“Her father is a wee bit protective. What did he say to you?”
Edan wouldn’t repeat all of it. “He just wished to remind me that he was watching. I’m not afraid of her father. And…”
Roger frowned. “And what?” He studied his brother for a moment, then whispered, “Something happened last eve. I can see it in your face.”
“Naught happened. I spoke with Ailith and her brother John. It was meant as a warning too. Her brother is a powerful swordsman, and he made a point of showing me some of his skills.”
Roger tipped his head back but contained his laughter. “They’re going to make you prove yourself. Your next marriage won’t be anything like the first one, a man handing you his daughter. You’ll have to earn their respect.”
A sudden stirring at the end of the ship caught their attention. Four or five people leaned over the side to wave.
“It’s the dolphin girl again,” Roger said, moving over to the side of the ship. “That dolphin never goes underwater.”
Edan jumped up, peering over the side as the dolphin approached.
Dyna grabbed Cormac’s arm. “Slow down, Cormac.”
The ship’s captain turned the sail, slowing the vessel. The group peered over the side—Daran allowed to look and now squealing—until a wee lass emerged from the middle of the gathering, heading straight for Edan.
“What the hell?” He looked at Roger. “How did she get here?”
“There must be a rope over the side,” Roger offered.
Cormac, an evil-looking grin on his face, shrugged. “Nay, I would wager she jumped.”
“You cannot jump up the side of the ship. She’s a bairn!”
The lass strode toward the stern. “Who are you?”
Rarely had Edan answered a bairn so bold, but he was surrounded by many he didn’t know. He’d seen her before so there was no reason to be upset about her questions. After all, anyone who could ride a dolphin in the sea was not a typical bairn.
The lass spoked again. “Edan MacRuari. I’m Lia, and I’ve heard you’ve lost a daughter to the Unseelie.”
“The what?”
“The Unseelie. The evil faeries. They steal bairns when they need to. What did you do?”
She came closer but abruptly stopped, reeling from something. “What are…?” She jerked again, moving back, her eyes bulging. “What are you? What is that power? You’re not an Unseelie, or I could tell. What is that protective force you have?”
She took five steps back, her hands on her wee hips as her gaze narrowed and moved from one face to the next, confused.
“Lia? What’s wrong?” Dyna asked, coming up behind her. “Did he try to hit you?”
“Nay. He’s got a different heat to him. A burning that I’ve never encountered before. I cannot fathom what it is. He never moved, but his aura…” She took three steps forward again, flinched enough to throw her back a few steps, but this time she gasped, her hand going to her throat. Grabbing Dyna’s arms, she said, “Keep your bairns away from him. The wee ones. I don’t know what he has, but I don’t trust it. Something in his blood is different…”
Lia spun around and ran toward the end of the boat, throwing herself over the starboard side.
“What in God’s name was that about?” Edan followed her, running to the starboard, though he noticed no one else followed him. “Is she daft?” He peered over the edge of the boat, but she was already on the back of a dolphin, heading away.
He turned around, visibly shaken by the event. His eyes darted around the ship, looking for anything else odd. Everyone stared at him, different expressions on their faces, some shocked, others confused.
He saw Dyna cast a glance over to Ailith, then dropped her gaze as she took Daran’s hand and said, “You need to go back inside the cabin. Cormac is moving again.” She ushered the two away, ignoring their arguments.
“She’s fine, Edan,” Maitland explained. “Lia is the faery we told you about. Nothing can hurt her.” But he didn’t miss the worried glance the man cast over to Dyna, who then gave the same look to her father.
This was different.
This was more than he could handle. He didn’t believe in faeries, yet he’d just witnessed a lass of five or six summers climb up the side of a ship and jump over the side into the sea. A movethat would have proved fatal to Heilyn or Milo. He rubbed his eyes, as if that could wash away the images he wished to deny.
