Page 8 of A War of Three Kings

“It is her right,” my brother chimes in.

A shudder runs through my father. “Keira, to be very honest with you, I don’t want you to see him in this state.”

“Whatstate?” I stand and slam my hands on his desk. “What have you done to him?” I snarl, the tips of my hair floating upward in a phantom breeze.

Every image from my worst nightmares floods my mind. Aldrin, bloody and sliced up after being tortured, with broken bones and burnt skin. His body starved, ribs showing, his face gaunt with dead eyes. I think I will be sick.

My father waves a hand to dispel my reaction. “No, not like that. No one here has raised a hand against him. There is a side to Aldrin you don’t know, Keira. I suspect the possessed, aggressive man I see is different from the fae you came to know.”

I fall into my seat. “Tell me.”

My father looks away. “He demands to see you. Claims you are his property, hisright, with such viciousness you would think him a wild animal. Aldrin does not believe he has done a single thing wrong, and I suspect that extends to the lies and half-truths he has told you. And the graphic promises of violence he has made to us, to your frail grandmother as well…we have only spoken to him once, and he tried to lunge at us immediately. I had to bind him to his seat with ropes of air so he wouldn’t harm us. Maybe Aldrin can’t physically drag you out of this realm against your will, but have you wondered whether one of his cronies will do it for him? Or maybe he will use sweet words instead.”

“No,” I whisper. “That doesn’t sound like him.” I can’t believe it. I won’t. But there is so much about Aldrin that I hardly know.

My father’s eyes flash with intensity. “He lost his temper and said he will take you back by force. That he has the means to do it, despite his oath. Aldrin admitted more fae are going to make the crossing to help him snatch you, and probably take whoever else they want. They were to follow after him if he didn’t make it back after a certain amount of time. Does the name Cyprien mean anything to you?”

My whole body shakes and I hold my head in my hands. “No. No, he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t. I can’t believe that.” Tears leak down my face as my heart twists so painfully it will surely seize up. Diarmuid hands me a handkerchief, peering into my face with concern.

“I don’t say these things to be a cruel man, Keira.” My father’s voice is gentle. “Only for you to understand the truth of the situation. I will not lose you to another abusive man. Don’t think the way Prince Finan treated you hasn’t eaten me up inside. I hate myself for it every moment of every damned day.”

“Maybe Keira needs to witness this side of him, Edmund,” my mother says from behind me. My father stares at her for a long moment, a muscle ticking in his jaw. He avoids looking at me completely.

They discuss me as though I am not in the room, and I fall into a downward spiral unchecked. Diarmuid reaches over and squeezes my hand in his.

The only thing that pulls me out of it is the click of heeled boots on the wooden floors, and the sudden emergence of my grandmother. She scrutinizes each of us in turn with gray eyes framed by delicate crow’s feet.

“I thought I heard a battle of wills from the corridor.” Her hard voice silences all of us, despite the fact that she is no longer the lady of the house. “It is time, Edmund.” She walks to hisdesk. “Long past time to tell Keira exactly what happened when Aldrin visited these lands years ago.”

I tense as my father’s eyes narrow on his mother and they seem to have an entire conversation in that stare.

“Come now, Edmund,” my grandmother coaxes.

He lets out a long sigh. A horrible, nervous anticipation wrings me out.

“I would blame my actions on being a younger man back then, a more foolish one, but I seem to make just as many reckless choices now with that fae.” My father pauses, clearly picking his next words carefully. “Aldrin sent word ahead of his first visit, claiming he wanted to meet for diplomatic discussions on trade. I thought about our diminishing magic and how fae goods could not only enrich our dangerously low treasury, but also bring magic back to these lands. The notion intoxicated me.”

“So much so that he didn’t listen to reason.” My grandmother seats herself on the edge of his desk. “I wasn’t High Priestess yet, and my predecessor was far more liberal than I.”

I bite my lip, waiting for the blows to come.

“Aldrin arrived with much of the same entourage and more, bearing gifts of rare fruits and their seed stocks, spices and magic-imbued jewelry. A taste of what a trade agreement would bring, he said. He still held his throne back then.” My father runs a hand through his hair. “I thought we’d negotiate for select human merchants to travel to the Otherworld or to make exchanges at the portals, but Aldrin spoke of free migration between realms. He wanted an introduction to King Willard, and you can imagine how that would have gone.

“It became clear that his main goal was to convince humans to immigrate to his realm. For our fertile women to bear their children and become their consorts. He wanted to buy our women with trade.”

My heart pounds painfully. “Did he say as much?”

“He didn’t need to.” My father’s intense gaze never leaves mine. “He kept pushing and pushing for open borders, to dispel old prejudices between our people and to share our cultures.”

“There is nothing wrong with any of that,” I interject.

My grandmother’s body snaps straight and she raises a single eyebrow at me. “That is how they get a foothold in this kingdom. Then there will be no stopping them. We cannot allow ourselves to be vulnerable to the fae again.”

“I thought the same as you, Keira, at first,” my father says. “That maybe we could test the waters and set up safeguards that would allow us to expel them again if needed. But then Aldrin asked for you, like you were a possession I could give away. My second daughter. He would have taken my baby girl, my child, away from me.” His voice cracks. “Aldrin proposed it as a marriage to solidify our trade agreement, but I knew better. Fae men treat human women as slaves.”

My grandmother doesn’t miss her opportunity. “I believe in that moment Aldrin marked you as his, and he will not stop coming for you.” She walks around the table and holds my hands in hers. “You know what I went through on my pilgrimage. Aldrin is like all fae. He turned vicious and aggressive in his fight to claim you back then, and he will do anything he can to steal you now.”

“The scuffle that broke out wasn’t just his fault.” My father picks up a crystal decanter at the end of his desk and pours himself a glass of whiskey, taking a sip. “It was my temper that flared out of control when that fae threatened to take my daughter as his consort.My little girl. I set my guards on him. Things got out of hand and a battle broke out as we pushed them out of this realm. I told Aldrin if he ever touched my daughter or returned to these lands, I would personally kill him. Immediately. And now, Keira, you have made a liar out of me.Perhaps the other lords are right, and I am far too indulgent with my daughters.”

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