Page 91 of Curse the Fae

Middle Moon? I’ve never heard of such a thing in the Book of Fables, and if Juniper hasn’t schooled me or Lark on this enigma, then it mustn’t exist in the pages.

Elixir explains it’s a tradition in The Solitary wild, a night when the Folk celebrate the origins of the Fauna, the ancient date of their birth, when they first came into being in Faerie.

In the mountain, Faeries of the sky host a masquerade. The festivities forbid human captives to attend, not that such a rule would discourage Lark.

In the forest, home to the rowdiest bunch of Solitaries, revelers enjoy a feast. There, the current human is expected to join for reasons Elixir can’t impart. He doesn’t know the particulars, since it has to do with the woodland’s game, which is kept secret until it’s over.

“The Deep hosts a sail,” Elixir tells me. “Every vessel of the river voyages down serpentine canals and isolated passages—the darkest, deepest, remotest corners known thus far. In one of those recesses, the sail ends with a race.”

“What kind of race?”

His eyes glint. “A dangerous one.”

When I shiver against him, his palm roams over my pebbled flesh, the motion soothing. “In general, the race is not for the faint of heart, nor for one lacking endurance. Though, that hardly applies to you.” He clears his throat. “Might you consider…will you…”

I smile, enjoying his brutish awkwardness. “Will I…?”

“I would like to show you how we honor our fauna.”

Genuine hope flickers in his gaze. That, and the knowledge I might refuse him.

He could order me to go. His kin would expect no less.

“You said it was dangerous,” I remind him.

“The race is not for mortals. You will not be harmed,” he swears, and the lethal tone sounds like a command to everyone who exists beyond our little bubble, every river Fae who would like to claw me into filets.

Elixir’s whipcord arms fasten around me. The look on his face could slice through iron. “No one shall touch you.”

“Will Scorpio be there?”

“I will kill him if he comes near you again. It will happen before he can blink. The merman knows this, and I have loyal eyes watching him as well. As for the rest, my subjects revere me, honor my law, and want to restore their fauna more than anything. They would not dare.”

“Did your kin harm the mortals who’ve attended before?”

Elixir’s mouth compresses. “None have survived that long.”

The chill from before rushes between us. None of the humans had paced themselves before trying to break a curse they had no power to break. When they lost, Elixir likely hadn’t given them much time to choose their losing brew.

This is the Fae I’ve shared myself with.

Anguish strains his features. “Cove, I…I do not know how to…make amends for that.”

“You can start by finding a way,” I insist. “There must be some way around the sacrifices.”

“I told you. There is no way.”

I lurch from his embrace and shove him, for all the good it does since he doesn’t budge. “Are you saying that because you’ve tried? Or are you enjoying your power too much?”

His jaw clenches. He follows the sounds of water, and his finger stabs toward the exit, where his kin reside beyond. “My power keeps them hopeful. My power keeps them alive. My power has cured allies and poisoned enemies. My power has made the games unbeatable. My power has restored many of the fauna we lost to your people. My power keeps this river from crumbling sooner rather than later. My fucking power is mine.”

“It also compensates for what you’ve lost. How convenient.”

Those eyes flash with pain, then spark with fury. “Do not speak about my mothers. You did not know them.”

“You don’t know my sisters!”

Anyway, I’m not talking about his family. I’m talking about the thing I took from him, the thing I cursed him with. I hate that I did it, even though it had been out of my control, and I hate even more what his blindness has turned him into. If I’d shown Elixir kindness nine years ago, maybe I would have thought of him differently, and this wouldn’t have happened to him.

---