Her arched brows lifted. “Did you want her to remember such a traumatic experience?”
I didn’t want to hurt Leesha. But how was I to navigate this situation without telling her the truth? “How’d you do it? Keep her from deteriorating all these years.”
“Come now, boy. You know I cannot divulgeallmy secrets.”
My mother had finally given me the birthday gift I’d always wanted…and still managed to ruin my life.
21
TADHG
Keelynn sankonto the throne beside me, her hands wringing in her lap as she shifted her weight on the cushion I’d added only this morning. No sense in her being more uncomfortable than she already was.
“Are you sure this is all right?” she whispered, casting a worried glance my way.
That was one of the few perks of being in charge. If I said it was all right, then it was. And I’d already told her as much this morning over breakfast and again on our way into the great hall. But if she needed to hear it again, I’d repeat myself until my voice gave out.
“Of course it’s all right.”
She smoothed a hand along the chair’s curved arm. “But this is Rían’s throne.”
“Rían isn’t coming.” I rarely felt sorry for my brother, but in this instance, I truly did. The Queen had once again found a way to destroy him. Not only him but Aveen as well. She certainly didn’t deserve this.
Keelynn’s shoulders fell even more. “I am no one—”
How could she believe such a thing after all she’d done for me? I squeezed her cool fingers until she stopped spouting nonsense. “You are to be my wife again soon enough. It’s time my people learn to accept you as their princess.”
Thus far, I hadn’t been impressed with any of them. When Ruairi had updated me on what had happened with the mince pies, I nearly evanesced right down to those cottages and gave them a piece of my mind. I was their leader; I didn’t need their permission to marry the woman I loved. But it wasn’t my job to force people into loving Keelynn as much as I did.
If they chose not to, it was their loss.
They didn’t have to like her, but they sure as hell owed her their respect.
Without Keelynn, I would’ve been cursed for all of eternity. Now I was free, the burdens I’d carried for so long nothing more than bad memories. Once again, power coursed through my veins.
All because of the strong, faithful woman sitting next to me.
After the wedding, Keelynn had plans to hire more Danú here at the castle, and I couldn’t be happier. Maybe she’d find a few friends along the way as well.
I wasn’t sure how this situation between Rían, Leesha, and Aveen was going to work out, and I couldn’t see Aveen wanting to come around if Rían ended up choosing his long-lost love. Keelynn would be so lonely without her though.
What a feckin’ disaster.
But it was a disaster for another day.
Keelynn sat back, her spine and shoulders straight as she gave me a nod and said she was ready. I gestured for Oscar to open the doors to the great hall, expecting people to pour in the way they always did. Instead, only two men stepped inside, both wearing matching scowls. The first took one look at my fiancée, turned, and walked out.
I gripped the arms of my throne to keep myself from launching after him and demanding he show her the respect she deserved. Not only as my soon-to-be wife but simply as a person.
The second man didn’t leave, but if he didn’t stop glaring at Keelynn, he was going to lose his feckin’ eyes. “So the rumors are true, then?” the man said, his voice gruff. “Yer to marry a human.”
He spat the final word as if humanity were some sort of disease.
My people should’ve known better than to judge someone simply because of what they were. Wasn’t that what the humans had done to us for so many years? And look at the shit storm we were in now.
A smile tugged at my lips even as the dark magic living in my veins itched to steal the life from his defiant eyes. “That’s an odd way to offer congratulations.”
The man seemed to startle. “Congratulations, my prince,” he bit out, not an ounce of sincerity in his words.