by A. Bulthuis
Roni ended up kneeling in front of her, caging her into the chair with both of his arms. “Yeah right. Trust the clans. The same ones who abandoned me and then ridiculed me, treating me like a second class being within my own race. Then to be kidnapped and abused only to be told I’m now going to be a queen. If you were in my shoes you’d be as skeptical as I am. My family are the only ones I truly trust. You are on a trial period so stop acting so high and mighty.”
Tori shoved her forearm into his chest and pressed hard trying to get out of his cage. “Move back before I head butt you. I refuse to be trapped here as you grow angry with me for speaking my mind. You said you loved me from the moment you laid eyes on me as a child. I haven’t changed much from then till now. I’ve just grown up. So does that mean that you have wanted to change me all along! Well then screw you your highness! I’m not your interchangeable toy. Now let me go!”
Throwing her head forward she slammed it against his nose and smiled at the hard crunch followed by his curse. Cradling his now broken nose Roni fell back onto his butt as she leapt from her seat. Crete went to make a grab for his sister’s arm, but recoiled when she screamed like a banshee. Not realizing what she said till it was too late as the male fae from earlier popped into the room beside Autora. She took one look at the two dragons before throwing her arms around Quelyn’s waist and they disappeared with a pop. The sudden silence engulfed the room as blood dripped steadily from Rharonis’s nose. Both guys simultaneously saying ‘Well Shit’.
Chapter 21
Quelyn and Autora didn’t go very far. They weren’t even off the grounds. Quelyn could tell she didn’t really want to leave. It was as if her emotions were bouncing back and forth and she was unable to corral them. She seemed to act on impulse alone. Perhaps she needed tutelage. It was highly uncommon for a shifter to grow up without complete control of their baser instincts. She seemed to lack all of that. What did they do to this poor girl?
Shaking her arms loose from around his waist he reached out and grasped her hands in his. “My Lady look up at me please.” Coaxing her gently she eventually looked up into his questioning gaze. “Are you willing to talk to me about why you called for me when you had your loved ones right beside you? You couldn’t have missed my charming personality already.”
He offered her a mischievous smile meant to make her smile in return. Hers fell short as tiny sparkling droplets grazed the corners of her eyes. When she spoke it was with a quiet voice. “Thank you for coming. I wasn’t sure you actually would. Now please don’t be an idiot and ruin the moment by teasing me. From what I can gather of you, you don’t just beat around the bush. I’d appreciate some honesty right now.” She stepped back from his embrace and wrapped her arms around her stomach. He could tell the weariness was weighing her small frame down. The small amount of time he was gone he had found out a lot about this female, and knew she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“By now you’ve heard the rumors and you know obviously my engagement to his highness back there. What I want to know is if you think I’m an idiot for getting involved in any of it. I wasn’t made for this. Not to be some leader, not to be in the spotlight. Can’t I just be allowed to live? Am I just to be fates play thing? Tell me honestly what am I supposed to do? I’m so lost and sadly enough you are all I have to turn to. Someone who held me captive. How pathetic is that?” A burst of nervous laughter erupted from her startling him a little. Quelyn wanted to rest a hand on her shoulder for comfort but pulled back and instead held it out for her to grasp if she wanted. “I in fact find you to be very brave, not pathetic. To have come as far as you have, your spirit is uncrushable. I have in all my years never met as powerful and incredibly resilient dragon as I have met in you. You truly are an amazing woman. It’s my understanding that whether you want to be in the limelight or not that you were meant for it. To have kept you hidden away from it all for so long is a miracle in of itself. Do you not know anything of your past? Or of your family?”
Autora solemnly shook her head, but looked up with a hopeful gleam and grabbed ahold of his hand. “I have never known, but do you? Can you tell me who I really am? Please I beg of you, anything?” He smiled sadly and nodded.
“You have no need to beg from me, for I am your humble servant my Lady. Far more than you being the King’s betrothed. I have been your servant since before you were born if only I had known you existed.” Autora tilted her head in confusion, questions readying to pour from her mouth. Quelyn held up a finger to quiet her before she could start. “Just wait my Lady till the story is all told because I know you will have more questions, but I don’t think your king will wait forever before coming and looking for you.” She snorted but zipped her lips and stared at him expectantly.
Waving his hands behind them two rather large flowers grew up from the ground and stopped at just around seat height. “Please take a seat and we can get started.” He plopped down comfortably on his own and watched as she timidly pushed down against the petals before climbing onto hers, wobbling just a little bit. “Comfy…” He smiled as she adjusted herself.
