“You would be too if you were raised in the land of enchantment and legends.”
“The land of legends, huh? I should have known it was important when Keats told me to read thatLegends and Loversbook. It’s the key to understanding all of you.”
“Aye. You’ll find more of yourself in its pages than anyone else.”
“Myself?” I asked.
“Sure, lass. If reading stories like that doesn’t leave you with a piece of them inside you, you’re doing it wrong.”
“Aye…” I murmured, thinking on the twisted stories I’d read so far.
“You look sleepy. Have I bored ya already?”
“No, no. I just haven’t been sleeping well.” I set the remainder of my darts on the table near my empty pint glass.
“Give me a minute, and I’ll walk you up to Leith.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine. Thank you, though, for the offer and the darts. It’s the most fun I’ve had at Leith since I arrived.”
“The Hazelwood’s here for ye anytime, lass.”Harris watched me carefully as I turned at the front doors to wave back at him. “And mind ye don’t wander too closet’thawicked deep.”
The door slammed before I could reply, and I was too tired to think twice anyway. I wandered back to Leith slowly, cutting through the mist by the light of the moon and thinking of the story in theLegends and Loversbook I was headed back to read.
Olympia
“Olympia Aberdeen, I swear I’ll sacrifice myself on a dagger’s blade if you ignore me again.”
I muffled a giggle with my hand, but Roderick snagged my wrist and placed a chaste kiss on the soft flesh there. A thrill shot through my skin at his touch. He was younger than me, but he always made me smile. Unlike his elder brother, Alaric, whose mean streak ran deeper and colder than the waters of the fairy pools behind Leith.
“You’re dramatic, Roderick Macgregor.”
“That’s because everything about you keeps me on tenterhooks. Let’s leave this place, just you and me. Imagine how big the world is outside Leith’s walls.”
“I know how big it is. I don’t live inside Leith’s walls.”
“Or under its incorrigible ruler.”
“Your father doesn’t rule anything,” I huffed. “He only thinks he does.”
“He’s been titled by the King of England. He’s a Scottish baron—”
“And he’ll ne’erlet anyone forget it.”
Roderick bumped his shoulder with mine as our feet dangled over the rock ledge, toes dipping in the cool waters of the crystal-clear fairy pools. “You soften him, ya know?”
I scrunched my nose and replied, “Who?”
“Alaric. He’s relaxed around you. I see you talk to him sometimes. What does he talk about?”
I shrugged. “He doesn’t tell you?”
“He doesn’t talk to anyone anymore.” Roderick skipped a stone halfheartedly into the pool nearest us. “Father is worried.”
“Well, it’s your father that’s the problem,” I replied, thinking of a few scattered comments Alaric had made in the past.
“So says everyone else on this island. How do you get him to talk to you like that?”
“I don’t know. How do I get you to talk to me like that?”
