Lirian frowned. “That’s rude.”
“Is it?” Holland murmured. I arched a brow at that. Turning over a glass, Holland poured liquid a color somewhere between pink and purple into it. He glanced over at me as he placed the carafe down. “May I call you Poppy? Calling you Penellaphe is…awkward for me.”
I blinked. “Why would it be awkward?”
“His wife,” Lirian said in a tone that suggested he found what he was about to say foolish. “Her name is the same as yours.”
“Your wife…” My eyes widened. “Is your wife…?”
“Your namesake?” One side of his lips curled up, and his smile warmed his ageless features. “Yes.”
Could I see her—wait. Fates got married? That seemed too…domesticated for such all-knowing beings.
“You were pulled beyond the Veil because of the Awakening,” Holland went on, leaving me no time to dwell on the fact that he was married to the goddess.
My hands fisted as he took a drink. “Because of the Awakening? And here I thought I was just pulled there to get my ass handed to me while you were—oh, wait. I have no idea what you were doing as I was being choked out.”
He lowered his glass. “He rendered me unconscious.”
I scoffed. “I know what the Fates truly are. Am I supposed to believe that an Ancient was knocked unconscious?”
“I’m not indestructible. Neither are you.”
“No, shit,” I snapped.
Holland stared at me, some kind of emotion tightening the corners of his lips. “I would’ve preferred to get you out of therebeforethe Ancient rose because I dreaded that he would respond to you exactly as he did.”
“You mean wake up and start attacking me for no reason?”
“You must understand,” Holland said. “He never would’ve felt anything like you before: a female carrying the essence of both life and death within. He would’ve viewed you as a threat.”
“Because I’m a woman with power?” I stared at him. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s what it sounds like to me,” Lirian commented.
“No, I’m—” Holland cut himself off with a frown. “Yes, that is what I’m saying,” he said, sending an arch glare toward the other Ancient. “Unless Lirian has anythinghelpfulto add.”
Lirian remained quiet.
Holland said, “You saw the Great Creation while in stasis, did you not? You probably noticed something.”
“I noticed many things,” I said, but I got what he was getting at. “They were all male.”
“We developed into the male sex,” Lirian commented. “And even we cannot tell you why.”
“Sounds like some bullshit to me,” I said under my breath, to which Lirian scowled.
“A being such as you is completely unknown to him. Instinct would’ve led him to assert dominance over that.” Holland stopped and frowned. “We’re not entirely sure what occurred in that realm to cause them to go to ground or react in such a manner when the other woke.”
Lirian frowned. “What do you mean?”
I was this close to asking if hisvadentiawas failing him. “When the second one pulled himself from the ground, the first one attacked.”
Lirian’s frown deepened. “That’s…abnormal.”
“And concerning,” Holland commented.
“But not our problem at the moment,” Lirian said, his suddenly cheery tone startling me. “Anyway—”
