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“It’s something I’d rather do on my own. I didn’t want to offend you by telling you that you weren’t welcome.”
She paused, unable to say she wasn’t a little hurt. “Why?”
He didn’t answer right away, and when he did, his voice was hesitant. “When I was bound, I used to see these places, the struggling trees and fields fighting to produce food for the mortals and the animals. I’d try. Little trickles of sunlight. That was all I had. It wasn’t much, but it was something. I have more now.”
“I could help someday.”
“Maybe. Right now, I don’t…it’s private. I’ve only ever shared it with one person.”
“Donia.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “She was mortal the first time. Afterward, I took her to some of the places over the years when I needed to talk to her, but I didn’t tell her why I went there…. I went to her today. We talked.”
“And?”
“We’re going to sort it all out. We’ll work around the pull between us. It’ll all be manageable. We just can’t let ourselves forget.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Whatever we do, it’s going to be something we both agree on. I held hope that our friendship would grow, that you’d choose to be with me, but…”
She took a deep breath and asked again, “Will you help me find a way to change Seth?”
“No.” Keenan paused. “We’re still learning, Aisli
“Promise?” She worried her lip.
“And we’ll get stronger.”
“Go tend your orchard. I’m going to go try to reach Seth again.”
“Tell him I’m sorry too…for what it’s worth. I’m done pushing you,” Keenan added. “Summer’s about passion, Aisli
After he disco
Aisli
The Summer Girls were all bleeding or moving with broken limbs. Their own vines choked them. Rowan guards were set afire. Aobheall in her fountain was solidified into a sculpture. Her mouth was open in a soundless shriek. Smoke lay low in the air, twisting up from the decimated trees and from the bodies of the rowan. Aisli
One woman, a raven-haired faery, walked through the destruction. A carved bone knife was strapped to her thigh, the white of it standing out starkly against gray camouflage pants. A tattered black cloak, damp with fresh blood, fluttered as she moved. Aisli
“Pretty pictures all for you,” the faery said. She made a sweeping gesture across the air in front of her. Unfamiliar patterns were painted on her arms with woad, ash, and blood.
Aisli
The faery slid an arm around Aisli
“What have you done?” Aisli
Tracey was dancing, but one arm hung at an u
Aisli
“Nothing.” She waved her hand again and the park looked as it should: the Summer Girls and the rowan and Aobheall were all fine. A fire burned in the clearing, though, flames wavered in the center of the circle where the Summer Court typically held its revels. It wasn’t a small campfire but a raging blaze.
“Shall I tell you a story, my little queen?” The faery had eyes like Irial and Niall—eternal black—but hers shimmered with a hint of madness. “Shall I tell about what-ifs and what-nows?”
“Who are you?” Aisli
“Once upon a time, the world was mine. It was a lovely place. Chaos danced with me, and our children ate the living. Far-Dorcha himself dined at my table.” Bananach squatted down in front of the fire. It was midday, but the sky was dark with ash and smoke.
Is that an illusion too? Aisli
“Bananach?” Aisli
“It is a name I use.” She tilted her head at an odd angle and glanced at Aisli
“I am.” Aisli
Bananach’s expression became hopeful: eyes wide, lips parted. “I could like you if you would step willingly to the pyre. Let them blame each other…. It’s a little thing really. It mightn’t even hurt. Sunlight and fire, much the same.”
Aisli
“I would dance to your screams. You wouldn’t be alone,” she said cajolingly.
“No.” Aisli
“Don’t you want me to answer your questions, little ash-girl? I know much.”
“Is there a right response?” Aisli
The word will felt awkward, but want was too open and can was too limited. Semantics was one of the weird parts of dealing with centuries-old creatures. Aisli
The raven-faery brushed her hands on her pants and stood. “Once, after chaos but before you, I advised. I could make war games as a tableau for monarchs on the edge of war. I can show the what-ifs when we are near the precipice.”
Aisli
Bananach sauntered through the center of the pyre; flames brushed against her like the hands of grateful supplicants. “You see my what-if dreams…. We draw nearer the war, little ash-queen. You made that happen.”
The flames surged toward Bananach, following in her wake, singeing her feathers. “You give me hope, so I give you fair warning. You and I are in balance now. Follow your path, and I will owe you. I’ve missed my discord.”
As Bananach paused in front of Aisli
They all saw Bananach then, saw War standing face-to-face with their queen. Guards rushed to Aisli
Bananach cackled, but she didn’t flinch.
She wouldn’t.
The war faery leaned close to Aisli
“No.”
“Shame.” Bananach sighed. “You give me a gift, a war on our horizon…and we will need fodder for the bloodbath to come…still…”