Fifty to sixty adult Fae guided their limbs through the air in slow sweeping motions. Dougal was teaching them how to perfect the forms before allowing them to speed up. Genius, really. A Fae who could land a hit correctly every single time was dangerous. An army of them would be devastating. The fighting style seen in action was precise and incredibly structured, it was actually kind of beautiful. My own style wasn’t something I could teach because it wasn’t a recognized style. I just did what felt right in the heat of the moment and since getting out of prison it had turned even more unpredictable. 

A spark of gold caught my attention from beyond the practicing soldiers. Calmly walking out from the trees that kept our camp hidden was Puck. His clothes were all a light brown color except for the royal blue ribbon tied around his right bicep. My brows furrowed the longer I stared at the ribbon confused as to what it meant. Mab had placed purple ribbons on the bodies of my dead citizens but that was to taunt my newly formed kingdom. Fae normally wore the ribbons of their chosen kingdom when they couldn’t afford to embroider the crest on their clothes or if their kingdom didn’t have one yet.

My heart sank coldly into my stomach as I realized that all the Fae around me were either sporting a blue ribbon or a blue tunic. They were wearing my color as a declaration of their chosen kingdom and it brought more pain than any torture had. I could only be thankful they weren’t wearing the crest of the Banished Kingdom. That would have been a blow I wasn’t sure I’d recover from. When I’d thought it was just the patrolling guards, I didn’t think twice about the use of my color. But what was the most painful about this situation was that they didn’t even know the truth yet. 

Physically shaking my head to clear it, I refocused on Puck and what he was doing. Where did he come from? Did he leave the base? His head swiveled to the left and then to the right as he checked his surroundings. Raising a blue brow, I tilted my head and shifted out of the shadows to follow. Why so paranoid, Little Seelie?

“Fabht Siúcra.”

By the Divine Tricksters beard, there goes my plan. Keeping my back to him and my eyes on Puck, I responded,“Dougal. You’ve been training them well.”

“These soldiers are newer to fighting and need more practice but they’re getting there.” 

Turning my head to follow Puck’s path, I asked,“And the barrack count?” 

“A hundred fresh. Roughly two hundred seasoned and,” Dougal cleared his throat before finishing, “another hundred domestic.” 

Shocked, I turned to face him, “Their families are here?” 

Gaze whipping around, I tried to catch sight of a child or an un-uniformed Fae walking around. I hadn’t seen any last night but then again it had been late when we arrived. What the fuck were their families doing here? This was no place for children and non-fighters. 

Dougal scrubbed at his grey goatee, “I know but a lot of these soldiers followed me out of Mab’s Court. To leave their families behind would have been a death sentence.” 

“I understand that but why aren’t they in a separate hidden base?” I demanded. “Everyday that they’re here, they’re at risk. Mab’s troops could find us at any time and attack without notice. They shouldn’t be here.” 

He nodded gravely, “I agree, My Queen. However, we don’t have enough soldiers to properly defend both bases.” 

“Don’t call me that.” I snapped. 

Murmuring a curse word, I pinched the bridge of my nose and thought about the situation. First and foremost, the domestics couldn’t stay here. If the base was raided they’d be slaughtered by Mab’s soldiers without remorse. No. I couldn’t lose more people like that, more children like that to Mab. Relax, Macha. Think. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming….

“Where are the domestics located now?” 

“Wherever they set up camp but the first ring of tents are all soldiers.” 

I was already shaking my head before his sentence ended, “No, they need to be moved.” 

“To where?” 

My eyes shot to different spots in front of me as I thought, “Move my tent to the second ring and put all the domestics in the middle. Enemy troops will make a beeline directly for my tent so they’ll be safer in the middle. If the worst happens and we’re overwhelmed then we can hold them back long enough for the domestics to travel out.” 

Dougals eyes glazed over for a minute as he thought it over, “I’ll make sure the change is made immediately. It’s a good plan but not a long term one.” 

“I know. We need to move them out to a secure location as soon as possible. Which means we need more troops.” 

“Which means we need to start recruiting.” 

