“I don’t like the air…it is harder to breathe here than in Conglam,” said another.
“We will adjust, as we did when we first arrived in Conglam. Now, enough talk, we must stay on schedule.”
“Aye, but do we have enough time to get it all done?” another asked.
“Indeed, I see no reason why our time line won’t work. If we keep to our plan, everything should run smoothly,” Sventer answered. “Now—as you know, we must hurry.”
They shifted and arrived at the intersecting tunnels beneath Trinity’s main entrance.
Sventer looked up at the damp stone ceiling and said quietly, “Some will die today, some will be maimed. We are warriors and though we mean to conquer, we must pause and think of the innocents—the children. My brothers, this is war, and you will see death and destruction today. You will see babes and females harmed. It is not what most of us wish, but it is unavoidable. It is the casualties of war that the innocents often suffer.” He looked at his two fiercest warriors and said, “Now, who will volunteer to go above when it is time, and set things in motion?”
“I will,” one of his men answered.
“Be careful and do not use up your magic. Every single time we use any of our most potent spells it diminishes our strength here in this realm. We must preserve most of our magic for unexpected events,” Sventer answered and then waved himself off as he shifted to the library.
He stood for a moment and looked at all the leather bound manuscripts, many of them behind glass. They had no such library in Conglam though many of his colony had brought books with them. It was a shame that this was the building Pestale had chosen to destroy. What was here could never be re
placed.
This certainly was not the time to think of such things. In a few hours, the humans would get a taste of horror, because their first job was to create a frenzied distraction and so it would begin.
* * *
Prince Worley met with the group of male Fae who had sworn their allegiance to him. Queen Mab was out of touch with her race, they had all agreed. They were the Daoine, protectors of nature and it was their job to do just that—protect the earth from the human’s neglect.
Prince Worley knew that because they shared the Human Realm with humans, it was vital to their own peace. They had created Daoine along a parallel dimension and what affected Earth, also affected Daoine.
He used this argument to win their loyalty.
He told them that something had to be done. The humans were destroying the planet with war and neglect, just as the Daoine under Queen Mab and the Seelie under Queen Bridget had destroyed Danu. “Are we to see a repeat of history—or learn from it?”
He had their ears, and he watched them with satisfaction as they nodded to one another and agreed on these points.
He hated Queen Mab, as did his royal family. She had too often snubbed their ideas and opinions.
She was, beyond powerful, and they voiced this to him now, and several voices were raised in argument over this problem.
As of now, these hundred male Fae, none of them save himself, were of royal blood. They wished more power, and he had promised it to them.
They did not truly believe they could overthrow her and he saw they were not ready to make the attempt. Her Royal Warriors were superior beings and even now, Worley was sure they were aware that he was holding a meeting.
However, what he needed at the moment was simply to enable the Dark Prince Pestale. What he needed was to cause havoc in the human world. He had stirred up these male Fae and although they would not cause serious bodily harm, they were very willing to play pranks on a large number of humans.
That was all he wanted for the moment. The plan, to shift in and with the Féth Fiada of invisibility, sweep through Dublin and play havoc with large groups of the savages that called themselves humans.
Today’s job was to cause havoc, tie up traffic, use wind, water, and fire and not draw too much attention to themselves. Only the smallest of pranks. One did not wish to have Queen Mab or the Seelie Fae look their way.
Prince Worley smiled to himself. When Pestale was done, the two Queens would be slaughtered. What would Frankie say then? Before she died, he meant to have her in every imaginable way…
They would not hurt the humans, but they could cause quite a distraction, and distraction was the plan of the day.
* * *
Frankie had not slept all night. She had gone with Jazz and Trevor to the Seelie world, the Isle of Tir and it had taken most of the night as theories were exchanged and her visions explored.
The Queen had listened to them with growing concern, turning once to look at her handsome King. When they were finished, she pyramided her fingers in a style peculiar to herself and turned to Frankie and asked, “What do you think your vision means?”
“I think that Pestale has found surrogates to replace his Unseelie Army. He is trapped, but perhaps these surrogates are not. I think he has never stopped planning his revenge or given up on his need to rule the Human Realm. I don’t think he means to accomplish it with brute force, noa. He has something else in mind.” Frankie shook her head, “He doesn’t have the numbers now—at least, I don’t think he does. The Dark Realm is cut off from him. He can’t call on his Unseelie monsters this time, can he?”