Chapter Two #2
Dagur met my stare warily. I had stopped midway down the hall, directly in front of his table. To stare at him while my daughter sat on his lap. Trusting. As she might with one of her uncles. But this man didn't want to be an uncle to her.
Rowan had finished her breakfast and been excused from the royal table just a few minutes before Miri had made her mad flight around the hall. I thought Ro wanted to go into the back garden to play around her grandmother's tree. Maybe she had, but she had made a pit stop at Dagur's table.
It irritated me even more that they looked incredible together.
Against Dagur's midnight-black skin and hair, his icy blue eyes seemed to glow, and so did Rowan's bright coloring.
With her rich auburn hair falling around her in thick, glossy waves, her pale Irish skin sprinkled with freckles, and her shockingly bright, green, snake eyes, Rowan looked like a jewel laid on the black velvet backdrop of Dagur.
Normally, the Dark Elf didn't eat breakfast in the castle.
The Elf village was nearby, and he often visited, but he had his own home to dine in and a community to run with his brother.
But all Twilight Fey were welcome at court, and the older Rowan got, the more often Dagur visited.
I wouldn't be surprised if he asked for a room soon.
Rowan was ten now, nearly eleven, and she was showing signs of womanhood.
Killian had almost had a heart attack when she got her period.
An early bloomer, just like her mom. I had to explain what the blood meant, and Rowan had been shockingly mature about it.
Which only made me more worried. Looking at her, I thought she was too young to have such feelings.
But I remembered getting my first period around her age.
All the changes in my body. And all the urges.
All the confusing feelings that had embarrassed me.
My daughter was shy, but not embarrassed. That should have been a good thing.
This was a time when childhood crushes transformed into something more adult. Rowan wouldn't know exactly what she wanted, but she'd be feeling the need for it. Fucking hormones. Didn't they know she was too young?!
Sure enough, as I held Dagur's startling blue gaze, Rowan nestled in close and kissed his cheek.
Cat started to growl. Not because she sensed my anger. Cat was Goddess-touched, and she had appointed herself Rowan's protector from the minute of Ro's birth. And my Puka friend was discerning. She had her own anger.
“Rowan!” I snarled.
Rowan flinched and lifted her head to look at me in shock. I rarely shouted at her. She was my sweet girl who never disobeyed me and only got into trouble by accident. Even when she was Miri's age, she'd never given me issues.
Rowan's bright eyes widened, and she slipped off Dagur's lap. “Mom?” she asked hesitantly.
I took a deep breath. “Sorry, Ro-Ro. I'm not mad at you. Come here.” I held out my hand as I kept my stare on Dagur.
Rowan obediently came over and took my hand. “What's wrong?”
“We need to talk, baby girl.” I finally looked down at her. “Could you go . . .” I trailed off as I noticed the silver bracelet on her wrist. It was a delicate snake, winding around itself. Stunning in its detail. Elves made the best jewelry.
“Mom?” Rowan canted her head, her mass of auburn curls falling nearly to the floor.
I gathered her hair up and wound it into a loose knot. “Be careful, honey. You're going to get your hair dirty. Maybe we should cut it.”
“No!” she nearly shrieked. When I lifted my eyebrows, she repeated it in a normal tone. “No, Mom.” She leaned in to whisper, “Dagur loves my hair long.”
Oh, that's it! The Elf was gonna get it!
Face twitching, I said, “Why don't you go out back to Grandma's tree and see if there's any Pixies around to play with? I'll be right out.”
Pixies are known to be little assholes, and they generally stay away from court.
But then one of the more adventurous of their ladies met Rowan.
Like everyone else, she had become instantly enamored of my daughter.
That Pixie had gone home, told all her friends about the Twilight Duchess, and that was the start of the Pixie Invasion. At least they stayed in the gardens.
Not that they were mean to me. They actually liked me, and they really liked Tiernan, but Ro-Ro was another story entirely.
She had become their favorite large person.
They adored her so much that they came en masse to the castle gardens nearly every day to visit her.
Rowan loved playing with the tiny winged people and often brought them presents of honey, bread, and milk.
Oh, and chocolate. The Pixies loved chocolate.
“Oh! May I go by the kitchens and fetch them a bowl of honey?” Rowan asked.
“Yes, of course. Go on now.” I pushed her back up the dining hall, toward the kitchen and her frowning father. “Cat, could you go with Ro? Look after her.”
