“Don't say that!” Lyra whispered at the same moment the elf in the boat snapped his fingers.
“And Emmett sent me!”
Lyra put her hand over her face, grunting in annoyance. She looked at Theo with a deadpan expression.
“We have no idea whether that's genuine or if he just heard you say it. Didn't your mother tell you not to talk to strangers?” As soon as the words were out of Lyra's mouth, she regretted them. Theo had told her enough about his upbringing; she should have known not to go there.
“I’m sorry,” Lyra started immediately, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. “I didn't mean?—”
“Don't worry about it.” Theo winced slightly but kept the brevity in his voice. “I know what you meant, and you aren't wrong.”
“I don't mean to intrude,” the elf shouted over the beach, “but I can hear everything you're saying. Also, young prince, your beautiful friend is correct. Which is why you should call Emmett and hear it from his mouth.” The elf stood on one of the small benches on the dinghy, bowing his head slightly. “I’m Wyn.”
Lyra curled her lip as though she was about to start hissing at Wyn, but held her tongue. Theo pulled his phone out and started to ring Emmett, continually pleased that Lyra seemed to be uninterested in the elf's flirtations.
Emmett picked up on the first ring and confirmed Wyn had arrived to help escort them to find the Blue Men of the Minch.
“He seems…” Theo searched for the right word, taking a few steps away from Lyra to find a semblance of privacy. “Eager.”
Emmett laughed. “He's more harmless than his brother, I'll tell you that much. Hùisdean is the real pain in the ass. Okay, okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. How are you both doing?”
Theo opened his mouth to respond, but there was a shuffling sound on the other end of the line.
“Theo?”
Theo's heart jumped when he heard Calum on the phone.
“Calum! Yes, hi, it's me. Hi. Hello.” Theo awkwardly cleared his throat, overwhelmed by the sound of his brother's voice. Theo had always been the odd one out at school. He movedfrequently among boarding schools, his caretakers and nannies always looking over their shoulders. Despite being his brother, speaking to Calum still made Theo feel as though he was trying to make friends with the popular, older students at his newest school.
“How is everything going?” Calum sounded anxious, and Theo tripped over his words to reassure him, another habit that, Theo promised himself, a few sessions with a therapist would fix.
“Good. Great, actually. Really good.” Theo turned and looked at Lyra and the elf, who were arguing about something. Lyra looked genuinely upset while the elf had a cocky smirk on his face, which somehow still managed to look endearing.
Theo sounded more confident than he felt. Calum could sense it, raising an eyebrow in his office that Theo couldn't see.
“Do you want to try to answer that again?” For someone who was relatively out of practice being an older brother, he picked up the role naturally.
Theo shifted his weight uncomfortably, chewing on his lip. Several feet away, Lyra was now pinching the bridge of her nose, and Wyn was practically beaming with mischief.
“I feel like a problem that needs to be fixed,” the words started tumbling out of Theo's mouth before he could stop them. “And now Wyn is here to assist, too, and it is starting to seem like a lot of resources.”
“I can assure you that one elf is not a lot of resources,” Calum scoffed playfully, “especially not Wyn. I'll be surprised if he manages to be more of a help than a hindrance, but something is better than nothing.”
“How do you know him?” Theo was suddenly a bit more worried about the elf's presence than he had been a few seconds ago.
“Oh, no, he's very trustworthy.” Calum sensed his brother's nerves. “I was kidding before. He's got a mouth on him, that'sall. Loves to stir the pot, but most elves do, believe it or not. He's part of the Shetland Islands royal family.”
Theo blushed, embarrassed, and was grateful his brother couldn't see. He was becoming increasingly spiteful of his own seemingly incessant need to ask questions.
“I don't know much of the politics stuff,” Theo stammered awkwardly, opting for a statement instead of a question, and finding a bizarre amount of comfort in it.
“Ah, well, most days I don’t either,” Calum said easily, trying to soothe Theo's anxiety. “All you really need to know is that he is very dependable. You might want to pull your hair out by the end of the journey.”
“Ah.” Theo made a noncommittal noise, not knowing what else to say.
“You aren't a problem to be fixed,” Calum whispered, his voice full of a calm confidence that Theo would do anything to have for himself. “You're family, and I take care of my family.”
Calum's statement was so resolute that Theo didn’t dream of arguing with him about it, even though he didn't feel it. His silence said enough.
