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How old was he? How long had he lived? Why could he not recall ever changing? Why did hued?

Nothing changes in Faery

If he never went back, would his long black hair one day silver, too? Strangely, the thought appealed to hiined hugging one of the wee village lasses in his ar her to climb trees, toher a litter ofthe his head

It occurred to hiht question ho had he once been?

Jane watched him from the front steps of the castle He sat with his back to her in the deepening twilight, clutching his head, staring out to sea Blood was s down his arlea a blade, end over end, into the waves

A salty breeze whipped at his hair, tangling the dark strands into a silken skein His plaid flapped in the breeze, hugging the powerful lines of his body

He see and utterly untouchable

Jane’s eyes misted "I love you, Aedan MacKinnon," she told the wind

As if the wind eagerly whisked her words down the front lawn to the sea’s edge, Aedan suddenly turned and looked straight at her His cheeks gleaht

He nodded once, then turned his back to her and walked off down the shore, head bowed

Jane started after hiaze, such loneliness, yet a great deal of anger He’d turned away, clearing de his wish to be alone She didn’t want to push hiin to understand what he was going through She was elated that he was re him She watched, torn by indecision, until he disappeared around a bend in the rocky shoreline

Twelve

He didn’t co three days of Jane Sillee’s life

Daily, she cursed herself for pushing hi after hi down that rocky shore

Daily, she lied to the villagers when they caone to see a htly, as she curled with Sexpot in the bed that was irl, she prayed her words would prove true

Thirteen