24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Sídhetír is a jealous lover who will never release their hooks. Once the heir has been born, his fate is sealed." – Lord Ian, Sixth Lord of Sídhetír.

C ethin's arms became a prison around me. My ribs complained and my voice followed suit, but he didn't loosen his hold until I patted his trembling arm.

"No, he's fine," Cethin protested.

"He is not." Her eyes remained on my face. Keefe moved past her and tried to reach out to Cethin, but his son pulled away, dragging me further from them.

"My Aidan is fine."

"No, he is dying," Queen Eilidh said blandly, seemingly unbothered by my coming demise and with mine, her son's. "You're feeling sick, are you not? Having a hard time keeping food down? Weak?"

I nodded.

"You are quite bruised."

"I did not harm him," Cethin said, and his father shifted toward him again. I didn't believe he meant to harm Cethin or me, but Cethin spurned his touch.

"I am aware, my son. I know you. You would never injure your mate," she replied in an even voice, her ice-like expression never changing.

Cethin's breathing had not calmed, so I grabbed his hand and kissed his palm. Some of the tension drained from his muscles, and he finally allowed Consort Keefe to grab his shoulder.

I understood what the queen was saying. I'd read most of the Sídhetír Memoirs throughout my childhood, inexplicitly curious for some reason. Once the mantle shifted, the Lord of Sídhetír couldn't leave Sídhetír for long without falling sick. The heir had the same problem during the transition. Sídhetír and its lord were inextricably linked. I should've realized when I was feeling sick, but being the heir was new to me. For my entire life, it had always been Oren, and now it wasn't.

His face pressed into my neck, and I squeezed his fingers. "I will be fine. I must return to Sídhetír. Soon."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He took a shaky breath. "I will take you home. Now."

"No," I said, turning in his grasp. "War still threatens Sídhetír."

Cethin frowned, and I easily read his thoughts. He didn't care in the slightest about the war. He wanted me to go home, so I was in no danger of dying. But I cared. If a war could be avoided, I had to do it.

"Lady Blodwen threatened war," I said.

"Why?" Queen Eilidh asked.

I figured she knew the answer to the question, but she wanted to hear it from my own lips. I told her the truth, every sordid detail that I'd found out. Eilidh didn't look shocked in the slightest, though I wondered if she could be surprised. If Cethin was ancient, his mother must be incomprehensibly old.

"War is always possible, but Lord Byrne shouldn't fear the wrath of the fae. Magic will exact its revenge for the trickery."

"Maybe it already has."

"What do you mean, mate of my son?"

"I'm a half-fae. Can I even sign the contract?"

"I do not know. But your conception was prior to your father's scheme, and yet magic knows no concept of time. Or perhaps its revenge was more ingenious."

"What do you mean?"

She touched my cheek. "How can you love a father who abandoned you? His trickery cost him you as his son. A far worse fate, but one of his own making."

My heart oddly throbbed as the backs of my eyes burned. I cleared my throat and asked, "Will you help?"

The queen's head cocked to the side as she stared at me. "Walk with me." When Cethin stepped forward, she said, "You stay with your father."

He glared at her, and she returned his look impassively.

Keefe shifted to his side. "She will not harm Aidan. To harm him is to harm you. Calm yourself, Cethin. You are acting a fool."

I gave Cethin a warm smile, but his expression didn't calm, though he remained by his father.

Queen Eilidh slid an arm through mine and led me further into the clearing, past the golden pegasi. My eyes remained latched on the beasts as they pawed the ground. "Are those pegasi?"

"Indeed. They used to be as black as night, but Queen Laoise changed their color with magic."

"You didn't change them back?"

"No," she said. "I cast a haze of shadow over her bedroom in revenge, which blocks the ever-present light."

"You must not like her," I commented, sweat dripping down my temple. My muscles strained to turn around and look at Cethin because Queen Eilidh made me nervous.

She chuckled, the sound empty and flat. "I grew up with her. Long ago, after the seam was formed, fae royalty began to send their heirs between the two courts to build trust. Laoise and I spent our youth together."

"That doesn't mean you care about her."

"You are correct, but I do. Laoise is a dear friend. Such pranks as the horses or the clouds are how we relive our youths. My own children engage in such folly now to keep boredom away."

"Will you help me?" I asked, directing the conversation back to the matter at hand.

Eilidh didn't answer me and instead said, "I have been waiting for you."

"Me?" The thorny vines dug into my arm, but I didn't glance at Cethin and his father.

"Yes," she answered. "I have been." The queen's fingers went to the dip in the collar of my shirt and dragged it down, making me blush. I wanted to shove her hand away, keeping the tattoo private between Cethin and I, but I refrained. She touched the mark that matched Cethin's. "When he reached adulthood, my son underwent the trial for his mark and a hint about his mate."

"He told me."

"This," she said, touching the star, "confused me."

"Why?"

"No noble house bore this mark. Cethin searched, but no mate presented himself."

"But then you saw the mark for Lord Rhett Byrne."

"Yes." She finally removed her fingers from my chest. "I knew he or one of his children would be Cethin's mate. When Cethin did not claim any of them, I waited. The whole while, I guessed the Heir of Sídhetír would one day claim my son."

"Why?" I asked, even Cethin hadn't thought the heir was his mate.

"Magic in balance. The paths between the realms were not meant to be tethered to one juncture. Rhett twisted most of the paths into one gate with the blood of his children. Magic cannot allow the unnatural connection to continue. So Cethin and the heir. No children. No continuation."

"You knew to wait for me."

"Not you specifically, but when the transition continued and Cethin did not return, I wondered. I would not have predicted you would be half-fae."

