20. Rodan

20

Rodan

" I am sorry," Rodan said, helping Maeve to sit once more. Her eyes had a semi-glazed appearance, and he knew she was starting to pull away. He could sense her withdrawal through the bond over the last half hour, but now it snapped shut, leaving him alone on the other side. "She has sworn us all to secrecy, and then there are the vows I made with Langdon and Elias, with Trinity. We four have been working for centuries?—"

"Stop," Maeve said, and with it came a hint of the gods power. He saw the other two Fae glance at each other. They had felt it, too. "I tire of secrets."

Rodan sighed. "My love, please understand, there was only so much time, and… other priorities."

Her cheeks flamed red, and she glanced up at him, then to his friends. "And what am I in all this? Some kind of lure? Bait?"

Elias laughed at that, and Rodan loved him for it. "My lady, I extend my greatest sympathy to one who would use you thus."

She narrowed her eyes, and Rodan touched her shoulder, drawing her attention back. "You never were any of those things, not to me. And if anyone else had an inclination toward it, well, knowing of your godhead and your strengths, they would think twice."

"I still cannot believe it," Langdon said, collapsing into a chair near enough to Maeve that he could touch her feet with his if he stretched out enough. Curls shaded his eyes, and he brushed them away, taking another healthy swallow out of the bottle of Fae spirits balanced on his knee. "That you would bond to her. Not just she's Titania's, brother, but that she bested you. Caused your failure in the trials."

Maeve's sharp gaze now rested on the man. Rodan knew she must feel beset. Everything here was unfamiliar, and there was such history between him and all of these people.

"There were many reasons I fell that day," Rodan said, coming to her defense. "Maeve was the least of it, believe me."

Trinity appeared at the edges of the sound barrier, tapping against it so that Elias made it fall before raising it once more.

The Fae woman strode without pause to Rodan's side, taking him by the arm and then embracing him. "We were so worried."

The bond slid open by a degree, and Maeve's voice flitted through his mind. They all blame me for almost killing you.

I know , he said back. But they're fiercely loyal friends.

Trinity pulled back, holding him at arm's length to examine his personage. She was much shorter than him or Maeve, putting her at just a handful of inches over five feet, and yet because of her frame and bearing, she appeared much taller. "You've been eating well enough, but there is so much about you which has changed. You've bonded! And to the very one who helped drive a sword through your chest."

Rodan saw Maeve flinch beside him, then she was making another goblet of wine, drinking fast and avoiding looking at anyone.

He wanted so desperately to be alone with her.

Removing himself from Trinity's grip, gentle but firm, Rodan said in cool tones, "As is often the case, there is more to the story than what meets the eye. Trinity, may I introduce you to my bondmate? This is Maeve. She is new to the Court and its customs, and she is still young by all accounts, but I think if you give her more than a snap judgment, you'll see there's a depth to her that led to my decision."

As he spoke he thought of all those times he had held Maeve a little tighter. How she clutched him right back, and how much she had seen and gone through. He would be shield and sword for her, if she allowed.

Trinity stared back at him with burnt green and coin silver eyes, then smiled and moved away, turning to face Maeve. "Titania seems quite interested in you. Strange for someone so young."

She sighed and Rodan could see her resist the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm Titania's secret daughter," Maeve said, tone bored, raising her hands to show her harmlessness. "But I am also the daughter of the god Ankou."

Trinity pulled in a quick breath.

And launched herself at Maeve.

Rodan reacted first, though everyone in the room moved at once. He grasped Trinity about the waist, hauling her off the ground, her legs kicking. Maeve sprang to the side, out of the Fae woman's furious reach. Langdon lunged for his wife, and Elias moved to step between his mother and Maeve.

Curious.

"Let me go!" Trinity howled, like he had never heard her.

"Mother, what are you doing?" Elias shouted.

Maeve stood behind the couch now, her hands in fists and her teeth bared. "Do not keep coming for me," she warned. "I will not be attacked."

"You are my friend!" Rodan cried. "What has gotten into you? This is my bondmate. What you do to her you may as well be doing to me. Would you attack me?"

That last seemed to hit home at last, and Trinity became loose in his arms, no longer straining against his hold. He passed her to Langdon, who had been attempting to take her from him for some time, and then went to Maeve's side. Elias was already there, standing within reach.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I've never seen her do something like this."

"Are you alright?" Rodan asked Maeve, reaching out to run the backs of his fingers down her arm. He could see gooseflesh rise from where he touched.

"Fine," she said, though her tone was snappish. She raised her voice to be heard clearly. "How dare you condemn me for the circumstances of my birth? Did you have any say in how you came into this world, and by whom? You had as much part in it as I did in mine. Stop acting like I'm some kind of monster just because—" she cut herself off with a deep inhalation of breath. "I am told you are friends, but I am treated here as an enemy. So I will tell you what I would tell an enemy: back off. Stop this madness. Talk to me with a civil tongue, or let it be war between us." Her tone calmed. "If it is, I will destroy you."

"Just to be clear," Elias said in a low voice which would nonetheless be heard by all. "I'm on your side, Maeve Almeida."

She smirked, and Rodan took her hand, facing his oldest friends alongside her. "I carry so much love and admiration for you both," he said. "But I agree with everything Maeve has said. What say you?"

Trinity was staring at the floor, her lips parted and eyes wide. She was held in the circle of Langdon's arms, and he was glaring over her head at his son.

Are you really taking my side? Maeve asked through the bond. They are your oldest friends. They've known you longer than anyone.

I love you more than the breath in my lungs, he said back. You are my everything. I will never choose others over you.

Rodan did not look at her while he said these things, but he could sense her focus shift to him. Her fingers tightened around his, and her next words to him seemed breathy. I need to get you alone again.

