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“Silver, I’m a daoire. Not a lady of the court.”

He shrugged, the leather of his livery creaking. “The last I checked, there was no law against treating a human with grace and dignity. And it is a fine day. The sun is warm and full on the gardens. It would be a shame to get lost and not be able to find my way back to you. You would be doing me a favor.”

I couldn’t resist the infectious, child-like grin that spread across his face and smiled back at him. “I guess if I’m saving you from yourself.”

I tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow and ignored the twist of longing that whispered that I wished it was The Raven and not Silver taking me on a stroll through the gardens.

This portion of the gardens were far more populated than I expected them to be. Fae strolled with each other at almost every turn. I didn’t mind the stares as we passed them. Silver didn’t seem to mind, either.

“As I said, Miss Cricket, the Captain wished me to bring you a message.”

His voice was pitched low slightly above a whisper, a tone I knew was solely for me but still clear that he was not hiding anything.

“Silver, it’s a perfectly delightful day, and I haven’t had the sun full on my face in weeks. Could we just . . . pretend like you gave me the message, and you keep it to yourself?”

I didn’t mention that I was seething in my righteous jealousy and indignation over the lies he had woven and had no interest in having my tender little heart carved up by proxy.

He snorted. “Miss, you’ve met the Captain. I could try that. And he’d send me right back after you to deliver it. We both know he is singularly minded when he wishes to be.”

“So I’ve been told over and over again.”

I could feel his eyes on my cheek. “So, you aren’t unaware?”

“That he’s a brutish lying prick like the rest of you Fae? No, I am absolutely informed.” The sugar in my voice could have supplied a candy factory for a decade.

He snorted a laugh and turned his eyes forward again. “We aren’t all that bad, Miss Cricket. Some of us are more . . . Well. Some of us are more than others.”

“If you only knew Silver, if you only knew.” I sighed and put on a happy face.

There would be no use in spilling my guts along the packed earthen walkway as we wound our way through the gardens.

“Miss Cricket, you have to know that avoiding the Captain won’t work. You must know that, right?”

I stopped at a particularly beautiful bush of dahlias and bent to smell them. Silver grabbed me bodily and pulled me back. “What are you doing, Miss Cricket? Don’t you know not to smell the flowers without permission?”

The terror in his voice sent shivers down my spine as I looked back to the simple flowers and then up to him. “What?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as if looking for the patience he needed to explain something so simple to a child. “The flowers. You must respect their boundaries. If you take from them without asking their permission, they could very easily kill or curse you, depending on your trespass against them. Clipping flowers without their permission is the deadliest of curses.”

“But . . . they are just flowers.”

“Cricket, nothing in Magh Meall is just anything. Every single rock, flower, fruit, animal or creature is imbued with the magic that flows through this entire realm. None of it is untouched by magic, every single square inch of this realm is touched by it. Flowers and trees, especially since their roots touch deep into the well where magic is produced.”

My gaze slid back to the dahlia, and I dipped low into a curtsy I had been practicing. “Please excuse my ignorance, fair dahlia. I did not know and my ignorance is not an excuse for invading your space. Thank you for gracing these gardens with your beauty and allowing us to enjoy it . . . respectfully.”

I rose and looked to Silver and whispered from the corner of my mouth, “Think I’ll be getting a curse?”

His gauntleted hand clapped over his mouth to stifle a deep guffaw that petered off into a snicker. “I think you’ll be fine, Miss Cricket.”

I winked at him and took his elbow again. “Avoiding him is working out fine for me.”

“Why are you doing it, though? That’s what I cannot understand.” He was frowning into the path ahead of us. “Has he been unkind to you?”

“Depends on what you believe is unkind, Silver. It doesn’t truly matter why I am avoiding him. It’s very sweet of you to play interceder and try to settle his business, but in the end Silver, it is just that. His business. And a venture I care not to be involved in any longer. It’s for the best for both of us.”

He grunted and fell silent as we walked.

“Was that his message to me? To stop avoiding him?”