Prologue
“Tia, can I say goodnight to my primos, please?” Lucera’s wide, orange eyes looked up at her tia pleadingly.
Luzradiante, a light fae and Queen of all Sióg, residing in the region of Solas, turned to meet Lucera’s adorable stare. She remained quiet for a long moment, then glanced at the rest of the family sitting around the round dining table. Green vines and white flowers decorated the circular opening in the ceiling. Lucera’s parents, two sun faes, snickered knowingly.
Luzradiante looked exhausted. Lucera could see it in her face. Dark rings punctuated her tia’s golden eyes. White hair atop her head hung loose and was uncommonly disheveled, running long down her back. Even her copper complexion was pale. It hadn’t quite been a week since she had given birth to her two sons.
With a sigh Luzradiante looked back to her sobrina but gave no indication she would concede. “Lucera, I don’t know. I just got them to sleep.” She then smiled weakly, likely seeing the disappointment flickering on Lucera’s face. “You wouldn’t want to wake them, would you?”
“Por favor, I promise to be reeeeeally quiet.” Lucera raised herself up onto the tips of her toes, leaning on the arm of her tía’s chair, grinning sweetly.
With a heavy, drawn out sigh, Luzradiante looked to her husband sitting just behind Lucera. Rionnagan, a moon fae, chuckled as he wiped a cloth napkin across his face. “It’s alright dear. I don’t think it’ll be a problem. So long as Lucera is quiet.” He quickly reached under Lucera’s arms and tickled her sides, making her squeal with surprise.
She looked to her tío as he stopped tickling her and stood from the table. Raising a finger to his lips, he gently nudged Lucera toward the lavish bedroom where the boys slept. The white double doors were mere feet from the dining table. Her tío grabbed hold of one of the silver door knobs and slowly began to twist it. Excitement swelled in Lucera’s chest with every click of the latch and light pop of the doors hinges as her tío cracked it open just wide enough for her to squeeze through.
Lucera peeked her head inside, surveying the room carefully as to not make a sound when she entered. The white walls were covered in greenery and flowers. Moonlight poured into the room from the open balcony at the far side of the room. Glittering drapes arched to either side of the opening, tied to the walls. It was fairly dark save for the light of a fire crackling in a fireplace to her right. To her left, a few candles burned upon nightstands on either side of a grand bed.
Holding her breath, Lucera tiptoed inside as softly as she could, her bare feet patting against the white marble floor. As she made her way to one of the nightstands, she paused and stared at the two white bassinets at the foot of her tía and tío’s bed. Lucera exhaled softly and carefully climbed up the corner of the bed, making sure she didn’t make a sound.
She crawled to the edge of the bed, her heart racing and a large smile spread across her face. Positioning herself at the center end of the bed, laying flat and peered inside both bassinets. In each slept a baby boy, comfortably swaddled in their little blankets. One of the boys was wrapped in a deep blue sparkling blanket. A small tuft of ebony hair peaked out from atop his fair skinned head. A gemmed crescent moon brooch was pinned to his blanket. The other boy was wrapped in a bright orange blanket. A patch of golden blond hair poked out from his copper skinned crown and a gemmed sun brooch was pinned to his blanket.
“They’re so cute.” The words escaped her lips before she could stop them. Lucera covered her mouth, afraid the babies would wake but they continued to sleep peacefully unaware of her presence. A grin stretched from eye to eye as she relaxed.
She looked up at Rionnagan standing before the bassinets, the fire caressing his fair skin, sparkling in his purple eyes, and glinting off his ebony hair. Lucera raised to her knees and leaned forward as far as she could past the bed’s edge, her hands raised to her chest pleadingly. “Tío,” she whispered, “can I stay another week, pleeeeease?”
“Ah, that’s something you’ll have to discuss with your parents, my Grian Beag.” Rionnagan answered and shot her a playful wink, causing Lucera to shrink in disappointment. Her pleas rarely worked on him but that never stopped her from trying.
He raised a hand to her blonde hair, softly rubbing her head. “When the three of you are older, you can spend as much time together as you want. Especially after you’ve become their Crystal Guard.” Her tío smiled warmly.
Lucera groaned at the thought. “Awww but that’s so far away.”
Just as a Rionnagan began to chuckle, he fell silent, visibly startled by the sounds of rushed footsteps and raised voices outside the bedroom. Frightened, Lucera slid closer to him while remaining on the bed. She looked up at him as he quietly stared at the door, his face stoic.
After a long minute her tío turned to her. “Lucera,” he started, a small smile on his lips but concern in his eyes, “I need you to stay here with Sol and Gealach, can you do that for me? Just watch over them and remain as quiet as you can. I’m sure everything is alright.”
