The happy glow faded around the edges, and then without looking at any of us, he said, “Would you unbind my hair and … touch it, please?”
I glanced at Doyle and Galen. They both nodded, and Galen smiled. We had Aisling sit up so that we could take out the pins that held all those small braids tight to his head. Even with three of us doing it, it took a while to undo all the braids. We ran our fingers through the gold and blond of his hair. It didn’t shine with its own light the way Fenella’s hair did, but it gleamed, catching every bit of light that filtered through the leaves above us.
His hair fell in ankle-length waves, thick and warm, not as soft as Galen’s, or Frost’s, or even Rhys’s, closer to Doyle’s texture. Aisling lay down on his stomach and let us pet and play with all that shining hair until we made a cloak of it fanning out around him.
He gave a deep, contented sigh and rose up on his elbows. “Some of the nobles of the Seelie Court contacted me. They offered me the throne.”
“When?” Doyle asked.
“A few days ago.”
“Why did you wait to tell us?” Galen asked.
“Because I thought you would cast me out, and I have nowhere left to go.”
I smoothed his hair back, piling it into my lap like a pet, until I could see the side of his face. “I would not cast you out for the machinations of other nobles. You have no more control over the different factions within the courts than I do.”
He glanced at me. “You aren’t angry?”
“No,” I said.
“You have two factions within the Seelie Court that want you on the throne.”
“Sir Hugh’s contingent and the king himself, but I know that there are Seelie nobles as there are Unseelie nobles who see me as unfit for either throne.”
“They fear that your mortal blood will steal away their immortality as it did on the dueling grounds.”
“I know that, and honestly for all I know they may be right.”
Aisling looked at me, obviously surprised. “You’re worried about it, too, then.”
“Yes.”
“Will you take the throne then?”
“The Goddess and faerie itself crowned Doyle and me as rulers of the Unseelie Court, but the Seelie sithen did not recognize me when I entered it.”
“You were part of the wild hunt, Merry; you can’t be queen of any court and lead the hunt,” Doyle said.
“You mean ever?” I asked.
He smiled and shook his head. “No. When you ride with the hunt, especially if you are the huntsman, it is your only title. You lay the crown aside to lead it, and pick it back up only if you give up being the huntsman.”
“You were the huntsman once, I remember you said so.”
“I was, but not of the same wild hunt that you and Sholto led.”
“I never saw more than one wild hunt and that was the sluagh,” Galen said.
“As there were once many more faerie mounds, so with the wild hunts,” Doyle said.
“I remember when Darkness led his own wild hunt and was the huntsman for our queen,” Aisling said.Doyle stroked a hand through the other man’s hair. “You are older than I am, my friend; you would remember.”
“What did you tell the nobles who offered to make you king?” I asked.
“I told them I would not betray you, or Doyle.”
“What did they say to that?” I asked.
“They told me to think upon it before answering.”
“If you want the throne, Aisling, take it,” I said.
He looked startled. Doyle said, “Merry!”
I stroked the hair so gold and warm in my lap. “No, Doyle, you’ve seen how some of the Seelie nobles treat me. They’ve come here in hopes that I can help them get with child, and many of them still treat me like some mongrel. People follow you for only three reasons; love, fear, or loyalty. No one at the Seelie Court loves me, or fears me, and I’m not certain there’s much loyalty to anything there except whatever, or whoever, will further their own pursuit of power.”
“Lord Hugh wants a baby with his lady,” Doyle said.
“But he also wants to be close to the throne, and if he put me on it, he would be,” I said.
“There has never been a welcome for Merry and me at the Seelie Court,” Galen said.
“Are you both serious that Merry should just give up the golden throne?” Doyle asked. He was looking from one to the other of us.
We both nodded. “Besides, Doyle, the Seelie sithen recognized Aisling when the Seelie first came to this country. Taranis exiled him; because of that his own sithen wanted to crown a new king. The sithen has already chosen Aisling as king; let it stand.”
“What if the sithen has changed its mind after over two hundred years?” Aisling asked.
