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“Then whose power have you accessed? It should only work with a true triad.”
“My husbands. Lachlan and Shim McIver, princes of the Unseelie Fae. My Dark Ones.”
Her father’s image shimmered for a moment and then became a bit more solid. “They were real.”
So real. “Yes. And they’re here. They are going to Aoibhneas to gather the troops.”
Her father was silent for a moment. “So many things to have gotten wrong. It doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is they will come. If they came for you each night in your dreams, they will come for you now. You have to be brave, my daughter. You have to be the princess I never taught you to be. I am so sorry to require this of you, but you can’t do what you need to do until the battlefield is set.”
Niall stepped in when her father became quiet. He pulled a knife from his belt. Her knife. “I didn’t do what I should have done. I didn’t find another to take your place. I came back here to wait for you. There is only one Princess Bronwyn, and I knew she would come here. This is for you when we win the day. We have to kill Torin and the hags, too. We get one shot at this. They’ve become very powerful.”
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“They control the guards for Torin,” Maris explained. “If you don’t kill the guards as well, even with the hags gone, they will continue to fight and continue with their mission to kill you and your brothers and everyone who is against them. Even now Torin is pulling them back from Aoibhneas since you’re here. They will guard the palace now and they will be in place when the kings arrive. Goddess, tell me they’re bringing an army with them.”
Bron hoped so, too. “I know the Unseelie are sending a force. And from what Lachlan told me the village will come.”
Maris groaned. “I hate that village. They’re all insane. Aoibhneas is where the crazies go. The mountains do something to their brains. And I heard some of them prefer to walk about naked. I pray they bring weapons.”
Bron wanted a few answers. “Why are you doing this?”
Maris’s cornflower-blue eyes turned down. “I was a foolish girl.”
“You hated my brothers.”
She shook her head. “I hated the fact that my father sold me to them. I was chattel and nothing more and Cian couldn’t stand the sight of me. And quite frankly Beckett Finn scared me. I’d heard rumors that he liked to hurt his partners.”
“I explained that, Maris.” Her father’s voice was a tortured groan.
“I know, but I didn’t understand at the time. I wanted a way out. I was in love, you see. I loved my maid. We grew up together and somewhere along the way, I realized she was everything to me. We kissed when we were sixteen. The day before I was sold to your brothers. I was scared I would lose her. I thought Torin would be easier. He would reward me for helping him and send me on my way and Anna and I could be happy.” She took a deep breath. “I did it all because I loved a girl. A girl who Torin killed because she wasn’t pure. Your father found me. He forgave me. I don’t know why.”
“Because death clarifies all things in life, Maris. And I know that forgiveness is the greatest gift we have to give and a thing we should pray to receive. Hating you wouldn’t have solved anything, but reaching out and offering absolution did. It brought us here. It will bring us victory. Do not misunderstand me, daughter. I have not given up the after with your mother because I want vengeance. I gave it up because I want my children to know peace.”
Maris frowned. “Well, I want the bastard dead, and I don’t care how it happens. I would have done it myself, but killing Torin doesn’t take care of the hags and they’re worse. Your father figured out what you are long ago and set Niall out to find you. I’ve done my duty and kept that bastard busy, but I’m ready to be done. I’m ready to face Beck and Cian and whoever they’ve married and accept their judgment.”
Maris wanted to die. She was ready.
Her father cocked a head sideways. “They’re coming. All of you out. Bron has to face this alone. Bronwyn, they won’t kill you. Stay strong. They think that by eating bondmates’ souls they can take the psychic power into themselves, but they can’t hear you. When they’re through, reach out and find strength in your brothers and sisters. They wait for you.”
Niall and Maris were already out the door and her father faded.
Bron reached out, but to a different mind. She reached out to Lach and Shim. She felt their love before the door opened and the hags filled her world.
She shut it down because her husbands didn’t need to know what was happening to her.
* * * *
Deep in the night, when the agony was done, Bron wondered how much more she could take. They’d bombarded her again and again with spells. Some took her strength, some her will. The worst was the one that robbed her of all her joy.
Call to them. Her father had told her to. Apparently she’d been calling all of her life so it made sense to do so again. She couldn’t call to Lach and Shim. They would be terrified. She had to find strength another way.
Hello.
A simple thing. A greeting, but it was all her mind could handle.
I am Erin. The voice was quiet, but she heard it all the same. And she felt a tiny spark of energy.
I am Quinn. Again, a voice and a bit of strength shared among prisoners.
