Page 55 of Demure
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Aislan murmured. “But I sense it had something to do with meeting you.”
Sierra was silent. Something in her chest clenched at the thought of Aodhan changing what he planned to do all because of a failed Tinder date, from which she had stormed out after just a few minutes.
The path her heart began to venture down at that thought was too painful, so she decided it was time to change the topic. “What’s the plan for rescuing Aodhan?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” Sierra could hear the smile in his voice even though she couldn’t see it. “We will leave in a few hours to begin heading toward the general prison.”
“You’re sure he’s there?” Sierra remembered the earlier part of their conversation where he had mentioned there was also a high-security prison.
“No. But it’s closer and easier to access. So, we will start there.”
Right on cue, Sierra’s stomach growled loudly.
“Ah, I see I was right to grab some provisions.” Aislan began rustling around in the darkness, only to press something round into Sierra’s hands. She took a bite, the sweetness of the apple tasting like heaven on her tongue.
“I didn’t know how much you could carry,” Aislan continued. “And I was a bit limited on what they wouldn’t miss. But I got us a second water skin and at least dinner for tonight.”
Sierra was almost too busy taking bites of apple to respond, but she made herself swallow so she could ask, “How far is it? To the general prison?”
“Two or three days at most if we walk quickly.”
Two to three days didn’t seem too bad. At least this wasn’t some three-month-long journey through the woods. Reaching the core of her apple on all sides, Sierra rested her arm on her dress, which reminded her of something else she wanted to ask.
“I know this is going to sound dumb and shallow, but did you bring anything else for me to wear?”
“Um.” Aislan cleared his throat. “Yes and no.” Sierra felt excitement bubbling up in her chest, but before she could get too excited, Aislan added, “There isn’t much clothing that will not be missed, so I brought you another dress, the same as the one you are wearing.”
Sierra groaned.
“I know. But they have 50 or more of these on hand, and they come in every size…so they are easy to steal.”
“Have you ever worn one?” The words came out a bit harsherthan Sierra intended but she just wanted him to know how uncomfortable they were.
“Yes, actually.”
Sierra immediately wished she could retract her previous accusation.
“All women in Sidhe wear a similar gown for nature ceremonies or rituals. Of course, they come in other colors, but white is thought to be the color of innocence and purity when one is seeking the approval of Mother Nature. So more and more white ones have been made in the past few years.”
Well, that explained a lot. Sierra had almost forgotten for a moment that Aislan had recently transitioned. Besides the voice that was slightly higher than Aodhan’s and the thinner frame, Aislan truly was the man he wanted to be. But before his transition, he had likely been subjected to the exact same torture Sierra was now.
“I’m never wearing white again after this.”
“I understand. And honestly, I’m not even sure Gaia likes white anyway.”
“You speak as if you know her.” Sierra heard rummaging again, and the apple core in her hand was replaced with some sort of baked pastry, which she greedily bit into.
“I do. When a Fae wishes to change gender, as I have done, we must have a meeting, called a ritual, with Mother Nature. It’s different for everyone, but at my ritual, I spoke with Gaia, and she agreed I had been improperly assigned my gender at birth, and she allowed me to change.”
Sierra polished off the last of the pastry crumbs on her hand, almost regretting that she had eaten it so fast. “Aodhan made it sound like asking Gaia for something isn’t easy to do.”
“It’s not. It takes a lot of courage, and often, if she doesn’t approve of your request, you could find yourself with a curse—or worse.”
Sierra wanted to ask what could possibly be worse than acurse, but she had a feeling the answer was death, so she kept her mouth shut.
“It took me months to get up the courage, which is why Aodhan didn’t know, and I didn’t want to tell him until it was complete in case I ended up with a curse or something. After I changed…I wasn’t welcome at home anymore, so I haven’t been able to call. I didn’t even know things had gone wrong until Slaine sent a message.”
Sierra’s heart bled for him, and she reached out in the darkness to put her hand on his shoulder. “Where have you been living since then?”
