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CHAPTER FOURTEENMADE

Ilmr was trying to keep from falling asleep during the court session she called the Wednesday Whine, when a slight movement in the back of the throne room caught her eye. And her interest.

Vidar!

The appeal of sleep receded as a smile spread across her face. The current petitioner, seeing that reaction, was confused and stopped speaking.

Her Secretary of the Interior addressed the man without hiding his irritation. “Why’ve you stopped mid-sentence? You have limited time with Her Majesty, you know.”

The petitioner recovered quickly. “Ah, yes. I beg Your Majesty’s pardon. I didn’t, ah, know how to interpret your smile.”

Ilmr rolled her eyes. “The smile wasn’t for you. I suggest you resume with your prepared remarks while you still have time.”

He continued, but unfortunately, his audience allotment ended before he’d fully stated all the details of his grievance.

“Yes. Fine. That will do,” Ilmr said in dismissal. She concluded the hearing with her most often used response. “I’ll take it under advisement.”

The Secretary then said. “If action is to be taken, you’ll be advised. If we need further clarification, you’ll be advised. Next.”

He wiggled two fingers at the next person in line.

“Let’s put a hold on that, shall we?” Ilmr overruled him. “And break for lunch.”

“Lunch?” the Secretary asked since it was barely mid-morning. A glare from the queen had him backpedaling fast. “Lunch it is. We will reconvene in…” He looked at Ilmr. “An hour?”

“Two hours,” she said. Then added over her shoulder as she walked, “Make sure they remember where they were in line. We don’t want another incident like the last brawl.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

She winked as she passed Vidar. “Join me for lunch?”

Vidar treated her to a suggestive grin that sparked a red-hot smolder from breast to thigh. “Delighted. If it takes longer than two hours, will I be scolded by the Referee of the Interior?”

She laughed. “We’ll see. I don’t make rules just to break them, but I don’t mind breaking them for a better deal. Might you be offering a better deal?”

“According to my understanding, anything is better than Wednesday Whine.”

“There is that.”

“I also have good news.”

“What?” she asked breathlessly.

“Wait until we have some privacy,” he said in a hushed tone that he hoped only Ilmr could hear.

When the queen’s staff had been given instructions to deliver lunch and leave, she closed the doors behind them, then laughed when Vidar gathered her up as easily as a bouquet.

Ilmr was perfectly proportioned, but her lineage was warrior clan.

Far from petite. And new to the delights of being effortlessly scooped up by a lover.

After the briefest nibble of his earlobe, she said, “So, tell me. What’s the news?”

“Our plan is in place. Just in time for a big party celebrating the birth of Maeve’s granddaughter.”

“You mean the dragon egg?”

He smiled. “Out of the egg. Into the world. It’s not very big, but even a baby dragon can create a havoc to remember.”

“Wait right here.” She slid off the bed, hurried to her dressing table, and grabbed a scroll tied with purple ribbon. “Look what I got!” She kneeled on the bed, untied the scroll, and snapped it open. “An invitation!”

Vidar chuckled as he pulled her down next to him. “Congratulations. You’ve been invited to the hostess’s own takedown.”

Keir was worried about Kagan’s state of mind. It went beyond the normal lack of levity. Kagan wasn’t acting like a hero preparing to battle for his lover. He was acting like a depressed human.

“What’s wrong?” Keir asked, sensing something off with Kagan.

“That.”

Sometimes conversations with Kagan were not straightforward. After centuries of being Kagan’s triplet, Keir was aware that communicating with his brother might involve patience. “What?”

“What if I’m not right for this? What if I’m wrong? Esme is depending on me. What if she has to stay where she does no’ want to be forever because I’m not…”

“Not what?” As soon as the words were spoken, Keir knew he needn’t have asked. The reason for Kagan’s insecurity was an ever-present ache in his brother’s heart.

“NOT ENOUGH! NOT REAL!” Kagan shouted, no longer able to contain the rolling boil of his emotions under the surface. He motioned between the two of them. “You can try to fool yourself, but we are no’ real. We were MADE!”

