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I turned to Tor, climbing toward him until our noses pressed together. He blinked up at me, nonplussed at my sudden desire to use him as a chair. “Promise?” I demanded.
Tor nodded rapidly. “I swear it.”
“Maybe you should lay off Tormalugh,” Rainn suggested, biting back a laugh. “He looks like he’s about to faint.”
“She can lay on me if she likes.” Tor shot Rainn a look.
“Perhaps we should talk about the seal in the room.” Rainn continued as if Tor hadn’t spoken, taking a swig from the flask.
I sat back, pouting. “I don’t want to talk about seals.”
“He means your selkie form, Love.” Tor wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the heat of his body. “I don’t think anyone was expecting that.”
“Do you have a selkie parent?” Rainn asked, his gaze uncharacteristically intense.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. My mother never really spoke about my sire. It was known that they met on the frosted sands, that they were Shíorghrá.” I frowned, casting my eyes to the side as I raked my memory for anything else. “Would a selkie visit the Frosted Sands?”
“It’s possible?” Rainn said though he didn’t seem to believe it. “Though the lagoon is nearly impossible to get to on land, save for a trek up the side of the mountain.”
“I don’t think my father is a selkie.” I nodded to myself, the movement sloppy. “I’d know? Wouldn’t I?”
Tor cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should ignore the questions and simply focus on the boon. Maeve is alive. The Undine King has fallen. Only time will tell if Tarsainn will rally and attack again.”
“I hope not.” Rainn groaned. “Cormac is an arrogant fool, but he was our arrogant fool. I’ve never known him to be so willfully blind. He loved his mother and valued her advice greatly, but even he believed she had the tenancy to push things too far. Her hatred of the Undine was so vast that she would have seen every Mer dead if it meant Cruinn would fall.”
I stuck out my tongue and blew a raspberry before I held out my hand for the flask. “Let’s talk of more interesting things.” I decided. “Do all of you have harems hidden away in your castles, like Cormac?” I knocked back another dreg of the strong drink before frowning and shaking the flask. “There’s no more juice.”
Rainn laughed as he took the flask and stuffed it into the pack. “No hidden harems for me, and I think you’ve had enough Sú Amadán.”
“King Irvine had a Harem.” I hiccuped. “Dozens of women. They had a special garden. I wasn’t allowed to go there, but sometimes, I would sneak down and listen to their conversations.”
“About your uncle?” Rainn wrinkled his nose.
I waved my hand, disgusted. “No. Most of the court harem were in relationships with each other. They used to tell the wildest stories.”
Rainn waggled his brows. “Wild, you say?”
“Don’t encourage him,” Tor warned, swaying. His cheeks were pink, and his eyes glazed.
I ignored Tor. “There was one female. A concubine favored by the court because she had the most wicked tongue of all of the harem. As a child, I thought she was just a terrible gossip.”
Rainn and Tor snorted.
“I’ve seen you use your mother before.” I waved a hand toward Rainn. “With Shay Mac Eoin.”
Tor’s dark eyes flashed. “Jealous?”
I blinked slowly, struggling to keep my eyes open. “Yes,” I said plainly. “I feel neglected.”
Tor’s nostrils flared as if he was scenting the air, and he leaned in, pushing my hair away from my neck. “We’ll have to remedy that, Love.” He purred, his deep voice brushing against the inside of my skin, making me shiver. Tor reached up, cupping the side of my throat, his thumb brushing the seam of my jaw. His grip forced me to meet his eyes. “You frightened me today.” The grip on my neck tightened for a moment before his hand relaxed, forming a necklace around my throat. “I thought I’d lost you. I was ready to follow you into the afterlife if you didn’t return. I had faith in you, but faith can only carry someone so far when the woman you love dissolves into foam in front of you.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. The words alien on my lips. Fae didn’t apologize. It caused an imbalance that needed to be rectified. A debt. “I’ll try not to die again.”
“That’s all I ask,” Tor growled, silencing my retort as he pressed his lips against mine.
Once the sun set in the Day Court, and the orange line on the horizon disappeared from between the leaves, the forest fell silent. The warm coals of the fire glowed white, smoldering.
We fell asleep under the furs, tucked under the lean-to shelter.
