“Go around to the other side of that tree. There is a hole at the base of it.” He tied the flaps on the leather bags and turned, crossing his arms over his chest. Mischief danced in his eyes as he added, “The goddess was certain you would choose a life with me and my people, and to prove to me that she was right, she put something special in the tree for you.” He nodded, indicating that she should go look. “Go on, my love. See what Raya has bestowed upon you.”

  Honey walked through the thick layer of leaves and climbed over the monstrous roots protruding from the soft earth. On the other side of the ancient tree, a large hole resided between two roots. Upon hands and knees, Honey cautiously peered inside. She saw something tan and furry. At first, she thought an animal looked back at her, but as her eyes adjusted to the dimness inside the hole, she realized it was actually a fur-wrapped package.

  Gingerly, she pulled it free from its hiding place and brushed small twigs and leaf fragments from it. Cradling it in her arms, she rose and made her way back to the horses where her husband waited. She stood next to Roahre and pulled the strings of meadow grass free. Honey unwrapped the gift to find a dress fit for a queen—for her.

  Yards of material the color of a spring sky fell to her feet. Honey gasped in delight. A pair of matching slippers tumbled out and landed in the leaves. In bright embroidery, Raya’s symbols adorned the slippers’ toes, the threads sparkling in the dim light. Roahre picked them up as she examined the dress. Honey looked back and forth between him and the dress.

  “I have never seen material like this before,” she said softly, fearing that if she spoke too loudly the dress would poof into magic sparkles and disappear upon a forest breeze. “It is the purest of sky blues, but it has…” She held it up so the light danced across its silken fibers. “There are rainbow colors upon it when the light is just right. And it is so soft! It’s almost as if the garment isn’t even there!”

  “The Goddess had the womenfolk of the Dwarves spin its fibers. A little of Raya’s magic went into the color, and the Elven women sewed it together.” He smiled. “Do you like it?”

  “It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!”

  “It is your queenly gown. The gown you shall hold court in and for when you meet your new people.”

  “How will I ever thank Raya?” Honey asked, feeling overwhelmed. Her legs even shook beneath her.

  “Rule as a queen should.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The Green People accepted Honey, for after all, she was part of them. Yet, with each passing day, Honey missed her mother and sisters more and more, especially Zoirah. Her heart ached to hear Maybelle’s off-key singing in the early morning hours as she gathered eggs in the chicken coop, and she pined for Ishen’s lovely yeast rolls with the sugar beetle paste spooned on their golden tops. She wanted to chat with her sisters about their latest love interests and listen to her mother read to them by the hearth each night.

  “Let us travel to the other side of these woods and visit my family,” Honey said one evening. “Perhaps Mother’s heart has softened toward us by now.”

  Her real cousin, who had taken the Fae name of Shai, looked up from his seat at the window. Through the window behind him, Honey saw the city lights and courtyard fires winking in the dim illumination that signaled the end of the day. She sighed. The year of unceasing night was soon to begin.

  “I do not think a trip is wise right now,” Shai said. “You should wait until the seasons change so that you are whole again.”

  Roahre’s hand stroked the silk stretched over his wife’s distended stomach “I agree with Shai, my love.”

  “Oh, cannot we go visit for just a couple days?” Honey sat up, regarding Roahre with her most pleading expression. “I can think of nothing but my sisters and Mother.”

  “You are carrying our child, Honey,” her husband replied gently. “I do not want to risk traveling with you through the treacherous parts of the forest in your condition.”

  “Liar,” she said, her tone half-irritated and half-amused. “You want no confrontation with my mother because of your lie about the real Shandon.”

  He sighed and pulled her down against him on the large, cushioned chair. “You and Shai may have re-united, but your mother will not be so forgiving. I cannot restore the years of his life that I stole from her.”

  “Eventually, Mother will understand.” Honey blinked up at him, hoping her pleading look would win him over. “I am sure she will.”

  “Ah, not so, my love,” he rumbled. “I have committed an unforgivable sin by stealing not one of her children, but two. One of her womb and one she took into her home.”

