The Rising

by Kristen Ashley

  “No,” he replied, turned, slammed the shaft of his trident into the turf and then touched it to his forehead before, holding it about three feet from the upper points, he swung it out and up.

  A gasp sounded all around as a bright, white-blue burst shot forth from the middle spike and arced high into the night sky, soaring through it.

  And soaring, soaring and soaring…

  Until the sky swallowed it from sight.

  Their signal.

  A beacon.

  It would reach Sky Bay many miles away.

  And then the dragons would come.

  “You are Mer,” the lady of the manor (Melisse felt certain she’d heard her name was Ellen) whispered in awe.

  “No,” Jorie replied, turning again to her and looking down his nose at her. “I am King of the Mer.”

  Her eyes nearly burst from her head.

  “The Regent has allied with the King of the Mer?” she wheezed.

  “You landed are finally sorting yourselves out,” Jorie told her. He then smiled, which made the woman blink, caught in an altogether different form of amazement. “We are back.”

  “It is not just the landed who have that reaction,” Lena leaned into Melisse to mutter. “The mermaids slip all over themselves to gain his attention.”

  “Why is he not taken?” Melisse asked.

  “I am right here, and I can assure you Mer hearing is exceptional,” Jorie said.

  “Why haven’t you found your queen?” Melisse asked him directly.

  He raised his brows. “And this is your business because…?”

  “I’m simply making conversation until the dragons annihilate the castle,” she replied.

  He shrugged. “I do not know what I want.”

  “I am surprised, for you seem altogether decisive to me,” Melisse returned.

  “Spoken by a Nadirii,” he said. “Those who do not wish one wouldn’t know. Those who have found them do. This being, in finding a mate, it is not about deciding what you want and then searching for someone who fits it. It is finding her, and realizing she is what you always wanted.”

  Lena again leaned into Melisse. “He is also known to be exceptionally wise.”

  Melisse watched as Jorie smiled very slowly.

  “Can I touch your trident?”

  They all looked down to see a bold little boy of about six years on the earth standing there, staring up at Jorie with a mixture of bravado and terror.

  “Who is your true ruler?” Jorie asked.

  “The Prince Regent, Cassius of Airen,” he replied.

  “Do you say this because it is what you think I wish to hear?” Jorie pressed.

  The boy looked confused. “No. It’s because mama says, thanks be to the gods, the Prince Regent, Cassius of Airen is now our ruler.”

  “Yes,” Jorie tipped his trident slightly out, “you may touch it.”

  The boy pulled his hand back twice before he struck up the nerve to set his fingertips to the staff.

  The instant he did, it glowed a blue-white so bright, Melisse blinked against it as the light filled the square.

  The boy jerked his hand back and the glow ceded.

  But Melisse knew Jorie was teasing him with the way his mouth was twitching.

  “Do I have magic?” the boy asked in wonder.

  “Everyone has magic,” Jorie answered. “Tomorrow, make your mother laugh. And when you do, watch her do it. Then you will see you have magic.”

  “Vitus! Come over here!” a woman yelled.

  The boy whipped his head around, then whipped it back to Jorie, and said, “I want to be Mer when I grow up.”

  Jorie smiled and replied, “How about just being a good son for now?”

  The child nodded, and it took a second for him to understand Jorie’s meaning, and when he did, he raced across the square to his mother.

  It was then Melisse saw the area around them had filled and all were gazing to the skies.

  She sensed no threat.

  None at all.

  “It appears you were rather thorough in clearing the guard,” she noted.

  “A job is not worth doing if the doing of it isn’t done well.”

  “Ah, would that my daughter were a Mer,” Lena sighed.

  Melisse found to her surprise that she was grinning.

  It would take some time, but not much of it, for in preparation, The Drakkar had moved them close, when there was a murmur waving through the crowd.

  And then the flapping could be heard in the distance.

  But the noise grew eerie, sinister, threatening, as it got closer.

  And closer.

  Suddenly, she could see.

