CHAPTER2
Cathy stared at Cuan. “Kevin is in the fae realm? In your old home?”
Cuan nodded. He’d made his swords vanish, but not resumed his glamour. His eyes were still wolf gold, haunted with guilt.
“It is an old tradition among the unseelie, to swap a human child for a fae creature.” He looked sick, the dark blue markings across his face standing out starkly against his pallid skin. “I was aware that Lady Maeve had taken a changeling from your world, but I thought he was a lost stray, unwanted and unmissed. It never occurred to me that she might have snatched him from the arms of a loving mother. If I had not recognized the creature’s appearance as the boy I met in Lady Maeve’s court, your son might have remained in the fae realm for the rest of his life. I would ask your forgiveness, Mistress Cathy, but I do not deserve it. I have failed you most grievously.”
This is all my fault.
It was irrational, she knew. But still, guilt coiled in her gut. She’d wished, if only for a moment, for love and adventure; for a touch of magic.
And a fae had taken her son.
She could barely get words out through her closed throat. “How—how long?”
“When did she take him, you mean?” Cuan opened his hands helplessly. “I do not know for sure. My normal duties took me across the lengths of Lady Maeve’s lands, and I was not frequently at her court. I cannot give you a precise length of time that he has been gone from you. Less than a full turn of the year’s wheel, I am sure. Perhaps a season?”
A season.Cathy insides turned to ice. Her son had been taken. He’d been gone for months, replaced by an imposter, and she hadn’t known.
“Here.” Tamsin tried to push a warm mug of tea into her numb hands. “I put sugar in it. I know you don’t like it sweetened, but it’ll help with the shock.”
“Kevin’s gone,” Cathy whispered. She stood, shoving the drink aside. “My son’s gone and I—I’m sitting here drinking tea?”
“Cathy, it’s okay,” Tamsin started.
“It is not okay!” Cathy whirled round, fists clenching. “This is not okay! An evil fairy took my son! He could be, could be…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t even finish the thought, because it was too terrible.
“Your son lives.” Cuan went down on one knee, pressing a hand to his heart like a knight swearing an oath. “On my life and honor, I can promise you that, Mistress Cathy.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because the fairy changeling who replaced your son was still able to mimic his form,” Cuan replied. “Such magic requires the original to still live and breathe, even if he is a realm away. Had the worst occurred, the imposter would have reverted to its true form without my coercion. Your son lives, Mistress Cathy. You may be sure of that. And Maeve, for all her faults, will have treated him well.”
Cathy swallowed, remembering Tamsin’s descriptions of her own time as the fairy queen’s prisoner—the cruelty and bullying, and Maeve’s sadistic glee. Only Cuan had saved Tamsin from much worse. “Are you sure?”
“As surely as my heart beats,” Cuan said, with such conviction that a little of Cathy’s panic ebbed. “No fae of any kind would ever mistreat a child, especially not as rare and precious a treasure as a human changeling. I have seen how Maeve dotes upon your son. And though I exchanged but few words with your boy, he spoke well of Maeve. It was clear that she indulged his every whim. In fact, when I saw him last, she was promising him a puppy.”
Kevin had always wanted a dog. Had it been so easy to steal away her son’s love? Was she that bad a mother?
Yes, whispered some dark, terrible part of herself. Yes, you are. Someone took your son and you didn’t notice. This is all your fault.
“You spoke to him?” she whispered. “And he was happy? He didn’t mention me at all?”
“He could not,” Cuan said. “Mistress Cathy, Maeve laid glamours upon your son, blocking off all memories of his previous life. He is happy and content only because her magic prevents him from remembering his true home. From remembering you.”
“But that’s not permanent, right?” Tamsin asked. “There must be a way to break the spell.”
Cuan nodded. “I am no mage like Aodhan, but from what I know, such glamours are difficult to maintain. In the light of the truth, they vanish like dew at dawn. When Mistress Cathy’s son beholds her, all chains will fall from his mind.”
Cathy’s heart leaped, then plummeted. “But we have to get him back first.”
“That may be easier than you fear,” Cuan said, making Cathy’s hopes yo-yo again. “My kind are bound by certain laws, in ways that humans are not. We cannot break our word, nor any bargain that we make.”
Cathy frowned, not seeing the relevance. “How does that help? I haven’t made a deal with Maeve.”
“No, but she made one with you, though you were unaware of it at the time,” Cuan replied. “When she took your son, she gave you a replacement in return. A poor trade, but payment nonetheless. But you have unmasked and returned her creature, rejecting the bargain. By our most ancient laws, she cannot now keep what she took from you.”