Page 52 of Changeling
My jaw drops. “Unicorns exist?”
She shakes her head. “Not that I know of, but that’s the face I’d make if I were to see one.”
I shift my gaze to Tallula. “Are there many of us? Other changelings?”
“Very few. Most fae live on the other side, in their own realm, Luminia. Sachi could tell you more than me. Most of what I’ve learned of our people, I know from her.”
“Can we go there?” I ask, unsure if I want to know the answer. A realm with no Dominus isn’t a realm I want to live in. But a visit perhaps? “To Luminia?”
“Sadly, no,” says Sachi. “The only gate I’m aware of hasn’t opened for millennia. There’s no sign it will ever open again, though some continue to guard its location. I think their mission is futile. A gate that no longer exists no longer needs guardians.”
Her words hold finality. My shoulders sag, but I won’t let a bit of bad news steal any of the joy from my day.
“There is some evidence”—Sachi glances pointedly from me to Tallula and back—“that fae from Luminia still have access to our earthen realm, but we’ve no access to their ethereal planes.”
“You mean my parents, my real parents, came from Luminia to leave me behind?”
Tallula speaks up firmly. “I would argue your real parents are human, Sebastian. Didn’t they raise you as their own? While your birth parents left you to your fate?”
A twinge of guilt tightens my throat. She makes a good point. “You’re right.” Of course my real parents are my human parents.Weremy human parents. Gone now.
I’ve done such a thorough job of banishing the distress of all I’ve lost that when the memories come rearing back, I don’t know how to cope. I shake my head, tossing the depressing past back into the shadowed corners of my mind. Not today.
If Tallula noticed my mental flailing, she’s kind enough to ignore it. “But essentially, yes. We think changelings are left here by the fae of Luminia, who somehow cross for long enough to snatch a human baby, then leave before any are the wiser. Most of us in this realm are changelings or halflings. The Luminia fae don’t stick around.”
Questions wrestle in my mind. Dominus said a skirmish between our races had occurred, but little else. “Can you tell me why our ancestors cursed the incubi?”
She lifts her shoulders, her expression wilting. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about that. I only know we must avoid the incubi who hold a grudge, for our own safety. Sachi?”
Sachi leans in. “I’ll tell you what I know, but much of our history is lost to time. The war ended some four thousand years ago. I’ve been to Egypt, where the battle supposedly took place, and the incubi there are none the wiser. It’s a mystery to them why they’re tied to the land, but it’s something they’ve come to accept.
“But Dominus descends from a family of record keepers, and the ancient knowledge of the lost war and the faerie curse has been passed from generation to generation. As such, they’re hostile toward us and must be avoided.
“When faeries have crossed paths with the Drusus, they were threatened. Remove the curse or die by torture. But those poor victims were likely changelings, like us, born without knowing their ancestors, much less the history of ancient feuds.”
I bite my lip. Hard. “Tortured to death?”
“Not by your Dominus, don’t worry,” says Sachi. “We’ve no evidence Dominus would follow in the footsteps of his forefathers, but because of past atrocities committed by his line, your rescue was deemed an emergency serious enough to risk portals.”
“He’d never hurt anyone.” Coming to Dominus’s defense feels as natural as breathing. “He just grumbles a lot.”
“I believe you.” Sachi pats my knee.
“Is there no way to break the curse?”
“If there is, none of us know it. Though we didn’t have any opportunity to experiment either. The only incubi The Dozen correspond with are those from the Egyptian line, and they remain unaware of the cause of their predicament.”
“You haven’t told them?”
“I didn’t know when we first met. And after, well, it seems counterintuitive to reintroduce a strain between our two races that had long since been forgotten.”
That makes sense. “But Dominus? Could you try to break the curse for him?” I glance from one stunningly beautiful face to the next. They both look hesitant.
“I wouldn’t know where to begin,” Tallula admits. “I’ve never used a curse. I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to break one. Especially one I didn’t cast. I’m sorry.”
“I understand.” I suppose it’s somewhat reassuring they don’t know how to fling curses. Perhaps if we begin the lesson, I’ll be able to concentrate on something that isn’t Dominus for a precious few hours. “What shall we start with?”
They smile. Back to the reason we’re here.
