waiting for him to do something. “I have waited years for this meeting. The opportunity couldn’t be ignored.”
Caspian shook his head. “Why wait so long—if you cared so much?”
“Few know of you for your own safety. I have enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to kill a child of mine.”
“You had Dylis look after me.”
“Shh.” Felan shook his head. “Names have power here. While the Lord of the Hunt could use your name freely in the mortal world, saying it here could bind you in all manner of ways. The same for you speaking another’s name. The more names you know the more power you have. Another reason to keep your birth secret.”
Caspian had grown into a fine man. For a heartbeat Felan was filled with regret for not seeing him grow up. “You made a good deal, one any fairy would be proud of. Now you must keep it.”
“Keep it?”
“Your word is like law, binding.” He reached into his waistcoat and pulled out the mirror on a chain. “This will help you.”
In the mirror a woman ran her finger under her eye and removed a smudge of makeup. Felan smiled. “There’s someone in it today.” He held it still for Caspian.
Caspian frowned, a flicker of something in his eyes. Then he took the Counter-Window without a word and slid the chain over his head. “You want me to return it to you. But then what will stop the Grey from killing me?”
“I wouldn’t let harm come to you. I have done my utmost to protect you always.” Everything he’d done over the last three mortal decades had been to protect Caspian. It was why he’d been such a poor father.
Caspian wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Why did you let me be born in the mortal world where you knew I wouldn’t fit in?” He spoke softly as if unsure he should even be asking.
Felan had expected the question. He’d imagined having it from a much younger Caspian, but he’d never been able to construct a meeting that wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
“It was both an easy choice and one I have doubted every day over the years. Particularly now. I met your mother by chance. I was checking a doorway that had been tampered with by a Grey and she was walking through the cemetery. She was so beautiful I had to stop and talk to her. Over the next few weeks one thing led to another and I began thinking I’d found someone to sit by my side when she conceived. Even then Annwyn was in trouble.”
Felan grimaced. The old hurt was like a wound that didn’t heal. But compared to the newer one it was but a scrape. Now he had no one and needed someone to help save Annwyn. “Then I saw her with the human she’d married. His hand was on her stomach and there was something in her eye that wasn’t there when she was with me. With me it was lust and desire, but with him it was love. If I’d brought her here I’d be on the throne looking like my father in five hundred years’ time with a cold queen full of hate by my side.”
“You knew she was married?”
“She knew I was fairy.” Felan shrugged. “In hindsight maybe you should have been born here. I would have taken the throne, my father would have stepped down, and all of the current nastiness could’ve been avoided. I guess I was too selfish.” He wanted too much, he wanted everything.
Caspian shook his head, still frowning. “You must have loved her enough to realize she would be happier with my father. The man who raised me,” he corrected.
“I know you view him as your father, but I wanted you to know your birthright. You are my only child.”
Felan looked at Caspian. He wasn’t ready to send him home to die. Whether in ten years or fifty it didn’t matter. This was why he didn’t want a gaggle of changeling children. It was too painful, knowing he’d outlive them all. “Stay a while. Enjoy the pleasures of Court.”
“I will get trapped.”
“I will care for your soul; you can have it back later and go back to being mortal.” He just wanted to spend some time with his son, show him how beautiful Court could be, and maybe Caspian wouldn’t want to leave.
“And how many years will have passed while I drink and dine?”
“You are refusing an invitation?” Felan narrowed his eyes. No one refused. No one thought to disobey him. Did Caspian think he could just because he was the only child?
Caspian gave a small bow as if sensing the shift in the air. “No, I wouldn’t decline such an honor. But I have my deal to keep and I’m sure you’d like the issue with the Grey finished.”
“You promised your lover three mortal days?”
“Yes.”
“Then you shall remain for three days and remember that half your blood is fairy and that should you chose to surrender your soul this could be your home.” He laid his hand on Caspian’s chest and a ring formed around Felan’s middle finger—silver with a curious pale green stone split with a red line up the center. “You will get your soul back when you bring me the Window.” Taking Caspian’s soul would also stop Shea from getting it should Caspian fail to find the Window within the month.
Caspian looked at the ring; he placed his own hand on his chest as if trying to feel the difference.
“You won’t miss it. I promise.”
“I will in the mortal world. Without it I will be fairy.”
“And technically banished. Like any fairy caught making deals with the banished.”
“But you said the hearing was a formality.”
“It was. I didn’t need the hearing to punish you.”
“Then all that fatherly crap…”
Felan caught Caspian’s chin and forced him to look him in the eye. “Not crap, Caspian ap Felan.” The name seemed to echo as Felan ensured Caspian saw the truth, felt it burn in his body. “I haven’t lied to you. You are my son, my only child, and a source of great pain and regret. I love you like any father loves a son. But I have a bigger role. Annwyn cannot fall. Its safety is also your responsibility.” He released Caspian. “Do you understand?”
Caspian blinked; there were unshed tears in his eyes. For a moment Felan regretted exposing Caspian to what he felt, the fear, the heartache, the responsibility, everything.
“I understand. You will keep your word?”
“My word is law. Three mortal days and you go back to your lover. Your soul in exchange for the Window.”
“You don’t need my soul.”
“No, but I want to hold you close for a little longer.” Felan caressed the stone on the ring. “Besides, three days here without drinking and dancing would be torture, and I’m not cruel.”
“You took my soul for my own good?”
“Yes. Now enjoy the party.” Felan opened the door. “You may go where you wish except the Queen’s chambers.”
“What about my shop?”
“You have a new assistant, Bramwel. His specialty is statues.”
Caspian opened his mouth, then shut it again.
Felan waited, sure his son had something to say.
“This isn’t over, Felan ap Gwyn.” The words vibrated in the room.
Felan smiled. Caspian was a quick learner, a sharp thinker, and good-looking. So fairy despite his mortality. His heart swelled with pride. He’d done the right thing letting him be raised in the mortal world. He had to believe that. And he had to make the most of what little time he had with him.
“No, it’s not.” He touched the ring that held his son’s soul. It was warm and fragile and reminded him of holding the delicate newborn over thirty years ago. “Just watch where you throw my name around. It could attract the wrong kind of attention.”
Caspian went to walk out of the antechamber, then paused. “How will I know when three days are up?”
“I will escort you to a gate.”
“And see me safely through?”
Felan placed his hand over his heart. “My word as Prince, and as a father. I won’t let harm come to you while you are here, and I’ll do my best in your world.”
This time Caspian nodded. “Accepted.”
