I laid quietly in the back of Finn's van, each bump and jostle sending a new wave of misery through my shattered limbs. Rachel's body had been placed next to me, silent and unmoving. I didn't ask how they arrived so quickly, or why they hadn't answered when I called. That they were there was the only thing that mattered to me at the time.
There hadn't been time to attend to our injuries before leaving the scene. The authorities were on their way and not even the Fae could delay them for long. I finally saw the mysterious Cleigh, though only briefly. The massive wolf was as big as a draft horse but he loped into view like a tame puppy carrying Meg on his shoulders. She slipped to the ground and began placing ribbons around the building. I learned afterward that they had been inscribed with sigils that encouraged the fire to burn much hotter than normal. It would raise uncomfortable questions and suspicions of arson, but it would also destroy all evidence of the Fae.
As the van rumbled down some unknown highway, Rachel stirred and eventually cleared her throat. What little I could see of her ruined face made me glad there were no lights. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from crying.
"You're awake?"
"Yeah." Her normally rich voice was hoarse and weak.
"Don't talk. We're on our way to the fairy hospital. You're going to be fine."
"It's alright." She slurred her words badly. "Should hurt. Earned that much."
"You saved everyone, Rach."
"Shouldn't have needed saving," she began, then swallowed painfully and started over. "Becca helped."
"I don't think she was playing the long game when she patched him up."
"Give her some credit," she murmured. After another long silence, she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Tom."
"Please don't start, there's enough blame to go around."
Rachel didn't speak but she held out a fist so I bumped it with my own and in that small gesture, forgiveness was asked for and granted on both sides. The movement forced a groan from my chest as new waves of agony wracked my broken body. The absurdity struck us at the same time and in a fit of morbid humor we began to laugh, wretched, pitiful noises which made us laugh harder, and that made everything much worse. Some things are worth the pain.
After two miserable hours on the road, we were loaded onto to gurneys and rushed into a dimly lit corridor. Rachel's injuries were more severe than I expected, with horrific, angry blisters covering half of her head. The oil had cooked her right eye in its socket, and holes had been burned clear through her cheek. I had to threaten violence to get Juhan to see her first.
Katherine sat with me as I waited motionless on a hospital bed while conventional medicine tried to hide the hurt from my mind, experiencing so many emotions at once that I couldn't separate them. I didn't even attempt to cope. It was a time for feeling, the mending would come later.
"Finn was right, you know," Katherine said suddenly, expertly masking her anxiety. "You're stronger than you think you are."
"What convinced you, the part where I passed out from fear, or when I was lying helpless on the floor with a broken leg?"
She laid a finger aside her temple. "I got a little taste of whatever that was in your head. The blackness. I thought just that little bit would tear me apart, but you were swimming in it."
I did my best to pull off a sigh. I could still hear the call of the void in the back of my mind, where the tangle of power lay dormant. "That only proves that I'm as bad as they think I am. An abomination."
"Abominations aren't usually this cute."
"I'm serious," I scolded. "It's worse than you think, Katherine. My dad was wrong to believe he could use that power against Mab. Whatever's out there isn't some passive force, it's alive and hungry and it doesn't give a damn about any of us."
"From what I understand, when that happens to a changeling they aren't given a choice, it just takes over and erases the person they used to be. But you came back to me." She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and smiled.
Before I could reply, one of Juhan's attendants returned pushing Rachel in a wheelchair, and I almost broke down again, this time with relief. The transformation had been miraculous. Her hair hadn't completely grown back, but the burns were erased as if they'd never been. Even the socket that had been savaged by fire was completely restored—with one startling exception.
"It's gonna take a while to get used to this," Rachel said, checking herself in a hand mirror. Instead of it's original dark brown, the iris of her right eye was now startlingly blue.
Katherine gave her an appraising look. "It looks cool but it won't be easy to explain. Maybe we can get you some contacts. That new hairline might be a little too punk for you too."
