"Anika," Rohan said, "You have to go to faeries alone. I have to go to Tristeka."

I said, "No, you can't go there alone, Rohan. It is very dangerous. It is a kingdom of vampires."

Rohan smiled, "You are forgetting that I am a vampire too and I hope you do know how to meet a faerie."

"Yes," I sighed, "They can no longer be seen near wells and lakes now. I have to meet them in astral plane."

"But how will you find Aparajita's mother?" Rohan said.

"Don't worry," I said, "I will manage." Though I was also thinking how would I find Aparajita's mother.

I went to the old banyan tree in the dark forest. I sat cross-legged under the tree and closed my eyes. Astral travel was one of my favorite things to do, though I had never thought about meeting a faerie there. I increased my vibrations by burning a jasmine incense. Now, due to practice, I didn't need to imagine a rope which would help me to leave my physical body.  I had built my own astral temple on the plane. Aparajita had taught me about it. It was a place where important Wiccan rituals and magick was to be performed with the most concentration. I entered the temple after bowing my head and meditated inside it to let me enter the faeryland.

"Humans can't enter here," I heard a high-frequency voice, "Did you forget that the sea god had forbidden faeries and humans to interact with each other after a human courted a faery?"

"Yet, you steal human babies and exchange them with your own," I said bitterly.

"Go away," I said.

I created a circle around me and walked five times around my altar and chanted, "Faeries, my friends of the North,  will you rise now and dance with me as we build together the cone of power?" 

"What do you want?" I heard a crystal-clear, sharp and edgy voice like Mia. I could sense blue aura around me. Aparajita and Mia too had blue aura.

"Who is the mother of Aparajita?" I asked directly.

The scenery around me changed. I could listen the sound of a waterfall and touch the rainbow over my head. I could feel the soft touch of grass embracing my feet. There were beautiful girls playing harp and violin and some faeries were dancing. I was finding the energy rushing through my astral body overwhelming and I thought that I might faint if I stayed there for too long. The faeries were all dressed in green gowns of various shades except one who was wearing a red and blue ailk gown. Her plaited raven black hair touching her tiny waist and thin pink lips. Her large eyelashes reminded me of manga characters. Unlike Nia, she was magnificently beautiful in a gentle way. It was all too ethereal for me. The beauty of the surroundings, the soothing music were all too beautiful to be real.

"Anika, the high priestess of the Nemtenh coven, why do we have the honor of welcoming her in our modest faeryland?" the woman wearing red and blue gown said. She was supposedly the faery queen.

"Aparajita is dead," I said. There was no effect. The music was still being played on and faeries were still dancing.

"For Summerland's sake," I screamed, "She was daughter of one of you and you don't have any single tear to shed."

"Anika," the faerie queen said, "We are faeries, not humans. Tell me what you want. The energy here must be overwhelming for you."

"Ok," I said, folding my hands, "If you don't want to tell who is the mother of Aparajita, no problem. But who was the human baby you exchanged Aparajita with?"

"Why do you think we will tell you that?" the faery queen said in her edgy voice.

"Because, as you all must be knowing, the witch of Salem, Nia has arrived here," I said, smiling, "And she wants all the power for herself. Your situation will be similar to that of a begger in the magickal world if she gets the throne. So here is the deal! Help me get rid of Nia and tell me who the changeling was, and I would assure you the fair share you deserve as long as I am the head priestess of Nemtenh."

"Kiara," the queen said, "She was the human child with whom Aparajita was exchanged."