I gave him a look, “And meeting with potential allies but I’m not doing shit until I tell everyone here the truth.” 

“Of course, but If I might suggest doing that as soon as possible.” He asked. 

Dougal was right, I couldn’t put it off. “Okay.” My fear caused the word to come out clipped.

He raised his hands in front of him with a grin, “No need to get so defensive, Fabht Siúcra.”

Rolling my eyes, I looked over my shoulder to see if Puck was still there. As I expected the paranoid looking seelie was nowhere to be found. But perhaps now was a good time to question Dougal about certain inconsistencies in Puck’s story.

Folding my features into a mask of indifference, I casually questioned, “What do you think of Puck?” 

“He’s a good kid, a little young but passionate.” 

“Do you trust him?”

“I do.” 

Crossing my arms over my chest, I tipped my head down slightly to look him directly in the eye, “But you’ve just met.”

“Yes, but-”

“Cut the shit. He knew the nymph who let us in last night by name and you trust him. You don’t trust anyone who hasn’t proven themself to you. He’s been here before, hasn’t he?” 

“I don’t know what you think-”

I cut him off again, “Of course. There’s no way he found Dani on his own or fought them off. I knew this was a trap and I still walked right into it.” 

A cyclone of wind in cased us before I could travel out of the base. And air immediately began to rip sharply through my lungs from the confining circling cell. I couldn’t tell if my vision was beginning to blur or if it was an effect of the wind. But suddenly, my lungs weren’t taking in air and the back of my neck was growing uncomfortably hot. It’s not a cell. It’s not actually a cell, Macha. Be the crazy blue fish and swim!

“Stop. We chose to introduce him to you this way because his presence here needed to be kept secret for the time being. We also knew you would immediately think it was a trap.” 

“So, you thought lying to me would be a good idea?” I was pretty sure I had yelled the words at him but they sounded like a whisper.

“At the time, yes. I see now, that that was a mistake.” 

“Oh, do you?”

“He’s been a friend of the family for many years. Puck is loyal to what we are trying to accomplish and is here as a sign of good will.” Dougals voice was calm as if he was trying to keep me from losing my shit. Too little, too late. 

I latched onto his last few words, “A sign of goodwill? A sign of goodwill from who?”

“Macha.”

My facade of sanity cracked, “FROM WHO?” 

“Oberon.” 

Air vacated my lungs at an incredible speed, Oberon? I should have known. He’d been trying to track me down since the day I’d been left in the outerlands. I’d always assumed it was because he wanted to use me as a hostage against Mab. But what if it wasn’t? “Why?”

“How many times must I repeat myself? Because like everyone else here, he wants to see Mab gone and you on the throne. For the good of the people, no matter the cost. And the cost will be great.”

My heart rate slowed as understanding dawned, “Puck is a representative of the Seelie Court. The Seelie are going to back us in the war.”

“They are but that’s not public knowledge yet and Puck’s not just any representative, his Oberon’s youngest son. The only reason he didn’t send his heir is because Puck begged to be here. The kid thinks you’re a hero.” He corrected with a soft look. 

“Then why did I just see him sneaking around the base?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Seelies were backing us.

His soft look turned into a smirk, “Him and my daughter, Bria, think they’re hiding their relationship from me.” 

Should have known she was his daughter. I snorted, “Young love. How disgusting.” 

“I seem to remember a certain young girl who was smitten with my eldest…” 

A spark of anger flared to life in my chest and then flickered out just as quickly. “That was over a thousand years ago and I was a traumatized child. I think I was allowed a mistake or two. Besides, not to make this awkward but I still want to kill your son.” 

He laughed, “Hearts are like the roaring sea, death is always a possibility.”

“I will never understand what the hell you’re saying.” I said shaking my head. 

Dougal continued to laugh, “Considering this conversation just gave me whiplash, I’d say we’re even.” 

“Yeah, Yeah.” I replied, cringing a bit at his use of the word whip and lash. 

He dropped the air barrier with a snap of his fingers and the outside world reappeared. Everything was mostly the same, the only difference was that the amount of fae walking around had increased. I even watched as children ran past the practicing soldiers, grass stained knees pumping hard to get them where they needed to go. 

