The Changeling (9 page)

Billy exhaled, and Sara turned to him and smiled. “Full disclosure, right?”

He nodded. “Maggie, there is a war brewing. Most Fae believe there is a confrontation coming between the Seelie and Unseelie, and removing your family is central to it. The Unseelie
must
believe your family will play a powerful role in it.”

“You said Unseelie, not just a band of rogues like Ozara had suggested. You mean the entire clan?”

“Yes, I do.” There was a grim quality to Billy’s voice. “Tensions between the clans have been on the rise for more than a century, if we’re being honest.”

“Tensions over what people are doing to the planet?”

“In part, yes. The fundamental problem is much older than that, and has its roots in the last two confrontations.”

“Is Ozara lying?”

“I don’t think so,” Sara began. “I believe she is terribly optimistic though. She won’t allow the Council to prepare for it, and she is most hesitant about lobbying for support from the independent clans. Even if she tried to recruit additional support, I’m not sure many would be willing to join her. To side with Ozara means accepting her way of seeing things, and more importantly, abiding by her rules.”

Billy added that some of the independent Fae were Seelie two thousand years ago and, like him, grew tired of her edicts. His face was filled with contempt.

“The rest of the independent Fae are members of smaller clans who aren’t aligned with either the Seelie or the Unseelie, such as the Ohanzee, the Sidhe, the Moirai and Olympians, the Hathors, the Genies, the Ancient Ones, and many others. One by one, the entire world over, Ozara and the Seelie forced each of those clans to choose between obscurity and obliteration. As you can probably imagine, most despise Ozara’s edicts,” he said.

“Other independent clans? There is so much you haven’t told me, and I accept that, but what does it have to do with my family? I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Sara and Billy exchanged looks.

“Both of you, full disclosure, remember? My family, my little brother, we’re all caught in the middle of this. Whatever the cause, this conflict of yours has taken lives. I think it’s about time you come clean.”

“Maggie, we aren’t sure why, that is the truth, but…”

I stared a Sara, waiting for her to continue. “But what?”

“There is a belief, really little more than unsubstantiated speculation, that the O’Sheas are direct descendants of the Second Maebown, the Celt, Áedán.”

My head began spinning as Sara let me take it in. If I were the direct descendent of Áedán, the ousting of my family made some sense. Maybe the Unseelie feared the traits that made Áedán a Maebown, and those traits could somehow be passed down the line from generation to generation. “How do they know this?”

“They don’t know, and that is the point. Áedán of
Cnoc Aine had three children, two daughters and a son, who spent their lives around Cnoc Aine and Lough Gur, in what became the County Limerick. Your family came from the Corcaguiney Peninsula, the County Kerry. While the distance between Cnoc Aine and Corcaguiney is not great, none of us are aware of what became of Áedán’s offspring.”

“There is one,” Billy interjected.

“Yes, but Bastien speaks to no one,” Sara replied.

“Hold off on the segue for a minute. How long have the Unseelie suspected the connection between my family and Áedán of…wherever you said?” My breath steamed and circled my head, fogging up the windows on my side of the car.

Sara smiled, and I felt the cold night air that had been creeping into the car. My teeth chattered.

“Allow me,” Billy said.

I felt the heat he generated and began to relax. Slowly the steam from my breath began to disappear and even the driver’s side door felt warm and comfortable against my back.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks. Sara?”

“Áedán of
Cnoc Aine was his name, and the rumors took urgency during Lola’s trials. Even though she failed the Fire trial, her inclination to the three remaining elements was something of a spectacle. But in the interest of our theme for the night, the rumors began the first time many of us witnessed something peculiar about your forefather, Pete O’Shea.”

“What? His connection to the elements, that innate trait all of you have mentioned?”

“Yes, but not only that—something even more fundamental—looking at Pete O’Shea, many saw evidence of a possible genetic connection. Pete possessed something so unique, so similar to Áedán, the connection quite literally stared us in the face. Lola had
them,
so does your dad and your brother. Their most remarkable
physical
features are their… ”

“Green eyes?”

“Not just green eyes, but exceptionally rare and exquisite dark green eyes. Eyes of such a particular hue and quality that all of us noticed—remember we study such things.”

What she said was true. I’d never seen green eyes like theirs. Mom called them the most Irish of Irish eyes.

“Who is this Bastien?”

“Bastien is the oldest among us. He was the first to experience the physical world,” Sara said.

“How old is
oldest
?”

“He predates the formation of Pangaea, though he didn’t take physical form for the first time until after it had broken up.” Sara laughed at the stunned look on my face.

“Pangaea? As in hundreds of millions of years ago Pangaea?”

She laughed aloud. “That’s the one.”

Goosebumps covered the skin on my arms, and my hair felt like it was standing on end. “Unbelievable. I had no idea…I thought Ozara…”

“She is the oldest Seelie, but she is not the oldest Fae. By comparison she is quite young, although she is more ancient than most.”

I closed my gaping mouth and listened as Sara told me that Bastien was not a member of the clans—he found clan politics beneath him. She said that he found a new path several thousand years ago. A historian of a caliber I’d never considered, he studied humans, including lineage. He would know whether I was a descendent of Áedán, but unfortunately, he had disappeared at the end of the last Fae war and had since avoided direct contact with Fae and human alike.

I couldn’t recall how many times during the last year the Fae told me something that completely altered what I thought I knew about the world, but it had just happened again. There was still so much I didn’t know about them, but my mind was already full, categorizing the new information I had, trying to put it all in place. I had more questions, but before I could ask them, I sensed it coming.

Bristling in the driver’s seat, the approaching Fae registered immediately in my mind. Almost as quickly, and with no conscious effort, my shield strengthened.

“Maggie, drop your shield,” Sara said quietly.

