“I took Cadeyrn as my familiar that day.”
“I didn’t know that, but you were so small, so innocent, that it would have been impossible to know until you were older that you had. When we returned home, we knew we couldn’t hand you over. Not to a man who abused and killed those of the weaker sex. Your mother grew distant, and eventually I knew it was only a matter of time before she gave in and allowed Alazander to take her from us. We had just gotten Liam back, and the damage he’d endured had taken a toll on his mind. We couldn’t allow the same thing to happen to you. So we worked together, to hide you. I went into the human world and met with a Warlock who owed a life debt to my brother. I explained what would happen if our war was brought to their door.”
He shook his head. “I spun a tale so horrid with what could happen that they had no choice but to take you in, hiding you; not just from the Horde King, but the Guild as well. He was a good man and he and his wife were childless, so this debt became a blessing for them, or so they told me. He was very powerful in the Guild, so we knew you would be safe with them. We had you branded with the triquetra that would hide you in plain sight as a human. The triquetra was supposed to leave you with enough magic to pass as a Warlock’s child, and it would prevent you from going through Transition. The only thing that would break the spell was you returning to Faery, but we’d been ensured that you would never be inside of Faery, or exposed to the Fae. I’m guessing something happened to change it.” I smiled and nodded at his words; yeah, Ryder happened. He had come in to my life like a whirlwind, and set wheels into motion that shouldn’t have been.
“I painted the wards on the walls inside their house for the protection of the Unseelie as a whole as well as anyone seeking to harm, to help protect you, and when I left them, and I broke our bond, we’d thought never to see you again.”
I felt almost relieved to know at least half of the story. I wasn’t some bastard born from a one night stand. I hadn’t been rejected, and I’d actually been wanted. From a parent’s point of view, I could see where they had struggled with the choice. From a child’s point of view, I felt as if I’d been sacrificed. “I watched my guardians being killed by Faolán; it happened as that man Cailean said it did. After that, I put everything I had into getting revenge. My guardians gave their lives to protect me.”
“Faolán would not have done what Cailean says. He was sent to retrieve you, to be given to the Horde to end the war that had started back up soon after we had sent you to the humans. After a few months of you being inside the human world, we reported your death to the Horde King; in essence, that was what it was like when we cut ties with you. You were, in a sense, dead to us when I cut the bond. We took a young child that had recently passed to the Harvest Feast that year, and buried her small body in a grave that was marked as your own. We’d been foolish to think it would work against the Horde, but we were desperate. Somehow, he knew you hadn’t died, and he demanded we find you and bring you back, or give them Liam again, which we could never do. War started again soon after, and there’s only one way to end it now. I can’t let it become a full out war again. I’m sorry, my daughter.”
I swallowed and prepared to say I had understood his dilemma, but before I could answer him, someone sifted in behind me, and a silver torque was placed around my neck and locked in place.
“Sorry, little sister,” a rough voice whispered. “But I can’t go back to him.”
“What the hell is this?” I demanded, whipping around and off the rocking chair to look at a blonde haired man, who had scars marring his beautiful face. Piercing blue and violet eyes met and held mine.
“I’m sorry, little one, but you have to go to him. This will prevent you from escaping until then. This war is a lost cause, and, without you, we will eventually lose to them. The Darkest Fairy still haunts my sleep, and I won’t go back alive. He’s induced sickness into our lands. He’s promised it will stop if he is given what he asked for. You,” the newcomer said softly. I knew that I was looking at Liam; the one I’d been traded for.
Chapter Forty One