Padraig gave the reins another flick. “Don’t suppose ye would seeing as I haven’t lived there in ages. My wife was human. The Queen refused her entry into the Forest, so I was forced to live out here.”
Most of the Danú who lived outside of Tearmann had a similar story. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to those the Queen allowed through and those she refused. Part of me thought it was simply her way of exerting her power since she had nothing else.
Some of my friends had married humans. I’d never understood the allure. To find someone you loved only to know you would eventually lose them. What was the point? “Is your wife still living?”
He shook his head. “Passed on a decade ago.”
“And yet you didn’t return to Tearmann. Why?”
“I’ll give ye one guess.”
One guess was all I needed. “Keelynn.”
“LadyKeelynn to ye.”
At first, I couldn’t imagine how such a waspish woman could garner loyalty or love from anyone, let alone one of the Danú she despised. But I was beginning to understand.
“My girl has had a hard time of it,” he went on.
I snorted. A hard time for an entitled human. What’d that look like? Too many dresses? Too many suitors? Too many shoes?
“She was always such a wild little thing,” he mused with a heavy sigh, “believing in fairy tales, dancing through meadows, brewing nonsensical potions, kissing fellas hoping one of them would turn into a handsome prince.” A chuckle. “Ye know the silly books the humans read. When her mam passed, it stole some of her spirit. Her Da has no fondness fer the Danú, and he passed that onto his youngest. Then she met a man far too fond of drink and women”—his eyes flashed to me—“yeknow the type.”
Knew the type? Iwasthe type.
“She fell in love with that wretched boy. When her foolish father paired Lady Aveen with the lad, milady went off with this Ambassador fella to make him jealous. They got caught and were forced to wed.”
I’d known about Aveen and her betrothed. Their forced union was the reason we were in this mess. For some reason, she wanted to be with Rían. And damn it all if my heartless brother didn’t seem to want to be with her as well.
Padraig drove the carriage through a large puddle in the middle of the muddy road, clipping the high hedges.
Could there be more to this story? If Keelynn truly loved this fellow, that must’ve played a part in Aveen’s decision to sacrifice her life. It certainly made more sense than giving it up solely for Rían.
For some reason, the thought of Keelynn loving this faceless human left my insides in a knot.
“And the Ambassador, was he a good man?” The only thing I’d gleaned was that his name had been Edward. She hadn’t seemed particularly upset when she’d spoken of his death, but that didn’t mean she’d been unaffected.
“Any man interested in courtin’ an unmarried lady in the shadows isn’t worth much, if ye ask me. She changed that night—the night Lady Aveen died.”
“Trust that there is more at play here than meets the eye.”
“I know what’s at play,” he snapped, pale blue eyes flaring like twin flames. “I’ve tried to keep my nose out of it, but know that if ye pull any shite with this one, I’ll kill ye myself.”
The threat left me sitting back, studying the man anew. “How can you care so much?”When the humans care so little?
“My wife and I loved those girls as if they were our own. This place—these people—know no better. And hiding in the shadows isn’t going to help ‘em learn.”
Maybe not. Still . . . “I’d rather hide in the shadows than die in the light.”
As if she’d heard my confession, Keelynn called my name.
I evanesced back into the carriage to find the wasp still asleep. Meaning she’d called for me in her dreams. As much as I’d teased her about it earlier, I hadn’t expected it to be true.
Or to have my chest clenching in response.
I sank onto the bench at her side. She leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder, hair tickling my chin and smelling like heaven.
She fell in love with that wretched boy.