Page 79 of Crown of Roses
Maeve stayed quiet. They were going to bargain, and she would have to keep all of her wits about her if she wanted to succeed. This might be her only chance to save her kingdom. To return to Saoirse. To rescue her people from the Scathing and prove she was worthy of the crown.
“Very good.” Lianan leaned forward, and stardust fell around her to the wet ground below. “And in exchange for these three answers, I want something from you in return.”
“What do you want?” Maeve blurted the question out before she could stop herself.
A flicker of annoyance flashed across Lianan’s face, and she made a sort of tsk-ing noise. “A pity you would waste a question on such a foolish mistake. And without yet knowing the terms of our bargain.”
Horrified, Maeve started to open her mouth, then quickly covered it with both of her hands. How could she have made such a dreadful error? She’d lost a question. If she’d just waited, Lianan would’ve freely given her the terms.
“But since you asked,” she drew the word out, “Lianan wants what is owed to her. She wants the blood of the one who decimated her family. The one who eliminated all but herself.” Malice laced the pretty fae’s words, and the starlight dimmed to near dark.
In all the books she’d ever read, there had only been mention of one will ó wisp. A solitary fae. One of the rarest. Nowhere was it written that a group of wisps existed. Multiple fae with the depth of knowledge and power of the wisp would have been an extreme weapon to any Court of their choosing. But the fact that someone, or something, had slaughtered them all didn’t sit well with Maeve. It seemed like an atrocious crime. An unforgivable offense. And now, she had a choice to make.
“Do we have an agreement?” Lianan asked, and she thrummed her tiny fingers along the edge of a tree branch. “Lianan sees your mind working, Maeve of Kells. She will come to you when she is ready to call in her favor. And then you will know whose blood she seeks.”
Seek the one responsible for the annihilation of the will ó wisps, or leave the fate of her kingdom in the hands of the Scathing?
Lianan stuck out her small hand. “Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Maeve accepted, and the fae’s grip tightened. A tiny Strand of glowing black burst between the two of them. It swirled around her thumb and took the shape of dozens of scattered stars.
“When the stars align, Lianan will come for you.” Lianan released her grip on Maeve’s hand and fluttered up into the air. She floated right above Maeve’s head, just out of reach. “Now, what are your questions? You’ve only two left. Do not squander them.”
Maeve stared down at the Strand marking her thumb. She needed answers, and the will ó wisp could give them to her. First things first. “Does the anam ó Danua continue to exist within a faerie bloodline?”
Lianan smiled, and for a brief moment, it glimmered with approval. “Yes.”
Maeve expelled a harsh breath. Her mind raced to keep track of what she already knew. With Lianan confirming the soul’s existence, Maeve could already narrow down the bloodline. She knew Ceridwen didn’t possess it, and it had been taken from Parisa right before Danua purged the darkness from Faeven. If Autumn’s bloodlines were all male, then the Winter Court was the only other possibility. She knew what she had to ask next. It was all that mattered.
She glanced up to where Lianan flitted through the air above her, a sparkling display of purple and blue. “Can the anam ó Danua save my kingdom?”
The fae’s smile fell away. “It cannot.”
Shock tore through Maeve. It ripped through her heart and left her gasping. No. It couldn’t happen like this. She shook her head, tried to focus on what Lianan said. The soul of the goddess was the entire reason she’d come to Faeven. Without it, there was no way to defeat the Scathing. There was no way to save her people. If the anam couldn’t help her, then she was helpless.
“But, then what am I supposed to do?” The truth of her panic expelled from her in a vomit of words. “How can I save my kingdom? The anam ó Danua was the only way! He told me it was the only way! I can’t leave them to die! I can’t!”
Lianan fluttered down so their faces were mere inches from one another. The pixie edged back, then blew a puff of air in Maeve’s face.
She stumbled back. “What was that for?”
“For being one who loves books, you do not ask yourself the right questions.” Lianan rolled her eyes and shook her head so her hair fell around her like a curtain of moonlight. “I am sorry, but the Scathing that plagues your land is a form of dark magic. It is not dark fae. Not even the life source of a goddess is strong enough to destroy it.”
Maeve sank to her knees. The crushing weight of defeat pinned her to the ground. In that moment, her heart shattered. The shard of verity struck true and every splinter of hope, every fragment of her resilience broke into tiny, worthless pieces. Everything, all she’d done so far, was for nothing. All the time she’d wasted. All the pain she’d endured. None of it had been worthwhile if she couldn’t return to Kells victorious. If she couldn’t protect her homeland. If she went back empty handed, it would be the end. The end of her people. The end of her.
Lianan tilted her head and peered up at her, having returned to her seated position on the broken log. “This is not the answer you were hoping for.”
“No. It’s not.” Maeve shook her head. She pulled herself up from the forest floor and scrubbed her hands over her face. “Not at all.”
“Lianan will make a deal with you.”
Maeve groaned.
“Tell Lianan a truth, Maeve from Kells. A secret. A dark one.” She shimmied her wings. “And Lianan will give you some advice to assist you on your journey.”
She didn’t want to do it. She shouldn’t. Making another deal with the same fae was tempting fate. But she was out of choices. And she was out of time.
“A truth…” Maeve met the fae’s frosty, sapphire gaze.
