The Steward (47 page)

I stared at him without moving, refusing to let him bully me.

He studied my face. “Oh, you poor mindless creature,” he said
,
feigning sympathy
,
“I
a
m not asking you to make the decision at this moment—the Seelie Council has its arcane protocols. You
will
accept or reject their offer on the morning of the New Year. I will let you consider the consequences of those choices until the eve of the New Year. You will find me, and you will give me your answer.”

“Why do you want my family removed so badly?”

“You are correct, of course. I loath you. I do
no
t need any reason other than that, do I?”

“May I leave now?”

“By all means, leave.”

Before I lowered the barrier and let the rest of the wor
l
d back in, I wanted to see if he was as arrogant as he appeared.

“I have one more question for you. Were you responsible for what happened
to Kyle and to my dad’s parents?’

A thin smile appeared on his lips.
“Ancient history
,
for a creature like yourself, but the answer is yes. And mind you, for future reference, they all died like Irish rats.”

When I lowered the barrier
,
the
wind rushed in and blew leaves
all around us
. There were Fae everywhere. Billy
crossed
the wall toward us, and I sensed only one other Fae drawing close—it was coming from the opposite direction. I saw her inside the wall
,
walking past
the
well that I
hadn’t
notice
d
before. She appeared to be about my age, her porcelain skin perfect with just a hint of pink in her cheeks. The most striking features, I thought, were her coal black eyes framed by thick, curly gold hair. “Sara!”

TWENTY
-
NINE

CONFESSIONS

S
ara smiled and crossed the distance between us, blowing leaves in Chalen’s face as she did.

He scowled at her. “Buzzard...”

“Barnacle.”

She wrapped her arms around me and I felt a deep sense of relief.

“Oh Pity,” Chalon said, “I enjoyed the Weald so much more when you were roosting in Europe. But I am delighted you blew back in time to witness her epic failure.
”
Chalen laughed and walked back toward the garden wall.

“I’m sorry, Sara. I tried.”

“It’s okay, Maggie. Maebowns are extremely rare. You are still inclined to three elements, the
better
elements.” She looked back over to Chalen. He coughed.

“I thought I was going...” I started

“
Shhhh
. Not here. Let’s leave.”

“Yes, be on your way,
Maebown
.” Chalen laughed again. He was joined
in laughter
by other Fae
, Unseelie I presumed
.
Isn’t that appropriate
?
They ha
d
n’t said a word at the completion of any of my other trials, but they’re here to laugh when I fail.
I stared at the saucer in the bottom of the fountain, then at the remains of the dead fish, and
… allowed …
the feeling of hopelessness
to
wash over me.

Billy stopped beside us. “Don’t concern you
r
self with the result,” he said. “It would have been
extraordinary
if you’d been Water inclined as well. But this in no way
diminishes
your other accomplishments. I agree with Sara, though, it does no good to linger in this place.” He looked around nervously.

We climbed into the rickety Range Rover,
with
me
taking
the back seat, and Billy drove us
along the curvy mountain road
toward town. He and Sara were quiet for several minutes and I guessed they were conversing. She occasionally looked back at me and smiled. I felt dejected and allowed my emotions to stay exactly the same, but I wanted to know what they
thought
.

“Sara?”

“Yes
?
” Her harp
-
like voice sounded younger than it did before, but it was still hers.

“Do you still go by that name?”

“Yes, I will use the name
,
”
she answered in
English
laced with a perfect Irish accent, “
and a
s far as anyone is concerned, I’ve just moved here from Dublin to stay with my Aunt and Uncle Byrne. I was named after my exquisite, but eccentric—and
ellusive—
Aunt Sara.”

I laughed
,
and
I
was a little jealous—I’d always wanted a
n
Irish accent.

“Maggie,” she said without the accent, “I don’t want you to worry about this. I can tell the trial is bothering you.”

I smiled. “I just thought I would pass it. I always thought Water was my strongest suit.”

“I did to. Until the trial, I
ha
d not considered the possibility that you
wouldn’t be
Water inclined.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Maggie,” Billy said, “I’m reading your emotions again. You really need to concentrate. I know you were nervous today, but your emotions were everywhere.”

With the Range Rover speeding down the highway toward town, I looked down at my lap and pushed the expression off my face.

“Billy,” I said, “
c
ould you hear anything that Chalen and I said?”

“No, I could see you, but I couldn’t hear a thing. I
could
see the images you let slip th
r
ough your mind. We’re going to talk about that, but I think we need to be further away.”

“Okay
,
” I said meekly, once again focusing on making sure my face
remained
emotionless.
“That’s odd, though. When I circled myself with the barrier, I couldn’t sense any of you
.
”

“We will work on that, too—impressive barrier, nonetheless.
Your Aunt could do that, you know.”

While I didn’t recognize it at the time, I remembered everything going quiet in her room the night of the Air trial, and her warnings about the Unseelie. Aunt May died before she could teach me.

We drove down Main Street and north out of town. After cruising through the fall colors a few miles, he turned left and we headed down a narrow
asphalt
road that cut back and forth through the orange, red and yellow hills. At a slow turn, I saw a single
-
lane suspension bridge.
P
ainted blue and yellow,
it
reminded me of a
miniature
version of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The
smallest town
I’d ever seen lay
on the other side.

“Where are we?”

“Beaver, Arkansas—namesake of the lake—we’ll be alone here,”
Billy
said.

We crossed the bridge and parked in a lot
situated
in the middle of the tiny collection of houses and storefronts. It was just one more picturesque scene, I thought. I spread my mind out
, trying
to sense other Fae. There were none.

Before they started asking questions, I did.

“Sara, what will the Council think about me failing the Water trial?”

“You mean, did they believe you were the next Maebown? Some, like I, thought you were. Others were skeptical. If anything, Maggie, I think the Council will relax. Many agreed with Gavin
—a
Maebown is not necessarily a good
sign
.”

“Do you believe that? That
a
Maebown is a bad thing?”

“Not like that, no. I believe the
appearance of a
Maebown
is
a reaction to bad things. That’s an important distiction.
A
Maebown
does not
cause bad things.”

“Why? You’ve never told me the truth about the other Maebown
s.
”

Sara turned to me. “Maggie, there is a lot we haven’t told you, and now is as good a time as any, I suppose.
A
Maebown only appear
s
when there are two Aetherfae.”

“Two?” I saw stars for a moment as my mind struggled with the meaning. “I thought Ozara was the only one?”

“She has been the only one since the last conflict, but she is not the only Aetherfae that has existed. Two thousand years ago,
Dagda
emerged. He sided with the the Unseelie and brought war. He was more powerful than Ozara, and they battled one another. At the very moment it looked like he would prevail, the Maebown, Áed
é
n, destroyed him.”

“So there is another
Aetherfae
now?”

Billy reached back and put his hand on mine.
“No Maggie, it doesn’t appear so.
I think
the Council will be relieved.”

Despite his reassurance,
doubt gripped my stomach, twisting it into knots
. I decided to press him on that issue in a minute. First, though, I needed to ask a few more questions. “Sara, we haven’t had a chance to talk since it happened. Do you think the Council made the right decision with Gavin?”

“Maggie, the Council made the only decision it could under the circumstances.”

“
L
ast week
,
in
English class,
I
learned the word
subterfuge
.”

Billy laughed out loud.

Sara smiled. “Sorry. I don’t want to alarm you, or add to the dread I can
still
sense from you, but I haven’t trusted the decisions of the Council for a hundred years—most of them cower to Ozara’s wishes. I would say more, but I’m afraid it would be dangerous.”