Lucera didn’t respond, she didn’t know what to say as she had never witnessed such an air of worry about him. Her lips trembled and stomach churned. All she could muster was a hesitant nod.
Rionnagan cupped her cheek sweetly. “Attagirl, I know they’ll be safe with you.” He then quickly turned and quietly exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Pushing her worry out of mind, Lucera slid down the bed, careful not to wake her primos, and hastily moved to the door. Placing an ear to the wooden surface she could hear her family speaking, but the words were muffled and quiet. Several gusts of wind suddenly raced through the room, followed by the sound of wings flapping, growing louder by the moment.
Lucera turned to find the glittering silver curtains dancing freely by the balcony, no longer bound to the walls. Between the swaying fabric, stood a hooded figure dressed all in black. Her eyes shot wide and body went rigid, frozen with fear. She stared at the figure, her thoughts racing as fast as her heart. It took her a minute to realize it wasn’t her who held his attention. Instead his gaze was fixated on the bassinets.
As he took a few steps into the bedroom, the hood shifted and the figure turned to look at her. Lucera’s breath stopped at that very moment, her every joint locked as though shackled by iron. Sweat beaded and slid down her brow while tears welled in her eyes.
The figure had a masculine frame and though it was hard to see his face, she could tell his skin was fair and the man had charcoal black hair that stretched to his chest.
The stranger’s eyes lingered on her as he raised a finger to his lips, a soft shushing sound filling the room. All she could do was stare at him, petrified, as he started toward her primos bassinets.
Lucera’s heart felt as though it would escape the confines of her chest as the figure stopped before the bassinet closest to the balcony, Sol’s bassinet. A frown lightly touched by the moonlight formed beneath the man’s hood. “No, not you.” His voice was smooth and seemed to share the same accent as her tío, a trait of the moon fae from the west side of the region of Oíche just to the north, but was laced with sadness.
The figure stepped past Sol’s bassinet, and stopped at Gealach’s. “Here we are, the moon child.” He reached down and scooped up her primo.
As he pulled the boy from the bassinet, Lucera’s throat squeezed tight. The figure cradled Gealach in his arms close to his chest. Her primo squirmed and groaned softly, then stopped as slumbers hold over him held as firmly as the stranger’s arms. A wicked smirk fell over the man’s lips. “Great things await you, my wielder of darkness.”
Lucera wanted to say something. She desperately commanded her voice to wrench through her shuddering nerves, to scream for the stranger to put her primo down, but fear smothered the sound to a mere whimper.
The figure’s hood raised toward her and a jolt ran through her muscles. She watched as he drew out a dagger from beneath the cloak. “You won’t give me any trouble, will you, little sun fae?” A murderous tinge dripped from every syllable.
She had to do something. She had to say something. She had to. She needed to. Lucera took a deep breath and the dams stifling her commands broke and turned to rubble. “THIEF!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, louder than she had ever screamed before. “Thief in the royal chamber tío!”
The doors behind her slammed open as her tío hurried into the room. His eyes flashed wide as they locked on the bundled up child in the strangers arms.
Black wings immediately appeared from the shrouded man’s back, looking similar to that of moths wings, but much larger, and he fled out the balcony, flying with incredible speed. Rionnagan unsheathed his silver longsword in an instant and gave chase. His starry night wings were no more than a blur as he dove off the balcony and out of Lucera’s sight.
Luzradiante rushed past Lucera to the bassinets as Sol started to cry. She watched as her tía fell to her knees with a loud gasp and gave out a piercing cry of sorrow. The wailing was as nothing Lucera had ever witnessed before, sending shivers up her spine. Her chest felt heavy and tears freely flowed from her eyes, watching as her tía’s anguish poured over the room.
“NO! Gealach is gone!” Luzradiante looked about the room and then to the balcony. Tears streamed down her flustered cheeks. She got to her feet and ran onto the balcony, her flowy white nightgown soaring behind her. Before she was able to take flight, two of her ladies in waiting rushed past Lucera and grabbed hold of her tia, reminding her that she was still in no condition to fly.
Lucera’s parents now entered the room and knelt before her, blocking her view of the commotion, but the cries continued on. She could hear her parents saying something, but a numb ache covered her every sense. Their words barely reached her. Lucera stared down at the ground, feeling terrible as a queasy sensation wriggled into her stomach.
One of her primos was taken. Snatched right out of his bassinet before her eyes, and she hadn’t lifted a finger to stop it. She only stood and gawked. Her breath shallowed as the guilt began washing over her.
“What have I done?”
