Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde, #3)(85)

“Really?” Lilja said. “Because there’s a footnote—Professor Smith thought this was the true conclusion of the Macan story, though no names are given to the protagonists.”

“What?” I snatched the book away from her and scanned the page. She was right—ordinarily I read footnotes, but in my haste, I had ignored most of Smith’s.

“Bloody footnotes!” I muttered.

After considering Dr. Smith’s reasoning, and cross-referencing the fragment with another version of the Macan story, I was able to confirm to my own satisfaction that her theory was correct. In the end, we pieced it together, though I almost wish we hadn’t. What follows is the second and final act of the “happy” Macan story, or what I have formally termed the Smith variant of “King Macan’s Bees.” It picks up after the second Macan slays the first.

King Macan the Second ruled for many seasons with his mortal wife, who vastly preferred him to her previous husband, and for a time, all was well. But as the years passed, Macan grew increasingly convinced that he had not, in fact, killed his predecessor. He heard Macan the First’s voice in the rustle of the river reeds, and whenever a bee went past, he would say, “There is another servant of the old king, sent to spy on me.”

Macan’s wife grew worried about him, and so she tried to prove that Macan the First was, indeed, dead. She brought her new husband several of her old husband’s teeth, which were all that remained of his body, and even took to wearing them about her neck, so that Macan might remember each time he looked at her. At first he was soothed, but then he said, “And yet, cannot a man live without his teeth? This proves nothing.” She then captured several bees and commanded them to speak, so that they might tell her husband they were not spies, merely the last of the summer honeybees. But the king only praised them as excellent liars, and ordered his servants to kill every bee in the mound. Now, one cannot kill every insect in any place, and thus the only result was that the bees grew to hate the new Macan, and took every opportunity to sting him. This only solidified his belief that the old Macan lived, and had sent his servants to torment him.

Eventually, Macan the Second grew so terrified of the dead king that he began to suspect that every visitor, no matter how humble, was in league with Macan the First. Initially, he turned them away, but his wife was afraid of the old laws and ordered that every wayfarer be welcomed into the castle. Unbeknownst to her, Macan the Second had each guest slain in the night, then ordered the servants to tell his wife that they had decided to leave early.

When eventually his wife learned the truth, it was too late; she had grown old, despite the magics the king had employed to slow her decline, and she no longer had the strength of mind to alter the currents of the king’s humours. One morning, he woke to find her cold at his side. King Macan’s grief only worsened his paranoia, and he became convinced that his wife had died not of her own mortality, but from some poison administered by Macan the First or his allies.

The more guests King Macan killed, the more he came to enjoy the game of it; he liked playing the role of dutiful host, spoiling his guests, only to find novel ways of killing them ere the morning came. He began not only welcoming visitors but luring them in, using all manner of faerie tricks to entice mortals and wandering Folk to his castle, telling himself each time that they were spies of Macan the First, and thus deserving of their fate. He also had many of his servants and relations executed, until all but the stupidest and the most depraved dared remain at his side. The forest, poisoned by the king’s enmity, withered as the years passed, and the river dried up, and all small Folk perished or fled.

Thus the realm of Macan the Second became a cold place, cruel and desolate, like so much of Faerie. And if any mortal should stumble into King Macan’s mound, they must go back the way they came, and ignore the tempting lights of the castle, lest they remain there evermore.

After I pieced the story together and smoothed the edges, I gave it to Lilja to read first. She was quiet for a long moment afterwards, and then said, “This is what will happen to him?”

“I doubt Wendell’s story will follow precisely the same course as Macan the Second’s,” I said. “But yes, I think it quite likely that this act of vengeance towards his stepmother has set Wendell—and the realm itself—upon some path to ruin. Perhaps it will lead to madness; probably he will grow more and more vengeful, finding excuses to hurl other enemies into the Veil. It is also possible that Wendell’s story will play out differently, and he may escape Macan the Second’s fate.”

“But you do not think so,” Margret said, watching me.

I made no reply, and Lilja nodded grimly. “What is to be done?” she said.

“We must change the story somehow,” I said. “I have found a version of the Macan story that has given me an idea—in it, the mortal queen seeks aid from the boggart, asking him to heal the bee stings inflicted upon the second Macan. The boggart refuses her, but it makes me think: perhaps I should consult with the creature. Who can say what insight he may possess? He has known Wendell’s family for generations.”

Niamh leaned back in her chair, folding her arms with a slight huff. I waited, recognizing this as a universal precursor of scholarly objection.

“You place too much importance on the Macan story,” she said bluntly.

“Too much!” I exclaimed. “Has it not been remarkably predictive? The three servants, the second castle—”