by JG Jerome
“The Laughlin were Summer Court originally. How did you link up with them?” I ask as I continue to devour the delicious food.
Peg says, “Lassie, butter a slice of bread for our Lord. His hands are full of Brownie goodness.” She cackles at her joke, and we all chuckle with her. Then she shares her tale, “Well Lord, I told you after Yournian was murdered, my children and Alora’s kept me from jumping on the pyre with him and Alora. After I stopped railing at them to let me join them, about two weeks later, they finally released me from the tree they tied me to. At that point I had cried myself out. I decided that the Summer Queen had to die. I still had my looks at that point, and I figured I could get a Seelie Lord to take me on to get me into their Sith. I bid my children goodbye, and Alora’s too. Then I started walking towards the lands of the Seelie.”
I offer her my glass of water, and she takes a sip before continuing. “A human or Green could have walked it in less than a couple of months. As you may have noticed, my legs are considerably shorter. Seven months after I started my journey, I finally found myself in the Seelie’s hunting ground. I met a young Seelie lord that had just brought down a stag. He had two companions with him, and they were discussing the politics of the court as they dismounted to finish and clean the stag. I ambled up and offered to clean the stag for the Lord. I had it dead, bled, gutted and skinned in less than an hour with the meat wrapped in the skin and a spear run through it for them to carry home.”
“The young lord asked who I served. I told him my family had been killed in the battle that killed our Green Lord. He asked if I would serve him as he built his family. His name was Bruce Laughlin. I agreed, and he got me into the Sith. It turns out that he was not a big fan of the Queen. Her name was Mab, and she was a distant cousin of his. He had a quiet romance with a young lady of the court who was a peer of the Summer Lady. Eventually they married, and I served their household. About the time their second child arrived, I started aging. Over time I became a fixture of the Seelie Court, and the guards stopped paying attention to me. I learned the Queen’s patterns, and eventually arranged to slip a poison into her evening drink.”
Peg reaches for my glass again. I hold it for her as she sips. “You’re a good lad, Jack. The queen died a terribly painful death. Her Brownie was a snot-nosed brat, as evil as his mistress. He was judged guilty of killing her. They roped him to four horses and then pulled the poor evil bastard into pieces. The Summer Lady, who was actually quite nice and reasonable for a Seelie, became the Queen. She appointed my Lord’s wife to be Summer Lady. They became house Laughlin. When half the clan came to Winter, I came along since the head of the family is the one that left. I’ve served them ever since.”
I mop up the gravy in my bowl, and hold it out for Peg to bite. I tell her, “That’s a fascinating history, Peg. I appreciate you sharing your story.”
Peg chews her bite of bread thoughtfully, “I never thought I would see a Green Lord again. Thank you for taking me into your service.”
I’m surprised, “Did you just thank me, Peg?”
“Yeah, I know. Terrible manners. I hope you’ll forgive me, Lord. Now!” she exclaims. “You’re done eatin’. Dontcha have work to be about?” she asks brusquely.
I laugh and pick her up as I stand. Then I stand her up on my chair. “Yes, ma’am. Ladies, are you coming?”
Myra says, “Go ahead, Jack. We’ll be along to accompany you to Summer. My sisters and I need to talk to my mother before we leave.”
Trina say, “Let me kiss Mummy goodbye, and I’ll go with you, Master.” She jumps up, folds her chair, and runs out to see her mother.
I kiss Peg on the cheek, “That was a very tasty meal, Peg. Almost as nourishing as that fine Brownie loving!”
“G’long wid ya,” she cackles in response.
The ladies lead the way out, Megan putting her chair away enroute. As I reach the door I turn back to see Peg standing on her chair wiping her eyes. I whisper, “I love you, Peggy. You are mine, and I am yours.”
She looks up at me, startled. I wink at her, and then I hustle off to gather my guards.
Chapter 47 - Looking death in the face
Corrina leads the way with my Goblins arrayed around me, Louis taking up the rearguard. We march rapidly into the audience hall. Georgia runs over to greet us. Corrina signals the guards that Georgia is permitted just before she launches herself through their perimeter to attack me with hugs and kisses. I ask her to relay to Christie that I will be ready to take her sister home in one hour or less. She acknowledges the message with a ‘yes, Master’ before running back to inform her BFF.