  “You did not steal me.”

  “He is the Green Man,” Shai said. He stood and placed his wine goblet on an ornate table. “You have heard all the legends and tales. The Green Man is a treacherous, cruel man.” His laughter rang out in their chamber.

  Honey shot her cousin a disgruntled look. “You are not helping my plea one bit,” she said.

  Shai strode across their bedchamber. His green robe and tunic gleamed brightly in the faerie orbs used for lighting, his platinum hair alight with silver hues. Stooping, he kissed Honey’s cheek and said, “You already know that I love you, dear cousin. I think you should stay until the wee one is born, but it is not my place to argue with the queen.” He laughed again, the sound rich and very much male. It still seemed odd to Honey to see her cousin in the same form that Roahre had used for his glamour. “I shall retire and talk to you tomorrow, little sister. I want to tuck my children in before they fall asleep.”

  “Good night, Shai,” Honey said, smiling up at him. “Send them my blessings, and tell Dikartha I want to see that lovely shawl when she has finished sewing it.”

  “I will,” Shai said, pulling the door open. “It pleases her so when she earns praise from the queen.”

  When the chamber door thumped shut, she returned her attention to her husband.

  Roahre rubbed her belly and chuckled as his unborn child kicked against his palm.

  “I plan to change Mother’s mind,” Honey said. She winced as the babe cavorted and thrashed within her womb. “If she sees that I am with child, perhaps she will rethink the past and come back with us. If nothing else, she surely will want to see her grandchild when it is born.”

  “I would not get your hopes up,” Roahre murmured, smiling sadly.

  “Please, let us go see them.”

  He shook his head and a pale lock of hair fell across his worried emerald eyes.

  Trying not to smile, Honey knew she had won the battle. “If you will not go with me, I shall travel alone.”

  “You would do that?”

  She nodded, finally failing to conceal her victorious grin.

  “Should I put you under guard, then?”

  Her smile faltered. “Oh, Roahre, can you not understand that I need to see my family?” A whirlwind of odd and baffling emotions flowed through her. “This is something I must do now.”

  “You should not tempt Fate, my love. Fate just might answer your taunt.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I could not bear if it anything should happen to you.” Sighing reluctantly he said, “All right. I will arrange a trip, but we will not rush our passage through the Great Woods. Agreed?”

  She nodded. “Agreed.”

  ***

  They left on horseback the following morning. Traveling at a slow pace with several rests throughout the day, Honey and Roahre finally reached the perimeter of the Great Woods that night. Clouds covered the sky, and a damp breeze brought the aroma of impending rain. Honey looked up at the half-light, dreading the season of constant night only a month away. Roahre helped her down from her steed, waiting to release her until she had her feet firmly planted under her. With a bit more than a fortnight to go before the babe’s birth, Honey felt big and ungainly.

  “I will walk you to the door,” he said.

  “No, I will go alone so that you do not startle everyone.” She straightened her shawl and nervously smoothed the wrinkles from her dress. “I feel like a large milk cow,” she said.

  Chuckling, Roahre kissed her. “You may feel like one, but you look like a queen about to give birth to an heir.”

  Smiling, she took the small lantern from him and carefully walked to the door. She knocked. As she waited, she heard muffled footsteps inside and shot an apprehensive look over her shoulder at Roahre. He stood beside the horses, a magic orb glowing brightly over the steed’s back so that she could see him.

  Bella answered the door. Her mouth dropped open forming a perfect O, and forgetting the door, she allowed it to swing open.

  Lamplight from inside flooded the stoop. “Who is it, Bella?” one of the sisters called from within.

  “It is… It is Honey.”

  “Hello, Bella,” Honey said. “I have missed you so much.”

  Crying joyfully, Bella tumbled into Honey’s arms. The sisters crowded into the doorway. Excited chatter wafted out into the garden, startling an owl from his perch in a nearby tree. The flurry of wings erupted above Roahre’s head, and all eyes turned toward the disturbance.

