Chapter Eighteen

I stopped Arach from getting too wild. We had to go downstairs and celebrate our daughters first flight, and we didnt have much time for that. Because we also had to be at the Castle of Eight by noon.

So we got dressed and headed downstairs, where the Fire Court was already toasting my daughter, and she was sitting between her brothers at the high table, grinning ear-to-ear, and wearing Roarkes tunic. Thank goodness I had thought to bring her a fresh dress. The last thing we needed was Roarke strutting around shirtless.

“I flew, Mommy!” Samara said as I got her into her dress.

“I saw, baby,” I said with a grin. “Its so exciting.”

“Am I going to get breasts now?”

Rian, standing to one side, choked on his juice. I chuckled, glad to see that my little Romeo wasnt so much like his father that hearing his sister talk about developing breasts didnt disturb him. Hed been way too casual with talk of his future conquests.

“Not yet, Sam,” I said and smoothed her long, brown curls. “That will take several years more. But you have proven that you have a fully Fey essence, and thats wonderful.”

Sam didnt know how wonderful it was. Arach may have played it off, but I knew hed been worried that Samara might not be a full-blooded Dragon-Sidhe and therefore, unable to shift. When I said we had fire-proofed the nursery, I meant that we had done it before the boys were born. Rian had a diamond cradle and a tree trunk for a scratching post—all the things that Arach said Dragon-Sidhe babies needed. But Sam hadnt needed those things. She had never burned her bedding or clawed the scratching post we installed for her (a white birch to go with the pink room). Because she had never shifted. I reassured Arach that I knew for certain that Samara had a full portion of Dragon-Sidhe essence, but genetics were tricky, especially when it came to gods and faeries. And me. Arach needed proof, and there was no greater proof than Sams transformation.

“Why is it wonderful?” Samara asked.

I blinked, coming out of my thoughts. “Because there arent a lot of our kind and now we can be sure theres one more.” I tapped her nose.

“And maybe there will be more through you,” Arach said.

I glared at Arach, but he only stared back at me as if baffled over why Id be upset.

“Through me?” Samara asked.

“What your daddy is trying to say is that someday, when you have become a woman, you could have a baby. And if you choose to have that baby with another Dragon-Sidhe, your baby would be a Dragon-Sidhe like us.”

Sam thought about this. “Then I should lie down with Rian.”

Rian made a wheezing, terrified sound and fled the table. Roarke, seated with his family a little further down since they were royals of our court as well (the Fire Cat-Sidhe were a sort of court within a court, and Roarke was their King), covered his mouth but I could see his fiery eyes burning with laughter.

I looked at Arach accusingly. “You see what happens when you give the sex talk too soon?”

But Arach had his lips pressed together to keep from laughing as well.

“Where did Rian go?” Samara asked.

“You scared him, little girl,” I said and kissed her forehead. It amazed me how far shed advanced in speech alone over the last few months. Just in the time since Id returned from the distant past, Sam had developed a more complex way of speaking.

“He doesnt want to lie down with me?” Sam asked, so innocently.

“Not in that way, baby. Brothers and sisters dont have children with each other. Youre already family. To have children, you need to lie down with someone you arent related to.”

Samara scrunched up her face. “But I love Rian.”

“Im glad you do. One day you will understand that there are different kinds of love. The one you have for Rian is brotherly. The one youll have for your husband will be much different.”

“But there arent any other Dragon-Sidhe, Mommy.”

“There are two others who arent related to you,” Arach said, right on cue. “And one is a boy. That means you could have a full-blooded Dragon-Sidhe baby with him.”

“Who?”

“Prince Baidhen of Darkness.”

“Baidhen?” She frowned in thought. “I dont know if I like him.”

“Youre young, sweetheart. Give it time,” Arach said. “Im sure youll like him more when you get older.”

“Arach,” I said in a warning tone.

“What, A Thaisce?” He asked with wide eyes. “Im only counseling our daughter as any good parent would.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“Whats wrong, Mommy?” Samara asked.

“Come here, little girl.” I took Sam away from Arach, over to a corner of the dais the high table perched on, and sat down with her on the floor.

Sam grinned as we got settled. “Are you going to tell me a secret?”

Tears threatened suddenly. Because over that precious little face, I saw my daughter grown, her eyes full of the horrors she had witnessed and her shoulders bent beneath the weight of responsibility. One of those responsibilities had been to marry Prince Baidhen of the Kingdom of Darkness—the only Dragon-Sidhe male she wasnt related to. Arach and King Rowan had arranged the marriage between our children.

I would not have that. Not after she risked so much to come back and save me. She allowed her present to be erased so I could change her future. I would not fail her.

“I love you so much, Samara,” I whispered.

“Thats not a secret!” She giggled.

“No, its not.” And just like that, the threat of tears vanished. Because I knew better now. I knew what the future could hold for her, and I knew how to change it. “But heres a secret that your father will not tell you.”

“What?” She leaned in closer.

“You do not have to have full-blooded Dragon-Sidhe babies.”

“I dont? But wouldnt it be good to have more of us?”

“Yes, it would be lovely. But we are not going extinct. Your father and I are immortal, and so are all the other Dragon-Sidhe in Faerie, you included. There is the chance for more full-blooded Dragon-Sidhe children to be born without you bearing them. So dont ever, not ever, worry about that. Do you understand? That is not upon your shoulders. And Prince Baidhen may be the only male Dragon-Sidhe you are not related to, but that doesnt make him your only option for a husband, or even a lover. You must always follow your heart, Sam. Youre not just a faerie. You are a love goddess too, and that makes it very important that you honor love.”

“Like Brevyn?”

“Yes, like Brevyn is a love god. You have that magic inside you and you must respect it. So, no matter what your father or anyone else says, unless you fall in love with Prince Baidhen and he makes you happier than anyone else, do not marry him. Dont marry or have babies with anyone unless you truly want to. Its all right if you never have children. That is your choice. Okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.” She held up her little finger. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise.” I beamed at her and hooked our fingers together. Then I pulled her into a hug. “I love you, my brave, beautiful girl. You are so special. Remember, the only thing you ever need to do is be happy.”

“Im happy, Mommy. I love you.”

“Oh, I love you too! So much! Now, lets celebrate your first flight.”