Wystwood

65. Problems of the past

It wasn't long past sunrise high above the passages of the Stone Circle, but as Ada wound her way through the underground, she could hear the distant clamour of voices. The scent of sulphur hung in the air, and from the corner of her eye, Ada thought she saw brief wisps of red smoke, or glimmers like the umbre rock beneath her boots was punctured with glass.

But Ada's mind was elsewhere. With each turn of the passageway, she went over a different line from Raeph's past, trying to match his story with the snatches of Wysthaven's history she had heard before. Everything was out of order, and went back in time further than she could fathom. She knew now that the fae had once dealt with humans, though they had been cruel and spiteful. Yet when Ada had come from the Wystwood into the city, she had been looked at with shock, and horror, and fear. She knew that above the Stone Circle, the Lady held reign with chains of iron, and magic had all but disappeared from the fae city of Wysthaven.

Ada's feet had moved before her mind could follow, and instead of walking towards Hester's infirmary, she slipped through a crevice in the rock and stole into the library. It was just as she had left it, books with blank leather spines stacked thrice her height and more. Shadows lurked between sparks of sage-light, like magic given form, ready to seek out any book she wanted.

Though there was one book out of grasp, its cover gilded gold, and its back held by an old man's wrinkled hands. Edmere sat alone a short distance from Ada, courted by swirling embers of sage, his eyes as pale as paper in the low light.

"I find that sleep is often the first to go when one's mind is full of other matters," he said.

Ada didn't reply, only allowing him a brief nod of her head.

"Of course," Edmere went on, "solace can always be found within the pages of a book."

He set the Gilded Book down beside him, and it instantly seemed to slip away into the shadows, gold fading into empty air. Ada tried to keep her face carefully blank. She knew Edmere couldn't have found the book in the library, as she had left it the night before on Hester's table. Although if the fae knew that she had left the Stone Circle, he was managing to conceal his expression in the lines of his face.

"I've been thinking about what you told me," Ada said. "About summons and wishing wells. You brought me all the way here, even though only a season ago I thought faeries and magic were children's stories."

Edmere sat silently, his fingers turning a golden ring that he wore today on one hand.

"What became of humans and fae in our past?" Ada finally asked. "Why am I even here to begin with?"

"You are here to return magic to Wysthaven," Edmere replied simply.

"But is that even a good thing?" Ada thought of Raeph's brother, driven to madness and soaked in blood.

"It is the greatest thing I know." Edmere's hands had stilled on his ring and his eyes appeared ghost-white in the cold library. He held Ada's stare for a long moment, then sighed a weary breath, as though there was an ache in his bones that ran deep into the marrow. His fingers returned to their fiddling. "I know you must not have received an easy welcome in Wysthaven, and doubtless, your people also have dark tales of the fae folk.

"Yes, we once made dealings with humans. But no, we did not inflict the horrors upon you that you may believe. Our relationship was prosperous, with humans giving us substances not readily available in our world, and likewise, we returned your gifts with magic."

"But magic always demands a price," Ada finished.

"Indeed," said Edmere. "One cannot control the desires of another. We can only learn from them, if we are wise. And I believe that every one of us has the capacity to learn. If magic is to return, then perhaps, so can our contact with your world. Together, we can create a new form of magic, which does not harm, but blesses those who seek it."