Keir stared at Kagan, struggling for helpful words, the right words. “Did you know Evie liked to study stories about magic kind? Before she became one of us?”

“No.”

Kagan’s scowl wasn’t just familiar. After all this time, his brothers thought of it as permanent.

Keir had noted that the only time his brother didn’t look angry or pained was when he was with Esmerelda.

Seeing that had shifted his feelings about Esme.

If she could make his perpetually miserable brother less miserable, she was a miracle who deserved his respect, if not affection.

“One night, when she was over for dinner, she talked about her former passion for studying legends. She said every civilization has a creation story. And guess what they all have in common? In every single one, people were created .” Keir waited to see if Kagan was following, but couldn’t tell from the signs he was reading.

“If you think it’s unlikely all this was an accident, then you accept that everyone and everything was created. What’s another word for created?”

Kagan blinked. “Made.”

“Exactly. That doesn’t mean less. In some cases, like ours, it can mean more.

Think about it, we’re powerful enough to make fae behave themselves.

Occasionally, I’ve wondered if Maeve really gave that the amount of thought it deserved.

We’re not less , Kagan. We’re more . I think Maeve realized too late that we could be trouble if we weren’t… honorable.”

Kagan’s smile was so brief that Keir almost missed it. “Honorable?”

“Rita likes the word. She uses it a lot. It’s a concept that has merit. Bloody hel, brother. For all we know, Maeve might even be afraid of us. She might’ve deliberately set out to put you off balance so she could control you.”

The frown was back. “Control me?”

Keir was beaming on the inside because he knew Kagan wouldn’t like the idea of being controlled. He’d gotten through.

“If you weren’t real, you wouldn’t care whether you were controlled or not. Do you get that?”

“Aye. I do.”

“Well then. Stop being goofy and get ready to go fetch your girl.”

Keir couldn’t help thinking that, when Kagan smiled without reservation, it was like looking in the mirror. “Now that’s out of the way, I have an idea about how to shift the power dynamic and add some insurance.”

“What is it?”

Three identical brothers and I sat at my kitchen table while Max conveyed a rather complicated set of instructions on how Kagan would reach the Cardinal Realm and protocols for behavior once he arrived.

“Questions?”

“I have one,” Killian said. “Are you confident that your contract is without fault?”

“To the extent that I can be. Confident, that is,” Max answered.

“So that means that they might’ve devised these trials with an impossibility of success?” Killian pressed.

“We’ve left little chance of that,” Max said. “But I can’t claim absolute perfection.”

“Max,” I said. He turned towards me. “Have you ever been in love?”

Max blinked rapidly. Apparently, he thought the question came out of nowhere. I suppose he had every good reason to think that.

“I don’t…” he began.

“Just indulge me.”

“Yes. I have,” he answered.

“Well then. If the person you loved was in Esme’s shoes, would you rely on your contract and go after her?”

Max’s smile was tight, but it was there. “Yes,” he said simply.

“Good enough. Can you stay for dinner? Bangers and mash? Heavy on the bangers.” I asked.

“Another time. I have rounds,” he said.

“Rounds?” Killian asked.

“His other gig. Sandman duties,” Keir supplied.

“Ah,” Killian said.

“Thanks for coming, Max.” I stood to show him out. “Send the bill for legal services to Kagan.”

“I will,” he said on the way to the front door.

I’d meant it as a joke, but after hearing his reply, I couldn’t tell if he was playing along.

Just before he left, he lowered his voice and said, “There’ve always been conflicting stories about the nature of Cardinals.

They’ve been rumored to behave like angels when sighted.

They’ve also been said to be vindictive and ruthless.

” He sighed. “Who knows? Both things could be true. Dual natures are a feature of gods and humble alike.”

“People with too much time on their hands speculating about the mindsets of celestials.”

He chuckled. “So, you’re saying I have too much time on my hands.”

Oh geez. My jaw was getting sore from having my foot in my mouth more often than not the past few hours. While I was deciding how to get out of my flub, Max came to my rescue saying, “I wish your family the best of luck.”

“See you in court.”

“See you in court.”

When I returned to the kitchen, I overheard Killian saying, “What if they object to our little joke?”

