Page 63 of Oaths & Vengeance (Realm of Zadrya #1)

I winced. Of course, she had a point. “Yes, but you caught me off guard. I’ve apologized for upsetting you and plan to make it up to you.”

“How?” she asked, arching an imperious brow. I wished I could see her in her true form without the glamour. Nothing could be more beautiful than her natural features, especially when she was angry.

I guided her through the vast open market just south of the park, filled with over a hundred specialty shops. Elves, faeries, gnomes, pixies, and more filled the crowded stone paths. The heat wasn’t as sweltering as it had been in recent months, making it a nice day to venture out.

“We will start here,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

Taking her arm in mine, I led her toward a shop that made beautifully designed receptacles.

This particular vendor only came for two days a month, spending the rest of his time crafting his wares.

I led her to the most expensive items on the back shelf that were etched with real silver and gold in numerous styles.

“Choose one,” I said.

She cast me a wary look. “Why?”

“I owe you a birthday present.”

Aella stepped away from me. “You don’t owe me anything, and I don’t want anything from you. Please don’t do this out of some sense of guilt.”

“You want nothing from me at all?” I asked and gave her a heated look.

She blushed and crossed her arms. “No.”

Her denial of our attraction was adorable, but it wouldn’t last.

“If you don’t choose one, I will,” I said, shrugging as if it didn’t matter either way. Then I picked up the gaudiest one I could find. It took a special kind of person to appreciate something that resembled vomit in its painting pattern and colors.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Absolutely not. I’ll take that one.”

She pointed at a small, plain one.

“Choose more carefully, please.”

“This is ridiculous.” She uncrossed her arms and threw them up. “I don’t need anything from here, so why give me one of these as a gift?”

I lowered my voice and leaned closer. “Because whichever one you decide upon will be filled with holmium. It will be more than enough to last you for a very long time.”

Her expression turned to one of shock. “But…” She glanced at the receptacles. “It would cost a fortune with how large these are.”

“It still wouldn’t equal the value of the gift you gave me, but at least it would be equally useful to you. I will also have it enchanted so only you and I can see it. That will make it easier to conceal.” Of course, that would be an added expense, but it would be well worth it.

Aella hesitated for a moment, but finally, her shoulders sagged, and she turned to study each one more carefully. She settled on a pure cream vase with a matching stopper lid and silver filigree vines running from the bottom to the top. It was simple yet elegant.

“That one,” she said.

I nodded. “Excellent choice.”

We took it to the gnome merchant, who had his wife place the enchantment.

After I paid with a bag of coins, we left and headed toward my townhouse.

It was a twenty-minute walk from here at our pace, but I was content to spend a little more time alone with my mate before we joined the others.

The market teemed with fae, and vendors regularly shouted at passersby, attempting to lure them with their wares.

Aella slowly relaxed next to me as she held the vase, casting appreciative glances at it when she thought I looked elsewhere. It turned out that the woman I'd married enjoyed thoughtful gifts. I would have to remember that and use it to stay in her good graces.

Just before we reached the market exit, a tall elf with long, dark silver hair stepped into our path.

The dense foliage from the surrounding trees allowed shadows to swirl around his feet.

I stiffened as soon as I recognized his perfectly chiseled face and pale skin.

If the nameless ones had any mercy, Vaslav wouldn’t recognize me with my glamour, but he was more astute than most.

“Darrow,” he said in a cultured voice. “How fortuitous to see you.”

There went that hope.

I pulled Aella to a stop beside me, taking her arm. “I doubt fortune has anything to do with it where you’re concerned. What are you doing here, darkening our land again, Vas?”

Ten feet separated us, which wasn’t nearly enough.

The last time we fought two years ago, it ended in a draw that left us both broken and bleeding.

While I could move objects with my mind, he could do the same with shadows.

We’d faced off in the remote forest of Jolloure Island, or else it would have been catastrophic for a nearby population.

Did he mean to curtail my ability to strike back by confronting me in Zadrya’s capital, where the fae inhabitants were densest ?

He smiled, flashing perfect white teeth. “How I’ve missed you these last two years. I saw our mother, you know. She was kind enough to host me, and we had a lovely time. Perhaps you could do the same?”

My wife shot an alarmed look at me. “He’s Unseelie…and your brother?”

“Yes, though I prefer not to claim him.” It was a complicated story that no one in my family enjoyed discussing, and even I had only pieced together bits and pieces, most of which came from Vas. Who knew how much of his word could be trusted?

