Page 84 of A Killing Frost

“I’m here,” he said.

August turned to him. “Daddy?” she said, in a hopeful tone.

“Yes, pigeon, it’s me,” he said.

“But the Luidaeg...” August frowned, brow furrowing. “The terms of my debt—how can you be here?”

“It was your sister,” he said, sidestepping the actual question. “She found a way to settle my accounts with the Luidaeg and bring me home.”

August moved then, running across the floor and throwing herself into his arms, locking her own arms around his chest in an embrace more than a hundred years in the making. “Imissedyou,” she wailed. “The tower is so cold without you. Come home. Don’t do this. Come home.”

“Oh, pigeon.” He ran his thumb down the slope of her cheek, pulling her attention to his face. “You know I can’t do that. Your mother doesn’t want me there, or she would have been the one to bring me home. She would at least have tried. I’m tired. I want to be away from all this fuss and bother. I’m finished with Firstborn.”

“Well, then I—”

“Will declare for your mother, as we both know you must,” he said firmly. “She’d follow you forever if you tried to go with me. She’d never leave either of us in peace. And if you want to learn everything your bloodline is capable of, you need to stay with your First. The beginning of a line has always remained with its First. Be her daughter, my dearest, as you’ve always been, and let me love you from afar.”

“Is this normal?” asked Arden, sotto voce.

“What?” I murmured back.

“A parent trying to convince one of the kidsnotto choose them.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a pureblood divorce before.” I paused. “Wait, haven’t you done this before?”

“No.” Arden shook her head. “They’re rare, and I was a child. I don’t even remember my father conducting a divorce.”

“Huh,” I said.

August was still clinging to Simon. “I know enough, and you’ve taught me more about blood magic than she ever bothered,” she said. “I don’t think she understands everything I can do. I don’t think shecares. Daddy, I’m lonely. She doesn’t know how to be a mother. She only knows how to be an owner. I can’t do this. I can’t lose you.”

Simon closed his eyes, looking pained. “Are you asking me to stay with your mother?”

“Well, he can’t,” said Dianda, not bothering to keep her voice low. Heads turned toward her. She glared at them all, the expression unfettered and all-encompassing. Dianda had plenty of irritation to share with the world, and she didn’t care who claimed a portion. “He’s made promises, and he’s going to keep them, or he’s going to have to answer to me.”

Simon opened his eyes, looking briefly, miserably amused, which was a neat trick. “Yes, dear,” he said, not letting go of August. “I can’t stay with your mother, dearest. Duchess Lorden is correct: Ihavemade promises. Even if I hadn’t, your mother would never forgive me for embarrassing her here today. She’d make me miserable forever if I tried to come back. What’s done is done. I’ve made my choice.”

“Well, so have I,” said August, and pulled away from her father. She kept her eyes on him as she straightened, and said loudly, “I declare my line for Simon Torquill. I shall only ever be of his descent, and Oberon’s, for I cannot set my blood aside.”

Amandine made an unspeakable screeching noise, starting to rush forward. She stopped as a pair of strong arms closed around her from behind, leaving her unable to move forward.

The man who had stepped out of the crowd behind her was nondescript, ordinary-looking to the point of becoming extraordinary. When I glanced away from him, his face immediately slipped my mind, so that he seemed to be someone new when I looked back. Only the antlers on his brow kept him from being entirely forgettable. That, and the fact that hard as Amandine fought against him, she couldn’t break away.

“Peace,” he said, and his voice was a command none of us could resist. All around the room, people calmed. Even Dianda lost her glare. The Luidaeg smiled at him beatifically and walked toward Amandine.

“This is yours,” she said. “You planted it and nurtured it, and now it’s come to harvest. Your daughters reject you because you never learned to love anyone who wasn’t yourself, and maybe that’s partially on us, your siblings, for trusting you to find your own way, but that’s how our parents raised us, and we didn’t make the same choices you did. The rituals of divorce were laid out long ago, and August has the right to make her own decision.”

August was clinging to Simon again, sobbing like her heart was broken as he stroked her hair. The Luidaeg made a small gesture with her hand. The man, who I had to assume was Oberon, let Mom go and melted back into the crowd, vanishing without a ripple. Mom snarled but didn’t try to lunge again, just stood where she’d been left and glared at her older sister.

“I won’t forget this,” she spat. “She’smydaughter.Mine.”

“Not anymore she’s not,” said the Luidaeg. “The children havechosen; the divorce is done. This marriage is no longer recognized in the eyes of Oberon and will not be reestablished without full consent of all parties involved. Even if it were to be, the lines now sundered will not be restored. Done is done. The lines stand as drawn. Amy, you’re free to go. We’re finished with you, and what comes next is not for your eyes.”

Mom straightened and stomped her foot. “Ihave not forsaken my heritage,” she said. “I am Oberon’s own daughter, and I will not be expelled from this place against my will.”

“Funny,” said the Luidaeg. “I’m also Oberon’s own daughter, and I say you should go. You’re not wanted, Amy. You have no descendant line to stand for you, and my power is in transformation—your blood’s weakness. Unless you want to be a fern for a while, which might improve your disposition, but probably wouldn’t be great for your mental stability. Go home, Amy. Lick your wounds and try to figure out why this happened to you. Something’s wrong when all your children choose their father, even the ones who aren’t actually related to him.”

Mom looked at her for a long moment, squeezing her hands into fists, looking mulish and angry. Then she spun on her heel and marched away, the crowd opening before her to let her pass. I glimpsed the man with the antlers watching sadly as she walked away. Then he faded into the background, and she was gone.

---