~~

Trinity

~~

"You want to know what happened between me and my ex-wife?" He looked from me to Daciana with worried eyes.

"It is fine, my love. I know that whatever happened was in the past. I know that what you had with her was not a true mating. I will not hold any of it against you." Daciana ran a hand along Athair mòr's arm as she consoled him and encouraged him to speak. "Trinity is right, we all need to know what happened all those years ago. If we're going to come out on top in this situation, we need to be well informed."

"I know, my love. I know that I need to tell you all. It's just that, I have locked away those memories for a reason. It was not a pleasant time for me."

I could see pain and heartache in Athair mòr's face as he spoke. There had to have been a lot that happened to him for that look to be there. And if I was not mistaken, there was also fear in his eyes.

Was he afraid that we would judge him over what had happened, or were the memories that horrible? I guess only time would tell. Hearing the tale would be the only way for me to find out and know for sure.

"Athair mòr, for starters, can you tell me why Solanum said she was forced to marry you?" I thought that was the most important thing at the moment. "What brought about a forced wedding that she did not want?"

"That had been back before mother had left our world. At that time, there were many different types of Fae species, but most of them did not have much strength or power. There was a new species that was trying to become prominent among us. With me being the youngest prince and therefore someone that everyone thought would be easily manipulated, I was the target of political moves."

I could understand what it was that he was saying. If I had become the Luna Queen before I was married, I know that a lot of men all over the world would have been fighting to become my king.

"One of the most prominent Fae at the time were the Kelpies. They were more powerful than most of the others when we were just starting out as a people. They were not as strong as the first three, which were me, Sorrel and Glory, but they were coming along in strength."

Athair mòr took a deep breath and continued his story with a weary look on his face. He was painting his picture of the past but hadn't yet got to the important parts.

"There were several Kelpie families, many of whom people thought that I would choose a spouse from, because Kelpies are from the sea the same as I am. However, there was only one family brave enough to approach us about it. This was the year that mother had decided to leave us in this world without her. She was making preparations to join the others in the celestial plane and watch us from afar. This man, Strom, approached mother when she was too preoccupied to pay much attention and propositioned her with an offer. The offer was for his daughter Solanum to marry me."

"And Danu accepted?" Reece asked when Athair mòr paused for a breath.

"That she did. She was happy and excited for the chance to see her son be wed before she left this world. She rushed the wedding between us and within a week we were married. I hadn't even gotten the chance to meet my bride before the wedding day."

"That had to have been horrible." I was so taken aback by what he had just said. "How could Danu expect you to be married to a woman you didn't even know?"

As I asked that, I turned to look at Reece and his guilty expression. He had actually done the same thing along that line with me. I had actually been moved to his house without even knowing about it in advance. At least Solanum knew it was coming. That could have been worse though. She had time to let the anger fester during that time.

Things may have worked out for me and Reece, but it seems that it didn't work out for Solanum and Athair mòr.

"I didn't know her and she didn't know me. It was what had started to open us up in the beginning. We joked about how our parents had forced us into these bonds that we didn't want. Still, even though Solanum put on a smile and performed her duties as a wife properly, she was never happy. And she never gave up on the old ways of the Kelpies either."

"Old ways of the Kelpies?" Reece sounded confused. "Are you referring to the legends of how they would murder humans?"

"That is exactly what I am saying." Athair mòr looked like he was still angry about the past. These were expressions and emotions that I never thought that I would see on his face. Likewise, these were topics that I never thought I would be discussing, not just with him, but with all of the people present here.

All I could think about right now was the legend of the Kelpies and how that blended with the psychopathic woman I had seen earlier. I couldn't see how Danu would have been so inattentive and, dare I say, stupid enough to allow a marriage like this in the first place.

Then again, if Danu hadn't allowed this marriage I wouldn't be sitting here today. Isn't that always how it was when you learned something bad? You wish that it had never happened, but if it didn't, then your life wouldn't be what it was today.

I wasn't about to dwell on that, though. I needed to hear the rest of the story.. I needed to know exactly what it was that had happened all those years ago.