Myths and Mistletoe

For you, dear reader,

because you make these stories

worth writing

CONTENTS

Of Solstice Dreaming

a Darkly Fae story

A Mythmas Carol

a Sweet Venom story

Snow Falling on Serfopoula

an Oh. My. Gods. story

New Year, New Mermaid

a Forgive My Fins story

OF SOLSTICE DREAMING

A DARKLY FAE STORY

ONE

December 20, 9:38 pm

The Moraine palace was never more beautiful than during the Winter Solstice celebration. Rows of bright, welcoming candles glowed in every window sill and along the jagged parapet of the roofline. Swags of evergreen boughs hung over the window and doors, which had been thrown wide to let nature in and heat out. Sounds of music and merriment drifted out into the night.

Winnie could imagine herself standing at one of those open windows, bathed in the glow of candlelight, eating a fresh winterberry cake and singing songs of Brighid, the goddess of fire, and Cernunnos, the god of the forest.

She couldn’t wait to attend in real life.

In the years since her Gran died and passed on the power to see the fae realm in her dreams, Winnie spent most of her waking hours longing for the magical world to be real. A few short months ago she learned it was. What she saw while she slept—people, places, events—was actually happening within the veil.

That only made her long for it more.

She longed for Winter Solstice most of all.

Winnie had dreamed this celebration many times over the years. A three-night festival to celebrate the dead of winter and the promise of a bountiful spring to come. Always watching from a distance, never really there.

The celebration would be different this year for many reasons. Partly because the Moraine had defeated and dispatched the traitor who had threatened to destroy them from within. Partly because their alliance with the Deachair promised to improve the defenses of both clans and give some ease to the mounting concern that war might break out in the realm at any moment.

But mostly, for Winnie at least, this Solstice would be different because she would actually get to attend. In real life. In real time. At the side of her boyfriend, Prince Cathair.

Winnie knew it was a selfish thought. She should be happier for the clan’s reasons than her own.

After tonight, she promised herself. I’ll put the clan first.

As a future princess, it would be her duty.

Winnie shivered in anticipation as she walked the winding forest path that led to the palace door. Tonight was going to be truly magical.

She could barely contain her excitement.

A trio of young fae girls came running toward her on the path, winterberry cakes cupped in their small hands, giggling with pure joy. Winnie moved to step out of the way, but the girls seemed not to notice. As they approached, one reached for another’s cake, sending her twisting to the side. Sending her crashing into Winnie.

Only there was no crash.

The girl passed straight through, running and laughing as if Winnie wasn’t even there.

Because she wasn’t.

Winnie smiled with a heavy sigh.

Sometimes the dreams were harder to discern from the reality. Before she learned the fae realm was real, that her dreams were real, Winnie had never confused the two. Now that she knew, it had become next to impossible for her to tell the difference. Especially since she had been spending more and more time within the veil.

Such was the curse of an aislingeach. A curse that Winnie gladly carried if it meant being able to see into the fae realm in her dreams. If it meant being able to help Cathair and the Moraine on occasion. If it meant being able to see him and sometimes even interact with him when she was back in the human realm.

Determined not to miss out on the celebration, even if she wasn’t there in reality yet, Winnie continued down the path. A dream Solstice was better than no Solstice at all.

The moment she stepped inside the palace, her senses were overwhelmed. The interior glowed like a fire, lit up by candles on every available surface. The scent of fragrant evergreen filled the air with an aroma that reminded Winnie of Christmas with her grandmother.

She had been gone for more than five years now, but the sense memory was still fresh.

And the music. There was so much music that the very walls of the palace seemed to vibrate with the merry sounds.

Following the music to its source, Winnie wove her way through the crowd, into the ballroom. From her position at the top of the staircase, she could see everything. The fae couples dancing, swirling and moving around the room in a pattern that seemed both chaotic and choreographed. The long table laden with treats and refreshments. The sea of glitter that floated just below the ceiling, with a little help from some fae magic.

It took her breath away.

Winnie scanned her gaze over the room, searching for the tall fae with black and silver hair. It didn’t take her long to find him. Cathair stood in the corner of the ballroom, looking very regal in his formal uniform. He was scanning the room much as Winnie had been. Checking on his brother, if she had to guess.

At that moment, Prince Aedan danced by, his girlfriend Bree held close in his arms. Nothing but joy and happiness in his expression. No trace of the darkness that haunted him—that haunted them all.

They had all been touched by Ultan’s evil.

Even from this distance, even through the tenuous connection of the dream, Winnie felt the tension leave Cathair’s body.

Every cell in her body wanted to cross the room, to be at Cathair’s side and wrap her arms around his waist. Even if she wasn’t there in reality, she could embrace him in spirit.

The blare of an alarm clock tugged at her consciousness. Time to go.

She gave Cathair one last fleeting look before allowing herself to wake up. That night, after years of dreaming, she would get to experience the celebration for real. The thought almost made it bearable to leave the dream.

TWO

December 21, 3:37 pm

Winnie raced up to her room full of excited energy. Most afternoons, at least those after a day at school, she could barely drag herself up the stairs.

Today was different. Today had been the last day of school before winter break. Which meant tonight she would get to attend the Winter Solstice celebration. Finally!

She bounded upstairs, taking them two steps at a time.

Hurrying to get ready, Winnie took a quick shower—the fae realm had many magical qualities, but indoor plumbing wasn’t one of them.

She did her best at styling her hair and applying her makeup. She could have left it all natural, knowing that Queen Eimear would have the palace beauty staff ready and waiting. But every minute spent being fussed over meant one less minute enjoying the celebration.

Finally, she changed into the beautiful green dress that Cathair had commissioned for her from a Morainian seamstress. It made her feel like she was already a princess.

On her way out of the room, she checked herself in the mirror. She didn’t have the ethereal beauty of the fae, but she looked ready to experience her first Winter Solstice.

Winnie found her aunt in the kitchen, baking. That wasn’t surprising. She almost always found Aunt Maureen in the kitchen, baking. Especially that time of year. As a professional pastry chef, the winter holidays were her second-busiest season, after the summer wedding rush.

Happy Solstice, Winnie said as she entered the kitchen.

Her aunt looked up from a big red mixing bowl. Winnie bit back a smile at the smudge of molasses on her aunt’s cheek.

Happy Solstice, Maureen replied with a smile. You look beautiful. What’s on the schedule?

Winnie crossed to the stove and poured herself a mug of hot cider from the pot that was almost always simmering on the stove in the cold and rainy winter months.

The Feast of Brighid is tonight.She inhaled the intoxicating scent of cinnamon and spice. It’s a huge, multi-course dinner followed by a formal ball that lasts all night.

Setting her mug down on the counter, Winnie spun so that the skirt of her dress swirled around her like a cloud.

Maureen went back to her mixing. Are you staying the night?

The festivities run into the wee hours. Winnie stopped spinning. It just makes sense.

Aunt Mo didn’t love it when Winnie stayed in the veil. But Winnie didn’t love it that Maureen had kept the truth of their family’s magic a secret all those years. In some moments, she was angry at Gran, too, for keeping the secret and at her mom for dying before