Preface

Rhyvvic Donahue stood, pacing back and forth outside the door to the high council of the unseelie court.  He twined his fingers behind his back as he continued his path up and down the wide hallway.  Rhyvvic did not like to be kept waiting.  But, the queen had summoned him and one did not ignore a direct order from the queen of darkness and shadows.  The door burst open and Bien, the queen’s consort appeared in a swirl of long silvery hair and burgundy robes.  “The queen requests your presence.”  His voice came in a commanding tone and he immediately turned and disappeared back through the doors from which he came.  He did not bother to see if Rhyvvic followed, he didn’t need to.  What the queen wanted, the queen got.  Anyone who stood against her would face her wrath.  Rhyvvic shuddered at the very thought.

The high council was a large echoing chamber etched out of stone that had been polished until it shone.  The only light came from a scattering of torches that were fixed to the walls, the flames reflecting of the polished stone to shoot rays of eerie light around the room.  Great black curtains hung from the balconies that would normally be occupied by the queen and her attendants had court been in session.  However, this was not a regular meeting of the council.  Rumors were forming that something had stirred the queen’s interest in the great prophecies.  Though, what precisely had her so tense no one seemed to know.  Rhyvvic had a sinking feeling that he was about to find out.

A large oak table had been placed at the front of the hall, the queen seated at the head, surrounded by the most trusted of her council.  Bien took his place by her right side, folding his large, dark frame into the seat and placing his hand over the queen’s.  Something was obviously very wrong if the queen was allowing herself to be openly comforted.  Rhyvvic swallowed around the growing lump in his throat as he approached, dropping to one knee and taking the queen’s hand into his as he drew it to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.

“Queen Aesinath, I humbly accept your summons.  How may I be of service to you, my queen?”  He remained kneeling as the ceremonious greeting fell from his lips.

The queen slipped her hand from his and placed it under his chin, pulling him upwards.  She waved off Bien’s hand with the other to gesture to the chair to her left.  “Sit, Rhyvvic.”  That was all that she said, in that melodic voice of hers, a voice so hauntingly beautiful that one would be reminded of nightmares and darker things while never wanting it to stop.  A shiver ran down Rhyvvic’s spine as he obeyed and took the seat beside her.

A large book had been spread across the table, its pages yellowed with age and its binding a softened leather.  The queen lifted the book in her hands and turned it towards Rhyvvic, placing one gleaming white finger on the page where text had been scrawled in ancient script.  “The prophecy speaks of our time, of the death of Faery.  As you may know, our lands are dying.  The fertility of our race is a distant memory.  We haven’t celebrated birth in well over a century.  The enchanted halls are dying out; even our hands of magic have begun to fade.  Faery is dying and along with it, its people.”   Rhyvvic stared at the page, willing himself not to look into the queen’s face.  He was sure he would find malevolence behind those iridescent, black eyes of hers.  The queen didn’t take lightly to being threatened and the death of Faery was the highest threat there was.  Rhyvvic only hoped there was a glimmer of hope written on these pages.

“I am well aware, my queen, of such unfortunate occurrences.  I only hoped there was a way to restore us to the wonder we once were.”

“I am pleased you see it that way, Rhyvvic, for I have summoned you here for that very purpose.”  A wicked smile spread across her horrifically, beautiful face.  Rhyvvic visibly shuttered and her laughter echoed throughout the great room.  “The prophesy speaks of a child, one that bridges the divide between mortal and immortal, one that will restore our lands.  You will bring me that child, Rhyvvic.”

Rhyvvic opened his mouth to speak.  There were a thousand questions circling his head.  How was he to find the child?  How would he know where to find it?  When was it to be born?  “But-“

He was cut off abruptly by the queen and the swirl of her anger so thick on the air it choked him and he gasped for breath.  “You will bring me that child, Rhyvvic.”  She repeated.  “Your mother was part mortal.”  The queen almost spat those words.  Being of mixed blood had been his curse.  “You’ll fit in quite nicely.”

Rhyvvic came to a sudden realization.  She meant to send him to the human realm?  He opened his mouth to protest.  Surely there was someone more suited, some other way.  But the queen held up her hand.  “Do not fail me, Rhyvvic.”  His last vision was of the queen’s face, twisted in that frighteningly wicked smile.  Then he was hurtling through space and time.

He landed in a most awkward fashion, skidding along in the dirt among the rolling hills of Scotland. Standing slowly, he brushed the dust from his cloak, rearranging himself as he looked out along the great spans of open land before him. Rhyvvic huffed, a great expelling of breath, in annoyance. The queen had obviously been plotting ways to be rid of his 'tainted', half-breed self for some time. It just so happened the impending death of Faery gave her the excuse she had been looking for to banish him. He should have known that her sudden upspring of favor was not genuine. He bristled with contempt as he attempted to shift himself back to Faery to give her a piece of his mind.

But, nothing happened. He tried again, concentrating on separating his molecules and wafting on the air. Again, he remained where he was. "Oh, by Danu, curse you!" He shouted to the air, his thick, rolling voice echoing through the hills. The queen had cut his ties to Faery, he could no longer shift to the realm of the Sídhe.

Rhyvvic fumed, suddenly panicked that she had truly banished him and stripped him of his powers. He closed his eyes and attempted a short jump, easily fading and materializing only a few feet away.  So, he still held the ability to shift only there was something like a wall that blocked his path back to Faery. At least she had left him his powers, though there was little else he could find positive about being forced to remain in the human realm.  He settled down on the ground, bending his knees beneath him with the realization that he had but one choice. He would have to find the child.

The sun was quickly sinking beneath the horizon, painting a vivid array of pinks, blues, and reds in its wake.  It was an utterly beautiful sight, Rhyvvic concluded, but all too fleeting.  He stood slowly from his perch in the rolling plains of grass and stretched his arms high above his head, releasing the stiffness that had settled into his muscles.  He gave one last glance over the beauty of the setting sun and faded from sight.