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“Yes. He’s gone. The other two won’t be a problem anymore either.”
Nua exhaled, smoothing back his neat hair. “Well, that is a relief. For us and I’m sure for Lonan.”
I smiled. “Yeah. He’s so much happier. He’s… different. In a good way.”
“Well, whatever you two decide to do in terms of living arrangements, we will support you.” Nua looked at Gillie, who nodded. “We’d like to go back to our home every now and then, but we’ll be here to keep an eye on things while you’re with Lonan.”
“Thank you,” I said, voice thick. Darting forward, I hugged my brother again.
He affectionately cupped my cheek for a moment when we parted, solid green eyes glimmering. “We would do anything for you, Ash.”
“We love you, lad,” Gillie said gruffly, turning away to scrub hastily at his eyes.
“I love you both too.” I cleared my throat to get rid of the lump in it. “Oh, Lonan wants you both at his coronation. He’s not having it until the Bitter Months come, but he wanted me to tell you.”
“We’d be honoured.” Nua grinned, stepping back to wrap his arm around Gillie’s waist.
“And Sanya,” I added, giving them a tentative smile. I still felt terrible for her brief stint in the dungeon. “In fact, I want to ask Sanya if she’d like to be my emissary. Kind of. Mainly just so she can go and visit Lonan under the guise of official seelie business.”
“I’m sure she’d be delighted,” Nua said with an easy smile. “It will be nice for the borders to not be so closed. It was never supposed to be this way, you know. So separated and rivalrous. The courts are supposed to work in harmony.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem with those two.” Gillie shot me a teasing grin.
I chuckled sheepishly, scrubbing a hand through my hair. “No, probably not. I’m actually not staying long. Lonan and I have to do something. But do you want to have dinner together tonight?”
“Yes, that would be lovely.” Nua cocked his head. “Whatever it is you two have to do… It’s not dangerous, is it?”
I chuckled. “No, it’s not dangerous. But…” I looked at Gillie. “I do have a favour to ask.”
“A favour for the seelie king, eh?” he teased. “Anything, lad. What do you need?”
I grinned at him. “I need some of those magic mushrooms.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Lonan
I decided to wait until just before dawn to visit the gancanagh.
There were only a few short hours during the day when the village was completely still and silent, when all Folk were sleeping. I knew that well from my time doing the Carlin’s bidding.
Sometimes she would make me slaughter Folk in plain sight, in front of many, if they had, in her opinion, slighted her in a way that made her want to send a message to all the others. But often, she’d preferred me to kill Folk while they were in their beds, in their homes. In the places they should have felt safest.
The gancanagh lived above his shop. He had shared it with his cousin, until the Carlin had made me kill him for trying to charge her personal dressmaker too much for some thread.
No wonder everyone had despised her. And despised me—the one forced to actually do her bidding.
That was why I had decided to wait. Slaughtering an unseelie fae within the first few weeks of my reign was not the impression I wanted to make. But the gancanagh had it coming.
Shifting into a tiny spider, I slipped through the keyhole of the dressmaker’s front door. It was dark in here, but I could see that the dressing room’s curtain had been replaced. My mouth curved into a fond smile as I passed it, remembering when Ash and I had met there in secret during the Winter Solstice.
My boots were silent on the steps as I made my way upstairs, wrinkling my nose at the strong scent permeating the air. Something sweet and cloying that the gancanagh no doubt doused himself in. Four doors led off the landing. I opened the first, finding a dark living space with an unlit hearth. The second was a washroom, the third an empty bedroom that clearly hadn’t been used in a while. Probably the dead cousin’s.
I opened the fourth door and paused on the threshold. The bed was empty.
Taking a single step into the room, I scanned it keenly. It was neat, the most prominent item a large dressing table cluttered with jars and pots and ornate hairbrushes—several of them. Drawing my dagger, I opened the cupboard door, but there was no gancanagh hiding among the clothes. Turning, I looked at the bed. It was made, like it hadn’t been slept in.
He’d known I would be coming.
