by Kimbra Swain
“And what, pray tell, was that agreement?” I asked.
“He said I was welcome to try, but that you would always tell me no,” he said. “He was right.”
“He learned that trick from Dylan,” I said.
“Oh?”
“Yep. There was a time when Levi was on the no end of the equation,” I admitted.
“Isn’t he still on the no end?” Dominick asked.
I didn’t answer. “Have a good day, Nick.”
“You too, Grace.”
I hadn’t walked out to the stone circle in a while. I hadn’t had the need. My connection to the Otherworld as heir to the throne provided me with all the power that I needed. With my father gone, there wasn’t much reason to walk out there.
Winnie was still at school, then would go visit Luther after school for her Phoenix lessons. I dropped the boys off at the worksite with Levi because Remy needed more hands to finish the housing units they were working on. I took the opportunity to visit the circle.
Walking through the woods, I felt the chill of the approaching winter. Somewhere in the distance a storm brewed. I touched the trees as I walked along. Each one welcomed me. Some commented on my absence. When I reached the circle, I was surprised to see it wasn’t overgrown. The grass was neatly trimmed and the stones stood as proudly as they had before.
A hum of power resounded in the outer stones as I passed them. That’s when I heard the brownies. It started with the slap of bare hand on skin.
“Oh, yes, Daddy,” a female voice said that didn’t sound like Briar. Bramble was going to be in deep shit. I heard his little grunts before I reached the center stone. On the back side of the stone, Briar sat with a tiny whip while Bramble pounded a purple haired pixie. I assumed this was the infamous Thistle.
“Harder, Bramble,” Briar said, smacking him with the whip. He yelped, then pounded harder.
When I started giggling, they finally realized I was there. The purple haired fairy jumped behind Bramble who held his hands over his little prick.
“You are interrupting,” Briar informed me.
“My bad. I didn’t know my circle had become the local BDSM club,” I laughed.
“It isn’t funny,” Bramble huffed. Thistle giggled. Apparently, she and I had something in common.
“I’m truly sorry. I was just out here for a walk. Surely there is somewhere better to do this,” I suggested.
“Why? You never come out here anymore. At least until today. And Levi keeps the grass cut,” Briar replied.
“I see your point. Levi cuts the grass?” I asked.
“Yes. He opens the portal, hauls the mower through, then mows it at least once a week,” Bramble reported. “It didn’t seem like something you needed to know.”
I had assigned Bramble and Briar to keep an eye on things, but with Winnie gone most of the time, I see that they had managed to find other activities to keep them busy.
“I guess we are finished for today,” Briar said.
“I didn’t finish!” Bramble protested.
“Look. You guys go back to doing whatever that was, and I’ll just walk back to the house. But do me a favor and stay off the center stone,” I said.
“Oh, Lilith won’t let us do it on the stone,” Bramble said. Briar smacked his bare butt with the whip.
“Shush,” she hissed.
“Hold up,” I said. “Lilith was here?”
“Yes, she made us get off the stone. Said she could hear us in the tree,” Bramble said. “She also told us not to tell you.”
“So, Lilith can hear what is going on through the stone,” I surmised.
“You are toast, and it’s not my fault,” Briar said.
The stone began to glow with the familiar blue light. I stepped away from it before the goddess herself showed up.
“Bloody hell,” Bramble murmured. Thistle took flight and skittered off into the woods.
Lilith appeared above the stone, staring down at the little brownies.
“If you weren’t her property, I would fry you where you stand,” she scowled.
They both bowed deeply to her. “Forgive me, O, great goddess of the tree. I’m just a poor, blue balled brownie,” Bramble murmured.
She quirked a smile at me, then dismissed the little ones. “Be gone!”
Bramble and Briar shot out toward the same direction as Thistle which was not toward my house. Hopefully, poor Mr. Blue Balls would get his relief.
“Before you ask, yes, it’s true. I can hear through the stone,” she said.
