Embracing the Dark

To Have a Choice

Irial situated himself on the couch, but Maeve was too worked up to sit, choosing instead to pace in front of the fireplace. Her eyes never left him as she stalked back and forth.

Her father.

She studied Irial closely, noting they had the same nose. Similar dark hair, though she could have just as easily gotten it from her mother. She had always thought she got her eyes from her mother too, but she could now clearly see that they were from him. Both of their eyes were a slightly brighter shade of blue than her mother.

"How did that happen?" Irial asked softly, his eyes drifting to her scars.

"Car accident two years ago," she said quickly. "I was in the hospital for months. In agonizing pain." He looked away from her, taking a deep breath and slowly letting out. "Then again, it's not like you cared."

Irial winced, then looked back up at her.

"What is it you wish to know?" he asked.

"Start from the beginning. How did you meet my mother?" she asked.

"I was out one night at a bar. I saw your mother," he said. "She was intriguing. And there was an innocence about her that I found enchanting."

"So you decided to corrupt her?" Maeve interrupted.

"I only wanted to speak to her," Irial said. "And then one thing led to another."

"And you spent a week with her. Driving her crazy," Maeve said. Irial frowned.

"That shouldn't have happened," he said.

"You said that before. But you're Gancanagh. It's what you do. What... we do," Maeve said, coming to a stop. He sighed and shook his head.

"Like I said, it shouldn't have happened," he repeated. "And I hadn't intended on ever seeing her again. She was just..."

"A plaything," Maeve said. He nodded.

"But then I found out that she had given birth, I had to see if you were mine," he said. "It's... rare for someone like me to sire a child with a human. But... I just had a feeling. So I found her. Went to see you. And I knew instantly that you were my daughter, and that I needed to keep you safe."

"Right. You threw some money at us and gave me that charm," Maeve said dryly. "Great parenting."

Irial slowly stood from the couch, but didn't move towards her.

"Maeve, I know that this is hard for you to believe, but I do love you," he said. "From the moment I laid eyes on you, I... I've never felt a connection to something or someone like that before. It was as though everything that was once important to me didn't matter. All that mattered was to keep you safe. And it killed me to stay away from you, but I had responsibilities that I couldn't ignore."

Maeve laughed harshly, shaking her head.

"That's rich," she said. "So, I'm supposed to believe that you abandoned me for my own safety with a mother who had been driven mad by you."

"I told you-"

"Yea, well obviously you fucked something up, because she's crazy and it's all because she became addicted to you," Maeve shouted. "Why the hell are you so sure that she shouldn't have been addicted?"

"Because I was the Dark King! She shouldn't have gotten addicted to me!" Irial shouted back.

Maeve stared at him, her eyes widening. Irial had been the Dark King when he slept with her mother. He was the former Dark King.

The Dark King that gave his powers to Niall. Seduced and nearly killed Leslie.

The Dark King that Niall had previously had a relationship with.