“First I’ll start out by asking do you know what clan I am from?” Tori shook her head. Quelyn nodded and continued on. “I am a fae attached to the ruling family clan of reds in Sydney, Australia. They had loaned me out to the Kings royal house to help build relations. Our particular clan of red shifters can be rather volatile and so they thought to help their image by being of use to the monarchy. We produce quite a number of magnificent soldiers. I’m sure you know the differences between the clan colors. You being raised in a silvers clan and all. I know how important education and intelligence are to them. Silvers produce more scientists and leaders in advanced technology. And so on and so forth. The strange thing that catches my attention is that only members or offspring of one can speak mentally to the fae that belongs to their clan. Other clans fae and rogue fae aren’t capable of hearing this mind speak. So looking back into your background it would boggle some of the cleverest minds how a silver raised dragon can command a red dragon’s fae. Your coloring gives you away my dear and your parents were some very daring shifters. You are born from a silver and red coupling.”
The astonishment on her face made the corner of his mouth twitch. He gave her a look which kept her from making a sound. “You have to understand that in recorded shifter history there has been no mixed clan couplings let alone to have had an offspring. It’s no wonder why you have dragons fighting over you.”
Autora rolled her eyes, “You really think that?”
He chuckled slightly and continued, “I did some deeper digging into the archives and found something that someone took great care into hiding, or at least as well hidden for a shifter, not a fae.” His voice was filled with superiority until she looked at him in exasperation, motioning with her hand for him to get on with it. “Autora, my lady, I found your parents. Or better put I found out who your parents were. It pains me to say that they are no longer with us.”
Quelyn waited to give her a moment of respectful silence watching her reaction with curiosity. He thought she would at least shed a tear, but other than a small look of concentration she sat more stoic than a statue. When she finally looked up her eyes were not even red let alone watery. Out of everything she had suffered, the one time that most people would break over the loss of a loved one, she sat unaffected. His stare was starting to make her uncomfortable though.
“Why do you keep looking at me like I’m going to fall apart at your feet? So my birth parents are gone. I have no connection to them other than my blood. I grew up as a child with my adoptive parents. They are the only ones I recognize as my parents.” She shrugged her shoulders in response.
“You certainly aren’t what I expect in a shifter my Lady. But it does show the way you were raised. Very neutral. If a red had raised you, you would have been a passionate woman and very charismatic. Your volatile temper comes from the red blood flowing thru your veins. But the way you
analytically study responses is the silver in you. Since you are as unaffected by their deaths at this time would you care to know their names?”
Autora sat biting at her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth as she thought about what he asked. Knowing their names would make these long gone people real and not just some secret pulled from dusty tomes. She actually surprised him as she answered him with a whispered yes. “As you wish. They were two children of the royal houses of their respective clans. Lord Malcolm Anders of Australia and Lady Pearl Novikov of Russia. Both were outstanding youths on the cusp of entering into the society of the elite to join their parents when they suddenly disappeared. At first it was presumed that they were kidnapped by rival clans. Seeing as that each clans greatest rival was each other then they immediately accused the other of the crime and demanded that they return their children immediately. Neither parent knew that the two young adults had been meeting in secret. Over the year since first seeing one another at a royal court function they had fallen deeply in love despite the taboo.” It sounded just like the ancient play of Romeo and Juliet to Autora.
“Just as a depressing love story your parents tale didn’t fare well either. Once they disappeared they were never seen again and now here you stand, a symbol of their forbidden love. You were found as a babe with a crest showing both clans symbols joined. I think they meant for the clans to join together and stop the rivalry.” Moving forward on his seat he gently patted her knee. “From what I could gather they found out that they were in danger and decided to protect you by leaving you with a group that would take you in despite not knowing what you were. Then they ran, but not far enough. Whatever was chasing them caught up and destroyed them. At the time of their loss their parents felt when their children’s dragon soul departed from this world. And a vague report from the ruling family in Minsk was that the abandoned child became almost inconsolable at the approximate time as her estranged grandparents. There wasn’t much to go on, but from what I did get is that the connection was never made between your appearance and their departure. Hell these incidents were barely footnotes attached to nonrelated reports.”
Autora bit at the edges of her fingernails absorbing what he had said. “You said that someone tried covering it up?” Quelyn nodded. “Could there be a way, even after all this time, to track down who did it?” She looked at him with a sparkle of hope gleaming in her eyes. It was the first real emotion she had shown so far and he hated to crush it. She could already tell by the way his shoulders slumped that he couldn’t help further. Shrinking back she released a deep shuddering sigh and rubbed between her eyes.
“Forget it Quelyn. It was a stupid question. No one wants the record of my birth told. For now, “sliding off her seat she stood tall and spoke with a tinge of anger and finality, “that is exactly how it will stay. The king nor my family will not know of this until I deem it the right time. This is my final word on the matter.”
“As you wish it my Lady. I have not and shall not share what I’ve found with anyone but yourself. You have my oath.”
With a flick of her neck she both acknowledged and dismissed him. “I need some time to myself. You may go.” Quelyn bowed politely and popped out leaving her to stare off into space lost in her own thoughts.
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A wad of tissues later and a full list of swear words that would burn a hole through and innocents head, Rharonis and Crete sat on the edge of the front stairs, staring down the front door. After sitting in the same spot for a couple of hours both guys were shifting back and forth as their ass cheeks and legs kept falling asleep. Every now and again they would look at each other, shake their heads and sigh. They knew it wasn’t worth it to go running off after her. They pissed her off and so they just had to wait till her temper calmed down. With a bone cracking snap Rharonis stretched out his back and attempted to stand up. He needed a drink and a pain killer.
