Page 39 of Blood and Roses

"I'm checking up on you because I care about you. As for my worries, they are nothing to concern yourself with. Balthasar mentioned to me that you had read the account of the Vanes."

"Most of it."

"And you have questions?"

"Many, but one above all," Rosa said as she put her mug down. "Why the Wylts? Why not some other family? I don't understand what could have possibly happened to make you?—"

"Youaremy family," Eli interrupted gently. "Well, of a sort. It's one story I refuse to write down in order to protect... Well, all of the Wylts."

"I searched through the Wylt history too, and it would seem they never wrote it down either. Will you tell me?"

"I have to go to London very soon, so I'll tell you the short version. It is the easiest one for me tell." Eli sat back in his chair. "I fell in love with an impossibly beautiful and willful girl with auburn hair. This was not long after the Romans arrived in this land and set about subduing the wild clans. Deryn, the girl I fellin love with, resisted my attentions, hated me in fact, until one day, the Romans invaded their valley, and to protect her, I killed their regiment.

"I revealed my true nature to her, and she accepted me. She even agreed to marry me eventually and allowed me to turn her in time. Hundreds of years later, the Seelie sent a war party to harass me and try to drag me back to their kingdom. My Deryn, who was a fierce Celt down to her bones, would not tolerate anyone bossing her husband around but her. She attacked Ryn's men to create enough of a distraction to give me a chance to free myself. Unfortunately, she was not equipped to deal with the strength of Ryn's magic, and he used a glamor to hold my likeness. She ran to him, thinking he was me, and he dealt her a blow that I could not heal. As she was dying in my arms, she made me promise to watch over her human family, the Wylts, as she had done for hundreds of years. I have done my best to honor that wish." Eli stood up and buttoned his jacket. "When they have come of age, I've always offered the Wylt family a life away from the Vanes. Some have accepted the offer, but most have stayed. You have that choice too, Rosa. I won't summon you back, though I'll always have someone watching over you. I needed you back for the Gathering. You are human, but you're still my family. It's dangerous in the world for us at present, and I can protect you better here."

"Did you really escape from Faerie? You are Bleddyn, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." His eyes turned a brilliant emerald to prove it. "Does that frighten you?"

"No. I actually think it's kind of amazing," Rosa said truthfully.

"Anything else?"

"What is the Gathering? Not what you are telling the servants, what is it really?" Rosa said, looking up at him.

"Balthasar might tell you, but I really must go. I'll answer any questions you have on my return." He touched the top of her head gently. "Rest and heal, little one. You have nothing to fear here in Gwaed Lyn, even if you remove that interesting necklace of yours. Balthasar will make sure of it."

Rosa nodded, and he smiled affectionately. She walked him out, watching him cross the grounds in long strides. She thought that she would feel better knowing the truth, but now all she had were more questions.

Rosa couldn't sleep againafter Eli's visit, so she dressed and headed slowly to the house. Her ankle twinged, but it wasn't unbearable. Cecily was in the kitchen and dropped the bundle of flowers she had been holding.

"Oh, darling, I was so worried about you," she exclaimed as she hugged her.

"I'm fine, Mum, just a bit bruised from coming off Dunstan," Rosa said as she let her go. "What is all this flurry about?"

"We have started decorating the house. The Solstice is only six days away, and I want to get as much done as I can while the Vanes are out. Balthasar is the most amicable of the group, but he's very busy."

"Don't worry. He will probably get in the way more than all the rest put together." Rosa grinned at the thought of Balthasar in his perfect suit hanging up fairy lights.

"What mischief are you up to? I haven't seen that smile since you drew on the back of Eli's stock reports when you were a child," Cecily said suspiciously.

"I did that?" Rosa could remember always drawing but never on anything of Eli's.

"Of course you did. You used to play in his office all the time," her mother said with a chuckle. "He's surprisingly patient with children. Well, I might as well set you up making decorations in the ballroom, and that way, you will be off your sore leg."

"Sounds perfect, I'm going nuts in the cottage."

They ignored the servant's passages and walked through the main house, Rosa stopping to look at the paintings that she knew were Balthasar's work. Other servants had changed into casual clothes and were hanging bunting made of twisted vines and autumn leaves. Rosa ran her finger over them to see if they were real or not.

"Most of it is silk and plastic though the illusion is excellent, isn't it?" Cecily commented. "It's going to look lovely when it's done."

Upstairs trestle tables had been set up as makeshift workstations, and Cecily organized Rosa to make wreaths. They didn't have to be the same, she insisted, but they had to be made of the same materials. Then she was gone, leaving Rosa to keep her hands busy as she tried not to think about the Wylt queen that Eli had loved so long ago.

Balthasar was goingover instructions with Goode when he heard laughing echoing through the hallways. It was such an unusual sound in the nearly always silent house.

"Eli expects people to start arriving in three days' time." Balthasar went back to his scribbled notes. "He will be back from London by then. It's important that when you are housing them, you keep this list of clan members separate. I don't expect any problems, but I don't want them having an excuse to bump into each other in the halls."

Music was starting to come from the ballroom. He dismissed Goode, handing over the list. He glanced into the ballroom and saw Rosa sitting in the middle of the floor with cuttings, leaves, and flowers spread everywhere. A twisted crown of red berries had been placed on top of her long dark hair. She had her back to him, and she swayed to the waltz she was listening to.

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