"Where is it?" Siobhan bellowed, ripping back the bedcovers and tossing the pillows aside. She dropped to her hands and knees to check underneath the bed, laying her cheek flush against the cool stone floor, but there was nothing but empty space.
The sound of the door creaking open caught her attention and she stilled, holding her breath. "Is everything all right, my queen? I heard a shout." One of the guards.
Siobhan stood, brushing aside a strand of hair that had escaped the tight coil at the nape of her neck. She smoothed her dress and met his concerned gaze. "No, Reginald, it is not. I seem to have lost something."
Reginald stepped fully into the room. "What is the item? Perhaps I can assist you in finding it."
"No," she said, her voice curt. She took a deep breath and said more evenly, "No, thank you. That won't be necessary. The item is of no importance. I am sure it will turn up shortly. You may go."
"Very well, my queen." With a slight bow, the guard turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Sighing heavily, Siobhan sat on the edge of the destroyed bed. She grabbed one of the pillows at her feet, raised it to her mouth, and screamed until she was out of breath and felt lightheaded. She didn't want to admit it, but all the evidence pointed to Luke as the apparent thief. Her sweet, innocent boy. The child she had raised practically since birth. What had she done to deserve such betrayal? And what did he want with the vial? Thankfully, there wasn't anything he could do. Was there? They had tried to fool her into kissing Brendan, to giving away her essence, if such a thing was even possible, and she had nearly fallen for their trickery. She must be more careful.
In the aftermath of her dream about Deidre and the confrontation with Brendan and Rachelle, she had forgotten about the vial. Well, no wonder. She had not been herself lately. That was their fault, of course. All of them. They had driven her to this madness. Siobhan held the pillow in her hands and squeezed, but it did nothing to abate her anger. She needed Essence. She was growing too weak, too distracted and careless, without it. Part of her wondered if she should surrender already, acquiesce to Brendan's wishes and relinquish the girl. Find another source of Essence to nourish herself and her court. But when she thought of everything that had happened between them, when she thought of all the sweet memories they had shared, when she closed her eyes and imagined him with Rachelle instead, there was no sympathy in her heart. Only bitter regret.
Siobhan stood with determined rage, fists clenched at her sides. She strode across the room to her vanity and stared at herself in the mirror, searching for the girl she had once been. There was no sign of her, though. She had been lost the moment Deidre agreed to spare her life for her son Brendan. In many ways, however, she had already died.
She would take from them what had been stolen from her: the chance for everlasting happiness. She was only sorry Luke had actually fallen for the girl—her, of all people! After all, she understood the volatile consequences of lust and love. It was a pain she would not wish on anyone, least of all her son, traitor though he may be.
Maura's time was up.
This would end now.
**********
The house stood suffused in darkness as Evelyn turned the corner and saw it come into view. She had been walking alone in the mortal world for hours, with nothing but the moon and stars to keep her company. She had been trying to think of a way out of their predicament. She had no idea how to help Maura, no idea what to do. She was nothing but a useless and insignificant faery.
Everything had been different when Deidre was queen. She had been a kind and fair ruler. The Otherworld had been a land of peace and abundance then, not the place of restless desperation that it was now. Like Siobhan, Deidre had required Essence to sustain her court. Even so, it was seldom taken. One vial would nourish all of The Otherworld for the span of a human year. But something had happened when Siobhan assumed the throne. Some sort of malevolence had stolen in on the wake of the old queen's death and the new queen's hasty ascension. As a mortal, Siobhan had weaved some sort of magic spell over Brendan, making him lovesick and clouding his judgment. From the very beginning, Evelyn had seen Siobhan for the greedy, self-righteous girl she was. She had spoken to Deidre about it many times, warned the queen repeatedly that Siobhan would only bring misery to their kind, but Deidre would do nothing but place her hand on Evelyn's shoulder and nod, always with a sort of sad smile.
Evelyn made her way down the walkway, her soft footsteps and the sound of night insects punctuating the silence. She was relieved to find that Maura had left the side door unlocked for her. She turned the knob and quietly let herself into the kitchen, removing her shoes at the threshold as she had seen Maura do. She closed the door gently behind her and went to the sink to help herself to a glass of cool water.
Deidre had known of her demise. Nicolette had spoken of it, in riddles and rhymes, of course, but Deidre had always been quick-witted. Nicolette's prophecies were never too difficult for her to figure out. She had confided little in Evelyn, only saying that a new queen would be crowned soon and The Otherworld would fall into a period of darkness that would last many years. This frightened Evelyn to no end.
"Do not despair," Deidre had said, combing her fingers through Evelyn's hair as she wept at her feet. "With darkness comes light."
She would say nothing more, however, afraid of risking Evelyn's safety with the knowledge of what would come to pass. "Do not fight the darkness," the queen had told her. "I know what will be. Have faith that all will be right in the end." As one year bled into another, it was becoming more difficult to cling to that faith.
Evelyn put her glass in the sink and headed for the living room next. The moonlight spilling in from the large picture window illuminated the two figures curled in on each other on the couch, their breathing deep and even. Evelyn put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes against the sudden welling of tears.
Once upon a time, Luke had been hers. She had been at Siobhan's side when the queen stole him from his grieving parents. She had watched him grow as a human, evolving from boy to man until Siobhan made him into something other, freezing his progress in time. He had found friendship and solace in her, and she had found laughter and joy in him. But that joy had been relatively short-lived. When Brendan left, and Siobhan secured that wretched vial around Luke's neck, she realized there was an ugly side to love. Evelyn had witnessed the slow dissolution of Brendan and Siobhan's bond, the shattering of their relationship. With the burden of collecting Essence now foisted upon Luke, Evelyn resigned herself to the fact they would eventually suffer the same fate. She would lose the only other person she had loved. And then she would be alone for eternity.
Evelyn removed a blanket from the back of the armchair and spread it over Luke and Maura. They stirred, but not enough to wake. Even in darkness, Maura's hair glowed like fire. Like light, Evelyn thought. She reached out to touch it but withdrew her hand at the last moment. Instead, she turned and made her way to the stairs and Maura's room where she might, if luck was on her side, find comfort in her dreams.
At some point during the night, Evelyn woke to the muffled sound of shouts and scuffles. When she opened her eyes, however, all was quiet. Had she imagined it? She put her hand in her pocket, assuring herself of the vial's whereabouts. She closed her eyes, only to find that sleep alluded her, so she got out of bed to check on Luke and Maura.
Evelyn paused in the hallway, her nose wrinkling with the familiar scent of ozone. She had not imagined the noise, after all.
"Luke!" she called, taking the stairs so fast her foot slipped out from under her on the carpet. She skidded down several steps on her backside and hit her head against the adjacent wall. Her hip throbbed, and for a moment she lay there, too shocked to move. Finally, she got up and hobbled to the living room, shouting all the way, "Luke! Maura!"
There was no sign of them. The blanket lay in a puddle on the floor. The smell of ozone was stronger here, crisp and clean. She knew it could only mean one thing.
"Right," Evelyn said. Taking a deep breath, she opened a portal for herself and stepped through to the other side.
*****
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