Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(22)

I wasn’t so sure, but I wanted to stay out of politics if I could. If the Unseelie liked Devinshea, I doubted they would come after his goddess. The Unseelie had problems with fertility. It would be foolish of them to assassinate their only hope, but then I didn’t have the Seelie prejudices. “I’m sure that once Daniel gets through with our guest we’ll know something more. He plans on interrogating the prisoner tomorrow. My vampire can be persuasive.”

Miria’s smile was just the slightest bit bloodthirsty. “Yes, Padric informed me that the vampire would be questioning the prisoner tomorrow. I believe I will make myself available to witness that.”

I just bet she would. Danny was going to give Dev the hardest time.

“I apologize for not forcing Gilliana to return to the country,” Miria continued. “Padric advised me to do it, but she cried and promised to behave. I felt so bad for involving her in my plotting that I am afraid I went against my better judgment. She is on her way home now.”

“So the duke told me.” He’d complained about how he’d had to restructure his staff to escort her home. I took a long breath and decided to air out all the dirty laundry. “Why exactly did you trick Dev into sleeping with her?”

She stared at me for long enough that I thought she would walk away. Finally she nodded and began to speak. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I will tell you anyway. You are important to my son, which makes you important to me. I am not human, obviously. Fae can die, as proven by the death of my father, but we don’t tend to think of our loved ones dying. I fought for hundreds of years to have a child. Even with my father’s fertility powers, Padric and I were never able to conceive a child. It was why I had to try with others, why we’ve never married. I can’t tell you the joy I felt when I gave birth to my babies. It rapidly became clear to me Devinshea was the sweet one. Declan was strong and always took the lead but Devinshea…you could not see his smile and keep your heart intact. When I realized he was mortal…”

Miria faltered and Padric took over, his hand reaching out to slide over hers. Their fingers tangled together with the ease of long intimacy. “Devinshea was young, only three years old, when he took a tumble down the palace stairs. He and his brother were always running through the palace at neck or nothing speeds. We would laugh and praise the princes because it had been so long since we had that kind of energy in the palace. And then Devinshea fell down the stairs and broke his arm. It was nothing new. Many Fae have such injuries. The trouble was he would not stop bleeding. We nearly lost him. A healer got it under control but it took him weeks to recover. We knew then that he was mortal. It broke his mother’s heart.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy on Dev, either,” I said. “I heard the nobles wanted him banished.”

Miria nodded. “He was considered unlucky. If I had not had such good control of the royal army, I would have been ousted and beheaded. They considered me weak where he was concerned. It got a bit better when his powers as a Green Man surfaced. He was trained to be a priest and he was a good one. He took his duties seriously.”

As his duties included screwing every girl in Faeryland, I wasn’t surprised to discover he was a devoted priest. I still hadn’t met those priestesses, yet. I wondered if they had heard the tale of Gilliana.

Lee had moved back to his wall now but I could see he was listening as Miria continued.

“As he grew, he became more reckless. He and Declan would leave the sithein for weeks at a time pursuing the pleasures of the human world. That plane is dangerous. I just knew he would die there someday. I wanted something, Zoey. I wanted something to hold on to when my son died. Can’t you understand that? I know I went about it the wrong way, but I did it because I love him. Gilliana was fertile and there was the chance he could produce a full Fae child. I tried to convince Devinshea that it was his responsibility, which it is. We cannot survive without a Green Man. He would not listen. I took the chance and I lost. Now all I can do is ask you to plead my case.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you know Devinshea misses his home,” she said. “You know he misses his family. I am willing to welcome you and Daniel into our lives. Someday you and Devinshea will have children. Would you cut them off from half of their culture? There is much Faery has to offer even its mortal children. I have so few years with him. Even now I only have fifty or so years left before mortality takes him from me. I do not wish to spend them completely apart.”

“It is a bit longer than that, Mother,” Dev said, and I turned to see he had heard much of our conversation. His eyes were serious, and he walked over to slip his hand into mine.

Miria lit up with understanding. “Of course, you feed Daniel and he gives you his blood. It elongates your life. I told you vampires weren’t all bad, Padric.”

“Perhaps Daniel is not but I did not like the other one,” Padric said forbiddingly.

“You are never going to forgive me, are you?” she asked with an indulgent grin. She turned to Dev and me. “I will tell you a secret, children of mine. I once had an affair with a vampire.”

Dev sighed. “Well, I hope your foray was better than mine, Mother. My first vampire was frightening.”

Dev had tried on a female vampire for size. They’re rare and pretty much creepy.

Miria smiled with the memory. “It was several hundred years ago. I was a young girl and he was…lovely. He was always giving me gifts. Such a gentleman he was. It was odd though. He seemed to think my name was cara.”