Corrina takes off again and leads us through a labyrinth to the barracks of the Ravens and their cells. Tiphanae and Charli join us as we pass the dining hall, so we arrive with a party of ten into the jail.
Corrina stops and introduces me to the Commander. “Claudette, this is my Lord, Jack Jerome.” Claudette stands during the introduction. “Jack, this is Claudette Nessus, Commander of the Ravens.”
I give her a steely look, “Commander. Just to be clear. If you allow anything like what happened to Corrina, Liesl, or Geri to happen to my family again you will know my displeasure personally. Ask Trevor how much fun that is. Are we clear?”
She bristles under the threat, but she gets herself under control rapidly. “Yes Lord. Crystal. How many more of my command are you going to take away, Lord?”
I shake my head. I tell her in a more conciliatory tone, “I’m not planning to take any. As much as I despise how all of you are treated, I understand you provide a critical function to the court. I’m trying to make the courts healthy, not denude them. I would like to find a way to recruit Ravens that doesn’t make them feel ugly and unloved. We can discuss your ideas for that at another time, if your Queen doesn’t beat me to the punch. Is that reasonable?”
She nods her agreement, “Yes Lord. I have to get rid of this ‘imperfection’ idea for any other option to work.”
“I agree,” I tell her. “Although, if you start getting recognized as elite by the Queen and her Ladies and Lords, then I suspect you might start getting ‘perfect’ recruits over time. Think about it. You are welcome to visit us to discuss your ideas once we start receiving guests in our home.’
She bows her head, “I’m honored, Lord.”
I smile and give her a quick hug. Then Corrina leads us into the cell block.
I see Tiphanae is wearing a Raven uniform like the Goblins. Leather skirt and leather blazer all in charcoal grey with a light silk camisole under the jacket. I see my car coat hanging on a coat rack before we go into the cells. I snag it and whip it on.
“Open it,” Corrina orders. Sowie snaps to attention and does just that. She whispers to me, “I’m sorry I missed the party, my Lord.”
“Me too, Honey. I’ll make it up to you when we get home,” I tell her.
“Whenever we have a spare moment, Jack. I’m not picky. That ‘over the couch’ thing sounds like it might be fun,” she says with a smirk.
I laugh before I kiss her warmly. I squeeze her extra-lean tushy before I walk through the cell door to find the pretty, dark-skinned Elf maiden sitting on a cushion on the floor with her eyes closed. She has a manacle around her ankle and enough heavy chain that she could reach each corner of the cell if she wanted to expend the effort to drag the chain. She is still naked.
I pull off my coat and check the pockets to ensure there are no weapons. I pull out a pen and hand it to Corrina. I hand the jacket to Mari. Then I remove my shoulder rig and Gisela. I hand them to Sowie. I retrieve the coat from Mari and drape it over the shoulders of the naked Dark Elf. Her eyes snap open and she blinks to the far left corner. I blink to the back right corner and arrive in time to catch her as she blinks in, apparently trying to wrap me in her chain. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her.
That stops her cold.
I tell her, “I forgive you for the first attempt. If you keep this up, I will have no choice but to fulfill
your Matriarch’s expectations.”
I hear her speak for the first time, “How do you know we have a Matriarch now? It was a Patriarch until three days ago.” Her voice is a rich alto - warm, and soft as silk.
I hold her shoulders. Her uplifted eyes are larger than average and mesmerizing. The sclera are grey, but lighter than her skin. Her irises are a stunning violet, similar to L’liana’s. “I have sources. I may be new to this, but I’m not new to combat, politics, building alliances, or information brokers. If you want to know something, it can be found.”
I continue, “You are the first of your people I’ve met. What is your name?”
She smirks, “I am nameless.”
I don’t show any appreciation for her wit. “I’m sure. Don’t you think you deserve a name? Don’t you think your clan has been ostracized long enough for a mistake made 4,000 years ago? I’m relatively certain you don’t go around calling each other ‘nameless’ as the Hobgoblins do. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty certain they don’t either. Additionally, giving each of you a unique number would get tiresome pretty fast. What is your name?”
