The Secret of the Dread Forest: The Faire Folk Trilogy by Gillian Summers Read Free Book Online Page A

and delicious.
    Dad passed her a plate with a slice of pumpkin bread. Keelie accepted it, but ignored it after she set it down by her cooling tea.
    Outside, Ariel would be getting restless, but Keelie couldn’t take her out until she’d had her fencing lesson.
    Dad motioned with his head, and Keelie knew what it meant. Sit up.
    She did, even though she wasn’t feeling all elfy and regal.She sipped her tea, then reached for Dad’s sketch book and pencil and began drawing in a corner of one of his design pages. The symbol had been etched into her mind. Maybe if she drew it, she could purge it from her imagination.
    Grandmother folded her hands together in her lap. “I understand that you feel that Sean has betrayed you, but you must understand that he faced a difficult choice. Wisely, he chose the good of his people over his desires.”
    Keelie drew some more. She’d heard this kind of bogus thinking before.
    Dad refilled her teacup with peppermint tea. Keelie sat a little straighter.
    “You see Keelie,” Grandmother continued, “the elves have a different way of thinking. Our ways are a living link to history. Back in time, the royal marriages of Europe were based on what alliances were best for the countries, to keep the peace or ensure what was best for society.” Grandmother waved her hand vaguely. “Elianard said you had studied history in school.”
    Keelie continued to draw the symbol, focusing on the thorn-wrapped acorn that dangled from its coiled end. She felt her magic flow through her.
    Dad cleared his throat. “Keelie, Sean didn’t know about the betrothal until he arrived here. It is something Niriel arranged with Risa’s father. They think they have a chance of—”
    “—of having a child, an elven child, a pureblood elven child.” Grandmother’s eyes sparkled with excitement atthe prospect of a pureblood elf child. Sean was to be little more than a breeder.
    From the corner of her left eye, Keelie watched as Dad lowered his head into his hand. At least he understood what impact the word “pureblood” had on Keelie. Her eyes focused again on her drawing. Dad had married a human—that must have really torqued the old lady’s karma. Keelie’s very presence was an insult to elves everywhere.
    She drew some more, and the symbol had a meditative and calming effect on her. She should really be mad at her grandmother, but right now she felt detached, not a part of the scene taking place around her.
    Oblivious, Grandmother continued. “Surely Keelie knows about procreation. It is my understanding that human girls know about these things very early.”
    “I guess pureblood elven girls don’t learn about sex until they’re over 200.” Keelie shaded in the thorns on the acorn.
    Grandmother’s mouth sagged open, as if hearing Keelie say “pureblood” finally made her realize the impact of the word on her son and his halfblood daughter.
    “Keelie, if things were different, Sean would be here with you. As it is, elves are bound by the rules, rituals, and customs of our culture—it defines who we are, and it keeps a balance in the magic.” Dad frowned at Keelie’s sketch.
    To Keelie this sounded like “Blah, different, blah Sean, blah rules, rules, rules.”
    “And besides, you’re only fifteen in human years,” Dad added.
    Yeah, and Sean was what? Eighty? Keelie frowned. She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to discuss this at all, much less with her human-prejudiced grandmother.
    “Interestingly enough,” Keelie said. “When Elianard was giving me my Lore lesson today he showed me this symbol on a book. It’s the opposite of the one on the book in your library, Grandmother. What does it mean?” She turned the sketchbook around so that they could see her drawing.
    Grandmother Keliatiel dropped her mug and it crashed to the floor, splashing peppermint tea on her skirts. She stood and wiped angrily at them with her napkin, sneaking looks at the sketchbook in between