His eyes flashed with a wickedness that made her toes curl in her boots. “One of us is lying then.”
“Well, it’s not me,” she sad hotly. “I can’t lie, remember? Or do you forget what fae are like, since all you ever do is fly across the Sea of Fomor to kill them?”
Lir’s smile died, and his eyes burned with darkness. “The Namhaid can lie.”
Blood pounded through Eislyn’s veins. Her voice was a whisper when she spoke. “Then it can’t be me.”
“Have you ever tried to lie?” he asked quietly, the crackling fire almost drowning out his voice.
She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know.”
“You haven’t tried then.”
“No, I truly don’t know,” she said, exasperation rising up inside of her and threatening to fill her eyes with tears. She hated this conversation. She hated this whole damn thing. It terrified her. The Namhaid. The destroyer of worlds. Their trip to visit the gods. Just as she had begun to feel as if she had strength inside her bones, she was thrust toward a fate she did not want.
“How can you not know?” he asked.
Her hands fisted. “Because I don’t remember more than half of my life.”
“Ah.” He patted the ground beside him once again. “Come sit, Eislyn.”
With a heavy sigh, she shuffled toward him and plopped onto the pallet beside him. She stared into the flames, wondering at the oranges and reds. Fire was unlike any other element in the world, even ice. It was vivid. It was powerful. It could sweep across the lands, destroying everything in its path.
Eislyn turned her gaze toward the darkness beyond the camp. “Those waters. Is that the Muir Sea?”
“Aye,” he said with a nod. “And far past the horizon, there’s another land. The realm of the dragon shifters. I’m sure you’ve read about them in your books.”
“A little,” Eislyn admitted. “But our history doesn’t say much about them. Father knew one of the dragon shifters a long time ago, I think, but he rarely speaks of it. I’m not sure why.”
“Their realm is often in turmoil, much like yours has been.” Lir sighed. “It seems most kingdoms and empires either fail or turn to war. Peace is such a foreign thing for most of this world.”
Eislyn shifted toward him. “Except for the Empire of Fomor.”
Lir smiled. “We haven’t always been at peace, Eislyn.”
“You haven’t?”
He shook his head. “Once, Fomor was made up of six kingdoms, just like Tir Na Nog. We all fought each other, constantly. Lords would rise up and kill kings. Kings would kill other kings. On and on and on it went.”
Eislyn pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. “How did you stop it?”
“We got tired of the fighting. Tired of the war. The kingdoms signed a treaty and came together as an empire. It took work. It wasn’t easy at first. Not everyone was on board with peace. That’s why Dagda decided to create a curse that would destroy any killer of a king. We have that here, too.”
“Tir Na Nog will never do that,” Eislyn said with a sigh. “We might be able to get two courts to sign a treaty, but never all of them. No one will ever want to ally with the Shadow Court.”
“The exiles.” Lir nodded. “Followers of Unseelie. I always wondered if one of them would become the Namhaid. It seems far more likely than an ice fae.”
Eislyn stayed silent. She didn’t want to speak another word for fear of giving it all away. Her hidden thoughts. Her deepest fears about the true identity of the Namhaid. Reyna had fallen in love with a shadow fae. ThePrinceof Shadows, in fact. Eislyn’s heart thumped hard against her ribcage. Surely her sister couldn’t be the Namhaid. Reyna Darragh. It made little sense. Eislyn’s sister was stubborn and headstrong and fierce, but she was no host of evil.
Could Lorcan have turned her into something else? No, that was impossible.
After they feasted on some roast rabbit and potatoes, the warriors settled in for the night. Sleep came quickly. Exhaustion tugged on Eislyn’s eyelids, dragging her down into darkness. When she awoke, it was with a start. Her heart pounded in her ears as flashes of pain rippled through her chest. She’d been having a dream again. The terror felt real, even though the images in her mind quickly faded.
Blinking her eyes, she gazed around. Lir was spread on the ground beside her, dead to the world. The rest of the warriors were asleep, including the guard on watch by the fire. His chin rested against his chest, and a sliver of drool dripped down his chin.
A slow realization swept through her. This camp was out in the open. Danger didn’t lurk in the shadows. Moonlight splashed onto the ground, illuminating the fields. All the warriors were asleep. If there was ever a chance to escape, this was it. And it might be the only chance she ever got.
Heart thudding as loud as a drum, Eislyn slowly stood, careful not to make any noise. Their quest loomed large before her, like a monster’s shadow, threatening to swallow her whole. If they made it to the birthplace of the gods, Lir would ask a question she did not think she wanted answered.
