THREE
Meirion stood against the wall and looked out the window, watching Seren be reunited with her adoptive parents from the corner of his eye. It was clear that they were a loving family, something with which he wasn’t terribly familiar. It wasn’t that he hadn’t cared for his mother, or she for him, but she had not been an affectionate person, and anyway, she had been busy ruling the Court.
He had been born of a political union, his mother finding it necessary to have an Heir who was full-blooded Aos Si, on top of her continuous parade of mortal lovers and half-blooded children. He always felt that he was a disappointment to her, and, as if to prove his point, she had not even tried to stop his leaving, nor, as far as he was aware, looked for him at all. Now, she was dead, and it fell to him to clean up the mess she had left.
He might’ve cursed the inconvenient timing. Surely, he had enough on his plate with having just soul-bonded himself to the lost daughter of the Lord of the Heavens, but he knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. There hadn’t been time to investigate the creature that had been summoned, but he was sure that it was connected to his mother’s death. He was just mulling over the implications of this fact when the sound of his name jolted him back to awareness.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning toward the Blythes and the Dean, who were all looking at him expectantly. “I was lost in thought.”
“I just wanted a chance to thank you in person,” Gordon Blythe said. “I know we spoke over the phone, but it’s not quite the same,” Gordon Blythe said, extending his hand to shake. Meirion did so, summoning a polite smile from somewhere deep within him.
“I’m glad I was able to do something,” he said, and it was true. As much as he had tried to keep himself apart from Seren, to quell his burgeoning attraction for her, the thought that she might have died still made his insides feel cold. She looked at him askance, and he wondered if she sensed the emotion behind the words. He wasn’t sure what to hope for.
They ate lunch. It was pleasant and banal, except for one moment, where his hand accidentally brushed Seren’s as they passed a dish, and he nearly dropped it in surprise. There had been a subtle electrical sensation when their skin met, and he wasn’t sure whether that was a magical effect of the soul bond or the product of his own fevered imagination. She had suppressed a smile at his fumbling, but her eyes were thoughtful.
However, the moment he’d been both dreading and awaiting could not be put off forever. After the lunch dishes were cleared away, Seren’s mother, Mary Blythe, cleared her throat and looked at her daughter. “We’re glad that you’re all right, of course, but that’s not entirely why we came. There’s something we need to tell you, about who you really are. We didn’t want to keep it from you, but it was for your own safety.”
“I don’t understand,” Seren protested, wide-eyed. Without thinking, Meirion reached for her hand, hoping to reassure her, and she looked at him in surprise.
Gordon Blythe took over. “Your mother and I love you very much, of course, and we’ve raised you as our own. But you aren’t ours, biologically. We adopted you just after your birth, as part of a special arrangement.”
Tears were already brimming at the corners of Seren’s eyes. “But why didn’t you tell me before? Where did I come from?”
“We had a Seer examine you just after your birth, and she advised us to keep it a secret until the right person asked. I think the professor could explain more,” Gordon said, and Seren rounded on Meirion, her eyes accusing. He swallowed, unhappy to have been given this responsibility, yet understanding why.
“I didn’t know until yesterday,” he assured her in a rough voice. “The Seer sensed that you needed to be protected because of who you are. Your parents are powerful, and they have enemies. Things are changing in the Otherworld, and you have a part to play in that, as do I. Your identity was to be kept secret until the son of the waves came for you, and that is me.” With that, he reached out and grasped the pendant around her neck. Her mouth opened, to question or to scold, but the words never came as she saw the light flash from the stone, and, he assumed, felt the glamour falling from her again.
“What did you just do? And how? I’ve had that necklace as long as I can remember, and it’s never done that before.”
Mr. Blythe answered, his voice thick with emotion. “The necklace was the keystone of a complex glamour placed on you by your biological father to protect your identity. It was keyed to one person, without his knowledge, I might add, and that was Prince Meirion of the Court of Waves.”
Seren looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. “You’re the missing prince? I didn’t think that was real. I thought it was a myth, like the tooth fairy.” Meirion laughed; he couldn’t help it, though he felt painfully raw and exposed. “If you’re a Prince, then who am I?”
“Do you have a mirror?” Meirion asked, looking up at the Dean. She nodded with pursed lips, and pointed to the far wall. He pulled Seren from her chair and led her by the hand until they were both reflected in the glass. Her shadowy hair floated about her like a veil. She gasped when she saw herself, reaching out as if she didn’t quite believe the image was real.
“I’m not human,” she said finally. “I’m an Aos Si, like you,” she said, looking over at him like she was remembering the time she had seen beneath his human disguise. Her hair brushed his cheek as she turned her head, and he smelled jasmine. He nodded, stifling the urge to reach out and run the silken strands between his fingers.