  Zoirah pushed through the jumble of bodies in the door. “Is that—?” Upon seeing Honey, she burst into tears. Stepping aside, Bella allowed their oldest sister to embrace Honey. Finally, Zoirah released her and said, “You are with child!”

  Honey nodded. “The first prince or princess to be born to the Green People in two hundred years,” she said proudly as she patted her protruding belly.

  Some of the sisters squealed in excitement, some gasped in shock.

  “Do not just stand there!” Bella took Honey by the hand. “Come in! Stay!”

  “Mother will never stand for it, Bella!” Ishen protested behind her.

  “Oh, nonsense!” Zoirah said. “Honey is our sister, and Mother has missed her too!”

  Callan shouldered her way through the women. Gently, she touched Honey’s cheek. “As have we all, but that is not what I meant. It is him.” She nodded in Roahre’s direction, her dark eyes wary.

  “He is my husband now, Callan,” Honey said, determination in her voice, although her heart fluttered with uncertainty. “If Mother does not allow Roahre to enter her home, then I shan’t come in either.”

  Roahre walked halfway up the path and said, “I have caused enough heartache for your family, my love. I shall come back for you in a few days.”

  She heard the pain in his voice at the thought of a brief separation and felt his dismay as well. “I say you shall stay!”

  “Who is at the door, daughters?” Amberon called.

  “Honey is here!” Bella said.

  Upon seeing Honey on the stoop, their mother cried happily, “Oh praise Raya! My youngest has returned!”

  The sisters stepped aside. Honey held out her arms, but froze upon seeing her mother stagger to her with a daughter at each side to steady her. Amberon’s knotted cane dropped noisily on the floor as she put her withered arms around Honey.

  Tears choked Honey’s throat. “Mother, what—?”

  Behind her mother’s back, Ishen sternly shook her head.

  “Oh, you have returned to me, child!” her mother sobbed against her shoulder. A moment passed, and finally, stepping back, Amberon clutched Honey’s hands tightly.

  “What is wrong?” Amberon looked Honey over, noticing her sapphire blue gown and exquisite shawl of a finely spun fabric. Hesitantly, she reached out and placed a trembling hand on Honey’s swollen belly. Abruptly, she brushed past her, stalking in a wobbly, reckless manner to the door. Several of her daughters reached for her, but Amberon angrily shook them off.

  “You!” she snarled at Roahre.

  He dipped his head in greeting. “Amberon.”

  Shakily, she turned, fastening Honey with a brooding look. “Why has he come here with you?” Her lips settled into a thin line.

  Honey stepped over to her mother and touched her face. “I have missed you all, and I wanted you to know you were to be a grandmother soon. Would you prefer that I had traveled alone in my condition?” She sighed softly as she chose her next words. “We want to set things right, Mother. Come live with us, and know the son who was stolen from you.”

  “What use have I for a lost nephew raised by people without souls?”

  “That is not true!” Honey cried. “They do have souls! Just because they are magical, mortals call them unnatural, thus fearing them. It is part of the reason we came here, to prove to you that the Green People are like us! And we all need one another to survive.”

  “Those who steal children are without a conscience—soulless!”

  Honey’s gaze slid over her sisters. They all remained silent, eyes wide, mouths agape. She returned her attention to her mother, her heart filling with pain.

  “Please, Mother! We want to set things right! Just hear us out!”

  “I guess he is not solely to blame. He did not steal you from me. You cut yourself off from me.” With Callan’s aid, Amberon shuffled inside and across the main room to her chair by the fire. “When I believed he was Shandon, I always suspected something between you two, but I could never discern what it was. Did you know him for who he really was the entire time?”

  “No.”

  “Then come tell me your story, child, but your husband is to remain outside with the horses.”

  “He is a king, Mother,” Honey said angrily, her frustration nearly suffocating her. As if feeling the same thing, the babe in her womb thrashed wildly, and she placed a soothing hand against her abdomen. “Do not treat him as though he is dirt beneath your feet.”

  “It is all right, Honey,” Roahre said behind her. “I shall wait here. Go inside and talk with your mother, visit with your sisters.”