“I’m going to grab a drink. Would you care to join me? Or want me to just grab something?” He paused at the doorway and waited for Crete’s answer.
“Was she right man? We’ve spent our entire life protecting her and keeping her from living. Are we really as bad as the assholes that kidnapped her?” The pleading sadness in Crete’s voice echoed the same sentiments that ran thru Roni’s head. “Crete all I’ve tried to do my whole life is watch over her from the shadows. It’s what I’ve known since I was a child. But maybe you’re right. We kept her under glass to save her from the bad things. We are Not however like those scum that tried taking her. Don’t even harbor the thought. When she comes back we can sort it out.” Tapping his fingers against the doorframe he left Crete to mull thru his own thoughts.
Chapter 22
The sunlight filtered thru the beveled glass of the front door sending prisms of scattered light to sprinkle around the guy’s feet. Both of them asleep at their seats. A gentle squeak broke the silence as the front door swung open. Small fingers wrapped around the edge of the doors frame and a head of ebony curls peeks into the quietness. Adjusting to the filtered light she takes a slow look across the entryway. Spying both guys leaning against each other with their mouths open and slack she had to bite her tongue to keep back a snicker of laughter.
Sliding through the door opening Autora slowly closed the door behind her till it clicks into place. Swinging back around she walked towards them and watches their peaceful faces in slumber. It was sort of endearing seeing these grown men all relaxed for once. She almost didn’t want to wake them.
In all honesty she knew she had acted like a selfish bitch storming away like she did. Her hormones hadn’t ever peaked this hard before this whole mess started. Dwelling on it on top of her new found information just gave her a splitting headache. Taking those few steps towards her sleeping companions, she feels her lips quirk in a small smile before placing a tender kiss on each of their cheeks.
Tori stepped back and leaned up against the stairs railing as the guys started upward nearly tripping over each other. Their sleep filled eyes jumped around until finally settling as the sun shadowed shape of Autora came into clear view. Both men lunged towards her with the single aim to wrap their arms around her and pull her close. She laughed watching the two push each other out of the way which in turn caused them to stumble to a halt.
“Did my sister just laugh?” Crete asked to no one in particular with just a tad bit of wonder coating his words. With a playful pout Tori jumped into his arms and gave him a squeeze. “Yeah, Yeah love you too brother dearest.” Crete squeezed her back and then turned her into Roni’s arms. “Where’s my love ma cher?”
The huskiness of his voice as it pressed against the length of her cheek made her shiver down to the tips of her toes. She could have sworn she felt the warm brush of his lips across the edge of her cheekbone as he pulled her away from his chest to look at her. Emotions she knew she needed to address swirled in his eyes. Tori offered a simple smile reassuring him of her love. The small gesture placated Roni for now. Just as she could read between the lines on the emotions on his face, he could do the same to her. She could only cover so much in her smile. There was a lot bothering her.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your beauty rest guys, perhaps I can make it up to you by fixing some coffee. I know I could use some. What do you say? Can I be forgiven?” Autora brought out her best puppy dog eyes and batted her lashes. Roni and Crete looked between each other conspiratorially.
“Hmm what do you say Crete? Does a small cup of caffeine make up for our terrifying wait all night long?” Rharonis tapped the pad of his finger against his lips as he winks at her brother. “You know I was just thinking about how hungry I was. I’m thinking some homemade cinnamon rolls with a morning cup of joe would be an excellent start of an apology. Sound like a plan to you Sir?” Crete bobbed his head, proud of his ingenuity, until his sister smacked the back of his head making him grunt in pain. Rharonis chuckled at the two earning him a glare. He had to fight not to smile as he threw up his
hands in defeat. Tori nodded with a mischievous smile. “You both will get coffee and love it.”
“How is it that a small fry like you sis can make even a dragon King cringe away in defeat. You really must start teaching me your secret. I have a few strong willed employees back home that need to be knocked down a few pegs.” He winked at her playfully.
“If I recall, one of those strong willed employees has been one of your best secretaries for many years and helps keep your business afloat. Don’t be so quick to change those that support you.” Tori argued back good naturedly as she prepared some fresh ground coffee beans and started them up to brew, filling the kitchen with its rich heavenly aroma. All three of them inhaled deeply as muscles relaxed with anticipation of caffeine bliss.
After a steady flow of caffeine worked thru their veins all three sat back in a slowly uncomfortably growing silence. The guys shared a silent conversation while Tori took large sips from her cup. Neither of them knew how to broach the subject of her disappearance. They didn’t want to scare her off again.
“Guys you can stop the stone man communication. I’m not gonna scamper off like a frightened bunny.” She looked at them with a half-smile as they both mirrored each other with a raised eyebrow and bemused expression. “How do you always do that sis? I could never get something past you.”