Hi! Most of the characters in this fan story are creations of mine. However, the world in which they live in is based off of the novels that Seanan McGuire has created, with her October Daye series. In one of the novels, a passing line about how most of the Fae had been lost in New York due to iron being everywhere got me thinking, so that's how this story was created, with Sapphire, her siblings, friends, and enemies, has come to be born. There will be some possible spoilers ahead, since there are currently so many novels out that it might take time for someone to catch up.

Chapter One

When my sister entered the kitchen holding up a cup of coffee in one hand, I was relieved. I had spent most of the morning filing away the bills and making sure that the home would stay intact for another month. I had forgotten about coffee, and my sister, who promised to visit on this special day, promised to bring some with her. When she slid a second cup in front of me, that was what got me to pause and then frown at her.

"Exactly what kind of bribe is this, Opal?" I questioned, giving the cup a good sniff. It was tea, not coffee. Home brewed, but thrown into a paper cup to make me question it less. Most likely a concoction of her own, but it smells heavily of chamomile.

Opal cocked her head at me, a motion that mimicked what my young niece did when she wanted something, but pretended that said item wasn't bad for her. It must have been a trick that she learned from her own mother. It was followed by a sickly sweet, high pitched question that grated on my nerves. "Whatever do you mean, dear little sister?"

I held up one cup, shaking it gently as not to splatter it everywhere. "Coffee, " I said. I then shook the other, spilling tea on my hand. "Tea. And not just any tea. Calming tea."

It was a trick that she used to do back when we were kids and the powers that we had were harder to control. We are both Banshees. Though, Opal was different from me. She was a pure blooded Banshee, something that was hard to come by with so few male Banshees existing in the world. I was a changeling. Half human, half Banshee. There was a third of us, though, my older brother, Jasper, who was half Banshee, half Tylwyth Teg. He was the luckiest one out of all of us.

What you might not know is that Banshees are known to be crazy, to go from being calm and controlled to snapping a second later. The more muddled the blood becomes, the higher the chance the insanity takes over. We all have triggers, moments when our insanity slips when we try our best to hide it. For Opal, it was any extreme emotion that she felt; fear, happiness, anger. Jasper appears to be insane from the outside when he focuses hard on a task. The Banshee in him gives a hyper focus on a task and he refuses to do anything until it is done. He moved into my house a few years ago, because I stopped over at his place and found out he wasn't eating while he tinkered away at his alchemy. For me, it's been my fear and anger alone. I almost killed a human man when I found his body pressed too close to a woman who was definitely feeling uncomfortable. Instead, I broke his hand and a few ribs and had to pay the bill.

We are oddly close for all having different fathers, with our relationship only connected to a mother who wanted us all to be connected. I was a good two hundred years younger than Jasper and a good three hundred years younger than Opal. I had only recently reached the age of twenty eight. My mother is a loving woman, though, especially considering that she is a Duchess and my very human father sits on the throne next to her. The Summerlands will keep him alive for as long as my mother says so, and with the love and admiration that grew in her eyes every day, I doubt it would happen any time soon. The ripple effect was that each of us knew that there would be a triggering moment to our insanity and help squash it before it could ever form.

But, when you know someone for all your life, you begin to pick up on their tricks. I could smell my sister's magic in the tea. It was faint, but rolling mist and soft moss was there. She had enchanted it to make sure that I stayed sedated for something.

"Is this because of the CPS guys coming?" I asked. "We knew about that for months, they just want to make sure that everything is okay."

Plus, I'm fairly certain that Rogers had a crush on me. He was always the one who stopped by and did nothing but praise me for the work that I was doing. If only he knew that what I was doing was creating a home for the changelings who were abandoned, ran off, or whose parents were just too scared to leave them alone while they played fairy bride. I was able to buy a large plot of land and build a beautiful home on top of it. I could only fit about fifty changelings in the place at a time, but most of them liked what I was doing and came back from time to time, to tell me they have become a knight, a courtier, or even a professor at the local college. One was even a doctor in psychology and when the children from Blind Michael's lands came back to us, broken, scared, and unable to sleep because the shadows danced too much, she came in handy. Ryda was forever welcomed in my home.

