Page 29 of The Fallen Kingdom

“I know you thought my mother was merciless, but she was considered by many to be a fair monarch. For all her faults, she brought prosperity to both Courts when she came to power. The Morrigan’s kingdom was forged in darkness. Her rule was absolute. And with the Book by her side, no one could challenge her.”

“But the first Cailleach did.”

“She had no choice,” Aithinne explains. “Dissent grew in the kingdoms. There was talk of rebelling, and my ancestors knew they would all be slaughtered if they tried. The Cailleach was the only one strong enough to slay the Morrigan.”

Her own sister. Just like every other Cailleach after her, sibling killing sibling. Exactly as Kiaran and Aithinne are expected to do. “And did she?”

“This is where the story becomes unclear. It’s not known whether the Morrigan’s own consort betrayed her or was used by the Cailleach to lure the Morrigan into a prison between worlds, but the Book was hidden somewhere in that place. Some say the Morrigan found the Book and is still alive there. Others say the disappearance of the Morrigan means the Cailleach must have succeeded in killing her.” Aithinne lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “The wisp wasn’t certain. He just knew that...”

Aithinne looks away. I don’t have to see her expression to know her eyes are wet. “Aithinne? Knew what?”

“Before the Book disappeared, the Morrigan used it to make the Cailleach suffer,” Aithinne says flatly. “The last thing she wrote was a curse: Each Cailleach shall give birth to two children of power, one with the gift of death, the other with the gift of life. The most powerful shall inherit the throne only when they have killed the other. Over and over and over, forever. And if they try to escape the fate written for them in that Book, they will rip the realms asunder.”

Aithinne stands in anger, her back to me. Her hands fist at her sides. “In every version of the story, the last lines she wrote were the same.” Aithinne looks at me, her jaw tight. “As it begins in death, so shall it end in death, until the day a child of the Cailleach confronts their fate with a true lie on their lips and sacrifices that which they prize most: their heart.”

A true lie on their lips. No circumvention. No manipulation. And the fae can’t lie. “So never,” I say. “She might as well have saidNothing can undo this curse.”

“In order to create a curse, you have to provide a way to break it,” Aithinne says bitterly. “As you’ve already surmised, wesìthicheanhave come up with creative ways around our limitations. The Morrigan was very clever.”

“The worst fae usually are.”

“So we’ll find it.” Aithinne grabs my sword in its sheath and presses it to my palm. Her eyes are intense, molten silver. The way Kiaran’s get just before a battle. “We’ll find that damn Book and change your realm back to the way it was, and we’ll write out that curse.”

I look down at my sword, afraid to ask the next question. “If we don’t?”

Aithinne winces. “If it comes down to him or me, the curse dictates it’s going to be me,” she says. Then, more softly, “But I spent two thousand years being tortured and imprisoned. I’m not ready to die. Not when I feel like I’ve barely lived.”

“I won’t let that happen,” I tell her firmly. “Did your wisp tell you how to find it?”

She hesitates. “You’re not going to like this.”

Before I can ask what she means, Derrick barrels through the door. He comes to a hard stop, the tips of his wings lit red. “The soldiers have crossed the border and they’re coming too fast to send Aileana before they get here.” He looks at me. “Now is a good time for you to unleash those scary powers and kill them all.”

Aithinne is already strapping her sword around her hips. “Is Kadamach with them?”

Derrick’s wings are buzzing, as agitated as a dragonfly’s. “I don’t know. I sure as hell hope not.”

I don’t miss the way Aithinne flickers a glance at me, a fraction of concern there. If Kiaran is out there with his soldiers, that means the war starts here. Right now. I may be the element of surprise, and my being there might be enough for him to call it off, but the moment he sees me with Aithinne—alive and ready for battle—he’ll assume I’ve chosen my side.

“There’s no helping it if he is,” Aithinne says.

“We should get Catherine, Gavin, and Daniel somewhere safe,” I say.

Aithinne slips on her coat and looks at me in amusement. “Where would they go?” she asks me. “If it starts, nowhere is safe from the Wild Hunt.” When I don’t say anything, she grips my shoulder. “The humans are going to take the horses out and draw the soldiers away from the other camps. This is their fight as much as ours.”

This world isn’t your burden. It belongs to all of us.

Iknowthat. I know it. But if they’re forced into combat, they won’t survive. Helplessly, I look at Derrick.

His features soften. “I’ll bring them back here alive. All right?”

I reach out and stroke his wings in thanks.

“Be careful.” “If you leave before I’m back,yoube careful.” He sighs before adding, “Don’t get yourself killed trying to save him.”

Gavin meets us outside the cottage. I notice he’s carrying weapons, as if he’s been training for this.

He glances at my sword and his lips quirk up. “Now this sight brings back fond memories. Though I admit, I miss the torn dresses. Trousers just don’t have the same touch of reckless insanity.”

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