Keelynn glanced between them, her lips pursing. “Should you go before you agree to give them an entire island?”
“Probably. But there really isn’t time. The ships will be arriving at port in two days.” Tadhg narrowed his eyes at Rían.
“Don’t look at me. I’m not setting foot on another ship for as long as I live.”
Thank heavens for that. We’d narrowly avoided disaster the first time. No need to court fate again so soon.
“Do we do this?” Tadhg asked. “Do we give them the island, sight unseen?”
Rían shrugged. “Why not? It’s not as if I plan on taking my wife there for our honeymoon.”
Tiny butterflies took flight in my stomach. “Are we going on a honeymoon?”
He gave my fingers a squeeze. “Once everything settles here, I’ll bring you anywhere you wish to go.”
“And if it requires traveling by sea?” I teased.
Rían grimaced and I laughed.
Tadhg sat forward and splayed his hands on the table, his expression grim. “So we’re agreed. If the merrow want Syren Isle in exchange for safe passage, it’s theirs.”
We traded glances before nodding.
I crossed my fingers and sent up a silent prayer that this would work.
It had to.
47
TADHG
Waves kissedmy boots where I waited on the shore, watching the setting sun paint the bay orange as the last of the humans disembarked from the final ship. Negotiations with the merrow had been blessedly swift. Once I offered the craggy island in the northern sea, Manann had nearly snapped off my hand to take the bargain, making me wonder if I’d given away something I really shouldn’t have.
Despite the magic binding the merrow king to his promise, part of me still worried the other merrow would attack the ships. All of us had waited on the clifftop with bated breath while the ships landed, but not one shimmering tail had appeared.
Ferrying the humans from ship to shore had taken all day, but now that it was through, I felt proud of what we’d accomplished in such little time.
With the lateness of the hour, they’d have to spend the night in the field near the castle, beneath a cloaking ward Rían and I had created. Tomorrow morning, we’d begin rehoming them across Tearmann.
Finding enough canvas tents had been no mean feat, but my amazing wife had managed to do just that. Between Airren and Tearmann, I’d say there wasn’t a tent left unused. Ruairi had been up at the crack of dawn getting posts staked and canvas stretched. At sunrise, Rían and I would begin the painstaking process of shifting cottages from Airren to set up villages across Tearmann for everyone who had made the move.
A pooka lifted a little black-haired boy clutching a stuffed bear into his arms and evanesced, reappearing a split second later at the top of the cliffs.
The steep paths up the cliffside were too treacherous for anyone without a death wish. Thankfully, the Danú had met their humans on the shore. Those with enough power evanesced straight to the top, while Rían and I helped those without.
Oran waddled over, his boots sinking deep in the wet sand. “That’s the last of them Yer Lordship,” he wheezed, as if he’d run a mile instead of walking a couple hundred feet.
I shifted the coins owed and handed the purses to the smuggler. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Oran.” For the first time in our acquaintance, I meant it.
His shifty little eyes glinted with greed as he opened the first purse for a quick glance at the gold inside. Enough for a king’s ransom. “The pleasure is all mine,” he muttered, closing the purses once more. Once they were safely stuffed into the bag across his sagging chest, he looked up expectantly. “And the debt I owe ye?”
“Forgiven as promised.” Hopefully, this would be the last time I ever dealt with the pig.
He made it to the tiny boat that had brought the last passengers to shore, and the two lads who’d come with him rowed back to the ship bobbing in deeper water.
Today, Tearmann gained one hundred and seven more residents. There were still far too many who’d chosen to remain in Airren, but with the negotiating Rían had done with the Vellanian King, I felt confident their lives would improve with the much-needed change in Airren’s judicial system.
Trials were to be held on the first of every month in Swiftfell, a central location that would be convenient for everyone. The accusations might not stop, but at least the convictions would be impartial.