  Frey had sent three, and seeing their huge, dark shapes, webbed wings, long necks and tails, and spiking scales flying through the night sky sent a chill down Melisse’s spine.

  But when they opened their mouths and rained fire on the castle, she winced and turned her head against the blinding brightness of the orange-red blaze.

  The heat wafted toward them so strong, it blew back her hair and made her brace her feet to stay standing.

  She heard the calls and shouts of shock and fear all about her.

  These along with what sounded like suffocated explosions, as if they began and ended in the blink of an eye.

  When the heat ceased as quickly as it came, she opened her eyes to see the dragons rounding in the air to fly back to where they came.

  And the village raced to Riverburn Castle.

  Much more slowly, Melisse, Lena, Jorie and his males followed them.

  Jorie and his trident got them through the crowd to the front.

  Indeed, Jorie, with his trident, the crowd parted for them.

  And they stood, staring at the three, long, wide, deep craters of scorched earth with their still-glowing embers that used to be Riverburn, but now not even a stone of it remained.

  “It is time to return,” Jorie decreed.

  Lena moved to one of his males and latched onto him.

  Melisse took hold of Jorie.

  When he had his arm about her waist, Jorie heaved his trident through the air.

  And in a whirl, they went with it.

  146

  The Visit

  Teddy

  The Town of Trevor’s Gorge

  WODELL

  “We will come back to this country, and often, when it is cold, so that we can enjoy drinking this.” Faunus lifted his earthenware mug filled with thick liquid chocolate cream. “And eat these.” He indicated the pile of pastries in the middle of the table that were laced with white icing, the flaky dough folded over thick, sweet cheese.

  He turned a contented, but heating gaze to Teddy.

  “And so we can curl up under heavy rugs in the chill of night with needs be to keep as close as possible in order to stay warm.”

  Teddy enjoyed Faunus’s look, but he then shook his head at Saturn in a teasing way that he hoped would take Saturn out of his mood.

  It failed.

  Saturn scowled at Teddy and reached to the pile of pastries. And although Teddy wasn’t counting, he believed that would be Saturn’s fifth.

  “After you deal with Teddy’s arse of a father,” Moira put in, munching her own pastry, oblivious to Saturn’s mood, and her being the cause of it (that said, it was important to note that she was not oblivious to Saturn by any stretch of the imagination). “We will go to the shops and buy the goat’s cheese of this region and some red onion marmalade with some fresh-baked Dellish loaves. Mum, before she died, would splurge on the cheese of Trevor’s Gorge for Nippenlas. And because of it, that was always my favorite holiday. We will sup on that and think we’ve reached the heavens.”

  Her eyes skittered over Saturn, and she went on to ask him, but in a manner it seemed as if she was asking them all.

  “Do you like goat’s cheese?”

  Faunus and Teddy replied in the affirmative.

  Saturn merely grunted.

  Moira looked to
the table.

  Although he did not like seeing his friend downcast and wished to shake by the shoulders his other friend who was making her downcast, this was, to Teddy’s way of thinking, an excellent segue.

  “And speaking of my father—” he began.

  “Yes, speaking of his father, when we see him, can I cave his head in?” Saturn requested of Faunus.

  Moira lifted her head and stared at Saturn with wide eyes.

  She did this as Teddy beat back the urge to kick him under the table, for he was making no headway in winning her (the reason for his constant scowl) and expressing a tendency toward violence would not aid in this mission.

  “I have not decided what we shall do,” Faunus decreed. “This is why we sit and drink thick goodness and eat pastries that will make our bellies round instead of going to his farm.”

  “I would like to state at this point that visiting the Gorge has been a pleasant sojourn,” Teddy began. “But I do not think there is any need to see my father before we resume our journey home.”

  And, in truth, to his surprise, it had been a pleasant sojourn.

  He had found that he’d missed this town. The place where he had grown up. Especially the Gorge, somewhere he had gone often, for its beauty gave him succor.

