A Cascade of Moments Read online

  Chapter Two: Changing Horizon

  I often had thoughts of vengeance, but I never felt they consumed me. In the days after our conversation, I thought about what Lee had said about Lydia’s killer having a new beginning in a different life. I didn’t want it to get in the way of justice, but didn’t everyone deserve a chance to begin again and become a better person? I think Lee knew he could reach my spirit of fairness, and as a human being –or near enough to one, it seemed unfathomable that someone should be made to pay for their past-life transgressions in a future life. I suppose that’s what karma was, in a way, just very different from an avenging fae. It didn’t mean I wouldn’t punish him, of course, if I had the chance.

  Maybe I was being unreasonable, and perhaps the gaping wound in my heart had healed more than a little, but it wasn’t fully there yet. I still fantasised about cutting that man down, and even though Lydia was gone, I wanted to save her from him with every ounce of my being.

  I knew that even if I somehow went back in time and managed to save her, she’d no longer be my girlfriend. The past we had together was gone, but now I had Sorcha – my soul mate. There were many forms of love, and from what I could gather, so much of my relationship with Lydia had been a desire to help her and see her prosper, and for a time she had. Even the short time we shared was precious, so I wasn’t going to believe it was for nothing. I’m sure she wouldn’t have wanted me to be a murderer either, especially for her sake. It frustrated me because I wanted to hurt him, but I also knew it shouldn’t be easy.

  I pulled a grey, hand-knitted blanket over me as I lounged on the blue sofa in my study. I’d converted what had once been a reading room with the Prince’s permission, and made a well-equipped area I could work and relax in. It was nice. I sometimes came here when I wanted to be alone, which was something everybody needed sometimes, but right now Sorcha was with me. She had her back to me as she wrote in her journal, and I enjoyed the sight of her close to me with her long, flowing dark hair and a mauve dress that Jacqueline, our handmaiden, had taken in for her.

  “What are you writing about?” I asked her curiously. I felt the urge to slip up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, but I was feeling lazy and I enjoyed watching her write.

  “Politics. I’m just writing in my journal,” she explained, glancing back over her shoulder at me. Even now, after we’d been together for years, she could take my breath away at the most unexpected moments.

  “Why politics? In case your memory fades?”

  It seemed a prudent thing to do, as most memories from our pasts still hadn’t returned to us. A journal would be useful to find if we lost our memories again. One of the first things I did after we moved in was search for prior journals written by either of us, but there were none that I could find. It probably wasn’t surprising as it seemed likely we’d only stayed at the mansion for short durations.

  “I just like to keep a diary so that there’s a record of my life and the things I’ve been through. Maybe someone else would find it interesting a thousand years from now or maybe I would, if I’m old and want to look back at my younger adventures.”

  I smiled at that, but I also suspected it was why Sorcha had struggled so much with forgetting large pieces of her past. She liked to reflect back and it was hard when those memories were taken away.

  I knew Sorcha kept a fair few secrets, but she’d let one slip – she was a witch in her last life. I knew she’d tried to access her abilities again, but had met with some frustration.

  “I can understand that and feel that way sometimes too. So what are the politics you’re writing about?” I asked her. I’d studied fae history and political science books in the library, though most seemed old, dusty, and not terribly relevant to this point in history.

  “I heard the King and Queen are coming back today,” she explained, turning around in her chair to smile at me.

  In all of our time at Insley Mansion, we hadn’t yet met King Auberon or Queen Carisse, at least from a point I could remember. “Ooh, that’s interesting. They were signing a treaty?”

  Sorcha nodded, “At least they were said to be negotiating one with the Kuresh.”

  I’d read a bit about them. They were fae, much as we were, but with avian traits. There were few races who could travel between different dimensional civilisations – islands like this one, which floated seemingly in space – without the use of a ship, but they could. The Kuresh were blessed with strong mental abilities, and that gave them an advantage over many fae, but they were also said to be secretive in nature and fragile.

  “I wonder if the King and Queen will be accompanied by the Kuresh. That would certainly be interesting,” I said, musing aloud.

  Sorcha smiled, but neither of us had an answer about that possibility.

  “When will they get here?” I asked her, sitting up on the sofa. I figured I’d been lazy enough for a while.

  “Leanna didn’t say.”

  She was a chef in the kitchens. The Prince had long ago suggested we help the staff maintain the mansion and Sorcha did that by working in the kitchen. I chose to help with the gardens and guard duties patrolling the island.

  “She just knows they’re coming back and Princess Saphira will be with them.”

  It had been a long time since we’d seen the bookish young woman who we’d first met at the banquet for the Grand Masquerade. I didn’t realise she’d accompanied the King or Queen on their journey. It was possible their paths had crossed somewhere along the way and she hadn’t been there the whole time.

  “I think the house will feel different with them here but it will be good to see them all. I’m curious to hear news from our neighbours. After all, I’ve never met them, as far as I know.”

  Sorcha set her journal down. With a stretch, she climbed up off her chair and joined me on the sofa. I wrapped my arm around her waist, enjoying her closeness to me. Her perfume was sweet and tempting, just like her.

