War of Hearts(77)

“Queen Aine rules over Faerie, which is split into four countries ruled by royal houses. Whatever the fae call themselves, we’ll never know because fae language is unintelligible to human ears. They picked up on our languages with ease and all my sources tell me they spoke in human tongue around humans. As such, the words I use relating to their world are human—Irish—in origin.

“We called their world Faerie and those within it the fae. They lived with a hierarchy much like our own. There was the queen and below that her royal subjects, below them the aristocracy, below that a middle class, and then below them the equivalent of peasantry. Aine, although ruler of all, lives in the Samhradh Palace among the fae courtiers of the Samhradh Royal House. As the centuries passed, storytellers nicknamed them the Day Lands because they lived in a part of Faerie with eternal sunshine. And among them lived princes, princesses, lords and ladies, and their servants.

“On the other side of Faerie, there is the Geimhreadh Palace, ruled over by a Geimhreadh prince of the Geimhreadh Royal House. It is known as the Night Lands—they live in a country of constant winter darkness.

“Between these two are the countries ruled by the Earrach and Fómhar Royal Houses, nicknamed the Dawn and Dusk Lands. The royals are powerful fae who rule over a slightly less powerful aristocracy, and even less powerful middle and peasant classes.

“When the fae first invited humans into Faerie, the royal houses began to play dangerous games with them. Some say it started with one human woman. A courtier of the Geimhreadh House was fighting over her with a member of the Samhradh House. In their fight, the woman was killed and the fae of Geimhreadh tried to heal her with his blood. This was forbidden. Now we know that fae blood heals us when done in our world”—he gestured pointedly to Thea—“but on Faerie, magic is unstable for humans. It changed the human instead. She was called Isis, and she was the first vampire.

“Despite the use of forbidden healing, this creation amused the queen, but her Day courtiers were furious. And being the twisty little buggers they are,” he said, curling his upper lip, “they cast a spell over Isis so a wooden stake, a weapon of nature, could kill her. And the greatest weapon they spelled against her was the earth’s sun. It was amusing to them to take a creature of the Night Lands and trap it in an eternal night. After all, it wasn’t borne of Samhradh House, and sun was their purview. They sought to make Isis the antithesis of nature. So she was, and those she passed her gift onto are forever locked in night.” He nodded to the blinds covering his windows. “Pure sunlight turns us to ash.”

“And so began the ultimate distraction from boredom. They used humans in their twisted games and the queen allowed it. She was fond of humans, but they were still inferior. Playthings. Something to amuse her courtiers.

“When a shape-shifting fae, a rare species among the Day Lands, bit a human while wolf and accidentally transferred her gift to the human man, the werewolf was made. Those of the Day Lands were pleased to have made their own creation, but the courtiers of the Night Lands remembered what Day did to Isis, and they spelled the wolf. While their vampire ‘children’ were controlled by the earth’s sun, they made sure the full moon would control the werewolves. Moreover, Night had a penchant for silver metal. Because Day fashioned a weapon for the vampires, they fashioned a weapon for the wolves. Silver.”

Vik grew silent, studying Thea until she was scowling in increasing impatience. Her mind was whirling with the new information. Conall was right. It sounded ridiculous.

And yet, something was shifting inside her. The restlessness that had flowed through her for years, the restlessness of not knowing what she was, was settling. The hum, the itch of it, was relieved somehow. She needed to know more. She needed to know it all.

Because there was no other explanation for what she was.

“Pure iron doesn’t exist on Faerie, which is why we call them true immortals. The beginnings of the Iron Age in Ireland was quite a shock for the fae. No one knows why it affects them, a secret they’ve guarded well, but once humans realized it was a weapon, they began to use it to hunt the fae whenever they crossed through the gate.”

Conall’s gaze drew Thea’s, and she thought she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. “In your theory, iron can kill fae?”

“Here on Earth, yes. Mostly it causes pain if a fae merely touches it. But if you stab a fae in the heart with a knife of pure iron, they cannot recover. It is a slow, painful death for the fae. Iron does not exist in their world. There they are true immortals. Here, they are merely immortal until someone sticks a piece of iron through their heart.”

“And you really believe Thea is fae?”

“Yes.” Vik smiled in boyish wonder. He strode toward Thea and stopped to study her. “To meet a real fae … I never thought it would happen. You’re as beautiful as the stories.” He flicked a glance at Conall. “All the fae are purported to be lovely. A beauty that cannot be explained. Their bodies made for sin—”

“Watch it,” Conall growled.

Vik threw his friend a puzzled look but merely shrugged as he turned back to Thea. “There are so many things you’re capable of and don’t know it. Abilities trapped inside that extraordinary mind.”

Thea didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

It reminded her too much of Ashforth.

Which also reminded her. “So why is Ashforth obsessed with me? Why do I have witches and warlocks and some guy named Eirik hunting me?”