Demon Day by Penelope Fletcher (best novels in english .TXT) 📕

boys’ head’s snapped up. The twinexpressions of astonishment told me my reaction was way off. Ilooked between them and shrugged sheepishly.

“She does not understand,”Breandan murmured.

Resting his hands on his knees, Conallopened his mouth then closed it again.

At times, there was a language barrierbetween these fairies and me. They said things and expected me tosimply grasp the significance. There seemed to be two meanings inevery sentence, a thousand ways to interpret what wasspoken.

It hurt my head.

I focused and tried to work throughit, use logic.

Family names held power and weresecret. Histrionic and strange, if they’d ask me, but voicing sucha thought we only get me in trouble, and I kept it as my own.Fairies breathed tradition. Every five seconds it was traditionthis and tradition that. I guess it helped them retain their senseof purpose, of meaning. Just like the belief that every being had apurpose and a destiny – that our lives were set, and it was amatter of time before fate had its way. I wondered what that meantin isolation. Was Lex never meant to die, and was Maeve supposed tobe dead in her grave? Was Tomas trying to save a Nest that neededto die out for a greater purpose? Was it time for the human race tofade away into legend?

I could not believe it. I knew thenotion of having a purpose made sense, as it attributed to how theWylds were structured and the royal family determined, and combinethat with bloodlines; surely you would create a sovereignty thatwould stand the test of time.

But I just … it seemed so …coincidental. They let their lives and decisions be based on smallhappenings and signs that could mean and pertain tonothing.

I rubbed my head becoming awarementally I was off track. Conall was still stumped, and Breandanstared at me in that intense, blink-less way he did when he wastrying to see inside my head. He smiled; a small thing that passedover his lips.

I eyed him, rubbing my noseabsentmindedly. How odd. It was like he knew I thought ofhim.

Cocking his head, he grinnedbroadly.

Frowning at him, I went back tomentally taking apart what I had learned and translating it intosomething I could understand. The fairies believed names had aphysical power, a contextual hold over them. So…. Giving someoneyour family name meant they had your power? Was that it? Was Conallsaying that by giving each other their family name…? “Theyrelinquished complete control to each other,” I said and looked up,ready to be praised for figuring it out by myself. “They gave eachother something sacred to prove their love.” Well, by the blanklook on their faces I would be waiting a while for all that praise.I sighed. “That would not go down well with their families, I’mguessing.”

“It was seen as punishableby death,” Conall explained.

My eyes got wide. “They were put todeath?”

He shook his head again. “They ran,and were found, of course. They too were young, and like I saidconsumed in each other, unable to think straight or functionproperly. They were brought back for judgment, after all their bondwas clear.” His eyes flicked over Breandan and me. “It is somethinganyone deeply attuned to magic can sense and feel, unique. There isno faking it.” He sighed heavily, and muttered something to himselftoo low for me to hear despite my acute hearing. “A bonding issacred, since you become a living embodiment of the Source. It wasagreed it was not up to the High Lord to decide their fate, and sothey turned to the spiritual leader. The Priestess. She orderedthem separated and kept apart until nature took itscourse.”

My heart became heavy with grief.“They died alone?”

The wind whipped through the grass asif in lament.

“They took many lives withthem, in the end,” Breandan said. “When bonded ones are kept apartthe power builds between them. It grows with each passing momentbuilding momentum and force. It is believed if they are kept apartand unable to come together to release the buildup of power thateventually the bond will simply consume them.” He stopped, checkingI was following him, measuring my reaction.

I thought on what they were saying anda chilling realization passed over me. “They came together,” I saidand wrapped my arms around myself. “Somehow, they managed to cometogether and the nexus opened.”

Conall nodded sadly. “There were oncethree Wylds on this region, not two. The Golden Glades was wherethe royal family reigned. It was destroyed the last time a bondedpair came together and it shook the foundations of what defined usas a people. That love could cause such pain and destruction … itwas a reality many struggled to come to terms with.”

I remembered the intense light thathad blasted from Breandan’s body and mine when we had finishedhealing. Conall and Lochlann had fought so save us yet forgotten toensure that we touched skin to skin. The light that erupted as wedid touch, as if his skin had been touched by sunlight, had burnedTomas.

What would happen to a bonded coupleseparated for a long time – say days – across such a vast distancewho came together in a passionate reunion?

The thought was terrifying andexhilarating.

“How?” I whispered. “Howcould that have happened?”

“It is said the male wasguarded by her family and she guarded by his. Such a simple mistakecan cause devastation. The Priestess was more concerned withshowing mercy than dwelling on the cause of their situation. Thebonded female commanded the guard to set her free. And they did –they had no choice.”

My mind boggled by the intricacy ofit. How such a small action rocked the foundation of a species andaltered a fundamental way of life. The lovers had given each othertheir family names as a token of devotion, and in one selfish actthey shattered the faith of so many. “That’s why you stopped givingthem?”

“It was considered best. Itwas not the only reason, but the beginning of the end. We let theold names of power die and the bonding became seen as a taboo.There are many who would try to hurt you in fear of what you andBreandan share.” The warning in his voice was clear. “Long lostPriestess or not they will try to harm you.