“I can teach you how to woo your woman.”
A female who does not exist. What a mess I have put myself in.
Tell her the truth.
If I do, she will never speak to me again, and how then will I survive? I crave her attention, even if it is under false pretenses. “How would you know? You are Seelie.”
“I’m still a woman. I know what we like.”
What doyoulike, Nia Quill?
How I long to ask the question. To speak the truth of my feelings and not have her run away screaming.
Since that cannot happen, I smile and say, “All right.”
Perhaps one day my lie will be true, and I will find an Unseelie interested in my affections. Then I can use this advice to my advantage.
“First, you cannot seem too eager,” Nia says with a nod that makes her curly hair and ribbons bounce. “That will send women running in the opposite direction.”
I turn her words over in my mind, trying to make sense of their meaning. “You think I should act as if I care less to make her care more?” This cannot be the case.
“Yes. No. I mean . . . You can care, but not so much. Coming on too strong, especially at the beginning, can be off-putting. Not everyone is ready to jump in with both feet.”
Does one jump with only one foot still on the land? Is that even a jump?
Care less.
This makes no sense, but what I have been doing thus far has not worked, so why not try what Nia is suggesting?
Although, I am not sure I know how to care less for Nia Quill. She is all I think about from the moment I wake to the time I close my eyes at night. Well, her and Biscuits. And food, I suppose.
Perhaps I can channel some of my caring into Biscuits. He could use a new rope, since he chewed through the last one. Sometimes he becomes smelly when I bring him to the fields to frolic with his friends. Perhaps I will give him a bath and a trim as well.
“What is second?” I ask, desperate for more of her wisdom.
Nia’s gaze snaps to mine, her face turning pink from the sun. “What do you mean?”
“You said first, I should care less. I assume there is a second lesson?”
“Oh, yes. Um . . . I’ll have to think about it. Meet me outside my house tomorrow around noon?”
She wishes for me to meet her? This is working out better than I could have imagined.
I agree and then leave with a simple word of thanks to keep from appearing too eager.
Maybe this lie was not so bad after all.
7
“Wine causes as many problems as it solves.”
— Nia Quill, An Observation
The wine spilling from the amber bottle into my glass might very well be the death of me. I love wine, but it does not always love me back. I have told my cousin this on multiple occasions, but Kerris does not pay me any heed.
“That’s plenty,” I say.
Kerris rolls the bottle, stemming the steady flow before setting it down on the bedside table next to her own equally full glass.
