I hate you all! I think hard at them. They seem unaffected by it. I think I hear one in my head laughing.
Up ahead there’s a portal waiting. It’s the portal to Fae glimmering with a multitude of colors. It would be the most amazing sight ever if I wasn’t currently possessed by goblins and walking towards certain death.
I see her standing just beyond the portal and my chest hurts with the betrayal all over again. My beautiful half-sister, Gia stands in the magic her hair swirling around my crown. Part of me had hoped she wasn’t really the one who wanted me dead, but now seeing her waiting as the goblins crawled towards her, I knew the truth.
Freeze is standing next to her, smiling down at my puppet of a body. I refuse to start thinking of the things inside me but that - things. This is just temporary.
Hopefully.
I fight really hard to talk to my sister. Somehow, she must know I’m trying.
“Let her go for now, but Freeze make sure you restrain her,” Gia says.
I feel the goblins as they pull out of me sickeningly slow. When the last one leaves my body I hit the ground on my knees looking up at my adversaries.
“Why are you doing this, Gia? I’m not allowed in Fae anymore. I’m not a threat to your crown. There’s no reason for you to come after me.”
My sister throws her head back and laughs at me. It’s a long cruel sound, and I clench my fists with anger.
“I know all about the little rebellion. I’m searching out and killing any who might think of joining. As long as you’re alive they have real hope, and I must squash that hope. As their queen, I can’t have that.”
I can’t understand why Freeze would betray her fellow halflings.
I’m not sure if she can be reasoned with. I have to try, though if not Gia is definitely going to kill me and I’m stronger than her. If I can get unfrozen it will be a fair fight.
“Freeze why are you doing this? You’re oppressed too. They cleaned the halflings out.”
“I may be a Halfling, but my parents are the true tragedy. My human mother was murdered by my unseelie father. So, you see, anyone who is a friend of their trash society is my enemy.”
“That’s not a testament to all the Unseelie,” I say, but I know this is a losing argument so I switch tactics.
“If Gia is using goblins to hunt me down then surely you must see that she has aligned herself with the faction you claim to hate.” I am proud of myself for thinking so clearly in such a dire predicament.
“Well,” Freeze says, “it helps that’s she’s paying me in magic.”
“Oh!” I yell at Gia. “You will suffer for spreading the magic like that.”
“I’ve heard enough,” Gia says. “Goblins you may reenter.”
I turn and run. I don’t even think. I don’t want those things in me again. I turn invisible as I go. This will only buy me some time
I just have to get far enough away from them I can regroup. I couldn’t see where I was going, so I have no clue how far I am from the grove, or what direction I’d traveled in.
I just keep moving forward.
Then I run into the damn cat. He stands in my path hissing. I kick him hard, sending him flying through the trees. The last thing I need is for cat to let them know where I am. He’s right beside me again, screaming like I never kicked him.
So, I guess the cat is magic too. It stands to reason the goblin tracker has been enhanced with my sister’s magic.
“I’m sorry I kicked you, but can you please stop letting them know where I am?”
Its response is just to meow loudly. The cat has a one-track mind.
Sure enough soon I hear the goblins. The shadows are everywhere and I can’t tell which tree’s cast they are in.
Suddenly there’s a huge one in front of me, and it reaches for my face. I illuminate my whole body, pushing forward with my magic. It pushes back. The whole front of my body burns like fire, but I keep pushing.
I just need to keep pushing until he gives up. I push harder screaming. It’s not like they can’t find me if I stay quiet. The cat is running around us screaming.
It continues to push. I’m losing ground, feeling its black tendrils slip just beneath my skin.
“No,” I cry. “I should be stronger than this.”
I push again and it feels like I’m being ripped in two. This goblin is stronger than the others, and I’m not sure why. I’m guessing from the size of it that it just has more dark power.
“Sen,” it whispers my name and forms a more solid form. “Let them in.”
Not a goblin. A darkling.
“Darkling,” I whisper. “Why?”
“The same reason as anyone,” it hisses. “The war is beneficial to so many. It’s in our best interest to kill you.”
There it is, laid out for me. They want me dead. Not enslaved. Not imprisoned. Dead.
I push him away again. He’s called some of the goblins forward and stands back stroking the cat as they overpower me.
That’s why the dumb cat has more power. He’s been feeding it. It seems my sister has an arsenal of dark creatures to come after me. I can’t die now. The rebellion will need me.
Suddenly we are all bathed in a familiar light.
The dark forms trying to get inside of me back off and turn towards Glamour. I’m so excited to see her. I may actually make it out of this alive.
Chapter Nine
Glamour is bathing us in light and the darkling has disappeared with his cat. The goblins haven’t disappeared; they’re still waiting for their chance. I cry out to her but before she can come to my aid one of them slams into me and I’m lost again.
The vile thing wraps its tendrils around my being. I can feel it to the depths of my soul. I see Ky standing behind Glamour and have a little pang of relief. At least he’s safe.
I don’t have the ability to push back now that it’s completely inside me. Apparently, that only works if they are trying to get in. I hope Glamour and Ky don’t take it personally that the goblin is running at them. He uses my arm to take a swing at Glamour, and she deflects sending me crashing to the ground.
