Emme held her breath waiting to see what he would do next. They were alone in the forest and he was not trying to force himself on her, merely to seduce. No one would ever have to know. His gentle touch made her wish she could press her hands on his chest to test the firmness of his muscles, to clasp his shoulders. He still held one of her hands with warm and steady pressure. One of his fingers rested on her lips. What would happen if she licked her lips with his finger there, brushing her tongue against his flesh? Would he accept the invitation?

A bird screamed overhead.

Emme jumped back. What was she thinking? She’d had so little sleep last night, her mind wasn’t working. She didn’t need to give Ananias more reason to dislike her and so far she’d gone half a day without doing any chores. He would be furious if he found out there was another European man in the forest. More furious if he learned that she knew before he did. “I should go back.”

Emme was married, but her husband died leaving her in a very precarious position. She is a woman, making her a second-class citizen at the time. But she’s a midwife giving her a skill and more power than the average woman would have. That’s what threatens Ananais. She’s a woman who can say no to him and mean it.

“If I wanted this woman, I would just take her,” Far Seer said. “She wanders alone in the forest.”

“My people do not do that.”

Another woman joined Emme and the man. The woman had an infant in her arms and the drawn expression of one who needed good food and rest.

“Then why do you not bargain for her?” Far Seer asked. “There are many things they need.”

“They would be more alarmed by me than they are by you if I walked into their encampment.”

Emme was arguing with the squat man and the other woman tried to stop them. The infant cried like an unhappy cat. The sound clawed at Tighe’s chest.

A child. It had been so long since he had seen a child. There were those who wanted to steal it, but he had managed to convince them that doing so would only anger the newcomers. As long as they believed themselves alone, they would not go hunting old enemies. Much more likely they would go after the natives, but the others had believed him. That just showed him how great their fear of these mortals was. And how sad his great people had become.

The native people, like the Europeans, treated women as second-class citizens. At least, that’s what my research turned up. History written by the winners after all. The Fae are different. Their women are strong and independent. Emme doesn’t know this though.

The Fae in folklore are famous for stealing human babies and replacing them with their or sickly offspring. Now if you wanted to take a scientific view of this, inbreeding could cause Fae children to be sickly and stealing a strong human baby, with a completely fresh set of DNA, would help out the bloodline. If you wanted to take a sociological perspective, parents could blame supernatural beings for the defects of their children to deflect suspicion about their own bloodlines. If you want to focus from an educational angle, you could say that faeries stealing children was a cautionary tale of what could happen if you leave your baby alone because telling stories about wild animals grabbing the kid and running off with it are too realistic and scary. I’ve probably spent a little too much time thinking about this.

The baby’s cry actually came from the birth of a nephew. I was walking down the hospital hall to the room where the hours old tyke was with his mother and various family members when I heard this wet cat mewling. My first thought was “I hope that’s not my nephew.” It was, but he grew out of it.

I wanted to use real names of the colonists so I did a little research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonists_at_Roanoke

I chose Emme Merrimoth as my heroine because I liked the name.

Ananais Dare’s name doesn’t appear on this list, but he is listed elsewhere are Eleanor Dare’s husband and Virginia Dare’s father.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananias_Dare

Margery, who is heavily pregnant and breaks her leg in the opening scene, is on the list as well as a child with an unknown first name. If the child was born after John White left for England, he wouldn’t have known its name.

Roger Bailie ended up being overrun by Ananais after John White left. So often people who are excellent at being second in command suck at being commander.

For the fae, I used very Irish names. According to legend, the Fae went “West” after their defeat by the Men. I was working literally. My Fae needed to be connected to the world of Men to maintain their power, but spent most of their time in the Summer Country where the sun always shines and living is easy. And they are safe from Men and their iron weapons. A very important bonus.

The Secret Of Roan Inish is one of those fairy tale movies that hangs with you for a long time. On one hand it’s very fantastical, the entire family is descended from a man and a selkie who abandoned her children to return to the sea. On the other hand, it’s very realistic, the family had to abandon their life on the island for financial reasons. And the little boy is adorable.