"No, actually, it's because of mom," said Opal. She must have seen my eyes widen because she began to wave her hands furiously. "No, no, everything is okay. It's just. . . well, drink your tea."

I slowly sipped at my tea, watching my sister carefully. Opal was a beautiful woman and it was no surprise that she had two kids. In a human disguise, she looked to be somewhere in her mid thirties. She always softened her sharp cheekbones and changed her eye color from dancing sparkles of white, gold, blue, and yellow into a subtle gray. Her ears were sharply pointed, even her curled white hair could not hide them well, especially since they had a tendency to hang slightly to the side instead of upright. My ears did the same.

We were all named after our eye colors, a unique feature that each of us had. Jasper had conflicting reds, blues and grays in his eyes, all fighting each other to stand sharply out. The blue won when he placed his human disguise up but the red fought hard when he appeared as himself.

I, myself, appeared more human than my siblings with my dark blue eyes that seemed to crack when the sunlight hit them. My hair was one of the strangest features about me, with a separation in my colors. The top of my head was a rich mahogany brown while underneath was pure white. More than once I have been oddly mistaken as a Cu Sidhe from behind, even though their hair is red and white. It isn't until they see my face that they realize the mistake that was made. My sharp cheekbones and wild, mad driven eyes were signs of the Banshee that was in my blood. Most people would run away from the view. Few people have stuck around when the mistake is made.

Once I finished drinking my tea Opal began to speak again, "She learned about the digging that was happening from the shallowing in the backyard."

If I had any tea left, I would have choked on it. "What? How did she find that one out?"

Our brother took that moment to saunter in, his hands deep in his pockets and sullen expression on his face. He must have been listening in on the conversation. "Well, I might have let it slip."

I groaned. About two years ago, I found out the reason why I had been drawn to the plot of land that I built the house on. A sturdy shallowing sat on it, one that with a lot of work could become a knowe. Shallowings don't respond easily to changelings, though. It's been taking me a little longer than I had hoped to dig it.

Resting my elbows on the counter, I rubbed my face. "Please don't tell me what she said."

"Alright," said Jasper. "Can I at least tell you that she plans on stopping over today?"

I groaned even louder behind my hands. Even though I could not see my siblings snickering, I could at least hear them. I couldn't feel any rise in insanity, though, so this news was at least safe to hear. Or at least Opal's tea was starting to work. I was fairly certain that we were apart of Titania's children. We were land Fae, for good example. Though, I wasn't sure exactly how. We were more fit to be Maeve's children more than we were fit to be Titania's children. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that someone had been lying about our origins. If I remember correctly, at least, Cliodhna was our Firstborn. I wasn't sure if she was still alive or not. If she was alive, I would love to have a conversation with her.

"Alright, what exactly does she know?" I asked.

Jasper cracked a soft, small smile. "She knows that I am trying to cure the addiction of goblin fruit for the changelings and that you were trying to find a safe place outside of the human eye."

Before I could protest, before I could yell at him, our human disguises slammed down on us. A trick that I had learned to do when I first opened the house and allowed human scrutiny to happen. Whenever someone rang the doorbell, a human disguise descended upon everyone. It used to take a lot out of me, but now with everyone contributing to the disguises, we were able to mask the whole building from being discovered by humans.

I pointed to my siblings, coffee in hand, saying, "If Mom comes strolling in, ruining everything that we have worked for, I will strangle her myself."

While I loved my mother, and my siblings included, I loved my changeling children more. Especially since I learned that due to my human side, I was given a gene that would not allow me to have kids. Something about empty genetics. It could be fixed with magic, as Ryda has stated more than once. But everyday, more abandoned and alone changelings ended up at my doorstep. Some as young as four and some as old as fourteen. The oldest was someone who appeared to be sixteen but was over thirty. He was lost and didn't know where to go. I fed him, clothed him, and he became a professor in history. He was Tuatha De Danann if I remember correctly. I got a check every month from him as a donation to keep the building running.

The three of us wandered to the main door. When I opened it, a familiar face smiled at me. Rogers radiated happiness upon seeing me. He was completely human. If it wasn't for my disguise, I would say it was because I was apart of Faerie that caused him to glow upon seeing me. We have known each other since I first opened the building. He wasn't sure what rules I had behind accepting children into foster care, but he rarely asked about the new faces that appeared between his visits.

