by N R Tucker
As he expected, she curtsied beautifully.
Ridge handed his niece off to Shawn and watched the young couple join the others on the dance floor.
“I’ll bet you never expected to hand one of your nieces off to one of Lady Tempest’s shifter nephews for an opening dance.” Serenity chuckled.
Ridge smirked and bowed. “I refuse that bet.”
Serenity laughed out loud as he walked away.
*****
“I didn’t think I would enjoy myself so much.” Sara had changed into the shorts and t-shirt she slept in. Her sister wore one of her beautiful, silky nightgowns. Sara had never understood how anyone slept in those things. The straps never stayed put, and the long skirt wrapped around her legs and woke her up. “Did you?”
Bridget smiled at her younger sister’s enthusiasm. “Did I what? Enjoy myself, or think you would enjoy yourself?”
“Enjoy yourself, silly. Rune seems nice, and he’s rather focused on you. I didn’t know you guys were acquainted. He’s at PAC HQ a lot.”
“I know. Rune travels the Seen in his time off, and he’s been to Scotland a few times.”
“A few times? The whole of earth to visit and he makes repeated trips to the small country of Scotland. I wonder why.” Sara looked at her sister slyly. A nice blush ran up Bridget’s face, causing Sara to smile, “Do you two have something going on? Does Tempe know?”
“We’re just friends, and of course Tempe knows. When was the last time she didn’t know what was going on?”
“True. Did she run down a list of rules for behavior if courted by a male from a realm court?”
Bridget laughed, “Rune isn’t courting me. We’re friends.”
Sara’s smile widened. The response was just a bit too firm and spoken too fast. Rune was definitely courting her sister, at least in a playful way. What fun.
Bridget walked over to answer the knock at the door to get her sister off topic. She wasn’t sure what was going on with Rune, but she enjoyed his company and wanted to see where it led. She opened the door to Star.
“Hey cousin. Need something?” Sara didn’t move off the couch.
Star focused in on the reason for her visit, “Are you seeing Asp on the side?”
“What? No, and I wish. I know he and Ryan have a macho thing going on, but Asp is fun and I’ve enjoyed spending time with him at PAC HQ.”
Star huffed. That was not the answer she wanted. “Asphodel is the son of Father Aldous. Consider carefully before you do anything more than dance with him. Asp has a reputation as a user.”
“Are you seriously lecturing me on guys? You got knocked up by the first guy you dated in the Seen.”
Bridget’s eyed widened, “Sara!”
“Don’t Sara me. You know, Asp warned me my family would try to keep us apart, although I thought Ryan and Shawn would be the naysayers. I didn’t realize that the entire family would weigh in.” She stomped off to her bedroom.
“That did not go as I expected,” Star said. “Perhaps I should have told Tempe and let her deal with it.”
Bridget silently agreed.
Chapter 12
“Tempe, you’re missing the point.”
Tempe massaged her neck as if it were stiff. “You want me to order Lady Sara away from Asp? Okay, how about I order you two away from Lady Dawn and Lady Snowbell?”
“That’s different,” Ryan growled.
“How?” Tempe’s eyebrow raised.
“The ladies Dawn and Snowbell are nice,” Ryan huffed. Okay, that sounded lame even to his ears.
“That’s the best you’ve got?”
Unfortunately, yes. Ryan looked at Shawn, and they both shrugged.
Tempe glared at her nephews. “All of Asp’s time with Sara has been supervised. If I hear you’re badgering either of them, I will find a suitable way to address your actions, and I guarantee you won’t like it. Sara won’t break the rules as long as she’s treated fairly. We return to the Seen in thirteen days, where she can date anyone, without supervision or approval from her family. At that time, she will be at PAC HQ – with Asp – and none of us are there full time to watch over her.”
Ryan and Shawn looked at each other in horror. Neither of them had considered that possibility.
*****
Shawn looked up from the breakfast spread just in time to choke on the piece of grape-like fruit he popped into his mouth. What the heck were his sisters doing? Sundresses? They weren’t at the beach, and they were showing entirely too much… everything.
