“Does the child displease you, Arrogan?” asked Elthas, his grip tightening. “Perhaps I should punish him for you.”
The old man’s gaze locked with that of the fae lord. “You spill one drop of his blood, and I’ll spread pieces of you far and wide across the Glenwood. They’ll need a hundred years to piece your carcass together.”
“Always rude, always crass,” said Elthas. “Has time given you no taste for diplomacy? Let us make a bargain, Arrogan, like the old days.”
“Bargain?” said Will’s grandfather derisively. Then he spat on the ground, and Will was surprised to see smoke rising from where the spittle struck. “I’m not making any bargains with you. If you’re going to kill him, do it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Will felt the nails dig into his neck painfully for a moment, but then Tailtiu ran forward. “Stop!” she cried.
Arrogan’s face changed when he saw the fae girl, and Will saw his stance shift. The old man stared at the girl with an intensity he hadn’t even shown to his opponent. “Tailtiu,” said the hermit, the name almost catching in his throat.
And just like that we’ve lost, thought Will. All because he turns out to be just another horny old goat. He knew he was doomed. His despair only lasted a second, however, replaced almost immediately by shock when Tailtiu replied, “Father.”
“She’s your daughter?” exclaimed Will, disgusted. “What the hell is going on? She kissed me!” His eyes rolled sideways to glare at the fae woman. “That’s incest!” Even as he said it, though, he couldn’t help but note her erotic charm.
Both Elthas and his grandfather responded at the same time, “Shut up.”
Will closed his eyes, wanting to block everything out, most especially the sight of his cousin’s naked form. Or is she my aunt? He couldn’t be sure. Either way, I’m going to hell.
His grandfather was the first to speak. “Did you say you kissed her, boy? Did you make a bargain?”
Will tried to shake his head, but Elthas’ grip was too tight. “No. She did it without asking.” Then he felt a need to add some clarification. “I didn’t like it, either,” he lied.
Arrogan looked back at Elthas, a wicked grin on his face. “That changes things, doesn’t it?”
The fae lord scowled. “Not in the least. His life is still in my hands.”
“It’s obvious you just want to kill him so you can negate Tailtiu’s debt,” said his grandfather.
“This is my forest,” insisted Elthas. “I do as I please. Your daughter’s obligations are not mine.”
Arrogan glanced around, letting his eyes linger on the other fae trapped around them. Then he faced Elthas again. “Do you think they’ll believe that? Or do you think they’ll realize that the oh-so-honorable Lord Elthas is nothing more than bog scum? Why don’t we test it out? You kill the boy, I’ll tear you into tiny pieces, and they can go tell the other fae what happened while you put yourself back together. I’m sure your reputation will still be just fine when you are eventually whole enough to tell your side of the story.”
The fae lord simmered with rage. “All this rests on one faulty assumption, old man. I can kill both of you. Your threats are meaningless. This is my demesne. I hold power here.”
“Is that right?” challenged his grandfather. Then the old man stepped closer, until he and Elthas were standing almost nose to nose. “Show me. I’ve been itching for this fight for a long time.”
The moment stretched out, until Will began to grow impatient. Opening one eye, he saw Tailtiu and felt an immediate response. This is so wrong, he thought desperately. I’m about to be choked to death and all I can do is fantasize about my faery aunt. Where did I go wrong?
Without warning, the pressure around his throat vanished, and Elthas stepped away. “Go!” ordered the fae lord. “If I see either of you again, your lives are forfeit.”
Will’s grandfather grabbed his hand, pulling him away. “Empty words from an empty pus bag, Elthas.” Arrogan cast one regretful look at his daughter, and then he turned Will around and marched him out of the clearing.
They hadn’t gone more than twenty feet before Will asked, “Grandfather, was she really your—”
“Shut the hell up!” barked the old man. “Not one more word from you until we get home.”
Will managed to keep his questions to himself the rest of the way back, even though they seemed to be multiplying by the minute. When they reached the place of entry, his grandfather grabbed his hand again and twisted them both sideways in that same strange way that Will had before, and they were back in the normal world again.
But the normal world was still slightly strange. Will’s vision hadn’t returned to normal. He still saw lots of things that hadn’t been present before. His grandfather had an aura around him, the trees still thrummed with hidden power, and faint streamers of light flowed about them in the air.
His candle flame wasn’t the same either. It was small and feeble, less than half the size it had once been. Considering his fatigue, that seemed to match up, but it had never done that before, not even when he had worked himself into complete exhaustion.
When they had finally gotten inside the house, Will couldn’t keep it in any longer. “Am I dying?”
His grandfather was busy untying the thongs that held his bizarre antler cap on. He glanced Will’s direction. “Huh? Why the hell would you think that?”
He held up the candle.
“Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more fucking stupid. You never fail to impress. Don’t you remember the day I brought you here?”
Will nodded.
“Well, if I had done the candle spell for you then, your flame would have been even smaller. Much smaller, in fact. You aren’t dying. You just had some of your turyn sucked out.” Then he cuffed the top of his grandson’s head, hard. “Idiot.”
“Was that really your daughter?” asked Will, rubbing the sore spot on his skull.
The old man passed one hand over his face. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Does that mean she’s my aunt?” prodded Will. “Or am I not really your grandson?”
“I’ll answer one stupid question,” growled the hermit, “then you’re going to explain to me what happened. So choose wisely.”
He thought about it for a moment. He was pretty sure the fae wouldn’t have lied about Tailtiu being the old man’s daughter, and besides, he was more worried about his own status. “Are you my grandfather?”
“I’m your great-great-great-great-grandfather, plus or minus ten or twelve greats. I don’t know exactly anymore. I stopped keeping count of the generations a couple hundred years ago,” admitted the old man.
Will was stunned, then he had a flashback of Tailtiu kissing him. “Was she your great-great-however-many-times-over granddaughter?”
His grandfather laughed sourly. “No, she was my youngest child. The fae are all but immortal. She’ll still look like that long after you’re dust in your grave.”
“So who was her mother?” blurted out Will.