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my teaching. Her name was Aerin. I met her when I came to Dere to attend university. I knew at the time
that there was a risk in coming here. My mother had inherited faeling blood from her mother, so I grew
up knowing what I was. I d been trained in the use of faeling magic since I was a child, and I felt that I
was savvy enough to avoid the depredations of the Seelie Court, as we called the royal family.
"I was seventeen years old that spring. The first week I was in Dere I saw this...incredible girl in one of
my classes. There was a fire about her that drew my eye, so that I spent the rest of the lecture staring at
her instead of paying attention to the instructor. I even left class a few minutes early so that I would be
waiting by the door when she came out. She walked right up to me, as if she had expected me to be
there. She d seen me watching her, of course, but there was more to it. Up close I could feel her power
like wind on my face, and I realized that she was an unseelie faeling like myself. She
just...smiled devil-may-care full of life, mischief and promise.
"Aerin was...like no one else. She had such life, such vitality. Almost anything could set her to laughing,
sometimes, and the sound was like bells ringing."
Bryan rolled his eyes discreetly where Duncan couldn t see. Mina was already getting the feeling that she
wasn t going to like this perfect little Aerin one damned bit.
"Aerin was from a very wealthy family," Duncan went on, oblivious to both of them. "She was brilliant,
beautiful, and cultured. That next year with her was the happiest time of my life. I abandoned my studies
to spend every waking and sleeping moment with her. We would sit at a cafe and argue about life, or
take long walks in the public gardens, or throw breadcrumbs into the Blackrush. We were going to get
married and spend the rest of our lives in a whirlwind of talking and laughing and making love.
"But by early summer she seemed troubled. When I asked her what was wrong, she would turn in the
direction of the palace and not say anything. She was worried about the Seelie Court, that much was
clear, so I asked her to leave Dere and go home with me, where we would be out of harm s reach, so
long as we kept quiet.
" And if I don t want to keep quiet? she asked me. What if I want to sing, dance, and practice my
magic? What if our children do too? How can we even talk about getting married when our children will
have to be afraid for their lives?
"It scared me. I did everything I could to reassure her, but it wasn t enough. Then one day she told me
that she knew what we had to do. If we were to live the life we wanted, then we would have to get rid of
the threat of the Seelie Court.
"She spent the next month planning. She went to every unseelie faeling in the city and told them about our
assault, cajoled or coerced them into agreeing to go with us. And finally, on a night shortly after
Midsummer, she led me up the avenue towards the palace.
"I knew immediately that something was wrong. None of the other unseelie faelings had kept their
promise to come. Not one. We stood alone on the tree-lined street, not knowing what to do.
"And then the Seelie Court came."
He closed his eyes a moment, as if to blot out the memory. "They were everywhere. There were at least
fifteen Hounds, maybe more, and Knights to match. I don t know how they found out we would be
there. They came boiling down the street and I...I knew that we were going to die, and I...
"I ran."
Duncan hunched over in his chair, refusing to look at either of them. "I ran. In the defining moment of my
life, I proved a coward. I fled and abandoned Aerin to die."
Mina bit back the anger that had been building throughout the account. "For God s sake, you were
seventeen years old, Duncan. You had thirty Knights and Hounds bearing down on you! What in hell
were you supposed to do?"
"I should have stayed with her!" he cried, banging his fist against the armrest of his chair. "Her courage
did not break she faced them all! I should have stayed at her side& should have protected her. Instead
I ran, and I ve paid for that mistake every day of my life since then.
"I didn t get far not even to the next side street before a woman flanked by four Knights stepped out
into my path. Rhiannon. She had the cruelest smile I ve ever seen. I stopped, panicked& and trapped.
" Running away, are we? Rhiannon asked. We can t have that. Then she lifted up her hand towards
me and squeezed. Searing pain shot all the way from the base of my skull to my toes, and my legs
collapsed. I tried to get back up, but nothing seemed to be working right, and I could only lie there while
the Knights advanced.
"That was when Aerin attacked. She had been fighting all that time, but she had still seen Rhiannon s
assault on me. She hurled her magic against Rhiannon and the Knights, distracting them from me. The
battle retreated off down the street.
"I don t know how long I lay there, waiting for a Hound or Knight to come and end my pathetic life.
Eventually, however, a dark figure crept from the concealing shadows of a house. It was one of our
erstwhile friends, who were supposed to meet us for the attack on the Seelie Court. He grabbed me
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