"I dunno," Rachel brushed her fingertips across the soft stubble on the side of her scalp. "I might keep it like this for a while. It's kind of badass."
After nearly four hours in Juhan's care, after the sun had finally risen, I was ushered back into the waiting room, mostly whole, though none of us would be fully recovered for several days. Becca, Miss Gold, Finn, Meg, and Amy had joined Katherine and Rachel, and each of them greeted me warmly in their own way. I even received an unsolicited hug from Miss Gold, though she clearly needed practice showing any kind of affection. After all the friendly words had been spoken, I was left alone with the three brave women who shared my life. It had been several hours since they received my necessary kiss, but for once I didn't need that as an excuse.
We stayed at the clinic another two days under the observations and ministrations of both Juhan and Miss Gold. Our clothing had been burned to avoid any accidental contact with my father's blood—or mine—but it was only a precaution. Of my many injuries, only the bullet in my shoulder had broken the skin, and the blood had been contained by my jacket. As for my father, the toxin was part of a gean canagh's magic and it quickly lost its potency outside the influence of his living will. We were provided with new clothes and regular meals, and spent most of the time sitting in silence, strolling through the halls, or talking about trivial things.
I was surprised to learn that we had been inside Stewart Hall for nearly an hour, and in that time medics had taken Jackie to the nearest hospital while campus police questioned the girls in her dorm. They hadn't heard the gunshots, and nobody was aware of the inferno in Stewart Hall until it blew out the top floor windows. Amy hacked the hospital in Redgrove where Jackie had been taken and reported that after a touch-and-go surgery she was expected to recover. Police were still looking for Kennedy Wiseman. For some reason, nobody had tried to contact us with questions, though Lana certainly told them we'd been there. I chalked that up to interference from a certain red-headed Fae.
Stewart Hall was finally, formally demolished after the fire. As expected, the official position was arson, partly due to witnesses reporting a group of people sprinting in that direction not long before. Footage from the school's security cameras had somehow been erased.
I had plenty of time alone to consider what I'd taken from my father as he died. Miss Gold assured me that there had been no life remaining in those scraps of will, that the figures I'd seen in my vision were simply echoes given shape and substance by the continuum, like the colorless forms within the Veil. It was hard to tell what I'd actually gained from it. I was measurably stronger, but not like Caratacos had been, I couldn't come close to matching his speed, and I wasn't eager to find out if I was bulletproof. Perhaps I wasn't enough like him to appropriate all of his power. I was more than okay with that.
We arrived at Meridian on the fifth day accompanied by the usual suspects, except for Finn who had gone on ahead. Upon crossing the invisible barrier, we were confronted by a peculiar surprise. At first I thought Finn had brought workers to continue renovating the warehouse, but the several Fae who freely wandered the island carried no tools and were decidedly out of uniform.
A willowy lady, proportioned like Amy but taller than me, sat cross-legged on the beach next to her opposite, a stocky, dark-skinned woman who looked like she could crush rocks in her fists. Two others that I recognized as elves were examining the hawthorn, picking and sampling its berries. As we approached the warehouse, a swarm of—I counted five—flying brunaidh, buzzing like tiny motorbikes, zoomed past us in tight turns and acrobatic loops.
"I think those are sylphs," Becca said, shy but excited. "What's going on?"
"There he is, the man of the hour," a playful voice called out, and Finn emerged from the shadows of the warehouse, arms wide and welcoming.
"What's all this?" Katherine asked, beating me to the question.
Finn's eyes twinkled mischievously. "We'll make formal introductions later. Business first." She beckoned us inside where more Fae, all women, wandered through the building, gawking and chattering like tourists. When she reached the cobbled path, she stopped and faced us again, but before she could speak, Rachel advanced on her, balled up her fist, and swung hard. Finn effortlessly dodged the blow.
"What are you doing?" Katherine asked in shock, pulling her friend back.
