‘You’re right. I don’t really understand any of that,’ Faye admitted. ‘But thank you for telling me, nonetheless.’
‘I had no choice.’ He frowned.
‘Why is Moddie here? Her spirit, I mean. I saw her here.’ Faye felt more awake and aware than she had since she had arrived in Murias, and she was determined to find out as much as she could from Finn Beatha.
‘I allowed your mother to come here in spirit,’ he answered flatly.
‘Do you allow many humans to come here after they die?’ she pressed him.
He looked away, avoiding her gaze. ‘No,’ he answered, after a pause.
‘Then why Moddie?’ Faye sought his eyes. He stared at her, and she could see he didn’t want to tell her.
‘A bargain was struck. The details are between my sister, Levantiana, and Modron Morgan. I know not what the bargain was.’
Faye paced around the room. Her head was pounding, but now that the veil of illusion had slipped from her a little, she wanted to use her lucidity while she could.
‘What was the bargain?’ she demanded. ‘She’s my mother. I have a right to know.’
Finn spread his palms open in a gesture that implied he was being honest; Faye doubted that he was. However, the use of his full name seemed still to be working.
‘I do not know. Suffice to say that whatever she offered my sister must have been significant, for her to be allowed to be here in spirit. And…’
‘And what?’
‘Murias is the realm of water, but we also have a long tradition of magic here. Modron Morgan was a witch in life, though she never fully realised her powers, in the same way as you have not so far. She wanted the power of Murias. She learned it here.’ Finn sighed.
‘What is the power of Murias?’ Faye demanded, feeling her heart lift.If Moddie learned it, then so can I.
‘It is secret. Not for humans.’
‘I am not fully human,’ she replied crisply. ‘And, you taught Moddie.’
‘I did not teach her. The faerie queens are the keepers of the magic.’ Finn turned away from her, his voice peevish.
‘Levantiana?’ Faye continued to push him.
‘In Murias, yes. She is the Mistress of the Cup.’ Finn was evasive.
‘Will she teach me? I am half fae,’ Faye repeated. To have the faerie magic would give her the power she lacked in Murias. With it, perhaps Finn wouldn’t be able to take advantage of her human weaknesses. And if she met Levantiana, maybe she would be able to find out what the bargain was that Moddie had struck with her – and find her mother.
‘No!’ Finn shouted, turning to her. There was an uncomfortable silence. ‘No,sidhe-leth,’ he repeated. ‘Your mother was a special case. And she had passed from your realm already; she learned the magics once she had died in the human world. We cannot teach the faerie magic to anyone who resides there alive. It is forbidden.’
‘Well, then, will I see her again?’ Faye’s heart sank; she had made her peace with Moddie’s death.When we pass over, we are busy elsewhere, Grandmother had taught her, though she had never specified where.We can teach others on the inner planes; we can come into another body for another life; we can heal, we can spend time with our loved ones. All is possible once we have passed, but that person as you knew them, when they are gone from this world, they’re gone for good.
But seeing Moddie again had thrown Faye completely – all those years of grief were unpicked, like wool being wound back from a blanket. Now, she longed for her mother, and it hurt.
‘Murias is wide and far-reaching, Faye. Do not expect to see her again.’ Finn’s voice was soft, but she sensed the firmness of his resolve.
‘Why not?’
‘She should not have appeared to you. There are rules,’ Finn replied grimly.
Faye felt exhaustion take her over, and she crumpled onto the bed.
‘I want to go home,’ she whispered. ‘I’m so tired.’ It was a physical tiredness, but the revived grief for Moddie filled her with a heaviness she remembered all too well.
‘Try to leave, then, since you think that you can. But you have eaten and drunk here. When you return to your world, you will be weaker. Less immune to the perils of the human world.’ He stood over her, toweringly tall.
