Unkai motioned for her to step forward and she did. “She hearkens from the Lekanhika clan.”
“So I understand.” I glanced at Herne, who was standing by silently, letting me take the reins. Still in English—I had my doubts Neallanthra spoke the language—I asked, “Tell me something, and please, in English if you can. When did Saílle arrange this exchange?”
Unkai glanced back at his sister-in-law, then motioned for me to walk to one side with him. When we were some ways from the others, he switched to Turneth. “I cannot speak that freely in your language yet, but I understand you don’t want her to understand the question. The Dark Fae queen sent a contingent of her militia into our encampment and demanded a woman for marriage. They insisted the woman be nobility. I told them we don’t have kings or queens among the clans, but they insisted on someone who would match a princess in power.”
“As I figured. When did this happen?”
“One moon cycle ago. The only woman available was Neallanthra. The soldiers threatened to destroy the village we live in during the winter if we refused. They would have burned down every building so we had no shelter to return to come the snows, and they still would have taken Neallanthra. They also threatened to kidnap our children and take them back to Earth where we’d never see them again.” His dark eyes burned. “Dark Fae do not go against Dark Fae over here, but apparently the rules are different on your side of the portal.”
I let out a sigh. “Saílle’s a queen all right, a queen bitch. Listen to me, she did this because of me. I had no knowledge of it, but here’s what happened.” I explained to him how she got wind of the fact that Herne had proposed, and that she decided to try to win me over to their side before Névé could. “She is using my uncle as a pawn, and your sister-in-law as an excuse. She thought it would give her favor once I go through the ritual of Gadawnoin.”
Unkai’s scowl grew darker. “The queens here may fight to the death, and many lives are lost, but they generally have more honor than that.”
“I don’t know if I believe that, but let’s just say that her actions didn’t surprise me, once I found out about them. So, is Neallanthra willing to go? I can tell you my uncle is a good-natured man and won’t mistreat her. He’s not thrilled about being pushed into an arranged marriage either.”
“Then yes, she will go willingly. She honestly has always wanted to marry, but she doesn’t fit in here. Maybe she’ll adapt to your world better. She’s too independent for some men, and far too domestic to manage with her own people. She was born for a life indoors, as we say in my clan. A house cat instead of a wildcat. The Autumn’s Bane are not an indoor people.” He sighed. “My woman will miss her sister, but at least Neallanthra will have a chance for happiness that is her own, and not lived vicariously through others.”
We returned to the others and Cernunnos gave his blessing over our journeys—it was customary, I gathered, when someone relocated to the other side of the portals. Then, accompanied by a contingent of guards, we returned to the portal with Unkai and Neallanthra. Before we were even near noon, we transferred through, back to our world.
Unkai blinked, looking around with wide eyes. Neallanthra looked shell-shocked. But we were in the woods near Herne’s home, and they both relaxed as they saw the trees and foliage around us. I couldn’t help but wonder what they’d think when they saw our cities, though. There were some similarities to the cities of Annwn—the bustle of people, the vendors and stores and shops—but where Annwn was steeped in magic and carts and horses, here we were steeped in cars and electricity.
I turned to Neallanthra and reached out for her hand. She looked at me curiously, but accepted the gesture and I held her hand as we walked ahead of the men, talking in Turneth.
“My uncle is a kind man, and he’s pleasant. I think you’ll like him.” I wanted to put her at ease.
“What does he look like?” she asked. “What does he do?”
“He has my coloring. He’s a tailor, actually. Though I don’t know if he’ll be allowed to keep his profession once you both move to the Court.” I paused. “I