The Forgotten Ones

nodded, and she led me up the stone steps and down a hallway lit with the mysterious little balls of light—fey lights, I’d learned they were called. A few doors were closed along each wall, and at the end, another set of steps curved up to another floor. As I climbed the steps, a shifting feeling stopped me. I leaned against the cool stones and squeezed my eyes shut.
    Eithne was watching me warily when I opened them. I laughed quietly, trying to regain my equilibrium. Breathing through my nose, I continued to the top. I followed her into a room to the right of the landing where stone basins lined the wall on one side and three curtains covered what looked like alcoves carved into the stone of the other.
    “Wait, I don’t really need to use the ladies room. I’m sorry,” I said. I should’ve said something sooner. “I really wanted to see Liam. Please take me to see him?” I asked, hoping she could see how important it was by my expression.
    “Very well,” she said, and I almost asked her to repeat herself. It seemed too easy.
    “Eithne?”
    She continued averting her eyes. “Yes?”
    “Have I done something to make you uncomfortable?”
    She met my eyes. I could see that she was afraid of something, but I couldn’t tell what.
    “If Aoife finds out that I’ve helped you...” she trailed off.
    “Aoife? What does Aoife have to do with me?”
    Eithne’s eyebrows shot up, and a little sound escaped her lips. “I’m not sure what you know about how Liam and I met…”
    “I don’t know anything about it,” I said even though Liam had mentioned something about it. My interest was piqued by what Eithne would tell me.
    “Well”—she looked around nervously—“I was once Aoife’s handmaiden. When she would leave Tír na n’Óg it was my duty to take care of Liam. I am her cousin, and I was the only one she felt she could trust, you see.
    “I helped him when I could. He would go back into the human realm, and I would sneak him back without Aoife’s notice. But one day, she felt I’d betrayed her. I knew too many of her secrets, she said, and she banished me to the human realm.”
    I gaped at her. Niamh had told me that Aoife was known for her temper, but I wasn’t sure how Aoife could hurt her now.
    “Liam and Niamh have imprisoned Aoife, though,” I said.
    She nodded. “Yes, but there are eyes everywhere. Deaghlan won’t allow her to stay in the sphere for much longer, and when she finds out you’re here, and that I’ve helped you...”
    “Is it because I’m Liam’s daughter that you think she’ll be angry?”
    Eithne’s eyes widened in fear. “I can’t say anymore, Allison. Please.”
    “Wait,” I said, holding my hands up, trying to placate her. There was something I was missing. I needed to figure out what Eithne was so afraid of.
    “Why will Aoife be so angry?” I asked again, begging her to confide in me.
    “Because she made me keep your existence a secret. I don’t know how Liam and Niamh tracked you, but when Aoife finds out, I know I’ll pay for it.”
    “But you weren’t the one who told them about me. Everyone knows that.”
    “Oh, it doesn’t matter. When I hid you for her, I was so careful. I never understood how she could give away such a beautiful creature, but she detested you. Liam didn’t even know about you, but she was seething with jealousy over a harmless baby girl—”
    “I’m not following,” I interrupted. “What do you mean you hid me? I didn’t think Aoife even knew about me. Niamh and Liam didn’t know about me when they showed up looking for my mother.”
    “Your mother?” Eithne said, tilting her head to one side.
    I got the distinct feeling we were talking about two completely different scenarios, but I had no idea how to untangle the threads of the story she’d just told me.
    “Yes. Liam came to my grandparents’ house looking for my mother, Elizabeth—”
    If Eithne’s expression could have become more horrified, it did then. “Elizabeth is your mother?” she asked slowly, some of her confusion disappearing.
    “Uh, yes.” I said, shaking my head. “You’ve lost me again.”
    “Oh, Allison,” she muttered, covering her face in her hands. “Please, forget what I’ve told you. It is best for everyone if you pretend we hadn’t spoken.”
    Eithne clearly thought I was someone else. From the sound of things, she thought Aoife was my mother. I shook my head. I needed to calm her down.
    I put my hand on her shoulder