Faery Born (Book One in the War Faery Trilogy) by Donna Joy Usher Read Free Book Online Page A

question to ask first so I started with the obvious one. ‘Why don’t you tell me about my father?’
    ‘Yes,’ Grams leant forward, her blue eyes bright with merriment. ‘Someone was a naughty girl.’
    ‘Where do you want me to start?’ Mum asked, ignoring Grams.
    ‘Well,’ I stopped and swallowed my mouthful of pancake, ‘how did you meet him?’
    ‘I met him at the annual Tri-Race Convention. He was standing in as head of the faeries, and I was there as a reporter. I managed to get a one-on-one interview with him.’
    Grandma let out a snort. ‘One-on-one all right.’
    ‘Mother,’ Mum said, ‘it wasn’t like that.’
    ‘What was is like?’ I asked.
    She paused for a minute, a far-off look in her eyes. ‘Well, in retrospect, it probably was like that,’ she conceded. ‘He was so… raw.’
    I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. ‘Raw?’
    ‘Faery warriors,’ Grams reached out for another pancake, ‘they’re the embodiment of everything male. There’s a wildness to them. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve met one of them.’
    I gulped as I thought of Aethan. Raw, wild, manly. That about summed it up.
    ‘Anyway,’ Mum continued, ‘he swept me off my feet. I fell in love with him, but when the convention was over I never saw him again.’
    ‘Oh Mum,’ I said. Even after all those years there was still pain in her voice.
    She smiled and said, ‘I got you, so it was all worth it.’
    ‘Faeries make incredible lovers,’ Grams said, reaching for another pancake, ‘or so I’ve heard.’
    ‘So why,’ I asked, trying not to think too much about that, ‘did you make up Sidney Mesmerer?’
    ‘Alexus was Santanas Gabrielle’s brother.’
    I froze in the act of picking up a pancake. ‘The Santanas Gabrielle?’ I was guessing there was only one.
    Mum nodded her head.
    Breathless, I sat back in my chair. The War Faery was my Uncle? The faery who’d tortured and killed thousands of people was my Uncle? I was suddenly very glad his soul was entombed in stone.
    Grams shot Mum a wild look. ‘Alexus Gabrielle is Isadora’s father?’
    Mum nodded. ‘Did you meet him when you worked in Isilvitania?’
    ‘Once or twice.’
    ‘You used to work in Isilvitania?’ That was something I hadn’t known.
    Grams nodded her head. ‘A long, long time ago. Before your mother was born.’
    ‘Does… Alexus know about me?’ I couldn’t make myself use the word father on a total stranger.
    ‘I never told him.’
    I put my fork down. Suddenly, pancakes didn’t taste so good. ‘What do you think courting Aethan is going to entail?’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Grams said, ‘did I miss something?’
    ‘Not much,’ I waved a hand in the air. ‘Apparently I’ve been hanging out with Aethan Gabrielle in my dreams.’ I raised my cup to take a sip of my tea.
    Hanging out? I imagined some of the things we might have been doing together and the warmth of a blush erupted on my cheeks.
    ‘The Aethan Gabrielle? Second-in-line to the throne and Champion of the Faeries?’
    My tea lodged in the back of my throat. I coughed and spluttered till I could breathe again. Second-in-line to the throne? Champion of the Faeries? Great Dark Sky, what had I dream-walked myself into?
    ‘Wonder what Queen Eloise will have to say about that?’ Grams had an amused look on her face.
    ‘Thanks to my faery blood she had to give us permission to court,’ I said.
    ‘She was here?’ Grams stared at the front door, a wild light in her eyes.
    ‘You missed her,’ Mum said, hopping up to get more pancakes.
    ‘Dear me,’ Grams said, smoothing down the already smooth tablecloth, ‘you have been busy.’ She shot another look at the front door. ‘I was wondering who you were holding out for.’
    ‘Grams!’
    ‘Don’t even think about it,’ Grams replied, which made absolutely no sense until I realised that her familiar had uncoiled himself and was peering over the edge of the table at Scruffy.
    ‘We’re going to have to