Niall grunted, barely lifting his eyes my direction. The first blond man grabbed Niall by the shoulders and squeezed hard with a smile, making Niall frown in return. Niall struggled in his grip.
The blond laughed and tightened his hold. “Niall’s just shy. He seems rough around the edges, but we all know he’s a sweetheart.”
Niall’s frown deepened, and he stood still, blood rushing to his face. Soon steam rose slightly from the top of his head, much like Flora remembered seeing in cartoons.
The blond released Niall quickly, shaking his hand as though he’d been burned.
“Really Niall? That was totally unnecessary.” He frowned for a moment, blowing on his hand. Then he straightened, smiled again, his brown eyes sparkling as they rested on me. “My name is Liam, by the way, Princess, of clan Uisce.”
I smirked. “Uisce is the water clan, as I could tell by your wave. And it seems Niall is of the fire clan. That leaves air clan for Seamus?”
“Very astute, Princess,” Seamus smiled and gave a slight bow once more. Goithe is the clan of the wind.”
Kyle and Declan both had frowns on their faces. Five boys surrounded me. I thought I’d started getting used to the constant stares and watching, but with these boys it was a little different. They looked at me differently. Like a prize they wanted to win. Heat rose to my cheeks and I had to look away.
“What brings the three of you here?” Kyle’s mother asked. Her smile at the three of them implied she already knew the answer. Her hands moved to smooth the wrinkles in Henry’s tunic.
“Milady,” Liam said, bowing slightly toward Kyle’s mother. “We have been sent to retrieve the princess. The council has come to a decision.”
The heat in my cheeks flared more. I hated the idea that my fate would be decided by a committee. If they made a decision I didn’t agree with I’d give them a piece of my mind before they were finished.
“Could I go too?” Henry’s hands fisted, and his brow scrunched with determination. “I want to go to the council. Kyle gets to go!”
The elder Fae woman frowned, she seemed unsure how she should answer.
Kyle stepped closer. “There’s no reason for you to go. It’s boring, stuffy, and I’d rather not go myself.”
I smiled and bent down next to Kyle’s mother, facing Henry, too. “It’s true. I’d rather not go either. But I tell you what. After we finish whatever the council wants to see us for, we’ll all search for your bunny together, okay?”
Henry’s face smoothed, and a smile began to surface. “Will Liam and Seamus come too?”
Liam laughed. “Yes! And even Niall.”
Niall frowned and rolled his eyes. His arms folded across his chest, but he didn’t protest.
I wondered at the boys. Were they friends with the elder Talamh family even though they were from different clans? It seemed as though each elemental clan generally tended to stay to themselves.
“This way, Princess,” Seamus bowed slightly again, and led us over the arched bridge, past the brook and back toward the white, octagonal building that housed the council in Talamh. Henry and his mother followed.
Just outside the doorway to the building, the elder of the Talamh clan, Kyle’s father stood with his brow scrunched. He stepped to the side as we approached and gestured toward the entrance. “We’ve been waiting for you. Please, come in.”
Kyle’s mother and little brother stood next to Kyle’s father and stopped. Henry wrapped his arms around his father’s leg and called out, “We’ll wait right here. Don’t take too long.”
That brought a smile to the father’s face. He glanced down at his son with affection and pat the top of his head. “Hopefully it won’t take long at all.”
My heart sunk. Somehow, I doubted I’d agree to whatever it was they had to say to me. I wasn’t interested in being treated as a game piece or prize. I set my jaw as the boys moved to the other side of the doorway and allowed me to enter first. I took a deep breath, lifted my chin, and strode in.
I grew tired standing in front of the elders once more, listening as they droned on. I had already begun tuning them out. I got the gist of it. Search for Poseidon’s horse. It was important to the Fae, and stolen by someone. Got it. What that was, I didn’t know, but it seemed it wasn’t actually a horse, so that was a start.
“And from clan Talamh, Declan has been chosen to accompany you.” The Usice elder said, rubbing a hand against his bald forehead.
“Hold on.” I stepped forward before I’d even had a chance to think it through. “Kyle isn’t coming?”
The Usice elder sat back, his brow furrowed. “We decided the guardians as a group effort. And felt together, it was best if Declan be your—”
“No.” My jaw tightened. “I’ll be taking both my guardians on this trip. I don’t care if you say that I have to make a journey to prove who I am and to awaken my magic. I don’t care that you’re sending me with four suitors and each of you hope I will choose one for my clan. But I’ve been with both Kyle and Declan for weeks. I will not to change things now. I will take them both or refuse to embark on the quest to begin with.”
Liam laughed. He stood to the side with the rest of the suitors they had chosen for me to go on the quest with. But unlike the others who stood fully at attention, Liam leaned against the wall and seemed to pay as little mind to the proceedings as he could. Now, his eyes sparkled with mirth. “You tell them, Princess.”
The elders who sat behind the marble table began their murmuring once more. It seemed the thing they were best at doing. Regardless, I didn’t care. I didn’t