“Who is it?”

“Ozara.”

SEVEN

WATCHFUL EYE

Ozara took form in the back seat before I could completely lower my shield, cutting through the barrier like it wasn’t even there. I twisted around in the driver’s seat so that we were facing one another. She wore a pleasant expression and clasped her hands in her lap.

“So, why the midnight flight from the Weald?”

My stomach lurched, and despite the cold, I felt perspiration form on my forehead. I was trying to think of something to say when Sara beat me to it.

“We simply wanted to get away for a few hours and chat. The guards in the garden, while most certainly a welcome addition given the situation, tend to unsettle our young Steward. I’m sure you understand that.”

“Of course, of course. But why the shield, then?”

“In these trying times, Ozara, I thought it prudent to keep any conversation, regardless of its innocuous nature, hidden from the enemy. Billy and I thought a little time away from the Weald would be good for Maggie, but we didn’t want to take any chances.”

“Prudent thinking, Sara. I’d ask you what you discussed, but I don’t want to linger any longer than necessary, so I’ll merely ask you to share your thoughts.”

Agitation spread across Billy’s face instantly.

“You object?” Ozara asked him, still smiling pleasantly.

“I’m not in
your
clan, so of course I object. You knew I would, just like I know you plan to take my thoughts anyway,” Billy said with contempt in his voice.

“That’s true, Billy, but I’ll be quick.”

She placed one hand on his and the other gently against his temple. Billy’s eyes closed and he grimaced, wrinkling his entire face. After a few moments, she placed her hands back into her lap.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, as if comforting a child rather than an ancient Fae.

Billy said something to her in the Fae tongue, a curse I’d wager, and then smiled at me before he blinked out and departed. I felt him move northeast until he passed out of my range. Then Sara leaned forward, toward Ozara, and the process repeated. Sara didn’t grimace and she didn’t close her eyes either. Instead, she maintained a pleasant smile.

“You see, Ozara, nothing to worry about.”

“Of course. But you understand that I have to remain vigilant.”

“Of course.” Sara dismissed the intrusion as nothing more than a friendly handshake.

Ozara’s burning amber eyes focused on me and I began to tremble. In truth, I was worried that the process might hurt, and I was terrified that she might gain access to all of my thoughts—that would be terrible. Nonetheless, I managed to exhale and extend my shaking hand. It was impossible to know whether hiding my thoughts would be effective, but I did it anyway. I continued to let her see and feel calmness, even if it was completely manufactured. She smiled broadly and took my hand.

Her grip was light, her hand warm. She caressed my cheek with the back of her hand and I shuddered despite trying hard not to. She didn’t put her hand to my temple, though. She sat back in the seat, and laughed lightly.

“Maggie, I still haven’t found your brother. I apologize. I’ll leave you now and continue my search.”

With that, she was gone.

“Sara, what just happened?”

“Let me drive you home—I’ll explain on the way.”

The headlights cut a narrow swath out of the dark night, illuminating the road back to Eureka. I fought exhaustion as Sara drove me to the Weald. I thought about Billy leaving us there with Ozara, but I couldn’t blame him. I would have too.

Though numb and weary, my mind refused to quit trying to put the pieces in place from all that I had learned tonight. Independent clans? A Maebown ancestor? Each new piece of information lifted the veil just a little higher, though I still couldn’t see the entire picture. Added to that was my confusion over what I perceived to be Ozara’s paranoia. I wanted to know what it was I witnessed.

“What did Ozara do and why did she do that to you and Billy?”

Sara exhaled, wringing the steering wheel in her hands, and with a quick glance, our eyes met for a split second before she stared back at the oncoming road. “Ozara simply wanted to know the content of our conversations.”

“She can do that?”

“Yes,” Sara said.

The images of Ozara placing her hands on Billy’s head and then Sara’s came flooding back into my mind. It was appalling and struck me as a disgusting act, a violent assault.

“Why didn’t she do that to me?”

“There was no need, she had our thoughts. Be glad that was the case.” Sara’s eyes fell from the road for a moment before she looked back up. “The Aetherfae can read the thoughts of other Fae with little effort. To resist…that would be foolish. Human thoughts are much more challenging for her—yours are probably safe given how well you can shield yourself.”

“She doesn’t trust us, does she?”

“No, Ozara doesn’t trust anyone.”

“Why? Why treat her own kind, her allies, that way? What good could come of it?”

“Have you ever wondered about the scarred Fae?”

“Yes.”

“They betrayed their own kind and that is why Ozara trusts none of us.”

Sara told me that the Seelie Council and the Unseelie Elders punished the scarred Fae, those who looked like Chalen, for a plot they’d been involved in between the first and second Fae wars some four thousand years ago. A band of independents and Unseelie had joined forces and gone rogue. They tried to destroy Ozara, the Council, and the Unseelie Elders in an attempt to live outside the accord. Because of that, the rules were put in place to keep the peace.

She said that before the revolt was quelled, the rogues destroyed three members of the Unseelie Elders and two of the Seelie Council in southern England, in a place called Caer Bran in Cornwall. At the end of the conflict, the Seelie Council and the Unseelie Elders punished the rogues that remained by scarring them. Ozara used Aether to permanently alter their appearance, both in Naeshura and in natural form. The Aether also altered their perception of beauty.

To the rogues, Sara explained, their scarred forms were desirable. The Aether rendered them utterly incapable of taking a physical form that any Fae or human might find attractive. Ozara labeled them Pyksies—Fae slang for hideous ones. Physically repulsive to ordinary Fae, the Pyksies served as a deterrent and a reminder to the independent clans of what happened when a Fae challenged the Seelie. Following a millennia of forcing them to live as outcasts, Ozara and Zarkus eventually allowed the Pyksies to rejoin the clans.