Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Caelan was the first to overcome his surprise. He dipped his head in a greeting.
“Welcome, Cernunnos, King of the Fae.”
“Well met, Caelan.”
Ethan’s eyebrows inched up on his forehead like bushy caterpillars.
Rowan was slack-jawed as he stared at my father, his eyes scanning Cernunnos, taking in everything that he was. He was the second to acknowledge him.
“Cernunnos.” He placed a hand over his heart. “Welcome.”
“Lord of the Land,” Cernunnos said. “Well met.”
Thorvin’s mouth gaped like a fish. “Cernunnos,” he breathed. “There are so many questions I want to ask you.”
Soren shot him a sharp look, but my father smiled. He had a soft spot for scholars. “Perhaps another time,” he said to Thorvin. “I will offer some of my time for something in exchange. We will barter later.”
Thorvin dipped his head. “Your generosity is immense.”
Oh brother.
Soren dipped his head. “Cernunnos. Welcome.”
Cernunnos studied him for a long moment. “You are heartsore, young Lord. Perhaps there is a dark-haired woman who would soothe your ache?”
My lips twitched. So he was pining after Moira. I knew it.
Soren’s eyes flashed with horror, but he remained silent.
Ethan was the last to speak. “Cernunnos.”
The Lord looked furious at the Fae King’s presence, which was highly amusing, and also disturbing because did Ethan not realize my father could crush him like a bug if he wanted to?
Instead of greeting Ethan, my father tilted his head and studied the Lord. “I couldn’t help but overhear some of your conversation about your Floromancer.”
I braced myself. Cernunnos never randomly showed up just to show up—unless he was coming over for tacos. He didn’t show up in a room full of Lords after I’d had a shit day and had just lost my temper over the idiocy of shifters.
The Fae King was here for a reason, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like it.
“Your Majesty,” I said, placing my hand over my heart and bowing my head.
When I lifted my eyes, amusement sparkled in the swirling depths of his gaze. “One woman has graced me with my formal title instead of my given name. She has shown deference where the rest of you have shown familiarity despite not being given permission.”
The temperature in the room dropped by about twenty degrees.
“You are no king of ours,” Ethan said.
I wanted to sigh. Ethan could be such a dumbass sometimes.
“Perhaps not,” my father said, “but you forget I could be, and that each of you stand here by my grace.”
Ethan’s eyes glittered with anger. Cords of fury stood out on his neck, but he could not refuse Cernunnos’ statement. If the fae ever tired of existing side by side with us, it would not be a difficult thing to take over our world if Cernunnos stepped in to assist.
“Evie,” my father said. “It is nice to see you again.”
“And you.”
“Is there something we can do for you?” Rowan asked after a long silence.
“There is,” Cernunnos said. “But it’s not for me. It’s for Evie.”
I stilled. Oh shit. Here it comes…
What in the world could he possibly ask or demand of them, and, the more important question, how much worse would it make my life?
“You ask for a favor for a Floromancer?” Ethan said, derision dripping from his voice.
Cernunnos laughed, the sound wickedly amused. “I do not ask for favors, Lord. You seem to have forgotten who she is, and what her capabilities are.”
“We know of her magic and abilities,” Ethan snapped. “We are merely trying to find a place for her…uniqueness within our world.”
“Oh?” Cernunnos said, far too much curiosity in his voice. “What have you decided?”
Rowan blinked, his eyes narrowing on my father. He knew of our relationship, and based on everyone else’s lack of reaction, he hadn’t said a word to the others, which only made me like him more.
Ethan looked at Thorvin, who gave him one sharp shake of his head.
He wanted Ethan to shut the fuck up, just like everyone else in the room.
No matter what Ethan said, things would not go well for him.
The absolute last thing Caelan needed was one less Lord.
Ethan’s absence would complicate everything, and I’m not even sure it would stop them from trying to find “a place” for me and my “uniqueness.”
To his credit, the first signs of nervousness showed in Ethan’s frame. His fingers tapped against his thigh. “Err. We believe Evie would be more suited to Rowan. Perhaps even Ben.”
One of Cernunnos’ eyebrows flicked up. “Interesting. Why Rowan?”
“Their powers are similar, and they seem to like each other.”
Amusement flashed over my father’s face, there and gone in a heartbeat. “And Ben?”
“He obviously wants her, and he owes her a boon.”
My father focused on me. “A boon from a Lord is no small thing. What great achievement or feat did you perform to win his approval?”
The way he said it made it sound like I was a Victorian lady who’d shown her ankle in a bar. “It wasn’t much, and I don’t need a boon. I just want to go home.”
“She saved my life,” Ben said.
I closed my eyes for a brief moment.
“And what was so wrong you couldn’t save yourself?”
