“Oh. I—I don’t know much about the Fae yet.” Did that sound lame? That sounded lame.

“You’ll learn.” Murtagh smiled at her. “Let’s walk.”

After a few minutes, warmed by the sun and the exercise, Jenny pulled off her cloak. Murtagh took it from her and slung it over his shoulder.

Since Murtagh didn’t seem inclined to break the silence, Jenny asked, “You have no witches on the island?”

“We have a few. This whole island is an Old Place, so some have found their way here over the years. There’s two hedge witches—sisters—who grow herbs and make medicines for the healers. There’s my sister—”

“Your sister?”

“—who lives in a dell at the center of the island because the sea can’t compete with the feel of earth beneath her hands. And there’s my grandmother, who has danced with the sea since she was a young maid who was lured here by a selkie Lord. His affection was about as constant as the tide, but I’ve always suspected she knew that and the island was more of a lure for her than he was. Of course, she might have returned to the mainland after a while if another selkie Lord hadn’t been waiting for a chance to take his rival’s place.”

“How convenient,” Jenny muttered, understanding much better the ship captain’s comments about maids being lured by moonlight and the sea.

“I think so,” Murtagh replied. “A persistent lover can be a powerful force in the world, and he was everything his rival was not.”

“And how long did he stay?”

“They were together until a few years ago, when one of Death’s Servants took his spirit to the Shadowed Veil.”

“Was your father as constant?” She was sorry she’d asked, because he stopped walking and just stared at the sea.

“It’s hard to say,” Murtagh finally said. “Even for a selkie, there are dangers in the sea. He went out one day and never came back. Now my mother was another story. She was from a southern Clan. He must have cared for her, because he stayed with her—and stayed away from the sea—until my sister was born two years after I was. The southern Fae don’t allow half-breeds in their precious pieces of Tir Alainn. She didn’t know my father wasn’t pure Fae until my sister was born—a babe who didn’t look Fae. She demanded that my father take the two of us down to the human world and abandon us. Instead he abandoned her and brought us back here. He disappeared a few months later. My grandparents raised me and my sister.”

“Why did you tell me this?” Jenny asked softly.

Murtagh turned away from the sea and looked at her. “So you would know I understand about family. I’m keeping watch for your brother’s ship.”