Read Online Faerie Path #6: The Charmed Return by Frewin Jones - Free Book Online Page A

Tania to remember who she is, the memory of what the Divine Harper told her will be there as well.”
    “Excuse me,” broke in Mr. Palmer, dropping the cloth into the sink, “but I think my daughter already knows who she is.”
    Mrs. Palmer looked uneasy. Rathina frowned at him. “Indeed she does not, Master Clive—all her Faerie self slumbers.”
    “Good. I’m glad to hear it,” said Anita’s father, looking from Rathina to Edric. “I’d like it to stay that way. So, whatever conjuring tricks you’re thinking of using on my daughter, I’d prefer that you leave her be.” His voice trembled with suppressed anger. “Hasn’t she done enough for you . . . people ?” He stabbed a finger at Edric. “You! You’re supposed to love her. Well, show it! She was a happy, normal girl till you turned up.”
    “Clive . . . ?” Mary Palmer’s voice was quiet but firm. “I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”
    His face pleaded. “We’ve got her back. How can you want her to go through all that chaos and heartbreak again?”
    “I don’t,” said Mrs. Palmer. “But she’s needed. A baby virtually died in my arms, Clive—a little baby. And more people are dying now. If Tania can help, we can’t stand in the way. How could we live with ourselves?”
    “And how do we know she hasn’t already done what she set out to do?” asked Mr. Palmer. “How do we know this Harper didn’t grant her wishes and put an end to the illness?”
    “We cannot know that for sure, Master Clive,” said Rathina. “Not unless we can return to Faerie—and that we cannot do without Tania. Only she has the gift of walking between the worlds.”
    “Uh, excuse me!” Jade raised a tentative hand. “I know I’m the newcomer here, but Evan . . . I mean Edric—Edric found a way to get from Faerie to here, didn’t he? Why can’t he do the same thing backward and go take a look in Faerie?”
    “It doesn’t work like that,” said Edric. “I was able to get here because I was focusing on Tania, on being with her, on our feelings for each other. That’s what pulled me through. And even then I needed the Salamander’s help. There’s no way I can punch through back into Faerie.”
    “And ’tis worse by far than that!” added Rathina solemnly. “For the ways between the worlds have been sealed by the Conclave of Earls. Even were Tania in her right mind, I fear she could not get through by merely sidestepping. Not from here. We would need to travel from this place and find a land where the power of the Faerie lords does not hold sway. And from there, once we had passed from this world to our own, we would need to take a ship to return to our home.” She frowned. “Days and weeks could be squandered in such an endeavor!”
    “You are not taking my daughter on a wild-goose chase to another country,” declared Clive Palmer. “This nonsense stops here.” He pointed a shaking finger from Edric to Rathina. “I want you out of my house!” he said. “You’re not welcome here!”
    “You would condemn all of Faerie to despair?” Rathina gasped.
    “To save my daughter? Yes, I would!”
    “No, Dad!” It made Anita’s heart ache to see how this was affecting her father. He turned to her, his face full of fear. “I don’t want that. I have to help if I can!”
    He stared at her, then fumbled for the back door, walking unsteadily out into the garden.
    “I should go to him,” said Mrs. Palmer. She looked from Edric to Rathina. “He’s still not completely well,” she said. “This has been a great strain on him. He doesn’t mean to belittle your problems—he’s only thinking of Anita.”
    Anita got up from the table. “I’ll go be with him,” she said to her mother. “Stay here, please.”
    “I’ll make some more tea,” her mother said with a nod.
    Anita walked to the open back door. Her father was down by the rosebush, his shoulders slumped.
    “Jade? Does your mum know you’re here?” she heard her