Fae Queen

by Jen Pretty

  Armond didn’t look like he believed the words I said.

  “What?” I questioned.

  “It’s just, you seem a bit defeated. That’s not the Lex I know.”

  I scoffed, “Maybe that Lex is gone for good.”

  He brushed my hair back from my face, and I felt some peace seep back into my tattered soul. “I hope not.”

  We sat there for a minute, his intense eye contact seeming to try and will me to remember.

  “Let’s get back. I’m sure your boys have learned their lesson about fighting and want to grovel for your forgiveness.”

  “I hope they learned their lesson. That was gross.”

  He chuckled. “Vampires and Unicorns are immortal. You can’t blame them for wanting to have a little fun now and then.”

  “That didn’t look like fun,” I muttered, tripping over a root.

  “When you live as long as those two have, I think fun takes on a new meaning.”

  “Oh, God. When am I going to stop finding out such bizarre facts about the weird people around me? Don’t tell me how old they are. I’m just going to pretend they’re in their late twenties and leave it at that,

  Armond laughed again and opened the back door of the house for me. “Ok, Lex, no more late-breaking news for a while. Why don’t you get some sleep, and we’ll get out of here tomorrow? Hopefully seeing Luke’s tree,” – he laughed- “will get you your memories back.

  “OK, night, Armond.” He waved, and I took the stairs up to my room.

  When I opened the door, Roman was sitting on the end of the bed. His hair wet and his clothes changed.

  “I’m sorry, Lex. We weren’t fighting, just goofing around. Well, until Puck saw you and then decided to make a point.”

  I sighed, “And what point was that?”

  “He is better able to protect you. Better than me or anyone, except maybe Daisy.”

  “Well I don’t know about that, he seems pretty hot-headed,” I said before going into the bathroom and shutting the door. I changed into the oversized t-shirt I was using as pyjamas. It was long, but still showed an awful lot of my legs. When I came back out to find Roman still sitting in the same place, his eyes trailed down my body and flashed bright red for a moment. I gasped, remembering V in my nightmare.

  He closed his eyes, turned his head away and said, “I’m sorry, I just miss you, Lex.”

  I walked over and stopped in front of him, touching his cheek so he would look back at me. “Why did your eyes do that?”

  “Any strong emotion will turn my eyes red.”

  “So, you don’t want to drink my blood and leave me in a dark alley or something?”

  He smiled, “No, Lex. I would never hurt you.”

  I bit my lip for a minute.

  “Will you stay here with me? I don’t want to be alone, in case I have the nightmare again.”

  “Absolutely. Of course, I will.” He pulled a chair out of the corner of the room closer to the bed and sat in it.

  “That won’t be very comfortable,” I said.

  “I’ve sat on worse all night, just to be close to you.”

  Whoa, that was an awful lot of honesty. I let it go. I was tired and had enough on my plate right now. I just smiled and said goodnight.

  The next morning was another hustle and bustle. Hunters were packing up and loading vehicles. Someone had brought me a bunch of fancy clothes and left them hanging in my closet. I wasn’t sure I needed fancy clothes, but I picked a nice pair of dress pants and a frilly long sleeve top that was loose and almost whimsical. Walking down the stairs, I could smell the coffee and followed it to the kitchen. The nice kitchen lady whose name I had already forgotten, handed me a large mug of motivation and two cookies. She pushed me in the direction of a room with lots of voices and when I entered all the voices stopped.

  I had just taken a bite of my cookie, so I chewed quickly as everyone watched me then gave up my awkward race and covered my half-full mouth so I could speak.

  "Carry on. I’m just going to drink my coffee.” I collapsed in a chair to finish eating my breakfast of champions.

  Armond stood at the front of the room smiling at my discomfort. “Now that her highness has joined us let’s go over the plan. We will be taking all the vehicles but spread over three routes to the portal. Check the list by the front door to see what team you are on. Team one will arrive at the site first and secure the area. Team two will have the queen and her entourage as well as three groups of hunters. Team three will arrive at about the same time as team two, giving us the best possible cover.”

