“Now let me ask you a question,” she says. “And I’ll ask it directly. Will you or won’t you perform the Bonding ritual with Aspen?”
This surprises me. “What?”
“A simple yes or no. Will you or won’t you?”
“How do you know we haven’t already?”
She slithers closer to me, sniffing the air like she did the day before. When she pulls away, she laughs, amusement dancing in her eyes. “No, you haven’t. There’s a distinct smell about a human who has been Bonded with a fae. You don’t have it.”
“What kind of smell would that be?” I ask, out of defensiveness more than anything.
“It is nothing a fae can explain to a human. Just know it’s obvious to all of us that you aren’t his true mate, no matter how well you lie.”
“On the contrary, I am his mate. Your ambassador was here to witness the ceremony. We—”
“You and I both know that ceremony meant nothing to you.” She flicks her wrist in a dismissive gesture. “To be honest, it hardly means much to the fae. Aspen could have a hundred mates if he wished. It is but the first of three steps required to fulfill the treaty, and even if you were to perform the human wedding next, you’d still be missing a vital piece.”
“I don’t understand.” I regret the admission as soon as the words are out of my mouth.
Melusine lets out an exaggerated gasp. “You mean he hasn’t told you?”
“Told me what?”
Her lips pull into a sympathetic smile, making my blood boil. “What a devious boy he’s been. You see, if you fail to Bond before the timeframe given by the treaty, the pact will be considered void.”
My pulse quickens at her words. “You mean we’ll revert to war?”
“It’s obvious that’s what Aspen wants, otherwise he would have told you.”
My mind is reeling for the second time today.
“Now, Evelyn, I can see you are hurt by this. I can almost promise you, my son will only hurt you more the longer you are together. End this farce and return home to your people.”
“So we can go to war?”
Her tone darkens. “So we have a chance at securing the isle for who it rightfully belongs to.”
“Which you think means the fae. The unseelie. You want this war.”
She shrugs a delicate shoulder.
“Whatever happened to the mercy you felt after giving birth to Aspen?”
“That wasn’t mercy,” she says. “That was weakness. A symptom of birthing a seelie son. I made a bargain to end the war in exchange for his life. Once the human I’d made the bargain with died, my mind became clearer little by little. I was a fool to give up the isle. And I will never be that fool again.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because our interests are aligned. I know you don’t want to do the ritual. I don’t want you to either. Promise me you won’t.”
“I can’t make that promise,” I whisper.
“You can and you will. I know you don’t love my son. Set him free. Otherwise, the ritual will Bond the two of you by the power of your names. It is a terrifying thing to give one’s name to another, and a curse to have another’s name within your control. That’s just the Bond itself I’m talking about. Think of the other heartaches you could avoid by forgoing a relationship with him. Love between a human and a fae is a tenuous thing. It’s intoxicating but devastating. If he leaves you for another, mistreats you, your heart will break, cutting deeper than any normal heartache. If you stay together, he will resent you for standing in the way of his true nature.”
I think of Doris Mason, her lifeless eyes. Of her cousin who passed away from neglect. Is that the dark side of all human-fae pairings? And what about what Aspen said? How sometimes he thinks it would be better to give up the seelie way? Could I trust he won’t eventually turn unseelie in earnest?We’ll only be allies, not lovers,I tell myself, but it doesn’t give me comfort.
She smiles knowingly. “That is no life for you. Take the mercy I am offering you. It’s only a matter of time before the treaty breaks some other way. Promise me you won’t do the ritual, and you will be allowed to live and return to your village. Warn your people. Take your mother to the mainland and escape the burden you now bear. Take as many of your people off this isle with you as you can.”
Anxiety crushes my lungs as I consider. I could take this bargain. I could take my people to safety, free them from the responsibility of upholding the treaty century after century. Let them live in freedom, no longer in the shadow of the faewall. No longer fearing fae retribution. But in turn, everyone who escapes to the mainland would lose their homes, their land, the day-to-day lives they cherish. And it would all be my fault. I feel like my legs will give out from the weight of the burden riding on my shoulders.
