“We have glamor for that,” Rayetayah said sadly. “It's when children are born that the truth must be told.”
“It seems tragic to have to hide who you are from those you love,” I noted.
“It can be,” Rayetayah turned somber eyes to me. “But that is the choice we make when we allow ourselves to love a human. You begin the relationship knowing that you might never be able to be completely honest with them and that you will most likely outlive them.”
“Exactly, it's a tragic sort of romance,” Tiernan nodded and I glanced at him in surprise. He shrugged, “I once thought you were purely human.”
“You were the one trying to convince me into being with you,” I huffed. “I thought I was the only one with misgivings about our relationship.”
“If you'll recall,” Tiernan smiled wickedly. “I had plenty of misgivings but my lust for you outweighed them all. The call of Danu won out in the end, as it always does.”
“Danu called you two together?” Rayetayah asked with interest.
“The Goddess herself told me to look after Seren's heart,” Tiernan's smile turned sweet.
“The Goddess herself?” Rayetayah lifted a brow.
“Danu revealed herself to Seren and the Star's Guard,” Tiernan nodded. “Though she spoke to and through Seren many times before that.”
“The Goddess speaks again,” Rayetayah whispered. “Now I'm truly jealous of the others.”
“You can visit Fairy any time you wish,” I shrugged. “You're a fairy, you know?”
“Maybe I will go back after this is all over,” he smiled brightly. “But right now, I'm going to tell the others that Danu is among us once more. It will lighten their spirits and make this trip into something to be treasured instead of born.”
He got up and headed off to speak with the other raven mockers.
“That's definitely an innocent man,” Tiernan observed.
“I think so too,” I agreed. “And for his sake, I hope we're right.”
Chapter Twelve
I had phoned my Uncle Dylan before we left Tulsa so there was a fleet of passenger vans waiting for us when we landed in San Francisco. The few Tulsa-based extinguishers who had come along with us, waited with the plane while I headed over to Gentry Technologies with everyone else.
When we arrived at my father's company, the vans dropped us off in front of the entrance to the basement parking garage. There were a few fairies in business suits waiting to help direct everyone down into the building and then to the rath. It was quite a long process; getting all of those families up to the second floor and then downstairs to the hidden fairy mound. Uncle Dylan had given directions for his people to lead us up the stairs instead of using the elevators, so there wasn't any hold ups while people waited for the elevators to arrive. It was a good idea even though it meant that my poor tired fairies had to tromp up two flights of stairs with luggage and whining children before climbing down yet another flight of stairs to get to the rath.
My guards positioned themselves along the route to help keep everyone heading in the right direction. It was mid-day and the second floor was full of employees, so I'm sure the mockers wouldn't have had any trouble finding someone to direct them but we wanted to make sure things went as smoothly as possible. I went first, ahead of the group, to lead them through the rath so I could explain everything to the stable boys waiting on the other side.
Dylan had mirrored my father and Keir had sent a group of knights to meet the mockers but they wouldn't have been able to reach the rath in time to warn the waiting boys. So I had to go through with Rayetayah first so that they didn't panic. Panicking cat-sidhe was not a pretty sight. Cat came with me but Tiernan stayed behind to help lead the mass of mockers through the building.
“So far, you've proven yourself true to your word, Princess,” Rayetayah noted as we stepped through the golden door and into the fairy mound.
“I try to always keep my word,” I led the way along the dark path and opened the door on the other side.
The bright meadow around the rath now had a small tent erected in the center of it, its white walls so startling against the verdant background of the forest. Off to the side of the tent were several horses and in front of it was a cooking fire, around which the stable boys were settled. They had been relaxing in the sun, enjoying their time off when they spotted me.
All of them jumped up and came to attention. Then they spotted Rayetayah and the rest of the raven mockers. Their bodies went slack with confusion as they looked to me for answers. That's when I realized that we had no way of transporting all of the mockers to the castle.
“Oh crap,” I looked to Rayetayah. “I hadn't thought about how to get everyone to Twilight Castle.”
Rayetayah just started to laugh and the stable boys in front of us began to look nervous.
“It's alright guys,” I said to the boys. “These are the raven mockers, they'll be staying at court for awhile. I need you to escort them back to my father. You'll be met partway by some knights and they'll take over the transport but I'm not sure how we're going to do this. They've already had a long journey and I hate to ask them to walk all the way to the castle. Why are you laughing?” I finally turned and asked Rayetayah.
Instead of answering, he revealed his wings with a whoosh of sound and a rush of air.
“Oh,” I closed my eyes at my own idiocy. “Right, you guys can fly.”