Rachel didn't shout, but she looked as though she wanted to. "I didn't want to start a fight in the hospital, but I spent the last week turning it over in my head. No matter how I twist it, she lied to me. The gun never had a safety lock, did it?"
Finn clapped politely. "I was wondering when you'd figure that out."
"Why? You knew exactly what I was capable of, and you lied to my face! You put everyone in danger!"
Finn paused for dramatic effect. "What about the rest of you? Do you believe she sold you out?"
I glanced apologetically at Rachel because I couldn't answer the way I wanted to. She gave our secrets to Caratacos without being prompted. She shot Kennedy. I didn't want to believe someone who was not compromised would have done that.
"Whether she did or not, I think she needed to believe it was true," Becca said, stepping forward and taking Rachel's hand in hers. "Everyone keeps talking about who's controlling who, but it can't work that way or Tom wouldn't need fairy lights to use his powers. You can make bad decisions, or you can let people decide for you, but the choices always belong to you."
Then she turned toward me. "You made her feel less broken, less confused, but the real reason she stayed with us was because she made up her mind. That didn't change when she had to face him again. She beat him weeks ago, not when we were up in that attic."
She caught Rachel staring at her and dropped her eyes. "Kennedy was right, Rachel. If you ever meant to go back to Caratacos after Gloria died, you would have looked for her, but you didn't because you found your home with us. You were only confused because your body said you wanted something that your heart hated."
Rachel's expression was hard to read. She looked angry, surprised, and disgusted all at once, but after several uncomfortable seconds, she gathered Becca into a tight hug.
"You're so full of shit," she grumbled, her voice hoarse with emotion.
"N—no! I just meant—"
"Not because you're wrong," Rachel released her. "Because you act so goddamn humble when you're the smartest person in this room."
Becca's usual blush deepened and she almost smiled. "No I'm not."
"Smarter than this milk cow." Rachel jerked a thumb toward Katherine.
"Hey!" Katherine complained angrily, "what did I ever do to you?"
"You're a fucking telepathic psych major, why didn't you tell me that shit a month ago?"
"Maybe because you weren't ready to listen," Becca suggested quietly.
Katherine beamed at her and Rachel sighed, "Fuck the both of you. Fine, you win."
Finn was enjoying herself immensely, but she held up a hand to interrupt. "That was adorable, but that's not why I lied about the lock. The first purpose of a safety net isn't to catch you when you fall, it's to take your mind off the danger so you can do what's necessary. It's much harder to walk a tightrope when your legs are shaking."
"That's a shitty analogy," Rachel muttered, "and I'm still pissed at you."
"I don't care. What's important is that you're all still breathing, Caratacos isn't, and now we can move forward."
"With what, exactly?" I asked. "You still haven't explained why there are a dozen fairies in Meridian."
"Thirty-one. They're your new subjects."
"My—my what?"
"There are three men and a few children who obviously can't co-habitate with you four, so they're living below. The old Tir spreads out quite a bit once you get below the river. I may have forgotten to mention that."
"The old Tir? Finn, what did you do?"
Finn looked around, hands on her hips, admiring her handiwork for almost a minute before answering. "Nothing really, I just greased a few wheels."
"What for?" I asked. "Can you please skip the crap and tell me what's happening?"
For the first time since I'd known her, her grin seemed genuine, though a little weary, as if she'd reached the end of a long journey.
"There are two Fae kingdoms," she began.
"Story time? Really?"
"Bear with me, Tom. Mab leads the Winter Court, and Oberon is the Lord of Summer." She put the last in air quotes. "Each was founded on the obsessions of their leaders, not the will of their people. The policies of an immortal don't change at the drop of a hat, which can be a good thing, but their perspectives are so broad that they only see the kingdom, not the people in it."
"What's wrong with Oberon?" I asked. "I understand that Mab's evil, but from the little I've heard he isn't that bad."
