“Was nobility. Part of the Ferguson family,” Keaton explained. “Though I suppose they aren’t nobility now.” Keaton was actually grinning at the thought. “I went to school with Rhys and was one of his forced groupies. I never cared much for it, and like I said, once you get caught bad mouthing the king, you can guess where you’d end up. No one thought he’d actually send me here, but surprise, he did. I wasn’t surprised. Rhys was a jerk, and everyone knew that, even if no one else had the guts to say it. At least you aren’t a horrible king like him. The sidhe now stand a chance with you around. Maybe we won’t kill each other off after all.”
Devin stared at the man. He had guessed he was younger than the forties or fifties he looked to be, but he didn’t guess he was only in his twenties. And then there was the comment about saving the sidhe again. Devin had no clue how he was going to do that if he didn’t even know how to save the relationship between him and Nessa. These were quite the expectations everyone had for him. Devin still didn’t know how to use most of the sidhe powers Nessa’s grandfather had given to him.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for a king like you,” Keaton added. This time there were no smiles or joking in his voice. Keaton was dead serious.
“I’m no one’s king,” Devin replied. It was true, he wasn’t, and he was getting further away from even possibly being king as Nessa was courted by other sidhe. “Nessa is courting now. So I might never be the king you’re waiting for.”
Keaton laughed. “The princess says yes to a suitor, and you think that means you’re replaced? She could go and marry someone else, which she won’t do,” he added before Devin could reply, “and you’d still be king. You don’t have to marry Nessa to be king. The power that flows within you makes you our king. No one else can tell you no. You’re at the top of the pyramid here in the sidhe world. Get used to it. You are our king.”
Devin considered everything said, and it made more sense. Marriage to Nessa would bring a title to anyone, but the sidhe power to do anything was inside Devin. It was true within him it was greater than everyone else’s, but he had no clue how to use it, or what he could do. It made no sense to have the power and not know what was going on. It meant nothing to him if he didn’t know how to use it, yet the sidhe didn’t see it that way. Devin couldn’t imagine what the old king had been like to have everyone revere his power that highly.
“You’re right; I don’t get it,” Devin replied. “Power is one thing, but knowledge is far more productive.”
Keaton laughed. “I wish I came from your world. It sounds like a fairy tale to those of us here. Did you know all the outcasts combined have more knowledge than the entire palace, but it doesn’t do us a lick of good? There isn’t a single outcast powerful enough to change things. The sidhe are ruled by power, and the one with the most is always on top. That would be you.”
“I hope to change that,” Devin replied, still completely unsure what to do. “After I get some sleep and think this over.” Devin nodded to Mara and Colin’s little lean-to house.
“You plan to get sleep in there?” Keaton asked incredulously.
Devin shrugged. “Sure.” It wasn’t a hotel, but it would be fine. He’d slept in worse places.
“I have no idea what world you come from, day human, but you’re quite entertaining,” Keaton laughed. “I think the sidhe truly stand a chance with you around.” He turned to walk back farther into the outcast village. “Just so you know,” he kept talking as he walked away, “the king is the only one with the power to make homes in the village. Everything you see was made by one of the kings. You have the power to make a better home to sleep in than that thing. Kind of goes along with all that power you have.”
“Are you serious?” Devin asked. He really had no clue what he was capable of.
Keaton turned around and stared at Devin. Even from ten feet away, he could see that Keaton’s face was lined in shock.
“They said you had no clue, but I figured it was just an act,” he remarked. He walked back to Devin. “No one taught you what you could do? You really don’t know?”
“I have no idea,” Devin answered honestly. He never felt the need for power to take care of himself. Since the moment he had entered the village, he’d relied on nothing but his day human skills. The power the former king gave him was just extra on top of Devin’s already extensive training. He didn’t feel bad to admit his lack of knowledge on the sidhe to this man. Something about Keaton made Devin feel like he could trust him. “I may have been raised by night humans, but this world is more foreign to me than you could ever guess.”
Keaton shook his head in awe. “So they were true when they said you protected Nessa as just a day human, no extra powers?”
“You mean when I first came here?” Devin clarified.
“Yes.”
“Yes. I protected her from your family line,” Devin replied. He really should have been more suspicious of Keaton—he was a Ferguson after all. It was the head of the Ferguson family, and then several of her relatives including her own son, that had been trying to kill Nessa since the moment she started her trek back home over a week ago. Keaton was a Ferguson, but somehow different.
“I’m not sure what to make of you. You can fight evenly with a sidhe as a day human, but at the same time as our king you have no clue. I think you just might need me, Day Human King, don’t you?” Keaton grinned.
“I just might,” Devin added. He didn’t mean to admit that out loud, but if Keaton had grown up in the palace, he was an asset Devin sorely needed. There was much that was still to be learned. It may have been luck, but Devin was going to go with it. “Now, how do I make a nicer house to live in?”
CHAPTER 2
Nessa gave herself one last look in the mirror. She hadn’t been as nervous seeing Devin any time since she had met him as she was now. Although she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong in accepting the courting proposal by Liam, she had still felt the way it affected Devin before he had cut off his emotions from her. Nessa was hurt the most by that. She had seen how he easily detached himself from Arianna when he had liked her, and Nessa didn’t want the same to happen now. When push came to shove, Devin had walked away from Arianna because he was no longer emotionally involved. Nessa didn’t want that for her, too.
