Page 11 of Consumed
The air turned crisp as days unraveled into weeks. I thought my kiss would have been enough to send Eoin carving a hundred wooden portraits of my countenance, to spellbind his very soul.
I’d seen far less do much more to a man.
Instead, something else seemed to prey on his mind. His visits became less frequent as autumn marched on. He was distracted, even when I showed him more marvels of the forest—blossoming sweet summer berries that burst like sweets on his tongue, the oldest oak draped in rich moss, roses that glittered with dew from dawn until dusk.
He still called me hislittle Róisín—but none of it could inspire wonder in him the way it used to. His gifts, too, became lackluster—commonplace carvings with more simplistic strokes than I knew Eoin’s talented hands were capable of.
I made my gifts more extravagant to excite him: healing salves, a rose that would never die or lose its sweet scent. I pressed handfuls of seeds that would yield more food, evenin the harshest winter. He accepted all of these with smiles devoid of the worship I longed to see reflected at me.
Dance with us,my sisters whispered. They were the rustle of the wind, the groaning of crooked branches swaying, the chirp of goldcrests. How could I dance or tend to meadows when this wrongness gnawed at my chest, a hollow sensation my kind were never meant to bear?
Day after day, I refused them. My sisters’ faces, so similar to my own, reflected pity. Was it so terrible to give in to this yearning?
Days became weeks, and Eoin neglected our morning visits time and again. Still, I stayed rooted in my favorite tree overlooking the clearing, watching for him. Waiting.
Was he growing tired of me?
Impossible. That was impossible.
Every time he left, Eoin gazed over his shoulder at me as though it pained him to pull his eyes from me. He hadnamed me.
Perhaps it was worse than that.
As winter wove itself through the forest, I feared the very worst had come to pass—that I had not saved him soon enough from his mortal fate. The cold was harsh. Frost choked my brother trees, rendering their lush branches barren and dark. The very thought made me want to sink beneath the earth. Down and down, never to emerge.
The forest around me, usually so resilient to the cold, gave in to winter’s bite at the tree line, where I spent mydays waiting. My sisters ceased calling to me, unable to bear entering the ground I had poisoned in my sorrow. Perhaps when spring came around, this spot would stay rotten for centuries to come.
But Eoin did return.
At first, I thought he was no more than a dream or a different mortal, but no. It washim.
My Eoin was in the clearing, approaching the forest, his steps light despite the layer of snow and the frigid air.
I wasted no time on games. I did not hide, did not wait to reveal myself at the opportune moment to startle him. I moved to the edge of the trees. My steps halted of their own accord because I was the forest and the forest was me.
Leaning heavily against a tree trunk, I caught my breath. Even now, fresh life began through the tree, its happiness spreading to the roots of others now that Eoin had finally returned, alive and well.
“Róisín?” Eoin paused when he saw me before hurrying forward. “Are you alright?”
The moment he was within reach, I sank against him. Strong arms supported me, warmer than anything I had touched in weeks. He dropped to his knees, lowering me gently and holding me against him. I wound my arms around him and pressed the side of my face into his chest fervently. His heartbeat was hammering a deliciousthump, thump, thump. I couldhave listened for hours.
He was here. He was real. I could not bear to put on the pretense of disinterest, and all my bitterness lay buried beneath a sense of relief I had never once experienced.
“I thought you’d died!” I whispered with fierce sorrow.
He tensed in surprise, then held me tighter.
“My little niamh,” he murmured. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. The days slipped by me. Preparing for winter kept me busy, and provisions were low.”
“I gave you the seeds!” I pulled away to look him full in the face, some anger winning out. “Their harvest will persevere through the harshest storm—I told you!” He didn’t sound nearly sorry enough. He should have known I’d have worried. Should have known I was not a trifle to be ignored.
He smiled tenderly. “I know—and what a great help those seeds were. I can never repay you enough. But travelers have settled into the village over the weeks, and I have been needed for construction—nothing that upsets the boundaries of your forest, of course.”
My elation wavered, a lone flower amid a storm. He seemed so…happy. But it was a distracted sort of happiness, one that he had been carrying for some time, long before he decided to finally show his face in my forest. I clasped my hand around his wrist and did not blink.
“There is more,” I said. “Tell me why else you haven’t been to visit.”
Sighing, he broke away from my stare, though that faraway smile remained at the corners of his lips. “I have good news—brilliant news, really. I…I am engaged. One of the travelers who settled—she is to be my wife.”
