Page 100 of Made

“No need,” said Evie. “The dragon and the unicorn will let me know if my presence is required.”

Again, he looked at the little menagerie gathered round the baby bed. “That so?”

“Yeah. She’s in good hands. I mean hooves. Or talons.” She barked out a laugh. “Our post-birth life is a circus, isn’t it?”

“Worth every oat we feed the horse and every worm we feed the dragon.”

“I know, right?”

“But…”

Evie could sense his concern. “What’s your worry? Come on. Get it out.”

“I do no’ think the creatures would harm Rhee intentionally. But the dragon has sharp edges. And the horse can no’ pick her up. He has no arms. And sharp hooves.”

“Stop right there. You could spend the rest of the day stating the obvious. If the baby wakes up while I’ve stepped out, and wants to play, they’ll entertain her. If she’s hungry, they’ll call.”

“Call?”

“Well, that’s what I call it when they telepath a message. Mental messages from creatures are weird, Diarmuid. They don’t think the same way we do.”

“You see? ‘Tis precisely what bothers me about this arrangement. They do no’ think the same way we do. Perhaps they should at least be supervised?”

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Both those guys are convinced their raison d'être is keeping Rhiannon happy and safe.”

“Hard to fault that.”

“My thought exactly. The thing is, they’re so dialed in to their mission, I’m afraid that, if anything, they might misinterpret something said or done by a ‘supervisor’…” She put that in air quotes. “And hurt the innocent bystander.”

“Hmmm. See what ye mean. If yer certain she’s in safe, em…”

Evie started laughing. “Our biggest problem might be figuring out how to talk about Rhiannon’s interspecies entourage. But seriously. I did consult with the cellar witch. She said they can be trusted to a fault.”

“The cellar witch?” Diarmuid repeated. “Word is she’s ne’er been wrong.”

“I heard. That’s why I asked her.”

He chuckled. “’Tis why yer in charge.”

“Stop with the fake flattery, Your Highness. Everybody knows you’re large and in charge.”

Diarmuid’s hand went to his tummy as he looked down. “Large? Are ye sayin’ I’m gettin’ poochy?”

She laughed. “You know you’re not. Sounds like you’re in need of a compliment from your queen though. So here it is.” She grabbed his face with both hands and gave him a lingering kiss featuring tongue and sincerity. “You’re the handsomest king who ever lived in any land.” His responding smile warmed her heart. “Come on.”

Diarmuid and Evie could have transported themselves to the Ambassador Room, which was guest reception, with no more effort than a single thought, but Evie, having been bornand raised human, retained an odd preference for walking. And Diarmuid was a born romantic who viewed walking as prime time for handholding.

When they reached the Ambassador Room, Keir looked up and grinned. He’d already related the entire story, beginning with the trip to the realm of Cardinals, ending with him waiting for the royal couple to arrive. But Diarmuid wanted to hear it all from the beginning.

No one appreciates storytelling like the Irish.

So Diarmuid sat in the slightly larger chair reserved for the king and settled in to listen to Keir’s renewed recitation of the sephalians’ recent adventures. Keir was careful to attend to detail, as he had with Evie, and left nothing out. Except, possibly, the back and forth between himself and Killian. That was private, family only. If Exscruffenrox’s recall differed in any way, it never said as much.

The entire time he was narrating, Keir was watching Diarmuid’s reaction to Exscruffenrox, who sat quietly by his side. He couldn’t be sure what he was seeing, but whatever was happening between Diarmuid and Excruffenrox appeared to be mutual. Near the end of Keir’s recounting, Exscruffenrox got up, walked over to Diarmuid, dropped its heads onto Diarmuid’s lap, and wagged its tail.

Diarmuid greeted the creature with a kind smile and spread his big hands over two of the heads so that he could rub every dog’s sweet spot behind relaxed ears. The king seemed to welcome the attention like it was completing something that had always been missing in him. Evie gave Keir a WTF look, but said nothing. She saw it, too. Diarmuid was in love.

When Keir stopped talking, Diarmuid turned to one of the attendants near the door and said in his best authoritative tone, “Call Wizard Crowley. I want him here ASAP.”