Page 32 of The Queen and the Half-blood
Lara cut him a sidelong glance. “Not more malevolent spirits on the wing? Or maybe, there’s a family of powries living inside the walls I don’t yet know about?”
Alar surprised her by grinning then, revealing a dimple in his left cheek. His smile was disarming, and she stumbled. His hand shot out, his fingers curving around her upper arm to steady her.
Extracting herself gently from his grip, she halted on the walkway and turned to face him squarely. “I don’t like surprises … best you tell me what you’ve got planned.”
His mouth twitched once more. “You’ll like this one … I swear.”
Lara stepped through the rose-covered archway and stopped short. “The Mother’s tits,” she whispered, momentarily forgetting her manners. “What is this?”
“The Shee love their gardens, it seems,” Alar replied, his voice unnervingly close. “So, they have grown one here.”
She took a smart step forward to put some more distance between them. All the while, she gazed at the beauty around her. White trailing roses covered all the surrounding walls, their sweet perfume heavy in the air. The usual stone pavers had been replaced with gleaming white stone, and a fountain made of the same material tinkled at the heart of the courtyard. Stone cressets dotted the space, where fires glowed.
“I had the fires lit earlier … for you.”
Lara cut Alar a sharp look over her shoulder, to find him watching her. His words set her already tight nerves further on edge. Their upcoming marriage was an arrangement. He didn’t need to impress her—in fact, she wished he wouldn’t.
“Apparently, this area was once the guard barracks,” he added. “Although you’d never know to look at it.”
Lara turned away from him and walked into the heart of the courtyard. Her gaze rested on the fountain once more—the smooth stone had been carved into the form of a bird. The Great Raven. The Shee didn’t worship The Five. Water gushed from its beak and fell into a basin that drained away beneath the fort. She guessed a well had once sat here, but since Doure already had one well in the inner ward, the Shee had turned this one into a decorative feature.
How decadent.Her people wouldn’t put that much energy into something that served no practical purpose. She couldn’t help but marvel at the fountain’s beauty though, and wondered how they’d managed to create it.
Eventually, she turned her attention away from the fountain and surveyed the rose-covered walls around her. “Bree told me that the Shee love roses,” she murmured to herself. “White ones especially.” She shook her head incredulously then. “But how did they grow them so fast?”
“The Shee have their own magic … different from the earth magic of druids.” To her consternation, Alar was standing right behind her again. “Haven’t you heard the tales of how they can whisper to animals and plants?”
Lara’s skin prickled. Aye, she had. But stories were one thing; seeing it with her own eyes was another.
“Can I ask how Bree knows so much about the Shee?” Alar’s tone was casual, although she detected sharpness just beneath.
“I was wondering when you’d ask me that,” she admitted, turning to face him. “The tale hasn’t spread as far and wide as I’d thought, after all.”
He inclined his head, inviting her to continue.
“Bree was once one of the Shee … an assassin sent by Mor to Duncrag as a spy.”
Alar stilled at this admission, and a frisson of satisfaction rippled through Lara. It was a relief to seehimon the back foot for once. The bastard always looked so sure of himself. He had answers for everything.
“And?” he prompted.
“And … she posed as the Maid of Albia Cailean ordered himself.”
“The chief-enforcerorderedhimself a bride?”
“Aye … my father insisted he take a wife … but the Shee intercepted her on the way to Duncrag.”
Alar frowned. “How did he not see through her glamor?”
“She didn’t glamor herself … she passed through The Ring of Caith into our realm … and in doing so became Marav.”
He jerked as if she’d just jabbed him with a pin. “What?”
Lara favored him with a rueful smile. “Aye … it appears the Shee can pass through our stone circles … and change form when they do so. Only at certain times of year though.” She paused then, marking the calculating glint that suddenly sparked in his eyes. “And no, Marav can’t do the sameapparently … although you could take your chances, if you wish.” Certainly, that would be one way of ridding herself of him, although being a half-blood, he might survive the trip.
He snorted as if guessing her thoughts. “So, why is she still alive?”
Lara sighed. “It’s a long tale … but let’s just say that Bree and Cailean fell in love, and she chose him over her queen.” She halted then, another wry smile tugging at her lips. “And she also proved her loyalty to me … which is why she’s now my warder. And you might as well know that her brother lives at Duncrag too. He’s taken Marav form as well and is now my archivist.”
