Guyan nodded at me. “You’ve done better for yourself than I expected. The stories I heard from your brother made me think I’d need to storm the dungeon and free you from chains.”
“You spoke to my brother?” I nearly jumped up from the table.
The cousin chuckled. “Yes. I’ve been in Terrarinmarin for some time, but when I returned to the hills a few weeks ago, rumors of a human going crazy at the border of Sirun made me curious. I found him, and we talked quite a bit.”
Guyan tossed a grape into his mouth and waved his hand toward Aedan. “Did you know her brother can break the barrier? Both the fae’s curse and the protective layers you put up before that?”
Aedan’s hand held my knee a little tighter, as if the pressure would keep him calm. “I did know.”
Guyan leaned over the table. “Aedan. You could use him to end the curse. Think what that would mean for everyone here. You included—are you still a monster during the day?”
Aedan’s voice tightened. “I am.”
“So why not use this human to break the fae’s hold on you?”
Aedan stiffened, so I dropped a hand under the table and touched his. He flipped his palm over and gripped mine with an almost-frantic force, as if apologizing all over again for the day we’d met. “Two reasons,” he ground out.
Guyan leaned back and picked up another grape. “Do tell.”
“One. I do not know where he is, and I cannot leave the barrier myself to find him. Two, I do not think he would be amenable to helping me.”
Guyan laughed. “I’d forgotten how strict and somber youwere. Let me solve all your problems. One. He is roaming the woods outside the boundary to Sirun, trying to convince someone to come rescue his sister.” He dipped his chin dramatically at me. “Who clearly does not need rescuing. He refuses to enter the boundary himself because he thinks it would mean her death.”
He looked at me expectantly, as if I should explain the question he didn’t ask. I met his eyes and lifted my chin. I did not feel obligated to explain anything to him, and I already agreed with Mylo. He was up to something.
Aedan’s aunt sniffed. “That’s because the entire reason Callista is here is as collateral to keep her brother out.”
Aedan leaned forward. “No. That was the reason shecamehere. She is now my guest, and I have already explained—more than once—that she is to be afforded every convenience and luxury we would offer any visiting royal.”
A satisfied smile spanned Guyan’s face. “Well, that explains quite a lot. I wonder if we shouldn’t send someone to alert young Alastor to the fact that his sister is happy? Perhaps encourage him to live a life that isn’t preoccupied with convincing people to challenge a drekkan king?”
Aedan’s hand had tightened around mine during the conversation. I didn’t want to do anything at Guyan’s suggestion, but I also didn’t want Alastor wandering around the forest forever. “Can we do that? Send someone to tell him?”
“Of course.” Aedan finally turned from Guyan to me. “If I’d had any idea he was still out there, I would have done something ages ago.”
I squeezed his hand back. “I know.”
Guyan swallowed a bite of meat and dabbed at his chin with a napkin. “I’m glad we’ve resolved this. I’d feel terrible leaving him out there for years.”
Acantha reached a hand over to Guyan’s arm. “What were your thoughts on the curse? Surely you’ve had some ideas since you managed to get through the barrier?”
“Yes, Sena,” he said. “I believe—” He paused, like an actor building drama on the stage. After scanning all five of us, he spread his arms and placed his palms on the table. “I have many reasons to believe that Callista and Alastor’s mother was the fae who cursed Aedan and the barrier.”
He clearly expected a big response, but instead Mylo buried his face in his goblet, the aunt sighed, and Fagan bit back a chuckle.
Guyan folded his arms. “You already knew.” That elf could read people so easily it was scary.
“Yes,” Aedan answered. “We knew.” He promptly placed a bite of chicken in his mouth so he wouldn’t have to say anything else.
Guyan recovered quickly. “Well, then you’ve probably already discussed the possibility that since her blood runs in their veins, they could destroy the curse.”
Acantha’s brows lifted as she turned to Aedan. He shook his head. “No, it is not so simple. As you’ve already discovered, Callista and Alastor are only half fae. Callista does not have any magic that will fight curses.”
Guyan’s trouble-filled grin casually loped across his face. It was like Koan’s, but more sinister. “Then it’s a good thing I’ve come home. I think I can find a solution.”
Chapter 30: Aedan
Iwasn’t sure if Mylo’s warning was predisposing me to see trouble where none existed, or if Guyan’s friendly helpfulness really did feel more sinister than I’d noticed before. The way he’d offered his help, and then abruptly been distracted by this year’s karkin hatching, and then the nobles inside Sirun, and then which cooks remained, and then rearranging the hall for a dance seemed like an ominous foreshadowing of an idea I wouldn’t like. He’d given just enough to get me curious and then jumped from one topic to another until the meal was over.
