Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
“I quite despise these fake outings that Miss Quirke and I are subjected to. I would quite be rid of them if I had a choice, but I do not. My fate has been written in stone.” – from the diary of Oren Byrne, age nineteen.
“It is a lovely day for a ride,” Sevrin commented from beside us.
Georgie shivered. “Why we couldn’t remain indoors, where it’s safe and not to mention warm, is beyond me.”
Yes, I completely trusted Abnus to protect me, but I didn’t trust myself around him. He was too enticing.
Georgie hadn’t been pleased when I’d begged them to come.
I’d honestly wanted anyone but Nevan and Neil, and I’d seen Georgie first. They would’ve much rather remained home but had reluctantly agreed after I’d pleaded repeatedly for them to come.
Sevrin had decided to come along when he saw us requesting our horses.
He’d still been courting Eibhlin, who hated him almost as much as she hated Cethin.
Sevrin cast Georgie a quick glance before looking at me and then Abnus, who rode by my side. He faced forward once more and said, “You know that the fresh air always cheers you up, and with Thomas gone, it’s my brotherly duty to ensure you’re quite happy.”
They scoffed. “I’d be far more content inside.”
That wasn’t strictly true. Georgie did indeed love the outdoors, but I was willing to admit that it was rather cold out here.
Why Abnus had insisted being outside would be far better to study was beyond me.
Then again, he was a dark fae and was impervious to the cold around us.
No doubt the icy chill invigorated him while it sank into my bones and froze me from the inside out.
There was also the matter of temptation, I supposed.
We weren’t reading or accomplishing much inside, unless you counted the marks that now decorated Abnus’s neck.
The cold was a preventative for me to not attack Abnus, though I very much doubted its efficacy.
It had been sufficiently cold in the hunting shed, and it hadn’t deterred my ardor one bit.
But having two siblings around to keep me from getting distracted by Abnus was probably best.
Honey stumbled beneath me, and I patted her neck.
“Are you quite alright, Mr. Byrne?” Abnus asked.
I stifled a chuckle. He was always so worried about me.
As time passed, I wondered if that frantic worry he had about my wellbeing would pass or grow.
Then again, we wouldn’t spend much time together in the future most likely.
Once I was away to school, he would be off doing whatever it was that he did.
Yes, he said he would write and visit me, and I had no doubt that he would, for we were friends outside of our mutual attraction, but his favor and desire for me would fade naturally with space and time.
It was a painful thought that near gutted me where I sat, and yet, it was a truth that I was forced to swallow like the illest tasting of medicine.
Though like medicine, once I accepted such about our relationship and banished my romantic notions to the deepest parts of Hades, I would be far better for it.
Like he said, we were merely enjoying each other’s presence right now.
Giving him a benign smile, I replied, “I’m quite well.”
A little divot formed between his perfectly sculpted eyebrows, which told me he didn’t believe the white lie that I’d spouted, but I refused to relent. Abnus didn’t need to be burdened with my every emotion. This was my problem, and as such I was required to solve it myself.
Also, I was already a burden to those, namely my family, around me.
Aidan was shielding me and caring for me.
My other brothers often trod carefully around me, so as not to hurt my tender feelings.
Even my parents seemed to be shying away from discussing matters of the estate around me, like I would shed tears at the loss of what was always supposed to be mine.
All of which made me rather pathetic when I chose to stop and think about it. I wanted to stand on my own two feet and not require family to hold me up or guide me forward now that my path had been swept clean.
But no matter. I would find my way, and in the process, I wouldn’t drag Abnus into the quagmire.
I gave him one last smile before facing forward, watching the scenery around me.
We should be careful, as there was a threat about, and we weren’t sure how dangerous that threat was, which was probably the reason we should’ve stayed inside.
Of course, that was why I’d approached my siblings, namely Georgie, and not Father with this ill-concocted plan.
Father would’ve outright forbid it, barring us from leaving.
“Isn’t that Dris?” Sevrin suddenly asked, making me glance at him, and then in the direction he indicated.
Indeed it was Dris, walking across the snow in the distance.
They were slogging toward Elmbury with their head down and the collar on their coat lifted.
As a light fae the winter had to have been especially difficult on them.
As dark fae couldn’t handle the heat or the oppressive sun, light fae had an intolerance for the cold and the long nights.
“I wonder where they came from?” Sevrin asked.
