Chapter 33
“Luck is all around us,” Griffin exclaimed as he beheld the wondrous world of rebirth. “Look at this, Brigid. Have you seen anything like it?”
The air was infused with sweet fragrances of roses and wildflowers. Water danced and bubbled in fountains over colorfulspheres of glass and metal.
"Tsee-hee-he-hee.” A pair of birds flirted and darted over and around the streams of water. A welcoming breeze stirred the new leaves budding from the willowy trees bent over them, and everywhere he turned, the air was charged with a brilliant display of life.
As beautiful as nature was around him, Griffin couldn’t keep his eyes off the glorious bridehe’d brought forth out of the womb of death. He’d done it! He’d not only recovered the gleaming Heart of Brigid from wherever it had been hidden, but he’d also brought back the days of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
“Where are the hosts of the Fae to join us in celebration?” Griffin asked. “Dear Brigid, have you summoned them?”
“It is a gorgeous day,” the goddess Brigid proclaimed. “I wouldlike to spend it alone with you, my esteemed guardian. Only you, Griffin, have made this day possible.”
“It is all on you, my dear.” He walked with her around the wondrous displays of earthly beauty. “I will appreciate all that is in this moment, not worried or anxious about the future, but being still and aware of all the gifts the gods have bestowed on me.”
“You’ve learned well,”the goddess praised him. “Let’s observe all around. The lines, the curves, the colors, shapes, and sounds.”
Tiny dewdrops glistened on the soft petals of variegated roses, pink, white, purple, and red. The dark-green leaves held a glossy sheen, and the points of the thorns were curved to perfection.
The warmth of the sun and its rays, alternately peeking from the clouds and thenstreaming down like a skirt of light, heralded a bright new day in Ireland.
An angelic chorus sang in the old language from hills teeming with renewal and vales of deep, rich lore. Griffin felt the symphony expand from the core of his heart, love spiraling out, twirling around and spreading. It touched the plants and the birds, then jumped up to the tops of every tree, skipped over bouldersand standing stones, and flew like a million butterflies, sprinkled into the sky, and ascending like stardust into the highest reaches of heaven.
He’d fulfilled his destiny, and yet, there was so much more he would experience. So many more hearts to gladden, joy to diffuse, and wonders to receive.
All because he believed.
In the beautiful creature walking at his side. He felther essence through his fingers, touching her very being, by the mere clasp of her delicate hand. The love for his land and all of her history and lore had made this day possible.
The castle walls were never more polished and newer, the turrets gleaming like alabaster in a heavenly city, the walls strong and sturdy, the grounds green with life.
He led his fairy queen up the stepsof the round tower, past the gallery of stained-glass portraits of the past kings and queens, up and around to the very top. Together, they admired the three-hundred-sixty-degree view. Cotton puffs of sheep dotted the pasture, and patches of forest mixed with plowed fields of sprouting wheat. Beyond, to the north, lay craggy cliffs and stony fingers of land where the deep waters of the north clashedwith the fertile land of old Ireland.
“Our ships sailed from up yonder,” Griffin said, seeing in his memories the visions of billowing sails and golden-colored longboats. “We came to this bounteous land, and we are now one with the hills and vales, from the highest stone to the lowest bog. Ireland is ours, restored and in peace. It is indeed this Heart of Brigid that has brought you backto reign, dear queen.”
She was more radiant than heavenly sunshine, dressed all in white with her wedding veil covering her milky face. Her dark-coppery hair was smooth and lustrous, crowned with a gemmed tiara sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow. But most of all, she was promised to him by the gleaming purplish-red diamond over her chest.
“You may kiss me, dear Griffin.”She held a hopeful gaze in her verdant green eyes, but one side of her brow was furrowed as if she puzzled over something.
A massive sensation of déjà vu piled over him, and he wondered if he were replaying an endless loop of time. Why did his Brigid look worried when everything was perfect?
He wanted to wipe away all doubt, so he leaned forward, wrapped his fairy queen in his arms,and kissed her. He wasn’t sure how much bliss he could take, but he’d hold on to the moment of sweetness and light—each precious pearl in the string of life, lingering into timelessness—not letting anything disturb the sublime moment.
“Caw, caw, caw.” The rusty, raucous cackle swooped over them.
Startled, Griffin broke away and stared at the vision in front of him. The tiara of lightand beauty had turned into black, twisted thorns, and the ruffle of black wings sprouted from the back of his angel.
The diaphanous veil had been replaced with a black cloth of mourning, and the bejeweled wedding gown was ragged and torn. A scratched-up leather vest, torn in places, along with a rusted breastplate of armor jutted from his goddess’s chest. A girdle of hazelnuts hung aroundher waist, while dried cabbage and lettuce leaves crinkled and cracked over her skirt. The diamond shoes were gone, and his goddess’s long legs were encased in worn, green suede lace-up boots.
He grasped at the Heart of Brigid to ground him. Surely it must still be on her chest. But no, his fingers closed around a dirty lump of black coal.
“What’s wrong?” the woman, a stranger, asked.
“I, I don’t know you,” he said. “I’ve lost my true love.”
“What was her name?” the woman asked, her eyes watery.
“Cl—”
