The Autumn Prince

46. Illusions

"So what's all this for?" I said, holding up the heavy binders.

"You don't get to be a leader for nothing," she grinned. "If you want Amy to be safe, you need the other groups to recognize you as a lord among the Fae. The Courts don't count, they're going to be assholes regardless, but the rest will obligate you to step forward. These documents just affirm your status as a landowner, acknowledge your pedigree and rank. . . the basics."

In the end I resolved to do it for Amy's sake. Finn said it was only a technicality and it wouldn't mean much unless people started swearing fealty to me. I had no intention of letting my powers get that out of hand.

It took almost an hour of trying to comprehend the mind-numbing legal speak before I realized Finn had given me a government service contract that had nothing to do with Amy or any other fairy. When I confronted her, she just laughed and presented me with a two-foot-long, vellum scroll.

"Just sign at the bottom," Finn said, still giggling to herself. The traitorous girls, who she'd been entertaining with stories, all joined in, and my frustration mounted.

"What the hell, Finn? Why are you such a b—" I stopped myself short of cussing her out, trying to maintain some dignity.

"I'll give you a hundred bucks to finish that sentence," Rachel cackled and I shot her the ugliest glare I could manage, which made her laugh harder.

"Just use your finger," Finn said, "The decree includes a spell that will validate the authenticity once you add your name, and that'll be official enough for most. There used to be a whole ceremony, but the book of names was lost centuries ago and a lot of the formality became pointless."

"The book of names... That's the Nain, isn't it?" Becca asked.

"Very good," Finn said with a nod of approval. "It contained the true names of every Fae that passed through the Veil along with their lineage."

"Wouldn't that be a little out of date by now?" I asked as I scribbled on Finn's parchment with the tip of my finger. Ink bled through the fibers everywhere I touched, assembling my name in a fancy script that looked nothing like my signature.

"It's a book of power, Tom," Becca said with a quick shake of her head. "It updates itself, like the Glim."

"Exactly," Finn hastily rolled up the scroll and tucked it under her arm. "It was once used to track and care for new Fae, to make sure nobody slipped through the cracks. Since then, its uses haven't been quite so noble."

If it included the lineage of all Fae, I'd be written in somewhere beneath Janet and Thomas Lane, my mother and her dad. I didn't know the rest. My curiosity piqued, but I could imagine how something like that might be used by Caratacos or the queen of the Winter Court, and I was glad it had been lost.

"Oh, and one other thing before I leave," Finn announced, "I'm going to bring my people back to finish what we started here. We're not sure when, but soon, and we'll need more than one night to do it, so prepare for another field trip."

"What do you mean, finish?" I asked, looking around our home. What could they possibly add to what they'd already done?

"The changes we've made so far have been mostly superficial, and you'll need more than a fresh coat of paint if you want to remain here long-term. I don't have time to go into the details today, I just wanted to give you the heads up."

Katherine and Becca hugged her as she turned away. I'd rather have dismissed the little imp with a swift kick to the seat of her pants, but something was nagging at me and I wanted her input. I reached out and tapped her shoulder.