“You're not wrong,” Roarke agreed with him. “I'll stick to my Fire Cats, thank you very much.”
“Thank Faerie,” Anna muttered.
The children laughed boisterously and Roarke turned a grimace on them. But then the man returned with Hunter's repaired bow and handed it back to the Fire Cat Prince. Jubilant declarations of gratitude were lavished upon the Sidhe who had repaired the bow as well as Arach, then the children urgently requested to be excused. Once permission was given from both sets of parents, the three boys ran from the dining hall to go—and I quote—shoot anything that doesn't move. It was thedoesn't movepart that put my mind at ease but it didn't have the same effect on Arach.
My husband stood up and shouted, “Halt!”
The three princes came to a screeching stop in the middle of the dining hall and slowly turned to face the fury of the Dragon King.
“You will not go releasing arrows randomly within my kingdom,” Arach announced. “If you wish to use that weapon, you will report to the archery field, where Master Baelin will teach you how to handle a bow and arrow properly.”
“Aw, Dad!” Rian whined. “We were going to go into Weeping Woods and pretend to be Robin Hoodlum.”
“First off, it is RobinHood, not Hoodlum,” Arach took great delight in being the one to do the correcting for once. “Second, you are not yet competent enough with that weapon to be set loose upon the residents of the Weeping Woods, willy-nelly.”
“Willy-nilly,” I whispered to him.
Arach glowered at me.
“Nelly is fine.” I held up my hand in surrender.
“Once you have proven your competence and responsibility, we will discuss whether you may range out to the woods,” Arach went on. “Until then, report to Master Baelin as I instructed.”
“Yes, King Arach,” Hunter said as he started pulling on Rian's sleeve. “Come on! Let's go before he says that we can't shoot at all.”
Rian made an annoyed face but followed his friend's wise advice and left with great haste.
“You planned that as soon as you saw that bow, didn't you?” I asked my husband after he resumed his seat.
Arach smiled smugly. “It's about time that they start their training. A bow is the easiest weapon to learn which makes it the perfect one to begin with.”
“Training?” I frowned at him. “Training for what?”
“For being men.” Arach stared at me as if he wasn't sure if I were teasing him. “They areprinces. That means that they will need to learn the art of war so they can lead their people in battle.”
“What battle? We're not going to war.”
“Not today, but our faeries have partaken in several battles, many on your behalf, A Thaisce.”
“I think you meanparticipatedin, not partaken. Partaken means to receive or to consume.”
“I meant exactly what I said.” He grinned viciously, displaying his fangs. “We are the Wild Hunt, wepartakein war, not merely participate. This is who we are. Do you think that will change in ten years?”
“Ten years?” I nearly shrieked. “You want our sons on a battlefield inten years?”
“They will be grown men by then, Vervain,” he said gently.
“In ten years?” I whispered, my voice gone pitiful. “They'll be teenagers, that's not grown men.”
“With their advanced maturity, it makes them closer to what humans call young adults,” he reminded me. “And that makes them men. At least, it will if I have anything to do with it.”
“Leave my babies alone,” I whimpered.
“We will surely have Samara by then,” he pointed out. “You'll have a daughter to baby.”
“That doesn't mean I want my other babies to be adults,” I grumbled. “That's not fair.”
“Don't worry, I'm willing to father as many children with you as you want,” Arach said magnanimously.
