Her ears were pointed, unlike most Fae, and they peeked through her hair.She had silver eyes, ringed with black, and her lips were petal pink, but I thought that might be their natural color.She wore a pair of low-rise black jeans, a black cropped tank-top that barely covered her belly button, and a leather jacket, and around her left leg, she’d strapped a sheathed dagger.
She was beautiful, yes, in an alien sort of way.But more than her looks, it was her energy that captivated me.It wasn’t what I associated with Fae glamour—not the glamour I was used to, or that I had.No, she brought to mind prowling through the forest at midnight, and deep caverns delving far into the earth.
She nodded solemnly as we sat there, waiting for Morgana to speak.
“This is Ashka, of the Crystal Fae.She’s the daughter of their queen’s Hunter,” Morgana said.“She’s here to work with us and to be a liaison between the Fae Courts and the Crystal Fae.”
I stood, nodding, but didn’t extend my hand.I wasn’t sure of their customs, so I decided to wait for her lead.I hadn’t been a goddess long enough to blatantly ignore my manners.Although, to be fair, most of the gods that I knew might be imperious, but they were polite.Over all.
Morgana seemed to understand what I was thinking.“You can shake hands.She understands many of our cultural traditions.The Crystal Fae might live in a hidden land over in the Realms, in Wildemoone, but that doesn’t mean they don’t understand this world and how it runs.”
Wildemoone?Wildemoone was a wild land, with Fae who had never been Earthside.Bordering Eldemere, the Elvish lands, the kingdoms were divided by a great forest belonging to Wildemoone.
I held out my hand.“How do you do, Ashka?I’m Ember.I’m…” I was never sure how to introduce myself since the Gadawnoin.How did you just come out and say, “I’m a goddess?”
“She’s my daughter-in-law, a goddess of the Fae Courts,” Morgana said.
“How do you do?You can call me Ash.”Her voice was low and smooth, and her grip, firm.Something in my Autumn’s Bane bloodline stirred at her touch, recognizing an odd kinship.
“And this is my son, Herne.Ember’s husband,” Morgana continued.“Herne, why don’t you introduce the others?”
Herne jumped up and shook her hand.“Welcome.These are our coworkers and friends.Viktor, Talia, Raven, Kipa—my distant cousin from Kalevala, who is Lord of the Wolves.This is Yutani, the son of the Great Coyote.And Wager Chance.”He pointed to each of them in turn.
Ash smiled, and her face lit up.“It’s good to meet all of you,” she said.She glanced at Morgana.“Shall I sit?”
“Please do,” Morgana said.“And, of course, this is my husband, Cernunnos.”
Ash settled in beside Morgana.She didn’t seem shy, that was for sure.In fact, I had the just assumed that she was observing us.After a moment, she said, “Feel free to ask questions.”
“I’ve never heard of the Crystal Fae,” Yutani said.“So, you don’t belong to either the Light or Dark Courts?Isn’t that awkward?”
“It can be,” Ash said.“Neither court welcomes our existence.They’re not fond of the Fae who come out of Wildemoone.They consider us wild and unpredictable.”
“Speak of the pot calling the kettle black,” I said.“So, you’re going to be working with us?”
She nodded.“We’ve been asked…” Pausing, she glanced at Morgana.
“The Crystal Fae came to me, asking if there was a way I could help them integrate into society here,” Morgana said.
“Well, I can guarantee that’s going to be a laugh and a half,” Raven said.“They don’t even like my kind, let alone yet another branch of the Fae.You do realize they’ll see this as a challenge?”
“Of course, which is why I was dispatched, along with a number of others, to cross over from the Realms to stake our presence here,” Ash said.“The Crystal Fae are connected to the Earth Fae, so we’re hoping that might help.”
“My father was part of the Autumn’s Bane,” I said.“He was born into the Dark Court.My mother was Leannan Sidhe, one of the Light Fae.My grandparents from both sides killed them—and they would have killed me if I’d been home.I’m not optimistic about your success here.But we’ll keep you as safe as we can and do our best to convince Saílle and Névé to leave your people alone.”
“So, you belong to both water and earth, then,” Ash said.“I’ve met a few who came from mixed fire and water bloodlines.It wasn’t the best of encounters.”She grimaced.“I have the scars to prove it.”Turning to Raven, she asked, “And you are Ante-Fae?”
“Yes, I am.Raven BoneTalker, daughter of Curikan, the Black Dog of Hanging Hills, and Phasmoria, Queen of the Bean Sidhe.”Raven held out her hand.
“You resonate at a different frequency,” Ash said, taking her hand.“All things that come from the earth—most creatures who walk on the land, all trees, stones, bones, and crystals—I can read their energy signatures.”She nodded to me.“You, I can read you have a birth connection with the earth, but I can’t pick up on your watery side.In Wildemoone, we navigate at night by the auras of the trees.”
I wondered how she’d fare in the city.“What about the concrete and the asphalt here?So much of the land is paved over.”
“Ah, but concrete comes from the earth.It has its own frequency.”She walked over to Yutani’s side, leaning over his shoulder.He looked at her with a nervous shake of the head.“And your technology?Do you realize how much quartz plays a role in your machinery?Your society practically worships data, and most of your data technology uses quartz in its processing equipment.”
“I never thought about that,” Yutani said, shifting from nervous to interested.He was, at heart, a techie.
“Exactly, so much of the city—the cars which come from ore, the computers, the food that sustains all of us—the energy is familiar to me, albeit in different formats.”Ash shrugged.“I’m looking forward to this.”
