Caroline Spector - Worlds Without End

I could hear their shrill cries and nasty whispers. They knew who I was even if there were those who would have it otherwise. There was but a moment for these impressions. They parted and a procession of elves appeared. Each was dressed in tight-fitting dun-colored leather garments. Some bad tattoos marking their arms and faces. Others had datajacks glistening in shaved skulls. I ignored them as they surrounded us.

I glanced over at Caimbeul. He was a bit paler than normal, but after the night we'd had so far, that was to be expected. He looked up at me and gave a little smile. I found myself smiling back, oddly happy at that moment.

"This is hardly a laughing matter," came a voice from beyond the edge of the faerie light. All the elves and faeries bowed down immediately. I squinted into the darkness. A ghost-like form moved forward. As it stepped into the ring of light, I saw that it was a woman. She was dressed in a white flowing gown. Her fiery hair was pulled back se- verely from her face, but left to cascade down her back almost to her heels. The brilliant blue eyes were unchanged. The skin as pale and white as milk.

Alachia.

Silence stretched out between us. I hadn't seen her in the flesh since 1941.

"So," she said at last. "You've come. And the hard way, too."

"Well, we can't all have the prerogatives of age. I wish to speak to Lady Brane Deign," I said. "She rules here now."

Alachia smiled. It was chilling.

"Power is a fluid thing," she said. "You'd do well to remember that."

Once that sort of remark from her would have frightened me. But that was far in the past. Now there was a larger threat at work. Not just to me, but to the survival of the world. And then, I was older now, too.

"Perhaps you should mind your own advice," I said. "You've let so much pass through your own hands."

"Caimbeul," she said brightly, ignoring my last remark. "How good it is to see you again. But really, you need to improve your choice of companions. You know what they say about the company you keep."

She slipped past me and took his arm, leading him away from me toward the castle.

"Do come, Aina," she called over her shoulder. "We mustn't keep Lady Brane waiting."

I watched her lead him into the night until all I saw was the white blur of her dress.

She opens her eyes. The world is upside-down. No, it's her perspective that's off. But isn't that al- ways the way of it?

Sitting up, she sees that she's been lying on the ground. The fall leaves covering her rustle and slide away, revealing her naked body. How she came to be here in this wood she doesn't remember. But she thinks she should know.

Then comes the pain.

It burns and stings like a thousand hornets. Her skin is on fire and she cannot stop it. As she looks on, small, round welts appear on her flesh. Sharp points burst through the welts, puckering the skin.

Thorns.

No mortal being could have traversed the path to Lady Brane Deigh's castle. But then, it wasn't designed for mortals. The Sleagh Meath loved anything that might confuse or baffle mortals and so If took great delight in the corkscrew turns, disappear- ing paths, and other annoying tricks to fool the unwary traveler.

But I had seen all these games before. The Seelie Court was but another incarnation of something much older and more sinister. How many of them re- membered, or even knew, the full story?

Politics was a tricky business, and I'd done my best to stay out of it for most of my life. But now it seemed I had no choice. I was the only one who ap- peared to be willing to take the chance. No, I was the only one willing to see the threat of the Enemy for what it was-the ruination of the world.

I had to grasp hold of this thought because all my old fears came back to me in this place. Once I fool- ishly thought that power would protect me from harm. How I discovered the error of that belief is another tale.

For now, I kept up with Alachia's lead. She glided over the rocks as though they weren't there. Each turn was taken with a casual nonchalance, and all the while I could hear her keeping up a steady banter with Caimbeul.

I knew their history was a long one, and I won- dered if she knew how much my life had been en- twined with his. And how far back it extended. Part of me hoped she didn't know, relishing the secret. And a part wanted her to know. Wanted her to know that even when she wielded so much power that most of my people trembled before her, I had won a small victory over her.

But there was no more time to wonder over such childish things-we had reached the gate of the castle.

Alachia waved and the gates swung silently in- ward. The courtyard was bathed in the light from thousands of floating will-o'-the-wisps. They fluttered around us, rising and falling with the breeze. It was like walking through a rain of stars.

Then we were moving up the wide, white, marble steps leading to the great doors. Made of oak and tall as a two-story house, they were banded in brass in deference to the faerie hatred of iron. As the doors opened, a radiance spilled forth. I stepped into the brilliance.

The great hall of the castle dwarfed any I had seen before or since. This was no mean feat given what I've seen in my time. I could feel the magical ener- gies flowing through this place. The magic to pull Hy-Breasail from the sea, to create this castle upon it, to gather the members of faerie who still re- mained here on Earth, and to pull back those who had left for other planes. An impressive feat indeed.

At the far end of the hall, I saw a group of elves. Alachia moved toward them with her usual single- mindedness. As she approached, the group parted and allowed her to pass. I squeezed in just as they closed ranks again.

Standing at the center of all this attention was a tall elf wearing a black leather breast plate over a long white dress. Her fine hair was bobbed off short, one side shorn away so short I could see the fragile shape of her skull beneath. Her skin was the color of amber and I saw that her eyes were blue, transparent and glittering as ice. Though she was only as tall as Alachia, there emanated from her a power that I found compelling. The same sort of power that Alachia had once wielded so many lives ago.

She glanced at Alachia, then at Caimbeui, and finally, at me.

"Lady Brane, may I present Aina Sluage," said Caimbeui. Alachia shot him a hateful look, but didn't say anything.

I stepped forward, but didn't bow. Though I knew she was made as I, she was only a child compared to me. Just as I was a child compared to Alachia. And even if she did hold sway over this court, she did so at the sufferance of myself and the other Elders. So, instead of bowing, I offered her my hand. For a mo- ment, I thought she might not take it, but then her smooth, cool hand was in mine. I felt an odd shock, and then our eyes met.

Yes, she was fit to rule, I saw. Though I had abstained from participating in the new politics be- tween the Tirs, I was glad to know that there was someone strong enough to deal with whatever was to come. The only question was: Could I convince her that the threat was real?

"I have heard your name," Lady Brane said. Her voice was sweet as summer wine. "When I was younger I almost thought you were a ghost, invented to scare children."

So that was to be the way of it. Well, I'd handled worse in my time,

She released my hand, then beckoned me to her side as she turned to leave the group. I heard the murmuring of the others as we passed, but I ignored it. Alachia's face was even paler than normal and I saw her eyes narrow as we passed. Good, I thought. Let her worry a bit. I suspected the nature of the poison she had managed to spread about me while I was gone worrying about more important matters.