Page 38 of Wind and Water (Reign of the Witch Queen #2)

Chapter Nineteen

Wren

A s soon as we hear the voice, Liam pushes me behind his back and stands as if he’s ready for an attack.

I peek around his side.

The voice seems to be coming from a firefly. A glowing blue dot of light hovers above our clothes. “I’m not dangerous. Well, I guess I could be. But nothing evil can happen within a fairy glen. The one who gave her life for this place wouldn’t allow it.”

“I thought elves and fairies don’t mix.” I squint to try to focus on the little light as it zips around the clothes, hovers for a moment over the tiger’s eye stone, and then flies around our heads.

She giggles. “That used to be true. Rían and I changed that.”

“Rían Redmond? How do you know the captain of the guard of Tús Nua?” Liam steps from the water, beautifully naked.

The fairy giggles again. In a flash of light, a woman appears with pointed ears, smaller than an elf’s, and a cherubic face with large gray eyes, and short blond hair.

At her back, the most beautiful butterfly wings glow with iridescent rainbow colors.

She’s petite, perhaps two or three inches shorter than I am.

She blushes bright pink and looks anywhere but at Liam’s cock, which is still at half-mast from our embrace.

“Rían will not like this.” She can’t seem to stop giggling. “He is my mate. Who are you?”

“Mate? What in the name of all the old gods is going on here? Is this some fairy trickery?” Liam steps forward.

Getting out of the spring, I hide my nudity behind Liam. “I imagine there is a lot to tell, Miss…?”

“Not miss. I am Niamh Fiain, Daughter of Muiredach and mate to Rían Redmond. I shall ask again, who are you?” She props her hands on her slim hips, and her wings flutter.

Liam gasps. “You’re the fairy princess. He lowers his head in a bow. I am Liam Riordan, son of Elspeth.”

A wide smile spreads across her sweet face. “I knew it. I felt the magic and made my way here as fast as my wings could take me. I can make a portal to take you home.” She swings her arm in an arch.

Liam holds up his hands. “Wait.”

She stops and cocks her head.

“We’re not quite dressed for court.”

Another giggle. “No, I suppose not.” She flies over our clothes and dries them in a moment. “You should dress first.”

I reach around Liam and grab my underwear, jeans, bra, and shirt. “Um, thank you. I wonder if I might ask a favor?”

She flies around Liam and sinks so that she’s eye level with me when I pull my jeans on. “Are you the second human from the prophecy?”

“Maybe. I guess we’ll find out.” I cinch my bra, then pull on my tattered shirt. “Can we sit a little while before you make the portal. I’m not quite ready to face…whatever I’ll have to face.”

She looks from me to Liam, who has his pants on and is pulling the black t-shirt over his head. “If I don’t return by nightfall, Rían will come with a company of soldiers to find me. If I leave you here—” She shakes her head. “I cannot abandon you here.”

I pick up the smooth stone from the grass. “What if we sit and talk a little while, and you take us through your portal before dinner is served at the castle? These fairy glens are safe, right?”

Grinning, she sits in the grass. Her wings never stop moving. “We will be safe here.”

Taking my hand, Liam leads me to sit with Niamh. He crosses his legs. “Did the centaurs and Wren’s mother arrive safely?”

Wings beating faster, she bubbles with energy. “Almost two months ago. We believed you were both lost. Your mothers have been mourning you all this time. They’ll be so happy to learn you’re alive.”

“Venora brought us to Coire.” Liam plucks a blade of grass and tears it into shreds.

“I thought I scented that foul place. How did you escape, and how did you get here?”

While Liam explains our journey, I can’t bear to see the pity on the fairy’s face. Getting up, I find some longer grasses at the back edge of the spring. Plucking them, I sit on a rock and weave a braid around the little stone, imagining it done in gold with smaller stones on each side.

“Wren?” Liam’s voice is full of concern. Are you alright? I’ve told her as much as I’m going to. Will you come back? I think we should go through the portal. Your mother has suffered enough.

Swallowing down my selfish tears, I stand and join them. I hand the little bracelet to Niamh. “This is for you. A gift for finding us and saving us the long walk.”

Eyes wide, she smiles softly. “This is beautiful.”

My cheeks heat at her compliment. I’ve never been good at accepting those graciously. “If I can find some gold, I’ll do it the right way when I can. That grass will dry out and crack eventually.”

“I love it, and I thank you, Wren, daughter of Birdie.”

My surprise must register since neither of us mentioned my name.

