The small circle of Faeries stopped singing and dropped their hands. The crowd cheered. Ariel stepped up onto the rock and addressed the assembly, calling for silence.
“O Mother Sun! On this the Solstice night, we beg you to return,” he cried. “The time is come to turn your face upon us once more.”
“Return!” the crowd exclaimed in response.
“Renew the Earth and bless the world with your power and warmth!”
“Return!”
“We await the kiss of spring, the spread of leaf, the burst of blossom!”
“Return!” Brendan shouted with the rest. He felt the magic of the incantation. He felt the tingle of power seeping into the cold ground beneath his feet. He felt the power of the promise of rebirth in the coming spring.
Ariel dropped his arms and swept his grey eyes back across the crowd. “Welcome all the Clans from near and far, Greater and Lesser, Silkies, Trolls, Kappa, and any others who gather to celebrate the death of the old year and the dawn of the new. All those who seek fellowship and kinship, we welcome you.”
He bowed his head and stepped back. This was Deirdre’s cue to hand the pole and the bell to Greenleaf, who stepped out of the throng to accept it. Another attendant handed Deirdre her harp with a deferential bow. Thus equipped, she stepped up onto the stone platform. She stood for a moment, her head bowed, lightly plucking the strings as though to confirm they were in tune. Satisfied, she raised her face, eyes closed, and strummed a chord.
The crowd sighed as one. Brendan felt his heart lift on the resonating sound of the harp. All at once, Deirdre’s fingers exploded in a flurry of movement. She was joined by instruments of every description played here and there throughout the gathered crowd. The sound was overwhelming, consuming. It drove deep inside Brendan, taking control of his body. He began to dance with abandon, flailing his limbs like a maniac. It felt good!
He was aware that others were dancing, spinning, and whirling around him. He paid no attention to individuals. A particle in a hurricane, a dust speck in a tornado, he lost himself in a gyre of pure joy. All his worries melted away. He was aware of only the pulse of the music and the beat of his heart.
The music swelled and sped up. He was a spinning top, a planet rotating, the slowly turning galaxy. Everything was moving like a giant clock, and he was a part of that vast timepiece, tiny but still important. He belonged.
Then the music stopped dead.
He staggered to a halt, streaming with sweat. All around him Faeries were panting and laughing, utterly spent. Lesser Faeries littered the ground like fallen leaves. Exhausted laughter wafted up from all over the Faerground as people caught their breath.
Brendan felt elated. It was as though all the tension in his body had been burned away. He looked around at the Faeries as they clasped hands and laughed, sharing the experience, and he felt joy at being a part of this world. There were good things in it if he let himself enjoy them. In this new state of mind he felt unafraid, even of the Proving, whatever that should turn out to entail. He felt happy.
He looked around to find Charlie to share the feeling but she was nowhere near. He cast his gaze wider. Where did she go? He spun around slowly, trying to pick her out of the crowd.
That’s when he saw Delia.
She was standing at the very edge of the Faerground in the shadow of a tent. The sun was down now so she was partially obscured by darkness, but there was no mistaking her blond hair. She was wearing the pink ski jacket she’d had on back at the house when she’d gone out. She wasn’t even trying to hide herself. Obviously, from the disbelieving look on her face, she’d been watching the ceremony. Hundreds of people in a dancing frenzy was probably a pretty weird thing to walk in on.
Any peace that had existed in Brendan’s soul was replaced with terror. What happened to Humans who walked in on Faerie rituals? He didn’t know but it couldn’t be good.^ 61
“That was amazing, wasn’t it?”
Brendan turned to find Kim beside him. She was flushed from dancing and her hair was dishevelled. In spite of his terror, some part of his mind was aware that she looked very beautiful. She was smiling brightly and her eyes danced. When she saw his eyes, however, her smile vanished.
“What’s wrong?”
“My sister’s here,” Brendan whispered.
“Your sister!” Kim practically shouted.
Brendan grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the closest Faeries. “Quiet!” he hissed urgently. “She’s over by the tent with the red stripes. See her?”
Kim scanned the area and nodded. “How?” Kim asked. “How did she get to the island?”
“If I knew, I’d tell you. I’ve got to get her out of here before someone else sees her.”
“You can’t leave. They’re about to call you forward for the Proving.”
Brendan groaned. “What am I gonna do?”
At that moment, three boys joined his sister. Brendan recognized Harold and Dmitri. He took an instant longer to recognize the third boy as Chester Dallaire. “What is he doing here?”
Brendan’s thought was interrupted by Ariel’s voice.
“Brendan, Son of Briach Morn. Step forward.”
Brendan froze. He didn’t know what to do.
Kim took his face in her hands. “Go. I’ll take care of this. Good luck.”
She whirled away, weaving through the crowd to where Delia and the boys stood.
Dazed, filled with worry, Brendan tore his eyes away from her progress and turned to face the judges. He took a deep breath and walked through the crowd. The Faeries parted to let him pass.
Delia couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was like a scene from a movie or an insane dream. She had run ahead of the others through the maze of fluttering tents, following the eerie, throbbing music until she arrived on the edge of an open space filled with these bizarre people, all in the throes of a frenzied dance. A woman in white stood on a large stone. She played a harp with furious passion. Other instruments accompanied her from here and there in the crowd. A DJ at a table supplemented the sound. The scene reminded Delia of a rave, only the music was so much more hypnotic and compelling. She felt the urge to leap out among the dancers and join them in their state of abandon. She was on the verge of doing exactly that when the music suddenly stopped.
Delia felt bereft, as if someone had torn a part of her soul away. She longed to hear the music again, but the woman in white was stepping down from the stone. Delia tried to focus. She scanned the crowd, looking for Brendan. Chester, Harold, and Dmitri arrived.
“Holy crap,” Harold whispered.
“What’s going up?” Dmitri asked in wonder.
Chester didn’t say anything. He just took in the whole sight, mouth slightly open and eyes wide.
Delia ignored them, searching for Brendan. At last, she picked him out. To her chagrin, he was staring straight at her. Kim was with him. She swung her head and locked eyes with Delia.
“Uh-oh,” Delia breathed.
At that moment, someone called out Brendan’s name. Delia’s adopted brother reluctantly turned away to answer the summons of the pale guy who now stood on the rock. Kim, on the other hand, started weaving her way through the crowd. She wore a look of grim determination. She was heading straight for the little group of spies.
“Run!” Delia cried. Turning on her heel, she followed her own advice.
She didn’t have a plan. She was just trying to get away. Harold, Dmitri, and Chester set off after her. They wound their way through the maze, walls of silk funnelling them along.
“Stop!” Kim’s voice called to them. “Guys, wait!”
They paid no attention. All of them were driven by a desire to be far away from this place as soon as possible. They were on the verge of panic.
Suddenly, a young girl stood in their path. She wore a hoodie and jeans. She was Human. One of them!