  The high, sheer, rugged brown rock covered mostly in fluffy moss leading down to the meandering green of the river, no matter how many times he had done so, it was always breathtaking to see.

  And the town they were now in, at the western tip of the gorge, he had always liked, with its thatched buildings and plethora of shops selling all manner of things.

  It was not as exciting or sprawling as the Thicket or as popular as The Lights.

  But many a Dellish would journey there to see the gorge and then buy their wives filigreed silver-pewter earrings and pendants or purchase rounds of Trevor cheese, while eating in the cafés or sitting in the bakeries and noshing on the pastries.

  Teddy found, with his friends around him, it felt nice to come home (of a sort).

  But now that he had, he was ready to leave.

  “I disagree,” Faunus stated flatly.

  Teddy opened his mouth to speak again.

  But Moira did so before he could, partly to take them off the subject Teddy had introduced, partly for other reasons altogether.

  “Tonight, we dine on the delicacies of the Gorge. But when we’re in Firenz, I will cook for you,” she decreed. And although she appeared anxious when stating her next words, she offered them a shaky, but cheeky grin, her eyes not quite falling on Saturn as she did so. “I’m rather good at it, even though I am the only judge I have. The gravy in my stews…”

  She broke off only to roll her eyes in ecstasy.

  This, as he watched it, causing Saturn to growl low.

  And when he did, her startled gaze went to him.

  But now, he was glowering at Faunus. “Let us go to deal with Teddy’s father and then be away from this place.”

  “Don’t you like it here, Saturn?” Moira asked quietly.

  He turned his fierce glower to her and grunted, “No.”

  “You would not wish to come back for chocolate cream and…and…to erm, cuddle under a rug to beat back the cold?” she pressed.

  Saturn repeated his grunt of, “No.”

  She sat back in her seat, appearing utterly crestfallen.

  Oh yes, Teddy wished to shake his very stupid, very blind and seeming very deaf friend.

  Gods dammit.

  “We can journey to Teddy’s father,” Faunus said slowly, studying Saturn closely.

  “Excellent,” Saturn bit off.

  “I will…I will just…” Moira touched her hair, seeming not to know where to cast her gaze, and then she took up the plate of pastries and said, “Have them wrap these and send them to our inn. We will eat them for dessert tonight. And then I will freshen up.”

  She rose from her chair and scurried to the counter.

  “What is the matter with you?” Faunus hissed at Saturn when Moira disappeared down a back hall to find the cloakroom.

  “I know you are each other’s chosen,” his gaze pinned Teddy, “but I would request a session this eve where you allow Faunus to fuck me and do this hard and also repeatedly.”

  Faunus leaned into the table toward Saturn.

  “You do need me to fuck you, you need to do a better job at winning,” he lifted a hand and jabbed a finger toward where Moira disappeared and finished, “her.”

  “She barely knows I exist.”

  “She is skittish as a doe around you,” Faunus retorted. “You terrify her, and yet she’s so desirous of falling on your cock, she can barely function. She nearly fell into the gorge, for watching how you would react to seeing it, she so hoped you’d like it. She does not wish to cook for Teddy and me, she wishes to cook for you and for you to think she does well at it. And she is Dellish and this is Dellish,” he swung his hand out, “and she wishes you to like this for liking this, and the bloody cheese she enjoys so damned much that her mother bought for their festival, is akin to liking her. But are you indicating any of this, amico? Fuck…no.”

  Saturn appeared thunderstruck.

  “He is right,” Teddy put in a lot less irately, and Saturn looked to him. “Faunus told her you fancied her. And although that conversation was rife with a number of other things, since then, a woman I have not known long, but in the time I’ve known her, she is rarely unsure of herself, has been oftentimes awkward. Other times jumpy as a cat. And others, so hesitant in her manner, it is difficult to witness.”

  “Why is she these things if she wants my cock?” Saturn asked.

  Teddy stared at him.

  Faunus answered.

