Faery Princess

Chapter Five: Declan

The cait sith had obviously wanted to talk, Declan knew that much. But, what it wanted to talk about and what it was doing with the girl, he had no idea. Declan stood in the shadows across the road, watching her fingers run over those perfect lips. The memory of her in his arms was raw and he wanted desperately to go back to her, but he had made a deal. The deal did not include him staying away, but returning so quickly was probably a bad idea.

But, Danu, he ached for her. He had no idea what had happened when they kissed. He had never experienced anything like it with any of the women he had bedded. It was like being struck by lightning and finding the light of Danu flow through you.

"How did you find her?" the cait sith said, jumping onto the fence next to him.

"What do you mean?" Declan looked at it askance.

"Exactly what I said, stupid Fae. How did you find her?" its tail swished back and forth and Declan could see its eyes flashing in the dark.

Was the cait sith protecting her from something? He wondered.

"I bumped into her at a place where humans dry clothes. I had something to take care of, but it wasn't hard to sense her presence once I'd met her."

The cait sith hissed, knowing his answer was not really answering his question. "You weren't looking for her?"

He was taken aback. "No. I...why would I be looking for her? My fiann were hunting Fomorians. Stupid Tavis landed us in a lake and we were drenched. We found somewhere to dry off." He looked at the cait sith. "She saw through our glamour."

He saw it go still, c*****g its head up at him, a warning in its eyes.

He pressed. "She's familiar, she has the allure. What is she? Half-breed? Changeling? Touched? Whatever it is, is weak, but it's there."

The cait sith hissed again, but Declan found himself smiling. "Perry...can I call you Perry?" he continued without waiting for an answer. "Can you tell me her name? Who is she?"

"Who she is, is none of your business, soldier."

"Oh, come now, don't say it like it's a dirty word. The realms need soldiers."

The cait sith sniffed. "We also need water, but, we take no pleasure when it drowns us."

"Cheerful fellow, aren't you?" Declan said.

The girl was still standing at her door.

"Come on, Perry, give me her name."

"You of all people know the power in a name, Fae."

Declan saw the sense in his statement. "What do you call her, then?"

The cait sith looked at Declan as though judging if he was worthy. "Casey." He said finally. "I call her Casey."

"Casey." Declan breathed, looking at her.

Her red curls flew around her head like a halo in the breeze. She was thin and willowy like Fae women, but there was an added fullness to her hips and her breasts that endeared her to the eye. Perhaps Declan was starting to see what Eoin found so alluring about human females. It had been centuries since Declan had had one, but the sight of Casey standing in her doorway made him desperate to try her.

"Don't even think of it." The cait sith hissed.

Declan laughed. "Are you mind readers now?"

"The stench of desire is coming off you in waves. She is not for you, Fae. Best you leave her to live her life and you return to Faery where you belong."

"And what interest does a cait sith have in a human, Perry?"

"That is not your business. Return to your fiann and go home." The cait sith's tone told Declan that he had had enough games.

Even Declan knew the limit of a cait sith's patience and he very much did not want to be on the receiving end when it was at an end.

"All right bossy-britches." Declan said, his smile charming.

"You can drop the act, Fae. No women are watching you now."

Declan looked back to the doorway. Casey had indeed gone back inside.

"What are her favourite flowers?" he asked, suddenly.

"You try my patience, Fae. Go home."

The cait sith did not wait for a response. He jumped from the fence and sauntered towards her house. Declan watched as he jumped through the open front window.

"Oh, how I wish that was me. Woo..." He whispered as he turned to find Eoin watching him, a smirk on his face. "Oh, hell."

"Not worth our time, are they?" Eoin asked. "You seem quite taken by her for someone not worth our time?"

"Feck off." Declan grumbled.

Now he was not near her, he could think more clearly. He had no idea what had come over him, but the aggravating way she had not succumbed to him instantly had interested him. She had a hint of Fae about her smell, but there was nothing else about her that suggested it. Everything about her seemed so decidedly human; the tangy smell of her perfume, the baggy clothes, the absolute blank on her face when he had called out the cait sith as though she really thought he was any mortal cat.

"Talk about off with the faeries..." Eoin said.

"Oh, you're hilarious!" Declan said, mock laughing. But, he smiled at his cousin. "I thought we were meeting back at the park?"

Eoin shrugged. "So, what's so special about her?"

Declan shrugged as well. "Dunno. I expect nothing. She's probably just touched. She does live with a cait sith."

"That makes sense, if he's been around long enough, she'll have absorbed some of his faery nature."

"I'm sure that's all it is."

"What else could it be?"

"Anything else would leave a stronger mark."

"We'd know if she was a changeling. You didn't happen to catch her birthday?"

Declan look at him. "Yes, Eoin. I managed to find out her birthday, a list of family ailments, and got a peek at her lingerie drawer."

"That last one doesn't sound so bad."

Declan could not stop the growl that rumbled through him. It shocked him, Fae were not usually so protective of a s****l partner.

Eoin laughed. "Danu, you've got it bad for this one. A quick shag and you'll be right."

They started walking back to the park and their trod home.

"It's like humans were made to torture us. What is it about them that's so...desirable." Eoin was saying, sounding much less angry than before.

Declan was not really listening, though. He was stuck on the idea of her lingerie drawer. He had not seen one personally, but Eoin had told him all about them and he was very keen on seeing Casey's.

"Hm?"

"Humans. Why do you think we find them so desirable?"

"Do we?"

Eoin laughed again. "For centuries we have found ourselves as drawn to them as they are to us. You can't tell me that's not true."

"Just don't let them hear you say that at home." Declan said, his tone a warning.

Eoin shrugged it off. "I'd only reveal my secret plot to overthrow the Council to you, Declan. But, I don't think you'd be ready for it."

"Joke all you like." He said no more, he knew he did not have to; Eoin would understand the implication. He also knew Eoin was not entirely serious; he loved human women, but he would never choose a human life partner over a Fae.

"Don't be hung up on your Father and his grand plans." Eoin said, punching his arm in his way of showing support. "Have you managed to break the betrothal?"

Declan shook his head. "Neither she nor Father will allow that. At this point, I am literally going to have to get married to someone else before I am rid of that beast."

In fairness, his betrothed was beautiful, like all Fae. But she had nothing endearing to her personality whatsoever. Marriage among Fae was used mainly as a means of securing political alliances and, as such, was really only heard of between those involved in the politics of court. Declan's father had decided that the King's niece would make a perfect bride for him. She, likewise, thought marrying a future council member was a good move. If only both of them would believe Declan when he said he would never accept a position on the Council.

"Ah well, at least she isn't stopping you playing the field." Eoin's smile suggested he wasn't sure if that made being betrothed to an insane immortal any better or not.

Declan laughed. "That she isn't. I can only be thankful that my betrothed has no s****l interest in me whatsoever."

"Said no male, ever," Eoin snorted.