“You are the child of Lord Aidan and Lady Rowan of the Court of the Heavens. I spoke to Aidan, before I started the ritual that bound us, and he made me swear to bring you home, when you are ready. Your family is eager to meet you.”
***********************
Seren hardly registered the rest of the afternoon. Her parents, the ones who had loved and raised her for the past 25 years, finally took their leave, extracting promises from her and from Meirion that they would keep in touch.
The idea that she was basically married to a Prince of the Otherworld did not bother her so much. He had told her the truth as soon as it became relevant, and she could tell, even through the haze of her own confusion, that it had cost him something to reveal his identity. But the fact that she was not who she thought she was made her feel like a boat adrift at sea.
Before she had really registered it, they were back out on the sidewalk. It was evening, and the sky was rose gold. Meirion reached out and pressed the pendant again, and she could feel her usual appearance reasserting itself. She sighed with relief. “I can probably weave you a new glamour that you can control yourself, but for now, I suspect you don’t want to be seen looking like a princess of the fae when walking around campus,” he said.
“No,” she agreed. “Thank you.” She felt a sudden and overwhelming urge to cry, which was only kept in check by the stricken look on Meirion’s face. He took her hand again. Even feeling like her whole world was falling apart, she found comfort in the sensation of his long fingers enveloping hers in a steady grip.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he said, and it sounded to her like a wonderful idea. For a long time, they walked together in silence. Seren was lost in her own thoughts, but she found his quiet presence reassuring. When she finally looked up, they were in the park. A small duck pond lay still and quiet under the lavender sky of twilight, the only noise or movement coming from the obligatory fountain in the center. The sound of falling water was soothing to her ears.
“This place is lovely,” she said, feeling some of the tension leave her muscles. “I’ve never been here before.”
“I come here when I want to think,” he said, sitting down on a nearby bench. Seren sat down next to him, at what she hoped was an appropriate distance. As much as she was grateful to him for both his help and his general kindness, and cared for him a great deal, she was unsure of her place, of what he wanted from her, or even what he would accept.
“Usually my only companions are old women feeding the ducks,” he said, and she could hear the hint of a wry smile in his voice. Seren imagined him being fawned over by a bunch of little old women, and found herself smiling at the image that presented. She could easily picture his reaction, unfailingly polite but completely befuddled.
Another moment of silence passed between them, and finally, Seren spoke one of the questions that had been preying on her mind. “When are we going to the Otherworld?”
“Within the next few days,” he answered. “I would have liked to give you more time to get used to the idea, but I received some news earlier today that makes that impossible.”
“What about school?” she asked, not sure if she was more excited or disappointed by the news.
“I’ve already asked the Dean for a sabbatical,” he answered heavily. “And she said she’d be happy to give you a leave of absence as well. There are a few forms you’ll have to sign, but they’ll hold your place and your scholarship for a year, at least.”
She felt the reality sink in. They would be going to the Otherworld, to meet the family she never knew she had. There was nothing standing in the way. “Have you met them?” she asked finally, “My parents, I mean.”
“I have,” Meirion said, as she expected. “I met your father a few times when I was younger. He was still a Prince of the Heavens then, but older than I. You certainly get your hair from him. Your mother, I knew better. I was friends with her father when she was young, and I taught her at Oxford before she left for the Otherworld.” It was a strange coincidence, and a sobering reminder of his age.
“I’d forgotten, that Lady Rowan was mortal,” she said softly. “Is that why they did it? Why they gave me away?” she said, and she was ashamed by how small her voice sounded. Had her mother missed her mortal life so much? Or was it some sort of payment? She didn't understand why powerful people like Lord Aidan and Lady Rowan would voluntarily give up a child.
‘No,” he said, turning toward her. “I can assure you that they wanted you, very much, but according to Lord Aidan, when your mother was pregnant with you, the Blythes approached them with a treaty that had been signed by his grandfather, over a thousand years ago. It stipulated, among several other things, that the fourth child of every Lord of the Heavens, should such a child be born, would be raised by the Blythes in the mortal world.
It was a way to bring more magical blood into their family in exchange for support. Mrs. Blythe could not have children of her own, so in a way, it was ideal, but Lord Aidan admitted that Lady Rowan was devastated. Especially after the Seer informed them that your identity must be kept a complete secret.”
A treaty. It was sort of horribly bureaucratic. “Until you came for me,” she muttered to herself. It was strange to think that the Seer had known they would find each other when she was still an infant. For whatever reason, it gave her a faint sense of hope about the future of their relationship. “I'm sorry. I suppose you didn't want to go back to the Otherworld, and now you have to, because of me.”
