At least, I couldn’t.
But what if Keelynn stayed? What if I never saw her again?
Suddenly, things didn’t feel so simple.
They felt impossibly complicated.
I turned away from the sea, peering beyond the distant hills.
“Is that the Forest over there?” I asked, nodding toward the trees lining the far horizon.
“A forest, yes. But notTheForest. There’s a river separating the two.” His chest brushed against my back when he inhaled a deep breath. “Why? Are you planning on running away from me?”
I shook my head.
“Good. Because I’m not beyond actually holding you hostage.”
I thought of Padraig and his human wife, living outside Tearmann because the Queen had refused her entry. He could have evanesced back and forth, no problem. Instead, he’d chosen to stay with her, build a life with her, in a land where he had to remain hidden.
“Has the Queen ever agreed to let a human cross?”
The sound of the sea and the breeze all died the moment Rían flicked his wrist. “Why?” he snapped, scooting back to look in my eyes.
“Calm down, it’s just a question.”
“Dammit, Aveen.” He raked his hands through his hair, leaving it standing on end. “I thought we were past this.”
“I’m only asking out of curiosity.” There was no reason for him to get worked up about it. It wasn’t like I was planning on leaving today.
“You’re curious, are you? Well then, allow me to appease yourcuriosity. Yes, the Queen has let humans in to Tearmann. As a matter of fact, she let your sister through, accepting Tadhg’s life as payment for her ‘death tax.’ There have been humans who want to get into Tearmann so badly that they bring another human to offer as a sacrifice. Do you know what else she’s done? She’s let people cross back and forth, then changed her feckin’ mind so that those people could never cross the Forest again.”
My stomach dropped. “Rían—”
He continued as if I hadn’t spoken, eyes hazy and unfocused. No longer here but somewhere else. “And then those people were foolish and thought they could break the feckin’ rules, and they ended up getting killed for it.” His glowing eyes found mine “So, no, Aveen, it’s not just a ‘question.’ Not to me.”
Not to me.
Another piece of his puzzle clicked into place. The Queen had killed someone he cared about.
Perhaps even someone he loved.
“Who was she?” I asked, dread swelling in my chest.
His heavy sigh seemed to leave him deflated. “Her name was Leesha.”
Leesha.
My heart shattered.
Rían had loved a human named Leesha.
“And the Queen . . . She killed her?” I don’t know why I asked. The answer was obvious.
“Wanted me to do it, actually,” he whispered, his hands flexing into fists. “To put my duty to my people over my useless emotions. ‘Your human broke the rules and must suffer the consequences,’” he mimicked with a sneer.
I couldn’t imagine. Couldn’t even begin to fathom what I’d do if faced with such an impossible dilemma.
“When I refused,” he said, “she did it for me.”