“Why?” she challenges me. “Do you think you own me since you saved my life? That I’m a new sex toy? I’m not your property. You are mine to kill!”
I tell her, “I will not rape you or take pleasure from you unless you consent. I can only own you if you offer yourself to me and offer me a bite of your flesh. And if you think I am yours to kill, then do it.”
I kneel before her in seiza and look up into her lovely, up-slanted, violet eyes, “That chain on your leg should be able to do the job. That is what you were trying for when you blinked, right? Go ahead! You were hired by possibly the most evil and most dangerous person on this planet to kill me because he’s afraid I can end him. Go ahead! Remove the only person with a chance of stopping him! Fulfill your contract,” I challenge her.
She stares at me for nearly a minute before she slowly drops to her knees and collapses, face down. I just watch her for a moment. Her shoulders are shaking, but I can’t tell if she is laughing or crying. Eventually, she pushes back to match my posture. I see the sorrow and fear in her eyes.
She says, “I actually met him in Marrakech to negotiate the contract. He explained that he wanted to kill the Green Lord. I was appalled. We had destroyed our standing in the ancient world by taking that contract 4,000 years ago. We have killed almost all of your kind under contract to the Seelie. As you have seen, we have poisons designed to combat the Verdic abilities. I don’t know how you defeated them. You are the only one that has ever defeated the poison on the clasp.” She pauses and then says, “I’m sorry. I’m rambling.”
She gathers herself before continuing, “He offered us a huge sum just to try. It was enough to pay my way out of my apprenticeship. So, I took the contract. But, he was such a vile, evil man! I could taste it in the air around him. He made me afraid to be in the same room, breathing the same air. I felt that I was corrupted by just being near him.”
She wipes her eyes and looks into mine. “You are the complete opposite of him,” she says. “You exude warmth, kindness and strength. I feel like you are making me stronger, just by looking at me.” She looks at the ground. “I made a mistake, Lord.”
“What is your name, dear? Be free of your legacy of shame. Be free of your poor decision. Don’t be nameless a moment more.”
“Lord,” she says as she looks me once more in the eye. “I have one name. It is Nou’ra.”
I lean forward and bow from the seiza, holding my forehead on the ground for a moment. I sit up, and I tell her, “Nou’ra, it is my privilege and honor to meet you. You are a formidable opponent. I hope you will be as formidable as a friend. My name is Jack.”
She looks skeptical, “You don’t want have sex with me?”
I chuckle, “Out of all I said, that’s what you fixated on. Really?”
She’s serious, “Yes, Jack. Tell me the truth.”
I turn serious too, “Nou’ra, you are exotically beautiful. The truth is, that if you wanted me to love you sexually in addition to being my friend, I am not nearly foolish enough to turn you away. I will never try to use you for sex unless you eagerly desire it. Just being ‘willing’ isn’t enough.”
She asks, “Would you take ownership of me, Jack?”
Something is off here. I ponder for a moment. “Are you offering, Nou’ra?”
She looks down for a moment, “Not yet, Jack.”
I ask, “You don’t seem certain, Nou’ra.”
She chuckles and raises her gaze back to mine, “Honestly Jack, I’m not. A part of my mind views you as a target. Another respects your strength of character and ability to survive my attack. If I had paid out my apprenticeship, I don’t know how I would answer you. Since I’m your prisoner instead of your killer, I won’t get the completion bonus. As long as I’m your prisoner offering is a moot point.”
A voice from the front left corner says, “You should figure what you want quickly, Nou’ra.”
“Go,” I tell her right before I blink to the rear left corner. Then I blink to the door and grab Gisela from Sowie. Gisela is wrapping around my waist as I pull the Elven blade from my shoulder rig as Sowie offers it to me. As soon as it’s loose I blink to stand in front of Nou’ra.
I offer her the Elven blade, “Take it.” She looks me in the eye and takes it. I turn and blink to the center of the room.
