First, remember that making a bargain with the fae is perilous,Grandmother wrote.Be sure that your aims cannot be achieved in any other way. Once you strike a bargain with a faerie – especially a faerie king or queen – they will have a hold on you forever.
It was dangerous, but Faye was desperate. There had to be some way that she could move on with her life and regain control. She was hardly sleeping; scared to leave the house. She couldn’t go on like this.
First, create the environment for the queen of your chosen element, the grimoire began.To summon Her from her home element, you must create a ritual space of high vibration.Ideally, conduct the summoning as close to the right element as possible.
There was a note in parentheses which Faye had to bring close to her eyes to read:
High Queen of Murias = tideline
High Queen of Falias = sacred forest
High Queen of Gorias = mountain or storm
High Queen of Finias = ritual fire
Cast a circle. Summon in only the right element for the faerie queen in question. Dance or pace out the circle clockwise and then pace into the centre of the circle as if in a spiral. When at the centre of the circle, call out their full name three times. In Murias, She is called Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup. In Falias, it is Moronoe, Mistress of the Stone. In Gorias, it is Tyronoe, Mistress of the Knife. And in Finias, it is Thetis, Mistress of the Staff. Your calling of the queen should be urgent and passionate, from the heart. Repeat this process, walking the spiral in and out and calling the names, three times.
When you have called their name three times, entreat them to be with you as follows:
Beloved of the Fae, Queen of your Element, Mistress of Magic,
I seek communion with you; I seek knowledge of you and your realm,
Bestow your magic upon me, I am fain to know your secrets,
I am open; fill me with your blessings.
(Name) I call on you.
(Name) I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you.
(Name) I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body.
(Name) I summon you from your kingdom.
I offer something of mine that I can give freely;
this is the bargain.
This is the promise between faerie and human that I make willingly.
So mote it be.
The promise between faerie and human that I make willingly, Faye mused, looking up from the book. Faye’s own magic might be enough for now to keep Finn away, but she couldn’t be sure that it would protect her forever. Here was a way for Faye to at least talk to Levantiana; she could appeal to her better instincts, beg her to teach Faye the faerie magic, if necessary.
At Black Sands Beach, the moon was on its final waning quarter, and the night was dark. If Faye hadn’t known the beach so well, she might well have fallen on a rock or a stray branch; as it was, she was careful, and took off her shoes and socks when she was on the sand, placing them on a nearby ledge.
She hadn’t brought the grimoire with her, but had copied out the invocation on a piece of paper and had it in her pocket. It was still cold on the beach at night, though it was early summer,so she wore flowered leggings under her red-and-white polka-dot dress, with a green cardigan over the top; a mash-up of styles chosen mostly for warmth. Faye wore a heavy shapeless grey and black coat over the top, like a cloak.
She took a deep breath, nervous about what she was about to do. Grandmother had hidden this summoning magic for a reason; Faye knew that if Levantiana was anything like Finn, she would be powerful but unpredictable, and vengeful if she perceived she was being wronged. But she needed to be able to protect herself. She knew Finn had meant it when he threatened her, and when he threatened Rav.
Faye began the ritual.
First, she traced a circle at the line of the tide, wide enough to contain her with her arms spread out and with ample room on either side. With her finger, she dug the shallow trench of the circle half in and half out of the sea; the water filled the gap on the sea side of the circle and smoothed it over with the tide as soon as she had done it. She didn’t mind; a circle of half sea, half land was right for summoning a fae creature of the water to the land. Faye was meeting her halfway, in a space that belonged to neither of them, an in-between place, a place where magic could be made.
Clouds spread across the black sky, covering the stars until everything above Faye stretched into a blank unity of night. She swallowed nervously, then called out to the sea.
‘Powers of the sea, of the ocean, of water, be with me! Fill my circle with your power!’ She opened her arms as if to accept the power of water, and felt its energy crashing into her prepared space as forcefully as if she had been standing next to a waterfall.
