In the exact center of the round room, smooth stones had been carefully laid to form a circle within the circle of the room.
The Fae loved their circles—from the standing stones they’d left in the Mortal world to their ceremonial buildings, stone circles were the rule. Even their most precious Fountain here in Wyddecol, where the Souls of Fae and Mortal alike danced as they waited their turn to reenter the living world, was encircled by a ring of massive stones.
Colin stepped into the circle and seated himself on the floor to wait out the next few hours.
This might well be some sort of religious experience for the Fae, but for him it was nothing of the sort. The only positive as far as he could see was that while he was inside the RoundHouse, it was if the curse that had plagued him for ten years no longer existed. He neither felt nor heard a single soul calling out for its mate. It was the only place he’d ever found where he could let down his barriers and completely relax without fear.
For that reason alone, he almost looked forward to this experience.
As before, to his left a covered pottery bowl held fresh drinking water. He lifted the lid and scooped the accompanying cup inside, downing a long drink.
The water was unusually cold, sliding soothingly down his already parched throat. Apparently Odirn had changed it just before his arrival. He knew from experience it would be warm soon enough, so he enjoyed one more cupful before it too absorbed the heat of his surroundings.
The oppressively hot moisture closed in around him as if he were breathing underwater. He already felt the drips of liquid clinging to his lashes and nose hair. Though he’d initially had a difficult time believing how thirsty he would be in this room, after months of this he now knew from experience it would be so. It was the warning he’d been given before his first Communion and the one he’d quickly seen the wisdom of obeying.
Drink the water.
Preparations made, he laid his palms on his crossed legs, closed his eyes, and forced his mind to empty as he’d been taught.
Unlike in his prior Communion experiences, the void filled his mind almost immediately.
As if he were actually in another place, he could feel the enormity of the dark surrounding him while he floated, weightlessly suspended in a vast nothingness. Beside him, a river of sorts flowed. A river not of water but of writhing, swirling colored mist, so thick it looked as if he could capture it with his bare hands.
The river enticed, beckoning to him, and he moved toward its bank without thought.
“Stop right there!” A voice rang out in the dark, its sheer strength of will forcing his compliance. “The Time Flow of the All Conscious is not meant for you at this time, Guardian.”
Before him, silvery strands of mist gathered and swirled, gradually coalescing into the wavering shape of a woman.
Colin found himself unable to focus on her face, as it continually morphed from child to maiden to crone and back again. His breath caught as he remembered when he’d seen the like of this before.
“Yes,” the apparition sighed as if it had read his mind. “Regretfully, I am the one who taught her that trick.”
“Who . . .” He paused. Not awho. Too powerful to be awho. “What are you?”
“I am the Earth Mother, Guardian. I’ve come to see to your guidance personally.”
“Yer no her. You canna be.” He’d seen the Earth Mother as she’d walked the parapet of the Hall of theHigh Council, council members trailing after her like ducklings behind their mother.
“That one?” The apparition laughed, the sound like a thousand tinkling bells. “She’s but a physical representative of me in her world. A holder of a title, much as one might name a queen or a princess or even a general. She’s naught but a mere woman. Iamthe Earth Mother, the goddess, the very one they think to honor with the title they have given that one. Waste no more thought on her. She is of no importance. Now, what knowledge is it you’d seek from me?”
There was only one question, really. “How do I return to my own time?”
Now. Quickly. Before the lives of his kinsmen were forfeit.
Again the laughter like bells. “Only she who summoned you has the Magic to take you back.”
“She who summoned me,” he repeated slowly. Abby? How? Why?
“You try my patience, Guardian. Have the Fae grown so weak in my absence?” The mist shimmered, the silver shifting to gold and back again.
“I’m no a Fae,” Colin insisted, chafing under the accusation of weakness.
“So you like to claim. But we both know you’re as much Fae as you are Mortal. Your veins run strong with the blood of my chosen, the Royal House of Wyddecol. Could it be you’re simply incapable of reason?”
“I reason quite well, my lady.” Colin stiffly held his temper in check. This Earth Mother person could insult him all she liked. Of all the things he might be, he was not a slow learner. One round with the Faerie Queenhad taught him all he needed to know about minding his tongue in the presence of this kind of power.
“Oh, very well. I see your mind is but ill informed, not incapable of reason. And, as you acknowledge, you have already demonstrated the ability to learn from your mistakes.” The mist shifted closer to his face, wispy tendrils caressing his cheeks. “She needed you, Guardian, and she wished you to her side.”
