Page 151 of A Legacy of the Light

“I’m not sure what you’re saying, Elsie? Are you saying you want to stop?” Tavish takes a step back from me, something like hurt flashing across his features.

“No!” I close the distance between us and cup his cheek. His skin is soft underneath my hand. “I’m just saying we just need to be careful. No pinning me against the bookshelves where anyone can see. Let’s keep things private?”

He tilts his head, considering. “Okay, just me and you.”

“Me and you,” I nod, and Tavish pulls my lips to his once more before he leaves me in the library.

Taking my seat across from Finneus, the corners of his eyes crinkle before he asks, “So you and our prince?”

I shift in my seat uncomfortably. “Please forget you saw that.”

Finneus chuckles and puts down the book he had been reviewing. “Your secret is safe with me. I assume our king isn’t pleased with the situation?”

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“How to say this . . .” He taps a finger on his chin and shrugs. “King Raghnall is elitist. I doubt he would care for his son fraternizing with a human. He would see it as beneath the royal title.”

I nod and a small laugh bubbles from me. “If only he knew.”

“Indeed, my dear,” he replies with as close to a devious smile as Finneus could get.

We spend the next few hours scouring the new books for anything on the war between the first Dorche and Aotrom. There is very little mention of it in books from the main library, and when it is referenced, it’s in relation to the rebuilding of towns and villages after they were flattened in battle. There’s no mention of the power that was wielded, why the rebels rose in the first place, and how they corrupted their magic.

“Ishbel.” The faint voice in my mind says as Finneus and I eat lunch together.

I pause mid-bite.

Surely not . . .

Would Granny really have told me stories about Ishbel, the warrior queen, in preparation for this?

“Does Ishbel mean anything to you, Finneus?” I ask, taking a chance.

Finneus stops eating, too, and places his sandwich back on his plate. “She was the very first Seelie queen.”

“Ishbel,” the voice says again.

“Has anything about Ishbel been mentioned in the—”

I don’t even finish my question before Finneus is flicking through the pages of a book in the old language. He reads aloud, his voice barely above a whisper.

“From greed and dissent the darkness has risen.

Taken from another, their power unbidden.

For they shall not rest until they rule all.

And in their victory, the realms shall fall.

Our mighty queen has surrendered to their might, but this will not be the final fight.

Darkness will rise to rule once more, and settle they will not until they have won their war.

For as long as the light remains, the wicked darkness shall never reign.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, staring at Finneus as he breathes harshly.

“We have always been told that Ishbel fell in a terrible war between Seelie, and sacrificed her life to save her people. It was the first Dorche. She defeated them. That has to be it!” He stands from his chair in excitement and starts pulling books toward him. “If we can find more about Ishbel, we can find out how she defeated them, and do it again.”