Aisha danced inside a hanging cage, naked, as a group of fae watched and pleasured themselves. She looked as if she had been drugged; she was dancing jerkily, out of control, her eyes vacant. She looked reasonably well fed, not emaciated as Faye remembered seeing others.But she will be if she stays there for much longer, Faye thought.
Help me.It was a thought rather than anything that Aisha said, but Faye picked up on it in her vision state. The picture faded, and she was left staring at the black velvet reflected in the crystal.
‘Aisha! No!’ Annie reached for the crystal ball in panic and fear. ‘Faye! We have to help her!’
‘We will.’ Faye grabbed the wand with her left hand and stood up. She dipped the end of the wand in the goblet of water that stood on the altar and traced the magical sigil that Levantiana had taught her into the air with it.
‘Faye! What are you doing?’ Annie cried out, but Faye didn’t answer. She was focused on her task, and she felt the power flowing through her.
The wand hummed in her hand; a subtle but definite vibration. Then she closed her eyes.
Summon the element.
That was what Levantiana had taught her. To visualise water in some way, to bring it into being where she was. She had manifested rain, puddles, streams and later, a tentacled beast made of water to battle Finn and Dal Riada as they attempted to abduct humans into Murias.
But that wasn’t what Faye needed to do now. She needed entry to Murias, not to command water.
She needed to transport herself to the elemental kingdom of water and hope that she was allowed in. So, she summoned the thing that she thought could take her there: a being made of water that she had ridden before.
A kelpie.
When she had seen her mother in the fae realm of Murias, Moddie had handed her a small silver charm in the shape of a kelpie: a water horse.
Like poison heals in small proportions, this protects against that which it represents, Moddie had said, pressing the charm into Faye’s hand.You know of whom I speak. Wear this around your neck and he will not be able to take you. I love you, always.
The charm was only something that existed in the fae realms – outside of them, in the human world, it sat like an energetic presence around her neck, but nothing that she could touch. However, she knew that it was still there, that it would always be with her and help her. She touched the base of her neck, feeling its energetic pulse there.
She visualised the water horse as she remembered it: black, glassy, made of water and yet solid, able to hold her on its back as she dived underneath the waves. She had been able to breathe under the water when she rode it.
A kelpie was a Scottish mythological creature, a fearsome horse that lived in rivers, lakes and the sea, that would sometimes rise up from the water, weeds hanging from its whickering lips and wildness in its eyes. There were tales of kelpies abducting maidens and young children, or leading unwary travellers to their deaths.
Yet, when Faye had travelled to the Crystal Castle of the Moon at the centre of the elemental kingdoms, she had found and ridden a kelpie, and it had submitted to her.
She closed her eyes and summoned it. She visualised it as clearly as she could and intoned,Kelpie, come to my aid, blessed of the beings of water, take me to Murias, thy kingdom.
She opened her eyes at the sound of Annie’s exclamation and the feel of a muscular back under her.
The kelpie stood easily six feet tall, dripping with water as if it had just emerged from a lake. It was as black as Faye remembered, its head huge, its mane matted with water weeds. She was sitting on its back, her hands entwined in its wet mane. She swore under her breath. Clearly, her ability with the faerie magic was still there.
‘Dear lord…what is that thing?’ Annie gasped as she looked up at it.
‘It’s my way into Murias. I hope,’ Faye said grimly. ‘A kelpie.’ She held out a hand for Annie so that she could climb up with her, but the kelpie reared and whinnied.
‘Annie. Come on.’ Faye held her hand out again, but as soon as Annie gingerly touched the kelpie, it recoiled and whinnied again.
‘I don’t think it wants me. Just you.’ Annie shook her head. ‘You’re half faerie. Maybe that means you can make it do what you want, but I don’t think it wants me anywhere near it.’ She stepped back fearfully. ‘You go. I’ll wait for you.’
‘But what if I get trapped there?’ Faye held on to the kelpie as it snorted. She was in awe of its vast strength, aware that it could trample her if it wanted, or worse.
‘Then I’ll come after you. Another way. Somehow. But if you’ve got a chance to get Aisha, then get her. I’ll be here,’ Annie replied staunchly.
‘I love you.’ Faye reached for her friend’s hand and held it briefly.
Annie kissed the back of Faye’s hand. ‘I love you too, babe. Now, go and get our girl.’
12
Excerpt from Grainne Morgan’s diary
