"I knew it would be raining," I growl quietly while shaking my cape and water drops fall from the hem of the garment to the ground. Soldiers keep walking ahead of us and guiding us through the underground palace, ignoring me and not caring if I'm flooding their lord's floor.
The truth is that Tuatha Dé Danann people have a reputation for being bad-tempered and it's a bad idea to show up in one of their underground houses unexpectedly, the goddess Dana's people turned distant and distrustful after a horde coming from the south invaded Ireland and snatched the throne from their king's hands, forcing them to live under sídhe which is the word to name those tumulus dotting the landscape of the island. Old stories say they were taller, beautiful and powerful and now they're shorter and slimmer, so much so that some humans mistake them for elves and fairies on the rare occasions when they run into them, but they're still dangerous and the punishments if you break into their homes are legendary.
This is why I had to ask for a formal audience to King Nuada and wait for him to send me his chamberlain with an invitation, we had to live in our tent for a couple of days but, despite being magical and having some conveniences, it can't be compared to a real house. It was uncomfortable and besides, it's always cold and raining on this island. Tuatha Dé Danann people's palaces have nothing to do with Morgan's beautiful underground home in Avalon, even if the old lords of Ireland are rich and gold shines on their clothes, the walls aren't skilfully carved, there're less lamps and corridors are dark and damp, furniture is simple and no one cares about a tasteful decoration since they spend most of their lives walking around the forests but, above all, this place lacks of that joyful environment that Avalon's inhabitants enjoy during their parties. Everything is gloomy here and Tuatha Dé Danann people are still resentful because they lost their power up there, in the outer world, and their king was kicked out the throne.
"Why do they call him Silver Arm?" Aranel whispers behind me with curiosity despite I can feel her anxiety, she doesn't like this place and walks very close to me, holding Luna in her arms and wrapped up with my mother's protective cape because it makes her feel safe. The sound of the ruby heels echoes through the dark corridor muffling her voice but the soldiers escorting us keep ignoring us so I decide to answer out loud, ignoring them too.
"King Nuada lost an arm in combat fighting in a great battle but there's an old Tuatha law that says monarchs mustn't have any physical defect because they have to lead their soldiers to the first line of battle, you can't rule over this land if you aren't a warrior, so the healer Dian Cecht made him a new silver arm."
"Fancy..." my princess mutters quietly while we walk into a bigger and well-lit room full of red-haired and blond men and women, thin an short, wearing clothes in green and brown shades that stare at us suspiciously. I walk towards the thrones made of oak wood with firm steps followed by my wife, king Nuada is unmistakable not only because his arm shines under the light of the torches, but because he's still a strong warrior with his long blond hair braided under his helmet and exudes power so I bow my head respectfully while my princess curtseys with grace. The Tuatha Lord nods giving me permission to speak but his wife cuts me off abruptly.
"Ruby Rose, you look exactly like your mother..." Queen Nemain gets up from her throne and moves closer to me quickly to be able to cradle my face with her hands while she smiles, beautiful and pale, with her black hair and eyes, ignoring the surprised whispers of the courtiers. "You've become a very powerful witch although I should've imagined that this was your destiny, you were able to do wonderful things with a little bit of magic since you were a toddler..." The lady winks at me and suddenly, a memory makes its way through my mind like a flash: a black raven pulls out a feather and lets it drop on my bed, my small hand takes the feather and shakes it till I manage to get some golden sparks from it that dance all over my bedroom, my mom laughs and the raven turns into a dark-haired lady who praises me for my skills, smiling exactly the same way she does right now.
