“Luke, wake up.” I patted him on the cheek. I had to ask him about Excalibur, it was the final piece to this story.
It was destroyed, long ago. Too much power, for a single person, Cora said. Its power corrupted those that carried it.
Aednat let out a laugh. “Oh no, he sleep all night. Girls only tonight.”
I slumped in my seat, wincing as the muscles in my shoulder protested. Tracing the wound with my hand, I could tell the ridges of skin were already pulling together, healing faster than I could have ever thought possible.
Rubbing the side of my neck I leaned back. “What about Excalibur? Do you know about that?”
“Broken. Long ago the three Smiths broke it,” she said, flopping her body down beside mine. Her small form radiated heat, and in the cool shade of the trees it was a pleasant surprise. “They are still sad. They loved Excalibur.”
“Too bad we couldn’t get them to forge another one.” I said, “I think we’re going to need it.”
She yawned and stretched her body, joints creaking like an old lady. It made me wonder just how old she truly was. “You could ask, if we could get past the bad Queen; of course, you also need a soul gem. None of those to be found now.”
That didn’t make sense. “They came here? With you? I thought the Tuatha hated Banshees?”
Braiding her hair into multiple tiny lengths, Aednat shrugged. “The forest takes you to places. There are doorways like the one that brought us here. The doorway to the three Smiths lies deep in the forest. Too dangerous right now.”
A thrum started at the base of my spine and worked its way up through my guts. Dangerous, but I had no doubt that this was happening for a reason. “I think we’ll have to risk it,” I said.
“What about Shining Boy?” A slim hand pointed to the passed-out form of Luke at our feet. His breath came in slow steady rises of his chest, his messy blond hair sticking up every which way.
A smile snuck its way onto my lips as I stared at him. Blind, I’d been blind to the fact that he loved me enough to defy those who he was supposed to be following. Loved me enough to fight for me. Bres, though his name still struck a chord of heartache through me, didn’t even trust me enough to believe that I would never hurt Ashling. Luke believed me. I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair, the strands silken against my skin.
“He’ll come around,” I said.
Aednat snorted. “You lead him on golden chain. That’s good.”
“Golden chain?” I lifted my eyes to hers. She nodded.
“Yes, golden chain is love; it makes men foolish.”
“How do you think we might get past the Queen?” I asked, settling back into my mossy bed. Aednat curled against me, yawning again. “We sleep now, talk in morning with Shining Boy.”
Within moments, she was asleep, her breathing as slow and even as Luke’s. But the rest I needed evaded me. The Fairy Honey started to wear off and the deep throbbing pain in my shoulder and neck returned full force.
“Cora?” I whispered.
I’m here. I suppose you want to know why I didn’t tell you I am your grandmother.
“That would be nice.”
Blake didn’t understand why I would encourage Darcy have children by two men, one of which was Balor of all people. We could have stopped her you see, but at the time, we—Lir and I—saw that you would need a reason to save the Fomorii.
“Only maybe that isn’t what the prophecy means. I don’t think Balor is the threat,” I said, keeping my voice low.
Well, perhaps you are right. I only know that we were doing our best with the knowledge we had. Blake didn’t agree and so, voila, I was cursed to be a snake for the rest of my days.
“I thought you said that you liked being a snake,” I said.
I could almost hear her snort. When there is no choice, you learn to like what you’ve been given.
“This all seems so impossible. I mean, look at me.” I spread my one arm out, as if she could see me. “One battle with a single Banshee and I get the floor wiped with my ass. This is not a good sign; I don’t think I’m strong enough, Cora.”
Luke must train you as much as it is possible to in this short time. It is the only way. You must convince him. He won’t want to, but he must. There is no one else who can teach you.
The trees creaked around us, swaying in the breeze, a distant tang of salty ocean air zipped past my nose.
So many people were depending on me.
Luke.
Aednat.
The world.
And more important than all of them, Ashling.
The worst part of knowing how many people needed me was that I had a terrible feeling I was going to let at least one, if not all of them, down.