He pursed his lips at my shirt.
“The shirt stays on,” I insisted before he could tell me to take it off too. All those buttons were more hassle than they were worth.
Rían backed all the way to the window with my new clothes and gestured toward my cooing son. “Proceed.”
Did he really have to stay here to supervise? Talk about obnoxious. I unpinned the corners of Hagan’s nappy, which hadusedto be white. Definitely needed to call a doctor. Shite shouldnotbe this color. As soon as the cool air hit his bare skin, a yellow stream shot toward me. I threw the towel over him, but it was too late. Wetness seeped into my shirt.
Rían bent over, clutching his stomach, his harsh cackle echoing off the low ceiling.
My quiet curse only made him laugh harder. “Has anyone ever told you that you laugh like an old hag?”
Hagan cooed and kicked, his tiny pink tongue darting around his lips. “I’ve a feeling you’ll be making a fool of me every chance you get,” I whispered, patting his unruly curls while I waited for him to finish his business.
Once I had my son in a clean nappy and vest, Rían traded me for a fresh shirt and the rest of my clothes. This time, when I dressed, my hands trembled, like they knew the first time had only been for practice.
Time to see if I was to spend the night alone or with my new wife.
* * *
A single cello played a haunting tune for a great room full of empty white chairs.
Actually, that wasn’t fair of me to say. The room wasn’t entirely empty. Eava and Oscar, Millie and her husband Martin, Ruairi, and my brother were here. As was my mate Lorcan. Unfortunately, the Queen had denied his request to cross the Forest with his wife, due any day now with their first child, so he was on his own.
At least there weren’t many around to witness my utter humiliation as I stood on the dais beneath the arbor Oscar had built, waiting for my bride.
Aveen had been gone since dawn, and at first, I’d taken her absence as a good sign, assuming she was busy helping Keelynn get ready for the wedding. Now I wondered if maybe she’d spent the entire morning trying to convince Keelynn to come and been unsuccessful.
I could have evanesced to Ruairi’s house to put myself out of this misery, but on the off-chance Keelynn did show up, she’d be devastated to find no one waiting for her. So that’s what I did instead. I waited like I’d promised, in front of my family and the few select friends willing to put their own prejudice aside and support my choice to marry the woman I loved.
“You’re sweating,” Rían whispered from beneath the arbor, green and gold ribbons dangling from his pocket. “Worried she won’t show?”
Of course I was feckin’ worried. “Not in the least.”
His smile grew.Dammit. Someday I would remember not to lie to him.
Movement from the end of the aisle drew my gaze toward a beautiful woman with golden curls spilling across the shoulders of her blue gown. Although Aveen didn’t look like herself because of the glamour, the confident way she moved revealed her for who she was. The fact that she wore a smile settled some of my unease. She wouldn’t be smiling if Keelynn had decided not to come.
My brother remained transfixed as he watched his disguised soulmate walk down the aisle, never blinking. When this celebration ended and we found a way to end this blight, I would make it my mission to help him defeat his mother so that neither of them had to hide. After all he’d done for me over the centuries, it was the least I could do.
I avoided looking at the empty chairs next to Eava and behind Lorcan. My people disapproving of my marriage didn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that my friends, those who knew me the best, didn’t believe I deserved to be happy as well.
Those I’d known my entire life had shown their true colors. The next time they came to me for help, I’d tell them exactly where they could go.
The music changed, slowing in tempo. The few who were present rose to their feet, turning toward the hall’s entrance, where the most breathtaking woman stood, not wearing ivory lace as expected but swathed in emerald-green silk.
A silent claim. A promise.
My heart kicked up at the sight of her. I’d said it before and I would say it until my dying day: I would make her proud to be my wife and I would not let her down again. Keelynn Bannon had saved me in more ways than I could count. From my curses. From myself.
I wanted to be worthy of her forgiveness. Of her love.
I blinked back my tears, not wanting to miss a second as Keelynn started down the aisle, a smile on her lips and her gray eyes pinned to mine. Her long, soft waves swayed with each step, held back at her temples by emerald clasps. The emerald necklace at her throat looked vaguely familiar.
“Is she wearing—?”
“Your mother’s necklace?” Rían murmured. “I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
Mind? The fact that he’d gone through the trouble of digging the thing out of the warded treasury made my heart swell. Who would’ve expected my brother to be such a sympathetic fool?