"I love him," I blurted. For some reason, I wanted the queen to know this was more than a chance of fate to me.

The first emotion to break the icy exterior was a slight quirk of her lips, so similar to Cethin's smirk. "I guessed from your and his actions. My Cethin, or your Cethin I should say, is very attached to you."

"Will you help me? I can't allow war to touch Sídhetír."

"You care about it, even though your family lied to you?"

"Yes."

"I will not call for war and will send a message to Laoise to grant you my support. She probably will not accept it, for the obvious conflict of interest. She most likely will assume that if you can sign the contract, you will give the door to the Night Court."

"Is that what you want?"

"That is not what I'm asking in exchange for my assistance."

"Then what?" I asked.

"Balance. I want you to remember, magic demands balance. And what are you, Aidan, if not balance?"

"I don't understand."

"You will, mate of my son. Do watch out for Cethin, please. He tends to run away with his emotions. That will cause you trouble, no doubt, but he will never leave you guessing about his affection, though said affection may stifle you."

"I love him," I repeated, unsure why I did, as if it explained everything. Maybe it did.

"Of that I am aware." Eilidh nodded, and I bowed.

I tracked her movement across the glen to Cethin. He crossed his arms. She ignored his stance and drew him into her embrace, smoothing his long hair with her fingers.

Keefe headed in my direction, and I bowed. "Lord Consort."

He smiled, a reflection of Cethin's. "Lord Aidan."

I flushed. "I'm not a lord."

"Not yet, though at the same time you are." Glancing at his son, who watched us, Keefe grinned. Cethin tried to move in our direction, but his mother laid a hand on his arm. "He dislikes being away from you."

"I don't like being away from him."

"You are well matched," Keefe said. "His worry is heightened due to your injury and the threat of your demise. He will calm down when you return home."

Cethin once again tried to walk toward me, but his mother stopped him. "Why is he upset about us talking?"

"I think he fears our disapproval or that we will chase you away from his side. Both are foolish, but Cethin loves you, and it makes him irrational."

"And I him," I said with a blush.

He pulled me into a hug, and I stiffened. "Come and visit. I know Sídhetír will not allow you to leave for a long time, but I would like to get to know my son's mate. I would like to get to know you , Aidan. We have waited a very long time for you."

"I would like that."

"We are family."

My heart throbbed. Days ago I'd had no family, and now I had two.

I stumbled as a wave of exhaustion crashed over me, and Keefe caught my elbows, stabilizing me. "I should go before Cethin storms over here and makes a fool of himself."

"Too late," I muttered. Cethin slipped out of his mother's hold and raced across the flowered glen, the stomped blooms releasing silver pollen. When he approached, I stepped back from Keefe and held my arms open.

Cethin crashed into me, holding me tight. "Are you well?"

"Yes." I rolled my eyes, and Keefe laughed. He slapped Cethin's shoulder and strode to his wife. "You are being ridiculous."

He didn't respond, carding his fingers through my hair. Cethin held my cheeks and captured my lips. I shifted back after the barest moment.

"What?" he asked.

"Your parents are watching."

"So?"

"It makes me uncomfortable."

He pressed his nose against my cheek. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't know."

"The kiss was not what I referred to, though I am sorry about that as well. No, I am referring to being anxious about my parents meeting you."

"Why?" I slung my arms around his waist. "Do you not get along?"

"We get along well, especially me and my father."

"Then why?"

His body radiated tension as he pressed flush against me. I tried not to look at his parents over his shoulder, but I couldn't help it. Both of them stared at us with blank expressions. My cheeks turned red, and I forced my eyes away.

"Cethin," I pressed.

"I fear you will drift from my reach. I cannot live without you, but as half-fae, you can live without me. What if they convinced you away from my side?"

I tightened my hold and firmly kissed his neck. "That will never happen. I'm going to remain right here within your arms."

"Do you promise?"

"I do." I kissed him again. "Now let's say goodbye to your parents. I probably won't see them for some time."

He looked at me.

"Your father did invite me to visit."

Cethin frowned, which made me laugh. I darted forward and molded my lips to his. In time, Cethin would grow assured of my love, and I would make sure he knew every day how much I cared for him.

"I thought you were going to thoroughly explore me," I remarked as I lay on the bed. Cethin hovered over me, but he didn't initiate anything. I ran my hands through his long hair. He'd wanted to go to the Day Court instantly, but we had to wait for Queen Laoise to respond to our letter. We, or I specifically, could not simply appear in her realm.

"I want to take you to Sídhetír for a few days before we visit Queen Laoise," Cethin said again. We'd had this argument already.

"No."

"Aidan."

I rested my fingers against his lips. "I know."

"Aidan."

"I cannot allow the war to garner any more traction than it already has. I need to end the threat before it begins."

"And I need you to not be in pain."

"I will survive. It will be a quick trip. I promise."

Cethin frowned. I pulled him close, hooking my legs around his waist. I ignored the twinge in my side and rocked against him. If he was careful, we could at least stroke each other.

His frown deepened. "Do not try to distract me with sex."

I dropped my legs, hurt. "I wasn't. I want to be with you."

His expression softened. "I'm scared, Aidan."

"I would never endanger you, Cethin."

A war took place in his eyes. The battle waged for some time as he stared at me until, finally, he said, "A quick trip. No more than a rotation of their realm, then back to Sídhetír, even if we simply stay at the cottage."

"Deal." I kissed him, brushing my tongue against the seam of his lips. While my body ached and my stomach roiled, I wanted Cethin.

He pulled back. "No."

"What?"

"When you heal, we shall fuck again," he said. Now it was my turn to frown. Cethin nuzzled me. "Soon, dearest."

"If you insist."

"I do."