Page 6 of The Forbidden Fae King

The stonework has corroded over the years, and surfaces that were once engraved with runes and decorations are now heavily pitted.

The Tower pulls me toward it and I wonder if it is imbued with some ancient, dark fae magic. We used to race to its top as children, Caitlin, Diarmuid and I. Never Brianna, she was always considered too small.

There is a single plinth of pure jade at its peak with thousands of fae runes cut into it. I used to trace it with parchment and thought I would translate their language as an adult. That I would march straight into the Otherworld and demand they teach me their runes.

I had such ambitious, frivolous dreams as a child.

On the day of the spring equinox, the priestesses and druids will come together at The Tower and feed their magic into the jade plinth to open the portals to the Otherworld. It is only when our two worlds align every seven years that our magic is enough to open the paths between worlds.

Once we had infinitely more magic, when the fae still walked our realm and contributed to our bloodlines, and the portals were always open, regardless of the year. Back then, even minor mages had enough power to activate a portal at will.

But we were at the fae’s mercy, little more than slaves, and their atrocities piled up until we purged them from our lands.

I stride beneath The Tower, and look straight up.

The jade stone at The Tower’s apex is visible through slits in the ceiling. In the center of the ground before me is a small jade altar, directly beneath the plinth. Its basin is filled with murky water and dried leaves, with four channels in a cross section which catch liquid magic and split it.

Each has a rune for a season; a spiral sun, a leaf, a snowflake and a flower. A directory of sorts to the portals that lead to the summer, autumn, winter and spring courts that surround The Tower in a full ring.

My feet follow the path of the flower bud, out of The Tower and across uneven grass, to another magic splitting altar at the boundary of the ancient ring of stones. Beyond are ten portals that lead to the Spring Court, all laying dormant.

Each portal is a ring of cloudy moonstone, its colors muted by dust that has collected on it, inserted straight into the stone of the mountain. A thin path winds through the jagged face of the bluff at a sharp incline, to allow passage to each portal, some at the height of a small building.

In their dormant state, each doorway only leads a few paces into the mountain.

I inspect them for a long while, and only turn as the scuff of boots approach from behind.

“Have you decided on which one to take?” I glance over my shoulder at Caitlin.

We have spent years pouring over every ancient book and scroll we could find on the fae to plan her journey to the Otherworld. The wilds of the Spring Court best suit her skill set and experience.

“That one.” She points at a portal. “I will make my crossing through that one.”

I glance at the doorway. It looks exactly like all the others. The knowledge of exactly where in the Spring Courtit will lead was lost a long time ago.

“You don’thaveto go,”,” I say gently. “You can back out at any time.”

“And be forced to take a husband so I can produce an heir?” Caitlin spits her fury. “I will not marry. I will not take a man to my bed. Imagine the power I will hold if I walk through that portal and return pregnant to the magic. The independence. The reverence. I would be a mother saint, and the king himself would be hard pressed to force me to his will. I could—”—” She stops herself short.

“You could rule the Appleshield Protectorate as you wish, with Gwyneth at your side. Officially. Not as a lover.”

“Yes, but my pilgrimage isn’t just for personal gain.” Caitlin bites her lip. “I need to understand the enemy. To visit the lands of the fae. Howcan I be the lord protector one day if I do not intimately know the threat our family shields this realm from? I must learn about the fae who would flood our world through these gates and set themselves up as our overlords if we allow them. This will not happen on my watch.”

The gods know I don’t want my sister to walk through one of those portals, to take such a risk, but I would never hold her back.

We have seen firsthand how terrifying the low fae beasts are when they trespass here, but to be surrounded by those vicious creatures in their own world? My heart stutters painfully at the fear that flares within me.

All low fae are feral predators that hunt humans, wanting nothing more than to sink their teeth into us.

I have heard stories from my grandmother’s youth of the aftermath of goblins crossing over from the Otherworld and slaughtering entire villages until they were stopped. They killed anything living, people, horses, cats, and smeared their own bodies with the blood of their victims.

The Cú Sídhe hunt in packs like wolves and are just as deadly. The nymphs are brutal, with long clawed hands and a thirst for blood to be drunk straight from the source.

It feels like we send our women into the middle of a battlefield, utterly alone and with only a dagger to protect themselves. Caitlin will literally walk into enemy territory where every creature will recognize her as a human and mark her for destruction.

And then there are the high fae. A shiver runs down my spine just at the thought of them.

There have been accounts through the centuries of war bands of high fae men arriving through the portals and attacking small establishments, killing, pillaging, raping, and then stealing the human women they find to be their slaves and consorts back in their realm.

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