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“Bethany!” Holly hissed at her and Bethany shrugged.
“What? We all have the same questions and it’s not doing Claire any good to have to hunt for information all the time.”
Holly flashed Claire an apologetic look and Claire smiled at her. Bethany might not have a lot of tact but she was direct and Claire wanted to know the answers too.
“The rest of our family, including our parents, fell in the Great War,” Kieran replied, shooting Bethany an icy look. Claire couldn’t tell if it was regarding the sensitive subject or the fact that he thought Bethany upset Holly. Holly winced as tension in the room rose slightly.
Desmond came to the rescue and changed the subject. “So what happens now?”
“It will take about a week for the Elders to prepare for the Traditio,” Kallan accepted the subject change gracefully.
“We have to let someone in the Dragon Mountains know that we are safe and unharmed within five days,” Malcolm said, arms crossed and a serious expression on his face. Her mate looked like an unmovable mountain at that moment, minus a fluffy Puck on his shoulder and Claire bit her lip to hide her smile as she waited for her cousins to respond.
Kallan and Kieran exchanged a look before Kallan said, “We will see what we can do.” That statement didn’t seem like it boded well. Hopefully, the Fae Elders wouldn’t have an issue with that or there was going to be a very angry Momma Mara at the barrier.
“So what do we do in the meantime while we wait for the Elders to set up the Traditio?” Cody said, completely butchering the pronunciation of the word.
Kieran looked at Kallan and it seemed the twins had a silent conversation before Kieran turned back to them. “We help you prepare,” he said to Claire.
Her eyebrows shot up. That seemed like a change of heart compared to the tension in the room a few minutes earlier.
“Why?” Cody asked. “No offense, but why would you help her? And how do we know you won’t sabotage her chances? Whoever passes this thing becomes the next ruler of the Fae right?”
Kieran looked at Claire who shrugged and motioned for them to answer Cody’s question. Her friends didn’t necessarily speak for her but she knew they had her best interests at heart. Cody might come off as a big dumb playful shifter but he hid a sharp brain under that persona.
“Technically, yes whoever passes the Traditio has historically been in line to rule. It might be different now because the Elders are ruling right now,” Kieran said.
“And to answer the first part of your question, because we believe you,” Kallan said. When Claire just looked at him blankly, he continued. “We believe you are who you say you are and that you’re family.”
He paused and Claire felt her eyebrows scrunch together as she tried to read between the lines of that statement because it felt like she was missing the significance of it. “What are you saying exactly? Are you saying the Elders don’t believe I’m Winona and Erick’s daughter?”
“Some of them probably do but Milam, he sat in the middle seat, likely has his doubts and most will follow his lead. We do though.”
Again, Claire was missing the meaning here. There had to be some reasoning behind their seeming change of heart. Or maybe Claire was overcomplicating things. From the little interaction she was having so far with the Fae, they weren’t big elaborators.
“Why? Why do you believe me when the Elders do not?”
“Your eyes first of all,” Kallan said softly. “All of our family has our eyes.”
Claire nodded slowly. That made sense. Roderick had said she and her father had the same eyes so it would make sense that it was a family trait but still. “How do you know it’s not just a freak mutation?”
Kieran and Kallan had that silent conversation again. “How much do you know about your Energy Reading abilities?” Kallan asked.
Claire’s eyebrows raised. She hadn’t said she had Energy Reading abilities to her knowledge. She had skipped over that in her story to the Fae Elders instead focusing more on the Council’s actions and the clues they had uncovered. How did they know? She could lie and say she didn’t know what they were talking about but she took a deep breath and gave herself a second to study them. Her magic was quiet in her center and Claire could sense nothing but sincerity from them. She darted her eyes to Holly’s in a silent question. When Holly nodded, Claire relaxed.
“I don’t know much,” she admitted. She had just been winging it for the last year to be honest.
“It’s a family trait,” Kallan said.
“A Royal trait?” Desmond questioned.
“No, a family trait,” Kallan corrected. “The Traditio ensures that the ruling family changes often in the Fae. Not all Royals have Energy Reading abilities but our family does. It’s rare even in the Fae. Our eyes are usually a dead giveaway of our Energy Reading abilities.”
“And you have it too,” Claire finished. She had seen Kieran use it on the battlefield to save her life while he stood a distance away with Holly. Would Claire be able to manipulate Energy from that great of a distance as well?
Kieran nodded. “Since it’s unique to our line and has proven itself very useful, powerful Fae have learned to hone it to the point where they can read the purity of intentions through a person’s Energy. Some Fae have even been able to tell if someone is telling the truth.”
Kallan looked at Kieran as he said that last sentence and Claire made a guess. “You’re able to do that.” She looked at Kieran who nodded. “And you read my Energy, I mean my intentions?”
