As we made our way back to the table I wondered what time it was. I’d always used my phone for the time, but I didn’t bother to turn it on here. No signal. No electricity to charge it.
The crescent moon was high in the night sky and there seemed to be a million more stars than there were back home. I felt content and sleepy, especially after my first glass of mead.
I wasn’t the only one who was tired and still jet-lagged. We hadn’t been out there very long before our parents retired for the night. I guess the firewater did Dad in.
Cass and I stood for a while and clapped to the music. I was admiring McKale’s swift movements of his bow across the instrument until someone from behind tapped our shoulders.
“Hide me from Brogan, would ya?” asked Rock in full form.
“Hey!” Cassidy’s face lit up and she bounced on her heels.
“Hallo again, gorgeous.”
And with that she was mush. In all honesty I couldn’t blame her. There was something fun about being in his mischievous presence. The three of us stood there bantering at the far edge of the clearing.
“So, what’s your real name?” I asked him. “It can’t be Rock.”
“Nah. Pop used to say me head was full o’ rocks and just as hard.” He knocked on his skull for effect and Cassidy smiled. “The real name’s Ronan, but ‘tis far too proper.”
When Cass giggled I rolled my eyes at her. She lifted her hands and mouthed, “What?”
Before I could respond, a burst of magic stronger than any I’d ever felt flashed through the field. It sizzled my skin and I almost lost my balance. Cassidy fell back onto the bench. The music stopped and people ran, shouting about Fae and the Portal.
Rock whispered something in a sneering tone under his breath and took off.
Cassidy hurried back to my side and we grasped hands, freaked out as we stared in the direction of the field where the Clourichaun Men had arrived last night. I watched in horror as an invisible knife seemed to stab the air and slice downward to the ground, opening a dark slit between our worlds. I looked to McKale, but he simply stared at the portal like everyone else, his instrument dangling from his fingers as he stood.
“Pssst!” A hissing call came from the woods beside us, not ten feet away. Cassidy and I looked to see Rock stick his curly head around a tree trunk and urgently wave my sister to him. She ignored my efforts to cling to her fingers, letting go and running.
“I’ll be right back!” she whispered.
I stayed where I was and crossed my arms, chilled to the bone. I was too terrified by the unnatural sight of the portal to worry about what Rock might be up to.
A murmur swept through the crowd and people lowered their heads in reverent greeting as five beings came through the portal. I couldn’t make them out completely, but I was awestruck. They moved in our direction, two smaller creatures flying around them.
Whispering stopped as they got closer, and tension filled the surrounding air. I was able to see them now—four males and one female, though the faces were still unclear from this distance. The winged creatures flew ahead of them and began to flit around above the Leprechauns, snatching off hats and dropping them on other people’s heads, even pulling hair. They had naked green bodies with fat bellies, and they cackled in high-pitched voices that hurt my ears. I heard someone near me whisper, “Bloody pixies.” Everyone looked annoyed, but nobody spoke out against the pixies’ behavior.
A little woman sidled up next to me, seeming terrified with big eyes and hands on her cheeks.
“Can the Fae just come and go whenever they please?” I whispered to her.
“Aye. We cannot stop them.”
I looked back toward the Fae, who had reached the edge of the field now, and my abdomen tightened. Each of the four men had long, shimmering hair of metallic colors that fell to their shoulders: silver, gold, bronze, and copper. Their skin gave off eerie, iridescent glows. Their bodies and faces were symmetrical to the point of being unnatural. Too sharp. Too perfect. Like life-sized animated dolls.
It was the petite Fae girl at their side who stole my attention. Her tiny oval face was made of delicate features that would break any girl’s heart with envy. I was mesmerized by her big, almond shaped eyes of icy blue and her round, innocent flower of a mouth. Her hair was amazing: long, past her hips, straight and thick without a single hair out of place. The color was like white gold: the ultimate platinum blonde. I was utterly humbled by her beauty. All of the Chaun were on their feet now.
Brogan stepped forward through the crowd and bowed at the waist.
“Good evening, sires and miss. We welcome ye. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“This is to be a special summer for the Leprechauns.” It was the bronze-haired male who spoke. His voice reverberated with power. “Has the betrothed of your son arrived as sanctioned by Lady Martineth?”
My stomach plummeted and for a split second I contemplated diving under the table. I hadn’t expected the Fae to show. I did not want their attention, and I suddenly yearned for my parents’ presence. The entire field was stiff. Music had stopped and everyone peered around, large-eyed, unmoving, eyes stopping on me. I looked at McKale, who stood tall. His eyes flashed to me for one seemingly paranoid second, then turned back toward the Fae, rapt. I peered toward the trees and found the faces of Cass and Rock peeking out from the shadows, watching.
“Why, y-yes, she has arrived,” Brogan confirmed. “’Tis a special time, indeed. We hope the binding will commence soon.”