Discovering Fae

Instead of having Dad and Mal fly us to Phoenix Hollow, Mom and I rode in carriages. Dad insisted and it worked out, since Dad was teaching Mal the finer side of flying. Maybe after this, the wind wouldn’t try to rip my lungs out of my throat.

Most of the ride was spent discussing the general idea of magic and fixing the glaring misconceptions Earth had about it. Like that only certain people can use it. Everyone could use magic because magic isn’t some power granted by some kind of other being or whatever. Magic was the fundamental essence of all things. It also wasn’t evil, nor was it good. Much like any other weapon, it was the hand that held it that determined its use.

Also, just like with any other weapon, there were some people that held it and decided it just wasn’t suited to them. Just because you can use magic doesn’t mean you will use it. A lot of artists in the Sidhe use very little magic to make their pieces, aside from the elves, but they had a technique all of their own that was an art form in itself.

We’d stop just before the sun began to set and Mom would help me get a better handle on my magic before it decided to start sparking in my sleep again. Then, we’d eat, and Dad would have me work out in an effort to strengthen my newly forming flight muscles.

Three days of traveling and I was nearly weeping in joy when we reached Phoenix Hollow. I hurt in places I didn’t know I could hurt in, and my body felt like my bones were about to shake apart. I felt... fragile, and that was apparently a good thing because it meant that I was getting a better grip on the parts of my magic that was causing mayhem. So, spirit. I was getting a handle on spirit, and it wasn’t liking being confined.

“You’re moving like an old lady,” Mal said when he landed beside me. “Is it any different than last night?”

“It hurts more,” I gritted my teeth. “I’m not sure if that’s progress, but that’s all I got.”

“It’ll take time to settle,” Mom said kindly, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder as Mal went to help Dad with the very small amount of luggage we had.

“In the meantime, I might end up zapping everyone I care about. I’m not feeling the equality of this situation,” I rolled my eyes as Raiz came out of the building, hands clasped behind his back and a small smile on his face.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen that look on his face before,” Mom said quietly. “He likes me, but I think it’s more like he puts up with me more than genuine kinship. Seems like he’s taken a shine to you, Fae.”

“What?” Mal snapped.

“Calm down,” I giggled and stepped into his side, putting my arm around his back, under his wings. “I’m completely sure she doesn’t mean that way and even if she did, it doesn’t matter.”

“I am very sure it’s not like that,” Mom giggled. “There are very few male phoenix, which leaves them... highly sought after by the females.”

“I really didn’t need to know that,” I made a face.

“I could have survived without that information as well,” Mal copied the look.

Mom laughed loudly and Dad chuckled as they walked towards Raiz, who had his head tilted in a very avian way.

“I’m never going to see him the same again,” Mal shuddered.

“Yeah, this just got incredibly awkward,” I agreed as we followed my parents.

“I suspect that the reason for your visit has to do with some of the texts I sent,” Raiz said, fixing his yellow eyes on me. “You are... not well.”

“Taming spirit,” Mom nodded.

“Hm. I’m not sure it’s working properly,” he said and turned around. “Someone will take your things to the rooms we have prepared for you. Fae, I would like you to come with me.”

“I’m not leaving her,” Mal narrowed his eyes.

“I didn’t say she had to,” came the reply. “I only need Fae, but the presence of more will matter none.”

“He’s in a bad mood,” Mom whispered to us. “Try not to make him angry. Out of all of us here, only one of us is phoenix-proof.”

“I thought you were,” I looked at her.

“I can withstand a lot more than most, but very few people can stand near a phoenix when riled up,” she shook her head. “Other phoenix, mostly. Some of the oldest demons could, in theory. And you, apparently.”

“Well, we do have a bit of demonic heritage so there’s that,” I shrugged.

“Yes, I suppose there is that,” she agreed.

