The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* (7 page)

“Elsbeth and Hans were blessed with a daughter some years later who they named Winifred. Winnie received much love and attention under the guidance of her mother and grew to be a strong, powerful healer and caster. She met her husband Archibald, or Archie as he was always called, one day while strolling into town. Of course, she always knew who he was but this was the first time she noticed him. When she entered his Father's bakery, yes Willa, your Great-Grandfather and Grandfather were both masters at the art of pastries, her knees became weak. As he turned his shy smile onto her, she was lost, and from then on the Gypsy princess was also known as Archie's, intended."

“They married and had three children. Their first child, a son named Oliver, was gentle and shy like his father. He did, however, have an aptitude for healing. Their second child, a daughter named Augusta or as everyone calls her, Gussie, was a beautiful girl with golden ringlets for her hair. Her fun, energetic nature, was so infectious no one could resist. Gussie was the first person to go up to the Solas and throw her arms around them. She is the most open, trusting person, I have ever known."

“Although Winnie was charmed by her daughter, she also was fairly alarmed. While she adored Gussie and loved her very much, she was also worried. Gussie might be charming and full of personality, but she had not one drop of any magical inclination in her blood. Winnie prayed hard for health and gifts to be given to her third child. On one chilly, early spring day her child was born, a daughter who she named Cecily. From the moment, I was in her arms she could sense my light and magical gifts."

“Growing up I was given the same love and attention of my brother and sister. I also was given many lessons as well for I was to be the heir to my mother's throne. Even though, I knew how important that was and even though I saw the Solas every day I still didn't grasp the importance of it all. It wasn't until I was fifteen did I understand the evil of the Rau. My father went to the mainland to buy my mother a gift for her birthday. Three days later two boxes containing what we believed to be his and his guard’s body parts were carelessly flung from the sky into our courtyard."

“I always knew they were out there and that they hunted our kind, but I thought maybe we had a fighting chance. There were some people that did leave the safety of the island. I guess we all naively hoped they got away and were traveling the world, healthy and whole. It wasn't until I saw my fathers mangled body parts did I begin to realize how wrong I was. For the next few years I threw myself into magic and casting, determined to protect and serve my family as best as I could."

“The Spring of my eighteenth year the entrance was opened and the Fae came over onto our little Island. It was something we all looked forward to. Seeing friends, meeting new people, dancing, partying into the wee hours, I couldn't wait because I was now eighteen so I could finally enjoy it!"

“At the first night Ball I was standing with my sister and Queen Sidra's daughters who I adored. Alvie, Breena and Carling were my best friends along with my sister. We giggled and were sipping champagne when I glanced up and saw this devastatingly handsome man staring at me. At first I didn't recognize him but then I realized it was Cormac, the Queen's eldest and only son. I blushed under his gaze and tried to enter the conversation around me. I snuck glances at him as he made his way over to our little group."

“May I have this dance, he asked, as he held out his hand. While the girls laughed around me, the atmosphere changed, and this pull came over me. The attraction was so great I could scarcely breathe. So we danced and danced again and over the next few weeks we hardly left each other's side. We used to sneak around at all hours, much to the dismay of my Guardian Mathias. When it was time for the Fae to leave I was heartbroken, but both Cormac and I knew our duties and knew we could never be together.”

“You see Gypsies cannot breed children with the Fae. Only Fae can breed with another Fae. To make matters worse my own brother Oliver a few years prior had married a Fae. Oliver met Rhoswen during our visit to Fairlia. She was a beautiful but poor servant girl. That mattered little to my brother though. My mother may have accepted his marriage to Rhoswen, but she still harbored some feelings of regret for he would give her no grandchildren."

“So I waited until the last second as he walked into the portal, and my heart split into ten thousand pieces. How can this be wrong? I asked myself. I knew with every ounce of my being that he was the other half of my soul. Days turned into weeks and still I moped around barely able to wake up in the morning. I tried to hide it from everyone. If someone figured it out, the fallout would be terrible. The only one who saw my pain was my Guardian, Mathias. At night, he would bring me handkerchiefs and tea and sit with me in silence. I never got to tell him how grateful I was of his presence."

“Fall came and even though I was horribly anxious to see Cormac I knew that my resolve to be cordial and distant would be the test of my life. As I stepped through the portal to Fairlia and saw him my heart burst with joy and happiness and my resolve crumbled. That night Mathias helped sneak him into my room, and it was then he took me to bed and we became lovers. Basking in love we laid in bed for hours and then your father proposed to me. I knew in my heart that this was right, that this was real, no matter what obstacles lay ahead of us."

“Telling no one, not my mother, my sister, or even Mathias, we hatched our escape plan. The night of the ball we slipped through the portal to the Island and from then on to London. We spent many years floating around the world, visiting exotic places, tasting new foods and just being with each other."

“Willa one thing you must know is the Gypsies of our clan live a long time. The magic in our blood keeps us going for three to four hundred years. The Fae however can live for eternity. The fountain of youth or the Fairy nectar of the Gods keeps their bodies and minds in perpetual youth. Unfortunately, you have to drink at least one small cup a year to ensure that your body’s cycle slows. After moving for over one hundred years you’re father and I started feeling older for the first time. We went across America looking for a place to hang our hats for a long while."

