Day 17 of Midwinter, Nightfall

Eastern Segais Reddeshorate, Ildatbach Bay

Annwn

I came to eventually, only this time, Morias wasn’t there to make an inane literary reference. Instead, I opened my eyes to find a group of people I didn’t know waiting for me to awaken, two women and two men.

It was dry. Did that mean that someone had dragged me back onto land? I suppose it would be possible for someone to fight the currents this close to the edge of the Crosswaters. If I had been closer to Gorias, I would have certainly drowned. Or would I, I wondered. Looking down, I saw both my magical rings where they belonged, snug on my fingers. Wavewalker was among their number, and the very presence of that ring made me question where I was.

I felt a moment of panic when I realized my blades and the Cauldron were gone.

“Where are they?” I demanded, trying unsuccessfully to sit up. Pain shot through my bandaged stomach, causing me to fall back on the bed. I peered through bleary eyes, realizing = the ceiling and walls around me were glowing slightly. Weird… but also not my biggest problem at the moment.

One of the women came forward and spoke gently. “They are near, Fíadan. Do not worry.”

I recognized the woman’s voice but struggled to form a reply. My vision was blurry, and it was all I could do to fight the sharp wave of pain that still rocketed through my guts. I could tell the bolt had been removed, but from the pain, it might have well still been sticking out of me.

The woman’s voice continued. “I did not expect to see you again so soon.”

Her words confirmed that we’d met before. “Come closer so that I can see you,” I said.

None of the blurred shapes came any closer, and I realized they were frightened of me. No wonder they had taken away my blades. But why take the Cauldron?

“I’m going to give you something for the pain,” the woman continued. “Then we can talk. Once you have come to yourself, I will return your belongings.”

“I don’t need anything for the pain,” I said. I gritted my teeth and forced myself into a seated position. From the corner of my eye, I saw the group collectively take a step back. I focused hard on not passing out.

“Give me my stuff,” I demanded.

The woman took a half step toward me as I wavered, trying to get a hold of the pain. When I finally looked up, I recognized the long, dark hair and freckles of Fern.

“Chet, lady,” I chuckled. “I would have skewered you. Maybe next time, introduce yourself.”

“Now you see why we took your blades,” she responded with a smile. “They are here, along with the other item.”

I shoved out of the blankets and struggled to my feet, struggling at first, but the longer I was vertical, the easier it seemed to become.

“Where am I?”

Fern extended her hand, as if to help me over to my things stacked nearby. I glared at the hand until she dropped it with a faint smile. “My people found you at the bottom of the bay, holding onto that blasted cauldron. Now you are inside the reddeshorate.”

I chuckled. “At least I didn’t let go of the relic. That would have been embarrassing.”

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A slow sense of recognition emerged on her face. “It sinks like an anchor, by the way. You are lucky you aren’t dead.”

“Not luck, I said, sliding my Silverwhite blades back in their sheaths. I patted them fondly, then held up my hand. “Magic ring.”

Fern’s eyes snagged on the other ring. “Why do you have Bren’s ring?” she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“Don’t worry. He’s okay… I think.” I paused, suddenly remembering the other people in the room. Now that I was upright, I could see them more clearly. There was a slightly older man and woman, and a second man who looked to be around the same age as Fern.

“Fíadan Ellyllon,” Fern said formally. She stepped out of the way and offered a hand toward the other people in the room. “I would like to introduce you to my mother, Morlaithen, and my father, Caarunach.”

The older couple took a half step forward to give me a slight bow. I noticed that they still didn’t get too close to me.

I didn’t bow back. I just gave them a nod. “Never thought I would get to meet selkie elders…”

Fern looked confused. “Wait…You knew I was the daughter of the reddeshorate elders?”

“Yep.” I thought back to when Morias had told me on The Stern Beauty. I shrugged. “The Sage gave it away when he wouldn’t let me call you a princess. I was very off put.”

“But I’m not a princess.”

“Bra-vay-doe, bra-vah-doe.” I said.

The younger man cleared his throat and stepped forward. “I’m the brother that she often forgets about. You can call me Flide.”

“I CAN call you any number of things,” I quipped, moving closer to the Cauldron and taking hold of it again. “But what is your given name?”

“Flideion.”

“You’re right, I’ll probably just call you Flide… if I call you at all.”

Caarunach seemed to finally shake off his uncertainty at having me here. “Why have you brought one of the Four Treasures into our colony?”

I noticed Flide elbow Fern at his father’s words. He gave her a nod.

“It’s not the only Treasure in the colony, father.” Fern reached into her pocket and held out one half of what I immediately recognized as the Stone of Destiny.

“You have got to be chetting me!” I said, not believing my eyes. The conversation I’d overheard between Ruadan and Bren in the Gorias council chamber suddenly made a lot more sense. Ruadan had coughed noisily when I’d said that The Dagda believed Bren and the Stone could help with the state of Annwn.

I slapped my forehead, groaning with the realization that when Fern had given Bren her shell, Bren had responded by giving her half of the Stone of Destiny. The other half was the one Nemain reported as having been destroyed in Brú na Dallta.

“I tried training with it,” Fern continued, “when I was on my ship. But it doesn’t seem to respond to me.”

“We’ve seen how the Stone is meant to work,” Flide added. “Bren used both Stones in Unseelie when we attacked him.”

I chuckled, thinking back to Bren’s state of disarray the morning after he had gone out on the town with Ruadan. I should have known the two of them would have gotten into some trouble.

“Listen, princess,” I said with a little smile on her behalf. “A lot is going on around here that I need to catch you up on. To start, Bren’s with his brother.”

Fern startled. “He has a brother?”

Oh boy. This was going to take a while. I sighed, then took a deep breath, pain radiating through my stomach and torso.

“Here’s the short version,” I began. “Bren left to go train with Ruadan and ended up going back to Ériu. There, he got in a fight with the Bodach and came back to Annwn, where he rode to war with the Morrigan because Gorias was in the middle of getting invaded. The castle was taken, so we had to take it back. Things got messy. I lost my wing in the process and Bren died…” I paused.

“Only he didn’t REALLY die, I guess. He earned his domain and then went with Tadg to where his brother is in hiding with the Fomorians. They fought with the King, and the Fomorian leader died. Meanwhile, Morias and I went cliff diving, where I discovered the lost tower of the first Sage. Everyone wanted to give me back my old title, but I told them to screw and left on a ship that got surrounded by the Murias navy. I found the Cauldron and then, if you can believe it, I got shot by Ogma, of all people! Who knew he could even hold a crossbow, let alone aim it and hit something? Anyway, I fell out the window, took an unexpected swim, and I ended up here with you all. I’m pretty sure Brigid has been kidnapped, possibly by the king… who might have also killed his own half-brother. So much for the gods never dying, right? Now the King is rallying an army to squash Bren, his brother, the Fomorians, and anyone who rides to battle with them.”

I paused, thinking. “Yeah, I think that covers everything.”

Fern and the others stared at me like I was crazy.

“That was the short version?” Flide asked, his eyes wide.

“Look,” I said, looking directly into Fern’s eyes. “You’re the only one that can help me find Bren…and it is even more important now that we find him.”

We both looked down at the Treasurers we held in our hands, and the weight of our next actions sat heavily on the room.