Ryan slapped Shawn on the back to help with the lodged food and followed Shawn’s eyes. He winced in sympathy. Sisters, no female relative, should look that stunning.
Lady Samma joined the sisters. “Your dresses are lovely.”
“Sundresses, suitable for a day outing, unless we’re doing serious hiking.” Bridget looked at the fae. They were all dressed in uniforms of some sort and looked ready for serious physical exertion.
“I love the style, and no, we aren’t going to hike. We’ll be in open-air carriages for the tour, so we can talk. In court, we mostly wear these uniforms with our realm colors, and formal wear in the evening, although many, like Lady Saffron, wear the flowing day dresses.”
“Oh, should we change?” Sara sighed, a bit dejected at the prospect of putting on the peasant dress she had contemplated earlier or jeans.
“By no means,” Rune walked up. “You look great.”
“Besides,” Lady Samma added, “Your aunts are wearing the same type of dress.”
They looked past Rune to see Lady Tempest and Lady Saffron decked out in sundresses as well. Tempe looked over at the sisters and winked.
Sara laughed and whispered to Bridget, “She really does know everything.”
Breakfast was a casual affair. Food was laid out buffet style, with no assigned seats. Everyone took advantage of the rare opportunity to talk with someone from a different realm. The chaperones sat in a group, watchful, but content to allow the guests freedom.
Lady Fawn sat down beside Sara and asked, “What’s the most beautiful natural sight in the Seen? I haven’t been yet, and I’m sure the paintings don’t do justice to the real beauty.”
Sara chewed slowly, at a loss for how to answer. Swallowing, she decided honesty was the best policy. “Of the sights I’ve seen, I think the northern lights are the most amazing, but there’s a lot of the Seen I’ve yet to visit.”
“Travel must be harder now that the humans know about us. Are there restrictions?” Pagan asked.
“In the Seen, we use passports to move between countries and must go through checkpoints. That’s true for humans and preternaturals. The human governments don’t stop us from traveling, but they tend to focus on our travel plans more than they do humans with the same itinerary,” Ryan explained.
“That’s the truth,” Shawn added. “They haven’t been happy to find out that they aren’t the most powerful creatures on the planet. Some fear us, others want to study us, and, of course, there are those looking for ways to control us and make money off of our gifts.”
“Sounds like they’re impacting your daily life. Why not teach them a lesson?” Asp asked. The looks sent his way would have concerned a lesser man. He shrugged, “I’m not talking injuring humans but showing them that they can’t control what you do?”
“Oh Tem… Lady Tempest did that.” Shawn replied. “For the most part, humans consider her armed and dangerous.”
Asp laughed, “Who doesn’t consider her dangerous? As for armed, we’re all armed.” He created a small fireball and used water to dissipate it before the chaperones could object.
“Weapons from the Seen are registered and can only be carried within certain confines. Most governments think preternaturals should be registered as well.” Joey popped a small pastry in his mouth.
“Good luck with that,” Pagan muttered.
“Exactly,” Joey agreed. “We won’t tell them our specific abilities and what our weaknesses are because they would us
e that information against us.”
“Are the humans that angry?” Lady Dawn frowned.
“Nope,” Ryan replied. “They’re that frightened.”
“Well, it’s understandable,” Asp commented. “If I didn’t have any magic to call, I would want to know what powers everyone else had so I could at least try to protect myself. But at the same time, I can see why you don’t disclose everything. It’s for the same reason. To protect kith and kin.”
“That’s it,” Ryan nodded, surprised he agreed with Asp. “The humans don’t trust preternaturals, and the preternaturals don’t trust humans. Both have valid reasons to mistrust, but it makes working together hard.”
Lady Samma had no interest in the politics of the Seen. It was hard enough to keep up with politics in the Farseen, but Farseen politics were essential to her personal goals. She leaned forward and changed the subject. “Does anyone know where we’re going today? I hoped we might take the path along the Kaveri River east toward Psyche Falls. I’ve never seen that waterfall, and Moelur Basin is said to be beautiful this time of year.”
