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Briallen s unperturbed by my interruption "Patience, child"

I nodded and sat back inat the tip of ht of his golden skin resting on my own pale forearm reassured h the terreed Of course, the money made a difference, but more than that I was curious As far as I kneould be witness to the firstpart of this historic event exhilarated htened?" Adaed a rounded shoulder "In addition to the obvious political iht die Or what if theof the two species resulted in deforan to rely on ues lost their lives due to a belief the midwife had sorossed She had a knack for storytelling, and I wondered idly if it was a distinctly faery trait or a personal one

"Phoebe arrived a week later, acco at s Your grandht of her daughter Phoebe seerandht her to my door, I cannot say"

"What did she look like?" Ada the question in my own head

Briallen smiled wistfully "She was a vampire princess in every sense Her hair was the color of fresh-picked strawberries, and it fell in soft curls around her face Her skin was pale asof freckles over her nose She had fawn eyes, bright with intelligence The only imperfection I could detect that first day was the swollen circles under her eyes, indicating many recently shed tears However, on that first day she had steel in her spine, as if daring e her I did not

"She spoke as little as possible for the first feeeks She’d sleep all day, in the little roohly carved door to the right of the fire "At night, she would take long walks through the forest, refusing any offers of company Every so often, she allowed me to examine her I tried to talk to her about innocent subjects, like the weather or her favorite flowers, but she re in front of the fire about herbal remedies, when the door crashed open and Phoebe rushed in She talked so fast, we could not understand her I tried to calht make herself sick That’s when she told me she’d felt the babe’s first kick For the first time since she’d come, I was blessed with a s inside her Fronancy She knew very little about the process and confided a great deal of worry about as to co talks about her syinside her within the co womb of the forest, which seeht, alked in co redwoods, so tall you could barely see the underside of the first branches in the dark By this tihtly excursions Phoebe had a keen intellect and could talk about a variety of subjects with great authority--literature, history, the Great Mother--but never the one subject I sensed she longed to talk about ht under the redwoods ‘I suppose you’ve been wondering about the father,’ she said I confessed to a certain curiosity, but told her she need not discuss him if the subject was too painful

"Yourin the uessed her to be a wood sprite, she looked so at ho she would open up toher words carefully ‘His name was Tristan,’ she said ‘He is dead’

"I couldn’t help asp at her admission She didn’t seem to hear it, lost as she was in her own memories Sadness embraced her like an aura Over the next hour, she told ht their forbidden attraction and how ultiainst it She said she knerong, yet she loved him It was obvious toee was real, the kind that stands the test of ti to look at him, I was suddenly aware of a curious wetness on my cheeks "You okay?" he asked

"Oh dear," the faery said before I could answer "I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, child"

I swiped o on"

"You’re sure?" Adarasp ly I nodded for Briallen to continue

"Do you know the story of his death?" Briallen asked gently

"Yes, he was found dead not long after nant The hter "Who told you this?"

"My grandmother Why?"

"My child, I’ to Phoebe, your father disappeared and was assu if the old woht "But that can’t be right Why would they assume he was dead if they never found his body"

Adalanced at him, but he didn’t meet my eyes

"Phoebe told me they discovered blood in his roo to spare her feelings?" I guessed

The faery frowned, see unconvinced, yet said, "Perhaps I’ardless of how your father disappeared, it was obvious Phoebe was heartbroken And who could blaedy However, I was glad for one thing Phoebe obviously needed to talk about what had happened and ould happen She had no one else to turn to, so I was happy to be her confidante During my monthly reports to the Dominae and Hekate Council, I left out these revelations and reported siirth