Lightning

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It took only a short while to reach the interstate and the voice of the GPS patiently told me to continue for a few hundred miles.  My mind settled in to the sight of the trees passing and the sound of music I could sing every note of.  With nothing tangible to concentrate on, my thoughts led me through memories of my family and the past hundred-plus years of preparation for this, my first assignment in the human realm.

I longed to hear my mother’s voice, and sent a whisper into the air, moving my lips but making no sound.  She was probably at our home in France, so the sound would take a long while to reach her.  But, I was lonely on my own in the car, surrounded by nothing but darkened woods.

“Morgana,” I started.  Each faerie had a unique name, and mentioning part of it promised that no one would overhear.  “This is Zinfandel.  I’m driving to Virginia.  We can truly talk once I arrive.  I was hoping you could keep me company by telling me the stories of our family that you always told us growing up.”

A few songs later, her reply pricked my ears.

“Zinfandel.  Of course, my lovely.  It is good to hear your voice and know you are well.  Where shall I start?” She asked herself, knowing I wouldn’t reply.  Conversations at this distance were very often one-sided because of the delay.

“I suppose I should start at the beginning.  As you know, I was one of the first faeries to enter the human realm as a nymph, a job which you are about to embark upon and from which I have been retired since I met your father.  I was first sent to Scotland, then later to Italy and Greece.  You know I don’t tell my age, so we’ll just skip that little piece of history.”

I didn’t know my mother’s age and was certain I never would.  She had either lost track or had decided, before I was born, to stop telling the actual number of years.  It was somewhere in the four to six thousand year range from the stories she told.

“I won’t bore you with the men I helped to greatness, you already know many of their names and are probably more interested in hearing about our more recent history.”  I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Your father, Ian, is much younger than I at about 700 years old.  I met him at the Great Seelie Court of human year 1600 AD.  He was very young, working as an assistant scientist in one of our genetics laboratories.  There I was, wandering about the catacombs of Edinburgh Castle, when he stumbled out of his laboratory and ran right into me.  He always was quite clumsy.  Anyway, when he looked up, our destiny was sealed.  He was my mate, the only one I would ever find in my lifetime that was my perfect fit.  It was love at first sight, with a sensation of a lightning bolt to ensure we realized what the Fates had chosen for us.  Someday, I hope that you will find your mate.  If it is a human, you can spend his lifetime with him.  If you are lucky like your father and I are, you could have thousands of years together.”

“Shortly after our wedding, the most recent Faerie War began.  It was a horrible time.  Luckily, our scientists have always been ahead of the humans and the Unseelies.  We won the war because each of us was given some kind of alteration that allowed us to be cut with iron and survive.  I’m not sure how that all worked, but I know you understand.  I will not tell you the only way that is currently known to kill a Seelie faerie, that is something only our warriors need to know.  I suppose someday your sister may need to know it, as well,” she paused, deep in thought.

“But, I don’t want to think about that.  It’s too awful.”  She laughed at herself, trying to clear the memories of the war from her thoughts.

“That was the first alteration we were given.  As you know, we have now been given many genetic alterations from the other mystical races.  My favorite is that we no longer need to breathe underwater, which we somehow extracted from the mermaids.  I still don’t understand your attachment to all this science.  You definitely learned that from your father,” she laughed again.  This time it was a real laugh.  I knew she was proud of my understanding of science.  It was one of the things that made me a good fit for nymph missions in the human realm.  The way to save their realm seemed to be in science and technology and I would be more helpful in directing my match if I knew what he was talking about.  I wouldn’t be working with someone destined to be a warrior or ruler like my mother had, I would be working with someone at the cutting edge of human technology.