Mists of Velvet

for the queen was mortal, and Cailleach viewed mortals as inferior and useless. Rodents, she called them.
    But Bronwnn knew Cailleach would have to change her view of mortals if she wished any sort of assistance from the king. Times were changing, and Annwyn was now thrust into darkness. Even the temple was cast in a pall. Its mists, which had once shone like a rainbow, were now a gloomy shade of gray. The sun no longer rose over the temple but left it cast in a cloud of melancholy.
    Evil was present. Bronwnn felt it, that persuasive darkness that spread throughout Annwyn like a cloying vine, wrapping its tendrils around anything that got in its path. Annwyn, she was afraid, was succumbing to the dark magick.
    The Sidhe king watched his wife disappear into the forest before he shape-shifted into an elegant raven. He soared, high and graceful, catching the current of wind so that he dipped and banked. Fascinated, Bronwnn studied him, watching how he became one with the animal inside him. The king seemed to embrace both man and beast.
    Slipping away from the window seat, Bronwnn made her way down the curved staircase to Cailleach’s private solarium. She was not expected to wait on the Supreme Goddess while she spoke with the king, but she was far too curious to let such an opportunity pass her by. She hid behind a curtained screen, watching through a tiny crack as the king landed in the middle of the solarium, his bird form gone, replaced by a tall, imposing Sidhe.
    “I received your summons.”
    Cailleach’s pet owl flew from the back of her throne to his velvet perch by the window. The bird’s shrewd eyes watched the king, and Bronwnn pressed farther back to the wall, hoping to avoid the owl’s gaze. Cailleach, she noticed, did not rise to greet the king. They were not equals in her mind. She and the Sidhe king ruled Annwyn together, but the Supreme Goddess had always held ultimate power. Cailleach still clung to the old ways, despite the old ways having allowed the Dark Arts to be reborn.
    “Sit, Raven. Do you care for some wine?”
    “I care to get this over with.”
    Bronwnn watched as Cailleach’s cheeks reddened with anger. “I see marriage has done little to soften you, or improve your manners.”
    “You’ve taken me away from my investigations. I demand to know what is so important that you’ve interrupted my search for the Dark Mage.”
    “That Soul Stealer is what has me summoning you.”
    Sitting in the chair opposite Cailleach, the king watched her warily. “Have you information for me?”
    “One of my handmaidens has the sight.” It was Bronwnn she was speaking of. Now her ear was pressed tightly against the gossamer fabric of the screen. She hoped her shadow was not evident. She should not be eavesdropping, but she couldn’t leave now, knowing the Supreme Goddess was speaking to the king about her.
    “Do you recall the book I had you find? It belongs to her, and to her mother before her.”
    “And what care have I for this handmaiden?”
    Cailleach sent him an annoyed glance. “Because you understand the significance of this book, that is why.”
    “Do I?”
    Cailleach’s expression turned murderous. “Play your games with your courtiers, Raven, if games amuse you. However, they only provoke and irritate me. Surely you can see that this farce of cat and mouse we play together has made our alliance and our rule ineffective.”
    The king cleared his throat and shifted his large body in the chair. Curtly, he nodded. “Continue.”
    Cailleach took a sip from the gold chalice, then carefully set it aside. “You will care about this handmaiden, because she can successfully prophesize the future. She records her visions in the book, then reports them to me.”
    Not all of her visions, Bronwnn thought. She had kept many things from the goddess—things she could not understand or explain; things that might prove dangerous if they fell into Cailleach’s hands.
    “And what has she told you, Cailleach?”
    “How do you think I came by the knowledge that there would be nine warriors to find my amulet and the missing flame?”
    Intrigued, the king sat forward in his chair. “So that is what this summons is about. Now who is playing games, Cailleach? Why not come out and admit it. You want the names of my warriors.”
    “It’s been weeks since you wed. I’ve allowed you enough time to woo your queen. Now it is time to see to your duties.”
    He smiled, then sat back in his chair. “I