She glanced at the imposing dark elf who emanated danger like a volcano ready to blow. “I can see that. Was this the one your mother…”

I shot her a look, and she immediately stopped her question. The less we said aloud, the better. I didn’t want any Unseelie to realize that Aella was close enough to me that she’d met Zareen.

My brother’s silver eyes flashed in the early evening light. “Eight years before Darrow was born, our mother married my father in Faelaria. Ten months later, she gave birth to me and left after I turned two to return to Paxia. I suppose our home world didn’t agree with her.”

“You made it disagreeable to all Seelie,” I said tersely.

It was why we’d had to flee the planet. The fae used to all be one community, but an event long ago divided us. Each individual, regardless of race, had to choose their side and way of life. Elves, gnomes, pixies, and all the rest split down the middle, depending on their preferences.

We didn’t interbreed for a long time, so offspring for more than a hundred thousand years were born with the distinctive characteristics of one group or the other.

While the Seelie court drew upon their natural environment to harness their magic, the Unseelie court drew upon pain, violence, and other distasteful methods.

Without a source for those, they weakened.

Other small details allowed us to visually distinguish ourselves from each other, such as the Unseelie being much paler.

My brother shrugged. “It is not so bad, but descending from both courts makes it easier for me to tolerate either location.”

What he really meant was that his father’s side of the family couldn’t handle direct sunlight without it burning their skin. They were fine in the shade or on cloudy days, but they detested how bright our world had been before, so they’d made changes with powerful magic.

Afterward, only the middle third of the planet ever saw the sun, while the rest remained in perpetual darkness due to thick cloud cover.

They only allowed that much land to have natural light because most food-producing plants couldn’t survive without it.

Human slaves worked in that section. Where they’d found the magicless people, I didn’t know. It was one of their many secrets.

“I’ve yet to see you when the sun is high,” I pointed out. Many times, I’d fantasized about chaining him to the ground at noon to see how he handled it. Would his skin turn bright red, then begin peeling and flaking? That would be a lovely sight.

Vas gave me an amused look. “It is uncomfortable, but I do not burn as easily as my brethren. I’m certain you’re sorry to hear that.”

“You have no idea,” I replied drolly.

Throughout the conversation, Aella kept glancing between us but wisely kept quiet.

Perhaps she sensed the danger we were in with my brother here.

I kept a tight leash on my power because I preferred my enemies to underestimate me, but Vas enjoyed intimidating people.

His magic flowed in thick waves out of him, much of it swirling shadows, causing passersby to give him a wide berth.

“Who is this woman with you?” he asked, staring curiously at Aella.

I cursed my need to maintain a protective posture over her. “A friend.”

He took a few steps forward, nostrils flaring. Unseelie had especially heightened senses. “Hmm, your scent on her is faint. Not a lover?”

The interest growing in his eyes made me wary.

Two decades ago, when I first met him, he stole a lover.

He took great joy in describing how much she preferred him.

I’d never found out what happened to her, but she wasn’t on this planet anymore.

I’d felt responsible and tried to locate her to no avail.

Aella lifted her chin. “You might be pretty, but I wouldn’t touch you with a garden snake.”

Vas laughed. “It seems you’ll have your hands full with this one—whoever she is with all that glamour covering her. ”

Of course, he could easily notice that. Any highborn fae would sense it.

“I’m not offering my hospitality, brother, so is there something else you want?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. I only wanted to see how my little brother was faring since we last saw each other. It seems you stay busy as usual.”

“Yes,” I agreed.

He looked between Aella and me with a discerning gaze. “Well, I do have other matters to attend, so I will leave you for now.”

Vas stepped back into the alley and disappeared into the shadows.

“He’s a little creepy,” Aella said, then looked at me. “Can you defeat him?”

“Unfortunately, no. We are evenly matched.”

She swallowed. “So, if he ever attacks me, I think I’ll skip wind and go straight for light power.”

I’d seen what her gift could do when she fought the Cù Sìth, but it would be complicated to use against shadows. I wasn’t certain if she could cut through them and hoped we’d never need to find out.

“Do not count on anything,” I warned, making a mental note that we needed to develop her light magic at some point. The dismembered trees from the other day were proof of that.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she grumbled.

I softened my expression. “If it helps, I do believe the two of us could defeat him together. He is excellent at judging a person’s magical strength, and I believe that detecting yours was the only reason he chose to remain amiable toward us today.”

Some of the tension in her shoulders eased. “Good.”

After watching Vas disappear into the main thoroughfare, we headed toward the townhouse. We had a busy evening, and my brother had cut into our precious time.