“Why did Rawn remember you as an old man?” Zev asked. “You look young.”
“Why, thank you.” Leoake simpered, straightening his elegant brocade jacket. It was patterned with bronze oak leaves and branches. The shiny buttons bore the sigil of a familiar tree. “It’s not easy to remain this handsome after living several centuries. And the answer to your question is simple.” He winked at Rawn. “I made it so you saw someone else when we first met.”
Rawn rubbed his brow. “Yes, I certainly see that now. What was the purpose of that?”
At the Druid’s sly smile, Dyna glowered. “Because he knew we would come looking for him ten years later.”
The rings on Leoake’s fingers glinted as he waved nonchalantly. “For every step you make, I have already thought fifty steps ahead.”
Dyna narrowed her eyes with a sudden realization. “You sent Princess Keena to me, didn’t you?”
His smile widened into a grin. “You would have met her, eventually. I made it so you would meet sooner.”
“But she didn’t seem to know Leoake and Aston were the same person when I described you. Is this an illusion as well?” Dyna asked, motioning at him. “Or does she think you also look like an old man?”
He shrugged. “Don’t trouble yourself with that. All you need to know is everything happened as it was meant to.”
She clenched her teeth at the vague answer. How far had he manipulated her journey? It could very well have started with Lucenna’s overhearing a mention of the Druid in Corron.
“Nothing was a coincidence, was it? I’m certain you even sent Azulo to me, and it must have been you who put the scale in my boot. Why?”
“To make things more interesting, of course.”
She doubted that was the only reason. Leoake presented himself as a humorous flirt, but it was a mask to hide his schemes. He foretold their arrival in the Moors becausehewas the one who led them there. But the fae didn’t go out of their way to help someone. Not unless it benefited them. And their arrival had certainly caused a stir.
Huffing a sharp breath, she said, “You made sure we would come to the Moors, so we could free you of your geas.”
He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying, but the amused glint in his gaze was confirmation enough. “It was time to move on.”
“You didn’t like it there?”
For once, his smile lost its edge. “There are some who aim to control seers. Knowing the future is a powerful weapon to have in your arsenal.”
“You don’t strike me as someone who would allow himself to be used. How did King Dagden capture you in a geas?”
“Who said I didn’t allow it?”
The fae formed a geas through a deal. That meant he had made some sort of agreement with the king. Whatever it was, it must have been significant to trade years of his life.
“I take it you know why we’re here,” she said.
“Of course.”
Reaching into her pocket, Dyna held out the tassel of charms with shiny blue scales.
Leoake wrinkled his nose. “And what, pray tell, do I want with such a thing?”
She exchanged a confused look with her friends. “These are grindylow scales.”
“Yes, and?”
She stuttered. “Do you not trade your services for something rare and of value? Is that not why you gave one to me before?”
“My dear, the scale wasn’t an invitation but merely an incentive to keep you right where I needed you.”
Growling a curse, Zev jerked forward, but Rawn held him back. “Let me go. I want to hit him.”
“I will hold him for you,” Cassiel said, clenching his fists. “We nearly died at the fjord.”