There is a laugh behind me and I realize that Gia didn’t have much trouble tracking me down. Must be nice to have an army of devoted evil cronies.
I see Flame running as fast as he can towards Gia. He’s on fire so I hope he burns her face off. His flame is shooting straight from his body up into the air. I see Freeze try to blow some of her ice on him, but he’s burning too hot.
Of course, before he can get to Gia, she simply jumps into the portal and takes Freeze with her. He hits the air and splays on the ground. I watch as flames shoot off him. My sister looks straight into my eyes as she zips up the portal to Fae and I’ve never wanted to claw her eyes out more.
Ky rushes towards me no doubt seeing the black in my eyes. He’s glowing, but everything is due to the black in my eyes. There’s an aura around everything casting a halo.
As he gets closer, I see he actually is glowing a bright gold. The air around him pulses as he moves through the trees. I prepare for him to hit me again, ready for this intruder to leave my body.
He doesn’t. He grabs my wrists gently and I start to glow too. He smiles at me as the goblin doesn’t just leave my body, it disappears. All around me they are popping out of existence with his glow.
I fall into his arms so happy to be rid of the darkness. He pulls me to his chest and buries his face in my hair. “I’m so sorry, my Queen. I shouldn’t have left you.”
“Freeze, she was…” I try to say but my breathing is too fast and I struggle to get the words out.
“A traitor,” Trick says walking up beside us. I hadn’t even seen him with the others. “We figured it out when we found the tear.”
“I can’t believe it,” Glamour says. “She’s lived with us for a long time. I’ve shared a lot with her.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Flame says. “She’s a traitor, and that’s all we need to know. She is now the e
nemy.”
“I am sorry,” I say. I know it’s not my fault, but I feel responsible somehow for Gia. I feel responsible for everything.
“Are you okay, my Queen?” Ky asks.
I throw my arms around him. “I am, thanks to you.” Pressing my face against his chest I realize I need him in my life as my guardian and my lover.
“So, I’m a sorcerer,” he says. “No big deal just totally saved your life with my man magic.”
“I don’t know how to respond to that but rest assured after I’m done being grateful to be alive, I’m making fun of your use of the words ‘man magic’,” I say kissing him.
He laughs into my mouth. “So a lot of revelations today,” he says.
“Not that many. Just my sister wants to kill the rebellion, Freeze is her evil henchwoman, and your mother was a sorcerer,” I say throwing my hands up. “Typical Tuesday.”
“It’s Sunday, Highness,” Flame says.
“Exactly Flame,” I say and then everything catches up with me and I fade into the blackness.
~~~~~
When I wake up, we’re back in the grove and everyone is standing around talking. I’m lying on the couch covered in a blanket. There’s Flame, Glamour, Trick, and Ky. There’re also some other voices I don’t recognize.
I sit up slowly and look around. Every head in the room turns in my direction.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” Ky comes over and I rub my face.
“What happened to me?”
“You passed out, Highness. It’s understandable those things leech off of you when they’re in your body,” a woman I don’t know says. She is putting two fingers on my neck and her own.
She smells like cherry blossoms and there are some types of flowers woven through her hair which is a million braids of gray. She wears a long green robe and a shiny black dress beneath it. This is all I can see as she sits next to me on the couch.
She now puts her hand on my forehead.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” I ask. I don’t think it’s rude considering she’s touching me.
“Oh, sorry dear, I’m the sorceress. I’m sure you’ve heard of me. I’ve made a pretty big impact in these halfling’s lives.”
I don’t say anything because I honestly don’t know what to say.
“I’m also your lover’s auntie, Roni.” She smiles really wide. My lover? Oh she means Ky.
“You’re his mom’s sister?”
“No, she’s my dad’s sister,” Ky says suddenly. “That’s what I wanted to tell you before you passed out. I’m super powerful because my dad was a Fae and a sorcerer and my mom was a sorcerer too.”
“What, he didn’t tell you?”
“My brother left us in Scotland at a young age. He met Ky’s mother in Fae, believe it or not. Two sorcerers passing in the wind. The thing is she didn’t know she was descended from one. It wasn’t discovered until after her death. I believe that’s why she came to him in his dreams,” Roni says.
“Well that’s a lot to take in,” I say.
Ky nods. “I know. I tapped into my power to get the goblins out of you and make them go away. There was one that escaped though, it was way too powerful.”
“Oh right, there was a darkling mixed in with my sister’s little crew,” I say.
“A darkling,” Trick says coming over. “That’s a little dark.” I laugh but he looks completely serious so I guess that wasn’t a joke.
“So, my rebellion is pretty powerful with my Guardian being jacked up on magic,” I say touching his cheek.
“We are going to have to regroup,” Trick says. “Freeze knew a lot of our game plan and she’ll be sure to tell the imposter queen.”
“Right, what’s the plan?” I ask more amped to take away my sister’s crown even if I don’t take over queen. I mean let’s face it, I want to, but it probably shouldn’t be my main objective. My main objective should be fueling my rebellion because these are the people who will get things done.