“You’re in luck, Lady Samma,” Spruce of the Northern Realm said. “We plan to parallel the Kaveri River until we reach the falls. There we’ll have a small snack before continuing on to Moelur Basin. And yes, the basin is in high bloom now. We’ll return via a Farseen side gate, I think that’s what the humans call it, so we’ll be on time for tonight’s repast.” He grinned at Joey, “No one tracks our ways.”
Joey smiled but didn’t comment. Tempe wasn’t sure how the fae would react when they found out that the humans could track to the Farseen. Joey didn’t think it was a big deal, but what did he know? As they headed out to the carriages, Joey whispered to Star, “Why is everyone so polite? Spruce and Asp both seem to be on their best behavior.”
“Guesting laws. When all realms meet together, there are specific laws that govern behavior. While Spruce might torment you if just the shifters were visiting, he dares not with all realms in attendance. It would bring shame to the Northern Realm, and that would anger Lord Ellwood.”
Joey grinned. This might be an okay visit if Spruce had to behave. He saw Spruce board a carriage and the grin dropped from Joey’s face. It was the same carriage he and Star were assigned.
Once everyone was seated, the carriages, pulled by unicorns, not horses, took off at a sedate pace. Lady Star leaned into Joey and whispered, “Grandfather is making a statement of his power. Very few can train unicorns to pull or carry anything. When he was young, he was known for his ability to work with unicorns.”
A pod of river merfolk followed the carriages for a while. It was hard to tell who was more excited, the merfolk or Lady Fawn.
“How lovely. The river merfolk never come near the Southern Realm residence. I’ve never seen them before,” Lady Fawn looked over at Spruce, the only representative of the Northern Realm in their carriage. “Do you think we could stop?”
“No reason to. Two pods reside at Psyche Falls. You’ll have ample opportunity to speak with them,” Spruce explained, smiling at her enthusiasm. His smile widened when Pagan moved closer to Fawn in an attempt to block Spruce from her view.
“Do they only speak Fae?” Joey asked.
“Some, but many speak the major Seen languages. They learn languages as quickly as any fae.”
“That must be nice,” Joey groused. Working as the sovereign’s squire, he was trying to get up to speed on multiple languages, and he had no fae heritage to fall back on.
“Is it true that humans don’t pick up languages as quickly as we do?” Pagan asked. He wanted to visit the Seen but so far hadn’t been assigned to PAC HQ. And since the exposure, no fae wishing to remain in court life visited the Seen without prior approval from their realm lord and PAC HQ.
Joey huffed, “Not just humans. The preternaturals of the Seen do not pick up languages as quickly as you do either. We have to study and work to learn a new language. It takes a while.”
Spruce cocked his head to one side, “You don’t hear the intent of the sounds?”
“No,” Joey retorted. “Believe me, I would love to pick up languages fast. I spoke English and Spanish growing up, and now I’m trying to master a couple of other languages, but the learning curve is high.”
Spruce’s eyes lit up in amusement at the admission he was sure irritated the shifter to make. It was also useful information to have.
Joey looked at Star and smiled, “Milady has been a real help, translating for me when needed.”
“If I may ask, what are your duties as the sovereign’s squire?” Pagan leaned around Lady Fawn to look at Joey.
Joey blushed, “Probably not as glamorous as it sounds. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings, and I travel for the sovereign frequently. More so now that we can’t just open gates in the Seen.”
“Is it true the humans can track point of origin to point of arrival?” Spruce asked.
“Oh yes, Lady Tempest is presenting the findings to your High Court this trip,” Joey responded, relieved that he had been given permission to tell that if asked. He wasn’t sure he had the ability to lie outright and be believed, not even for political reasons. This was especially true as many fae were able to somehow sense an outright lie.
“I heard ways can now be tracked down to the specific location,” Spruce commented while he watched jellyfish playing tag with the merfolk, keeping Joey in his peripheral vision of course.
“Yes, coordinates by latitude and longitude,” Joey watched the same game of tag with Spruce in his peripheral vision as well. “The humans can’t use the information for the Farseen and won’t be able to until they acquire the needed knowledge of the Farseen. Currently, humans only know that a dimensional gate has been open. The preternaturals of the Seen are working hard to prevent them from acquiring knowledge of other dimensions.”
