According to Ruairi, Rían hadn’t seen Aveen in months. He must’ve been missing her too. Maybe I should’ve shown him a bit more sympathy. “I’ll check on him when I get back.” And he’d probably kill me for it. “Happy?”
Sighing, her shoulders seemed to sink. “No. But it’ll have to be enough for now. I don’t understand why he hasn’t even tried to see me.”
Ruairi removed his hand from Aveen’s shoulder and took a retreating step. “That may be my fault.”
Aveen turned that glare on the pooka, and he actually shrank back.
“A while ago, I ran into Rían outside yer cottage and may have let him believe the two of us were more than friends.”
“Youwhat?” she shrieked.
Ruairi held up his hands as if trying to calm a wild beast. “He’s the most jealous lad I’ve ever met, and ye were so sad, I thought it’d give him a kick up the hole to stop sulking about.”
Aveen’s hand balled into a fist, and she punched Ruairi in the bicep.
“Feckin’ hell, human.” He winced and rubbed his arm as if it actually hurt.
“Is this the secret project?” I asked, gesturing toward Aveen. “Trying to get the two of them back together?” As far as I was concerned, Aveen was far better off without Rían. Not that anyone asked me.
Aveen gave Ruairi one final baleful glare before letting a resigned sigh steal the tension from her shoulders. “I need to learn to evanesce.”
That was all? “Think of where you want to go, and your magic will take you there.”
A twig snapped beneath her boot when she stomped. “That’s exactly what Ruairi said, and I’ve tried a thousand times, but it doesn’t work.”
“Then try again.”
A determined scowl fell over her features as she braced her feet between the scattered stones and closed her eyes.
“Think about somewhere special to you. Somewhere you felt safe.” The more emotion tied to a place, the easier it was to get there, especially when you were first starting out. “Feel the heat in your chest?” She nodded. “Good. Call it forth. Tell it where you want to go.”
A smile tugged at Aveen’s lips. She drew in a deep breath and…nothing happened.
Her eyes flashed open, disappointment swirling in the icy blue depths. “See! It doesn’t bloody work.”
What had I missed? I folded my arms over my chest and ran through the steps in my mind. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
* * *
I studied my brother’s closed door, seriously considering my life choices. I wanted to help Aveen, really I did. But mostly I wanted to help myself get into Keelynn’s good graces by making her sister happy. And if that meant stepping into the lion’s den, then so be it.
With a deep breath, I turned the knob and pushed the door, only to meet resistance. Not from a lock or a ward but from a heap of empty wine bottles discarded across the floor. Feckin’ hell. It was worse than I thought. I mean, I’d known he was up here drinking but hadn’t thought it was this bad. Even I hadn’t drunk this much.
I braced my shoulder against the door and shoved. Glass clinked, but the barrier moved enough for me to squeeze through the gap without spilling the tray Eava had given me.
I found my brother sitting at his desk, staring out the window like he hadn’t noticed me. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Very cozy.”
Slowly, he turned, his narrowed eyes finding mine.
Even after Leesha’s death, he hadn’t looked this broken. Had I ever seen him without a cravat? I was shocked his neck could hold his head up without one.
“Don’t you have maidens to ravish?” he muttered.
The retort on my tongue would’ve only made matters worse, so I swallowed it down deep. “I brought you dinner.” According to Eava, he hadn’t let her in his room for three weeks. That was her fault for asking for permission instead of forgiveness.
Rían yanked the tray from my grasp and slammed it onto the desk, rattling the dishes and cutlery on top. “Is that all, Your Highness?”
Normally, it would have been. But since I’d promised Aveen… “You look like shite.”