“Ky can make a portal to Fae,” Glamour says excitedly. “We need to go and find Freeze. Take her out. She is not allowed to betray us, and just go soak up some second-hand queen magic.”
“Imposter queen,” Trick says.
I like that. He considers her a fake queen, and I can get on board with it.
“The sorcerer society is a peaceful race,” Roni says, “however since my nephew is part of it, should you need our guidance or magical advice don’t hesitate to call. Oh, I almost forgot,” she says coming over and pulling me into a hug.
“Oh, that’s nice,” I say patting her back.
“No dear,” she says, “I only wanted you to hear this. “You have untapped power in you I can’t even begin to understand. I think it has something to do with your parents.”
“My parents?” I start to pull away, but she brings me back in.
“Yes, your parents. The power you have is no match for any fae, Seelie or Unseelie. But you need to utilize the power of your harem.”
“My harem.” My eyes widen and I stay still in her arms.
“Yes, the recent queens have only had one husband, but it makes them weak. Having sex with multiple magical creatures will make you stronger. And you’re going to need your power to be strong to fight them, my dear.”
I pulled away from her at a loss for words. A harem? I just started being okay sleeping with one man and now I had to consider sleeping with more?
I file this in a compartment in my brain labeled for later.
“I think we all should get a good night’s sleep and then open some portals tomorrow,” I say to the room.
Trick comes up to me while Ky sees his aunt out the front door.
“I came to look for you and you weren’t there, my Queen.” he says with a shaking voice. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
Kissing my hand, he looks into my eyes and I see a bit of interest there.
“Why do you have the nickname ‘Trick’?” I say trying to distract him from my burning cheeks.
He stands up straight and looks at me a mischievous grin curving up both sides of his lips. “Oh, Queen Sentina, I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve.”
With that he walks away to go back to his cabin or I assume that’s where he’s gone. Glamour’s cabin it turns out is the large one when you first come in the grove and that’s where we are now. Ky rejoins me and we leave together going back to our smaller cabin.
He stops me outside the house and leans in for a sweet kiss. I breathe him in deeply and wrap my arms tightly around him. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of his scent.
“I don’t like seeing you hurt, my Sen. You shouldn’t let Gia get to you. She will never be the queen that you are destined to be.” His voice softened as he dropped the formalities he has been trying to keep going since we went through the Earth portal.
“I know that, Ky,” I say touching his cheek. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better. Eventually I will get over this betrayal. I feel bad for the halflings though. This probably cuts deep.”
“They are a resilient group. I think they’ll pull through.” With those words he lifts me and carries me to our bedroom where we sleep side by side with no disturbing sexual energy in the sacred grove.
Epilogue
The next morning when we wake up there’s a lot going on. All the halflings are buzzing around making preparations for their trip to Fae. I wonder how they’re going to stay safe, but Trick assures me, he has a plan. They’ve worked on this for a while, and they will be tweaking it to keep Freeze from knowing their every move, but they are solid.
I still worry about them, and Glamour hugs me for a full minute before letting go, causing me to worry even more. We all eat at her cabin and discuss how things will be different when I’m back in my rightful place. Talking isn’t doing though, and while it’s nice to have the fantasy, there’s still a lot of work ahead that will have to be done
We all go outside the magic circle of the grove and
stand in a line.
Trick presses something in my hand. It’s a short stick with a large jewel on the front and a round orb at the top. It’s the weapon he used on the goblins.
“You may find you can use this. I don’t know she’ll use goblins again, but it will work on most dark fae creatures. Good luck my Queen,” he says and hugs me before going to stand near Ky. He tells my Guardian something and I can’t hear a thing.
“I did something for you in the desert I think you’ll like,” Glamour says. “I pulled a few resources and called in some favors. You’re welcome.” She hugs me again and goes to stand next to Trick.
Flame is last to come up to me, he holds his hand out for me to shake it. “I’m sorry you were betrayed by Freeze. Gia is a cold-hearted fae and you are a good one. Good luck, my Queen.”
Ky draws some circles in the air, chants and does a dance of sorts and a gorgeous glittering portal appears for the three of them to go through. Right before the portal closes Trick blows me a kiss and I turn to Ky raising a brow.
“Oh, yes, he definitely wants you,” he says. “He told me to make sure our queen was satisfied and happy until he could get back.”
Hearing these words heats my body up all over again. “And you’re okay with that?”
“Yes, I want you to be happy. As long as I’m one of your men, we’ll be okay,” he smiles and then repeats his dancing and circle drawing, creating the desert portal.
“Home sweet home!” I exclaim clutching him. We go through and I’m relieved going back isn’t as hard as coming through the Earth one.
The heat hits us immediately when we get to the other side. I ask myself why I wanted to come back to this.
I had almost forgotten Glamour said she did something in the desert until I see it. There’s a building where there used to be nothing. I rush inside and find couches and pillows. There’s an actual kitchen with a sink.
I rush over and turn the faucet on. It works. We have running water in the desert somehow. I’m not sure how Glamour pulled this off but it’s going to make everything so much better.
A Broken Seelie Christmas Page 7