The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (7 page)

The hope was that
his brothers
would share their house, so that when Damian’s duties required him to be absent, one of them would be present at all times to see to Genevieve
.
Neither brother had found a bride during their
Bridal Week
, so they had a great stake in Damian’s success.

“Where is she?” Donal asked.

“Asleep in her room.”

“You left her!”
Donal bristled.

“She is safe
—
she’s locked in her room.”
He showed Donal the key
.

Donal’s eyes widened
.
“How did you manage it?” 

“Thank Titania
the priestess arrived and smoothed things with Genevieve’s parents.”

“
Genevieve
,
” Donal said, savoring the name
.
“
Is she pretty
?” 

“Beyond anything I’d dared to hope for,” he said with utter sincerity
.

A sharp voice accosted them from across the
green
.
“You left her unguarded?”
Donal gave him a sympathetic glance as Damian steeled himself to
face
their brother Derek, who in his mellowest mood could be described as
abrasive
.

“She is asleep, locked in her room,” Damian repeated
.

“Which is her house?” Derek demanded.

“Derek,” Donal said, “Damian doesn’t need you terrifying the girl’s parents
.
I
t would delay the wedding if one of them died of a
n
apoplexy
after meeting their new in-laws.”

Derek’s expression did not relax by so much as a hair
.
“Which is her house?” he demanded again
.

Donal and Damian exchanged a glance, but there was no arguing with their middle brother
.
Damian pointed to the small white cottage with bright yellow
shutters
and window boxes overflowing with
red
geraniums
.
It would be hard to imagine a building more antithetical to their austere, temperamental brother.

“Her name is Genevieve Miran
—
in case you’re interested,” Damian added dryly
.

Derek nodded
and walked towards the house
.
Damian wondered if he
should begin
pray
ing
to Titania for mercy, when Derek called over his shoulder, “Declan is just behind me.”

“Say the word, brother, and I’ll skewer him,” Donal said
.
Damian shook his head
.
I
n truth neither of them could take Derek in a fight when his blood was up
.
“Go after him
.
I’ll bring Declan as soon as he arrives.” 

Damian jogged after Derek, who spared him only a cool glan
ce
.
Damian knocked on the door, conjuring
up his warmest smile for Mrs. Miran, who paled as soon as she saw Derek
.
Though all three brothers closely resembled each other, there was something in Derek’s expression that
women especially
found forbidding
.

“As you see
,
I have returned,” he said in his most soothing tone
.
“Mrs. Miran, may I present my brother, Derek, of the house of Black.”

Though
Derek’s
manners within the family were abrupt to say the least,
he
had been raised by a
knight of Titania’s royal court
,
who demanded they all follow proper forms of courtesy
.

To Damian’s rel
ief, Mrs. Miran seemed more awe
struck than terrified when Derek bowed over her hand and said
with
grave formality, “It is an honor to make the acquaintance of the parents of my
brother’s bride.”

“Please, make yourself at home,” Mrs. Miran said nervously, ushering them into the parlor
.
“May I offer you something? My husband w
ill be here in just a moment.”

Derek made only
a
grim nod
,
and Damian said, “
T
hat would be extremely w
elcome.”

The poor woman practically bolted from the room
.
He wished Donal were here: their youngest brother could
charm
a dragon into donating its
gold
to charity
and
was far better than Damian at smoot
hing over Derek’s rough edges.

Damian
had
been too distracted earlier to get much of an impression of the Mirans
’
home, but sitting in their parlor he felt some sympathy for his bride’s parents
.
Mrs. Miran appeared to have a taste for all that was sweet and feminine
.
There were crocheted la
ce doilies on all the furniture
and framed satin hearts on the walls
.
Various surfaces held small vases filled with silk flowers along with a collection of ceramic terriers
at play
.

It had its charm
and
wasn’t at all ugly, but the decor provided a poignant contrast to Genevieve’s
heartwood
box
, standing black and stark on a delicate painted table
.
It would be next to impossible to imagine anything belonging to the Blacks inside this room.

It occurred to him that
Genevieve’s
bed
room
was nothing like this parlor either
.
H
e did not think there was a single picture on the walls, and it was completely free of the expected feminine bric-a-brac: little pillows, favorite dolls,
a lacy beauty table
.
In fact, he might have said it was almost
aggressively spare
, with only the bed, a wardrobe
,
and a small bookshelf
.
The only item of color he could recall was a pretty
green spread on her bed.

