Clíodhna clutched at Adhna’s arm. “Why did you bring us here?”
He shook his head. “I had no choice in my destination. Faerie doesn’t remain in a fixed place in relation to the mortal world.
She tried to find some identifying characteristic in the landscape but failed to center on anything distinguishing. “Where are we?”
He cast his gaze to the horizon and pointed. “There. That’s the palace spire.”
She squinted, trying to see the detail. She made out a hair-thin line against the dim light, as if someone had scratched a smooth rock with their fingernail.
After heaving a deep sigh, she put her hands on her hips. “I suppose we have to make our way there on foot, don’t we?”
With a half-smile, he shook his head. “Indeed, we don’t. I came for you, did I not? I knew we’d have a distance to travel.” He whistled several sweet tunes, an anodyne to the corruption which surrounded them. Clíodhna watched as the tune manifested into white sparks and ambled away from them. “Now we wait.”
They didn’t need to wait long. Hoof beats sounded across the blight, bright and cheerful. Two large white horses, perfectly matched, approached, their heads held high. Each bowed to her when they came near, and she clapped her hands in delight. “Adhna! Did you arrange for them to meet us? You are a dear.” She kissed him on the lips, a lingering kiss that promised more.
She mounted her steed while Adhna got on his, and they began the journey back to her palace.
Despite all her time in the mortal realm, she looked forward to sitting on her throne again, watching the courtiers’ dance, and hearing Cerul sing. She did not, however, look forward to seeing Bodach again. “Is Bodach the reason for this disgusting mess?”
Adhna wrinkled his nose. “After the big battle, his power over his demesne spilled into other areas. Not all of Faerie has succumbed to his filth, but parts have. Even if you destroyed him now, some bits of the land would call him lord, I’m afraid.”
“If I destroyed him now. I can’t, can I?” She made it more of a statement than a question.
Adhna pursed his lips. “Not as such. You can limit his power, but only by being there to hold the reins. He is too powerful to destroy or imprison, and much too powerful to banish. He’d be even more dangerous in the human realm. Bodach has a great delight in madness, and seeing what he can do to stir up such things in humans.”
Adhna glanced at her and then down to the trail so fast, she knew he had stopped talking before he said something else. “What, Adhna? What has he stirred up already?”
He closed his eyes. “I believe part, if not all, of your husband’s madness came from Bodach’s interference. And Pátraic’s hatred of you. The Abbot didn’t turn to madness, but he developed an incredible prejudice he may not have had without Bodach’s influence. He may even retreat from such a stance without constant goading. But I can’t tell how much is native bigotry and how much is Bodach’s pressure.”
So much of her heartbreak over the last seasons stemmed from either her husband’s madness or Pátraic’s hatred. She clenched her fists until the strap of the reins bit into her palms. “Very well. He will reap his reward for what he has sown.”
“You cannot punish him directly. You’ve already shown yourself a match for him but cannot defeat him. He will use that to his advantage in any pitched battle. Instead, you must pretend to be under his influence and bide. In time, you must remove him from power.”
“And how long will that take? I’m not a patient woman, Adhna.”
He laughed, the merry sound a wonderful counterpart to the poisonous environment. “No, one could never accuse you of having too much patience, my love. But you are no longer a woman, Clíodhna. You are a Faerie Queen. You have eons to make your move, and when you do, it will be legendary.”
“I’ll at least make him pay for it a little now. That will satisfy me for a while.”
When she arrived at the palace grounds, courtiers flocked to follow her into the palace. Adhna spoke to a few as they entered.
She didn’t dismount, even once they’d come into the grand hall. Bodach’s corruption hadn’t affected this part of Faerie, not yet, for which she drew solace.
He lounged on the throne—her throne—sideways, while Cerul fed him sections of fruit. As Clíodhna’s horse entered, he scrambled up from the throne and shooed the other Fae away, tossing the remaining fruit into the corner. After stepping down the dais, he held out his arms. “My Queen! I did not expect you back so soon.”
Standing tall in her saddle, she let her voice boom across the assembled. “You mean, you didn’t expect me back at all. How dare you? How dare you usurp my place and corrupt my land? You will pay for this, Bodach, and despite your predilection for pain and madness, you will not like your punishment.”
His sycophantic smile lessened a notch, and she nodded to the guards Adhna had brought in. “Take him.”
Nine guards approached the Fae. Bodach turned on the guards, his claws out. “You won’t dare lay hands on me!”
Her voice turned ice cold as she gestured the second wave of guards. Twenty-seven now surrounded him. “They will. And you will not fight them, for any injury you do to my own guards, you will pay for three-fold.”
Something in her voice must have hit home, for Bodach’s eyes widened and he sheathed his claws. The guards took him away, with ungentle hands.
Once he had been removed from the throne
