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Tor tipped his head in a respectful bow. “Where is Shay?”
The older woman barked a laugh and waved a hand toward the water. “Hunting uni.”
My brow furrowed.
Rainn leaned over. “Urchins. The spiked ones.” He said from the corner of his mouth.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” I asked.
The older fae barked another laugh. “Not if you have a claw and a net. They strangle the plants below the surface, and where there are no plants, there are no fish. They also taste delicious, cooked or not.”
I considered her words, turning my attention to the water. “What is that male doing? The one on the boat with a bird?”
“The cormorant? The bird is a better hunter than we are.” The older female had no issues admitting to a weakness. “The fisherman ties a cord around the bird’s beak so it cannot swallow the fish. Once its beak is full, it returns to the boat and drops its catch, receiving a meal for its hard work.”
“Wouldn’t the bird fly away? Once the cord is no longer on its beak?” I wondered.
The older woman eyed me, considering my words. “We take care of our birds. They do not fall prey to the things hiding in the water or cliffs. We do not cage them; they live on the shore and volunteer to help.”
“Do you fish this way because you cannot breathe underwater?” I cocked my head to the side.
The older woman’s indulgent smile turned sharp. “Hopefully, our Shay’s children will inherit the gift.”
We stood in silence for a moment, and the older woman’s name rose to my mind like a dead fish to the surface—Vidalia.
“I thought Shay didn’t intend to marry until the war had ended.” Tor kept his voice light.
Vidalia waved a hand dismissively. “Word reached us on the night of the full moon; King Irvine has turned to foam.” She kept her attention on the water. “Thank Belisama for that. May Balor torture him in the Tuatha Dé Danann.”
Rainn glanced at me, but I put a finger to my lips.
“There he is.” Vidalia squinted. A head emerged from the lake, the dark, familiar braids shifting restlessly, even without the water's currents.
The last time I saw Shay Mac Eoin, we were in Cormac’s rooms in Tarsainn. He had fed from Rainn in the way that nymphs fed. Through sexual contact. I didn’t feel jealous, thinking of Rainn with another man’s mouth on his cock, but I wondered if that was because Shay’s relationship with Rainn proceeded my own.
Shay’s face lit up, his eyes flicking through a rainbow of colors as he spotted Rainn and Tor by the fire. He carried a tightly woven net and a wooden claw over his shoulder. The net was full to bursting with purple spiky urchins.
Shay hadn’t looked at me once as he approached and greeted Vidalia with a respectful kiss on the cheek. He turned to Rainn and Tor, his smile wide enough to split his face. “Word spread that the Mer-King, the King of the Reeds, and the youngest Selkie prince met the Heart of the Lake on the killing field, and one did not walk away.”
“King Irvine is dead.” Rainn’s arm on my shoulder tightened as he pulled me closer; his face shone with pride.
Shay’s eyes drifted over my head, and he didn't seem to focus when he looked at my face. “I take it you are here for the wedding as a representative of Cruinn.”
Rainn snorted. “She is here as my Shíorghrá.”
Shay finally took in the coat across my shoulders, and understanding dawned on his features.
“And mine.” Tor cut in, his voice a growl.
“Both of you?” Shay shifted the wooden claw from one hand to the other before rubbing the space between his eyebrows. His eyes turned a golden green, like the scales of a dorado. A color I had never seen him sport before, though my memory was hazy, and it had been so long since I had stood face to face with the nymph.
“Nymphs often take multiple partners.” Rainn grinned. “Don’t tell me that we have offended your delicate sensibilities?”
Shay shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Both of you have the bond?”
Tor scratched the side of his throat, and though I could see the dark markings, I knew no one else could. “We have yet to have a ceremony, though the Kelpies and selkies are aware of Maeve’s status.”
“Even after…” Lady Bloodtide. Shay didn’t say the word out loud, but I heard it anyway.
