Page 97 of Sidhe
“Half an hour,” she said.
Nathan gaped. “Half an—! How are we supposed to get there?”
“You’re aware that the Gatehouse is poised to be a battlefield, correct?” Shiarra said. “Because as the Veil falls, this place, once known as a dead zone, is tearing open. There are doorways opening all around here, Nathan. All we have to do is pick one,and we can cross over. Though I’m afraid Sasha will have to stay behind.”
Sasha sat forward to protest and then seemed to remember that he was human now. Crossing through the Veil, especially being in the Veil, was hard on humans. But Nathan, being an incubus, could cross over for the first time without trouble—at least since he’d been a Shadow Immortal under Malak’s thrall.
He had one extra task to complete as an incubus, it turned out, and he wasn’t about to mess that up.
Nathantriedtopretendthat he wasn’t terrified as he stood behind the Gatehouse before the very visible Veil doorway he was about to walk through in the trunk of an old willow tree. He’d never been able to see doorways like this. He’d never used one to actually enter the Veil, either, only to cross through to another doorway still on Earth or into Veil Slips. The only time he’d ever beeninthe Veil…
He shuddered.
“Sasha told me what happened to you,” Lindsey said, having volunteered along with Shiarra to accompany Nathan on this impromptu meeting. “Our land is beautiful. No horrors like what the dark fae conjure. And we don’t fight amongst ourselves like the light fae. You should feel blessed to see it as few humans ever can.”
“But still be on your best behavior, dear,” Shiarra said with a gentle hand at Nathan’s back. “The council is filled with the eldest and strongest among us. Don’t give them an excuse to tear you apart, hmm?”
Nathan tried to shoot her a snarl, but in that moment, she pushed on his back and sent him hurtling through the doorway.
He had the distinct feeling of déjà vu, freefalling from the top of the Gatehouse roof. Only this was…so different. Any other time he had passed through a Veil doorway, he’d felt constricted and pulled, like he couldn’t breathe properly. Now he felt the very opposite, like he was free, and full, and stretched to his limit. Like he was being welcomed in instead of snatched up by a hungry predator.
He landed, or rather passed to the other side, with a slight jolt as his feet were suddenly on a marble pathway. He considered making a yellow brick road comment but stopped short when he looked up.
The sight before Nathan was everything naïve humans thought the fae realm should be. Colors. He couldn’t help focusing on the colors first, because he was certain there was every shade in the rainbow present in the landscape around him, as well as a few he would swear he’d never seen on earth. The marble walkway was framed by lush green fields and hills, with various sized buildings interspersed. Some looked like normal modern homes you’d find in suburbia, others like ancient Greek villas, or cozy cottages from the Renaissance. There were trees of every type, flowers in colorful patterns, some next to each other that shouldn’t be able to grow in the same soil.
The path led to a singularly large building in the center of it all, and was haloed by archways and bridges over sparkling blue streams wherever the path deviated. There was one main bridge ahead that led directly to that center building, which Nathan would swear was a castle straight out of a Disney movie. The various architectures all clashed and yet still somehow went together, made with the same care and attention, and all so bright and colorful.
Only then did Nathan focus on the people. Incubi and succubae, free from any glamours, strolled casually along the marble road and smaller pathways. Many flew, some to get toplaces, others in play. Nathan was almost certain one group was playing Frisbee in the air. Then he noticed that some peoplewerein glamour, in normal clothing from the modern age, it all just seemed to depend on what each individual wanted.
There was one young incubus, Nathan noticed, quite young, only nine years old maybe, in a gazebo with his mother, changing back and forth between visible incubus and a clothing-clad human boy for practice.
“It’s polite when seeing the High Council to appear without glamours,” Shiarra said from beside Nathan. He’d nearly forgotten she and Lindsey were with him.
He turned to look at her and saw that she had already shed her glamours and stood before him in her true form for the first time. Her markings were black like the others in her family line, but her horns seemed to be set slightly higher on her head, arcing up and then coiling down before curling up once more at the ends, more straight out from her head than Sasha’s. Her red eyes blinked coyly at Nathan.
He shook his head with a smile as he readied himself to change as well, but before he did, he glanced at his other side to Lindsey. While the acidic green color of Lindsey’s eyes had given way to red as well, the color had seemingly seeped into his markings, his white hair and face so amazingly stark against all that green. Nathan noticed that Lindsey’s horns were probably the most impressive he had seen, going straight up and just slightly out about a foot and a half. He was relieved to realize that everyone maintained modest coverings over their nudity, though Lindsey’s dark green incubus-speedo made him blush a bit as he bit back any thoughts of commenting about the horns compensating for something—clearly they weren’t.
Nathan diverted his attention straight ahead, letting his glamours fall and feeling his wings stretch back gratefully. He paid special attention this time to manifesting his below-the-waist covering, and once he was confident he could maintain his appearance, he took his first step forward down the marble road.
“Anything you can tell me about the people on this High Council?” Nathan asked as they walked. Since the path took them straight to their obvious destination, he let his eyes wander, occasionally catching sight of wild fae creatures darting about bushes, up trees, and through the air, like a butterfly the size of a bird, or a monkey-cat…thing.
“First, there is Cyzarine,” Shiarra said. “Not ancient but still impressively aged as far as succubae go. Known in the past to speak with overwhelming disgust about the fact that our portion of the fae plane gets basic cable from the human world, corrupting as it is to young minds.” She smirked.
“There’s Irina,” Lindsey said. “Younger than most of the other council members, but vile and vicious when it comes to humans in general, and seals specifically. She’s of the belief that our kind should no longer feed from humans, but mate immediately after the change.”
“Do a lot of your kind feel that way?” Nathan asked with a small sense of worry, especially since he knew that Lindsey and Charis were mated.
“No,” Lindsey said shortly, and with a tone of distaste that banished Nathan’s concerns immediately. “Very few share her views, but it’s common for there to be a member of the court that fits the more extremist opinions among the people so that they have to find the most moderate solutions.”
“There are rumors that Irina lived on earth for a while back in the days of the Old West,” Shiarra said, “but that she fell in love with a human who, when he found out what she was, tried to kill her.”
“I can see how that had to sting,” Nathan said, though it also made him think briefly of Sabine, Sasha’s aunt that they hadkilled. He glanced aside at Shiarra and saw a short-lived but very visible frown pass over her face. He didn’t comment.
“There’s Lesta,” Shiarra eventually continued, “and well…let’s just say that the less you know about him, the better.”
“And the fourth? There are four members, right? Voted on and elected every century?”
“Correct,” Lindsey said, looking straight ahead as he spoke, though Nathan noticed something in his neck twitch. “The fourth member is Aloysha. Older than dirt and quite possibly the single most stubborn incubus ever born. He’s the most liberal in the sense of believing that our place is in the mortal realm feeding, and finding mates there to initiate and grow our people, since children are often more rare.”
