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My heart soaredeven as I sent my beloved off to redeem the faerie whom he imagined he loved. He couldn't resist her. She couldn't resist him. But alas—I had him where I wanted. And now he knew who I was... did he love me? Not yet. But once he cast off the love of Fand and Emer, both, he'd see his heart was meant to be mine. Yes, the Fomorians were dispatched to take Fand's life. Though I must confess, that wasmydoing... I appeared to them as if I were the Faerie King himself.

They couldn't tell the difference. Manannán mac Lir was jealous, but he didn't want his wife dead. He wanted herback.I had to give my beloved the occasion to be Fand's hero, the opportunity to come to her aid

I extended my hand, time still stilled, and touched this strange magic the sorcerer had cast against Cú Chulainn. Whomever this was, he'd been a pleasant surprise. He'd been useful in my attempt to set my beloved against the Faerie King. The sorcerer wasn't of the Fae.

The magic he cast had a tingle. I dipped my finger into it and lifted my finger to my lip. Not Awen—not the power the Druids wielded. It was faerie magic. Only, when wielded by a man, their magic changed. It drew on humanity's nature rather than the nature of the faeries, who'd served the earth as guardians and protectors. It became something of its opposite. The faeries had recruited him because theyneededsomeone else, a human, to do some of the unsavory things they couldn't do. Faeries, despite their infinite access to magic, are constitutionally incapable of violence.

I touched the sorcerer—unfreezing him alone.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The sorcerer looked back at me through the darkness that shrouded his face beneath his cloak. And helaughed...

"Tell me!" I demanded.

The sorcerer dropped his hood. I groaned. I'd seen him before, when I was still human... before all three of us were made one.

"Fear Doidrich," I said, recognizing the man I'd thought to be a Druid... the one who'd served the Dagda.

"It is I, indeed, my phantom queen."

"What are you doing here? Did the Dagda send you to thwart my efforts?"

Doidrich smirked. "The Fae have always served the Dagda well. My purpose here is in service to the Fae, at the Dagda's request. The fact that their interests and yours have happened to intersect is but an unfortunate coincidence."

I pursed my lips. I didn't trust Doidrich any farther than I could throw him. Of course, aided by divine strength I might be able to throw him quite a distance. I resisted the temptation to test my theory.

If the Dagda was trying to interfere with my effort to secure the affections of my beloved I had reason to be pissed. He'd told me he wanted me to come to him, eventually, of my own accord. Not like that was going to happen, no matter how things ended up with Cú Chulainn. But sending his lackey to try and screw with my plans wasn't helping much, either.

Of course, he didn't know my plans. Little did Doidrich, or the Dagda for that matter, realize arresting Cú Chulainnhelpedmy cause. It gave my beloved a reason to go after Fand, to protect her from her husband who meant to kill her for her lack of devotion.

"Well, give the Dagda my regards," I said, waving my hand.

Doidrich narrowed his eyes. "You have no affection for him. Why would you offer him your regards?"

I smiled wide. "To give one regards only means to give one... consideration. Tell him I am giving his attempts to interfere with my pursuit plenty of thought."

"I told you," Doidrich said, placing his hands on his hips. "I am not here to thwart you in any way."

"Of course you aren't," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You're a fool," Doidrich said, pulling his hood back over his head.

"Excuse me?"

"You seek a complicated man. A man whose heart has been given to others, many others, in various ways. But you could have chosen a mortal who loved you already."

I raised one of my eyebrows. "A mortal who loves me?"

"I am a mortal, goddess... in spite of my power."

I almost gagged on my tongue. "You? You think I'd ever cast my affections on you? You were the one who, at my father's behest, gave me to the Dagda to begin with."

"I confess, I was a coward. Too afraid to come to your defense when the good god in all his might demanded I bring all three of you to him," Doidrich said, then took a deep breath and exhaled it forcefully. "Perhaps I cast my affections as foolishly as you do."

"You're full of dung," I said. "You have no reason to love me. You don't even know me."