Page 30 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
Caerwyn blinked. “What?”
“You seem uneasy around me. I should like to know why. Do you harbour some hatred towards the fae, or—”
Caerwyn sighed, running his hands through his thick hair. “My mother was ill for a long time before she died,” he explained. “My father—Owen—tried everything to heal her, eventually turning to a fae healer.”
Aislinn inhaled carefully. She already knew where this story was going. “It didn’t work.”
Caerwyn shook his head. “I think he just prolonged it. That wasn’t his fault, and it certainly wasn’t yours, but… all I saw of the fae was a man offering grand promises in return for my mother’s suffering.”
“I’m sorry,” Aislinn said.
“I thought the fae didn’t say sorry?”
“Well, my mother’s mortal, so…” She shook her head. It was true that her mother was mortal, but she was also the Queen of Faerie. She used her words much the same as they did. Aislinn’s childhood had been full of other mortals, though, and sometimes,sometimesthere were no other words to use. “I am sorry for you. For the loss of your mother. For the pain she endured, for the false hope that was given.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?”
“For letting that first experience colour my perception of you.”
“You are forgiven.”
A brief smile passed between the two of them, and suddenly Aislinn knew that she ought to tell Caerwyn what she’d heard.
“You should know, when Min and Bell were in the stables just now… I overheard them talking.”
“Oh?”
“They want to take you back to Avalinth.”
Caerwyn paused, his face unreadable. “I see.” He turned towards the wall, restacking equipment. “Why did you tell me?”
“A truth for a truth,” she explained. “That is also the Faerie way.”
Caerwyn nodded, his mouth pulled into that easy, irritating smirk. She didn’t know why it annoyed her so—she certainly preferred it to the indifference.
“So, the fae don’t like to apologise, or say thank you, and they can’t lie… any other customs I should know about?”
“Did you hear the one about us bathing in the blood of our enemies or dancing under the full moon, entirely naked?”
Caerwyn’s eyes widened. “Umm… no?”
“Good, because it’s false.”
“Oh.”
“Mostly.”
His throat bobbed. “Which part?”
“I’ll let you know on the next full moon.”
Beaushouldnothavebeen surprised when he got hopelessly lost in the woods, and yet that’s exactly what happened.
Actually, lost wasn’t precisely correct. He knew the direction back to the castle. He also knew it was at least a day’s ride away and he’d missed his father’s deadline. All attempts to capture a bird to enchant had failed spectacularly and his tracking spells could pinpointnothing.He didn’t know if it was down to the dwarves’ innate magiclessness, the fact he’d been too long outside of Faerie, or his own ineptitude.
“It can’t be my ineptitude, can it?” he asked Hecate, who was dozing on the back of the saddle. “I’m really very good at magic.”