“I’m sure, but I suspect the humans are working equally hard to gather that knowledge.”
Joey nodded his agreement.
Chapter 13
Sara watched the merfolk and jellyfish play tag for a while, mostly to tune out the politely veiled threats Ryan and Asp were exchanging. She leaned back and looked out the other side of the carriage. “What the heck is changing that lagohair?”
Every eye in her carriage followed where her finger was pointing.
“That, Lady Sara, is a werewolf,” Asp explained.
Sara winced as the werewolf pounced on the creature the humans called a jackalope. The lagohair was a four-foot tall rabbit looking creature with horns. During the dual full moons, the humans had dubbed them jackalopes, and perhaps lagohairs did create the legend, in the same manner the gorkongs were the cause of the Bigfoot and Yeti legends.
Lady Dawn patted Sara’s shoulder in sympathy, “You’ve never seen a werewolf before?”
“No. I’ve seen drawings and some blurry video during the dual full moons.” Sara shrugged.
“They’re one of the more dangerous predators in the Farseen,” Asp commented.
“Why?” Sara asked, not taking her eyes off the sight of the werewolf eating its kill. “I’ve seen larger and more efficient predators from the Farseen.”
“Of course, but most predators behave within certain confines. You can protect yourself with knowledge. Werewolves are cursed fae, and they act like something possessed. You have no clue what will provoke them,” Kamden of the Central Realm responded.
Asp nodded, “Exactly, better an angry gorkong than a sleeping werewolf.”
“Interesting maxim. Is there a story that goes with that?” Ryan asked.
Lady Dawn laughed, “It’s one of those sayings taken from a bard’s song. In fact, it’s the song sung about the first recorded kill made by Lady Tempest.”
“Hmm, perhaps one of the bards will sing it while we’re here,” Ryan grinned.
Asp laughed. “If not, I’m sure Liron knows it.”
Sara’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Do all fae have to battle werewolves as p
art of some rite of passage?”
“Hardly, many would not survive such an encounter, especially before our powers are fully developed,” Asp admitted. “According to the song, Lady Tempest – or Mistress Tempest as she was at the time – was somewhere she shouldn’t have been, doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. She upset a gorkong and woke a sleeping werewolf.”
Ryan laughed. “We have to make sure Phoenix hears that song.” Sara was the only one to join him in laughter, so Ryan added, “Phoenix is one of Lady Tempest’s younger brothers. As a child he was frequently in the wrong place at the wrong time and once – while still a child – he attempted to singlehandedly defeat a pack of hellhounds. Lady Tempest had to save him, and Phoenix still gets kidded about that. Seems only fair that he be told his eldest sister did something similar as a child.”
“Indeed,” Asp grinned, glancing up in the skies, trying to remember which of Star’s guards was Phoenix. It might be the golden eagle, but it could be the falcon, both were brothers of Lady Tempest. It had been said magic reacted oddly around Phoenix, but Asp didn’t know the details. “We’re almost to the falls, just around the next bend you should be able to see them.”
“How do you know this area so well?” Kamden barely kept the irritation out of his voice. Asp seemed to know a lot about a realm he had never lived in. Since his mother was from the Northern Realm, Kamden expected to be the person to answer questions in this carriage, and he had looked forward to sharing his knowledge.
“I’ve traveled with Father between his holdings many times.” He looked over at Sara and admitted, “I’m just lucky no bards recorded some of my more foolish deeds.”
Sara gave Asp a warm smile.
Ryan gritted his teeth. Obviously, Asp was going the good old boy route, or whatever the fae called that persona. Too bad it seemed to be working.
“Our tour guide is right, there’s the falls.” Kamden pointed off in the distance.
“Pretty, but not as high as I expected,” Sara commented.
Kamden smiled. “You see before you the shortest falls in the Farseen. Their highest point is only fifteen feet. Anything shorter is just a rapid. For height, you need to visit the Western Realm.”