“Please, A Thaisce. I will tell them you cannot stay. I just want you to meet them.”
I sighed, a great gust of breath coming out of my mouth with a shower of sparks. “This could have terrible repercussions, Arach.”
“No, it won't. I won't allow it to.”
That was his dragon talking. The problem was, mine was just as confident. I descended, and Arach roared in triumph.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Meeting the faeries of Castle Aithinne was bittersweet. Most of them were already known to me, but some were unfamiliar, which made me wonder if they had died before I came to Faerie. If so, I was glad to have met them, but also sad to know they wouldn't live to see me a second time. The first to approach us was, of course, Isleen. I had to restrain myself from hugging her.
“You've done well with Arach,” I said instead. “Mostly. His treatment of women is a little lacking.”
Isleen's eyes went wide. “That could not be helped. He is a Dragon-Sidhe, and their passions—your passions—are legendary.”
“Oh, for Cinderella's sake,” I huffed. “You sound like him.”
She blinked. Slowly.
“I know you did the best you could, and that it wasn't easy on you. And I hope you know that you're loved, Isleen. You're a part of our family.” I shook her hand.
The Leanan-Sidhe woman gaped at me, her hand trembling in mine. But she was made of stout stuff, our Isleen. She rallied quickly and inclined her head to me. “Thank you, my Queen. I'm honored.”
Yup. They were already calling me queen. What was going to happen when I showed up in Faerie, not knowing any of them? With my dragon reined in, that was starting to trouble me.
“She's right, Isleen,” Arach said. “You are family.”
Isleen bowed quickly, then rushed away. I caught a glimpse of her blinking rapidly.
As she fled around a corner, I whispered to Arach, “You'll have to instruct them to act as if they don't know me when we meet in the future.”
“Vervain, trust me. I will handle everything. I don't want to risk our future either,” he said. “Our family isn't just important to me, it's also important to the Kingdom of Fire.”
“If that were true, we wouldn't be here, having a party for me,” I grumbled.
“It will be fine, A Thaisce.” Arach put his arm around me.
After landing, we had shifted into our weredragon bodies, but then Arach took me upstairs to change. He had more clothing ready for me, and the sight of the dresses hanging in his wardrobe made me nervous. Especially when I recognized a few that he'd given me after enchanting me and tricking me into returning to Faerie. But Arach hadn't tried to chain me again. I suppose he couldn't, not if he wanted me to walk among the castle nobles and staff, smiling and being polite.
But he wasn't getting me back upstairs. Not on this trip.
Making our way through the court, staff, and faeries who had flocked to the castle to meet me took a while. About an hour in, I saw Breck. Breck, who had been killed in the war with Earth. I wasn't prepared for the sight of her and nearly burst into tears. She was standing among her suitors, grinning up at them like Scarlet O'Hara. Breck was one of the faeries who had taught me to see true beauty. Maybe the first one. I still vividly recalled watching her admire herself in the polished surface of a shield, pushing her stringy hair back with her chubby little fingers to better display her three bulbous eyes. Just like that day, she preened and stroked the flaky scales on her cheeks as her leathery lips spread in a smile. Breck saw herself as beautiful. Stunning even. And so did all the other Goblins. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or in three eyes.
“A Thaisce?” Arach asked, his hand on my back. “What's wrong.”
“Kill them all!”my voice rang in my memories.
That had been my response to Breck's death. Wars in Faerie were not supposed to involve death. You could tear limbs from torsos and rend flesh, but not kill. It wasn't polite. We had followed the rules until Queen Aalish broke them. Then we had decimated the Earth Army. Rage poured through me again, even as tears ran down my cheeks. Oh, sweet Breck. A casualty of Aalish's hatred for me.
I sniffed and swiped at my eyes. “I'm fine. I . . . I can't tell you.” I walked away from him, going straight to Breck.
Breck blinked her three eyes up at me and nervously rubbed at the slimy patches on her scaly skin. “My Queen.” She bobbed into a bow along with the other Goblins.
“Hello, Breck,” I said as I crouched to her height. Amazingly, my voice didn't break when I asked, “Would you mind terribly, if I hugged you?”
Her eyes went even wider. “You do me an honor so great. I cannot fathom why I would wait. But my Queen, I am confused you see. Why would you want to hug me?”
Ah, the sweet melody of Goblin speech. Now, I was truly in a fairy tale.