“So, we’re okay? Everything’s back on track?”

Giving him a cold look, I stated, “I don’t know. Is there anything else you want to come clean about?” 

Dougals face remained the picture of ease, “I am keeping two more things from you but I can’t tell you what they are just yet. It’s not harmful to you or what we’re trying to do here in any way.” 

I said nothing for a moment and looked up at the clear blue sky. My chest panged at the new secrets that now laid between us. But while it hurt, I trusted that whatever he was keeping from me wasn’t to hurt me. That was obvious enough from what the Puck situation had turned out to be. Or maybe I just wasn’t as ready as I thought I was to lose Dougal. 

Whatever the reason, I chose to ignore it. These past few days had gone by at warp speed, dumping new information into my lap everyday. I could either adapt and go with it or die from the overload. I wanted to be that little blue fish so badly but I was afraid that I was drowning slowly instead. 

“Then, as much as your unnecessary secrets annoy me. We’re good...for now.” 

“I’m glad to hear it, Fabht Siúcra.” 

“Yeah. But you might not like this.” I hummed and left the shade to stand at the front of the training lines. 

Dougal had just reminded me how much I hated lying and I couldn’t do it anymore. The soldiers came to a stop when they noticed that I was just standing in front of them staring. Confusion and excitement warred on many of their faces, they probably thought I was going to give some grand uplifting speech.

Grinning to hide my fear, I called out, “Do any of you have a wind ability?” 

A female with half of her purple head shaved, stepped forward first, “I do, My Queen.” 

Was it normal to feel like throwing up when you were about to tell the truth? 

“Great, can you broadcast my words across the base?” 

“I can but I need to touch you, My Queen.” 

At my nod, she moved to stand beside me before pressing two fingers to the front of my tattooed throat and holding her other hand straight up into the air.

“All of you are here to help bring down Mab and for that you deserve the truth about who you’re following into war. The story Mab has spread across the land about why I went to battle against her is a lie. Nothing more than a tale to villainize me in the eyes of all Fae but the truth isn’t much better.” Whispers erupted from all around but I pushed forward, “My last name isn’t Tills and my mother wasn’t a criminal from Mab’s dungeon….My name is Macha O’Riordan and I am the first born bastard of Mab O’Riordan.” 

“Under my reign as Queen of the Banished, Mab drained the magick of forty of my people including children without my knowledge. I found them in an empty village, pale white from hair to skin and when I touched them they crumbled. She left purple ribbons tied around their wrists as proof of her involvement. There had been reports of missing old people and runaways with a record. I ignored the concerns brought to me by my advisors and because of that many innocent Fae died a horrible death.” 

I notched my chin up at the tense looking Fae, “I’m here to make sure that never happens again. I failed my people and that’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life but I refuse to fail again. Mab needs to be stopped. Her cruelty has affected the very essence of Tir Na Nog. What once was a world of tricks, laughter and the occasional fun war is now a land filled with fear. I believe that if she is allowed to continue, she will have an even more devastating effect on our world. I don’t know what she has planned but the draining of another Fae’s magick does not bode well for any of us.” 

Pausing, I allowed the words to sink into the minds of all the listening Fae. Taking one last look over the crowd in front of me, I watched expressions range from anger to fear. “I will lead you into this war with Mab and give everything to win. Some of you may have doubts about me but I am your best chance at dethroning Mab. I’m not asking that you fight for me but with me. At the end of the day, my fate is in your hands. If after the war you want me gone, I’ll disappear without complaint. If you want me as your Queen then...You’re free to leave if you choose, I’ll give you all time to digest this.” 

Breaking the contact to my neck, I walked off into the nearby woods. While they needed time to absorb my little speech, I needed time to absorb the last few days.

——————————————————————————

The truth is revealed!! Is anyone else over Dougals secrets? And for all her talk of telling the truth, she sure didn’t actually enjoy it. Who else feels like throwing up when your about to tell the truth? Can you blame her though? She is a Unseelie at the end of the day....

Leave a comment if you enjoyed something about the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