Authors: B. Kristin McMichael
It had been easy to accept Liam once Devin found out the truth. Liam was just trying to protect Nessa. He could see now how the redheaded sidhe looked at her. It wasn’t love like Devin felt, but more like how one would feel for his sister. Liam truly was just a white knight in disguise. He had a habit of saving people, and he thought Nessa needed saving. Now that he knew the truth behind Devin and his powers, Liam didn’t once suggest that he truly intended to marry Nessa. Devin trusted him.
“It would work,” Liam reassured Nessa. “If this sidhe is targeting those that like you, I completely agree that you can’t let Devin play that part. If they outright attack him, I’m not sure how your grandfather’s powers stack up against witch magic. If Devin gets hurt or killed, it pretty much will end you.”
“Maybe this person is just trying to kill me through Devin,” Nessa suggested. She was still trying to protect everyone.
“I considered that also until I found out the other villages weren’t told about my powers,” Devin replied, sitting beside Nessa on the couch. “If they don’t know about your grandfather giving me his powers, then it very much is likely the person trying to get to you doesn’t know that our lives are connected.”
“I still don’t like it.” Nessa was pouting now. Devin had to try hard to hide a grin at her response.
“It’s a great plan,” Ronan added. “With everyone distracted with an engagement, Turner and Maria can get into the palace and do a check around there. We might be able to find the trail of the witch sidhe before it ever comes to a party.”
Ronan was correct. Everything about the plan sounded strong. Liam was willing to deflect the anger of Nessa’s wannabe suitor. Turner and Maria could go on searching for the witch, and Ronan would look after Nessa. It even left time for Devin to help finish up his plans for the new clinic and lab, two things that sounded like they’d need sooner than later. He had to be able to get the sidhe to see outside the village, and a clinic for all would more than likely not be able to be hidden away from whatever code the village was using to keep Devin and his powers a secret. Devin couldn’t understand why the sidhe—who readily threw rumors around—were silent on his power. He had to wonder if they feared him more than he thought. Giving the common sidhe a way out of the rule of the elite might just be enough for them to stop fearing him.
“But, but …” Nessa had nothing left to argue. Everyone in the room was happy with the plan and ready to act their part. “Fine. What do I have to do?” Nessa was resigned to her role even if she didn’t like it.
“When we return, Liam has to go to my father and tell him that he intends to propose,” Ronan explained. “My father will then have to start planning an engagement party for it to happen properly. If this person is set on stopping you from getting married, they will be there. It will be the perfect time to catch them.”
“Shouldn’t we tell your dad what’s going on?” Nessa asked. She was only looking for another person to help stop the acting she was going to have to do.
‘
Nessa, you will be fine,’
Devin told her in her mind. He could feel her nervousness and anxiety about the situation.
‘
No, I won’t. What happens if you guys don’t find the witch sidhe? What happens then? I can’t just say no in front of everyone. No one cares how I feel about this. All Liam has to do is ask and put a ring on my finger. Then it’s over. I’ll be married. Do you really want me to be married if this goes too far? What happens if the witch sidhe doesn’t come out to stop it all?’
Nessa was ranting now.
Devin reached over and took her hand in his. Her ranting stopped at his touch. Everything from Devin was calm and soothing. He hoped that it would soothe her mind, too. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her, and he sure wasn’t going to let her marry someone else.
“We should keep this plan between the eight of us sitting here.” Devin looked around the room. “I don’t know about any place else, but this is the only spot I know that is safe. No one can overhear us here. If we go back and tell anyone, even your uncle, it might get back to the witch sidhe. We need to call them out on our terms, not be surprised by them.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “So let’s get everything ready and head back to the palace before day breaks.”
Their plan was solid enough. They’d get the witch sidhe to show himself, and then they would decide what to do if the witch didn’t want to come peacefully. Devin wasn’t afraid of a battle—he’d done that a dozen times since he had entered the village—but it was sweet that Nessa worried so much about everything.
‘
You’re safe and will stay safe,’
Devin told Nessa. She still didn’t feel safe, and Devin needed to convince her.