“It was in Arizona looking out over the Grand Canyon one morning, marveling in the breathtaking beauty, that I felt a light go on inside of me. I was so shocked I didn't know what to think. How can this be possible? I thought. There has never been any record or even any possibility of a child borne between our kinds. While I stood there in amazement, your Father came over and took me in his arms. We both wept, wept in joy and fear. We were so happy, but we also did not know what would become of you, and the dangers that your presence could pose."

“While I grew heavy with you growing strong in my womb I had so much worry. The night you were born, the minute I held you in my arms and saw you for the first time all those thoughts went out of my head. For the only thought, I had was that I would do everything in my power to make sure you were safe, happy and whole. I prayed that we would give you a normal life, no matter the cost, no matter the fallout, for as long as we would be able."

“And that is our story Willa, our history," Cecily said falling silent.

Chapter Four

I sat there utterly shocked and baffled. I felt like two parts of me were fighting for control. One part of me was filled with terror that my mother had gone completely mad. I was envisioning visiting her in a padded room on the weekends wiping drool of her mouth as she babbled on about Gypsies, Faeries, Vampires, Sprites, and Nymphs ( that honestly I had no idea what the last two even were). There was the other part though, a bigger part, that was terrified she was telling the truth.

I decided the only thing to do was to stay silent. I couldn't even imagine trying to string words together to make a sentence. That had pretty much flown out of the window several minutes ago. My brain was so jumbled with information and questions that I wasn't able to even ask yet.

“I realize it’s a lot to take in," said my mother

Um, yeah, I thought, nothing like pointing out the obvious Mom. A lot to take in, this wasn’t just a lot to take in; this was the Holy Mother of God journey into crazy town. How does one even respond to something like this?

"I’m going to guess by your silence you are either wondering if I’ve gone bonkers or you are just in shock by the story I've told," Cecily said gently. “I can assure you Willa I am not nuts. I’m not making up some weird story as a joke, I wish I were, but this is the truth. The truth that we should have told you a long time ago but I couldn’t. I wanted you to grow up with some normality and not be sheltered on an island or raised in some fairytopia. I wanted to give you a shot at having a normal life with no magic, no vampires, no Guardians. I wanted to give you the life I wished for, even if it would only be for a short time."

That brought me out of my stupor real quick. “Wow, it’s amazing how many times you said the word want. You should have thought about what I wanted. You should have realized that raising me in this American dream world would be counterproductive. Here Willa, here is this amazingly ordinary life but, by the way, at some point it’s all going to change.”

“I understand what you are going through,” Cecily said

“Nope, I’m pretty sure I’m all alone on this island right now.” I replied. “This is so crazy I don’t even believe any of this.”

“We always were aware that this day would come. We had hoped to break it to you gently. Take you out into the desert, show you some of our powers, and prepare you for what was to come." Cecily said. “I guess I was the one that was reluctant. I wanted to enjoy this time with you as much as possible."

“Powers? What powers?" I asked intrigued. I mean, c’mon, when someone starts throwing around stories of magic and mythical creatures, you want to see it up close and personal. It's like a car accident. After sitting in traffic for a while you know it’s coming up, and you want to look, even if you have been bitching about people slowing down for an hour and causing more delay.

“Well, your father is Fae and as you saw, when he gets angry or anxious he emits this blue glow. Usually he can manage it pretty good but sometimes it just comes out and surrounds his essence. It’s their bodies warning system I guess you could call it, I suppose. When he starts shooting light from his hands, best to duck and cover. They can create and manipulate their environment to project and make pretty much any image in their minds. Different Fae have different strengths depending on what their element is the Earth Fae, the Water Fae, the Air Fae, and the Fire Fae. All are different factions of the Tuatha De Danann. Your father, of course, being from the Royal family can control all these within reason." Cecily said

“Teleporting short distances, creating fairy fire, manipulating water, using the earth’s natural energies to develop and grow matter, all these things that are Fae are in you naturally." Cecily frowned, “I have used all my powers, spell casting mostly, to try to inhibit your Fae tendencies.”

“You tried to suppress who I am?" I asked. “So let me get this straight. You’ve been lying to me about pretty much everything. Who you are, who I am, and you’ve been casting some magic spells on me my whole life. So that what? I don’t show the world I’m some freak Gypsy-Fae hybrid?"

“I suppressed your powers because I thought it would be best for you. How could we possibly give you an ordinary life with all of this?" Cecily waved her hand around. “I’m not saying it was right but at least try to understand where we are coming from."

“I’m trying Mom,” I sighed. “I’m trying, it’s just I don’t get any of this. I get the whole you want me to grow up normal thing and protecting me crap. At the end of the day though I’m sitting here, on the couch, at ten o’clock at night listening to stories about magical and mythical things that until about thirty minutes ago were never even mentioned by either of you, not once but you throw this at me and expect me to accept this? You want me to understand this and try to forgive you, but I’m not sure that I even comprehend any of it right now. I mean what’s next? Unicorns? Dragons?"

“How about a little demonstration?" my mom asked. Gently she turned my hand over that she had been clutching and slowly peeled off the small bandage on the palm of my finger. The small cut I had gotten yesterday from cutting up chocolate for the ganache frosting was still visible. She muttered a few words and small warmth come over my hand. I watched in disbelief as the skin slowly closed up and disappeared.

“Holy-Moley,” I breathed. “That little parlor trick would've been handy in the third grade when I fell off the monkey bars and broke my arm."