Page 65 of Riot of Autumn

“Assume we know nothing and start from the beginning,” Lena says, always greedy for as much information as possible.

Emric nods and crosses his arms. He really is a big fucker, unlike most of the other Fae I’ve seen who are all willowy and slim.

“There are four courts that rule Fairy, all of which are ruled by one queen. Fairy is split into four territories, each of which falls under the purview of one of the courts. For example, I’m from the territory ruled by the Summer Court, which means the Duke of the Summer Court oversees the town where I live.” He pauses as though he’s waiting to make sure we’re all following along, and Ruby makes aget on with itgesture. Emric inclines his head and continues.

“Within Fairy, there are High and Low Fae. The High Fae reside in manors or estates that govern the towns nearby. These towns are where the Low Fae live.”

I think Davis’s eyes have already glossed over, but everyone else is waiting for the point of Emric’s history lesson. Lena looks absolutely riveted.

“The High Fae typically possess powers that tie them to their court, like premonition and transformation for the Summer Court, alchemy and elemental magic for the Winter Court. Historically, the levels of the High Fae’s power are much stronger than the average Low Fae. And High Fae families have made many efforts to keep blood lines strong over the years. To keep their blood pure.” He practically spits out the last sentence.

“The Low Fae, on the other hand, have no specific magical affinity. Despite living within the Summer Court territories, I have elemental magic, for instance. The villages have been intermarrying for years, and there is no such thing as a pure bloodline in the Low Fae, which is part of why the High Fae look down on us.”

“It’s a mistaken belief that the Low Fae are less powerful than the High Fae, though,” Zara speaks up, seeming to surprise herself. Emric grins at her.

“That is absolutely correct. The High Fae have become obsessed with the idea of purity, and in doing so, have forgotten that it has nothing to do with magical strength.” Emric’s smile disappears and his mouth turns down. “Over the last almost two hundred years, the High Fae have been tampering with magical forces they shouldn’t be messing with. They’ve figured out a way to steal magic from other Fae in order to expand their powers and extend their lives.”

Zara nods her head as if she already suspected as much. Ruby and I had essentially watched the Duke do this at the Smithe house.

“This is all fascinating, really, but what does it have to do with us and why all these bastards are on Wild Haven Island?” Davis says, sounding gruff, but more polite than usual. For him.

Emric nods. “There is more history to share before I explain how our two stories intertwine. There has always been a weak spot in the veil on your island, where the wall between worlds was thinner than most. Fae occasionally found their way into your realm and were never seen again, but it was rare and mostly limited to the weakening of the veil on specific holy nights. Nearly two hundred years ago, the veil was ripped open between our two worlds. One of the High Fae formed a rebellion against the Queen. The traitor found a way to siphon power from other Fae and wanted to cause chaos to stage a takeover. She pulled down the veil, and those who followed her rushed through to your world and began to wreak havoc.

“The Queen gathered her army and found eight sentinels who had formed an Axis. A powerful group of bonded individuals, as you know.” Emric pauses his story to look over our group, his gaze landing finally on me and Ruby.

“The High Fae who were staging this rebellion lit your small island on fire.”

Lena gasps, sitting up straighter. “The fire in the 1840s that destroyed half the island?”

“Most probably. The Queen defeated the rebels, and got most of them back through the veil, but she was gravely injured while doing so. The sentinels and several other strong and loyal Fae stayed behind, working from this realm to close the veil. In Fairy, the Queen lay dying, knowing there was no way to come back from her wounds. And so, she sacrificed herself, binding a spell in her blood, to close the veil and reinforce it from Fairy.”

That has most of us speechless. All the island lore about having Fae ancestry was real. I mean, we knew it was real to some extent because we grew up being able to do magic. Still, it’s one thing to hear the townies share the stories with tourists and quite another to have a Fae give us the actual history.

“What happened then?” Miri asks, leaning forward in her seat. Emric has us all captivated. Even Davis looks interested now.

“The Queen faded into the ether, and a new Queen rose in her place.”

“Is that a fancy way of saying she died?” Ruby blinks up at Emric, her fatigue starting to take over. I drop my hand to the back of her neck and lightly knead the tight muscles.

“Yes. And the Queen that took her throne was the interloper who pulled down the veil in the first place. Who is still the Queen of Fairy today.”

It’s Zara’s turn to gasp. “How is that possible? She would be over two hundred years old. I knew she was unnaturally old, but not to that extent. How do others not know?”

“The High Fae do, because many of them are just as old. It’s not spoken of. Especially in the courts. In the towns and villages, these things are more freely discussed. Stories have been passed down, kept safe until we had tools in place to do something about it. The new Queen spread rumors that the old queen hated humans, despised them, and after time, the memories and those who knew what happened became a thing of the past. But the families of those who served the old Queen, who protected the humans as much as the Fae, made sure the truth didn’t disappear.”

Archer’s head is tipped back, and he’s looking up at the ceiling with a wrinkled brow. “If the current Queen pulled down the veil once, why can’t she just do it again?”

“Maybe the better question is, why does she keep sending Fae here?” Lena chimes in.

“In answer to your first question, the last time, the Queen sacrificed the four heads of the Courts using dark magic to pull down the veil. When she took over the throne, she installed her Dukes and Duchesses in each of the courts. She’s made promises to them, and now that they are her allies, she can’t get away with doing the same thing again. To bring down the veil requires an extreme amount of power. Even though it’s been years since the old Queen reinforced it with her blood, her spell is strong. The current Queen and her disciples have only been able to drop the veil long enough to send through one Fae at a time, and only when the holy days make the veil thin.

“That leads to your second question. She’s been sending through Fae to build strength on this side of the veil. Those Fae aren’t looking for a way to get back to Fairy. They’re looking for a way to pull down the veil, permanently. The Queen’s goals have broadened. She doesn’t just want to rule Fairy, she wants the humans to bow at her feet.”

23

EZRA

Idrag a hand over the top of my head, the fatigue truly setting in now. This day has to be at least sixty hours long. We’re trapped in a time loop. One where we live out the shittiest of days and our lives are always in jeopardy. Only to learn that we’re at the tail end of a two-hundred-year plan by a seemingly immortal Fae who is most likely insane. At the very least, she’s a megalomaniac.

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