‘Even if Liam has to go as far as putting a ring on your finger, you won’t be married to him. Didn’t you catch how well that worked for Mr. I’m-so-smart sidhe? You’re protected from marrying anyone unless it’s your choice.’
Nessa let out a sigh. Devin could feel some of the tension leaving her.
‘
Wait a second,’
she added as Devin stood.
‘If you can put a protective bubble around me, why don’t you do that to yourself? Then we’ll both be safe.’
Devin gave her a reluctant smile. He had already thought of that. It would have been nice to be able to make them both safe easily, but he knew why the old king was dead. He was able to protect everyone else, but the power to place a protective shield around himself wasn’t possible. Devin could only protect those he loved and not himself. He’d have to rely on his training to keep himself, and thus Nessa, safe.
‘
It doesn’t work on me,’
Devin replied without any more explanation. It wasn’t needed as she nodded half-heartedly. He wished it could be that easy. His life with Nessa would have been complete by now if it were.
“Everyone except Keaton go back to the palace for some sleep,” Devin directed the group. “Can you go back to Jackson and Mori and make sure they stay safe for the day?” Devin asked Keaton, who nodded.
“Jackson and Mori are here?” Turner asked hopefully.
“Not as backup,” Devin replied to what he knew Turner was thinking. “I needed help with another project.”
Nessa raised her eyebrows at Devin. He shook his head as if to say not now. He wasn’t quite ready to show her what he was doing, and part of him worried that she wouldn’t understand and be hurt by it all. Devin directed the group to the doorway and paused as they began to walk in front of him. He hoped this would all end finally. He didn’t want to continue fighting with the sidhe. They needed a new world. They needed to be able to choose for themselves. The sidhe world needed to find a new way to live and it was almost time to show them.
Nessa woke the
next morning to her uncle calling for her from the front room in her apartment at the palace. She didn’t want to move. She was comfy in bed, even if Devin had already been gone for hours. He had been kind enough to stay with her when she went to sleep, but he wasn’t a long sleeper. She heard him leave, but didn’t have to energy to accost him on his actions. Everything was tiring. Dating was tiring. People trying to constantly kill her was tiring. Dealing with all those people wanting her to rule was tiring. She had been queen for less than two days and already wanted a break.
“Nessa,” Uncle Rolf called again, this time pushing her door open a crack.
He paced the front room and stopped at her closed guest room door. Nessa got the feeling he was going to peek into that room also, so she hurried to get up. They needed to keep Maria and Cassie a secret, which would be hard to do if her uncle opened the door. They were still passed out in that room with Turner.
“Uncle, what is it?” Nessa asked, rubbing her eyes, but happy to see that she had distracted him from investigating the room.
Rolf turned back to her with a grin. He was more than ecstatic. His pacing had been from happy energy this time, rather than the nerves that had been there for the past week.
“Liam wants to marry you,” he said quickly and proudly. He grinned at her, waiting for her to reply.
Uncle Rolf had grown old over the years, and Nessa was just now seeing it. His hair was starting to gray at the roots and the deep wrinkle from his smile didn’t seem to leave his face when he was not smiling. The prospect of marriage made him very happy. She hated to lie to him further, but she had promised Devin. He was certain the witch sidhe would be listening, and they would never know when or how. They couldn’t let their plan out.
“Really?” She gave the best reply she could. It wasn’t that Liam was a bad catch; she just didn’t want to marry him.
“Ahh, I know he isn’t your day human prince and all, but he’s a fine catch. He comes from a good family, and marriage to him will help stabilize everything. Devin isn’t one of us, and he never will be. You had to have known that. He doesn’t understand our ways, but Liam does. You need someone beside you that will keep our traditions. You need someone that already knows the sidhe. Liam will make a fine king,” Rolf stated.
While she appreciated his honesty, she wasn’t sure she agreed. Tradition was killing the sidhe. Her uncle had always wanted change, but what he wanted was very limited change. He didn’t want real change. The older sidhe were never going to do it no matter what they said.
Nessa scratched her head as she went to her small kitchen to search for something to eat. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she ate. This life as queen was a lot more stressful than she had imagined it would be. Wasn’t a queen supposed to sit around and do nothing? So far she had found that wasn’t the case. Maybe that was why Rhys finally snapped? He had never been the nicest brother growing up, but he wasn’t the monster he had died as. Maybe the stress of the throne had gotten to him.
