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The girl was surrounded by a group of Merrow children who were treating her like a curiosity. She was a good sport about it, and seemed equally interested in their scales and tails. Of course, Patrick remembered, none of these children had seen a changeling or a human before.
The girl - October - turned her gray eyes on him. “Where did Uncle Simon go?” she asked.
Patrick blinked. He was surprised by the address, but it wasn’t his place to correct the young child. “Simon was very tired, so he went to sleep. You will have to go to sleep soon as well, but you still have some time before that.” He pulled out a chair next to her and glanced at the other children. “Can you give us a minute?”
The appearance of a changeling girl from the land was rare enough that he had to ask twice. But eventually the room emptied, and it was just the two of them.
October was playing with a few pearls that she must have received from her new friends. More importantly, she was avoiding Patrick’s gaze. “Did I do something wrong?”
Her voice was quiet and uncertain, and Patrick briefly fantasized about drowning Amandine and sending her to the bottom of the ocean to be fed on.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Why do you think so?”
October shrugged. “Uncle Simon seemed upset. Like he was hiding it, but he was upset.”
Simon had been upset. Patrick had long dreamed about his best friend getting back in contact and figuratively appearing on his doorstep, but he didn’t expect the man to show up at the docks with a thin blooded changeling girl in tow, two steps away from a panic attack that he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding.
Amy just left her alone in the tower, Pat! She didn’t even let my brother know! Simon cried, and Patrick had to pretend to be shocked. There were harsh truths he could have said, but clearly Simon realized them, too, if he came here. He didn’t need to rub it in. Instead, he ordered a calming tea, rubbed Simon’s back until his sobs quieted down, then put him to bed - but not before promising that he’d take care of the child while his friend was asleep.
It had been a long time since he spent any significant time around children. Already, it was clear that October was very different from August. Her ears were shockingly blunt - even more so than Patrick would have expected, with her known heritage. Her dark brown hair and gray eyes gave her more color than Amandine ever possessed, or that she ever allowed August to have.
She didn’t look like Simon at all. But that didn’t matter.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Patrick repeated gently. “Simon was upset on your behalf, because you were so alone when he found you. But I’m sure he’ll be happy tomorrow after you have both rested.”
October nodded, although she didn’t look very convinced. She raised her eyes to look at him, and at least that was progress. “You don’t have scales,” she said. She frowned at his ears. “You are Daoine Sidhe. Like Mother and Uncle Simon.”
Patrick nodded. “That’s true.”
“But you live here, in the sea.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
Patrick smiled. “Because one day, while I still lived on the land, your– Simon convinced me to go to a dance held by the King. And at that dance, I met a very hungry mermaid who stole my heart.”
October’s eyes widened. “To eat it?”
Patrick laughed. “No, not to eat it. Although you can say she devoured me and never let me go. I fell in love with her, and now I am here to stay under the sea. It’s fascinating, once you get used to it. When I still lived on the land, I wanted to make ships, and now…” October’s attention wandered - she was playing with the pearls again. “Why don’t I show you something?”
That caught her. She nodded. “Yes, please.”
Patrick led her to his workshop where there was a small but intricately made model ship sailing round and round the edge of the room. The ship had two small winged figures on it, though whether they were dancing or fighting was up to the viewer. It was all made of coloured glass and wood, and October was as fascinated with it as he’d expected.
“You make toys?” she asked after a few minutes of silence as she watched the ship go around the room.
Patrick was a bit flustered by the question. “I suppose it’s a toy, yes. I doubt I’ll ever be making real ships now, but I didn’t want to abandon them fully.”
October nodded and reached out towards the figurines, not quite touching. “Those are pixies. I’d seen them in the gardens. Mother always makes me chase them away.”
That made him flinch. “Yes, I don’t suppose Amandine likes pixies around her roses.”
“I don’t know why,” October said. “I think they’re fun. A few times I gave them cookies, and they brought me pretty stones or feathers.”
Patrick smiled. Perhaps the girl had more of Simon in her after all. “The sea has many interesting creatures, as well. Dianda and I will show you and Simon some of them tomorrow.”
October looked at him. “Do you know when Mother is coming back?”
That, he didn’t know. “I don’t. What did Simon tell you?”
“Just that I have to stay with him until she does. But surely she’ll be very upset if she can’t find me at the tower.”
Patrick stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t need to worry about that. Simon knows her well, and he will talk to her instead of you. Sometimes, you just have to let the adults worry about things.” And with any luck, they would never need to go back to the surface to face Amandine again.
October was a worried child, but even she was easily bribed with Undersea sweets and more strange toys. In a few hours, he had her asleep in a guest room, and Dianda found him as he was leaving.
“Did she fall asleep easily?” she asked.
Patrick smiled. “I had to tell her a story. Simon would have sang, I’m sure, but my voice isn’t that pretty.”
Dianda kissed his cheek. “It’s pretty enough for me.” She looked at the sleeping child thoughtfully, and Patrick waited. Dianda was his wife, his love and his equal, but she was also the Duchess of this knowe. And he had just brought his wayward friend who held a piece of his heart into their home, along with the man’s young daughter. Any wife would have been right to be concerned about that.
Instead, Dianda smiled. “Well, I suppose I’ve always wanted a daughter.”
Patrick let out a relieved breath and pulled her into his arms, and they kissed as Simon and October slept on, in safety and peace at last.