Page 69 of The Shadow Path
Cadell’s face went blank. “The magic is unsettled.”
“Maybe the magic is unsettled because an actualgodhas left the Shadowlands.”
He frowned. “What does this have to do with Orla and Cian?”
“I have no idea.” She gritted her teeth. “None. But I tell you one thing, we need to get some fae perspective on this. We need to know what kind of offering a god might want from a fae. Because that might be what all this is about.”
“Fae perspective?” Cadell crossed his arms. “We’re trying to stop a fae war. What kind of fae can we trust?”
“I don’t know. Maybe one who doesn’t want war.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
At midday the day after Harold’s coronation, Carys waited on the edge of Hyde Forest. She had whispered her request into the roots of an old yew tree with daffodils growing at the base.
Dewch ataf fi, Naida.
In all honesty, Carys had no idea if the ellyllon would hear her. She didn’t have Dru’s power, but she was hoping a tree that was so clearly fae-touched might carry her message.
Carys.
I’m here.Cadell had wanted to come with her, but she’d refused the offer.
You are asking another favor of a fae,the dragon said.This is unwise.
I’m asking a favor of Naida. She’s not like other fae.
Ellyllon will still expect something in payment.
Carys knew that. She also knew that of all the fae she could go to for answers, Naida was the one who had helped her when she needed it.
Carys waited, sitting on a large stone a little ways away from the yew. She was starting to get nervous about dusk andthe wolves in the forest when she heard a quiet voice singing through the trees.
“Write me a poem of heather and firth, where forest touches night and night becomes earth…”
Carys stood and walked back toward the clearing where the yew tree lived.
Naida sat at the base of the yew, and the tree’s roots reached up and curled around her like a cat searching for attention.
The small fae woman ran her palm along the old roots and looked at Carys. “You called for me, Nêrys Ddraig?”
“I appreciate that you came.” She was making a gamble talking to Naida, but there were multiple reasons for that gamble, and her power was only one of them. “How is Dru?”
Naida waved a hand. “He’s long healed.”
And yet the fae mound in front of Dafydd’s house where Dru and Naida had disappeared was still there.
And still blooming flowers.
Carys waited, but Naida didn’t elaborate. “So I met some of Orla’s people last night at Harold’s coronation.”
Naida’s eyebrows went up. “Is that so?”
“They acted like they knew who I was.”
The fae woman smiled. “I think everyone in Briton knows who you are, Carys. Brightkin of a dead princess. A human from the other side who bonded with a dragon. There’s only one like you.”
“Is there?” Carys walked over and sat in the grass in front of Naida. “Lachlan crossed the gates. Others have too.”
