Page 37 of Tasteful Anarchy and Tangled Auras
“It gets worse,” Bryn continues. “The heads of EA asked her to High Priestess during a full moon for one of their leaders.”
I grit my teeth. I knew Adi was a Priestess of Aine, Aine being one of their goddesses, but this was bad. I turn to her. “Are you allowed to act as High Priestess without leave from the other Priestesses?”
She sighs. “Yes.”
Bryn speaks again. “It gets worse yet. I found out who Sciemle plans to take the rite.” He takes a deep breath. “It’s the Leprechaun.”
My eyebrows pull downward in derision. “Surely a leprechaun should not be able to outpower the two of us. We’ll just go crush his skull before the full moon.”
I feel my little mate jump at my words. I stroke her creamy thigh again. She must trust that we’ll keep her safe.
“No, not a leprechaun,” Bryn says. “TheLeprechaun. The original one.”
Adi makes a noise. I search her face. Why does this worry her? She opens her mouth but I speak first, “Who cares what number he is?”
Adi places her hand over my fingers on her leg and twines her fingers into mine. It’s another tender gesture and I add it to my mental tally, holding firm to the hope that she’ll love me.
“The first leprechaun was a great king of the land that would become known as Ireland,” Adi explains quietly. “Tall and powerful, a mighty human warrior. He repelled many challengers and ruled well for years, but he eventually fell to drink. Without his strong hand, his chieftains fought amongst themselves and his kingdom began to splinter.
“One night, alone in his rooms, a dark Fae came to him and offered him a deal. The return of his kingdom, for naught more than his oldest child. His eldest was a girl. No different than marrying her off to a rival clan, right? Her mother, his wife—hisQueen—did not think so. The next full moon, he nonetheless took the young child to the woods, and when he returned empty-handed, his wife cursed him. Cursed him to become as twisted as his heart, never sated with what he had, to wander alone, always looking for the next tiny spark of joy that might make him feel something again.
“Little did she know, she was part Fae herself, and her curse rang true on the new moon. This man became the Leprechaun. The leprechauns that you think of, the small men, wanting gold, well, those were another species of Fae that aligned with him, and human thought over the years turned them into what they are. But he has remained unchanged.”
“And apparently, he is who I have to have the Goddess bless on the full moon before our main harvest festival.”
I’m gritting my teeth at the thought of her doing this. “There must be a way to back out of the ritual.”
Bryn shakes his head slowly. “They’ll kill her. Maybe me as well. And before you suggest crackingtheirskulls, allow me to assure you that they can bring more power to the fight than we can.” He pauses. “Unless.... Can a mate invalidate a female from her Temple position? In your FEC?”
I shake my head. “No. Neither a mate nor husband has any sway on our Priestesses’ standing.”
Bryn is frowning. “Adelaide, blessing one who is already known for his luck, is a spectacularly bad idea. Perhaps if I can get Filib to see that....”
Adi tilts her head. “Is the Leprechaun still technically human? Or is he Fae now?”
Bryn shrugs. “Tomato, tomatoe, isn’t it?”
A glimmer of a smile crosses her face. “The Goddess might not think so.”
Chapter 14
