“I remember when Darkness led his own wild hunt and was the huntsman for our queen,” Aisling said.
Doyle stroked a hand through the other man’s hair. “You are older than I am, my friend; you would remember.”
“What did you tell the nobles who offered to make you king?” I asked.
“I told them I would not betray you, or Doyle.”
“What did they say to that?” I asked.
“They told me to think upon it before answering.”
“If you want the throne, Aisling, take it,” I said.
He looked startled. Doyle said, “Merry!”
I stroked the hair so gold and warm in my lap. “No, Doyle, you’ve seen how some of the Seelie nobles treat me. They’ve come here in hopes that I can help them get with child, and many of them still treat me like some mongrel. People follow you for only three reasons; love, fear, or loyalty. No one at the Seelie Court loves me, or fears me, and I’m not certain there’s much loyalty to anything there except whatever, or whoever, will further their own pursuit of power.”
“Lord Hugh wants a baby with his lady,” Doyle said.
“But he also wants to be close to the throne, and if he put me on it, he would be,” I said.
“There has never been a welcome for Merry and me at the Seelie Court,” Galen said.
“Are you both serious that Merry should just give up the golden throne?” Doyle asked. He was looking from one to the other of us.
We both nodded. “Besides, Doyle, the Seelie sithen recognized Aisling when the Seelie first came to this country. Taranis exiled him; because of that his own sithen wanted to crown a new king. The sithen has already chosen Aisling as king; let it stand.”
“What if the sithen has changed its mind after over two hundred years?” Aisling asked.
“Then you will be welcome back here in the Western Lands,” I said.
“Aren’t we forgetting something?” Galen said.
“What?” I asked.
“The king would have to be dead for Aisling to take this throne.”
“That works for me,” I said.
“Me, too,” he said.
“Me, three,” Doyle said.
“If I agree, it seems like a plot,” Aisling said.
“I’ve wanted him dead since he took Merry,” Galen said.
“Oh, yes,” Doyle said.
“For hurting Merry I would happily slay him, too,” Aisling said.
“If the sithen still wants you as its king, then be the king of the Seelie, Aisling. The sithens will let a hereditary monarchy rule, but the start of every lineage is chosen by each kingdom. I believe that when we stopped letting the land choose its own ruler, that was the beginning of our decline as a people.”
“When the Irish stopped letting the great stone choose their kings, that was the beginning of their undoing, as well,” Doyle said.
I stroked his arm, because I knew that his people had been among the Irish and he still felt for how much they’d suffered at the hands of the English, though I’d only learned his feelings on it in the last year. Doyle had been such a mystery, not just to me but to most of the court. He had been the captain of the guard, and the Queen’s Darkness, her left hand, her assassin, but it was as if all that had kept him from having feelings, or being entirely real. In his own way, Doyle had been as lonely as Aisling.
“You would truly let me take the golden throne, when you could unite the two thrones of the sidhe for the first time in centuries?”
“It’s a pretty thought that I could unite us, but I think there is too much fear and hatred between the Darkling throng and the golden one. Oh, Aisling, six of the noble houses declared themselves against me. I’m not certain I can safely rule even the Unseelie throne, but I know that the Seelie throne is too dangerous for me and the babies, and the men I love. I would not risk all that I hold dear for any throne, so be king if you can; the sithen has chosen you and that should stand.”
He studied my face and finally said, “You really are the most extraordinary person, Merry.”
“I am a practical person in this, or a selfish one. I do not wish to lose any more of the people I love, not just for power.”
“That’s right, you and Doyle both gave up the Unseelie crowns given to you by faerie itself to save Frost’s life.”
We smiled at each other, and we reached out at the same time to take each other’s hands, which made us smile more. “What is more important than love?” Galen said.
We looked at him, and I held my other hand out to him. He took it with a smile. “Nothing,” I said.
“I’ll disagree,” Aisling said.
We all looked down at him where he still lay propped up on his elbows. “What’s more important than love?” I asked.
“Safety,” he said.
We were all silent for a moment, and then we all nodded. “The power to keep that which you love safe,” Doyle said.
“It always comes back to power,” Aisling said. “It has to, because without power you can’t protect what’s yours.”
“I can’t argue with you,” Galen said, “but damn, that was a mood killer.”
We laughed, even Aisling. “You are charming, Green Knight.”
“It’s part of my magic.”
Aisling looked up at him. “Truly?”
Galen nodded. “Apparently.”
“To be charming in a friendly way, not a romantic way?” Aisling asked.
“Yes.” He smiled, and shrugged. “I think it’s what helped me not get killed in a duel years ago. People just liked me, even when I was a political disaster and didn’t have enough powerful friends to protect me.”
I drew Galen down to me so we could kiss, and said, “I’m so glad you’re magically likable; I would have missed you.”
He grinned. “I love you, our Merry.”
“And I love you, too, my Galen.”
“I’m jealous,” Aisling said.
We all looked at him. He added hastily, “I don’t mean of Merry in particular, but of your being in love, and being able to lie with a woman. I haven’t dared break my long fast for fear of bespelling some poor woman.”
“I guess it is ironic that to be safe to have sex with anyone, you’d need the woman to already be in love with someone else.”
“Something like that,” he said, and gave a half laugh, but it was more bitter than happy.
Doyle patted his back. “I’m sorry, my friend.”
I remembered why I’d wanted to talk to Aisling. I told him about Bryluen’s effect on Rita the nanny. He sat up, spilling his hair all around him, face serious as he listened. “It is highly unusual for one so young to exhibit such powers.”
“So you didn’t have to worry about hiding your face when you were a baby?”
“No, not until I reached my teens, and then the year that I grew six inches, my shoulders filled out, and I suddenly looked more my age, and that was the beginning of this. I thought I was just very good with women, and then I started attracting women I didn’t want to attract, and we began to figure out what was wrong.”
“Your power is the closest to what Bryluen is doing; can you see if you sense anything?” I asked.
“I will happily look at the baby, but I’m not sure what I can tell you; as I said, my powers didn’t manifest until I was in my teens. It’s very unusual that both your daughters would be displaying powers almost from birth.”
“They are going to be very powerful,” Doyle said.
“I believe you are right,” Aisling said. He began to gather his hair back from us, and to braid it almost absentmindedly. “I will need a covering for my face before I go to the nursery.”
We finally used the remains of Doyle’s shirt to make a mask that went around his lower face and tied securely enough to make Aisling happy with it. He left his hair in two long, thick braids. It reminded me of the way Saraid had worn her hair, though his was longer and seemed thicker. I hadn’t petted her hair, so I wasn’t sure on the thickness. We walked toward the house with Doyle and Galen holding my hands. Galen held out his hand to Aisling. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought he was smiling under the white mask when he took the offered hand. We walked four abreast out of the practice circle, and as soon as we left the magical spell that kept the reporters from seeing inside it, we heard a yell of, “Hey, Princess!”