Page 98 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

I offer him a small smile. “Just a little dizzy.”

Don’t make me stand up in these shoes. Please don’t make me stand up again.

Jaro, oblivious to my silent pleading, offers me his hand again. “I’ll keep you upright. Come, there are some people I’d like you to meet.”

“We’ll read the room for you,” Titania promises, floating off into the crowd.

Maeve scoffs. “You can. I’m going to watch the perimeter. What good is a party when I can’t even drink?”

She disappears with a last, wistful look at the black-suited fae now carrying flutes of sparkling wine into the room.

“Don’t worry,” Mab murmurs, appearing in her place. “I will be here too, though I also despise these gatherings. There are too many knives disguised as sweet words.”

Well, that doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Still, I let Jaro help me up and tug me lightly across the room to a group of females. There are five of them in total, but four hang back, just behind the first. All of them are wide-eyed as they take in the sight of me with Jaro looming beside me.

“My lady, I’d like you to meet my mother, Lany, and most of my sisters.”

I blink up at him in surprise. “Your mother?” I squeak.

“She’s the head scholar at the city library,” he explains, gesturing at the woman who—thanks to fae ageing—doesn’t appear any older than her daughters. She’s also more than a little red-eyed, and staring at Jaro like she’s seen a ghost, but I pretend not to notice.

Like the rest of the seelie in attendance, they’re wearing pale colours. Their height must be inherited from their father, as his sisters tower above Lany and me. Even the shortest of the group is over a foot taller than her.

There are other resemblances too. Jaro has his mother’s eyes, and several of his sisters share the warm brown colour. The rest of his proud features must be from his father, however, because Lany has a much softer profile.

Where is his father? Is he…?

“My Lady Nicnevin.” His mother’s voice is shaky as she bows again, and his sisters follow her lead. “It is an honour to have my son chosen for your Guard. We feared the worst when he disappeared in the middle of a battle and didn’t even say goodbye.”

The last is spoken with a tiny glare at her son, and it’s amusing to see Jaro blush under the censure.

“Ma,” he mutters. “I said I was sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to steal your son away,” I half-apologise, guilt creeping up to stain my own cheeks. “He was protecting me, as my mother asked him to.”

I had no idea he’d been split from his family without even a chance to explain. They must have assumed he was dead.

Lany drops her head again and murmurs, “May Danu bless the Fourth Nicnevin’s spirit. I have stories I can tell you about her, if you’d like. Your lady mother often spent time in the library with me. She said books offered her an escape from her gift.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

She offers me a small, proud smile and waves a hand at the females behind her.

“All of my children serve the crown. These are my daughters: Frieda, Cameo, Ena, and Janey.” The girls dip into light curtsies as they’re introduced, but I just know I’m going to get them mixed up, and I’m already dreading the awkwardness that will cause. “My second youngest—Aerla—is the palace cook. That’s why she couldn’t make it tonight.”

Perhaps tonight won’t go so badly after all. I assumed all these people were strangers, but if more of my Guards’ families are here, then it might make this more bearable.

“And we can tell you all of Jaro’s secrets,” one of his sisters adds.

“My other two boys would’ve been here as well,” Lany says, shooting her daughter a warning glance. “But they’re on the wall, keeping watch.”

“Rose can meet them later.” Jaro frowns as soon as he’s said it, like he isn’t sure it’s a good idea. “Much, much later.”

“Oh, come on, they’re not that bad.” His mother smiles, and it’s plain to see that this is an old, familiar argument.

“Their reputation almost destroyed my application to become a knight,” Jaro retorts, smirking.

“It’s been decades!” one of his sisters complains, then looks over at me. “Brothers, am I right?”

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