“Then you will be welcome back here in the Western Lands,” I said.
“Aren’t we forgetting something?” Galen said.
“What?” I asked.
“The king would have to be dead for Aisling to take this throne.”
“That works for me,” I said.
“Me, too,” he said.
“Me, three,” Doyle said.
“If I agree, it seems like a plot,” Aisling said.
“I’ve wanted him dead since he took Merry,” Galen said.
“Oh, yes,” Doyle said.
“For hurting Merry I would happily slay him, too,” Aisling said.
“If the sithen still wants you as its king, then be the king of the Seelie, Aisling. The sithens will let a hereditary monarchy rule, but the start of every lineage is chosen by each kingdom. I believe that when we stopped letting the land choose its own ruler, that was the beginning of our decline as a people.”
“When the Irish stopped letting the great stone choose their kings, that was the beginning of their undoing, as well,” Doyle said.
I stroked his arm, because I knew that his people had been among the Irish and he still felt for how much they’d suffered at the hands of the English, though I’d only learned his feelings on it in the last year. Doyle had been such a mystery, not just to me but to most of the court. He had been the captain of the guard, and the Queen’s Darkness, her left hand, her assassin, but it was as if all that had kept him from having feelings, or being entirely real. In his own way, Doyle had been as lonely as Aisling.
“You would truly let me take the golden throne, when you could unite the two thrones of the sidhe for the first time in centuries?”
“It’s a pretty thought that I could unite us, but I think there is too much fear and hatred between the Darkling throng and the golden one. Oh, Aisling, six of the noble houses declared themselves against me. I’m not certain I can safely rule even the Unseelie throne, but I know that the Seelie throne is too dangerous for me and the babies, and the men I love. I would not risk all that I hold dear for any throne, so be king if you can; the sithen has chosen you and that should stand.”
He studied my face and finally said, “You really are the most extraordinary person, Merry.”
“I am a practical person in this, or a selfish one. I do not wish to lose any more of the people I love, not just for power.”
“That’s right, you and Doyle both gave up the Unseelie crowns given to you by faerie itself to save Frost’s life.”
We smiled at each other, and we reached out at the same time to take each other’s hands, which made us smile more. “What is more important than love?” Galen said.
We looked at him, and I held my other hand out to him. He took it with a smile. “Nothing,” I said.
“I’ll disagree,” Aisling said.
We all looked down at him where he still lay propped up on his elbows. “What’s more important than love?” I asked.
“Safety,” he said.
We were all silent for a moment, and then we all nodded. “The power to keep that which you love safe,” Doyle said.
“It always comes back to power,” Aisling said. “It has to, because without power you can’t protect what’s yours.”
“I can’t argue with you,” Galen said, “but damn, that was a mood killer.”
We laughed, even Aisling. “You are charming, Green Knight.”
“It’s part of my magic.”
Aisling looked up at him. “Truly?”
Galen nodded. “Apparently.”
“To be charming in a friendly way, not a romantic way?” Aisling asked.
“Yes.” He smiled, and shrugged. “I think it’s what helped me not get killed in a duel years ago. People just liked me, even when I was a political disaster and didn’t have enough powerful friends to protect me.”
I drew Galen down to me so we could kiss, and said, “I’m so glad you’re magically likable; I would have missed you.”
He grinned. “I love you, our Merry.”
“And I love you, too, my Galen.”
“I’m jealous,” Aisling said.
We all looked at him. He added hastily, “I don’t mean of Merry in particular, but of your being in love, and being able to lie with a woman. I haven’t dared break my long fast for fear of bespelling some poor woman.”
“I guess it is ironic that to be safe to have sex with anyone, you’d need the woman to already be in love with someone else.”
“Something like that,” he said, and gave a half laugh, but it was more bitter than happy.Doyle patted his back. “I’m sorry, my friend.”
I remembered why I’d wanted to talk to Aisling. I told him about Bryluen’s effect on Rita the nanny. He sat up, spilling his hair all around him, face serious as he listened. “It is highly unusual for one so young to exhibit such powers.”