Fragile Eternity
Page 76

A bit of mortal emotion and a little vulnerability. Sorcha kept her voice low too. Devlin might be trustworthy, but that didnt mean he respected her privacy fully. Her brother was as protective as Bananach was destructive.
You did this? he whispered.
She nodded slightly.
He had something like awe in his eyes as he looked at her. Will you visit me?
I would come to check on you.
Right. He embraced her, hastily, but still an embracea sudden, impulsivehug .
It was a kind of heaven she hadnt ever felt before.
Then Seth added, Tell me who Im allowed to speak to of this or bind me.
Niall. Irial. They may know if you choose it. Niall already knows, I suspect.
Aislinn?
Shed known that question would come if Seth learned the truth, but shed not known that it would come so soon. Careful of the words, Sorcha told him, If you believe that not telling her will endanger your relationship irreparably or if you are ever so injured that you need me. Beyond that
But Irial and Niall?
Sorcha was pretty sure that she wasnt doing this maternal thing entirely right.Already. However, she was starting it with a child who was far from a true infant. She trusted her instincts, not logic, not well-pondered thoughts. Irial has been in love with Niall for centuries. Niall cares for you and will keep you safer in that world, so I wont keep this from him. If he knows, Ill allow Irial to know as well. Theyve had enough troubles between them that I wont add a new one. I want them to be at peace with each other. Thats why the mortal girl they love is not here with the other Sighted ones.
Youre far kinder than you admit.
The mortal taint she began but stopped herself from that attempt at a lie. I really should see what Devlin has come to tell me.
Her son leaned in and kissed her cheek. Youjust became tainted, and Leslies been free for months.
That was a gift tosomeone who was once my Sorcha stopped. Her cheeks were actually burning. She wasblushing on her own, fully in control of herself, with no Dark Court faeries near. She liked it.
Mothers dont often tell their sons such things, Seth quipped, so I would rather not hear.
It was positively endearing.
Niall will help keep you safe in that other place you will live, she added hurriedly. I could
You should still come check on me. I will miss you. Seth held out his arm to accompany her back to the end of the path where Devlin now stood.
I will come then. She put her hand in the fold of his arm, and together they walked forward.
Chapter 30
As the next month passed, Aislinn didnt speak of what had happened in the Dark Court. Each time Keenan had tried to discuss it, Aislinn had fled. Hearing that Seth had chosen to leave her was like having the hurt made new again. She didnt want to touch that feeling, so she doted on her court. She acted lighthearted. She danced in the street with Tracey. She coaxed plants to strength all over the city. The earth and her faeries flourished under her attention. After a couple weeks of her being the epitome of an attentive queen, even the most cautious of her faeries believed she was fine.
Except Keenan.
But tonight was the monthly revelry, and after tonight, he would know that she was going to be fine too. It was Autumn Equinox, and shed mourned Seths loss longer than theyd been a couple. She couldnt spend eternity like this. Hed made his choice; hed left her world, chosen not to be a mortal trying to love a faery. Hed turned his back on what she was, on what they had.
Choose to be happy.Shed spent almost six months mourning.Let him go.
Aislinn walked across the street to their park. Somewhere inside her she remembered that it was odd to own a park, but nestled next to that thought was the awareness that faeries had been staking territories for longer than mortals had walked the earth. Tonight, the oddity of what she was faded under the one truth that she could hold to:I am the Summer Queen.
Keenan stood waiting. He was her king, her partner in this strange world. Without mortal eyes watching, he was utterly himselfsunlight made solid, promises made tangible.
He knelt before her; his head was bowed as if he were her subject. And tonight, she wasnt objecting. Tonight, she wanted to feel powerful and freenot like her heart was being laid bare and sorrow was eating her alive. She was the Summer Queen, and this was her court. This was her king.
My Queen.
I am, she said. Youronly queen.
He still knelt, but he looked up at her. If you choose that
Around them, faeries waited as they had last autumn when she was a mortal. This time, though, she understood the stakes far better. She stood, a faery queen, in her park at the end of summer, and her king knelt before her. She knew what shed be choosinga chance at being fully his.
Keenan held out a hand, an invitation hed given her at every faire. At every turn he put the choice forward for her. And, at each faire, shed taken his hand, but shed kept herself back from him.
Will you start the revelrywith me? he asked. The question had become rote, a ritual that started a night of dance and drink, but the almost imperceptible pause was not routine.
I cant promise forever. She took her kings hand.
Keenan stood and pulled her into his arms. As they began to move across the ground, soil warm under their feet, he whispered, You already gave me forever, Aislinn. Im asking for a chance at right now.
She shivered in her kings arms, but she didnt pull away. And this time, she welcomed it when he brought his lips to hers. Unlike that first timeat the faire that had changed everythingor the other two times hed stolen kisses, she had no excuses: she was not drunk, angry, or caught off guard. She let herself enjoy the feel of his lips open against hers. It wasnt the tenderness that shed shared with Seth. It wasnt the pressure Keenan had included in his earlier kisses. It was new and bittersweet.