I might have been intimidated by him, but I trusted he knew better than to provoke me. Not that I would wish to hurt him either. He was the future of Ahnnaòin.
“Queen Aoibheal was in negotiations with the other courts to deal with the human threat. She was doing what she could before you forced her and the other monarchs into hiding,” Caelan reminded me.
I put a hand on Nuala’s hip and reinforced my shields around her to dull the effects of Caelan’s power upon her, but I could tell she was still deeply uncomfortable.
“Caelan, you know I am right,” I said more quietly so that his warriors did not overhear me. “You said as much before your mother dismissed me. She would have wasted fey lives fighting in a war she was not prepared to wage. Humans and witches have only devised stronger weapons since that meeting,” I insisted as calmly as I could.
Caelan snorted a dismissal.
“What are mortals compared to the undying flame?” he demanded with a pointed look at Nuala who could not even stand to be in his presence if he truly willed it.
“Such a war would have cost us more fey blood than we could afford to spill,” I maintained.
Prince Caelan narrowed his catlike eyes at me before they shifted again to Nuala who was trembling against me now under his magnified aura.
“I am astonished that you would dare to speak to me about defending the Tithriall and this court with a witch at your back,” he informed me. The hateful glint in his eyes made it obvious that he would relish an opportunity to flay her alive, and it made my hackles instantly rise.
My shadows began bleeding out of my pores and out of my armour. They hissed as the grass wilted at my feet, the air crackling as they nipped at his magic around us.
Caelan took half a step back, and the warriors behind himshifted readily to defend their prince, but he calmly raised a hand for them to stand down. Then he watched in rapt astonishment as those cruel and voracious shadows wrapped harmlessly around Nuala’s mortal body as if she drew them to her. He had only seen my magic in action once before when his mother asked for a demonstration, but he knew well enough what it did to flesh and bone.
I felt his aura finally recede behind his shields until Nuala could breathe easily again, but I did not relax.
“So it is true. The witch is unaffected,” he murmured, his mind obviously whirling with this revelation.
“She ismine,” I growled, knowing I was revealing far too much to a possible enemy, but I could not hold back once my protective instincts were triggered.
Caelan was even more shocked by my announcement than he was by Nuala’s immunity to my ravenous magic. Considering how adamant I had always been before about avoiding commitment, I understood his confusion.
“Careful. Lest she be used against you,” he warned me with what seemed like real concern.
“Anyone foolish enough to try and harm my mate will learn that Nuala’s safety means more to me than whether this court would survive my wrath,” I retorted. I held his eyes steadily to ensure there was no misunderstanding where my priorities had shifted.
Caelan was so discomforted by my statement that he was unable to conceal his unease as his eyes drifted back to the witch with new cognizance.
“Then I could wish her no harm, Rian,” he reassured me with a placating tone. The slight shift in his stance felt genuine enough that I finally relaxed, and my shadows began to recede back into my veins.
“Enough idle chatter. Queen Aoibheal needs to answer for her vicious attack on her own court,” I called out more loudly so that all the other Draugr could hear me.
Caelan’s expression hardened again at the accusation, and his head tilted as if to listen for any murmurs behind. But his warriors were too well trained to react.
“She attackedtraitors,” Caelan said in exasperation, and I felt my temper quietly ignite again. “You threatened your queen and then amassed an unsanctioned army in spite of her explicit disapproval,” he added as if I needed further explanation of my supposed crimes.
“And you consider aes sídhe villagers to be traitors?”
Caelan’s brows knit together in confusion, and I could tell he thought I was referring to myself and my riders.
“You are hardly villagers, Rian,” he deadpanned.
“No. But the Aes Navu and the Aes Suri are.Were.”
His frustration with me vanished behind a brief flash of dread before he schooled his features again.
“What are you talking about?” he asked me softly.
“How much do you know about that army?” I asked as my arm swept behind me to indicate the Fuath that were now fleeing south as the sun rose.
“I know that my queen offered them food in exchange for their assistance against your unsanctioned—”