“What little joke?” I didn’t try to keep the alarm out of my voice. When three guilty-looking faces turned toward me without explanation, I repeated myself. “WHAT little joke?”

“Well.” Keir cleared his throat. “We’re doing it together.”

Yes. I was confused. “Doing what together?”

“If there’s any chance the thing has been rigged, we think we raise Kagan’s chances if we help,” Keir said.

“How’re you gonna do that? And how is it a joke?” I looked from one to the next before coming back to Keir.

“Kagan has a pass based on his cellular structure,” Keir said.

“I know. I got that.”

“The thing is, his cellular structure is our cellular structure.” He made a motion to include the three of them. “Same. Identical .”

It took a few seconds for me to grasp the implication. I felt my eyes go wide and began shaking my head. “No. No. No. No. No.”

“Hold on,” Keir said.

“I am holding on. To you. And Killian. The two of you are not going. Are you completely out of your minds? If this is what you were calling a joke, then the answer is yes. You are out of your minds. That’s why it’s a good thing I’m here to tell you NO.”

“You don’t control us,” Kagan said.

Ever since Keir had introduced the idea of being controlled, Kagan had been going out of his way to assert his independence at every conceivable opportunity.

I looked at Kagan. “At times like this, I might wish I could.” I looked at my husband with pleading eyes. “Keir, you should’ve mentioned this to Max so he could tell you all the reasons why this might be the dumbest idea you’ve ever entertained.”

With a tiny nod, he said, “I think you know why we chose to keep this to ourselves.”

“Because you know you’re being stupid.”

“No,” he said, sounding a little irritated with me. How dare he? “Because we want Max to be able to claim ignorance.”

“Very considerate.”

“I don’t mind your sarcasm when it’s funny, but I really don’t like it when it’s biting,” Keir said.

Killian cleared his throat. “You know, maybe we should…” He started to rise.

“SIT DOWN!” I said.

He did.

“How is it that you think you’re all going? Explain it to me.”

“We’re going to do exactly as Max told Kagan, but we’re going to link arms.” He sniffed. “And go together.”

“And you think that when the three of you show up, instead of the one they’re expecting, they’ll just laugh it off and compliment your sense of humor?”

“We listened carefully to the rules.” Keir raised his chin in defiance.

I could already tell by the body language that I was not going to win this fight.

“Nothing was said about Kagan not having help. If there’s not a prohibition, then it’s allowed.

That’s how parameters work.” I gritted my teeth.

His argument had merit. I knew it, but I really didn’t like it.

“They can object, but they can’t change their own rules just because they didn’t anticipate a strict interpretation. ”

The truth was their plan scared the hell out of me. In fact, I was so afraid of what could happen, I felt tears forming.

Seeing that, Keir’s head fell back. I didn’t think I could change his mind with tears. I wasn’t using emotion as a ploy. In fact, in my defense, I was pretending to be the adult in the room.

“Rita,” Kagan said. “If it goes badly, I will apologize and ask Esme’s captors to release my brothers.”

“And you think they’ll just say ‘no harm, no foul’?” I asked.

“I’ve thought about this from every angle, but that’s neither here nor there. What is germane is that my brothers are insisting on taking the risk.” He stared at me unblinking. “They’ll no’ be takin’ no for an answer. I’ve tried.”

I looked first at Keir, then at Killian. Both nodded. I sighed as a single tear ran down my cheek. No point arguing further.

“You’re going to miss the party,” I said lamely. That, meaning Rhiannon’s literal ‘coming out’.

“Save us some cake.” Killian smiled.

“When are you leaving?”

“Now,” Keir said.

“Now?!?”

“Now” would not do. I needed time to adjust. Time to do whatever I’d do if I thought I just had another day with Keir.

“No,” I said as if I had a say, even though I did not and knew it.

“When would be a better time?” Keir asked softly.

“Well…” I said. “Some time that isn’t now.”

“Esme wants to come home,” Keir spoke as if he knew that for a fact. It was conjecture, but also a very good bet that he was right.

Gods banish the bastard. Why did he have to go and say that?

“How will I know you’re okay?