“Anyone who chooses to live outside of Tearmann understands there is risk involved,” Tadhg hedged.
“Tearmann is a pittance of what it once was,” the Queen clipped. “When your father ruled, he commanded respect, controlling this island and everyone in it. The human uprising only succeeded because he showed them mercy.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Our father had shown mercy, but so had his army of Danú, after being forced to face off against humans they’d grown to know—even grown to love. It had been the people who had ultimately decided the island’s fate. And our father, heartbroken over the loss of his wife, no longer had it in him to fight. To care. To live.
Tadhg rolled his eyes. Ruairi yawned.
The Queen’s expression darkened. Until her gaze landed on the woman sitting between them. “You. Human. What is your name?”
I forced the air from my lungs in a slow, steady breath, hiding my trembling hands beneath my thighs.
“Lady Aveen Bannon, Your Majesty,” Aveen replied with only a slight tremor in her voice.
I’d never been so proud.
“What brings you to Tearmann?”
Why hadn’t I told her about my mother? Why hadn’t I explained so that Aveen knew where I’d inherited my ability to taste lies? I was a fool. A feckin’—
“A kiss,” Aveen said.
My human. Mybrillianthuman. If she survived this, I was going to kiss her until neither of us could breathe.
“So, you’re one of Tadhg’s, then?” the Queen asked.
“I am.”
Truth.
“Funny. He usually puts them back.” The Queen took a long, slow sip from her glass. I swore I could see her mind working. “Why do you linger?”
“Tadhg kissed my sister as well.”
The Queen laughed.Laughed. I could count the number of times she had genuinely laughed on one hand. “Men. Human or Danú, they’re all the same, aren’t they?”
Aveen nodded.
“Why did you kiss him?” the Queen pressed.
“To escape a fate worse than death.” A smile. “Marriage.”
“I’d forgotten how delightfully entertaining humans can be.” In all my centuries, I had never heard the Queen’s voice sound so . . . jovial. I didn’t know whether to be terrified or relieved.
“Is this true, Tadhg?” asked the Queen.
He returned Aveen’s smile, saluting my human with his glass of wine. “Every feckin’ word.”
All at once, the Queen’s expression darkened. Her lips pressed tightly together, narrowed eyes searching. “What is your relationship with my son?”
To be fair, Aveen did a pretty damn good job feigning shock. “What do you mean?”
“I heard the two of you were engaged.”
Had I really believed the Queen wouldn’t have heard about my confession in the courtyard that day?
“We told Tadhg we were to convince him to kiss me. But no, we’re not actually engaged. It was all a ruse.”
Truth after truth after truth.