Brilliance (Circle of the Stars #4) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,52

stick her in my pocket. I didn’t…because touching. But she was so stinking cute. I repeated the greeting. “Welcome to my home. And thank you! That made me feel important.”

Scarlet blinked rapidly a couple times. “I’m glad. I think we can learn a lot about each other. But we’ll do that after you’ve kicked some fucking ass.”

I laughed. “Then carry on.”

She smiled. Cleared her throat. “Okay, so if he’s of the Fae variety, again we have a couple of avenues to chase. He could actually be Fae or he could simply be an evolved race. Do you have any knowledge that could point you in either direction?”

I shook my head. “Except for Jeremiah and Arasne, I have no idea what Fae actually are.” I held up a finger. “Wait, I do know that they are supposedly descendants of Chaos and Aether.” I nodded. “That is the sum total of my knowledge.”

Scarlet nodded. “Fae are an ancient race that—if their claims to relation to Chaos and Aether are true—have evolved well beyond the human race. They have inherent magic or powers. Many are tied to natural elements. Earth, wind, fire, water, spirit. Out of this general classification, there are too many to name for specifics. Categories and classes of Fae are better discussed with Arasne.” Scarlet looked at me as if trying to see if I’d understood her.

I nodded. “I’ll do that. What is the information you found if Merlin is actually Fae?”

She smiled. “He would be of the Dark Fae. Most specifically the Outcasted Horde.” She looked over my shoulder. “Arasne, if you could explain in simple terms. We do have more to discuss.”

The queen sighed from behind me. “Yes, simply wrap up eons of information and cultural differences in a few measly sentences.” She winked at me as she moved up. “There are two sections of Fae. Light and Dark. Light tend to dabble in white magic or power. Dark in black. Hence the simple naming system we’ve devised.” She snickered.

“However, Light and Dark does not necessarily mean good or bad. Elements simply are. Neutral in all things. It is the user who makes their power good or bad. More specifically in this case, if Merlin is an Outcasted Horde member, then he participates—or past tense, participated—in evil black power. This can range anywhere from large-scale blood sacrifices that he demanded someone else pay, all the way to taking neutral elements and forcing them into twisted patterns for his singular benefit.”

I nodded. “That would be a question for Jonathan, but I believe he would fall under the large-scale blood sacrifices and twisting the power he holds for his sole good fortune.”

Arasne grimaced. “Great. Such a peach of a man. And from my race.”

I gave her a sad smile. “I lived with horrendous humans. I don’t know that evil is restricted to a single race or even species.”

She smiled. “Indeed not, Goddess Hollyn.”

I snickered. “You can just call me Hollyn.”

She bowed her head. “Thank you, Hollyn. You may call me Arasne.”

I’d thought I’d already been doing that, but apparently I shouldn’t have been. Oops. There was going to be a lot more training needed to make sure I could function in this new world without pissing people off. Especially when I didn’t know I was doing it.

“Thank you, Arasne.” I turned back to Scarlet. “For the second option?”

She smiled. Nodded. “For a generalized evolved race, we really need more information from you. The Fae are able to use the Gateways. So they can travel to any realm that is connected. This includes a lot of places that make Earth seem like you’re living in ancient times. Hell, it makes Azica look the same way.” She licked her lips. “Does Merlin have an distinguishing marks? Does his voice sound…different? Does he have odd hair or skin colors? Are his clothes normal? Does he have one set of facial features? Meaning, one set of two eyes, one nose, one mouth, one set of two ears?”

I blinked as she rattled off her list of possibilities. I brought the man’s image back into my mind. He seemed normal in almost every single way. Boringly normal. I told Scarlet that.

Her dark green eyes stayed focused on my face as she listened. She nodded as I gave her the description I had. After I’d been quiet for a moment, she nodded.

“From all that, it seems like Merlin is a Fae.” She turned to Arasne. “Do you have any records we could look at or historians we