“You’re sure? You can tell me.”
“I’m sure, yer highness. We fancy each other, Dillon and me. We didn’t know my da was comin’ home so early. And now he . . . he thinks we gotta get married.”
“Do youwantto marry this Dillon fellow?”
She shook her head, her dark eyes flaring as she raised her chin. “I don’t want to marry anyone.”
I almost smiled at the steel in her words. “Then it sounds to me like you need to go rescue your friend.”
Her answering grin was like a balm to my soul.
“On your way out, send your father in.”
Her smile faltered, but she threw her shoulders back and started for the door, the material of her skirts swaying with each step. “Da? The prince wants to see ye.”
Aidan appeared, giving his daughter a curious look when she breezed past.
“Where’s she goin’?” he threw over his shoulder at me.
I urged the door closed with a flick of my wrist. “To unlock her lover.”
Aidan’s body tensed; his hands fisted at his sides. “Heruinedher.”
Ruined. That word always confounded me. “Your daughter is notruined. She has made a choice and does not deserve to be punished for it. If the boy had forced himself on her, that would be another matter entirely. But seeing as he did not, this issue does not concern me.”
Aidan took a menacing step forward. “She needs to marry ‘im.”
All it took was a raise of my eyebrows to drain the redness from his face. If he forgot his place once more, I’d have to remind him. “I will not give my blessing for a marriage that is not consented to by all parties.” That sort of idiocy belonged in the human world. Their traditions may have bled across our borders, but that did not mean I would abide by them.
And to marry in Tearmann, one needed my blessing. Or my brother’s when I was . . . indisposed.
When he left, Aidan was the one hanging his head.
I checked the clock in the corner and groaned. How was it half two already?
Back in the hall, I found Rían slumped in his chair, looking bored as ever.
“You could’ve done something while I was gone, you know,” I ground through my teeth.
“What would you call strengthening wards? Besides”—Rían waved toward the waiting crowd—“they haven’t come to see me. They want to see you.”
That was true. And Rían did more than his fair share considering my situation. Still, I could’ve used his help today. Not that I’d give him the satisfaction by admitting it.
Sinking onto the throne, I called the next person forward.
It took three more hours, but eventually, the final man left the hall. I almost fell out of the throne in relief.
Groaning, Rían stood and stretched his arms toward the ceiling. “Are you off?”
I did the same, my back popping with the movement. “Yes, but I shouldn’t be long.” If I put in some effort, I could convince her to invite me to her bed and be back within the hour. How hard could it be? A few smiles, some compliments, a suggestive comment or two, and she’d be lifting her own skirts. After the ride of her life, she’d surely be so besotted that she’d hand over the ring without batting an eye.
* * *
The alley behind The Green Serpent was deserted, as I knew it would be. No Danú in their right mind would come to this godforsaken place in broad daylight, and most humans were leery enough to avoid it altogether. The kohl stung my eyes when I smeared it on, but there was no telling what awaited me today.
A few people still milled about the market. When the first raindrops began to fall, they hurried for shelter. Refreshing mist cooled my overheated skin. I pretended the rain could wash away my many sins, leaving me clean and unburdened and free.
I kept walking until I saw a familiar figure in a gray cloak speaking to an elderly man next to a cramped black carriage. A man emitting the telltale green glow of a glamour.