I place my palms flat against the light, and its power flows into me. My awareness increases. I can hear the creatures moving in the earth that surrounds us, sense the millions of people’s lives in the city. Feel the two worlds hovering, side by side, see the thin places where the veil between those worlds stretches and tears and allows people to pass through. It moves through me, finding all the magic placed upon me by my parents. And with the untangling of that magic, I remember the stories my mother whispered to me in the dark, everything she taught me about The Seelie Court in the hope that one day, one day we could return.
Voices speak in a language long forgotten, telling me how they hid me, how they had no choice. Until the Blight is reversed, they will not be the only ones who are safer in hiding. But for me there will be no more hiding. I cover my face with my hands as the column stops spinning, feel the pulse of Glamour slide from the surface, revealing my true nature. Drawing the last of the concealing magic from my face, I shake it from the tips of my fingers as I look up into Cillian’s confused face.
He reaches for me, and I step into him, lifting my face as he lowers his, his lips finding mine and breathing life back into my every fibre of being. The power flows, swirling between us. From me into him and back and when I see myself reflected in his eyes, they are no longer merely human.
‘Niamh,’ he whispers.
I am Kin.
Chapter31
Cillian
This changes everything.
The chamber erupts into chaos, everyone talking, shouting, at once. Carruth is furious, MacGowan is yelling. And then there’s silence. A silence only achievable using magic. Niamh and I remain exactly where we are. I can’t take my eyes off her. I thought I knew her; I do know her. I’ve watched her for four years. How could I not have seen… seen what she truly is?
It’s broken when Vincenzo scrapes his chair back to stand.
‘Well, Cillian. It would indeed seem like we did not fully understand the situation. Your choice of bride, it seems, will not preclude you from remaining as Kennard, nor from potentially becoming king. After me, of course. Vittoria?’
Vincenzo sounds utterly despondent, and now he looks around and frowns.
‘Where is she?’
With no answer, the Kin search the chamber, until it’s established that she’s no longer present. Vincenzo grows more and more frantic, before he’s finally persuaded to return to his throne. ‘What have you done with them?’
‘Them?’
‘Don’t act ignorant with me, Cillian. Matthew Muir has gone, too.’
‘One minute he was there, and the next he was gone,’ Niamh says. ‘You saw as much as we did.’
Beside us, there’s a soft tinkling sound, and Niamh crouches down to pick something up.
‘My necklace,’ she says, standing. ‘The remains of it, at least.’
The chain is broken, and little of the gold surround remains. The garnet heart is still intact, however, pulsing gently with light. The plain gold oval now a delicate filigree of symbols and knotwork reminiscent of the designs in this very chamber. Similar, but different. And suddenly I understand– this is Seelie magic. I touch the hard red stone and feel the beat of a heart within it. Low laughter echoes through my head. Niamh closes her fist around it and smiles.
‘You… you’re Kin.’
‘It would seem so.’
‘You didn’t know?’
‘No.’
‘Your parents?’
‘They hid me. They were in hiding, too. I think the whole Seelie Court is. But they told me stories, and I’m slowly remembering them now the magic has been undone.’
‘But they’re still out there?’
She turns to look at the alcove that used to house the entrance to The Seelie Court and, for the first time, I see the light above the door is glowing. It’s barely there, but even as we watch, it grows a little stronger.
‘I think so.’
‘There were times when I sensed magic around you that I didn’t fully understand,’ I tell her. ‘And this explains it.’
