“Thad and I have different views on many things. One of those things is the significance of intermingling with the human species and how it’s viewed by different Fae.”
He paused and cast the approaching server a shaded glance before plastering his smile back on his mouth. He indicated to her to place her order, which she declined. How the hell was she supposed to eat when her stomach twisted in more knots than she could begin to count? It didn’t stop him from ordering a full meal, handing the server their menus, and waiting until she was out of sight before resuming his solemn expression.
“Let me tell you a story. It’s not like your traditional fairytales, though. There once lived a beautiful Seelie princess, born of the seed of Dagda, King of Realms. She was spoiled, selfish, and narrowminded. She was coddled and coaxed and doted on by those in power. She became a powerful princess, and a masterful manipulator. As time went on, she began to present ideas to further strengthen the Seelie breed. Her visions of a perfect Faery blurred the ethical linesof right and wrong, becoming twisted and hypocritical, but those who followed her believed in her vision, blinded by their own self-righteousness to see the dangerous game she played.
“You see, one particular race of Fae is the Talaenian race. They’re a very prominent presence in our world, especially since they are the creation of pureblooded Fae falling in love with humans and creating new generations of mix-blooded Fae. They were believed to be inferior to the Seelie due to their diluted bloodlines and presumed faulty magic and lesser power. However, that can’t be further from the truth. Their leader descends from a very powerful High Fae and he possesses untouched power from his paternal bloodline. His father had been one of Dagda’s most valued members of Court. One of his most trusted men, until he fell in love with a human woman.
“This is where things take that hypocritical twist. Daeanna, the crazy princess, obsessed over the leader of the Talaenian people. Used to getting everything she wanted, his rejection sparked outrage from the princess. She set up the leader to make it appear that he caused mass causalities among humans one night. She then used her standing as princess to barter for his life. She cursed him for two hundred years, making him her property. He despised her to his very core and fought against his curse each day. He refused her day after day, night after night, until her demands could not be fought. But it left her bed cold more often than not. So she came up with another plan.
“That’s when Daeanna took a young, naïve man into her fold and made him her lover. I’ve always speculated she chose Thad because of the friendship Thad and Shaye once had. What better way to weaken an adversary than to drive a wedge between him and those closest to him, right? Well,during the following years, she molded her new minion into the perfect ally, the perfect weapon, the perfect pawn in her deceitful game. She somehow broke down a man who once protected innocents and provided for those less fortunate and turned him into a cold, calculating creature who obsessed over her as much as she obsessed over the Talaenian leader.”
Rori couldn’t help but sense that Cael’s words hung on more than a story. The smooth insertion of his brother’s old ways led her to believe he reminisced of a time when the murderous beast she’d seen in his condo held the capacity to care.
He clung to a sliver of hope.
Her heart ached for him as he took another drink of water. The joy she’d been so used to seeing in Cael muted when he turned his face back to her. The silver of his eyes dulled, sadness haunting his expression. Sorrow tensed the skin around his eyes and the air that had settled over the table filled her with a sense of longing.
“Not so long ago, there was a battle. A battle that took place on Talaenian soil, led by Daeanna and her devout followers. Thaddeus nearly lost his life, if rumor speaks any truth. I’ve heard multiple versions, but they all end the same. He was shot through twice by arrows and left for dead on the grounds. When the proverbial dust cleared, his body was nowhere to be found. He’d been presumed dead.” He snickered, his fingers gingerly touching his neck where Thaddeus’s blade had nicked the night before. “Obviously, he’s alive and well, having survived a doomed attack. Whether or not the stories of his fall are true, only he knows that and only he will divulge it.”
She pictured arrows piercing through the beast and winced. “You’d think if it’s true, that he’d repent his old ways and try to live his second chance a little humbler.”
“Which is why I’m not sure if I believe the rumors.”
“What happened with the princess?”
The last words left a foul taste on her tongue. Princess. Thaddeus’slover. He’d a lover for a hundred years who held station in his world. No wonder he didn’t care for humans. She bore witness to how humans treated each other on a daily basis, those of higher class and status looking down on those less fortunate.
“Oh, she was killed by Dagda.”
Rori’s eyes widened. “Her own father?” Cael nodded once. “Oww,” Rori hissed with a wince. A brother wanting to kill a brother. A father killing his daughter. What the hell was she getting herself into here? “Yeah, not sure I’m really a fan of the Fae right now. My flamboyant fantasy novels at least have happy endings.” She shook her head. “And the leader who was cursed by her. Is he free now?”
“I think that was the tipping point for Daeanna. When he came across his soul mate, or what we callanam cara, she was able to break the curse. It made Daeanna lose her shit. Dagda tried to punish her by stripping her of her powers and turning her into a mortal, but someone managed to give her a Fae potion that restored her powers. Honestly, the havoc she wreaked on our realms is punishable by death. She had received a free pass because of who her father was. Ultimately, he did what was right. She tried to kill many innocent Fae and humans, succeeded on some accounts, and Dagda stopped the tyrannical behavior before more destruction occurred.”
Silence grew between them. The server returned with Cael’s appetizers and laid them out before leaving again. Cael made no move to help himself to the food.
At last, Rori released a heavy breath and pinched her forehead. A dull throb had started in her temple. The more she letherself indulge in this story, the more that ache pulsed. The harder her heart pumped and the tighter the knots in her stomach grew.
Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this very moment. When fantasy became her new reality. She could try to trick herself into believing this would all go away, but the effort she’d been putting into that thought process drained her faster than if she learned to accept the impossible truth.
Deep in her soul, she knew this wasn’t going away.
This was her new normal.
“What does this have to do with Cassy and me, other than being humans and Cassy being your girlfriend? Why have I become a target and not my friend, not that I wish that on her?”
Cael straightened in his seat, finally helping himself to grape leaves and falafel. “You’re intuitive, sweet.” He nudged the plates toward her, but she quietly declined. “There’s no target that I’m aware of.”
“You claim I’m intuitive. If not because of a target, then how? Why?”
He shook his head. “No, there’s no target. Not on Thad’s behalf, at least. And hopefully your predicament will remain a secret to protect you until I learn more about this new movement that’s hell-bent on wiping out half the Seelie race because we enjoy our human counterparts.”
“Why the riddles, Cael?” Her fingers fisted in her lap. “Why can’t you just tell me what the hell’s going on?”
Cael considered her for a long while, a piece of his stuffed leaf on the end of his fork, inches from his mouth. Those silver eyes cut through her, not in any offensive way, but the acuity with which he regarded her made her shift in her chair. He was sizing her up, gauging whether she couldaccept the truth. She understood that look in her gut. The calm before the storm.
He lowered his fork without taking his bite, not breaking their gaze. “Fae of all kinds have a natural barrier to protect our true appearance from humans. It’s glamour. It’s not something we need to put in place, but rather it activates when we’re around humans in order to protect not only us but the human race from how we truly appear. On rare occasions, humans with high sensitivity to things of the occult or those who have mage blood from the days of mages and magic can see through the glamour.”
A tenuous wave of relief hit her. She finally found it in herself to smile. “So that’s it. I must be of mage lineage or something. With my roots based out of Ireland, it wouldn’t surprise me. That’s why I can see you two. Something with him must’ve connected with me and destroyed the glamour.”
