Free Marissa Day by The Seduction of Miranda Prosper

beings,” continued Corwin. “They live in a world of their own, but in ancient times there were gates opened between our world and theirs.”
    “Another world,” she said slowly. “How is that possible?”
    Corwin spread his hands. “How is it possible that our world is here? Shakespeare was right, Miranda. There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in any one philosophy.”
    Miranda found her mouth had gone dry. She moved to the washstand and poured herself a cup of water from the pitcher. Corwin and Darius watched her in silence as she drank. “Go on,” she murmured.
    “Much of this history has been lost,” said Corwin. “But those who have studied it believe the gates were opened naively, by ancient Sorcerers who sought wisdom, and perhaps beauty, for the Fae can be astoundingly beautiful. By the time they realized their mistake, the whole Isle of Britain was in jeopardy, and they rushed to close the gates. But it is difficult to shut something that was never meant to be opened. Ever since that day, at times of great change, the gates shudder open again, and the Fae can slip through.
    “The first great invasion came in the time of Camelot. It was Queen Guinevere who put an end to it, though it cost her dearly. She was not able to speak of the reasons for her actions, and so was cried out against as a traitor to her royal husband, though he himself never turned from her.
    “The second came in the time of Queen Elizabeth. She and her Sorcerer, John Dee, were able to put paid to it then. He gathered to him the Sorcerers from all the nations of our island and they shut the gates again, it was thought for all time.”
    “But they were wrong,” said Darius heavily. “And we are paying now for their mistake.”
    “So ... you’ve been fighting an invasion? A ... a ... fairy army?” The words sounded ludicrous, but Miranda forced herself to squash her doubt. She had said and done so many impossible things since sunset, surely this was not too much more.
    “I wish it was an army,” Darius muttered. “An army we might be able to beat, depleted as our numbers are. This is worse.”
    It seemed to Miranda the room grew cold. All humor had vanished from the two men and their faces had both turned hard.
    “The right king of the country has gone mad,” whispered Corwin. “The prince, his son, is prisoner to lust and dissipation. Invention, machinery and riot are changing the whole nation. How could so much chaos fail to breech the gates once more? We thought we were ready, but our enemy has grown clever, and cautious. This time, they have come through in ones and twos. They whisper promises into the ears of greedy, mortal Sorcerers, corrupting our already paltry numbers and turning us against one another. This time instead of an army, we are fighting assassins who can strike quickly and fade away. We are fighting men and women who know all our strengths and our weaknesses because they share them.”
    “But why is it happening? What do these ... Fae want from us?”
    “Our lives,” said Darius. “That spark of ourselves that is the soul. They have none themselves, so ours calls to them. They long to warm themselves by it, but end up only smothering it, and increasing their own hunger for it. They bring us glamour, power and beauty beyond description, and they kill us with it.”
    Miranda looked to Corwin for confirmation and he nodded. “It is that simple, and that complex.”
    “And there are people who are aiding them in this?”
    Again, Corwin nodded. “Sorcerers are not immune to the promises made under glamour. If anything, we are more susceptible.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Power corrupts,” said Darius flatly. “And we are already powerful. Some of us believe we know what is best for ‘ordinary’ men and women. It is but a small step from there to convincing us we should rule, and that the lives of a few of those ordinary men and women are a small sacrifice for perfect peace and