Emperor of Shadows

by Mike Truk

  Cerys threw up her hands. “I just put her down!”

  “Goodbye,” said Netherys. “Go tend to your little monster.”

  “I’ll fix you as soon as she’s asleep again,” said Cerys. “Don’t get comfortable.”

  “Uh huh,” said Netherys, leaning back luxuriously. “I’ll be here sipping cordial and enjoying the day till you do.”

  Cerys scowled, then turned to march back inside.

  Shouts broke out from the brook, and I saw that Jeremy was red in the face about something. Little Pogo was giving him a ridiculously fake innocent look, and Jack was walking away in disgust.

  “My turn,” said Tamara, hoisting herself out of the chair. “Be right back. Pogo! Jeremy! What happened? No, don’t push each other - Pogo!”

  We watched her storm down the bank to where the three boys had begun to tussle in the water.

  “Idyllic,” said Netherys, tone wry.

  “It is, actually,” I said. “I’ve never felt more exhausted or content. Though balancing Cerys, Yashara, and Tamara takes almost as much work as taking care of the kids.”

  Netherys speared another sliver of meat. “Poor you.”

  “It’s hard work!” I protested.

  “Have you all worked out a schedule?”

  I blushed, then chuckled. “Actually, yes? We tried to be spontaneous for the first year or two, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to work. So I sleep with each of them twice a week, and get a night to myself to recover.”

  Amusement danced in her eyes again. “Poor you indeed.”

  “Actually, we usually end up just sleeping,” I said with a grin. “Or fall asleep halfway through making love. I’ve never appreciated sleep so much.”

  Netherys rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll return to raiding villages now, actually. I can’t take any more of this banal cuteness.”

  I leaned over my chair’s arm to take her fingers in mine. “You sure?”

  We held each other’s gazes for a spell, and then she blushed. “Maybe.”

  “Because I’d love nothing more than to have you here, Netherys. And the fact that you came back to visit…” I squeezed her hand. “Tells me something about all this must appeal to you, too.”

  She hesitated, caught off guard at my directness. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “I recall you saying something similar that one time you returned to save us in the ash yard. And when you came back to warn me about Eddwick and the medusa’s impending attack. In fact, you’ve always told me I’m being ridiculous only to go ahead and prove me right.”

  I leaned in closer, so that our lips were almost touching. “So tell me. Tell me the idea of making a home here, of being part of this family, of sleeping with me, of having a child with me, is something you find utterly ridiculous.”

  Her voice was breathless, her color high, her lips almost touching mine. “Utterly. And completely. Ridiculous.”

  “Is it now?” I kissed her gently. “Why do I find myself not believing you?”

  “Because” - she murmured, kissing me, pulling back, kissing me again, eyes half-closed - “you are a willful, foolish, stupidly handsome human male who thinks… who thinks every darkly seductive elf is after his cock…”

  I grinned wickedly. “And aren’t they?”

  She kissed me once more, then moaned as I slid my hand over her thigh and squeezed. “Well… maybe just this once…”

  “Your life doesn’t have to be all blood and death,” I whispered. “Stay here with us. With me. Be part of this.”

  “But Mother Magrathaar,” she protested, pulling back.

  “Fuck Mother Magrathaar,” I said, voice steely with conviction. “Whatever she throws at us we’ll deal with. She’ll have to contend with the consummate warrior in Yashara, a Crimson Noose assassin, an Exemplar of the White Sun, a war troll about to return, and me.”

  “And what are you?” she asked breathily.

  “Nothing much,” I said with a smile. “Just the man who loves you more than the stars and the moon.”

  “Oh, Kellik,” she whispered, tears coming to her eyes. “You mean that still? Even after all these years?”

  “Now more than ever,” I said. “But you don’t need to make a decision yet. We can wait till you’re summoned. In the meantime, you can get a taste of life here on the farm. Good food, hard work, great company, and more love than you’ll know what to do with.”

  She looked past me at the swaying treetops, the afternoon sunlight turning everything golden, the meadow of grass on the far side of the stream with our six cows out at pasture.

  “There might be a way,” she said quietly.

  “Oh?” I sat up. “What? Whatever it is, I’m willing to take it.”

  She bit her lower lip, suddenly hesitant, looked down. “Mother Magrathaar only has authority over my dark elf nature.”

  “Which… oh!” I felt hope surge within my chest. “So if you return to being a high elf?”

  “She’ll lose her grasp of my soul.”

  “Then that’s great! We’ll do it!”

  She studied me through narrowed eyes. “And how will we do that, exactly?”

  I wanted to laugh. “I’m going to hit you with so much love you’ll have no choice but to change over.”

  Netherys rolled her eyes and sat back. “Sounds nauseating.”