"Mab isn't evil in the strictest sense. Change can be hard when your life is measured in millennia, and she had everything she cared about ripped away from her in a very short time. Since then her sole ambition has been to return home at any cost, and she no longer values life. She'd would have taken her own if it was possible. Oberon's different, but he believes both Fae and humanity are safest in isolation."
"How is that wrong?" Katherine asked. "Aren't you doing the same thing?"
Miss Gold's voice cut in before Finn could answer. "Merowech is not unkind and his kingdom is full of light and song, but he also suffered a tragic fate. Where Mab resents her son's sacrifice and desires revenge, Oberon wishes to give it meaning by separating the worlds of Fae and men, by force, if necessary. A well-meaning tyrant is still a tyrant.
Finn nodded in agreement. "Ever since Finvarra died, a lot of Fae have been trapped between his surviving generals. There are a few communities that thrive on their own and I help where I can, but I can't hire everyone who wants to remain free."
"What does that have to do with us?" I asked.
"You can't imagine your escapades went unnoticed, can you?" her tone lightened considerably. "Caratacos was very powerful and much feared, and word of his defeat has gathered many to your banner."
"My what?"
"We'll get around to designing a literal one once you've settled in. Remember the parchment you signed when you accepted Amy into your clan?"
"Yeah, but—"
"I might have oversold your pedigree a little. Several significant communities offered their fealty when they heard I was supporting you."
I felt suddenly ill. "Please tell me this is a joke."
Instead of letting me off the hook, she bent low in an extravagant curtsey, "My Lord Thomas Caelan Corwen aer Gwyll Gwyddian, Royal Master of Ynis Meridian, Guardian of the Winderwil, and heir apparent of Tir Na Lar."
Nobody said anything for almost a minute, then Katherine burst out laughing, obscene with delight, clapping her hands like a schoolgirl.
"I thought Meridian was supposed to be a secret?" Becca said, both nervous and excited at being surrounded by so many mythical beings.
"It still is. These people have as much reason to stay under the radar as you do, and they're bound by an oath to serve and protect the interests of the Tir. They all carry rings like yours, but with a little something extra. Breaking their vows or removing their rings will wipe their minds."
"They'll lose their memories?" Katherine asked.
"A bit more than that. They'll be little more than infants."
Rachel looked impressed, but both Becca and Katherine gasped.
"It's a serious matter," Finn continued, "and every one of them agreed to the stakes when they signed up. These are your people, Tom. They've put their faith in you. Take care of them."
I began to object, but I finally understood why Finn had gone out of her way to build so many empty rooms. "This is what you've been planning from the start, isn't it?"
"Not exactly," she winked, "but I'll admit to making certain preparations with this outcome in mind."
"Did you know about this, Miss Gold?"
"Some secrets are not mine to reveal, Thomas," she said coldly. If I hadn't known better, I could have sworn that somewhere beneath her hard exterior she was enjoying herself as much as Finn.
With effort, Katherine calmed herself and cleared her throat to get their attention. "You said Thomas was royalty and called him an heir. What does that mean, exactly?"
"Royalty among the Fae can't be determined by blood for obvious reasons. Tom has demonstrated power that ranks him among the Aes Sidhe, and to many of us that's as royal as it gets. As for being an heir, the ground you're standing on was once the center of a powerful court, now long forgotten. Since the land is bound to him he has the right of inheritance, but I think we can agree that he's not ready for a crown just yet."
"'I'm not wearing any crown," I protested, appalled at the thought of anyone bowing down to me.
"A crown is just a symbol, Tom. Like it or not, this court is now your responsibility, and if you don't assemble your retinue and claim that authority, random Fae seeking a power in the new order are going to wander in and wield it for you. Might I suggest you begin by appointing your lady friends... or come up with a compelling reason why not if you value your health."
"Our very own court, Becca grinned, her enthusiasm for the idea easily matching Katherine's. "What should we call it?"
"Meridian already has a name," I said.