Even though it was almost truly dark now, she could see him shaking his head. “I would have had to return soon anyway, thanks to some unforeseen circumstances. In a way, it was lucky everything happened as it did. If I hadn't spoken to Lord Aidan, I wouldn't have discovered the… problem until it was much more serious.”
“What is going on, if you don't mind me asking?” He took a deep breath, and she realized belatedly that this must be the thing that had so upset him earlier in the afternoon. She'd assumed it had something to do with her and now…
“My mother, Lady Aine, was killed a few days ago,” he said in a tight voice. This time it was Seren who took his hand.
“I’m sorry, Meirion,” she said, not knowing what else to say but feeling horribly guilty. All this time, he'd been suffering, but had comforted her through her issues. In the face of the death of a parent, her adoption must seem like a trivial matter.
He flinched at the touch of her hand, but his fingers closed around hers. “Thank you, but I’m all right. It is a bit depressing, but it’s not as if we were close. I suppose I feel more guilty that I haven’t spoken to her in over a hundred years, and now I will never get the chance.”
“So, does that mean you’ll be the Lord now?” she asked, and felt him shudder at the thought.
“I don’t know. The other Lords usually decide when succession is contested, but in truth, I have little knowledge about the political situation in the Court. The first order of business will be finding out who killed Lady Aine. Your father, Lord Aidan, requested my help with that. I suppose he also believes my return may lend some stability to the situation. I have little interest in ruling the Court, and I had hoped my mother might give up on me and name another heir, but she did not.”
“Why did you leave the Court? Did you have an argument with your mother?” The old stories about the vanished Prince of Waves painted him as having disappeared without warning, but Seren had a feeling that wasn’t true. She may not have known Meirion well, certainly not as well as she would have liked, but she was sure he was too responsible to do something like that.
He looked away, but he did not release her hand, instead pressing it between both of his own. She wondered if he was even aware of it. “I lost someone that I… cared about, and I blamed myself. I didn’t want to be part of it anymore.” She felt a pang of sadness and jealously for that long-ago person. Perhaps that was one reason he’d ignored her for so long.
“It was a long time ago. I suppose now it’s only stubbornness that has kept me from returning,” he added, but his voice was still laced with pain. He sighed and there was another long moment of silence, until Seren’s stomach growled, loudly. They both laughed.
“Come on,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s get some dinner.”
**************************
They ate at a local pub and then went back to his rooms. For a while, they existed in companionable silence; he was reading a book at his desk while she sat in another chair and texted Nikki about the avalanche of new developments in her life. But she must’ve fallen asleep while waiting for a reply because she was suddenly awoken by Meirion gently shaking her shoulder. Seren blinked at him blearily for a moment before her brain kicked into gear. There was a soft smile on his face that made her heart flutter. “It’s late and you’re exhausted. Go ahead and sleep in the bed.”
“Where are you going to sleep, then?” she asked, sitting up and stretching while rolling her neck until it gave a satisfying crack.
He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. “I don’t mind sleeping in a chair.” That’s what she thought he would say, and she snorted in exasperation as she stood.
“Not that I don’t appreciate your attempts at chivalry, but don’t be ridiculous. We’re already tied together for eternity, I think we can figure out how to sleep in the same bed.” Seren knew this was the logical solution, but even as she said it, she could feel her cheeks getting red. Meirion gaped at her, as if he couldn’t even find words to voice his objections. “I promise not to manhandle you in your sleep,” she added, only half teasingly.
His mouth snapped shut. “Of course, you’re right. I didn’t mean to suggest that I didn’t trust you,” he said, turning away. She could see a flush creeping up the back of his neck. “You can use the bathroom first.”
She was glad that she’d thought to pack pajamas and her tooth brush. A few minutes later, she emerged the bathroom to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling the elastic band from his hair, which flowed past his shoulder blades in waves of muted brown. She tried not to stare, imagining running her fingers through it. He glanced at her in her shorts and camisole and quickly looked away before disappearing into the bathroom himself, clearly feeling, as she did, too awkward to speak.
Seren slipped under the blankets with a sigh. The faint scent of saltwater rose to her nostrils, mixed with something else that was uniquely Meirion, both comforting and distracting. A few moments later, she heard his footsteps approaching the bed and the lamp clicked, plunging them into darkness.
The mattress creaked and shifted under his weight. It was not that big of a bed, she realized as he laid down next her. Their backs were nearly touching. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Quiet fell over the room like a heavy blanket, making the sound of his breathing seem loud. Even though she could tell he wasn’t sleeping either, the rhythmic sound was soothing, and it had been an exhausting day. Her eyes closed, and she slid into dreams.