“We’ve finished making the copies of the journals written by the two ancestors that had wings before you,” Raiz said, gesturing to a pair of old and worn books. “These are the old copies. I’ve been looking through every archive, tome, and scroll and have found nothing that even comes close to the writing inside. I’ve sent samples to the other record keepers in hopes that there might be something in them, but I have few hopes.”

One of the books was a very dark, sinister shade of red and the other was the shade of gray that you’d see in a thunderstorm. That was it. The only differences they had, aside from the wear and tear of time. They were the same size, thickness, I even believed the material used to make them were the same.

“Which branch of the family tree did they come from, because there are no records of anyone having wings,” Mom asked.

“We don’t know,” Raiz said, his feathers raising slightly in irritation. “We don’t know their names, genders, nothing at all aside from the accounts made by others. They were of the royal family, proven by their Awakening. Then, sometime after, they vanished for years, believed to be dead, only to return again. Then they grew wings. We know these are their journals because they were cataloged and stored as “The Winged Ones” belongings.”

“You make it sound like they were in the same era,” I looked at him.

“They were. I’m not sure of their relation, though,” he nodded.

I carefully opened the cover of the red book and ran my hand over the yellowed paper and markings that jumped and moved, reforming and shaping themselves until they turned into something I could read.

“How important would knowing the names of the authors be?” I asked him, as I scanned the words in front of me before looking up at him. “Or having the complete translation?”

“Very,” he said, rustling his feathers like he just got a chill. “But it’s not a language anyone knows.”

“This one is written by Hadria of Valkeen, cousin to Queen Tabrath,” I said and opened the grey book. “And this is written by Roltak of Valkeen. They were twins.”

“You can read that?” Raiz squawked and grabbed an inkwell and quill.

“Queen Tabrath,” Mom frowned and shook her head. “I don’t know that name.”

“Tabrath ruled nearly sixty thousand years ago. Back then, the Sidhe was very divided. There were three branches of the royal family that claimed thrones, but only one that had direct relation to the true bloodline of the first king,” Raiz explained as he made notes on what I told him so far. “The other lines faltered long ago, and I doubt very much they would have been included in your histories, Mary.”

“And where is Valkeen?” Dad asked.

“Now called Veil Mountains,” Raiz answered and waved at the books in front of me, urging my to continue.

“Give me a second, Feathers,” I rolled my eyes as I picked up Hadria’s book and sat down to read. “I’d like to summarize for the time being.”

“Of course,” he nodded.

“Hadria starts off with a pretty detailed history lesson on the royal lineage. There were once two families that claimed royal blood, but there was a third,” I said, frowning. “According to this, the demon source of our line was captured and held in a prison of sorts for six years, during which time the Celestial source was... Dear gods, I’m going to be sick.”

“Me too, and I don’t even know what it says,” Mal paled.

“You remember how you said that her parents were the leaders of her people?” I looked at Raiz and he nodded absently while he scribbled out notes. “They were not happy about their only daughter being “defiled” by a demon. They had him imprisoned, separating Bonded souls.”

“For six years?” Mom asked, her eyes wide as she shared a look with Dad.

“That’s not the worst part. They also were behind the almost literal imprisonment of their own daughter. They chained her to the wall,” I shook my head as I looked back at the book. “Then, they pretended that nothing had changed. They performed a marriage that had been arranged for her since before she was born, then looked the other way while... Celestials are not at all holy.”

“Oh gods” Mom gasped, holding her hand to her mouth. “The pain they must have been in every time... for six years.”

“Well, eventually there was a child. It didn’t survive, shockingly, which angered her “husband”, who blamed the taint caused by the demon,” I read. “Now, this entire time, their youngest child, a daughter, managed to creep into the prison where her father was being held and set him free.”

“Immail,” Raiz said.

I scanned the pages for a second before shrugging.

