to the Underworld, for good this time. But I didn’t want them to feel bad about it. They’d done enough, suffered enough, on my behalf.
Agnë emerged from the room beyond, and rushed to my side, blue eyes swollen and reddened, lips quivering with her sobs. “I really thought King Yulian would be the one for you. I’m so sorry—so sorry we failed you.”
“What about Keenan?” asked Agnë’s brother of no one in particular, before he turned to me. “I am Lord Simeon, Your Highness, the son-in-law of the Queen of Autumn. She has a son who is unmarried.”
So that was how Keenan was half-fairy, and had a human father. Now I remembered that two human brothers had married two royal fairies, one couple having Bonnie. The other had Keenan.
I shook my head at Lord Simeon. “I’ve met Keenan. He is unavailable.”
That surprised Simeon into a baffled splutter. “When did that happen?”
“You met him?” Robin exclaimed. “You mean…?”
I nodded. “Alan is Keenan, evidently the Prince of Autumn.”
The others took a moment to digest the revelation.
Then Will suddenly shouted, “There has to be something else we can do! We didn’t come all this way for nothing!”
“You brought us all this way for your sister,” Meira said, looking like the fire inside her had been put out.
“And for Fairuza,” added Robin indignantly, before turning to Simeon. “You’re the expert here, Lord Simeon, and you know how grave our situation is, seeing as your king was cursed as well. There has to be some other option.”
Agnë clung to her brother’s arm, pleading, “Please, Simeon, I am her fairy godmother, I can’t fail her. Think of something!”
Simeon seemed to wrack his mind, before he faced me again with a heavy sigh. “The last person in this land who could be the one you’re looking for, isn’t easy to find, not to mention, dangerous. He is—”
A powerful whoosh interrupted him, and dragged our attention to the nearest balcony doors. They opened to reveal a sleigh dragged by reindeer. It was a testament to my numbness that I didn’t blink at the fact that they were flying.
A green-skinned, fiery-haired girl disembarked first, hopping down into the balcony, followed by a very tall fairy man with long, silver-blond hair.
They were the couple from my vision.
As I wondered if what I’d seen pertained to their past or future, they entered the room. Both Agnë and Meira dropped into deep curtsies.
The Winter King and his bride-to-be greeted us with confused expressions, before he waved for my godmothers to rise.
King Yulian nodded at us in general salute, before he looked at Agnë. “Agnessa, good to see you again. Where have you been all this time?”
Agnë, Simeon, and Meira launched into explanations.
After a while, the king raised his hand to silence them, frowning at me. “So you are a wraith?”
“I don’t know what I am at the moment,” I said miserably.
“I’ve been there, very recently,” said his green-skinned betrothed. She was scrutinizing me, like she recognized me from somewhere. “Are you Fairuza, by any chance?”
Just when I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore.
I stared at her, wondering if she was another of Bonnie’s fairy relatives, Keenan’s sister perhaps? Or was that one already married to Simeon?
I nodded. “Yes. How do you know me?”
“I met your brother. I was friends with Bonnie. I’m Ornella, but call me Ella.” Her smile was nice enough, but I sensed some bitterness in its tightness. “How are they?”
“They’re fine, at last. And engaged.”
“Doesn’t anyone else find this a little weird?” asked Will. “How everyone seems to be related somehow? Or know each other through some degree of separation?”
“As far as I know, the only thing linking us together is the Spring Queen.” Ella turned to me. “Has that miserable hag appeared to you yet?”
“Ella, there’s no need to badmouth her,” Yulian chided.
“I’ll say whatever’s on my mind, considering how long I couldn’t do so, because she didn’t do anything about it!”
“Did she curse you, too?” Robin asked her.
Ella rolled her eyes. “No, but she left me to toil and be tortured for years, and appeared to offer her help only if I was of use to her.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that we wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for her,” Yulian said.
Ella pulled a face. “I think Keenan played a bigger role in our introduction.”
So she was the girl Keenan had talked about? The one who’d been saved from her stepfamily?
It stood to reason, for she was safe now, but didn’t seem fine yet.