The little boy whimpered, burying his face in his sister’s skirts. To them we must have looked frightening, three giants draped in shadows, eyes glowing. I dropped to my knees to make myself appear less imposing. Cold mud seeped through my breeches.
“Da says we have ta stay in here till our Mammy gets home,” the tallest one said in a mousy voice.
Their Da was lucky I hadn’t found the bastard inside. Otherwise, he’d be the one covered in shite locked in a feckin’ shed. “I saw your Mammy today,” I told her.
Her eyes widened. “Ye did?”
The little boy peered up at me.
I nodded. “She had to go away for a little while, but she will be back. We’re going to bring you someplace safe until she returns.”
The baby began to wail. The boy took off, sprinting around me toward the sty.
“Cian! Get back here!” the girl roared.
I smacked Ruairi’s knee. “Catch him before he gets away.”
He took off after the little boy, probably scaring the life out of him. Nothing to be done about it now. Once they were safe and warm, they’d see we meant them no harm. Until then, we’d have to keep them quiet. Maybe I’d been too quick in dismissing the burlap sack.
I offered the girl a hand. A hand she ignored as she clutched the baby closer, standing on legs thinner than twigs and starting for the door.
Ruairi had the boy cornered, darting this way and that until the little lad’s backside met the fence. “Easy there.Eaaaasy.”
“They’re not animals,” I reminded him. “They’re children.”
“I don’t see ye making any headway,” Ruairi growled.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” I asked.
The girl bounced and swayed, patting the crying baby’s back. “Mila.” It’d been a while since I’d been around children. She could’ve been nine, maybe ten. Far too young to be left alone with a baby.
“My name’s Tadhg.”
The baby began to quiet, nuzzling into the little girl’s neck. “Da says we’re not to be trustin’ the ones with the pointy ears.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little boy dart through Ruairi’s legs and hurtle over the fence into the sty.
“Tell you what,” I said, reaching out my hand a second time. “If you come with us, I give you my word as a prince that you will be well fed, warm, and safe. And if you aren’t happy in your new home, I will bring you back here myself.”
Her glare bounced between my hand and my ears. “Ye don’t look like a prince.”
“Do I not? What should a prince look like?” I’d never given too much thought to what my cursed glamour would look like to a female child.
The little girl pointed to a smirking Rían. “‘Cept he needs a crown.”
“Rían?”
With a roll of his eyes and flick of his wrist, a gold crown appeared on Rían’s head.
“Do you want to know a secret about the prince?” When she nodded, I cupped my hands around my mouth to whisper, “He hates dirt.” I picked up a clump and threw it at him. He cursed. “Do you want to try?”
She grinned and collected a handful. Rían evanesced before the dirt could connect.
“What’s this little one’s name?” I patted the babe’s curly red hair.
“Mammy calls her Shona.”
Shona, Mila, and Cian. I shifted a bag of sweets from Eava’s personal stash, figuring she wouldn’t mind. “Here.” I held out the bag. “Take these while we get your brother. Will I have the prince hold Shona until you’re finished?”