"That's not a court, silly. King Arthur lived in Camelot, but he also had the Knights of the Round Table."
"Any ideas?" Finn encouraged. I couldn't tell what she enjoyed more, the girls' spirited energy or my nervous discomfort.
"The Court of Apples, or the Throne of Roses or something cool like that."
"What about Spring?" Rachel suggested. "We tried to avoid offending anyone with Meridian, but if they're gonna be pissed off anyway, and randos are showing up here because they don't want to be part of the other two, we may as well just own it."
"Not a bad idea," Finn chuckled, "but there has already been a Vernal Court and you really don't want to resurrect it."
"Fuck, it's as bad as finding a decent user name," Rachel muttered. "How about the fall? Or did someone claim that one too?"
"The Autumn Court," Becca sounded it out. "It's not as pretty as some of the others but it feels important when I say it." She turned to Finn. "Would that be okay?"
Finn shrugged. "Named courts aren't as common in history as they are in fantasy books, but if you can get it to stick with the locals. . ." She jerked her head toward a trio of blue-green women who had just discovered the community shower and were playing like toddlers in the downpour, clothes and all.
"The Autumn Court suits you," Miss Gold volunteered her opinion, "and I must admit, however grudgingly, that I agree with Rachel and Finola. The name by which you are recognized will have consequences in the wider world, and you no longer have the luxury of neutrality."
Rachel gave her a thumbs up that was at least fifty percent sarcasm. "Sweet, Autumn Court it is. Where do I pick up my tiara?"
Miss Gold and Finn stayed another week, helping us get settled. I eventually found out why they hadn't returned my phone calls in the days before everything went to hell. They'd been several states away, defusing a direct threat from Mab, which, according to Finn, would have made the confrontation with my father seem like a theme park ride. Both refused to elaborate, or explain how they traveled so quickly, or how they managed to show up only minutes after Caratacos' death.
Despite the authority I'd been given, I wasn't consulted when the new residents of Meridian chose their homes. Most of the single, female Fae moved into the empty upper rooms on the main floor, and a few others claimed space in the basement halls near the ballroom, but the row of empty cottages were treated as though sacred, reserved for my personal entourage. The men and their families lived deeper, well out of range of my influence, in tunnels I had never seen. When I asked how they could come and go without getting close to me, I was told it had been handled and not to worry about it. So much for being a lord of the Fae.
After the initial shock, the biggest surprise was learning that both Meg and the estranged housekeeper, Chloris, were among the new tenants. The bean tighe only agreed to return if certain conditions were met, which seemed reasonable except for full control over the pantry. Once we'd sampled her cooking, however, all objections were silenced. Meg had an apartment in the sub basement that gave her easy access to both the pool and the arcanum, but she was either so busy or so reclusive that we saw no more of her than before.
The bathroom and shower situation became much more complicated for those on the main floor, but we had more than enough space, and Rachel's organizational skill, as well as her experience as an RA, helped us find a schedule that worked for everyone. I tried asking Finn why she hadn't made any effort to expand those accommodations. She just laughed and walked away.
Becca blossomed in the new environment, easily making friends among the Fae, but she still spent a lot of her time with her books, trying to understand the Glim and the other artifacts that had been left in our care. Katherine couldn't get enough of being called m'lady, but the pride and hubris of her childhood never resurfaced. Instead, she rose to the occasion like a true queen, giving her time and attention freely to everyone who sought her out.
The changes that affected me directly were smaller. I still kissed Rachel and Becca twice every day, and Katherine's appetite for sex had, if anything, increased. With the girls' help I wasn't forced to become a hermit in my own home, locked away from the multitude of women now living among us. We had a movie night with plenty of attendees where I was flanked by Becca and Katherine, while Rachel sat on the floor between my knees. The following night we played poker with a giggling water nymph, who lost on purpose because she thought it was funny to pay her debts in candy or trinkets. When Rachel explained the concept of strip poker, she was eager to try it and I quickly bowed out of the game. She thought that was funny too.