“So, what happens now?” Nessa asked. She had a good clue from the talks with everyone the night before, but if she were to play her part well, she had to pretend to not know.
“Well, since Liam asked this afternoon, I think we can swing a dinner tonight for everyone. Most of the important people remained here since there were sidhe courting you. You know, it’s tradition after all. The staff will have to work a little harder, but we can do the ceremony tonight.” Uncle Rolf was still grinning.
Nessa tried to make her smile natural as she nodded back, but she was sure it came off as more of a grimace. All the talk of engagements and courting first thing after waking up was a bit much for her to pretend to enjoy. Nessa didn’t want to marry anyone but Devin. She finally understood that, but she could say nothing. Uncle Rolf didn’t seem to notice as he said good-bye and left humming.
Turner cracked open the doorway to the guest room and peered out. Since the room was empty, he stepped a foot out into the living room with Nessa.
“Phew.” He pretended to wipe his brow.
“What would we do if he saw them?” Nessa asked. The only extra person that could come in her apartment was her uncle. She regretted not letting him in on the details, but there was no way she could tell him now. He was so happy it made her not want to disappoint him either.
“Everyone already met Cassie, but I was going to have to jump in bed with Maria, and pretend she was my girlfriend or something,” Turner replied with fake horror while wiggling his eyebrows.
Maria was standing behind him with her hands on her hips. She had a fake scowl to go with his fake face.
“You’re a bit too young for me,” she commented.
Nessa laughed. She didn’t think Turner was trying to make being Maria’s boyfriend an undesirable thing. In fact, Nessa had caught him checking out the older witch more than once, and why not? Maria was beautiful. Long, thick, dark hair and dark eyes made her look very exotic. It didn’t hurt that she had curves in all the right places, either. Actually, Nessa was sure that his disgust was faked only for Nessa to get a laugh.
“Now out, my fake boyfriend,” Maria said, shooing Turner into the front room with Nessa. Maria shut the door behind him.
Turner pretended to be hurt by the witch pushing him out of the room, but even Nessa knew better. It took a lot to make him even smile slightly less than normal. He was just naturally a happy person. With all the stress, she was happy to have him around. She saw now why Devin was best friends with him. When she had first met him, she wondered how they could even be friends let alone best friends. Turner was happy-go-lucky all the time, and Devin was serious. Turner was what you needed around in such a stressful life as Devin’s. He could take any situation and make it fun. Devin needed that, and maybe Turner needed a bit of the seriousness that Devin brought all the time, too. They were perfect friends.
“I just thought of something while your uncle was here. One thing no one asked you before: how are your acting skills?” Moving to stand beside her, Turner took the poured glass of orange juice from her before she could take a drink.
“Acting skills?” Nessa asked, confused.
“Well, since there will be an engagement tonight, I think you’ll need to do a little acting to convince everyone. That is, unless you really do want to get engaged to Liam.” Turner snatched the apple she had just picked up.
“Is this your passive-aggressive way of asking me if I want to be with Devin or not?” Nessa reached forward and tried to take her apple back. Turner was quicker than she thought, and he pulled away at just the right moment.
“Possibly, depends on what your answer is,” Turner replied.
Nessa pretended to reach for the apple again with her right hand, forcing him to pull to the left as he had just done a moment before. She waited and reached out at the perfect time with her left hand to take the apple back from Turner. She could play his game, too.
“I have no intention of marrying anyone without it being my complete choice,” Nessa stated cryptically before biting into the apple. She smiled at Turner and walked back to her bedroom to get changed for the day.
Devin made one
last sweep of the empty hall. He was certain it wouldn’t remain empty for long. The ceremony was to begin in twenty minutes, and everyone would show up right beforehand. Cassie sat on the edge of the stage and watched Devin make his rounds. He had checked everything over half a dozen times, but he was still checking again. Devin was always like that. He wanted to be sure of everything, especially since people were putting their lives out there. He couldn’t help the need to protect everyone.