and the common magics (Glamour and teleportation), each Sidhe possesses a single aspect of magic, which dictated how their personal magic will manifest. For example, Lugh’s aspect of magic is ‘the sun’.

Banner:
A type of fey highly skilled at using magic to perform construction very quickly, but only when unobserved.

Beltaine:
Pronounced ‘Bell-tane’. Celtic festival celebrated on the first day of May, and marks the beginning of summer.

Brownies:
A type of fey known for being secretive and shy, but very helpful domestically.

Captivated:
Seelie term for humans addicted to the Touch.

Champion:
A title given to respectfully acknowledging someone’s role as defender and ambassador for the their race with other races.

Changeling:
A type of fey that can shape change and that has a reputation for being self-serving and vicious.

Collapse:
Refers to the recent destruction of the Mounds.

Creatrix:
Refers to Danu. The feminine form of the word ‘creator’.

Cursed:
A term used to describe humans who have been Touched by a Sidhe.

Dark Court:
Another name for the Unseelie Court.

Dark Elves:
A type of fey who often lives underground like dwarves, and who tend to possess darker magic.

Druid/druidess:
A human who loyally serves a Sidhe in exchange for the ‘blessing’ of the Touch.

Earthborns:
The term for the Sidhe born on the earth surface in the past few decades who are generally untrained in magic and unprotected from predators.

Earth realm:
Refers to the surface of the earth.

Elite:
The assassins who worked for the Unseelie Queen.

Enchanted:
Someone or something bespelled by magic.

Enchantment:
A spell created by magicraft.

Exiles:
Refers to the Unseelie who left the Mounds after the Seelie gained power.

Fade:
A potentially deadly condition suffered by the fey when their magic is not replenished.

Fey:
A general term for any creature whose race descended from the first realm of fey.

Ghille Dhu:
Pronounced ‘Gell Doo’. A type of shape changing fey.

Glamour:
One of the types of magic all fey can perform and is used to disguise oneself or objects behind an illusion.

Glamour Club:
Owned by Donovan, this fey-only club is a haven for earthborn Sidhe.

‘Is your head a Marley?’:
Irish slang for ‘have you lost your mind?’

Lesser fey:
Refers to all fey who are not Sidhe.

Ley lines:
The lines of energy that flow through the earth.

Light Court
: Another name for the Seelie Court.

Lughnasadh:
Pronounced ‘Loo-ne-sah’. Celtic harvest holiday, named after Lugh, who was worshiped as the sun god by the Celts.

Magicraft:
Refers to the skill of creating enchantments.

Meán Oíche:
Pronounced ‘Mine O-cha’. The castle where Bain Greim resides.

Mounds:
The name of the second fey realm, which exists in a pocket of magic deep under ground.

Noble elf:
Refers to the Sidhe.

Nutter:
UK slang for ‘crazy person’.

Parahumans:
Refers to those individuals who once was human, but then became a vampire or a shape-shifter, such as a werewolf.

Ring of Kerry:
Refers to a peninsula in Kerry County.

Samhain:
Pronounced ‘Sa-wane’. The Celtic holiday celebrating the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. Same day as Halloween.

Scribe:
A type of fey who are usually shy and bookish historians.

Seelie:
Pronounced ‘C-lee’. Refers to the Sidhe of the ‘light court’, who value culture, political intrigue, and beauty.

Selkie:
Pronounced ‘sell-key’. A type of fey that can transform into a seal.

Shielmartin Hill:
Pronounced ‘Sh-ill-mar-ton Hill’. A deserted location north of Dublin.

Shining Court:
Another name for the Seelie Court.

Shining One:
Or ‘The Shining One’. Nickname for Lugh because of his sun magic.

Sidhe:
Pronounced ‘Shee’. Also known as the ‘noble elves’. They are the most magical race of fey and the only race that possesses the Touch.

Sluagh:
Pronounced ‘slew-ah’. A deadly type of animal-like fey that serve the Sidhe with the darkest magic. Looks similar to devils, but are the size and shape of a spider monkey.

Tír na nÓg:
Pronounced ‘Ter na nog’. Means ‘land of the young’ and refers to one of the regions inside the Mounds.

Torc:
Pronounced like ‘torque’. A metal half circle adornment that lays around the back of the neck and hangs open at the collarbones. A popular type of Celtic jewelry in ancient times.

Touch:
The sharing of magic by the Sidhe with others. A beautiful bonding experience among the fey, but is highly addictive to humans.

Tuatha de Dannan:
Pronounced ‘Too-wath da Dan-an’. Means ‘the people of Danu’, and usually refers to the Sidhe.

Unseelie:
Pronounced ‘un-C-lee’. Refers to the Sidhe aligned with the ‘dark court’, who value freedom, directness, and honesty.

Wards:
A type of enchantment that suppresses all other magic in its vicinity.

Wizards:
Humans who have learned to steal magic from the fey to use in their own enchantments.

Wolf-kin:
Another name for werewolf.