Cat huffed as if to tell me she was on it and then padded after Rowan, casting one last warning look at Dagur. Damn, I loved that Puka.
I pointed at Dagur and then out of the hall, too angry to use my words.
Hinrik, Dagur's Light Elf brother, gaped at Dagur and then at me as Dagur stood up and headed down the hall along the wall, keeping pace with me and keeping the long dining tables between us like referees.
When we reached the end and met up, I waved him through the dining hall archway just as Gradh and Conri, two of my Star's Guard, fell into step behind me.
I glanced back at them, and they nodded at me.
They may be fairies, but they were my fairies and my friends. They had my back no matter what.
Dagur turned to face me as I stepped into the entry hall. “Your Highness, I—”
“Nope!” I pointed at him. “Not here. Come with me.”
I led Dagur across the massive twilight star set into the marble floor, and then down a corridor.
I went into the first parlor I came to. Appropriate to my mood, it happened to be the Rose Parlor, named for the massive crystal chandelier of sparkling red and pink roses that hung in the center of the room.
My guards followed us in and took posts on either side of the door.
Conri, the shaggy-haired, horny (in all meanings of the word), and handsome Bargest knight shut the door and grinned at Dagur.
It was not a pleasant smile. His girlfriend, the sunset-skinned Gradh, lifted her chin and flung her long, dark blue braid over her shoulder before she folded her arms across her chest.
Dagur winced, looking from them to me. “Your Highness—”
“Sit down and shut up!” I hissed at him.
He sat down.
“I'm having a very bad morning, Dagur. And you have unfortunate timing. I might have dealt better with this if . . . well, never mind if. At least, never mind that if. I have other ifs that we need to discuss. Such as, if you touch my daughter again, I will fucking geld you!”
Dagur hung his head. “Please, Princess Seren. Rowan climbed onto my lap. I didn't entice her there.”
“Oh, now you're blaming the ten-year-old child?! You are fucking scum!”
He let out a sigh. “Of course, I'm not blaming Rowan. I'm just trying to explain what you saw. It was innocent.”
“Yes, on her part, it was innocent because she didn't know better.
But you're not dealing with an eight-year-old anymore.
Rowan is ten now. She's . . . becoming a young lady.
There are things happening with her body that are confusing her.
Hormonal changes. She's having urges. I will talk to her about them, but holding her on your lap, allowing her to kiss you, and giving her presents on par with what a man gives a grown woman is not helping things.”
Dagur winced. “I know you don't see things as we do, but this is normal here, Your Highness.”
“Don't argue with her,” Conri growled. “It ain't gonna help you.”
“You understand, though.” Dagur waved at Conri. “You know this is the Fey way. I haven't done anything wrong.”
Conri just stared at him.
Gods, I love that Bargest.
Then Killian came into the room. “Babe, what the hell is going on?” He looked at Dagur and narrowed his eyes. “Is this about Rowan?”
“Shit, Daddy's here. Now you're in tro-o-o-uble,” Conri drawled.
“Why is he in trouble?” Kill demanded. “What did he do to Rowan?!”
“I haven't done anything!” Dagur shot to his feet, probably sensing the coming slaughter. “I'm merely acting as a friend. I won't do anything beyond friendship until Rowan's ready for it. I swear.”
I shook my head at Dagur, although a part of me was gleeful that he had just told on himself.
“Wait. What?” Kill looked from me to the Dark Elf. “What the fuck is going on here?!”
“I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to murder him.” I held up my hands.
That probably wasn't the best way to begin.
With a roar, Killian launched himself at the Dark Elf, not bothering to hear the rest of what I had to say. Dagur went down, taking a fist to the face and then one to the stomach, before I pulled Kill off him.
“All right. Ease it back, Blair.” I put my hands on his shoulders.
Ironically, seeing Killian lose it helped to calm me. Maybe because it made me feel justified and normal. Living among the Fey could twist your human morals. It's how I wound up with five husbands.
“He didn't molest her.” I pushed Kill to keep him from slipping around me. “Take a breath, and I'll tell you what's going on.”
Kill narrowed his eyes at Dagur, who had wisely stayed on the floor, and then looked at me. “He hasn't touched Ro?”
“Not in the way you're thinking.”
Killian grunted. “Go on.”
“So, evidently, in Fairy, it's acceptable to become friends with a child you'd like to one day establish a more romantic relationship with.”
“What the actual fuck did you just say to me, Seren?! Are you fucking with me? Cause that's a sick joke.”