“Clíodhna? Is it you? Everyone thought you must have died long ago!”
Then she realized he had a sprinkle of silver in his hair and beard, silver streaks that had never been there in the young man she’d known. How long had she been gone from the mortal world?
He studied her face. “You haven’t changed at all, Clíodhna. How is that even possible? Where have you been all these winters?”
Still, she couldn’t answer. Winters, he said. How many winters? How had her children changed? She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, she pulled him into a fierce hug. After a moment’s hesitation, he clung to her, digging his fingers into her back. She gasped again, unable to breathe.
Grimnaugh ran up to her. “My Queen, most of the humans are back in their world, but the chanting ones refuse to go! A few others will not listen and seem to be enjoying the fight, but those chanters are unarmed, save a few with clubs.” He glanced at Odhrán. “They wield them well, to be sure, but they cannot be a match for Bodach’s forces.”
Odhrán glanced down at the frog-like Fae. “Are you of the Fae? Why do you call her the Queen?”
Grimnaugh blinked and glanced back and forth between Clíodhna and Odhrán. “Because she is! What do you think, foolish mortal? That I just go up to any old person and make them my Queen?”
After stifling a giggle, Clíodhna put her hand on Odhrán’s shoulder. “It’s a long story, and I cannot now recount it. However, I promise I shall do so when I can. We have a battle to win. Will you convince your humans to return to their home? We don’t want them injured.”
He shot a glance toward Pátraic, still chanting at the top of his lungs. One of Bodach’s troops swung at him, but he used a gilded crozier to block the blow, twisting it around and jabbing it at his attacker’s face. The Fae backed up several steps, letting another soldier take his place.
“I’ll see what I can do. Pátraic is convinced we’ve been invaded by demons from Hell.”
“I suppose I can see his point. The troops he’s fighting possess more than their fair share of evil. That’s what your Hell is, correct? A home for evil?”
He flashed a harried grin. “I miss our conversations, Clíodhna. Yes, you might call it that. How can I find you again when this is over? I’ve come back to your village.”
She glanced at Grimnaugh and then back to Odhrán. “Let’s finish here and I will try to find you. We still have a tower to destroy.”
The final humans, even those who had been joyfully fighting beside her troops, disappeared through Grimnaugh’s rip between the worlds. It closed with a snap and her skin itched. She glanced toward the dark fortress and realized very few of Bodach’s fighters remained on the battlefield. Grian’s and her own Fae troops flooded the plain.
After searching for Gabha, she found him striding toward her. Two of his sub-chiefs carried something between them, something slung in a low litter and wrapped in dark cloth. She caught her breath. Had they been too late? Had Bodach killed Adhna before they had the chance to rescue him?
Her rage bubbled up within her, and she bunched her fists. Her shoulders tensed and she gathered her storm clouds again, ready to expiate her wrath on every single member of Bodach’s troops, if need be.
The litter moaned.
After releasing her fists, Clíodhna ran to the litter, kneeling beside it. She lifted the blanket from one end with gentle fingers, hoping to find Adhna’s face.
The face she found might have been Adhna’s, once. Now, battered, bruised, cut and stained with filth, it bore little resemblance to her beloved teacher and lover. Her rage returned but she clenched her jaw, refusing to let her emotions carry her away. Adhna lived, and she had him safe now. That’s what mattered.
With dispatch, she had Adhna taken to her palace, leaving Gabha to finish the battle and mop up the victories.
* * *
Fae healed quickly, but still, it took some time for Adhna’s wounds to heal. The bruises eventually faded to yellow and the cuts healed. Even his broken bones mended in time. His spirit shone less than before, despite Clíodhna’s help.
She’d placed him at her side as Consort, despite his protests. “I do not wish this place empty, and you are far better a Consort than Bodach would ever be. Besides, you are much more loved by the court than he.”
“My Queen, as much as I appreciate the thought, Bodach remains strong. Even with his defeat in battle, he’s given up little raw power. He will contest this change.”
She straightened her shoulders with a confidence she didn’t have. “We shall see what happens then.”
When Bodach showed his face once again in Clíodhna’s court, he stormed into the great hall, actual fire smoldering on his bark-skin in places.
She waved a hand before her nose. “Bodach, please douse yourself. Your flesh stinks when it burns.”
He scowled first at her and then at Adhna sitting in his Consort’s throne. “Adhna, you may have usurped my place in appearance, but you know I still hold the power of the Consort. That position is more than who the Queen favors with her foolish notions.”
Gabha, who had been strutting with eternal smugness at his success, placed a condescending hand on Bodach’s shoulder. Bodach shrugged it off without even glancing