Georgie pointed to the tracks in the snow that clearly gave a path to the trees. “From the woods. Why would they be in there, though?”
“Perhaps they’ve stored a wagon or supplies under the tree. Dris could also be living in the woods.”
Some of the fae had rented the few empty homes or rooms in or around Elmbury, but Aidan had mentioned that most had taken to camping in the woods, which made sense to me.
From how Aidan acted around the trees, I assumed fae enjoyed nature, though I could be wrong.
I glanced at Abnus, only to find him already looking at me.
He’d never acted uncomfortable living among humans.
He gently brushed my cheek, and heat flared under my skin from the light touch. His thumb kissed the corner of my mouth, making my breath sharpen, and he asked, “Are you cold?”
“No,” I forced out. Not anymore. As long as he touched me, I was quite certain that I would never be cold again.
We all watched Dris until they disappeared from view, swallowed up by one of the hills. When Sevrin didn’t move from his stand still, Georgie asked, “Is there a problem?"
“Dris was quite odd with me,” he commented.
Abnus spoke up, “Were they inappropriate or threatening, Mr. Byrne?”
I swore as he asked, his features harshened and I started to glimpse the tips of his icy horns.
“Of course not,” Sevrin replied instantly. “They seemed more frightened of me than anything, which is a trifle odd, as I didn’t do anything.”
“Hmm,” Abnus said. “I shall watch this Dris.”
I grabbed his arm, and the sharpness faded in a flash. “Aidan interviewed every fae who applied to sell their wares here. I’m sure Dris didn’t mean any harm, even if their manner was odd.”
And it had been. I couldn’t say what was going on with Dris, but they certainly didn’t seem to pose a threat.
No, their fear stabbed at my heart. Also I very much doubted they had anything to do with the necromancer, as it was a human only magic, so I pushed the light fae from my mind.
We could investigate Dris later, when this current threat had subsided.
Abnus stared at me for a moment before he nodded. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll not act rashly, Mr. Byrne. You have my word.”
A fae’s word was their bond, so it wasn’t easily given, nor should it be easily dismissed. I flushed clear to my roots from the ease of the way Abnus said it.
“Your word,” Sevrin repeated, glancing at me and wiggling his eyebrows. “How gracious you are to Oren, your Lordship. I’m sure, if Aidan were here, he would be heartened by the care you take of us and Oren.”
Abnus lowered his head slightly in concession. “It’s a possibility.”
“More than a possibility. Oren is Aidan’s favorite brother, and he is quite protective, as are we all. Your great esteem and copious amount of attention placed on him has been noted, I assure you.”
I bristled. That sounded like a threat, and I refused to allow anyone to threaten Abnus. Besides, I didn’t need my brother’s protection.
If he was bothered by Sevrin’s comment, Abnus made no show of it. He ducked his head once more and gave Sevrin a calm expression. “Anyone may mark my care or attention to Mr. Byrne. I take no pains to hide, for why should I?”
A heat so intense that it was a miracle I didn’t immediately turn to ash consumed me. Abnus was blatantly talking of his regard toward me. That meant something, did it not? It had to. Or was that merely my romantic heart demanding things that were to never come to pass?
“Can we?” Sevrin asked.
“Yes, anyone can. I feel no shame or embarrassment or need to hide what it painfully obvious,” Abnus answered, not looking away from Sevrin.
Smiling, Sevrin saluted Abnus. “I shall hold you to it. I must say, Lord Abnus, you’re far more open than any other fae whose acquaintance I’ve made. It makes me unsure of whether I should trust you more or less because of it.”
“Perhaps,” Abnus suggested, “you should trust my words when I say I shall not allow anyone to harm Mr. Oren Byrne in my presence, and take the rest of what I say as you will.”
My elder brother’s smile grew, and he cast me a glance. “I believe I shall do as you have suggested.”
“As interesting as this is,” Georgie said, arms crossed and teeth chattering, “I’m seconds away from leaving you all to freeze to death.”
“My apologies,” Sevrin said and clicked for his horse to start forward once again.
Unbidden, my eyes turned toward Abnus. “Did you mean that?”
His hand found mine as he directed our horses closer. “I meant every word. I cannot speak anything but the truth, as you well know.”
“Indeed, but words and truth can be wielded like a flexible weapon. You think what faces you is a sword, but it is instead a whip that slashes you open.”