He was handsome for a human. Curly blonde hair was cut just below his ears. Short enough to allow the curls to take place, but short enough that it wouldn't go out of control. His official visits were in suits and a clipboard where he marked things off. As long as I kept things clean and never harmed any of the children, everything turned out okay. Usually he came alone. The end of his inspection left him with a fresh cup of coffee and a flirty comment. He would tell me that my sweetness and kindness healed his broken heart. I don't think he remembered what he said each meeting, because he would repeat himself when he came back the next time around.

I froze upon the sight of a second person, though. Not just any other person, though. I could see a shimmer of a glamour around the person, making them appear to be human when they were nothing like so.

In fact, their shot of red hair made me believe that they were Daoine Sidhe. I bit hard on my tongue to keep myself from protesting. I smiled at Rogers instead, who lit up upon seeing me.

"Saph!" he said, using my common nickname that those who were close to me used. "It's good to see that you are happy and healthy. Mind if we come in?"

"No, not at all," I said, trying my best to not grit my teeth. "I'm just curious as to who is with you today."

"Oh? Matt? He's harmless," said Rogers, jabbing a thumb at the man. "He's one of the new guys and wanted to see about the wonderful heir who built a home for orphans."

I spread out my arms, letting the man move pass me. The man, so called Matt, flashed a strange look at my siblings. Opal looked ready to claw his eyes out while Jasper stayed back and studied him carefully. Neither one of my siblings were okay with change, just like I was, but we all expressed it differently. With a Daoine Sidhe in the house now, we were all going to be on edge.

Slowly, we walked down the halls. I explained the features of the house to Matt, things that Rogers would nod his head in agreement since he already knew. I told him about the two kitchens that we had, with six ovens total. Four cooks were apart of the staff. They were pure blooded Hobs, but Rogers didn't know that. He believed that they were former orphans who decided that I needed the help after they grew out of the system. Their half blooded children tended to clean the rest of the building. The total number of them was ten. I think that another was going to join the crew, but I had yet to approve that. Bedrooms were on the second, third, and fourth floor. There were bathrooms on the first floor, four total. They always appeared to be in use, especially in the mornings. There was a living area, as well, with a large TV that was always being fought over. Especially now, with two young boys fighting over which cartoons to watch.

"Hey, hey, Scott, Paavo, stop that." I yanked the remote from the boys, who stopped fighting upon seeing me. I waved in their face. "Remember the last time you fought like this?"

Judging by the shocked expression they both shared, I would assume that they did. Quickly, both boys said that they would play nicely as long as they could watch their afternoon cartoons. Since it was the weekend, I handed the remote back to them.

"Play nice or Opal will hide the TV," I said.

My sister flashed the boys a far too wide smile, showing the whites of her teeth. If she wasn't in a human disguise, those teeth would be far sharper. The boys made a small noise before silently settling on the couch.

"I remember when you had to take the TV from them the one time," said Rogers, smiling fondly at me. "They didn't believe you but you yanked the whole thing off the wall and walked it off to your room."

I flashed him my own smile. It had been two years since that incident, I had almost forgotten if he hadn't said anything. The look on Matt's face made me scowl, though. He appeared to be disgusted at the thought that there were any good or personal thoughts between a Fae and a human, even if that Fae was only a changeling.

First we stopped and showed off our computer rooms. They were blocked to make sure that any child that needed school homework on it could, but couldn't do anything else. A young woman, ready to apply for college, was typing away for her entry form to the local Niagara college. She flashed a look of annoyance when we disturbed her for the short moment.

The next few rooms were the bedrooms, all tidy and clean. There was one where a Hob "supervised" a mother and a child visit. It was something that we arranged to make it seem like we were trying to reunite families when in reality we worked with scared fairy brides who ran away upon finding out that they were pregnant. Though, not all of them were female. There were a few men who whisked away their children after the mother gave birth. Sometimes we had couples coming in together, asking for sanctuary.