“How much do you hear?” I asked.
“That depends on how hard I am listening,” she replied.
“You are a goddess. Don’t you hear everything anyway?” I asked.
“I am not omniscient,” she replied. “I wonder. Why did you walk this way, Grace?”
“I dunno. Seemed like something to do,” I said. I hadn’t given it much thought. I spent most of my walk here thinking of the good times that Dylan and I had surrounding the stones like when he finally opened up and told me much about his abilities and why he had hidden them from me. Even then I didn’t know the whole truth.
“You are answering me without answering me,” she said.
I rolled my eyes at the goddess. She had proven to be wishy-washy. I wasn’t interested in appeasing her ego.
“You almost told Levi about the forsaken,” she said.
“I did,” I confirmed. “And?”
“Why did you stop?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to talk about it. It’s not like I can,” I said. “The curse is still intact. I can feel it.”
“If you took the Winter throne, you could erase it,” she said.
She had told me something that I had just assumed to be true. As the monarch, I would have complete control over the banished and forsaken. I had a whole lot of pardoning to do, starting with Lancelot.
“Do you think of him?” she asked.
“No,” I replied.
“You are a liar,” she said. “You think of him often. Every time Levi gets close, you think of him.”
“I think of Dylan,” I contradicted her.
She laughed scornfully. “You lie to yourself. Do you not wonder now if he is in the tree?”
“I assume that he is,” I replied. “If you don’t mind, I need to get back to the house.”
“He is coming,” she smiled.
“Who is coming?” I asked.
“He is,” she laughed as she suddenly got a case of crazy eye.
I turned away from her to leave the circle, when a large white deer with huge antlers stepped out into the clearing. My breath caught in my chest. But then I heard his voice.
“Grace, who are you talking to?” Levi asked.
“Lilith,” I replied, looking behind me to see that the stone had faded. She was gone. I looked back to the deer. “What the hell?”
The creature took several steps into the circle, then lowered his head to me. I reached up to brush its cheek, then noticed the scar from above the eye to below its jaw.
“I’m a stag,” he said.
“I see,” I said out loud. “When did you learn to do this?”
“Dunno. Just thought I’d give it a try,” he said from his deer mouth.
“Okay. That’s freaky as hell,” I said.
Then he laughed, which was even more weird. I stared in amazement.
“You look stunned,” he said. “Now you can put on that horn and run with me.”
“Um, no,” I said. “Unicorn is very different than a white stag. At least folks around these parts have seen albino deer.”
“One day you will,” he said as he morphed back into my bard. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“What are you doing out here?”
“Just went for a walk. Found the brownie threesome. That left a mark in my memory that I didn’t need,” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Briar and her whip,” he said.
“What? How did you know?�
� I asked. “She said you cut the grass.”
“That’s how I know. I’ve caught them too. It’s freaking hilarious. Briar the Dominatrix,” he laughed. It echoed around the stones. A rich, full laugh. He quickly sobered realizing that I was watching him closely. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. She just brought up some bad memories,” I said.
“That seems to be happening a lot,” he said.
“It does. I don’t know why now all of the sudden it matters,” I wondered.
“Why what matters?” he asked.
“The forsaken,” I said.
“Oh, like Palamedes,” he said. I cringed when he spoke the name. A name I couldn’t say. There were eight others. Friends and supporters of Lancelot. Enemies to my father. “Who are the others?”
“Ask Tennyson. He can still speak their names, but I doubt he will. They are all dead,” I said.
“Do you remember them?” he asked.
“Just one. The rest were executed before I was born,” I said.
“The one. Who was he?” he asked.
“Please don’t ask me anymore. The force that binds my tongue weighs upon me each time you ask. One day, when I take back the throne, I will tell their stories. You can write them down,” I said. “They deserve to be remembered for their loyalty and love.” A lump grew in my throat as I spoke. I didn’t know any of them. Except one.