Devin was meant to be with her, and she knew it. Even though she had said yes to allow Liam to court her, she had no intention of that changing anything. She still loved Devin completely. It was just that she had to say yes to satisfy tradition. It would have been an insult to Liam and his family if she had said no after her father had already arranged everything. Devin had left before she had the chance to explain that.
Nessa followed the well-worn path as she neared the end of the village and the outcast camp. She knew exactly where to find Devin, and wasn’t the least bit surprised to find he went there to rest for the day after he left Old Man Winters’ farm. When she walked around the last bend in the pathway, she stopped in her tracks. She was at the outcast camp, she had been there not even twenty-four hours ago, but it didn’t seem like she was there. Instead of the run-down shacks and lean-tos that the outcasts lived in, she found a well-made city street in front of her leading to well-formed homes.
She stood at the end of the road and looked around. Beyond the fact that there were now full houses instead of shacks, something seemed different. The houses were made of nature, just like all sidhe homes, but they were not as hidden or as one with the nature around them. The houses were distinct, and even a few that were more than two stories tall. They were all different shapes and sizes, and all were as completely visible as they lined the circular pathway. Nessa gaped at the street in front of her and didn’t even notice the man standing next to her.
“Like his handiwork?” the man asked, startling Nessa out of her shock.
“His?” she asked. There was no way one person could have built that much in such a short time.
“Our king,” the man replied. “Who el
se has the power to build on to the city?”
Nessa finally turned and looked at the deep blue eyes that stared back at her. She didn’t recognize the weathered face, but the voice sounded familiar. She eyed him over for some sort of recognition, yet had no clue who the man was.
“We have no king at this point,” Nessa reminded him. Technically, she wasn’t even queen yet. That wasn’t going to happen until later in the day.
“Oh, we have a king just as we have a queen, Nessa. You don’t need a coronation to be what you are,” the man added with certainty. Nessa peered closer at him. She really didn’t know who he was, but he seemed to know her.
“You still don’t get it,” the man added. “The power of the throne was passed on to you when Rhys died. No voting or coronation needed. It just went along to you. When you bonded yourself to the day human, that in turn made the power go to him. He has the authority of the king, along with the powers from your grandfather.”
“How do you know so much?” Nessa couldn’t deny or confirm what the man was saying because she really had no clue about most of it—that was what Uncle Rolf was for. Maybe if she had paid attention to her lessons, she would have been able to understand everything better, but she hadn’t. All the sidhe rules were boring, and she never had any intention of growing up and needing them. She was wrong about that.
“I see you’ve met Keaton,” Devin said as he approached. If Nessa hadn’t been confused by the man next to her, she would have felt Devin get closer through their bond.
“Keaton?” Nessa asked. She had known one sidhe before named that, but he wasn’t an old man. He was a few years younger than her brother, and only a year older than she was. The withered old man before her wasn’t the Keaton she knew, but it was such a unique name. “Are you part of the Ferguson family also?”
“Also?” Keaton raised his eyebrows.
“I knew a Keaton once,” Nessa replied. “He was best friends with Finn. I think he was a cousin or something. No one ever told me what happened to him, but one day he was just gone. Is he your son or relative?”
Keaton began to laugh, and Nessa watched. She had no clue why he was laughing. What was funny about her question? Devin didn’t seem to see the humor, either. When Keaton finished laughing, he wiped his tears away.
“There’s only one Keaton, and you’re looking at him, Nessie.” Keaton used a nickname that only those that grew up with her still used from time to time.
Nessa could feel her mouth drop open. There was no way this old man was Keaton, who would be only eighteen. This man had to be at least in his forties or fifties.
“Not possible. You’re too old,” she replied. It had to be some sort of joke.
“Oh, I’m only eighteen, no matter what my body looks like,” Keaton replied.
“But how?” Nessa asked, still in shock.
“How do I look like this?” he asked in reply.
“Yes, how do you look old, and how are you still here? My brother said you were dead. Even Finn confirmed that,” Nessa added, answering his question.
“Of course they did.” Keaton glanced up to the sky and shook his head. “It wasn’t like they wanted anyone to go searching for me. Not that anyone would believe me anyway looking like this. Your brother put me here and found someone to curse me into this.”
“Curse you?” Nessa asked, not sure what he meant. Sidhe dealt with magic, but they didn’t curse anyone—their powers were more nature-based. However, Nessa was finding more every day that she didn’t know about. “Like a sidhe power?”
“Oh no, Princess. Sidhe didn’t do this, and hence, it can’t be reversed by sidhe. If it could, I would have asked our king there to fix me. He can’t. This was done by witches,” Keaton replied, pulling at his graying hair.
“But we don’t deal with outsiders. They aren’t even allowed in town,” Nessa quickly added. It made no sense. How could a witch curse him? No one beyond day humans, and now Devin’s lycan friend, Turner, had ever been in their village.
