She sluiced water over his head and scrubbed at his tangled hair. With an exclamation she fetched a comb and attacked the tangles. Between his grunts when she pulled his hair, she asked, “Will you have to go away again soon? I thank you for thinking of Grimnaugh to help me while you’re away, but I miss you.”
He hummed in pleasure at her attentions. “Not that I am aware of. I’ve pleased the Queen with my last mission, or so she says. Several other courtiers have requested duties, and she’s promised to spread the work around.”
“Can you tell me anything of what you’re doing on these?”
“Not much. I can tell you most of my travel has been to the courts of the other Queens. I suppose you could label them as diplomatic missions. This Queen hasn’t had very amicable relations with some other realms in the past. It’s been my duty to remedy that where I can.”
“What are the names of the other Queens? Where do they rule?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Faerie is not a staid and physical realm like your mortal world. The locations can shift and meld like memory, and many lesser Queens are dotted in the hidden corners of Faerie. However, I can name the more powerful ones. Queen Aoibheall is the one I’ve most recently visited. Some other Queens are Grian, Una, Micoll, and Nic Nemhain, though her realm lies far away.”
The names swam in Clíodhna’s head, but she had no tales to attach them to. “Tell me about them.”
“Let’s see. Queen Aoibheall is a Queen of fire, and she favors the creative arts. Poetry, art, and dance are her favorites. She is rough on her favorites, though. If they don’t produce works to delight her, she might rain fire down upon them. Grian is our own Queen’s sister and has a penchant for transforming those who displease her into badgers.”
Clíodhna covered her mouth to keep a giggle from escaping. “Badgers?”
Adhna grinned back, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Yes, badgers. Sometimes she even turns them back when they repent. Sometimes.
“Nic Nemhain, now, she’s a dark one. She loves bones and is rumored to have a palace made of them. I’ve never seen it myself. Micoll, she’s the Queen of the smaller Fae; those wild Fae and sprites of the marsh you are so fond of.”
“And Oonagh?”
“Oonagh I have never met. She lives to the north and west, along the shore. She’s spoken of as the Silver Queen and loves music so much she will take musical mortals as pets.”
Clíodhna shivered at the notion of being a slave to a Faerie Queen. However, she considered the weight which fell upon her mind as she vowed to Queen Áine and realized she’d come a step closer to such a fate herself.
“You said you haven’t met Oonagh. Have you met the others?”
He clenched his jaw. “I have. Some I hope never to meet again.”
Something in his manner forbade Clíodhna from pressing for further details. Instead, she caressed his shoulders and wished he wouldn’t be in danger again.
Adhna turned and gripped her shoulders. “Promise me, Clíodhna. Promise me that if you ever gain power within the court, to hold tight upon your good nature. Keep it safe inside you, and never let something from the outside eat into it. Don’t give your kindness up for anything or anyone. Promise me!”
Startled, she blinked twice. “Of course I will, Adhna! But the point is moot. I’m a mortal in the Faerie court. How could I gain power?”
He released her and looked away. “It happens from time to time. Pray it doesn’t happen to you. Such power is a burden, and not for the weak of the soul.”
As an answer, she turned his face back to gaze into his eyes. “I promise. I will keep my goodness close and fast within my heart. If you promise to always be by my side when I need you.”
He swallowed. “I don’t know if I can promise that, Clíodhna. I can promise to try my best, but if my Queen calls, I must go. You understand that.”
She did. Her heart, bolstered from his heartfelt warning, now sank. To fill the hole it left, she drew him in for a passionate kiss, their lips both hot with the blood of passion and temper.
He ran his hands up her arms, slick from the water, and down her breasts. She wrapped her legs around his hips in invitation and he gave her that beguiling half-smile.
They made love in the warm water of the pond as the dim ever-present light shined upon them, sparkling in the ripples.
* * *
Clíodhna threw the wooden bowl to the ground in a temper. “But you said she would send someone else!”
Adhna’s shoulders slumped. “I’m aware of what I said, love. But Bodach is meddling with things again, and she has to send me now. I’m the only one she trusts to undo the tangle he’s created.”
“I don’t understand why she doesn’t just banish him.”
“She can’t. He holds too much power within the court, and there have been some grumblings he’s fostering.”
She cast her mind back to some complaints the marsh Fae had expressed. “Is he trying to push the lesser Fae into something? He’s offered the marsh Fae and the wild Fae favors for future support.”
He scratched at his beard. “I suspect you’re right. He may want to wrest control from her and take the throne himself. But she can do little against him; that’s in the rules of Faerie magic. He can’t do anything directly to her, either. They must both work through proxies.”
“And you’re her proxy?”
“Exactly. As are you, so keep that in mind.”
Her anger fled into solemn resignation. “I will. Stay