“There are no names,” I said, making him grunt as he kept scratching out notes. “Well, apparently, one does not piss off a demon king and expect to let bygones be bygones. No, no. He went completely insane, ripping entire armies apart without a single care about who they were fighting for. If he saw you and you weren’t his Bonded, you had to die. The only other ones that were excluded from death were their children, but that didn’t exclude them from being hurt. The eldest, fearing the rampage of his father would ravage the Sidhe beyond repair, found a way to reach his mother. Doesn’t say how, though.”

“Pity,” Raiz muttered.

“Now, when he found out how his mother was being treated, he went into a rampage of his own, nearly destroying the Celestial city before he got a grip on himself and grabbed his mother and took her back to his father,” I giggled at the account as I read it. “I have to say, our family is pretty brutal when provoked. The word ‘blood’, in its various forms, is used many, many times in this account.”

“We do have our moments,” Mom nodded.

“So, years go by, things get settled back into a type of normal, and now, there’s a third branch of the family tree,” I said, holding up a finger as I read ahead so I could understand what the heck I was reading. “Well, that’s just shitty.”

“Care to elaborate?” Dad urged.

“Well, we aren’t supposed to have Awakenings,” I said, looking at Mom. “At least, it wasn’t until this child was born that we weren’t supposed to have Awakenings. So, the Celestial abuser was quite livid about the whole thing and found a witch to put a ‘blood curse’ on us.”

“The hell?” Mal reeled back.

“Agreed. Ares there any details about this curse?” Raiz asked.

“Um... some but none that make sense to me. ′There was nothing he could do about the progeny that already existed since he only had access to half of the blood he needed, but he placed a curse upon the future children to grasp those that came before.′ It goes on to say that it locked them, whatever that means, and then ‘stripped them of stolen features and workings’,” I tilted my head.

“They had wings!” Raiz shouted and pointed at me with his quill.

“I’m... confused,” I blinked at him.

“The Celestial city can’t be reached any other way but by flying and only a Celestial could make the trip, both due to altitude and to endurance,” he smiled. “One of them, at least, had to have had wings!”

“Calm down there, Feathers, before you break a hip, old man,” I gave him a look.

“We’ve already concluded your wings are connected to your powers, so taking the wings away means the powers are much weaker, allowing them to be locked away, sealed deep inside the bloodline, completely unreachable,” he said and scribbled faster. “It wouldn’t have completely drained them of the inherited abilities, but it would put them on a much lower scale. Like when the moon blocks the sun during an eclipse. There is still light, but very, very muted.”

“So, what happened, then?” Mal asked, looking up from where Raiz was scribbling away to me then back to the book in front of me. “If all of that was locked away so deeply, why did these two grow wings, and why is Fae now doing the same?”

“The third child,” I said reading ahead. “She’s not certain, at least for now, but she believes that her branch of the family came from the third child. When the curse was made, it was done right after the first child rescued the mother. Again, she’s not certain and uses a lot of questioning, but... gross. She thinks the bastard that did it used the connection of... his seed mixing with her fertility. Ugh, I need bleach for my brain.”

“As far as blood curses go, that would be the only way, since she wasn’t in his grasp. Her blood, even old blood would be enough for a minor curse, but he needed to use some kind of connection,” Raiz said thoughtfully. “Soul Bonds supersede marriages every time. That connection was purely legal, in human terms.”

“It was disgusting and abhorrent,” Mom snapped.

“And perverse,” Dad nodded.

“Yes, all of those things as well,” Raiz shook his head. “But it does explain why the curse didn’t immediately take effect. It would need the viable life of the offspring of the one that followed him. Then, it would spread to all of his other offspring.”

“Lovely,” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope he’s still alive so I can kill him myself.”

“Agreed,” Mom seethed.

“So, why isn’t it doing that with Fae?” Mal asked again.

“It was a rush job?” I guessed. “It happened between the time her son rescued her and the time... nope, moving past that. So, it had to have been botched, somehow, right?”