I face the corner where the voice came from and then blink to the right front corner and punch center of mass at Elf height. My fist connects and I hear an ‘oof.’ I contour up the body, past a male chest, and I open my hand and drive it up to a chin. I pinch that chin in my hand and pull it down, check with my left where I think the shoulder is and push it to the ground, and then step forward to kneel on my right knee where I estimate the spine is between the shoulder blades. I check with my left hand to find a skull, and then hammer my right fist into the base of it. A body appears below my knee.
I look to Nou’ra who is kneeling in the center of the room with her head cocked to the side. She bows her head and holds her left hand out to the left at shoulder height with the blade laying in the palm of her hand.
Nou’ra looks at me and says, “Jack, it’s my honor to be your friend. Goodbye, Jack!”
The knife moves and then I see another male Dark Elf holding it. He pulls Nou’ra’s head back. I blink as I pull Morningstar and whip it over Nou’ra’s head. He ducks behind Nou’ra as he pulls the blade across her throat. She looks up at me, blinks her eyes as the blade cuts, and then looks back up at me as the life drains out the cut in her throat.
I call out, “Lock the door. Cover the window.” I hear the door slam.
I kneel before Nou’ra and wrap her in my arms. I reach out with my mind, grab her killer, and slam him into the ceiling, and then the floor, and then the ceiling, then the floor. I reach for the front left corner and grab. I’m rewarded with a gasp, and then slam whoever it was into the ceiling and floor twice. A body appears in the corner.
I holler, “Okay, open up and get in here!” The door opens and six goblins and ten Ravens storm in. I point to the right front, “One there in the corner.” Then I point to the left front, “One there, and this one,” pointing to Nou’ra’s killer.
I turn my attention back to Nou’ra. The blood has slowed to a trickle and her eyes are glassy. She is so small that she is bleeding out quickly. I wrap her in my love, and encourage her body to heal. The wound pulls together and seals. Now I drive her system to create blood by pushing healing energy into her bone marrow. I think it should be enough, but I look into her eyes. They are empty, and I realize I am too late. Her body has healed enough to keep her alive, but she isn’t in it. I scream at the ceiling.
I rest my head on her forehead and cry as I try to figure out how to bring her back. I remember how I felt Laurel’s spirit after she died. I remember pushing Wolf into Rottie. I take a big breath and decide to give it a try.
Suddenly
I am surrounded by my Goblin ladies. They kneel around us and lean their bodies on me, wrapping their arms around each other to hold each other up. I feel their affection warm me. They may not be as connected to me as the Ravens, but they are marching that direction steadily.
I close my eyes and reach for Nou’ra, feeling around for her spirit still in the room. I fill the room with my love and called to her. *Nou’ra! Come back! I’ve repaired your body! I really want to get to know you. Please come back!*
It’s hard to describe the feel of a kiss from a spirit on my cheek, but I think that’s what she did in response. I am pretty sure I feel her presence. I’ll have to ask her if I pull this off.
*I’m going to try to push you back into your body, Nou’ra.*
Suddenly I feel her presence between me and her empty body. *Nou’ra, I give you my love. Come back to me.* Then I push her spirit with my will. A moment later her body gasps. Nou’ra opens her eyes and looks into mine. I will her spirit to bond and bind back into her body. I feel something move inside her, and then she smiles at me.
I feel the love of my family from a pair of hands on my head. I look up to see Trina smiling down on me from behind Karla.
I look down to Nou’ra. She croaks at me, “Sorry! Coat. A. Mess!”
I pull her close to me in a tight hug and kiss her forehead. “Don’t worry, Nou’ra. The coat can be cleaned. I just need to keep you alive.”
She just rests her head against my chest. I hear her murmur a “Hmmmmm” in response.
Trina reports we have the other three bound and secure.
L’liana and Corrina walk in. They stand shoulder to shoulder against the back wall. They are both looking at an Elf-tech device L’liana is holding. Corrina calls, “Close the door and block the window.” At that point L’liana steps in front of Corrina and activates the device. Rays of light reach out into the room. As the corners are illuminated we all look around, and I spy another figure hiding in the rear right corner where I gave Nou’ra my knife.