  I took up her hand, not caring nor believing her skepticism. “I’ll see it as a challenge. And you’ll see. Before Mother Magrathaar calls for you, I’ll turn you back to a high elf.”

  “Really.”

  “Yep. I know it. It’s a done deal.”

  “What is?” asked Cerys, stepping back out onto the porch. “And why do I feel like I can’t start and finish a single conversation any longer?”

  “Because you’re a hare-brain,” said Netherys sweetly, “but don’t worry, you always were.”

  “Ha ha,” said Cerys, sitting down in Tamara’s chair and taking up a wedge of cheese. “But seriously. What’s a done deal?”

  “Netherys is moving in,” I said, squeezing the dark elf’s hand. “Soon as I can fuck her back into being a high elf.”

  Netherys gave a despairing sigh, but Cerys only laughed. “That would work? You’d be free of your witch goddess?”

  “So she says.”

  “Then we should all pitch in,” said Cerys. “We’ll take turns.”

  Netherys froze. “Take turns?”

  “Of course. It’s the single most important rule of our family. Everybody must share everyone else’s burden. So if Kellik has decided to save you through vigorous, athletic sex, then the rest of us will have to pitch in.”

  All said in a confident, serious tone, Cerys’ gaze clear and level and direct.

  Netherys frowned, glanced at me, back at her. “You’re serious?”

  “Deadly,” said Cerys. “But in exchange, you’ll have to help with the kids.”

  “I… I mean, I don’t know if… but I’m… ah…”

  I cracked up, and a moment later so did Cerys. “Oh, by Blind Fortuna’s infinitely mesmerizing cleavage, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at such a loss for words.”

  Netherys blushed and sat up. “This is no laughing matter.”

  Cerys reached out to touch her knee. “I’m sorry. You’re right. But I spoke in earnest. If I can help save you from Magrathaar, can help you find a means to stay, I know how much it would please Kellik. So I’ll do my part.”

  I saw her squeeze Netherys’s thigh.

  “Again, and again, and again.” Cerys tone grew husky. “Until you convert back to your high elf self.”

  “Oh my,” said Netherys, fanning at her cheeks. “Maybe there’s a reason to stay after all.”

  “Just you wait,” I said. “Once we get started with you, you’ll never wish for us to end.”

  “Very well,” said Netherys, trying to gather herself. “On one condition. I do not do dirty diapers.”

  “Oh, they’re not that bad,” said Cerys,
sitting back. “We keep them in a pail filled with water and vinegar, and then wash them in the stream all at once -”

  “No diapers,” said Netherys firmly. “Or I walk.”

  I laughed. “Fine. Unless you and I have a child of our own.”

  “Unless….” Again Netherys blushed. “Yes. That’s fair.”

  “Then it’s settled.” I took up my cordial. “Welcome home, Netherys.”

  Cerys raised her glass. “Yes. Welcome.”

  The dark elf raised her glass hesitantly, then smiled. “It’s starting to feel that way.”

  We clinked, but before we could drink, Elena began to wail again from the bedroom.

  “For fuck’s sake!” protested Cerys, setting her drink and storming to her feet. “Jack was never this bad!”

  “Will this happen while you’re seducing me?” asked Netherys innocently.

  “No,” said Cerys, pausing at the door to smile. “I’ll make sure Kellik’s on duty when my turn comes around. Elena! I’m coming! All right already, I’m coming!”

  We sat back again. Down in the brook, Tamara had all three children bent over what were no doubt a bunch of medicinal herbs growing in the book, all listening in fascination as she revealed the secrets of the natural world to them.

  I reached out and took Netherys’s hand again. “Everything we went through,” I said. “Everything we suffered, fought for, every victory and loss. When I sit here, at times like this, I know it was all worth it.”

  “You ever miss your king troll powers?”

  “Never,” I said. “Though there are times when the kids are being impossible…”

  Netherys chuckled. “I can imagine. If you wish, I can summon shadow demons to help keep them in line.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “That’s probably not a good idea.”

  “No,” she murmured, squeezing my hand. “Probably not.”

  We sat in silence as the afternoon sun slowly dipped behind the first of the distant forest’s branches. The long rays of sunlight streamed across the field, over the bent backs of my children and Tamara, warming Netherys and me where we sat. Somewhere close by, I knew Yashara was stalking our dinner. Farther up the mountains, Pony was fighting for his life. I could just barely hear Cerys singing to Elena, and the creak of my rocking chair.

  “So this is what a home feels like,” said Netherys softly.

  “Yeah.” I looked sidelong at her. “But not a home. Your home.”

  “My home,” said Netherys, squeezing my hand tightly once more. “I like the sound of that.”

  I squeezed back and felt a shiver of pure joy pass through my heart. While one set of adventures was behind us, another, more wondrous and fulfilling set was only just beginning.

  THE END

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