“Your mother has told me all about you. She is a lovely person with so many wonderful stories. My father has taken a particular liking to her.” Niamh rises with her wings lifting her off the ground.

Liam stands and takes my hand. “The fairy king is in Tús Nua?”

“Not all the time, but he visits and meets with the Riordan often. It’s why I sensed you.

He comes through this glen, and I felt a different kind of magic.

I guess that was your human portal. When he didn’t portal right away to the city, I worried he was in danger and flew here as fast as I could.

” She ties the bracelet with magic and admires the stone.

“Why didn’t you portal here?” It fills me with joy to watch her look lovingly at my work, even if it’s just grass and a rock. She likes it, and that makes me happy.

“I can only portal from a glen. Even my father needs a glen’s magic to create a portal. The magic of our island is similar, but no sacrifice was made, and he can only come to a glen. That is why I keep my senses open to this place to know when he’s arriving.”

With a gentle squeeze of my hand, Liam says, “We’re ready to go home now, Princess.”

“Just Niamh. We are practically family as Rían has told me he considers you like a brother.” She flies to the space in front of the trees and swings her arm in a wide arc.

A portal opens.

Before we walk through, she stops Liam with a hand on his arm. “I think I should warn you that your woman will not be happy about the obvious connection between you two.”

My gut lurches into my throat. “Woman?”

“She is not my woman. Dierdre is someone whom I dallied with some time ago, but she’s deluded herself into making more of it.

I have told her many times that we are no longer together.

I told her so again just before I left to find you, Wren.

I promise you, there is nothing between Dierdre and me.

She is a nuisance and nothing more.” There is so much anger in his voice, it startles me.

“Okay—if you say so.”

From the strained expression on Niamh’s face, I don’t think this Dierdre will agree.

The way Liam’s back is stiff and the tick in his jaw is confirmation.

I hold my breath. There’s no going back. “I’m sure it’s going to be fine.” My voice isn’t even convincing to me. You might have mentioned this woman.

She’s not important. You are the only woman, besides my mother, who has ever been important to me. However, I begin to wonder if Dierdre is unstable.

That’s comforting. Even inside our heads, my thoughts drip with sarcasm.

We walk through the portal.

We arrive at a gate with a white city behind it.

It looks like Italian marble gleaming in the midday sun.

The walls holding the gate are gray stone extending out of sight in both directions.

Flags fly on the ramparts, but the elf at the gate has my full attention.

His gaze locks with Niamh, and he relaxes as if he were only moments away from sending out a search party and had no intention of waiting until nightfall.

When he manages to pull his attention from her, he sees Liam and his lips tick up in what might have been a smile, but I’m guessing that is a rare thing for this soldier in his blue uniform with gold trim.

It’s similar to the one Liam wore the first time I saw him.

“I’m glad the reports of your death were exaggerated. ”

“Do you have Mark Twain here?” It pops out of my mouth before I can stop it.

The two men salute by coming to attention, then a brief nod. Then they hug, and I can see that the fairy was correct in calling them brothers.

Liam pounds the other man’s back and breaks the embrace. “Good to see you, Rían. I have met your lovely mate. I never would have believed you would succumb to love.”

“I think there is no real choice when it finds you,” Captain Redmond says and pulls Niamh into his arms, careful not to damage her wings, as if he’s practiced at how to hold her.

“I look forward to that story, my friend.” Liam takes my hand. “This is Wren Martin. She has agreed to help us fight the witch queen and has suffered much on our behalf.” His eyes fill with love as he gazes down at me. “She is mine as I am hers.”

The captain’s eyes widen momentarily before he bows low to me. “You have my gratitude, Wren, daughter of Birdie, and my allegiance, as the mate of one I consider my brother.”

With no idea what the protocol is, I nod. “It’s nice to meet you, Captain.”

“We must go to the residence. Your parents will be overjoyed, and Aaran has been worried.” Rían turns with Niamh’s hand in his.

“Aaran is here? He’s alive?” Excitement and relief fuel Liam’s tone.

Stopping, Rían cocks his head. “He is well and also succeeded in his quest.”

The joy of hearing that Venora had lied rushes through Liam and our connection. I’ll never get used to how much he holds inside.

Niamh’s feet don’t touch the ground as she flies alongside Rían on the walk up the road, talking quickly about how she found us, but not mentioning that Liam was naked.

Rían is brown skinned and devastatingly handsome, whereas she is cute and fair as a daisy petal. Their love shines like a beacon for anyone to see.