The Earl's Childe (17 page)

“And you can talk in our heads, like telepathy, and sometimes with your mouth,” I added. “And your fur holds people like Velcro.”

I figured you must have realized that already, but if you require redundancy, I also can bite through human flesh and bone, I can smell blood for miles, and I can adjust how others perceive my appearance. You may have missed that, too
. He tossed his head, nose wrinkled, revealing his kelpie teeth pointing towards the ceiling.

I glanced at Mum and added, “He also, clearly, has extensive powers in sarcasm and being condescending.”

Ermie tilted his head at me and looked out the corner of his eye.
More extensive than your
precious
human brain can comprehend
. With another head toss, he said,
My turn. Heather's Mother, what do you expect and desire of my being soul-bound to your daughter?

Leaning on the doorframe, Mum folded her arms, considering. He leaned into me as I started working down his neck with the brush. The tips of his tentacle fur reached to brush my fingers, as if he wanted to return the pleasure of being groomed. I was surprised that I totally, definitely, did not feel squicked out.

Mum finally answered. “The most honest answer I can give is that I expect and desire exactly the opposite of what you seem to want. I hope her soul
does
change you for the better. And I believe Michael would feel the same.” She paused, then added, “And you may call me Aimee, not ‘Heather's Mother.'”

Ermie snorted hard in my mother's direction, stomping his back hoof several times. I stepped away from him as he stretched his neck and flared his nostrils and lips in distaste.

After another shake and snort, he lowered his head, and then glanced at me. In my mind, I felt his rebellion…but I also felt he wanted me to keep grooming. And that there was more to what he actually
wanted
that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but which made me feel hopeful anyway.

Your turn
. I was surprised at the thought, and Mum seemed so, too. It was directed at both of us.

Mum was quicker to ask than I was. “I don't mean to be… redundant, but are there any other powers—or weaknesses— that you haven't mentioned to us? You can't manipulate people with your telepathy, can you?”

He scratched the strap of his bridle against his foreleg.
With this, I am specifically bound from that. Not even with Heather's permission could I entice another against their will. Without it, I am able to…charm. To a certain degree. It is no use against anything fey or against most adults
. He paused, and I felt a catch in my mind as he thought of something. With a darker chuckle, he added.

Humans, that is. I could make any mortal mare break down a fence and come to me without a thought to anything else
.

I grimaced and stepped away from him. “Gross! I
so
didn't need to know that!”

It annoyed me that he was entertained by my reaction.
Your mother wished to know the whole truth
.

“I'm sure you could have said it more delicately.” Mum frowned at him.

I could also have said it more…

He looked at me with a smug grin, something I've totally seen on even a normal horse's face.

…
“grossly.”

“You
will
leave all the mares here alone and
not
exert that power.” Mum squared her shoulders and sharpened her glare at him.
“That
is an order. Absolutely no compelling
any
horse on this property o-or
anywhere
for any reason, in any way, whatsoever.”

He curled his lips and blew an angry snort at her again.

“Heather's command is that you obey me as you must obey her.”

I. Know
.

Sulky. There was one sentiment in his mind right now, and that was sulky. I almost wanted to commiserate with him, but really,
ew!
I knew what he was talking about; half the mares on our property were pregnant, not counting the one whose unborn foal he'd killed before we caught him. And I knew how getting pregnant worked.
Ew!
I wasn't sure I wanted to continue brushing him.

“I guess that makes it your turn to ask one of us something?” Mum pressed.

He chuffed, but I sensed his mind changing and him thinking of other things. So I started brushing him again.
Have you truly not contacted the lord and lady who share this property with you? And what plans have you if we fall under attack and have not their support?

“That was two questions,” I said.

“Yes, but they're related.” Mum was clearly feeling generous. “No. We don't actually know how to contact them without Tom. I have a few ideas we could try, but if we mess those up, they could take offense. Even if we don't… Well, they might already be offended. As for plans…” She sighed. “I'm open to advice.”

Ehrwnmyr shifted his weight so the rear hoof opposite where I was brushing rested, leaning him more into the brush. After a moment, he stretched out his neck and blew through his teeth, which made me shiver because he still
wasn't
making them look like horse teeth.
Were I not bound to Heather, my plan would be to simply relocate. For now, anyway. And avoid this mess. And I…would otherwise prefer to stay in this region
.

Mum looked at him curiously, and I could tell she was weighing her questions carefully. “So, you wouldn't join forces with the Unseelie?”

Shifting his weight again, he tilted his head, more like a dog, and regarded my mother.
While I share most of the Unseelie's sentiments about humans, I belong to no court and offer fealty to no court or family. Besides you, of course. Heather demands my fealty to you
. He took a step closer to her, lowering his head so their eyes were more level.
You
do
know that not all fey belong to courts, right? Many choose independence. Some will make temporary contracts to support a court if it suits them to do so. The selkie clan that lives here
—he tossed his head in the direction of the ocean
—made a contract with the lord and lady of this area because they wanted action taken against me
. That
was why I destroyed the harbor. Yes, I was angry I lost the child, but it was the selkies' contract that moved me to act against them
.

