Title: The Fae Fortune
Chapter Title: Prologue
Summary: A girl at St. Bartleby's! Preposterous! But she's there, and she seems to be part of an elaborate and strange bloodline...That's somehow connected to the Fowls'.
Ennis, Ireland, 1890
Fergus Donovan was over the moon. In rage, not jubilation. He'd been gone on a business trip for three months to the mainland. Three months! Eight months after he returned, his wife bore a male child. Normally, he'd be elated. He would have loved an heir to the Donovan name, but Fergus wasn't stupid. He listened to the doctor's whispering. The boy couldn't have been his at all. He knew his wife Maureen had had an affair while he was gone.
Now he was forced to house the bastard. He wouldn't do it. He couldn't do it! His pride and dignity could only be held up for so long. The Donovans were notorious for their light hair; blonde, bright red, even light brown. The boy had raven black. He came out with a tuft of pitch black hair. Fergus wouldn't care for him. He might've only married Maureen because they were promised, but marriage was sacred, and what she did was betrayal.
The small village of Ennis had yet to hear the news about the baby boy. The new Donovan, they'd say. Fergus would have none of it. He had a plan. There was an old village mystic that he had to visit. She was a short old woman, and did not come out during the day. Fergus looked forward to her scheme. He didn't know the true extent of it, but all he knew was that he had to bring the boy to her, and she would help him.
As soon as the doctor left, he made sure Maureen felt nice and comfortable, as she drifted off into the sleep of the exhausted. In the dark of the night, he took the boy, wrapped in blankets. He wandered the forest, and searched out the hut in which the old hag dwelt. The trees were ancient, and a magic hum surrounded him as he went deeper. Crickets chirped and the moonlight shone with a surreal brilliance.
When he found the woman's living space, he was not surprised. It was a small, decrepit cave with oak trees planted along the entrance, almost like a gate. The line of oak trees did not end until the minute river turned a corner around the trees. The river ran lazily along its bed, and the trees stood like guards. Starlight shone through their leaves, and the water of the river looked like spun silver.
Fergus felt his heartbeat quicken as he stepped through the trees. He didn't have much time before his wife awoke. He felt along his way through the cave walls. The rock was damp and cratered. "You there, Miz Willow?" he asked tentatively in the dark. A moment of silence answered him as his echo faded.
"Are you the Donovan man?" a scratchy voice asked. It sounded tired and old.
"Yes, ma'am." He made sure his tone was obedient. He stayed close to the entrance for the small bit of light he could retain.
He vaguely saw a figure move towards him. It was short and round, and seemed to be holding something. "Take this baby home with you. Her name is Aeryn. Do not change it. She will always be slight in stature, and will not have the same temperament as human infants. Never give her foxglove, in any form, and do not baptize her. Born of a tryst between a Lower Elements Police officer and a merrow, this girl is not wanted in the her own world. I will find a home for this boy." She continued to instruct Fergus on how to care for Aeryn. Finally, when she had finished, she handed him a small, golden book.
"Do not read it. Do not open it. Hide it from the outside world, and when Aeryn is finished teething, make it a necklace for her, and tell her to never, ever, take it off. She will understand it perfectly, though you do not."
Fergus nodded his head, and tried to remember everything the woman was saying. It was obvious she was a bit of a loon, he knew, but he'd make Maureen see how much anguish goes into raising a child who is not your own. Born of a merrow and Lower Elements Police officer...what was a Lower Elements Police officer? And a merrow? Sure, he'd heard of them, but they couldn't be real. No, this poor orphan girl was just laid somewhere, and Miz Willow just happened to find her.
It hurt him that he could not baptize the girl. Fergus was a rigid Catholic, and if Aeryn was going to be his responsibility, he didn't want her going to hell. His shoulders sagged as a tendril of regret came to him. Maybe giving the boy away wasn't quite right. Maybe raising a his wife's child would be a learning experience.
The thoughts vanished as soon as they came. Fergus was more emboldened than ever to make the switch. He knew he had to trust Miz Willow completely in order for this to work. When she finished, she handed the girl to him. "Before she enters your house, make sure you permit her. It could be, 'Welcome home,' or something, but anything! Now go. Your wife stirs."
Fergus ran out of the cave, leaving the boy on the ground. He hadn't even been christened a name, yet. Fergus was confident that Miz Willow would take care of that. The forest wasn't nearly as dark as before, but he didn't stop to ponder that. He returned home, said "Aeryn, you are to live here," and replaced her in the boy's bassinet. Maureen had woken, but was still slightly groggy.
"Fergus," she moaned. "Where's my baby?"
"Right here, aghra." He placed special emphasis on aghra, feeling satisfaction at her apparent guilt. He handed the little girl to her. Maureen held the baby for a moment. She became wide awake and sat up.
"This isn't my baby boy, Fergus," she started. Her eyes took on a wild look as she searched the room for her son.
"Boy? No, Maureen, darling. We had a girl, you see? We agreed that her name would be Aeryn."