He shrugged, the misery in his expression growing. His mouth drooped into a frown and the hand holding the glittering white package fell.
She swallowed back her fear and decided that she still trusted him, despite that. “That being said, I agree.”
Adhna frowned with solemn finality before bidding her to sit in the center of the circle before he would unveil his prize.
“When you freed me from that pit, I lost something, something precious. I lost my ability to live fully in either Faerie or the mortal realm. Now I must spend a certain amount of time in Faerie and a certain time here. Not an onerous curse, of course, but one that will affect my future. Because of that, there may be times I cannot come to you when you need me.
“Because of this, I requested a boon of my Queen Áine. I asked her to enchant a piece of jewelry so I may gift it to you and your descendants. This jewelry will give you a power or, if you already possess a power, enhance it.”
He unfolded one side of the white fabric, and then another. A third revealed a brooch fashioned with exquisite detail, anamorphic shapes entwined in gold and silver. Four green gems glittered in the setting, glowing with a subtle gleam in the now near-total darkness.
She reached to touch it, but he moved it out of her reach. “Not yet. We must prime this magic to you and your family. You can pass this on to one of your own someday, and they to another, as long as they are of your blood.”
“Will they also possess my magic?”
“They will find their own magic through the brooch. Be careful who you choose, though. They must be stout of heart and mind, able to wrestle with the power they accrue. Some people are not meant to wield such strength.”
With a thought to Pátraic, and then to Oisinne, Clíodhna agreed. Power would be dangerous in the hands of those with no respect for it. Those without conscience can use it to manipulate people to their own purposes, and those without self-control can use it to hurt people. “I promise to be cautious with my use of the power.”
“It isn’t enough to promise to be cautious. I must build in a deterrent. If you misuse or overuse your power, you will feel ill.”
She wrinkled her nose. “By whose judgment?”
He gave her a half-smile. “The brooch itself. It may be in your family long after I have passed, or even Queen Áine. A mortal judge would be of little use. The brooch itself, while it has no human or Fae conscience, can nevertheless be immortal, if cared for.”
“But how can a brooch make judgments of conscience?”
“It cannot. But it can look within the soul of she who wields it, and judge whether they are doing something for selfish gain or the good of others.”
She didn’t care for that explanation but could think of few other arguments which might make sense. The brooch drew her, intrigued her, but it also frightened her. Such an artifact in the mortal world might become a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.
“How can I control my descendants? They may be rotten people.”
Adhna stroked the metalwork of the brooch. “The brooch will not accept someone unworthy. Each person must be primed into ownership, via a ritual I shall show you. If the brooch accepts the stout heart of the new bearer, it will make a clear choice. Either way.”
The green stones of the brooch flickered, appearing like the luminous eyes of some underwater monster, ominous and dangerous. Clíodhna clenched her teeth and pulled up her memories of the kinder denizens of the deep. The wise salmon, the playful dolphin, the curious flounder. “Then let us do this ritual. I want to see if the brooch accepts me.”
Adhna rose without effort and reached his hand to help Clíodhna. She considered rejecting his help, but that would just be obstinate. Clíodhna took his hand and rose, her hand brushing the white fabric. A shock of energy sparked and she pulled back from the sharp pain.
“Don’t touch it yet! Not until the ceremony is complete. Now, walk around the circle with me, three times.”
He led her in a stately march around the outside of the circle, sunwise. He led her to the center and held his hands up, cupping the brooch to the sky. The green light of the stones glowed bright now, bathing the entire hilltop in a menacing green light, a portentous warning of dangers to come.
Small motes of brighter light danced in the darker green light, swirling like the carvings on the stones in a merry dance. The threatening mood lightened into cherry laughter as the lights skipped from the top of each stone, around and around, just as they’d walked.
The lights gathered around her, forming an almost solid blanket of light. She grinned, delighted at the joyful atmosphere of the lights and their uplifting ambiance. Her spirit soared across the sky, on the wings of a starling in the bright sun of early dawn.
Now the lights dove straight into her heart. Pain shot through her and she crumpled to the ground. Still the lights entered her breastbone, swimming within her blood, humming with impossible temper inside her bones.
Clíodhna cried out, begging Adhna to help her, but he simply backed away three steps. “You are part of it, Clíodhna. I cannot stop the ritual now.”
The lights streamed out of her fingertips, her mouth, her nose, even her eyes. Each one left with painful stings as if she’d been poked by a thousand sewing needles. Into her heart and out of her fingers, into her blood and out of her eyes. The pain just kept going until she lost consciousness. Her final thought came as a