Now it was Rodan's turn to smirk, though he tried to hide it.

Langdon's gaze shifted from Elias to Maeve. "I apologize for the actions of my bondmate. I do not think she would have acted this way if she had not heard our sons' prophecy."

Rodan felt his stomach sour. "I did not know you possessed that gift, Elias."

"It's new," he said. "It's been happening to a large number of species. There are those among the Ayo who speak in prophecy now, and I touched on enough at the party to know that there are others among the Fae similarly plagued. Here and off-planet."

"That's… unprecedented," Rodan said, struggling to find the word. His hand grasped Maeve's tightly. He wanted to take her back to the Realms. Wanted it with his whole being. "Tell us, what prophecy would inspire such action, and does Trinity pledge to stay her hand?"

"I will," she said, her voice hollow. "It was shock, Rodan. I'm sorry." She blinked long and straightened up in Langdon's arms, leaning against him. "And I am so tired, after our travels and speaking with Titania. That woman is trying." Her gaze found Maeve. "I apologize to you, Maeve Almeida. You are right. None of us have a say in how we came to be."

Rodan began to relax a little, but he kept his body angled so he could get between Maeve and any of the others in an instant.

"Elias had a prophecy, some months back. It has been repeating every few nights. Growing in strength." Trinity explained. "And I think it's about you, and Rodan."

"I think it began when they bonded," Elias said. "That's the moment everything shifted. Across worlds."

"Or when he brought her back from the dead," Langdon mused aloud, still with his arms wrapped around Trinity, who looked passive as a child now. He was even stroking her hair.

"What is this prophecy?" Maeve demanded.

"A burning planet, and spreading like a cancer through the pathways and all the worlds, one into the next, a wave of darkness. At its head, a being of pure malevolence." Elias did not break his gaze with her when he spoke. "And I know that this has come true in part. You've been with the darkness already."

"Yes," Maeve agreed. "But we bound it away from me."

"That wasn't all, it will come for you again," Elias predicted. Then he smiled. "I will accompany you to Earth. You have to go back. If you want to prevent this future, you must prevent that planet from burning. It assuredly will if you do nothing."

"And then the Realms? The Court? All of it?" Maeve asked. "Titania seemed convinced that whatever is going on, the Court is safe."

"Nowhere is safe," Elias said clearly.

"Our planet, as well, our son has seen it," Trinity cut in. "Until all is death and darkness."

Rodan sensed the shudder that went through Maeve, and he knew she was thinking of the moment her fire was taken from her. Even though she could summon flame now, she did so much less often than before. It feels strange , she had said to him. It's not the same.

How was she supposed to stand against a new Nyx threat with only borrowed powers?

"Maeve, we don't have to?—"

"We do," she interrupted, reaching for him. Her fingers were adorned with rings, and they slipped against his skin. "We have to return to the Realms first, but then—yes. We go to Earth. It feels right, doesn't it?"

He did not want to agree with her, but she was correct. It did seem like the proper order of things, and he was not precisely sure why. "Titania…" he started, spreading his palms.

"I'll talk to her," Maeve said. "Surely she'll understand."

"She wants you to take over the Court, my love, she does not even want you returning to the Realms," Rodan could not help but argue.

Trinity made a frustrated sound. "She's not a god. She is not omnipotent. Langdon has shown me through our bond what passed between you all, before I got here. I express my deepest regrets, again, for my actions before. I was—I am so sorry."

Maeve gave Trinity a tight-lipped smile. "Forgive me if it takes a while to grow comfortable, after such a greeting."

"Of course," she said, then shifted her attention to Rodan. "You must attempt to undo the bindings, the vows, which lock you to the Court, to Titania. Even if it shows your hand, it must be done. Simply to prove it can be, if nothing else, but also so you can explain to your mate everything we know."

Rodan pondered on her words, Maeve sending a brief inquiry through the bond. He responded, she may be right. It may be best just to leave, but I cannot with the current vows and bindings in place.

Which are those? She asked back.

He told her. The Fae pledged more than a dozen vows to their High Queen when they came into their power after thirty years of age. To only speak the truth. To hold the High Queen's secrets. To return to the Court whenever summoned. To obey the High Queen in all things. To bind their magic to work only under certain circumstances. Wide ones, to be certain, but still stifling. Rightfully so, Rodan had often thought, for power unchecked was power corrupted, but if he could free himself?

"Titania may say she wants her to rule, but she would be puppet master to Maeve, if she could be," Trinity warned. "Even if you go into it with the best of intentions, she will try to stay in power."

"I know. I may not have known her as long as the rest of you, but I could tell that much," Maeve said, looking at Rodan. She gave him a nod. "Do it. Unbind yourself, if you can."

They had tried and, so far, she had been unable to do the same as he. It seemed that though they could share in making, the binding and, potentially, ability to unbind had stayed his alone. Just as the fire was hers.

Rodan went to work on it, focusing on the innermost core of himself, and finding the task—easy. He could see each of the bindings like a glimmering black thread, and without much effort was able to dissolve first one, then another, and finally all the rest.

He expected to feel different, once done, but he did not. Only—there, just there, like a flicker of a memory out of reach—there was the sense he need not remain. Not if he did not wish to.

"Marvelous," Elias breathed. "You did it."

"You can see it?" Langdon asked.

"Oh, yes," his son confirmed. "He is free of her. Of it all."

Rodan nodded. "Titania will have felt that, most likely. My bindings are old." He turned to Maeve. "My love? Shall we return?"

She nodded, reaching for him.

Elias spoke before they disappeared. "I'll see you on the Realms."

Rodan acknowledged him with a nod, raised a hand to his oldest friends, and returned Maeve and himself to the palace of the Fae Court.