The Promise of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book 3 (Complete - Editing)

Chapter Three - Madeline

"Ciaran, do you remember the ghost child at your castle?" I asked.

"Are you referring to Estena?"

We had arrived at the temple for Regina's funeral, where she would later be buried in the family cemetery. As we walked, draped in shades of mourning yellow, I abruptly halted and pulled on Ciaran's brocade jacket.

"Do you know her?" Xavian sensed my alarm and took hold of my hand, while Dom stood in front of me.

Ciaran raised his brows at Xavian's protective gesture, then smirked. "Estena has been haunting the castle for centuries. She died long before I became the king of Spring. I didn't kill her, if that's what you're worried about."

"You have a ghost in your castle? I thought there really weren't any here," Dom said as he moved to my side.

"You are correct, but Estena was a human." Ciaran moved his gaze from Xavian and stared into my eyes.

"A human? How did she get here?" Xavian leaned heavily on me, placing his chin on top of my head as he spoke. Despite his seemingly casual gesture, there was a tense coil in his posture, like that of a striking snake.

Ciaran caught on to the warning and scoffed. "Long ago, it was common for the Fae to steal humans and bring them through the portal. Human children were especially prized."

Estena appeared to be no more than seven years old, and my jaw tightened as I braced myself for what Ciaran would say next. "Why did they bring children over, Ciaran?"

Ciaran looked pained. "Children are easier to adapt to a new place. The tales about faeries stealing children in your fairytales did come from somewhere. Mostly it was the dark fae that stole the humans, but occasionally a Sidhe would want a particularly pretty child. Then, the Trees were hoping for children, so they welcomed gifts of humans from the Fae."

"Did you do this kind of thing, Key?" I was gripping Xavian's hand as we both stared hard at Ciaran.

His lip curled in disgust. "No. Whatever faults I have, stealing babies is not one of them. I was not interested in having a child with a human because I only wanted a child with Ceridwen."

Dom tapped my shoulder then looked at me questioningly so I answered him. "Ceridwen was his wife who died during the Battle of the Trees."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Ciaran." Dom reached over and clasped Ciaran's shoulder.

"It was a long time ago, but thank you." Ciaran clasped Dom's arm, then stepped back. His eyes had never left my face. He knew that I was silently deciding if I could believe him after all his trickster schemes.

I was still giving Ciaran a somber look. "Did you try to stop them in any way?"

He let out a deep sigh. "Yes, I spoke to Duir about their interference with the things we promised the Creator we wouldn't do. I warned them that it would lead to disaster. However, as Duir was the main offender, she didn't listen, and I didn't have much authority to oppose them."

It didn't sound like he had put in much effort, but I remembered that he had already admitted to being a different person back then. "What about the Straif?"

Ciaran scrubbed his hand through his spiky hair. "Straif gave humans magic to help them defend against the fae. His intentions were good, but he was also responsible for enabling breeding between fae and humans. Your father has an insatiable curiosity and hubris. He can't resist a challenge."

"And you didn't stop him because you wanted a child." I thought of his past wife and their connection. It seemed like he had not lost his virtue to me after all. I snorted.