More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
No matter what or how much they take from you, do not let them take who you are or where you come from.”
To Aisling, darkness was pure, whole, all-encompassing, capable of swallowing whatever it desired.
“Step aside, princeling.”
“It wouldn’t take a title to bring you to your knees, princeling,”
So, she turned her back to the festivities and allowed the king to tear her away from the rest of the world, from the life she’d lived thus far. For even if he hadn’t devoured her physical body, he’d gutted her, heart and soul.
“Lúra na Bryveth, Bride of the Forest.”
Wedding or no wedding, by blood, they were born to loathe one another.
“My knights won’t hurt you,”
“Unless you run,”
“Lir has requested you share his mount while we cut through the woods.”
“You need not coddle me,”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, princess,”
Aisling was a fly in a spider’s nest, offered by her own tuath.
“He is the worst of them, ruthless, merciless, no more than a depraved fiend driven by hunger, need, and power. But, unlike the wolf, he is insatiable. Never let your guard down around him, Aisling. Never give him an opportunity to choose between you and what he covets.”
“What is it you wish to take, little thief?”
“I could have you hanged for such confessions,”
“Not eaten? Disemboweled? Roasted over a spit? Or do you prefer mortal flesh raw?”
“I prefer to toy with my mortal princesses first: chase them, play with them, and only then are they satisfying to eat.”
“Do you claim to stand against such beastly sins when practiced by your own kind then?” Lir challenged, his expression darkening the longer he spoke, “or did you defend the Sidhe when your father slaughtered our villages? You see there are none who are fully wicked nor fully pure. Only those hungry enough to be powerful.”
“The choice is yours: predator or prey,” the Fae King purred.
“If you knew what lies in those woods, you’d prefer my company to theirs.”
“I’m aware how a blade works,”
“I use the pointy end and stick it in your heart.” “Show me.”
“It is not I who has been fed on lies and coaxed to sleep in an iron keep.” Lir prowled nearer still. “And it is not I who has manipulated reality as you claim. That guilt lies with your father.”
So, any plans to poison your betrothed, steal his axes, exchange incriminating details or the like should be erased now, mo Lúra.”
All of us claim to know the truth, only some of us do. Find it for yourself before you stake your life and your loyalties on unchallenged lies.”
“And I’d bind myself to an enemy a thousand times over for the sake of my clann and my kind. To keep them safe. As would you.”
“You’re perhaps the only creature on the earth that has been given the opportunity to view this war from two pairs of eyes. Don’t blind yourself to one to uphold the lies of the other.”
“I know what it is to want to protect those you love. It’s not always possible but when it is, there’s little to prevent either you or I from doing so.” “How do you know that?” “Because you’ve already done it. By tethering your fate to mine,”
“The only other weakness the Sidhe bear from which they cannot heal—other than iron—is fire.”
“A word of advice, mo Damh Bán. Once they uncover her draiocht, Aisling’s death will be demanded by the Sidhe. Better it be at the hand of her caera than another’s.”
“It’s easier for you this way, isn’t it? So be it; believe me your wicked fae legend, your nightmare come to life,”
“And? The first ancient, dangerous beast I ever encountered I married.”
“I chose to eat instead of be eaten,”
“In that gown, you look as lethal as a nightmare and as feral as the dreams that follow.”
“I don’t belong anywhere. Not amongst mortals and not amongst the Sidhe.”
“Very well. Then I’ll hunt you down.”
The cord within her yanking her back, tearing at her soul the longer she resisted, destroying a part of her she believed may never recover.