“You might be the only one naïve enough to follow all the rules, at least from within the palace walls. Just because no one has brought a witch into the city, doesn’t mean you can’t just step outside the city limits and meet one there. Your brother met many outsider night humans. Did you think it was just coincidence that he got others to side with him to kidnap the dearg-dul, Princess? Like it was the first time he had met them? Everyone said how naïve you are, but I didn’t think it was true. Even after all these years, you still don’t see the elite sidhe for what they are?”
“What they are?” Nessa repeated, unsure what Keaton was saying.
Devin placed a hand on Keaton’s arm and shook his head no. Nodding, Keaton backed up.
“Devin, why don’t you tell Nessa what it is that you’re thinking?” Keaton suggested.
“I’m surprised she had time to visit us here. Why isn’t she out on a date with her courtier?” Devin replied, a little more snarkily than Nessa had ever heard him. Devin shook his head and looked at Keaton. “Not now, Keaton.” Keaton grinned.
“Enjoy your little chat, my king and queen,” Keaton added before walking away.
Keaton left, and Nessa was still unsure what to think. Was he really the Keaton that grew up with her in the palace? Could that be true? And was Devin truly that mad at her?
“Sorry about that,” Devin said quietly as Keaton disappeared into one of the homes. “I didn’t mean that. Really, I get it. Ronan explained it to me. It’s just hard to understand, or rather, to get my heart to understand. That’s all.”
Nessa let out a sigh of relief. She was unsure of what she was going to say to him, but that made things much easier.
“So you’ll come back with me, then?” she asked. Nessa didn’t want to face the court without him beside her. He had been the one constant since she had returned to the village only a week ago.
“No,” Devin replied.
“No?” she asked in surprise. Maybe he did mean what he had said.
“No. I’m not going back there. The palace, the court, they’re all your world. That’s where you belong, but I’m not one of you. They will never accept me as a day human, and now all they do is fear me. I’m staying here. The people here see me as a person. I can help them, and they need me,” Devin replied, motioning around him.
“Here?” she asked, prejudice from growing up in the palace still tainting her view of the outcasts, no matter how hard she tried not to let it. “In this …” She wanted to add mud hole, but it was no longer that. It was a town now.
“This is my city,” Devin replied. “Keaton explained to me that the ruling king makes the village. I gave it a try. This is my city.”
Nessa wanted to beg him to return with her, but now she saw it. The houses, while made of nature, seemed just like day human houses. She glanced back to Devin, who was surveying the street. He was combining the sidhe and the day human worlds. That was always what her grandfather had talked about doing, but since he had been raised with the sidhe, he told her he would never be able to do that. She looked around at the merged worlds. The day human elements stood out, but they were made of nature. Devin was doing exactly what the old king had wanted. This was his dream.
“Then you aren’t coming back?” Nessa asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. She never thought of being queen alone. Since the day she had bonded herself to Devin, she never looked back. She felt like he would always be there. Now he was not.
“I’m not leaving,” Devin added.
“But you aren’t staying with me either,” Nessa finished what he was implying.
“You need time to decide what you want,” Devin told her. Nessa scrunched her face in reply. She hated being told what to do.
“I already decided that months ago, didn’t I?” Nessa referred to the time she saved him with a blood bond—the same bond that was currently making her life a bit difficult.
Devin ushered Nessa over to a bench to sit down. The circular walkway st
reet was lined with benches. Nessa followed, even though she didn’t like the tone he was using with her.
“You’re confused and not sure what you want. I get it. You bonded with me to save my life. I’m thankful, but that doesn’t mean you have to be with me. Trust me. There are people that are bonded and go on to marry others. The bond doesn’t mean you have to choose me,” Devin explained. He was all chivalry, but that disappointed Nessa more. Couldn’t he feel what she felt through the bond?
“But I did choose you. Why can’t you see that?” Nessa was exasperated. How could Devin not see or feel how much she cared about him?
“Not completely. And I get it. You’ve never dated. You’ve never loved another before. This is all new, and you aren’t sure of your feelings,” Devin replied.
“You don’t know that,” Nessa retorted. She was very sure of her feelings. She loved Devin. Wasn’t that enough for him?
“I do know that,” Devin replied. Nessa hated that he was so certain. He was wrong. She had never doubted what she felt about him, but she had no clue how to make him see that.
“No, you don’t.”
“If you felt for me what I feel for you, you would have never said yes to that man’s proposal to court you.”
“But you just said you understand that,” Nessa replied, starting to get angry. Was he fine with it or not? She wished he would stop talking in circles.
“I understand why you did it, and I understand that if you so choose, you could have told him about us. Yes, there would have always been the possibility that it would have upset his family, but if you had let me finish what I was saying yesterday, it wouldn’t have mattered.” Devin’s explanation just left Nessa still confused by the situation.
“Why wouldn’t it have mattered?” Any sidhe family upset was going to cause them more problems.
“Because I was going to ask you to marry me,” Devin answered. Nessa stared at him in shock. She had seen the ring on the table where he left it, but she didn’t know that was what he meant by it. She didn’t want to admit it, but maybe she was a little naïve about things.