“Blood curses aren’t like that,” Raiz shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “They either work, or they rebound back on the one making them. It’s why so few people do them and why those that do charge a lot of money for them.”

“And I never knew there was a third, original family branch,” Mom frowned. “Why wasn’t it ever mentioned before?”

“Conflict of opinions, I believe is the term for what Hadria says next,” I tapped the pages I was already reading. “The first born eventually became the first to unite the Sidhe under one ruler to quell the fighting between the demons and the Celestials. He was named King and all bowed fealty to him save three.”

“Demons, witches, and Tovak,” Raiz nodded. “Nasty buggers, Tovak. Angry, too, since they were nearly wiped out during the wars. Held a grudge that the other races were being helped more than they were. They never recovered and went extinct, eventually.”

“Well, they were led by the second born,” I said. “She had a couple of kids and then tried to claim the Infernal Throne. It killed her, ‘leaving not even ash to accompany her screams of agony’, it says. Graphic and disturbing.”

“That implies the Infernal Throne is at least somewhat sentient,” Raiz nodded, like that made sense to him.

“The third child was still loved deeply by... his parents, so another male,” I said, and Raiz nodded while he scratched out his notes at impressive speeds. “But his siblings blamed him for their curse. Thus, he kind of just... vanished from history.”

“Outcasts usually do,” Raiz muttered.

“How is this tracking with what we already know?” I asked Mom.

“Well, aside from this being a branch of the family I never even knew about, so far so good,” she shrugged.

“It’s pretty accurate with what we have as well,” Raiz nodded.

“We’re going to have to talk about that, Raiz,” Mom looked at him.

“We share what is pertinent when it is asked for,” he shrugged.

“Again, we’ll have to talk about that,” she pursed her lips.

“I’m sorry, but can I not do this for a bit?” I closed the book and rubbed my temples. “That’s a lot of information and I’m pretty sure I’m getting close to my limit for dealing with it.”

“Of course,” Raiz said, ruffling his feathers again like he got a chill. “I’m most eager to begin this account for the histories.”

“Of course, you are,” I sighed and leaned back in the chair.

“Feel free to take them with you,” he gestured to the books in front of me. “They’ve already been copied.”

Mom smiled at me softly as Raiz left, then she got up and followed him with Dad right behind her.

“Would it be irresponsible for us to take off again?” I asked Mal with my eyes closed.

“We did promise them ten days,” he chuckled and threaded his fingers with mine, kissing my knuckles. “It’s day six. How are you feeling, love?”

“Do you want the complaints, the truth, or the glossy version?” I replied.

“All of it,” he answered and I opened my eyes to look at the ceiling.

“My back feels like it’s on fire and it itches. My skin is uncomfortable and tight, and my bones feel like they’re about to explode from pressure,” I listed. “My wings won’t stop moving around and it makes sleeping difficult so I’m cranky. My head is going to explode with all of this mess we’re finding as we try to find out what the actual fart sack is going on with me.”

“Fart sack?” he laughed.

“I just told you I’m freaking miserable and that’s what you hear?” I glared at him.

“I’m sorry, Fae. I wish there was something I could do to make you less miserable,” he caressed my cheek, succeeding in calming me down. “We could take a nap. It could solve the cranky problem.”

“If we can get these things to stop,” I wiggled my shoulders a little bit.

“I think I can figure something out,” he smirked and pulled me to my feet. “Besides, any excuse to hold you works for me. You know this.”

“I do know this. I also have no problems with this,” I giggled.

“I know you don’t, since you force your way into my arms every time I move too far away for your liking,” he laughed.

“Don’t let it go to your head. You’re just comfortable,” I teased him.

“Right. That’s the only reason, Princess,” he rolled his eyes.

We found someone to take us to our room and settled in on the bed, my face tucked into Mal’s chest. He gently put a hand between the ever-growing mounds that were my wings before gently stroking my back. After a moment, they stilled and quivered at the touch until I fell asleep.