  “Mmmm, this is nice. I’m sure we’ll learn more later for ourselves when they get here.”

  She nodded, confident of the fact, and I soon felt the warmth of her lips against my own as she kissed me. Together we sank down against the sofa, and I grinned as I felt her hands take mine, and press them down against the sofa.

  “Now that you have me pinned here, what are you going to do with me?” I asked jokingly, smiling up at her as I felt her breathily kiss me.

  “Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something,” she said with a chuckle.

  I closed my eyes in bliss as I felt her warm kisses stray down the side of my neck, and lower, over my décolletage.

  I glanced at her when Sorcha released one of my hands to push up my white dress. She slid her hand up my bare thigh, and then she gazed meaningfully into my eyes.

  I knew what it meant – that I was hers, and she had plans for me. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I smiled and ran my fingers through her silken hair, loving every moment.

  ***

  We spent a relaxed afternoon making love in my study – on the sofa and my writing desk, before cuddling up under my grey, knitted blanket together. I loved our time spent together like this – when we didn’t argue, when our hearts were as one, and peace and pleasure were ours. There was a knock at the door, but thankfully the person outside didn’t try to open it. We quickly pulled on our clothes, missing out small details like panties in my case, but no one was going to notice that.

  I was probably blushing when I answered the door. Sorcha usually had that effect on me.

  “Jacqueline, this is a surprise.”

  She was our handmaiden, but we seldom gave her much to do because we preferred to do most things for ourselves. Jacqueline didn’t seem to mind; I think in part because it gave her more spare time.

  “Look at you two. You’re practically indecent. Good on you,” she said with a musical laugh.

  Apparently our mischief in my study had been more obvious than I’d realised.

  Jacqueli
ne was an attractive fae who looked in her mid-thirties, but she could have been thousands of years old. Not all fae aged the same way, so I wasn’t sure. I never did ask her, but it would’ve seemed out of place if I had.

  “Hello Jacqueline,” Sorcha exclaimed.

  Sorcha grinned as she folded up the grey blanket, setting it down on the sofa where we’d been sitting.

  “I’ve been looking for you both. King Auberon, Queen Carisse and Princess Saphira have returned–”

  Sorcha looked surprised. “I was expecting some kind of fanfare.”

  Jacqueline shook her head, but her dark curls remained firmly pinned in place. “You won’t find it here. The King and Queen don’t need to make a show of the fact they’re in charge. We all know it.”

  I hadn’t really thought of it that way before, but Jacqueline made a good point and it was possible royalty might get tired of the fuss over millennia.

  “There’s news and I was told to make it known,” Jacqueline explained. “The treaty has failed and that means we’re in a more precarious position than we were before.”

  Sorcha sat back down and gestured to a chair, encouraging Jacqueline to sit.

  I sat down beside Sorcha with concern, unsure of what this might mean for us. “What do you mean precarious? I think you’d better tell us what’s going on.”

  Jacqueline agreed, and sat for several moments in silence as she gathered her thoughts.

  “It’s been known that the Kuresh –the winged fae of Zandari Isle, have been in talks with the unseelie for some time now.”

  Sorcha gasped. “Hey, wait a minute. I thought the unseelie were exiled to an island where no one else could go?”

  “That was my understanding too,” I told Jacqueline, unnerved by what this could mean for seelie fae such as ourselves.

  “The Kuresh can fly and they were able to reach the unseelie. They claim to have discovered the island by chance.”

  Jacqueline didn’t say it, but I could hear the doubt in her voice. She didn’t believe it for a second.

  “The unseelie,” she continued, “have made the Kuresh grand offers in exchange for a chance to escape their captivity. They promised all sorts of things, including raw magical power. After that, the Kuresh invited King Auberon and Queen Carisse to make a counter-offer if they didn’t want to see their captives freed.”

  Sorcha furrowed her brow. “Wouldn’t that be grounds to attack the Kuresh?”

  I nodded at that, “Or they could’ve taken steps to try and cut off the Kuresh’s ability to reach the unseelie.”

  Jacquline shrugged at Sorcha’s question. “Yes, I suppose. It’s blackmail, in a way. The Kuresh may have alliances with other beings but I couldn’t tell you the specifics, because I don’t know.

  Our people tried to prevent the Kuresh from breaking through to the unseelie again, and those attempts failed. If our people were on the unseelie island that would be one thing – we could shore up the defences from the inside, but the unseelie are violent and powerful. It would be too dangerous to maintain a presence there. That means barriers have to be enforced from the outside. It’s just not as effective, especially with the unseelie weakening the defences from the inside. Our people tried to deaden the magic on the island before the unseelie were imprisoned there, but fae are magical beings – we are born of magic, and we exude magic. Do you understand?”

  Sorcha nodded at once, but it took me a moment longer to get my head around it.

  The seelie’s plan sounded to me like it may have been doomed to fail, but if the unseelie island was in a different realm, they might have had more reason to believe it would be effective in confining them. It seemed like the seelie hadn’t considered the full range of things that might go wrong.

  I wondered if we would be the ones to pay the price for their mistake, but I was one of the seelie fae, so perhaps I shouldn’t be classifying us differently. I may have had a hand in the original plan, for all I knew. I couldn’t remember it, but how much else didn’t I remember?

