“Yes, you're right. In fact, it keeps getting better. Coming back here was an adventure, one that changed my life and brought me happiness.”
“I'm glad you came as well.”
We sat there holding hands and softly smiling at each other for a few minutes, just basking in what we had and what was coming.
Then Arach stood up and offered me his hand. “Would you care to dance, A Thaisce?”
I took my husband's hand and followed him to the space before the royal dais. Music was already playing, but we were the first to make use of it. We made a couple of spins around the floor and then other faeries joined us. Arach twirled me, and I laughed, my heart lighter than it had been since I'd arrived in the past. Could I stay there? Of course not. Did I want to?
A small part of me did.
But the larger part of me knew I would be torn apart by missing the rest of my family. Arach would be sad for a bit, maybe a long bit after I left, but he would understand eventually.
“So, Samara, eh?” Arach asked.
“I couldn't tell them who I really was,” I said. “Dubheasa and me have another run-in, in the future. It would go poorly if she remembered me.”
“And you think she'll forget your face?”
“Thousands of years, Arach.”
He blinked. His expression crumbled.
“Hey!” I took his face in my hands. “I'm sorry I said that. Forget about it for now. Let's just enjoy tonight and celebrate our victory.”
Arach nodded, but he did so grimly, and I knew he wouldn't forget. I'd be lucky if he let me leave Fire without a fight.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Now that we're alone,” Arach said, “tell me who took you.”
We were in the royal carriage on the way to the Earth Kingdom. We could have flown and been there much faster, but Arach changed his mind and decided on the carriage so we could talk. A man wanting to talk. Is that ever a good thing? Not this time, it wasn't.
“Arach, it's done. Leave it be.”
“It was that Kelpie, wasn't it?” Arach leaned closer. “The one you hugged.”
“Leave it be.”
“Itwashim! Fucking kidnapping, cannibalistic Kelpies!”
“He was very nice, not cannibalistic, and treated me with respect,” I tried to stop his rant before it got too intense. “He was just following orders.”
“So, he was ordered to capture you?”
I grimaced.
“As I thought,” Arach said crisply. “I assume he was the one behind the sinking villages.”
“Arach, let it go! It's done.”
“No, it's not. You'll have to tell King Rory about the Kelpie.”
“I will.”
“Nori,” he said the name as if burning it into his mind.
“Donotgo after him,” I growled. “He's the first Kelpie I've met who didn't creep me out. And he's a good person. He helped me get free, Arach. He held onto Dubheasa so I'd have time to bridle that other Kelpie. Without Nori's help, I don't think my maneuver would have gone so successfully. So. Leave. Him. Alone.”