  She turned, looking at him. He smiled, nodding, and at that moment, Honey felt such intense love for him she wondered how her heart could possibly hold it all.

  Zoirah waited in the doorway and beckoned to her. Sighing, Honey entered, casting a last lingering look at her husband.

  Seated by the fire, her hands folded primly in her lap, her mother sat expectantly. “Why come back now?” she asked.

  The coolness in her mother’s voice sent a chill through Honey. Waddling into the room, she took a seat next to Zoirah. She settled on the fur-covered cushions and let out a groan as her belly rushed up to meet her breasts. She leaned back, feeling as though the babe’s feet were in her throat. She swallowed, repositioned herself more comfortably, her heart pounding so hard she felt faint. Of all the distasteful things she had had to do in her short life span, trying to talk to her mother about Roahre and the Green People would be one of the most difficult.

  Finally, Honey answered, “I came back to tell you that I am safe and happy, Mother. I wanted you to know about your grandchild, and I wanted to see you all for I have missed you terribly.”

  “I find that you have gained happiness at the expense of others,” her mother said coolly. “Your conscience bothers you, so you have returned to ease it.” She stared hard at Honey and tugged on the ends of the gray braid coiled in her lap. “By leaving us, you sucked the magic from me and left me to become a withered woman, a shadow of myself.”

  “Mother! You speak cruelly!” Bella cried.

  “I am being truthful,” Amberon snapped back.

  “Shandon was stolen because the Green People are a dying race!” Honey explained, desperation in her voice. “More of them are dying than are being born, but you are right, stealing a child is wrong. A changeling was sometimes put in his place and glamour was used to give us memories that were not real. The Goddess told the Green Man about me, and as much as I hate it, I am the key to strengthening the magic the Fae need to survive as a race. If you must hate Roahre, you must hate the goddess as well. She is the one who brought us together.” She paused, allowing her words to permeate her mother’s mind…and hopefully, her heart. Her sisters sat quietly around her, the only sound the crackling of the fire. “Now, I have met and lived with the real Shandon,” she continued, “and I love him just as much as I do the rest of you. He knows all about you, Mother. He wishes for you to come live with us too.”

  “Please,” Zoirah said. “Start from the beginning. Tell us everything.”

  The sisters turned to their mother, who nodded her permission.

  Honey began telling them the entire tale of her life over the past few months, silently praying her mother’s heart would soften. As the hearth’s fire began to wane, she finished relaying the events of her life with the Green People, and everyone sat silently waiting for Amberon to speak.

  Zoirah reached over and patted Honey’s hand. “Are you well? You look a bit pale.”

  “The trip through the Great Woods has tired me,” Honey replied. In truth, she felt slightly ill and wanted to lie down. As her mother’s silence lengthened, Honey lost her patience. She looked at her mother and said, “I came to set things right, Mother, but I see that your heart cannot be set right. You insist the Fae do not possess a soul, but I see that you lack one as well.” She looked around the room, making eye contact with each of her sisters. “You all have a bit of magic in you. As the Green People’s queen, I ask that you all come to live with us. Reunite with the real Shandon, meet his wife and your nieces and nephews. King Roahre and I offer you a good home and you shall not want for anything ever again.”

  “Absolutely not!” Amberon barked, her face reddening. “I forbid it!”

  “Come with us, Mother,” Honey pleaded, knowing it was pointless to beg.

  “No.”

  “We should stay with our mother,” Ishen stated. Her voice held a note of uncertainty, as if she wanted to go and was too afraid of their mother to say so. Unable to meet Honey’s gaze, she fidgeted with the folds of her dress. “She needs us here,” she added, sniffing quietly.

  “The Green People deserve to die!” Amberon hissed, her face contorting with hatred.

  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” Honey’s voice trembled. She detested the emotion she heard in her voice and wished she could be stronger toward her mother. “It was fate. The Goddess said that life with the Green People was my destiny if I chose it, so I did. I have made my choice and I shall live with it.”

 

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