Blade Dance by D. L. McDermott

Author:D. L. McDermott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Star Books

Chapter 10

Finn rounded on his son. “Before you say anything else, before we discuss the Prince, I want wards on this house. I want Ann and the Fianna under my roof safe from the Prince and especially from this Druid. If you won’t do it for me, do it for Ann.”

Garrett nodded. “I’ll do it now,” he said. “Then we’ll talk about how we can bind the Prince to his word.”

Finn sighed. “We should call Miach. Casting on the Prince is no small undertaking. And if it goes wrong, you won’t want to be alone in the path of his anger.”

“I’ll call him,” said Garrett, over his shoulder, “but you know what the price will be.”

Then at last Finn was alone with Ann. Somehow she looked both fierce and vulnerable with her fiery hair escaping the knot atop her head and the soft slouchy textures of her sweater and her velour pants.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That won’t happen again. Once Garrett wards the house, the Prince won’t be able to just pass in here.”

“What did Garrett mean, about Miach demanding a price?”

“It is one that I’m willing to pay, to get the boy back,” he said. “It is one, in truth, that I should have paid long ago. Ann, I hope to Dana that when all this is done you’ll give me a chance to woo you properly, because you make me see things more clearly than I have for decades. I thought I was losing my grip on the Fianna because I wasn’t being Fae enough, but the truth is that I have been violating my geis. That is why the Fianna are dwindling. I have not led them to a worthy place. I’ve made bad choices. I’m going to try to make better.”

“I haven’t seen you make any bad choices,” she said softly.

“No, you haven’t, because when I’m around you, I’m inspired to be a better man. But before I met you . . . I was ready to reconcile with Miach twenty years ago. It seemed like the right time. Garrett showed promise as a sorcerer, and sending your son to another Fae house for fostering, if his inclinations do not follow your own family’s, is a time-honored Fae practice. And for many years Garrett thrived there under Miach’s roof. I denied responsibility for what happened for a long time, but I see now that it was my fault. I raised Garrett to be like one of the Fianna, taught him by word and example to take what he wanted by right, especially if what he wanted was a human woman. He wanted Miach’s half-blood granddaughter, so he took her. Far, far too young. And when she got pregnant, they ran away, and Nieve nearly died delivering his child. I blamed Miach and I blamed Nieve and I blamed Garrett, but the truth is that everything that happened was my fault. And in my eagerness to escape responsibility, I drove my son and his wife away.

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