I continued visiting Kelly Barnes on weeknights, accompanied by Katherine and sometimes Rachel, to work on my lab assignments, still hoping to recruit her to my cause and find a way to free the girls from their dependence on me, but some of that urgency was gone. I didn't like the idea of a future without any of them. If that makes me a terrible person, so be it.
On the way back to Meridian after an evening of lab work, I caught Katherine staring at me from the passenger seat.
"What?"
"Nothing," she said, her smile as enigmatic as Finn's, but less threatening.
"Spill it. What's up?"
"I like her."
"Who, Kelly?"
"Yeah. It would be kind of fun to have her around."
"We see her every night."
"That's not what I meant."
"What, you mean back at Meridian?" I asked, surprised. "No thank you, it's bad enough with the Fae."
"You like her too."
"Of course I do, I'm still not inviting her over for dinner."
Katherine smirked and grew silent for a while before turning back to me. "You've really changed."
"That's what us changelings do." I nodded sagely.
"You know what I mean."
"My new studly physique? You're welcome."
"You're being an asshole."
"I'm royalty now, show some respect."
"Oh, I'm sorry, you're being a royal asshole."
"That's better. So what are you trying to say?"
"You've come a long way from that skinny guy I met on a park bench almost a year ago, and no, I don't mean physically. You're more confident, but less obsessed."
I shot her a dubious look. "How am I more confident? I still don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm still scared to death I'm going to hurt someone with these powers. We don't have an income and there are thirty more mouths to feed."
"Becca and Rachel are working on that," she assured me. Amy had agreed to lend her knowledge of brewing to fix the problems with Becca's teas so we could open an online store, and the sylphs, along with a pair of enthusiastic elf-like anjana, were chipping in.
"You used to stress about everything," she continued, "and now you're just letting it all happen."
"I don't think that's because I've grown as a person," I confessed. "I just know I can't do it on my own. I couldn't stand up to my dad, but we beat him together. Now we have a lot more people on our team, and both Finn and Miss Gold promised to keep a closer eye on us. That's a lot more trust than confidence."
"It's not so different. Whether you want to believe it or not, that's a pretty strong step forward. I think you'll make a fine fairy king someday."
"Lord Tom," I scoffed. "That's never going to stop sounding stupid."
"Lord Thomas is nice though. Or your middle name. Lord Caelan."
"Not Caelan. I can't forget that it once belonged to my dad."
"Fair enough."
We drove in silence for another few minutes before she laid a playful hand on my arm. "Pull over."
"What? Again?"
"Meridian is always busy and I don't feel like waiting until you make your rounds this evening."
I made an exaggerated show of suffering and found a place to park that wasn't flooded by streetlights. "Some day the novelty is going to wear off and I'm going to stop giving in to your spontaneous demands."
"No you won't," she taunted, "I'm determined to keep it interesting."
My theory that Katherine was a closet exhibitionist had been shot down over the past weeks because there was nothing closeted about it. It was only for my sake that we remained inside the Jeep. As it was, I feared someone from the next town would show up to investigate the noise. After a fevered thirty-minute quickie, we sat in the back seat holding each other while we waited for the steam on the windows to clear.
"I love you, Thomas," she said, snuggling her head under my chin. Her anima flowed around us like a sunset, warm and tranquil.
"I love you too."
"Will you marry me?"
"Yes."
"Good. Just checking."
I didn't know what lay ahead for any of us, but for the first time I could remember, I wasn't afraid of my future. My relationships were unconventional. I was saddled with the fledgling Tir Na Lar, the Autumn Court, and I didn't have a clue how to begin. I had a ridiculous power I never asked for, and a pair of frustrating patrons who were playing their own game. But despite everything, or maybe because of it, I knew at last that no matter what the universe might throw at us, the four of us would get through it just fine.