Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

" W hat is it with the Gwaed Teulu and their balls?" Rosa asked at breakfast a few days later. Saul laughed wickedly, and she kicked him under the table. "Not what I meant."

"Saul, don't be lewd," Eli said, looking up from his paper. "Traditionally, the assemblies were a way of people who rarely saw each other to drink and dance…"

"And find husbands," Rosa interrupted. "I'm just surprised after the last disaster of a party that you'd want another."

"I haven't had my brothers together for over five hundred years, and it is an event worth celebrating. Besides, this place could do with a little lightening up. Also, I never got to dance with you last time."

"In that case, the first one is yours," Rosa promised.

"We should be training, not dancing," Zalan said from across the table.

"Your warriors train all day, Uncle," Balthasar pointed out. "Letting them have a night off won't kill them."

"I know at least one of your generals who would look heavenly in a dress," Saul added with a sigh.

"Keep dreaming, Saul," Rosa laughed. He had tried to flirt casually with Zalan's second in command, Adelina, and he'd almost lost a hand as well as his pride.

"She could fight all my battles for me…"

"She's too busy fighting one already, young cub," Zalan corrected. "Turn your womanizing eyes elsewhere, or I'll let her carve them out."

Rosa looked at Balthasar and they shared a grin. She wasn't the only one who had detected the protective tone in Zalan's voice.

"Where's Eldon this morning?" Eli asked, looking over at his chair.

"Looking after Nimue," Rosa answered. "When I trained with him last night, he was brewing up some disgusting concoction for her to drink that smelled like the insides of a Scot's sporran."

"It wasn't that bad," Eldon said as he and Nimue walked into the dining room.

"You didn't have to drink it." Nimue winked at Rosa and sat down beside her.

"You're looking well, Nimue," Eli remarked. "I hope my son is being polite during your convalesce."

"No moodier than usual," she teased, surprising Rosa. It had barely been a week free of the queen's influence, but Nimue was coming further out of her fragile shell as each day passed.

"Is that a thank you, Eldon, for saving me from Faerie poison and a deranged queen that I hear?"

"Is that a thank you, Nimue, for taking a poison arrow for me?"

"She has a point, son," Eli chuckled.

"Don't encourage her, athair ," Eldon complained, pouring himself a large mug of coffee.

"Eli has told me that he's going to hold a ball when Vincenzo gets here in two days. How good are you at making wreaths, Nim?" Rosa asked. "Last time, I had to make them all on my own."

"By hand? Why? You could've decorated the house in less than an hour… Ah. No magic."

"Nope, I was a human. Eli did it the old-fashioned way."

"And it looked spectacular, Rosamund," he reassured her.

"Except for the Seelie trying to kill all the guests."

"Luckily, only one is invited this time," Eldon commented as he stole half of Eli's paper. "You'll have to get all of these miserable bastards dancing a reel. I don't think any of them will even try without an extra shove."

"Vincenzo dances," Saul pointed out.

"Vincenzo is content to dance, drink, and fuck his way through eternity," Zalan said coolly.

"So he's the fun one then," Saul joked, whose smile died on his lips when he saw the look Zalan was giving him.

"He might be the fun one, but he isn't the one that you call on when you are in need because he'll never be there." Zalan got to his feet. "The day is wasting, and I have defense wards to create."

"He is a barrel of laughs, isn't he?" Saul shook his head once he had gone.

"Stop provoking him, Saul," Eli warned. "My younger brothers are uncomfortable at the thought of coming together as it is. Both have their strengths and their weakness just like you and Balthasar."

As the men began to argue, Rosa turned to Nimue, who was sipping tea and watching them with a bemused expression.

"I know what you're thinking, Nim, and yes they are always like this," she said.

"I forgot how this family could argue amongst themselves." She looked over at Eldon before focusing on the toast in front of her.

"Are you guys talking yet?" Rosa asked quietly.

"A little and it always feels…forced."

"Lucky, you both have a lot of time," Rosa tried to reassure her. "You trusted each other once, so maybe you will again. Or maybe you both need to get drunk enough to stop being so self-conscious."

"Would you like me to show you how to decorate using magic?" Nimue asked, smoothly changing the subject.

It was late when Eldon finished talking with Zalan. He'd missed his uncle's deep thoughts and theories of the metaphysical world. Eli was forever the survivor and king, Vincenzo the dilettante, but Zalan had spent many years in the wilds of Eastern Europe and understood the deep connection with the land and forest Eldon had. He hoped that, together they could speak with the forest surrounding Gwaed Lyn, and get it to assist in protecting them should the queen come with her burning fury.

The night was clear, and the stars shone particularly bright as Eldon walked from the mansion back to the Wylt cottage. The lights were burning, meaning that despite time and imprisonment, Nimue was still a night person. Like he was.

He took a deep breath and looked at the stars above him. He'd forgotten how much they were alike. God, how long did it take him to forget that? Being back at Gwaed Lyn had been bringing forth old memories, but being around Nimue brought them up of Deryn and all the others he'd lost. A part of him wanted his old confidant back, someone he could finally tell all his stories and alleviate the burden of memory inside of him. Heaven help them both if that was the reason she'd been returned to him.

The lights burning through the windows flickered as Nimue danced into sight, her copper hair fanning out around her with each twirl. Eldon shook his head and tried to clear it.