  “So the King and Queen were unable to convince the Kuresh to see our side?” I asked.

  Jacqueline grew annoyed, but it was soon apparent that she wasn’t annoyed at me. “Oh that wasn’t it at all. The unseelie offered them magic and abilities of a type the seelie fae never would. It’s against our laws to steal magic from one being and give it to another, but that’s what the unseelie were offering to do – kill some of their people and transfer their magic to the Kuresh in exchange for their own freedom. The King and Queen, as well as their diplomats, tried to reason with them, but the Kuresh wanted several of our largest islands in exchange for withholding their help from the unseelie. It was too high a price to pay.

  His Majesty had no choice but to assign his forces to stop the Kuresh from freeing the unseelie, and to hunt down any unseelie who escape. I don’t know the current situation, but I believe some of the unseelie might have got away. More than likely they’ll be coming, and may the Gods help us when they get here.”

  Chapter Three: Fear and Hope

  My breath caught as I came to terms with the situation Jacqueline was presenting. “I don’t know what to think, but perhaps all we can do is take things one step at a time. I work with the Insley guard and they’re going to want my help.”

  I felt Sorcha’s hand squeeze mine, but her smile was a reassuring one.

  “We’ll figure this out and get through it. All of it,” she promised me.

  Jacqueline nodded, but I could see concern in her eyes even greater than our own. Perhaps she remembered more things we might’ve been blessed to forget or she feared the outcome more than we did. Possibly both. We needed to know more.

  I rose from the sofa beside Sorcha. “I’ll be back soon and I’ll see what else I can find out.”

  I felt strangely light-headed as I tried to envision changes to our life together here. It seemed like the winds of fate brought trouble with them, but only time would tell how heavily it would affect us.

  I left the study and returned to our suite to dress more fully, before I made my way downstairs.

  I noticed that two guards in the familiar, navy blue uniforms stood outside the main door of the mansion, facing outward as I walked through it. Neither were guards I recognised, so I could only assume they’d travelled with the royal family.

  I gave them a nod, which they didn’t return, and then found my way back out into the sunshine.

  The garrison was in an outbuilding near the mansion, and there were eight guard posts around the island. I hadn’t discovered them at the time of the masquerade, but they were there. Usually there weren’t guards stationed at all of them at a given time, but when I assisted the guards we patrolled between them.

  I saw more guards as soon as I rounded the corner of the mansion, approaching the garrison. They were dressed in the same simple, navy blue uniforms I was used to, though I hadn’t ever been offered a uniform myself. I wasn’t a guard by profession, after all; I just chose to help the guards as my way of assisting the Prince during my long stay at his mansion.

  The garrison was a long, low building with a tiled roof and a paved area outside. A group of guards were gathered, talking outside it – they may have had as many questions and concerns as I did – and when I approached the door, a guard with short-cropped silver hair called out “Oy lass, you can’t go in there.”

  As it so happened, I’d been going in there for the last five years. He just didn’t know it.

  My hands settled on my hips as I walked back toward him. “Sergeant Blackfield knows me. I’ve been working with the guard here for the last five or six years. I’m a long-term guest of Prince Eldran.”

  Another of the men grinned, though I didn’t recognise him.

  “Ah,” he said with a meaningful nod.

  There was something about his demeanour that suggested that were circumstances different, he might’ve tried to usher me away from the garrison, but he didn’t. I figured it probably had to do with the curre
nt political state. They could use all the help they could get.

  “Go on through. I saw him in there a few minutes ago.”

  I nodded and made my way inside before he changed his mind or got in my way.

  I’d never seen the garrison so crowded with guards. I assumed that to have had such a large contingent with them, the royal family must’ve travelled on a bigger ship than the one that transported guests between the island and the green shores. I shook my head slightly, more in wonder than any kind of disapproval, and sought out the Sergeant. He was the one who’d first suggested to me that I try joining one of the patrols to see how I’d go. It had worked out well enough, so I’d continued over the years, with my name added to several shifts per week.

  I wasn’t much of a fighter, other than a bit of training I’d picked up here and there, and Lee’s sparring lessons, but I could spot trouble as well as the next fae. I also prided myself on my common sense.

  “Sergeant,” I exclaimed, noticing him at the administration desk sorting through a bundle of papers.

  “Ah, Celina. I suppose you’re looking to find out where you stand in all of this?”

  I shrugged and nodded. “It would help, sir.”

  “Every fae who helps us here is one less fae I have to recall from the world, and another pair of hands we have here, so your help would no doubt be appreciated, and not just by me.”

  My eyes widened at the revelation. “Wait a minute! Won’t their human friends and families think they’re dead if they’re recalled?”

  Some of the men in the room were talking loudly and Sergeant Blackfield shouted out, “Keep it down over there!” He turned back to me, his expression serious.

  “That’s exactly what it means, but if it’s necessary then it has to be done. Those unseelie bastards are going to try to kill us and we can’t let that happen. Our people can always return to the mortal world later. If they kill us, we’ll be gone for good. We can’t allow that to happen to the royal family or ourselves, if we can help it.”