“Corbin was the one who found us all and brought us together.” Arthur glanced at Rowan. “Some of us had no idea what we even were before we met Corbin. It’s only with our coven working together, with our power focused at Briarwood, that we’re able to keep the fae in their realm.”
“Obviously, you’re doing asuperjob.”
“Fae used to live all over the British Isles,” Corbin explained. “That is, until humans came across the seas with swords of iron.People cut down the forests, tilled the fields and built roads through the ancient sacred places. The fae fought the humans, and there were many bloody battles, but in the end the fae lost, and with the help of our ancestors the humans banished them to another realm. But the fae aren’t happy about this. They’ve always escaped into our world to cause mischief or chaos. It was getting worse and worse, with the fae weakening the barrier between our realms to the point where people were concerned it might break down entirely. So in the thirteenth century a coven of powerful witches found a spell to seal the fae inside their realm forever. The witches took over this castle in order to guard the entrance to the fae world. We’re all descendants of that coven?—”
“Ah, the joys of inbreeding,” I said.
Flynn burst out laughing, but Corbin continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “—the fae have magic, too. That’s how they get the claws. They can focus their magic, and sometimes they can send one fae through the entrance into our realm. But there hasn’t been three fae at once for… hundreds of years. So something in the spell that blocks the entrance is faltering, and we need to figure out what.”
“Corbin is the biggest, baddest witch of us all,” Flynn said. “If the fae get to Corbin, they break up the band, and then they might be able to free themselves and walk the earth once again.”
“And that’s definitely a bad thing?” I asked, cringing as I heard myself entertaining the ridiculous story as if it was something that was real. “It does sound like we humans kicked them off their ancestral land. They have every right to be pissed.”
“Except that if they come back into our realm, they’re not exactly going to live in harmony with humans. They will raise the Slaugh.”
“The Slaugh?”
“In folklore, it’s called ‘The Fairy Host,’ but it’s actually a swarm of restless dead – spirits of the most dark and evil people and fae who have been rejected from the heavens and the earth. They fly over the land like a dark swarm of birds, and they bring death and destruction in their wake. The last time the fae escaped and unleashed the Slaugh, we had the Black Death.”
Flynn piped up. “Fairies are wankers.”
“I studied the Black Death in school,” I said. “It was an assignment about biochemistry. The plague was caused by theYersinia pestisbacteria, which hangs out in rodents and in the fleas that feed on them. It’s not caused by some horde of cantankerous ghosts.”
“If you say so.” Flynn swiped Corbin’s drink and gulped it down.
“So fae equals bad. I got that. But you guys know these fae,” I remembered. “You called them by their names.”
“We only know that guy who attacked you,” Arthur said. “Kalen. He’s a type of fae called a pouka – he shapeshifts into the giant black dog that chased us to the gate. He’s also a prince of the Unseelie Court.” Seeing my blank look, he added, “The world of the fae is divided into two courts, each one ruled by royal fae. The Seelie Court are kind of the good guys, as much as fae understand the concept of good and evil. The Seelie dress in green, and they sometimes help humans, if it suits them. The Unseelie Court are the baddies. They won’t hesitate to maim or kill anyone who tries to get in their way. They’re the ones who control the Slaugh.”
“Saying fairies are good or bad is a bit unfair,” Flynn piped up. “Like I said, all fairies are wankers.”
I smiled, but Flynn’s strained expression made the smile fade as soon as it appeared. Flynn actually seemedserious.
“Iron and smelted metal is poison to the fae,” Arthur continued. “That’s why they have those white blades – theymake them from bone. And that’s why I learned to fight with a sword. It can do more damage to fae than bullets or fists.”
“That’s probably all Maeve needs to know tonight,” Corbin said, cutting Arthur off mid-monologue. “She’s got that incredulous look on her face that suggests she might stop believing us any second.”
“I haven't actually decided to believe any of this,” I said. “Except the bit about Kalen and his buddies being dangerous. That part I got.”
“We’re behind the wards, so you’re safe as long as you stay on the castle grounds. We can all go in a group if we have to go to the village, and Dora – she’s our housekeeper – will bring us groceries and other supplies.” Arthur touched my arm. “You’ve already been through enough. We won’t let them hurt you.”
I folded my arms. “That’s not good enough. If these fae really are going to attack me, I want to learn to fight them off, just the way you guys did.”
“That’s not…” Arthur looked confused. “I mean,why?”
“Why? Because contrary to what our surroundings suggest,” I jabbed a finger at the swords dangling from the iron chandelier, “this isn’t the thirteenth century, and I don’t expect a bunch of guys I just met to be my knights in shining armor. I’d rather learn things for myself.”
Besides, this whole move was about doing something completely out of my comfort zone, and swinging a sword around to battle a bunch of imaginary fairies definitely counts.
“I’d hate for you to get hurt,” Arthur said, rubbing his beard. “I’d feel like it was my fault.”
“That’s my choice to make. If this Kalen guy is after us, there’s more chance of me getting hurt if I don’t know how to defend myself, and thatwillbe your fault. So you’ll teach me to fight?”
“I will,” Arthur said. “I have to lead a tour tomorrow morning, but we can start in the afternoon if you like.”
“Good.”
I settled back into the couch, and a wave of exhaustion rolled over me. The plane ride, meeting the guys and seeing that picture of my mother, the pub, the attack, this stupid story about the fae… it was a lot to happen in a single day. I rubbed my eyes.