Mrs. Miran entered
a few minutes later
carrying a tray with tea things followed by a small kitchen boy
,
who staggered under an enormous platter piled with enough cakes, sandwiches
,
and scones
to provision
an
entire troop.

Barely a moment later there was another knock on the door
.
It seemed the queen of light decided to smile upon him today
.
Mr. Miran entered the room with
a
stunned expression on his face: immediately behind him was Donal
—
accompanied by the
Black
Prince.

If he’d been less nervous, Damian might have been amused at the sight of the enormous Fae
prince
, whose very name made the
Demon
K
ing tremble,
sipping tea from a dainty pink cup,
nibbling on a bit of jam tart.

But as he’d hoped, Declan smoothed all problems
.
His authority and stature were such that no one, least of all the good-hearted Mirans, would dream of opposing anything he suggested
.
Within minutes, they’d agreed it would be “best” if the marriage took place in a mere two
days
.
Then as if it were completely expected that he would make such arrangements,
Declan
added,
“Derek and Donal, you will
split the watch
for the next two nights
so that Damian may sleep
.
I do not anticipate any dangers, of course, but it is not the way of the Blacks to leave a bride of our family unprot
ected under any circumstances.”

Mrs. Miran stumbled out an apology: unsurprisingly, the tiny cottage containe
d only a single spare bedroom.

Declan
turned his most forbiddin
g expression on Derek and Donal
as if
both had loudly complained
about the accommodations
.
“
No son of mine
would dream of inconveniencing you
.
Such would be a poor return to those who are
entrusting our family with their greatest treasure
.
You will
not give it another thought
.
They are trained soldiers, accustomed to life on campaign
.
A chair
in the hall
outside Miss Miran’s bedroom would be more than
generous
.
The other may
sleep on the floor of Damian’s room
.
You may rest easy that
your daughter
will be protected
.
I assure you
Derek and Donal are
prepared
to meet any danger
.
I trained them myself.”

And with that, the Fae prince swept away any lingering reservations about Damian’s admittedly outrageous request to be given the key to Genevieve’s room
.
Both parents were in awe that the great Declan was
concerning himself wit
h their daughter’s protection.

Derek excused himself then to take up his duties, and Mr. Miran abruptly decided that it was still early enough to call upon several neighbors and begin issuing the invitations
.
Damian suspected he
also
wished to stop off at the tavern to spread the news that the
Black
Prince
had taken tea in their parlor.

Damian saw his moment to say, “Sire, the priestess asked to speak with you as s
oon as you have a free moment.”

“I’ve
no doubt she did,” Declan said
with the barest hint of a smile
.
“We’d best pay our call then.”
They gave their thanks and dispersed, he and Declan to the priestess’, and Donal to send a rider to the
fortress
for their clothes and
to
let their servants know to begin arrangements for the wedding
.

So twenty minutes later, the two were again
taking
tea, this time around the large wooden table in the
p
riestess’ kitchen.

“
This is
lovely, Maura
,
” Declan said.

“Thank you again,
Holy One,
” Damian said, taking
a generous sip
.

The priestess snorted
.
“Very pretty
.
We could have had more of these nice manners at the picnic
.
Declan, you’ve let these boys run wild
.
I’ve
walked my legs off
putting out their fires
.
Next time you do it yourself.”

The priestess was the only human who would dar
e speak that way to the Faerie p
rince.

“There, there, Maura, I’m sure you haven’t had such an exciting day in de
cades,” he said good-naturedly.

“I apologize deeply that my rashness caused you such trouble,” Damian
added
.
“I am greatly in your debt for what you said to Genevieve’s parents.”

“Were the Mirans uneasy?
” Declan
asked
.
“
They
seemed quite satisfied to me.”

“The priestess eased their concerns,” Damian said carefully.

“Concerns was it?
What
would you call it
when Damian shows up at their door, their daughter practically unconscious in his arms, and then demands the key to her bedroom so he
can
lock her in
?
”

“He only did what is necessary, Maura,” Declan said, revealing a little of the ferocity that made him the most feared knight in Faerie
.