Lyel released me, moving to stand beside the other handsome Aos Sith, who would serve as my knights and attendants.
I held my head high as from out of the grove a single tree stepped forward. No, he was a fae, but as wizened and ancient as any I had ever seen, his skin brown as bark, like the tree-wight this morning, his hair grizzled and green as lichen as it tumbled around his aged face. Oaks grow mightier the older they become, and this one seemed ancient as Faery itself.
“Daughter of Una.” He spoke with a voice old and echoing as if from the bottom of an infinite chasm. “Are you ready to accept the burden of ruling this land?”
The burden.Of seeing my every mood reflected in its nature. Of preventing the dark wasteland shown to me by the Fool from coming to pass.
I am not,something cried out inside me. It was all pretense, wasn’t it? A mummer’s play in which I gladly participated, though I knew my own unworthiness.
Mortal thoughts, mortal lies these were. But I was Una’s daughter above everything else.
I am Faery and Faery is me.And the land Herself seemed to take over me, guiding my every movement and assuring me of what to do.
I took a deep breath. “I am.”
“Do you swear to rule the fae with just wisdom, according to ancient custom and sacred tradition, while you have the power to do so and to the end of your days?”
“I do.”
“Do you promise to honor the land of Faery as your own mother, to put Her needs before your own, to guard and protect Her to the best of your abilities and to the end of your days?”
Which mother?Both had abandoned me in the end. Yet I must continue. “I do.” I bent low to the ground and kissed it, as a vassal might his ruler’s signet. For all I was the queen, there remained yet something greater than me: the loam and the lush grass, the creatures unearthly and bizarre who dwelt in this place, where life came not from the light of the sun or fall of the rain.
I rose to my knees again, and the Old One held forth a crown. Silver spikes alternated with golden leaves, and thorny roses twined all around it. Beauty marked with pain, ephemeral blooms captured in eternal, untarnished stone. When he placed it upon my brow, I knew a heavy sense of rightness, as if the crown had been there, unseen, all along.
“Then rise, Fia, Daughter of Una, Queen of the Underhill and Ruler of the Fae.” He held out a branchlike arm, which I took, and rose to my feet.
For the first time, as Queen Fia, I faced my people, arms raised as tree limbs do to the nourishing sun. All around me a cacophony arose, and the entire assembly cried out at once.
“Welcome, Queen Fia. Welcome to your new home.”
Thirty-Three
After the ceremony, we gatheredin the courtyard, where harpers played on instruments of bone ’neath trees of hazel and apple and fruits I could not name. Goat lads and dryads whirled about in merry dances, or chased one another, weaving in and out of the silvery oaks until each dryad slid into the one she must call home. Goblins greedily pulled up cowslips and primroses, scrambling beneath their roots for buried treasure. The stubborn blooms would have none of this, however, for as soon as one flower was plucked, another grew in its place. How the wretched creatures swore and stamped at that!
Sometimes I looked at the flowers and saw their petals dropping to the ground. The leaves on the trees grew crisp and curling before my very eyes. I blinked and the vision cleared, but I understood its meaning. I was Faery, and Faery was me. And Faery had already had a long day.
My tread was slow as Lyel escorted me through the courtyard, for my gown was heavy and its train, still borne by floating sylphs, was quite long. The crown already sat heavy upon my brow.
Do not let your spirits waver,I cautioned myself.Never let the atmosphere of Faery become one of gloom.
A cloud hung overhead, thin as a wisp and gleaming white against the deep-blue sky. Otherwise, the eve was balmy as summer twilight, with the scent of honeysuckle and rose wafting through the air. Lyel led me up the dais, and I leaned on him when my slippered feet slid on the marble steps.Oh, for a well-worn dirt path and a sturdy pair of boots!I missed being where I could trust the ground beneath me, when I might not be lifted high, but at least there was nowhere to fall.
Above me rose a canopy dripping with flowering vines, with drops of dew gleaming bright as gemstones and flickering in the candlelight. Creamy damask draped over the table itself, which was also hung with garlands of flowers. In time, such splendor might become commonplace to me, but now I sighed, for I had never seen such beauty.
Think not of the sunlight creeping into a tiny shepherd’s cottage, while your body and his lay entwined. Remember not his merry eyes and loving ways, the way he called you wood nymph and revered you like a goddess while he could. “Lady, I would gladly pluck that rose—”
The air thickened, heavy with moisture. The single cloud overhead frothed into many and grew dark.
I breathed deep, inhaled calendula and primrose, slowed my breath.You left that rose in the forest of Carterhaugh. Whether ’twas trampled by beasts, drowned by pouring rain, or flourished, you may never know.
The only rose I bore now was the torc around my neck. I had already pricked myself upon its thorns.
The cloud spread out and thinned, like carded fleece.
“Is something amiss, Your Majesty?” Lyel asked.
I schooled my face and quickly shook my head, allowing him to lead me to my seat.