He took my hand, and we walked back toward the house.
“Go ahead and ask,” I said sensing he had more to say, but forced himself to keep quiet.
“If Zahir was executed before you were born, why did he seem familiar to you?” he asked.
“I don’t know. He just did,” I said. I knew his and a few of the other’s stories. The rest I could never dig up in this world. After realizing that Tennyson was still alive, I just assumed he knew all of their stories. After the encounter with Zahir, I knew that he did.
“I talked to Dominick,” he said changing the subject as the house came into view.
“When?” I asked.
“After he saw you in the diner,” Levi said. Cutting my eyes to him, I saw the grin teasing the edges of his mouth. “He gave me the impression that you told him that you and I were an item.”
“That is not what I said,” I protested. He died laughing, knowing that I hadn’t said such a thing.
“Perhaps you should clarify,” he suggested.
I tried pulling my hand away from him, but he wouldn’t let me go. “Levi,” I warned.
“What?” he continued to grin.
“I just implied that things were different between us,” I said.
He reeled me back to him, inch by inch grasping my arms even though I fought him. I wasn’t fighting very hard.
“What is different, Gloriana?” he asked. I shuddered at the use of my real name.
“Nothing,” I said by the time, he had me inches away from his body.
Wrapping his arm around my waist, he dragged me the rest of the way. He looked down at me with those playful blue eyes. “Nothing at all?”
“Nothing,” I whispered.
He dipped his head so that his cheek brushed mine. “Nothing?” he whispered in my ear.
Goosebumps rose up on my skin. “Levi.” I tried to protest, but it came out more like desire than disgust.
“Hmm?” he moaned as he hovered his lips over mine. I was mesmerized by his tone, the strength of his hands, and the movements of his body.
His cell phone started to ring in his pocket. Then mine.
“Fuck,” he muttered, but didn’t move to answer it.
A glittering portal opened in front of the house, and Tennyson stepped through it.
“It’s time,” he called out to us.
I closed my eyes to shake off the effects of the Love Talker.
“Shit,” I said.
“Double shit,” he added. I opened my eyes to see him grinning. “We will get back to this after.”
“Um, okay,” I said.
“Now, Levi!” Tennyson ordered.
Levi shot him the bird.
“You copying my moves now?” I asked.
“I want your everything,” he replied. Love talker to the end.
“Winnie is with Luther, and the boys were at the work site,” I said as we rushed to the house.
“I brought Callum and Aydan home when I came back,” he said.
Tennyson waited for us impatiently. “Jenny is on the way,” he said.
“Winnie is with Luther,” I said to Tennyson.
“I will take care of everything. The two of you need to get to the maze,” he said. “Here, Levi, take this.” He pulled a large ring off his finger. Celtic knots circled the band on each side of a large emerald stone.
“No, I can dispel magic,” Levi protested, but slipped Tennyson’s ring on his finger.
“Not hers,” Tennyson said. “Get to the maze. The others will meet you there.”
Aydan and Callum ran out of the house. “Mom?”
“Aydan!” I said running up to him. I wrapped my arms around him. “It’s time for us to go. Promise me that you will take care of your sister.”
“Yeah, I will, but you have to come back,” he said.
“I’ll bring her back,” Levi said. “Helmet or not. We are coming back.”
Stepping back from him, I looked him in the eyes. Dylan’s cobalt blue eyes. “I love you, Aydan. Take care of Callum, too.”
“Whatever. I’ve got to look out for him,” Callum said. I reached over and patted Callum on the cheek.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Aw, Mom,” Aydan protested.
“Grace,” Tennyson urged.
“I need to see Winnie,” I said.
“We won’t be gone long,” Levi insisted. “You take care of her.” Levi added to my request.
“I will,” Aydan assured him.
“You take care of all of them,” Levi said to Tennyson.
“I’ve got back-up coming,” he said looking down the lane.