  “She is not a bold Firenz female who is raised to understand her desires…and communicate them. She is Dellish, Saturn. And not long ago, she witnessed woman after woman violated before they were put to death. But look about you,” he urged. “In all our time here, have you seen a single man as tall as you, or as built, save me?”

  Saturn looked about him, even though it was the middle of the day, and there were not many around to look at.

  Teddy still felt certain he’d take Faunus’s point.

  “You are handsome, or I would not fuck you,” Faunus went on. “Nyx would not enjoy watching you get fucked. And all the varied males and females you take would not relish the same. But Moira might actually be virgin. And as the act she witnessed has naught to do with the beauty shared in intimacy, she might now be confused about it and in turn terrified of you, at the same time attracted to you, and along with your manner, you are causing her confusion and shaking her assurance.”

  “I knew this, this was why, at first, I kept my distance,” Saturn stated. “But she is most affectionate, in her playful way with Teddy, and now also you, but not me.”

  “This is because she wants Teddy and my affection, but she wants that and more from you,” Faunus returned.

  Saturn slowly sat back in his chair.

  “You do know,” Teddy told him, “that if you are just you, loyal and good-natured, amusing and protective, she would have no option but to fall deep for you. She has seen the worst in men, and you are the opposite. But you aren’t giving her that.”

  “She approaches,” Faunus muttered.

  Teddy stopped talking.

  Saturn’s head tipped back to look up at her when she came to stand by their table.

  “Shall we go?” she suggested.

  “You are most beautiful,” Saturn declared.

  Teddy sat stunned.

  Moira’s eyes jumped to him.

  “You have perfect skin that I want my hands and mouth and tongue on,” Saturn continued. “Everywhere.”

  Oh gods.

  “Fucking hell,” Faunus whispered.

  “And the smell of your hair makes my cock hard,” Saturn carried on.

  “Saturn,” Teddy murmured urgently.

  Saturn did not heed him.

  “And
I could listen to the sound of your voice all day. It fills me with pride, as we journey, and you try to learn my tongue from Teddy and Saturn, so you can speak to my people when you arrive in your new home.”

  Well, that was better.

  For good, or worse, Saturn wasn’t finished.

  “In saying this, what I wish you to know is that you do not have to fear me, tata. Not only would I never harm you, I would kill a man a thousand times who tried, and I desire you greatly. You are not only beautiful to look at, you have spirit and fire and affection, and when we make love, I will make you explode for me again and again and again.”

  The table was deathly silent when Saturn stopped speaking.

  But it was only Saturn who did not seem to have taken in the feel of it.

  He stood, scraping back his chair, and Teddy nearly shot out of his seat to stop him when he seized Moira’s hand, twisted their arms up so she was forced to press herself to his side, her head tilted far back to continue to hold his eyes, through all this her lips remained parted.

  And he went on.

  “We will wait until you are ready to lie with me. Though I would hope, in the waiting, you would allow me to kiss you and touch you and make you climax with my fingers or my mouth so you would be aware of all I will give to you when you finally have my cock. Until then I will teach you your new tongue. And Faunus and Teddy have impressed upon me that it is important to you to know that I very much like goat’s cheese, and I very much look forward to eating it with you tonight.”

  After delivering that, he turned his attention to Teddy.

  “Now we go deal with your father so we can have that unpleasantness done, eat cheese and on the morrow, journey home.”

  And with no further ado, pulling Moira with him, they walked to the door.

  As they did, Moira looked back with an expression on her face that was a mixture of dumbfounded, afraid…

  And excited.

  “I don’t know whether to laugh or charge after them and save her from Saturn’s version of courting,” Teddy told the door they’d disappeared through at which he was still looking over his shoulder.

  “You told him to be him, bello,” Faunus reminded him, and Teddy swung his head around to look at his lover. “He is being him. If she does not like it, she will either tell us, or we will sense it, and one of us will intervene. But she did not fight at all, the walking out of this place on his arm.” He grinned. “So, I am thinking good thoughts.”