AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Willow is a human with dryad and pixie blood. She’s Zylus’s thrall, wife, and soulmate. Being his thrall means her existence has been frozen in an unchanging state. She often visits even though Pollux’s presence disturbs her. She brings him gifts of liquor and sarcasm—both of which he appreciates at varying levels.
Zylus is a vampire who has chosen the form of a black cat. True to that form, many things spook him regardless of the fact he is a massively powerful agent in Cael’s kingdom, an honored knight, and the birthplace of the fear that created Andromeda.
Boogeymen, apparently, are fragile creatures born of fears. When a fear is too persistent, overwhelming, or strong, a dream eater can come into consciousness with thoughts and feelings beyond feeding on terror.
Pollux broke rules of nature when he sought out Zylus’s decaying boogeyman and nudged it over the edge into dream eater territory by using his own gathered strength as a conduit to bring it into higher awareness.
Thereby, Andromeda was “born.”
“This explains so much…” I murmur as I turn a page. “At movie night, why did Willow say she went through the pain of childbirth if Meda was wholly Zylus’s fear?”
Pollux coughs as he lifts his teacup and mumbles against the rim. “Meda may have almost killed Willow when she initially formed. The attack is what prompted Zylus to make Willow his thrall. Had he not claimed her then…she would have died. It was a gamble on Meda’s part, seeing as dead things have no fear to feed on. No doubt since her origin was a fae’s fears, not a human’s, she knew more than many simple boogeymen. So she knew no soulmate would let their other half die if it could be helped, and she knew to create a situation where it could be helped.”
I lift my attention off the pages of my comprehensive binder and stare at him.
He won’t look at me as he sips his tea. “She was hungry. She did what she thought she had to. Unseelie fae at that level are little more than beasts acting on animal instinct.”
“But you still decided to adopt her?”
“She was hungry and alone. I gave her food and the ability to want to live. I have no reason to regret what I’ve done. Faerie is…” He lowers his cup and closes his eyes. “The rules in Faerie are different. Especially beyond Cael’s domain. In many ways, the world Cael has forged around himself is soft.”
I check the table of contents and find a guide strictly in relation to Cael’s domain. It’s a sensory friendly kingdom. Gentle. Kind. Good. Shining. Beautiful. Built to welcome the vast differences of many kinds of fae, not just collective tribes that accommodate a singular type. “There’s no money in Cael’s kingdom?”
“Correct.”
“How does that even work?”
“Everyone helps one another. Everyone cares about one another. All issues that cannot be readily resolved go before Cael. Everyone has sworn an oath of allegiance to him. No one is allowed within his kingdom unless he says so, and no one is welcomed into his eclipse unless he has deemed them worthy.”
“Would I be deemed worthy?” I murmur, absently. This seems like the kind of place that would pay for my craft supplies. I am all in favor of a kingdom that doesn’t require their teachers to get their own glue sticks out of pocket.
“I…do not know.”
I blink and look up. “Really?”
“I can’t lie.”
Straightening, I get myself a tiny cake while I process that concept. “I’m scarier than a dream eater? And…and a soul-sucking monkey bat? Which is what a yamachichi seems to be, right?”
“Correct.”
“Seriously?”
He wets his lips and repeats, “I cannot lie.”
“Am I part unseelie?”
“No.”
“But…unseelie are the bad ones, aren’t they? I’m scarier than an unseelie, but I’m still seelie?”
Pollux sighs. “Unseelie are born from darker places than the seelie are. Good or bad is a different thing entirely. Many unseelie do not contain the capacity for such complex moral dilemmas. You, dearest, are a frightful creature, born from a blinding yet fragile power. The scope of what you are capable of is immensely unstable.”
“And Cael, the moth prince who is so chill he fell asleep on the floor cuddling Alana during movie night, might feel threatened by me?”
“He has centuries of skill and is no small creature himself. Threatened is not the most appropriate word.”
“Right. You mentioned it before in the dream plane. He’d try to contain me.” I purse my lips. “What does that look like, exactly? A padded cell? Or…”
