right,” Kori said sweetly. “I was too young to remember him, and I still have my mom. Sorry about yours.”
“Jeez.” Gillian rubbed the corners of her leaking eyes and sighed. I’m so pathetic. “Who’s comforting who here?”
Kori rested her head on Gillian’s shoulder. “We can all comfort each other. Let’s all hug it out.”
Gillian snorted, but she had to admit she felt a bit lighter.
“After my brother’s death,” Nick continued, obviously trying and failing to suppress a smile judging by the twitching of his lips and cheeks, “my sisters wanted to jump the gun, as you might say, to find a match for Kori. Peter had been clear about finding the practice distasteful. A major argument ensued between him and our sisters, and Mother and I essentially had to abduct Kori. Kori’s mother was too terrified to fight me on it.”
“And the rest of the girls?”
“Nymph kidnapping is prevalent. Their mothers thought they’d be safer with me.”
“Why you?”
“Because he’s the king,” the small blonde named Erica said with a giggle.
Gillian squinted at her. “King of what , sugar?”
Naturally, no one answered. Gillian threw up her hands. “Why do I bother asking anything?”
“I can’t stop my sisters from visiting the facility here because they’re on the board of the Santa charity,” Nick said. “To deter their attempts to squirrel Kori away, we had some Sídhe friends work a little magic for us.” He added in a mumble, “Those bitches never could counteract Sídhe magic.”
“And the magic is what, that they’re ugly?”
“Yes. No one really wants an ugly wife, no matter how fertile she is.”
Gillian gaped. “They’re kids , Nick. They’re not gonna be anyone’s wives for a long, long time.”
“I’m glad we’re in accord, then.”
“In accord with that? I simply said they’re too young to be married.” Gillian scoffed. “Hell, I don’t even feel like I’m old enough to be married, and I’m twenty-eight.”
“That’s unfortunate, Gilly.”
“Why?”
“Makes things harder for me.”
“In what way?”
He twirled his thumbs and ground his teeth some more.
“ Talk , dammit.”
Het let out a breath and gave the ends of his platinum hair a flick. “You’re going to marry me, Gillian.”
A little titter escaped from her lips, and she clasped her hand over her mouth, shaking her head. Her shoulders shook with laughter and eyes watered. When she was able to draw in a good breath, she said, “That’s a good one. I’m starting to get better at making sense of elf humor.”
She laughed some more, and stopped a few seconds later when she realized no one else had joined in.
The girls were too busy beaming adoringly at Nick to laugh, and Nick wore his usual impassive mien.
“You’re…not joking, are you?”
“You’re descended from fortunetellers. You tell me .”
“I…” She gave her head a shake and scrambled to her feet. “No, we can’t just…I’m just here to earn money for gifts. I can’t be what you want. There’s no way. I don’t qualify for that.”
“Obviously, the Fates have decided that you do. If you don’t believe me, perhaps you’ll believe them.”
“The same Fates who steered me toward a career that I wouldn’t even be able to support myself with, right?”
When her back hit the edge of the counter, she started and clutched her chest. She hadn’t realized she’d moved that far.
“I’m offering you a way for you not to have to worry about that anymore.”
She gave her head a hard shake. “No. I’m not like you.” She wasn’t going to fall for it. She worked hard for everything she had, and that was the way it had to be. Her family shunned respectability, figuring that since people were going to prejudge them anyway, they’d give folks what they expected. Gillian couldn’t do that. Granny Sue had said they were better than that, and they’d all tried until she died. Then they gave up. Gillian
“Jeez.” Gillian rubbed the corners of her leaking eyes and sighed. I’m so pathetic. “Who’s comforting who here?”
Kori rested her head on Gillian’s shoulder. “We can all comfort each other. Let’s all hug it out.”
Gillian snorted, but she had to admit she felt a bit lighter.
“After my brother’s death,” Nick continued, obviously trying and failing to suppress a smile judging by the twitching of his lips and cheeks, “my sisters wanted to jump the gun, as you might say, to find a match for Kori. Peter had been clear about finding the practice distasteful. A major argument ensued between him and our sisters, and Mother and I essentially had to abduct Kori. Kori’s mother was too terrified to fight me on it.”
“And the rest of the girls?”
“Nymph kidnapping is prevalent. Their mothers thought they’d be safer with me.”
“Why you?”
“Because he’s the king,” the small blonde named Erica said with a giggle.
Gillian squinted at her. “King of what , sugar?”
Naturally, no one answered. Gillian threw up her hands. “Why do I bother asking anything?”
“I can’t stop my sisters from visiting the facility here because they’re on the board of the Santa charity,” Nick said. “To deter their attempts to squirrel Kori away, we had some Sídhe friends work a little magic for us.” He added in a mumble, “Those bitches never could counteract Sídhe magic.”
“And the magic is what, that they’re ugly?”
“Yes. No one really wants an ugly wife, no matter how fertile she is.”
Gillian gaped. “They’re kids , Nick. They’re not gonna be anyone’s wives for a long, long time.”
“I’m glad we’re in accord, then.”
“In accord with that? I simply said they’re too young to be married.” Gillian scoffed. “Hell, I don’t even feel like I’m old enough to be married, and I’m twenty-eight.”
“That’s unfortunate, Gilly.”
“Why?”
“Makes things harder for me.”
“In what way?”
He twirled his thumbs and ground his teeth some more.
“ Talk , dammit.”
Het let out a breath and gave the ends of his platinum hair a flick. “You’re going to marry me, Gillian.”
A little titter escaped from her lips, and she clasped her hand over her mouth, shaking her head. Her shoulders shook with laughter and eyes watered. When she was able to draw in a good breath, she said, “That’s a good one. I’m starting to get better at making sense of elf humor.”
She laughed some more, and stopped a few seconds later when she realized no one else had joined in.
The girls were too busy beaming adoringly at Nick to laugh, and Nick wore his usual impassive mien.
“You’re…not joking, are you?”
“You’re descended from fortunetellers. You tell me .”
“I…” She gave her head a shake and scrambled to her feet. “No, we can’t just…I’m just here to earn money for gifts. I can’t be what you want. There’s no way. I don’t qualify for that.”
“Obviously, the Fates have decided that you do. If you don’t believe me, perhaps you’ll believe them.”
“The same Fates who steered me toward a career that I wouldn’t even be able to support myself with, right?”
When her back hit the edge of the counter, she started and clutched her chest. She hadn’t realized she’d moved that far.
“I’m offering you a way for you not to have to worry about that anymore.”
She gave her head a hard shake. “No. I’m not like you.” She wasn’t going to fall for it. She worked hard for everything she had, and that was the way it had to be. Her family shunned respectability, figuring that since people were going to prejudge them anyway, they’d give folks what they expected. Gillian couldn’t do that. Granny Sue had said they were better than that, and they’d all tried until she died. Then they gave up. Gillian
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