Page 59 of Demure
Aislan scoffed. “Of course, I’m Fae. We are built strong.”
Sierra mentally slapped herself for even asking. Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Aislan wrapped her legs around his waist, untying her arms so she could put them around his neck. Sierra couldn’t be certain, but she was pretty sure he was no longer wearing a shirt, which meant he had given her his clothes earlier as she had assumed.
“Hold on tight.”
Sierra did, apprehensive of what they were about to do. She suddenly felt herself moving upwards, at least she thought they were, but she wasn’t exactly sure how they were doing so.
As they made their way higher, the pale pink light of dawn began to filter through the trees, confirming for Sierra that it had still been the night before and she was indeed more out of shape than she thought. As she looked around, she could see that the forest wasn’t truly that dense. It was then that she became aware of the magical buzz around them increasing. Or maybe it had been there before, and she had just been too scared to notice it. Either way, she could feel the reverence and enchantment of the forest in a way she hadn’t been aware of, as the frosty light of dawn filtered through the trees, illuminating the ground like water through a strainer. The chirping of birds reached her ears, and she saw a few bursts of color out of the corner of her eyes as they flitted their way through the trees.
When she looked back around, she noticed that Aislan washolding on to a rope and pulling them up a tree with his upper body while his lower body walked up the large trunk. She would’ve marveled longer at his impressive strength, but at that moment, they broke through the tops of the trees to reveal a small wooden house perched atop of the tree they were climbing.
Sierra looked around in wonder, noting the way most of the trees stopped at a certain height, creating the blanket that shielded the light of the moon from the forest floor below. Several trees had grown above the height of the forest, and besides the treehouse they were headed for, there were a few others a bit further on, which she could see poking out from the canopy. Beyond, purple mountains rose ominously in the direction she thought they had been headed. As she craned her neck to look at where they had been, she noticed a castle rising on the far horizon, past the edge of the trees. Since she had only seen it from the outside once, Sierra assumed that was where they had been keeping her, but she couldn’t be sure.
Aislan reached the top of the rope, where there was a hole in the deck of the tree house for them to pass through. “Get as close to me as possible,” Aislan said, not sounding out of breath at all, almost making Sierra doubt he had just climbed up this massive tree with a person on his back, even though she had been there the whole time.
She felt the wood of the desk brush her back as they passed through. Aislan stepped to the side and helped her off, lowering her onto the deck as he pulled the rope up from below so no one else could follow.
In the light of the rising sun, Sierra couldn’t help but gape as she looked around them. It was almost as if the ceiling of the forest created a sea, and the few houses that were visible were boats floating in the gentle morning breeze. The deck they stood on belonged to a small, one-story treehouse made of smooth wood paneling with an eaved roof. It looked to her as if someone had taken a small hunting cabin and placed it on top of a tree. The windows were purple glass, which glimmered in the light ofthe rising sun. A brightly colored bird, which looked akin to pictures Sierra had seen of a Toucan in the human world, let out a chirp from its large beak as it settled on one of the porch railings. It ruffled its feathers, allowing one to fall, which Sierra bent down to pick up. As she lifted it, she noticed the way it glinted in the sun, displaying rainbow colors that shimmered and changed as she shifted the feather from side to side.
“What is this place?” Sierra squeaked out, unable to take her eyes from the unique feather.
Aislan smiled as he replied, “Welcome toTeach Crann.”
Sidhe
Chapter Thirty-Four
As it turns out, the outside appearance ofTeach Crannwas deceiving, for when Aislan led her into the house, she found that it was a spacious home complete with a small kitchen, living room, dining area, and bathroom, if you could call it that. It was rudimentary at best, nothing like the bathrooms Sierra was used to in the human world. While there was some type of apparatus that flushed using a pull handle, there was a simple bowl and pitcher to operate as a sink and an old-fashioned bathing tub, which would need to be filled manually with pitchers of water. The house also had three bedrooms, which Aislan showed her so she could rest after she used the facilities.
As he opened one of the bedroom doors, Sierra’s jaw dropped.
The room had a large bed in the center, akin to a king-size in the human world. It was decked out in a black silk comforter, with red sheets peeking through from underneath. The room was lit by what looked like fireflies in jars, though Sierra couldn’t be sure from afar. While the room wasn’t heavily decorated, there were some green and gold vines painted on the wall here and there to add some color to the brown wood. Sierra immediately noticeda door on the far side of the room, which led to a private bathing chamber.
“Are all the bedrooms this big?” Sierra asked as she headed for a second door in the bathroom.
“No, this is the one for the owner of the home. The other two are a bit smaller and don’t have a private bathing chamber.”
Sierra’s hand paused where it rested on the door handle. “But I don’t own this treehouse.”
Aislan’s response came at the same time that Sierra opened the door to reveal a closet filled with men’s clothes. “I know, but Aodhan does.”
Sierra was aghast. “I thought he lived in the castle with your father?” She stepped into the closet, running her hands over the soft fabrics.
“He has a room there too. But this is a place where he can come to get away from our father when he needs to. He bought it in secret a few years ago. I’ve been hiding out here since our father doesn’t know about it when I have to leave my ruse at the house from time to time.”
Sierra turned from the colorful clothes until her eyes met Aislan’s green ones. Her heart ached as she wished that they were the green eyes of Aodhan instead. “Are you sure he’s okay with me staying in his room?”
Aislan smiled. “Of course. If I know Aodhan, which I do, there is nowhere else he would rather you stay. Plus, besides my room, there’s only one guest room, which Braan and Kaye are staying in, so unless you want to bunk with them…” Aislan trailed off suggestively, but Sierra could tell by his tone he was kidding.
Sierra chuckled. Something about Aislan’s demeanor reminded her of her younger brother, Diego. But before she could delve too deep into the meaning of those thoughts, which were sure to be painful, she yawned.
“Rest a bit. We will meet in the living room in a few hours to discuss how we proceed from here.”
Sierra made her way to the large bed as Aislan slipped out thedoor, closing it behind himself. As she peeled back the covers and got comfy, she sighed in contentment. The bed was so soft and comfortable it felt like she was being tucked into a cloud. Before she could follow that thought further, she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Sierra awoke hours later from a dead sleep, groggy and unsure of where she was. As she lay in the plush red bed, looking at the room around her in confusion, it took quite a few minutes for the events of the night before to come back to her.