Two fauns walked up the drive side-by-side. I hadn’t seen Devin in a while, but he and his father, Joey Blankenship walked up to us.
“Time to go?” Joey asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Thank you for coming.”
“I’ve heard that you might have a job opening in the security department,” he said. “Consider this a trial run.”
“We will talk about it when I get back,” I said.
“Now! You need to go now,” Tennyson said becoming more frustrated.
Levi ran up to the house, then trotted back with Excalibur. “I need my armor,” he said.
“It’s at the maze,” Tennyson said. “Go!”
Levi grabbed my hand, and we skipped to the hedge maze in the forest where I had first saw my brother smuggling goods from Winter. He stood there next to Troy waiting for us.
“Where is Astor?” Troy asked.
“He’s a newlywed. Give him a minute,” Levi said.
“We don’t have a minute. We need to go,” Finley said.
“You sound like Tennyson,” I said.
“I don’t want to be there any longer than we have to be. The sooner we leave. The sooner we can come back,” Finley said.
Luther swooped down from above with his fiery wings spreading out behind him. “Jenny picked up Winnie, and she is taking her to your house,” he reported.
“Okay,” I said sadly. I had hoped to see my daughter before we left.
“Don’t worry. We are coming back,” Levi insisted. “Put your game face on.”
“It’s on,” I protested.
“Well, then, put your armor on,” he said, as Finley handed him his armor. My brother, Luther, and Troy were already decked out. Troy wore a Kevlar vest with black t-shirt and cargo pants. Black combat boots reached up his shins and were tied tightly.
Luther didn’t need armor. His dried lava skin looked as hard as obsidian.
Finley wore his blue winter armor with the stag head and triquetra s
ymbol. I thought about Levi shifting to a stag when I saw it. How did Finley know? Or perhaps he didn’t. Perhaps it was just a strange coincidence.
Finally, Astor stepped through a glittering portal with his armor already on. “I’m ready,” he announced.
“You sure?” I asked. His cheeks looked flushed.
“Nothing I can’t finish when I get back,” he said with a smile.
“How long have they been married?” Finley asked.
“Long enough to pop that cherry a few times over,” I said. The group chuckled while Astor blushed and grumbled.
“Not the time or place, Grace,” he said.
“It’s the perfect time and place. We are about to jump into unknown danger to steal a helmet which already belongs to me in a land filled with wild fairies. It just happens to be ruled by my insane uncle and some crazy ORCs. Perfect time,” I said.
“I agree, Sunkist,” Levi added.
“You would, Band Geek,” Astor huffed.
“He had a comeback!” Levi exclaimed, patting Astor on the back. I laughed. Astor seemed quite satisfied with himself. Then, Finley spoiled them moment.
“Aw, come on, that’s enough. Let’s get going,” Finley said.
“What’s the plan?” Luther asked.
“We go in. Give Grace enough time to track the helmet, grab it, and get out without getting caught,” Levi said.
“Or dead,” Finley added.
“The helmet is not worth any of your lives,” I said.
“If we find it, we must get it out. It cannot fall into Mordred’s hands,” Astor said.
“Or Rhiannon’s,” I said.
“Armor. Now,” Levi ordered.
“Bossy little cuss,” I said.
My winter armor appeared in a rush of cold wind. I decided the crown wasn’t needed in this application. My arrival was not as a queen, but as a thief. One day I’d bounce into that joint, crown and all, just like it was a bar on Saturday night. But not today.
We picked the hedge maze as a jumping off point because we knew where it opened. Any other point would be difficult to manage since Levi had only been in a few places in Winter.
Reaching out with my senses as Levi positioned himself to open the portal, the wind whispered through my long platinum hair. The earth pulsed with life beneath my feet. Tiny snowflakes fell around us coating the ground with a light dust. The desire in my soul flamed to a steady burn. The desire to bring my Uncle down. To avenge the deaths, he’d caused. To free the fairies of Shady Grove. To do things right when no one else could.