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Author's note
Part Seven moves the story to Spring. It is not necessary for you to have read earlier parts of the story, though things may make more sense if you have.
This is primarily an incest story, but it is also sci-fi/fantasy, and supernatural elements are not incidental to the plot. Additionally, many chapters will feature elements of other categories, particularly group sex and anal.
All sexual acts are consensual and involve parties who are at least eighteen years of age.
As ever, if you have questions feel free to email me or leave a comment. Either way, I'll try to respond in a timely manner.
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"What's this?" Cahill asked his mother.
"I told you," she replied, "I want to try something different today."
That really wasn't an answer.
Using a flimsy rope bridge, they'd crossed a deep chasm. Then they'd hiked up a steep incline, passed through a thick fog, and descended into a lush valley on the far side. So far as Cahill knew, they were at the farthest edge of Faerie. The very border of the Emerald Court. And why had they made that long trek? To swim in a lake that was no different from any other body of water found within their lands. At least, so far as Cahill could tell. If there was something unique about the gray water, some reason for them to have come all this way for the day's training sessions, his mother wasn't telling.
"Just trust me, okay?" she said.
With that, Caronwyn slipped out of her heavy brown robes. Her slender hands didn't touch the rough fabric, of course. It was only her mind that removed the garment. Cahill watched, hypnotized, as it fell to the dewy grass beneath her feet, exposing her fair skin.
Wasn't he supposed to think her unattractive? Too curvaceous?
As he watched her slowly walk into the water, more and more of her voluptuous form disappearing beneath it's still surface, he slowly regained control of his senses. The momentary fascination with a woman he found far less attractive than any other member of Clan Walker faded. He remembered that he didn't like her red hair. It was only because of what had happened the night before, when he'd come to tell his mother what he'd learned about his father, that he'd momentarily forgotten that she wasn't his type.
A pale finger rose up from the water and curled, beckoning him forth.
With a sigh, Cahill stripped out of his pants and slid his leather vest off. Then he followed his mother into the water. It was cool, but not quite cold. His skin pebbled and he gasped reflexively a few times, but it didn't take long to get accustomed to it.
His mother offered him a wan smile as he approached. The tops of her breasts were visible, pale crescent moons struggling not to be swallowed up by the dark sea around them.
Damn if that didn't look good. His mother's huge breasts made even Fiona's and Oona's look modest. Not small, exactly. No one would ever think that of them. But their generous endowments seemed a lot less impressive after laying eyes on Caronwyn.
"Not so bad, huh?" she asked, splashing playfully at him.
"My little boys weren't crazy about the chill, at first," he said, clearing his throat. It had taken him a moment to realize that she was referring to the water. "But no, not bad."
But, then, neither were any of the lakes and streams they could reach without having to risk falling to their deaths. Part of him had expected the water to be something more than just water. To fill him with euphoria. To drain every ache and pain away from his body. To do something other than send his testes fleeing for the warmth of his body.
"Where did you go last night?" she asked him.
Cahill sputtered. He'd tried telling her already. As soon as he'd shown up for his lessons. She'd cut him off! Why did it feel now as though he was being interrogated? Why was there that hard edge to her voice, like she was frustrated with him for keeping secrets from her?
"I went to see Teagan," he said.
"Why?" she asked.
His mother's tone had changed abruptly again. From playful to demanding to calm and patient. Detached. Free of any emotional investment.
"To see if she could tell me anything about my father," he said.
"And did she?"
He nodded.
Caronwyn studied him silently. Fuck, she had nice, full lips. And her big, brown eyes were stunning, especially when contrasted with her whiter-than-white skin. If not for that auburn hair, she'd have been
gorgeous
. Prettier than her sister. Prettier than Brittany. As pretty as any woman he'd ever met. It was just so hard not to notice that hair. Even her eyebrows had a hint of red in them. He couldn't look at her without seeing that.
"She tried to pretend it was only a slip of the tongue, but she called him Daddy."
"Probably because he's her father," his mother said.
Cahill choked on his shock.
She said it so matter-of-factly. Like everyone knew that Arawn and Macha had engaged in inbreeding.
"You knew?" he asked without giving it much thought.
His mother nodded. Then, as if she hadn't just dropped a bomb on him, she changed the subject. "And that's the only reason you went there?"
"Why else?" Cahill asked.
"Answer the question," she said, flatly. A hint of emotion crept into her voice.
"No other reason," he said.
All around him, the water turned bright red. The surface almost seemed to glow.
"What the?"
"That means you're not telling me something," his mother said. "That you've not spoken any words that are untrue, but you've still lied by omission."
"Getting Teagan to tell me whatever she could about Arawn was the only reason I went there," Cahill said. "But it wasn't until after I'd seduced her that she let that slip."
His mother nodded. And the lake appeared to be satisfied with his confession as well, for it turned a dull and lifeless gray once more.
"This is the Lake of Truth," his mother explained.
"I don't get it," Cahill said.
"We can't," his mother confirmed. "But some would say that our kind is endlessly inventive when it comes to thinking up ways to deceive while speaking only the truth."
Cahill nodded impatiently. He knew all that already.
"Every now and then, mortal men and women accidentally wander into Faerie," she said, yet again telling him something he already knew. "Sometimes, it's useful to be able to prove to them that we're not trying to deceive them." With a mischievous grin that reminded him of Liadan, she added, "In those rare cases where we're not."
He stared at the water in disbelief. With a cupped palm, he scooped some of it up, as if expecting to find its secrets revealed one he studied it up close.
"When we deliberately withhold information in response to a question, the water turns red," his mother told him. "Green when we say something that is strictly true but which we know will be interpreted in such a way as to leave the listener with a false impression. Blue when intentionally dodge a question we know to be important."
"So what else do you know about my father that you've never told me?" Cahill asked.
A slow smile spread across his mother's lips, and the water turned blue as she did. "That's the idea, yeah," she said. "You're a fast learner."
"Well?"
"Mostly just that, sweetie," she said. "But there's a lot that goes with it."
"Uh huh," he said.
Caronwyn sighed. "After my mother overthrew her, Titania allied herself with Lady Winter. The Matriarch of Winter. Ever since the queen retook power, the one and only rule observed throughout the Homelands has been set aside. But only for certain clans."
"Such as Dreamsmyth," Cahill said dryly.
"Not only them," his mother said. "She wants the practice to be widespread enough to legitimate her family's actions. But she doesn't dare allow it within any clan powerful enough to contest the throne."
"Why not?" Cahill asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Purebred children are stronger than other immortals," she said. "And they lend some of their strength to their mothers. Simply by being, they empower their clans."
