I blink as my overwhelmed mind tries to keep up. Why is Dyfri angry that I trust him? Why is he giving me reasons why he hates the Seelie Court? Is he trying to tell me he is not loyal?
Then the reality of what he is saying hits me like a physical blow, and I no longer care about any questions.
I think about the scars on his arm, about the way he flinched from my touch those first few days, about the careful way he holds himself like he’s always expecting violence.
Another thought slams into me, and the fury that rises in my chest is so sudden and violent it takes my breath away.
“They made you a rhocyn because of it, didn’t they? Because you were half-unseelie.”
Dyfri goes very still. “Jack...”
“They punished you for something you had no control over. For existing.” My hands are clenched into fists, andI have to consciously relax them. “How could they? You can’t choose your parents. How could they hold that against you?”
“Because,” Dyfri says quietly, “amongst the fey, bloodline is everything. And mine is tainted.”
“That’s bullshit.” The vehemence in my voice seems to surprise both of us. “You’re not tainted. You’re not responsible for who your parents were or what political games they were playing. You’re just... you.”
Something vulnerable flickers across Dyfri’s face. “You say that now. But when you really understand what unseelie blood means...”
“I understand that it means you’ve been treated like shit your entire life for something that isn’t your fault,” I interrupt. “I understand that it means every cruel thing that’s been done to you was done by people who decided you were guilty of existing.”
Dyfri stares at me, his eyes wide with something that might be shock.
“And I understand,” I continue, my voice full of conviction. “That it probably means you have very good reasons for wanting to see the seelie defeated. Because why should you be loyal to people who’ve never shown you an ounce of genuine loyalty in return?”
For a long moment, neither of us speaks. Then Dyfri lifts his chin.
“I am loyal to the Seelie Court. I want them to withdraw from Earth for their own good.”
“If you say so,” I breathe softly because I’ll take his word. And I can believe he is a better man than I am.
I’ve never been a vengeful person, but right now I want Dyfri to smite them all. He deserves nothing less than that satisfaction.
Dyfri’s dark eyes are uncertain. Then his breath catches, just slightly.
“You’re not... disgusted? Afraid?”
“Afraid of what? That you have no reason to like the people who hurt you and made your life miserable? That you might be part of a court that values chaos over rigid hierarchy? That you might have inherited some kind of rebellious streak?” I almost laugh. “Dyfri, if anything, it makes me like you even more.”
“Jack...” he starts to say. Then something breaks in his expression, the careful mask crumbling completely. “You mean that.”
“I mean that.” I reach for his hand, threading our fingers together.
“You truly don’t care that I’m half-unseelie?”
“I’m not seelie. Or even fey. So why should I care?”
Dyfri blinks and then turns away. But he doesn’t pull his hand away from mine. He holds my hand while he battles to compose himself.
I take several deep breaths and try to pull myself together too. My outrage that the entire fey court is nothing but a nest of bullies, is fully justified, but I can’t exactly go and punch them all.
What I can do is plot and plan to kick them out of my world. It might be a mercy to send them back before their other enemies attack, or it might simply be revenge. Either way, they will be gone. Earth will belong to humans once more.
I’m not as naïve as my husband thinks I am, so I’m not entirely sure what Dyfri’s motives are. Vengeance or loyalty. I suspect there are moments when he is not sure himself. But it doesn’t matter because the end result is the same.
Dyfri wants the fey to go home.
And in that, we are united.
