Page 118 of Crown of Roses
“I called in my favor with Casimir. In exchange for crossing all of you into Faeven, I asked about you.” Aran tossed his apple in the air and caught it with one hand. Then crushed it in his fist. “The bastard tricked me. He told me you were a lost faerie princess.”
Aran’s harsh laughter startled Effie and he patted one of her heads to soothe her. “When I demanded more information, he agreed to tell me on one condition…that he be granted a favor of his own with no questions asked and no consequences. It was a foolish mistake and one I regret, but at the time, I considered it a harmless request. His favor was that I pick the two of you up and return you both to Kells. And he told me if I gave away any hint at all that I knew who or what you were, he’d kill you right in front of me.”
Maeve almost choked. She coughed, eyes burning as she swallowed her bite of apple down. The wound from Casimir’s betrayal was ripped open once more, and her heart sank a little bit further into her chest. “I see.”
“He swore to me no harm would come to you.” He skimmed the tattoos now covering most of her body and traced the one on her cheek. His jaw hardened. “I see now that was a lie.”
“Well, that seems to be the way of things around here.”
Heavy silence settled between them, interrupted only by the sound of Effie’s snorts and an occasional shuffling of wings. Then Aran reached up and twirled one of Maeve’s loose curls around his fingers. He gave it a gentle tug and it bounced free.
“You’re looking rather fae.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I like your crown of roses.”
“Thanks.” Maeve held his gaze. “I made it myself.”
“It’s beautiful. Much like this other treasure I have here.” Aran reached into his pocket and when he opened his hand, a small piece of sea glass was cradled in his palm. It was the exact one Maeve had given him when he brought her to Faeven on the Amshir.
Warmth spread through her. “You still have it.”
“I do. It’s my small piece of land.” He tucked it back into his pocket, but his gaze was drawn to Niahvess, and the Courts beyond. “And I’ll keep it, until I can return home.”
“What happened? I mean, why were you exiled from Faeven?” Maeve bit into her apple again.
“That, dear sister, is a story for another day.”
“Do all Dorai live at sea?”
“Not all. No.” He fiddled with the compass around his neck, the one that didn’t really point north. “Some choose to live in other realms.”
Other realms. She supposed, if her homeland rejected her, then she’d want to be as far away from it as possible. She knew she wanted to return to Kells. Her heart needed to know if Saoirse had lived or died. And one day she would, but there would be nothing left of the city she once called home. It would be full of rot and decay, ruined by the Scathing until she killed Parisa. But even after, assuming she succeeded, her people would never accept her. Not when they’d been born and bred to hate the fae. She was better off not going back at all. Maybe she was a Dorai in her own right. A fae, banished from her home…just like her brother. Her mind drifted to all the maps Aran created, to all the worlds he’d traveled to, to all the places he’d been, and she wondered if perhaps one day he would take her on such adventures.
A thought occurred to her. “I think I’d prefer to live on the sea, with you.”
“Don’t be foolish. The sea is just as unreasonable as the rest of the world.”
“There’s nothing for me here.”
His hand came to rest on her shoulder. “Faeven needs you, Maeve. Parisa has committed unspeakable crimes against her own kind. She’s been corrupted by the lure of dark magic, and the constant desire for more has left her unhinged. War will come. Darkness will come. But you…” He tilted her chin up so their eyes met. “You are the sun, the moon, and the stars. Never setting. Always rising. Eternal.”
Maeve shuddered, and a broken sigh escaped her. “No pressure,” she muttered.
“I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
She threw her arms around Aran’s neck and hugged him. “I’m glad I have you.”
When she finally released him, he nodded toward the balcony. It was time for her to go back…to whatever lied in wait. “You’re leaving me here.”
It wasn’t a question. “The Summer Court has a much stronger defense system than Autumn. You will be safer here under Tiernan’s protection.”
Lovely.
“When Garvan learns of your existence…” he continued, then trailed off.
She didn’t want to think about what Garvan would try and do to get her in his grasp. He’d be furious when he discovered he’d had her once before and let her go.
Carefully, Aran lifted her up and Effie extended one of her long necks toward the balcony. Maeve slid down her smooth feathers and landed barefoot upon the terracotta flooring. She glanced back up at Aran, perched on Effie’s back, and memorized everything about him. The cleft in his chin, made more pronounced by a scar. The way his rich auburn hair always looked windswept. The bright green and gold of his eyes. How when he smiled down at her, she felt safe. Secure. She felt like she was home.
She lifted one hand and shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun. “When will I see you again?”