The edges of Ben’s eyes tightened. “I was overwhelmed and taken hostage. After a serious injury that almost resulted in my death, Caelan and two of my wolves came for me. Evie managed to heal me before I succumbed to my injuries.”
“Evie. Is this true?”
I nodded. “The Lord had lost an arm. Blood loss from the injury was significant.”
My father looked at Ben. “She regrew your missing limb. Impressive.”
The other Lords weren’t aware of the circumstances in which we’d found him. Everyone trained their eyes on me, and a couple of their gazes flickered with interest.
Again, being a thing of interest for a Shifter Lord was never a good thing.
“Would he have regrown the limb on his own?” Cernunnos asked.
More than likely he already knew the answer, but he waited for one of the Lords to answer. To my surprise, Thorvin stepped up.
“Maybe,” the reticent Lord spoke. “It depends on the injury, the weapon used to cause it, and how long ago the injury took place. Even a fresh injury is no guarantee. Others who have more minor injuries might not always grow a limb back. We don’t know the parameters of why or why not, but we throw everything we have at an amputation and hope for the best.”
“It sounds like you owe Evie more than a small boon,” the pot stirrer said.
That was Cernunnos. Him and his big ol’ giant stirring spoon.
“I’ve already offered my Keep to her,” Ben said.
“Did you now?” Cernunnos’ voice was flat. “You wish for her to be your mate?”
“I do.”
“And what do you think, Evie?” My father was having a blast.
“A few months ago, we couldn’t stand each other. Today, he almost died. I think it’s…pheromones or something. He had a near death experience and he’s imprinting on me like a…duckling.”
Caelan snorted. Rowan choked and coughed lightly into his hand.
“A duck,” Ben said flatly. “You’re comparing an offer of marriage from a Lord to an imprinting duck?”
I shrugged. “You didn’t even like me a few months ago. I can’t help but think this was caused by something, other than just my presence. We’ve been around each other many times and never have you acted like this.” I rolled my eyes. “Swear to the gods, there must be something in the air.”
Ben opened his mouth, then shut it. “Can’t a man just want to marry you, Evie? Does there have to be some big reason behind it?”
I stared at him flatly. “Yes. Love is a great start. You don’t love me. I don’t love you. The end.”
“And you, Rowan?” My father said, “Would you want to carry Evie off and make her your Lady?”
Rowan grinned. “Evie is a catch for whoever finally manages to tame her. I would gladly accept Evie if she wanted to come, but I cannot guarantee a mating. Our magic is too similar, and I wonder if even I would find Evie difficult to handle.”
“Ass,” I muttered.
Rowan winked at me.
“But you like her,” Cernunnos pushed.
“Of course.”
“And you find her attractive?”
“I’d have to be dead not to,” Rowan said.
A hysterical laugh bubbled from me.
“And you would stand idly by while someone else tried to win your woman?” he asked Caelan.
“Never,” Caelan said. “If Evie wished to leave me, I would let her go. But if someone tried to take her, I would raze their world to the ground.”
I reached over and interlocked our fingers. Caelan had changed. In a fundamental way. And he’d done it because he loved me. My throat thickened with tears, and I blinked them away, refusing to cry in front of these damned Lords.
Cernunnos inclined his head in approval. “Most of you assume you know who Evie is. You think she’s a simple Floromancer, powerful, yes, but nothing you can’t overcome if you all work together. Would you say this is correct?”
He’d directed his words toward Ethan who merely shrugged.
Soren had remained deathly quiet the entire time, and I’d almost forgotten he was standing there. “I’ve seen Evie in action. She’s unpredictable, which always makes for a difficult battle. I would not idly take her on without backup.”
“That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I said.
Soren shrugged. “Don’t get used to it.”
There he was. He might be pretty, but I still couldn’t see what Moira saw in him.
“Even so, you believe you can actually force her to do something she doesn’t want to do, yes?”
No one dared agree to that statement. The room fell into a tense silence.
Where was my father going with this?
“Why are you so concerned with her?” Ethan asked. “She’s a citizen of the Lords.”
Cernunnos smiled, and it was terrifying. He lifted a finger and gestured toward me. A soft gust of wind and an emerald and gold wash of magic flowed over me. I knew what he’d done even before the gasps of shock in the room.
“Evangeline is a citizen of Faerie. She is also a princess of our realm and is to be respected in all your dealings with her. Furthermore,” he emphasized, when Ethan opened his mouth to object or say something stupid. Who knew with him?
“She is my daughter, and she will marry whomever she chooses, whenever she chooses, without interference from you or any of the other Lords.”
I lifted my hand and felt the edges of the fae crown on my head. That was Cernunnos. Things were secret until he didn’t want them to be anymore.
“Your daughter,” Ethan said weakly.
I wiggled my fingers at him in a wave.
Soren let out a vicious curse. Thorvin stared at me owl-eyed, and Rowan, that smug sonofabitch, was still grinning from ear to ear.