“One of the selkies was there at the meeting!” I stopped brushing him, remembering the mostly human-looking woman. “Lady Arooa, or something like that.”

Ermie nodded.
I'm sure they are also interested in not having Calbraith here and would willingly pledge allegiance to avoid that, too
. I got a distinct sense the kelpie didn't think much of the selkie clan.

“If we do get in contact with Lord Cadmus and Lady Fana, would you suggest we pledge allegiance to them?”

Ermie was quiet again for a moment before turning his head back to me, to where I'd stopped grooming. I rolled my eyes at his unworded request and went back to brushing, shaking my head.
Only if you are very careful
. He leaned harder into the brush as I got to his shoulder and neck, half-closing his eyes.
If at all possible, I'd say turn the tables and give them reason to want to pledge
their
allegiance to
you.
Not that I know what you have to offer besides owning me—and that is hardly much if Calbraith has brought a following, which I'm sure he has. But, to make them answer to you would be ideal
.

Mum sighed from where she leaned on the doorframe, frowning. “I can't argue with your advice, but I have no idea how to achieve that, either.”

Ermie dipped his head in a shrug, sending out a matching feeling of not knowing.

I turned to put the brush away when Ermie whined at me.
We are finished?

“You really like this whole brushing thing, don't you?”

He lifted his nose and looked away.
I may. I have never experienced a human who wanted to
… His words trailed off and his nose dipped. As he shifted away from me, I picked up the hint of confusion he was trying to hide. Confusion about how he felt.

“I can brush you again, I guess.”

And we may continue with this question game?

Despite his reminders that he was over four hundred years old, sometimes he sounded awfully young.

“I'm good with that,” Mum said. “Are you, Heather?”

I reached up to start re-brushing his neck.

I didn't feel like hanging out in the common room, where everyone would be until Mum, Dad, or one of the instructors reminded everyone how early we would be getting up in the morning. Instead, I went to bed early, so I could think about everything Mum and I had learned from and about Ermie tonight.

The kelpie hadn't heard or seen Tom since Dad tried the spell, nor had he seen any other fey. He smelled several presences crossing near our property, but none of them were Calbraith—though some were definitely evil, like red caps. He could smell the blood on them. That fact made Mum outright shiver and cuss. When he and Mum told me what red caps are (an especially nasty kind of faerie that eats humans, then dyes its clothes and hats in any human blood it doesn't consume), I also felt really ill. He had
not
smelled any fresh blood or killing on our property, though.

His
other questions, however, seemed a little weird. He'd asked how well we knew the other non-human or non-mortal creatures on our land or near us. I'd given him a rundown of all the fey I'd seen at the meeting, but that didn't seem to give him the answer he was looking for, and he kept hedging around without telling me what kind of creature he specifically wanted to know about.

Mum had gotten the same idea as I had and outright asked him to be more specific, and that's when he finally used his “I'd rather not answer” card. He'd also used that when Mum had tried to find out more details about why he had come to our property in the first place. When we'd first captured him, he'd said he was here because he “belonged” here. Maybe I was getting better at reading his feelings and “unspoken” thoughts, but I got a definite feeling there was more to why he'd come back here than just that he felt the land belonged to him. And it likely had to do with whatever creature he was trying to ask about without actually asking. Mum seemed to get the same feeling, and she would only allow him not to answer if he assured her that, “in no possible way, conceivable or inconceivable, would us not knowing put us in danger.”

It was really aggravating to not know what kind of creature he was asking about. After all the books I'd read, I wondered if something really cool might live here, like a dragon or phoenix or unicorn. But it wasn't fair for me to push if I wanted him to trust me, and even Mum had settled for the assurance we weren't in additional danger from this Mystery Creature that my kelpie was so interested in.

Making things even more complicated (at least in my head), in between all these big questions, Ermie would tease me. Kinda like Joe does, except Joe was, well, a good person. And Ermie had wanted to know if we'd ride him more, or at least let him run, or if we were going to do stuff with him. While he sent feelings that he was upset about being bored, little tiny hints of being lonely but scared
not
to be alone seemed to ping in my brain. Probably because I knew that feeling really well. And since he had part of my soul, did he feel that way because I did? Or did he actually feel that way for himself?

I heard Lily's footsteps approaching the door and quickly rolled over, throwing my sheet over my head.

I was not in the mood to hear her talking about how much fun she'd had catching up with everyone, asking me why I hadn't even stopped in to say goodnight and meet our new student, and then telling me how “everyone” had wanted her to say “hi” and “goodnight” to me.

At least, that's what I told myself.

I heard her quiet herself when she opened the door to our dark room. She snuck around, not wanting to wake me. I listened to her change clothes, humming softly, and then get into her bed.

When I heard her breathing slow down as she fell asleep, a small twist in my stomach told me that I really
had
wanted to wish her goodnight and hear about everyone in the common room.