Page 70 of The Red Woman and the White Bear

“Well what am I supposed to do then?” Rodney crossed his arms, dejected, looking awfully similar to a pouting child.

Aisling rolled her eyes and gestured at the open door. “Go do your thing,” she suggested.

Rodney raised an eyebrow. “Which is what, exactly?”

“I don’t know, Rodney, go mingle. Make connections. I’d rather Lyre not be our only ally down here. Find us some better friends.” Aisling ignored Rodney’s heavy sighs and instead turned her attention to Briar, sitting now at her feet. His tail swept back and forth across the floor in a wide arc. Then, she pulled his leash from where it was draped over the back of a chair and clipped it to his collar. It was about time Kael met the White Bear.

On her last visit to the Undercastle, once she’d been allowed to wander the halls on her own, Aisling had felt nearly invisible.The flurry of activity bustled around her, uncaring of her presence there. But now, with Briar lumbering by her side, the faeries gave her a wide berth—the hobs, most of all. Briar was unbothered, having been largely desensitized after spending days being doted on by the Seelie Fae. It was unlikely that he’d find a faerie so interested in braiding his fur here, though.

As if he’d been already gripping the handle, poised and waiting for her to arrive, Kael pulled open the door before Aisling’s second knock. He stiffened when he saw Briar, who had fallen into a defensive posture as soon as he’d scented the king.

“I was unaware that you brought your beast,” Kael acknowledged curtly, falling back a step. Aisling tightened her grip on Briar’s leash and tugged him into the study behind her. His hackles were raised, and his teeth bared, but he hadn’t yet begun to growl.

“This is Briar,” she said. When Kael only eyed him apprehensively, she added, “He’s big, but he’s harmless. Honest.”

“Charming.” Kael kept his distance.

Aisling directed Briar to sit, then reached out to Kael. “Come here, let him smell you and he’ll settle down.”

“I would rather not.” Though he maintained a polite, neutral expression, his tone was clipped and his gaze moved sharply over Briar’s form, one predator studying another.

“I’d never have guessed that the Unseelie King would be afraid of a dog,” Aisling teased, unable to suppress a laugh.

“I am not afraid of anything,” Kael shot back. “Least of all the White Bear.”

“Then come over here,” she insisted, her hand still outstretched to him. “Please. It’s important to me.”

Not attempting to hide his disdain any longer, Kael crossed the study with hesitant steps. Once he was within reach, Aisling caught his hand and held it still in front of Briar. She could feel Kael’s racing pulse beneath her fingers; the muscles in his arm were taught and ready to move to the dagger at his hip at the slightest provocation.

When Briar refused to approach, she knelt down, pulling a reluctant Kael with her. He bent his knees into a crouch. Finally, slowly, Briar sniffed the very tips of Kael’s fingers. It was a tense accord, but enough to satisfy her for the time being. The pair sprang apart the moment she let them go. Kael retreated behind his desk.

“Dramatic,” she said. “The both of you.”

“A warning might have been nice.” Still tense, Kael crossed his arms and leaned against the back of his chair. Aisling took a moment to look around. The only other time she’d visited Kael’s study had ended in disaster. Her gaze landed on the shelf he’d pinned her to. Once more his face flashed in her mind, the wrath in his eyes that barely concealed the hurt. The violence his hand on her throat had promised before he let her go. Aisling shivered and pressed herself to Briar.

Kael noticed where she was looking, realizing what image had risen to the forefront of her memory. Maybe getting swept away in that same bitter memory himself.

“Shall we take a walk?” he offered. “There are new flowers in the night garden since you last visited.”

Gratefully, Aisling nodded. “Fresh air sounds great.”

Even now, as winter had befallen the Unseelie Court, the night garden was lusher than ever. The trees hung heavy, so laden with snow and blooms and icicles that their branches brushed the top of Aisling’s head where the path narrowed. She kept Briar tight against her outside leg on a short leash to keep him from sniffing the poisonous flowers, but he was too focused on watching Kael to stray.

“When you left here,” Kael began, “where did you go?” When Aisling didn’t answer right away, he took her hand and placed it on his arm, tucking it in against his chest.

The simple gesture was comforting enough for her to make her admission. “I went to the Seelie Court.”

Kael only nodded. “I thought you likely would.”

Aisling recounted her visit in brief, glossing over Laure’s intentions of using her as a weapon against Kael and instead focusing on the things she’d noticed about the court. Its sinister underpinnings that still lingered with her.

“I don’t want to see them rule. They’re no better than…” She trailed off without saying what she intended.

“Us?” Kael filled in the blank. “I might have told you that, had you asked.”

Aisling shrugged. “I wouldn’t have believed you if I hadn’t seen it for myself. And even once I was there, I didn’t realize it at first.” She drew in a breath then, steeling herself for the next revelation. “But I think there could be a thirdoption.”

“I’m listening.”

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