He really shouldn't have drunk so much of Eli's scotch with Zalan. It stressed him out having Nimue so close, but having her die in his arms had given him a different kind of trouble altogether. He wanted to protect her and what was worse, try as he might, he could no longer be angry with her. He had brushed against the torment she'd endured for centuries, and it made him want to burn the Aos Si to the ground.

A small and selfish part of him longed for his quiet cottage on the Irish coastline, but he knew he couldn't abandon Eli again, let alone Rosa or any of the others.

This is why you cast the memory spell to begin with, because it meant you didn't have to worry all the time.

Eldon entered quietly through the back door and into the kitchen. Soulful jazz echoed from the lounge room, so he shrugged off his coat and followed the trumpets.

Nimue was sitting on the carpet with a fan of records around her. She looked up and smiled at him. "I like this time's music."

"It's a good fifty years old," Eldon said, pouring himself a glass of scotch from the decanter. He hesitated before asking, "Drink?"

"Yes, please," she said, accepting the glass from him. "I think Rosa smuggled a lot of Eli's alcohol to this little cottage."

"She's a Wylt. We all have a taste for a good stout and an old scotch." Eldon sat down on the carpet opposite her and leaned his back against the couch. "Are you going through every one of these?"

"I hope to. There are so many," Nimue said, studying the back of a Miles Davis album. "I missed music so much."

"If you are going to listen to jazz, you need to start with the best first." Eldon flicked through the pile. "This is a fine lady called Billie Holiday." Nimue changed the record over with a childlike glee that Eldon smiled at her.

"I see Rosa has been teaching you things during your time together."

As the crackling sounds of the record changed to the soulful Summertime , Nimue began to sway.

"Oh, I like this. Her voice is so different and sad."

"Yes, I suppose it is." Eldon closed his eyes and let the music wash over him.

"Eldon?"

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?"

Eldon opened his eyes at the genuine concern in her voice. The song changed to I Can't Believe You're In Love With Me, and he shifted awkwardly. She was looking down at him, a small frown on her face.

"Your aura just flared strangely."

"I forgot you could do that," Eldon admitted and quickly shielded himself in case she discerned anything else.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to read it, but I haven't been around people for so long I forget to control it," Nimue apologized. "You are much harder to read now."

"That's because I'm not a young, na?ve git."

"Well, you certainly aren't young."

"I'm going to have to talk to Rosa about being a bad influence on you if this cheekiness continues," he muttered.

"Or you could get up and dance with me," she said, holding out a hand to him.

Don't do it, a voice said inside of him before he found himself taking it anyway. He could feel the magic burning under her skin despite the bracelet around her wrist. He rested a hand gently on her back, trying not to breathe in her honey apple scent and failing miserably.

With all the records on the floor, they could only gently sway, but that was enough to send memories crashing through him.

"This feels familiar," Nimue said.

"God, we were so young." Eldon shook his head. "I can't even remember what that felt like."

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened to you?"

Eldon dipped her. "Are you ever going to stop using a glamour?" Nimue stilled, and he lifted her back up slowly.

"My glamour isn't malicious, and it's not hurting anyone," she defended.

"My secrets aren't hurting anyone either," Eldon countered.

Nimue placed a hand on his chest, and heat seeped through his skin.

"Hurting no one else but you," she said. She looked down at her hand and removed it quickly as if surprised to find it there. "I know I hurt you deeply, and I can never take that back, but you can't blame all of this on me. You are enough of the same person to know that secret pain will eat away at you the way time never will."

"There's too much even to know where to begin," Eldon admitted.

"You don't trust me yet, and I can accept that, but talk to someone before it kills you." He couldn't bring himself to answer, so Nimue left him standing alone in the lounge room, her bedroom door closing with a sound of finality.

Hours later, Eldon was lying in bed and staring up at the white plaster roof, his mind ticking over his conversation with Nimue. She'd always been beautiful, so he had no idea why she felt the need to cloak herself in a glamour. Was that the reason he suddenly wanted to trust and know her again? He sat up, shocked at the possibilities. Was this the next stage of her deception? Stop jumping to the worst possible conclusion just because it's her , said an inner voice that sounded far too much like Rosa for him to be comfortable with.

A high-pitched scream came from across the hall, and Eldon was up and running, knife drawn. He barged into Nimue's room only to find her not being murdered, but having a nightmare. Her hair was drenched in sweat, and she was thrashing about, trying to dislodge her invisible attacker. Her magic flared to defend her, and Eldon hurried to her bedside and placed a hand on her damp forehead.

"Wake up, Nimue," he said gently. He spoke a word in Unseelie to break her from her dreams, but instead, he saw her tied naked between two flogging posts, crying out to Ryn. Eldon jolted out of the dream and stroked her head with a trembling hand. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up, shoving his hand out of the way.

"It's okay. It's only me," he said quickly. "You were having a nightmare."

Nimue brought her knees up to her chest, letting out a small sob. In the dim light, Eldon saw her back, the thin, damp nightdress unable to hide the extent of her scars entirely. He sat down beside her and placed an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"It's all right, little one. You're safe now." Now that the glamour was gone, he could feel how slender she was. Whatever weight she may have gained during the last few weeks at Gwaed Lynn had still left her a shadow of her former self. He cursed himself for not considering the glamour was to shield them all from what the queen had done to her.

Eldon put his other arm around her, and as if he'd given her silent permission, she curled into him, his hands tightening as she rested her face against his chest. He couldn't kill Ryn, but as Nimue wept, he promised to all the gods that the Autumn Queen would die by his hand.