In one bedroom, Ryda was having a meeting with one of the children, Kira, a two tailed Kitsune who was still suffering from fear of shadows from being one of Blind Michael's Riders. Kira was a harder case to crack, but they weren't lost. Their parents refused to take them back in when they returned from Blind Michael's lands. If Opal hadn't been around during that one foggy night, Kira might have always been lost.

Everything appeared to be in perfect order for Rogers. He got a cup of coffee while he wrote down his notes. His words spoke of positive influence that I had on the children. When he saw me peeking over his shoulders, he shuffled the papers out of my prying eyes. The smile that he flashed me was flirtatious and I gave my best one back at him.

It was Matt who had a few questions. It was when the questions got personal, more in the realm of Faerie, did Rogers got up from his chair and mutter how he needed to check on something else. I raised an eyebrow at Matt, wanting to ask him if he had enchanted the man before they got inside.

"Is it true that a changeling like you is trying to dig out a knowe from a shallowing?" he hissed. His human disguise flickered with his anger.

I stiffened under his gaze but flashed him an equally intense scowl. "Does it matter?"

"And why are you doing that?" he questioned.

"It's for me," interjected Jasper. Everyone's heads snapped in his direction. He shrugged his shoulders as best as possible under the scrutiny. "We get changelings that are addicted to goblin fruit from time to time. We have to turn them away because we have no connections to the Summerlands, so we have no safe place for them to live."

And die, I thought bitterly. Judging by the expression on Matt's face, he didn't care about the plague of goblin fruit that hit the streets from time to time. Queen Mira and King Barley were willing to help keep it out of the hands of changelings, try to make sure that only purebloods could have it, but it slipped from their grasp from time to time. I couldn't blame them. Niagara was a large area, and with the High King and Queen so close, people would think it would be the safest place, at least for the purebloods.

But there was so much iron in the water. It hurt me sometimes.

"So why don't you just do it?" said Matt, the question was pointed at Opal, the only pureblood, with only Banshee in her blood. "It would be the easiest for you."

"We are a family," snapped Opal, her hands shoved hard on her hips. She was getting angry. I couldn't blame her. I was angry already. The madness was already starting to rise, along with my magic of snow and willow bark. "What one of us plans and needs help with, we join in. She's not alone."

"And how do the King and Queen feel about it?" he questioned.

I wanted to snarl. I think it slipped a little bit through my voice when I spoke, "They approve, obviously. I've been given a grant to be an independent fiefdom once I get it to form a knowe."

That got a look of surprise from Matt. He stared at me, unsure of the next thing to say. He didn't need to, though, for my mother strolled in the front door, practically gliding in with the long silk dress she wore. It was a pale, snowy blue. Our mother was shortly followed by a few of her Hobs, who looked ready to work.

"Hi, Mom," I said. I waved at Matt. "Now is a good time to leave."

"Why?" he asked.

My mother flashed him a wide smile, baring more teeth than she needed. "Because it's my youngest's birthday today, so if you want to stay and celebrate, you will have to be nice."

Matt hesitated, obviously wanting to leave but also uncomfortable by the idea that my mother wanted to celebrate a birthday. Once you are immortal, birthdays seem like such a small thing. But each year my mother was able to one up herself. Opal's birthday was only a couple months ago and my mother got Opal a charm bracelet that was covered in opal stones. It was chanted to help her open any and all doors. With enough force, Opal could now unlock even the most locked knowe or bedroom. Now, in the middle of winter, I wasn't sure what my mother would get me, but the Hobs were a good hint.

"I just have one more question," Matt stated. He was conscious of the look that the room of Banshees was giving him, so he spoke quickly. "Why did you close the Shadow Roads into the house?"

It was Opal who answered that one, over Jasper's barking laugh and my growling. "Well, when the King of Foggy Cats took over, he told her that he would never allow a changeling Cait Sidhe to exist, even to go to the length of killing them himself."

That resulted in a startled look from Matt. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"We have four Cait Sidhe here," I stated. "All of which have been granted sanctuary. Once they get old enough, I help them get to a new Court of Cats that will welcome them. It's happened in the past."

