“I am very strong and can climb without tiring.”
I do not care how strong she is. I want assurance that my Nia is safe.
“She is as brave as she is beautiful,” the Chieftain says with a pat on my shoulder. “I will give you time alone to speak.”
The Chieftain leaves us, and I sink onto the stool across from Raven, steadying my heart. “I assume the Seelie reached the top of the canyon safely.”
Raven’s chin lifts, her gaze meeting mine with defiance. “They were alive when I left them in their world. After that, I cannot say.”
My hands bunch into fists. While the Seelie lands are infinitely safer than ours, there could still be dangers on the journey to Rosehill. The wolves have breached the canyon before; there is no telling if this could have happened again.
The way Raven folds her arms pushes her ample chest higher. This is meant as a distraction, but I do not take her bait. I would rather stare at a worm than this female.
“You are handsome, and your body is not soft like the elder males in our clan,” she says. “I would agree to mate with you.”
This directness is meant to sway me? “I have a mate.”
“The Seelie?”
“Her name is Nia Quill.” Raven knows this because I have told her many times. Continuing to call her “the Seelie” is meant as a slight to my Nia. One I refuse to allow.
Raven unfolds her arms and then withdraws a short dagger, using the tip to clean her nails. “I wonder . . . Does yourNia Quillunderstand what it means to be mated?”
“Why would you say this?”
She shrugs. “Nia Quilland the Seelie male seemed very close. They shared many intimate embraces.”
How intimate does she mean?
It does not matter. Nia has told me that she does not love the Nolan any longer. Of course, this does not mean that she loves me, but I have faith that someday, I will hear those words fall from her lips.
Raven switches hands. “If the male was my mate, I would not like to see him kissing another female.”
“Nia would not kiss him. That is a lie.”
She slams the blade into the wooden tabletop, making me jump. “You dare accuse me of lying when I saw them?”
Raven does not smile at me, but I can see the flicker in her eyes. One that says I am a fool for trusting a Seelie fae.
There must be an explanation. I know this.
But I have never been chosen before. Why would a female as beautiful and as perfect as Nia settle for a male like me? Alone. Abandoned. Untrustworthy.
Ripping the dagger free, Raven levels the deadly tip at my face. “Seelie are not faithful, and to pursue one is folly. Surely you have heard the tales of our destruction at their hands.”
I have heard the tales, yes, but they are told around bonfires alongside those fantastical great adventures. Stories that bleed out truth as they are passed through the ages, leaving an empty husk that serves the purpose of the one doing the telling.
I know the truth about the Seelie, have seen them with my own eyes. Let one into my heart. There are some who are evil and wicked, yes, but they are outweighed by the kind. Like Kerris and Nia. Madame Ella who makes the fancy dresses. The stable hands who tend to Dusk. The farmer who sells me corn for my Biscuits.
In this, Raven will not change my mind.
“My closest friend is mated to a Seelie fae, and I have seen their devotion to one another. I do not care that Nia is Seelie.” I would not care if she were a goat. “She owns my heart, and I trust her to keep it safe.”
Raven shoves back from the table, her stool clattering to the stone ground. “Then you are a fool.” She stalks out of the room, leaving me in peace.
Until the next Unseelie female arrives.
My night and the following day continue this way. There are many names, but I do not learn them. There is no point when Nia will be returning tomorrow. The females are deft with dagger, sword, and bow. It is intriguing that they are allowed to hunt and protect their clan when our females do not venture far from camp for fear they will be lost to the wolves.