The current King, a nasty man who used to be a close friend, had an extreme hate for the changelings. It went beyond racism and into violence. More than once he had attacked me in public. It was why I had a nice scar on my left inner arm. I used it to protect my throat. The former Queen was a welcoming woman and I was sad to see her go before she could make a new choice. Marcus had been able to hide his violence until a year before his training was over. It wasn't enough time for Allisia to find a new heir. I refused to open the Shadow Roads again until a new leader took over, one that I approved of. The last thing I wanted was to have was to wake to dead bodies in a place that was supposed to be safe.

"Did he really say that?" asked Matt, in almost a whisper. The group nodded their heads in synch.

"It's also why one of us is always with Sapphire," said Jasper. "Marcus hasn't attacked her while we are with our dear little sister."

Before Matt could say any more, Rogers came strolling back into the room. He beamed a large smile at my mother, ignoring the Hobs that were flanking her. They must have had a good don't-look-here spell on them, for while my mother had a human disguise, the Hobs did not.

"Dia!" exclaimed Rogers. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"

She flashed him a kind smile. "Oh, you know, waiting to become a grandmother again." Her eyes flickered to Jasper and I, both of us groaning at the comment. "I spoil my two already, but I would like at least two more."

Rogers face grew red and he coughed. The comment was pointed at him in such a way to ask, "Why haven't you at least asked my daughter out?" He didn't know what I was or who the children really were here. I wasn't planning on telling him either.

Diamond, Dia while she was in her human disguise, gave him a wave of her hand. "It's actually Sapphire's birthday today. I was hoping you would be gone so I could celebrate with her."

His head swiveled towards me, a look of shock on his face. "What? It's your birthday? Why didn't you say so? This was a planned visit! I didn't even bring you anything."

I pursed my lips together. "Oh, it's alright. I'm sure that my mother has enough planned that I won't need gifts from anyone else."

The expression on his face told me that he wasn't believing a word I said, but he still shrugged his shoulders. "I get done at five if you would like me to stop over later on."

He was already forcing me to be up at eight am with it only being noon now. He should be lucky I wasn't clawing his throat out for forcing me out of bed so early in my usual schedule. Hell, the smile on my mother's face would have been enough to make him back away and leave without a second comment.

"We should leave them to the family celebration," said Matt, coming to the rescue. The two men left shortly after that.

Once we were sure that they were out the door and far away that we could drop our human disguises was when I turned towards my mother. Without her human disguise, she was still a beautiful woman, with long dark blonde hair that she preferred to have braided and pushed over one shoulder. Her eyes were almost crystal like, glinting with multiple different colors. The don't-look-here spell was dropped as well and it was easier to look at the Hobs.

"Hey, Mom," I said, this time addressing my mother with earnest and exhaustion. "You're early."

"I heard that you were trying to get a knowe set up," said Diamond, smiling at me with kindness. "I brought you some help. Durk and his kids offered as well as Belinda. With their help, hopefully the knowe will be formed by tonight."

The Hobs all flashed me a smile. There were four of them total. Even if they weren't fully willing to help dig it out, once the knowe was open, there was a good chance that it would need to be cleaned. I was able to get a few rooms formed, but it was still anchored to the human realm rather than to the Summerlands. Just a little more of a push and I'm sure it would open up. I was sure of it.

"Where are the changelings addicted to the goblin fruit being held while you are building the knowe?" asked Diamond.

"Most of them are sent back out on the streets," I said, cringing at the thought. "There are a few that are willing to let Jasper work on their addicted bodies before the goblin fruit leaves them as nothing more than a walking carcass."

There was a quick birthday celebration before we wandered to the back of the house, where the shallowing was. The back door into the yard was going to be the main entrance. Another entrance would be from the gate that led into the yard. We were still tinkering on making sure a human couldn't get into the knowe, so knocking on the door three times opened up into the shallowing instead of the yard.

We pulled at the magic in it, forming rooms and spaces. I willed and commanded it to open up into the Summerlands. I was starting to get a headache, forcing myself to work far more than I wanted to. Hours went by, Opal gave me a bottle of Tylenol and I popped two before going back to work. Magic burn sucks, but I couldn't quit now.

At around two in the morning, there was a large pop and a rush of dizziness. I collapsed into my siblings arms. Once I was able to refocus, I was staring at a very empty knowe. We did it.

I had a knowe.

Now, would it respond to me? Or was I too human and would it deny me?