  “Is all that necessary?” I asked, making every head in the room turn to look at me. “I don’t think there is much danger here,” I finished, wishing I hadn’t said anything at all.

  “We are using this as a drill, Lex. Don’t worry.”

  “Oh, ok, carry on,” I said stuffing my last cookie in my mouth. God, these were good cookies.

  The hunters nattered on for a while longer about protocol and whatnot, but I just sipped my coffee until Armond touched my shoulder and told me it was time to go. I dropped my mug off in the kitchen, and my delightful kitchen lady gave me a care package of cookies and sandwiches for the road. I could see why she was my favourite.

  Armond met me in the hall and handed me a sword in a leather sheath.

  “What’s this for?” I asked.

  “It’s yours, Lex. I’ve been holding onto it for you, but you should have it. Roman said you could swing a sword again.”

  I took the blade out of the sheath and nearly dropped it. It was the sword I saw in my dream of killing V.

  I quickly put it back in the sheath and handed it back to him. “I can swing a short sword, but not that one, Armond. Ok?”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said not that one.”

  “No, before that. You said you could use a short sword. How did you know that?”

  My dark thoughts of killing my best friend were shoved out of the way while I tried to trace the thought.

  “I could swing a short sword,” I mumbled, my mind trying to figure out where that had come from.

  Then it flooded in.

  Roman was standing in a courtyard with tall walls. He put a sword in my hand, but it was too heavy. He told me to use my magic. I pulled magic from the ground, but then everything fell apart. I crumpled like a used paper coffee cup. Then he was holding me, we were racing through the forest, I was laughing, and when he stopped, I spun around and kissed him. Oh God. I remembered.

  I had to find him.

  “Where is Roman? I shouted.

  Armond pointed to the front door, so I went sprinting out it and straight at the vampire, who caught me. I kissed him hard, and after a moment, he kissed me back.

  “I remember,” I whispered in his ear, still clinging to him.

  The smile on his face was huge. He spun me around on the driveway and kissed me again, making the hunters hoot, but I didn’t care. I had a real solid memory of Roman. I laughed as he spun me.

  Those memories opened the door to many others

  Sitting in a rundown shack with him, dining in a great hall, getting totally drunk in a small pub, fighting the witch.

  The floodgates crashed open.

  I turned my head to look at Daisy. That duck was scary as fuck as a dragon. I knew that now. I remembered it.

  I remembered it all.

  I remembered poor Aldridge. I covered my mouth as Roman set my feet on the ground. The king was dead. Collin’s crumpled form discarded along the side of the road. Sorrow took over for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by rage that threatened to burn me from the inside out like a fire. Roman cupped my face in his big hands. His warmth calmed me enough that I could take a deep breath and cool the fire. There was no target for my rage here.

  I took a few more deep breaths.

  “Where is the fox? Marick?” I asked.

  “Wow, it’s all come back. Marick came back to camp and said that her w
ork was done and then she disappeared. We went looking for you. I’d probably strangle her if I saw her again. Puck would probably do worse. He never trusted that fox.”

  “No,” I shook my head, “She saved me. She told me to accept the gift. I was burning up. I would have died if I hadn’t. It was so hot, the water boiled around me.”

  “Shit, I’m so sorry you went through that alone, Lex.” He had that guilty look on his face again. Like it was all his fault.

  “I’m stronger now, Roman. You couldn’t have stopped it, and I am so much stronger now. I don’t know how to use it, but there is a new kind of magic that feels like fire. Its small, but it’s there. I need to talk to Evan.”

  “Evan is meeting us in homeland, so we will just continue there.”

  Luke came running out of the house. I smiled and ran at him. His ‘oof’ as I collided with him and took us both down on to the grass made me happy.

  “So, you remember, then?” he asked hugging me and laughing like a fool.

  “I remember, Luke! I remember all of it!” I said laughing hysterically.

  God, I had missed this. I hadn’t seen him in so long. Now that I could remember him, I remembered missing him so many times while I was gone. We lay on our backs in the sunshine for a while, pressed shoulder to shoulder, just talking about everything and nothing. He told me about how his relationship with Fritz was going so well, they were thinking of getting married. Fritz had started work at a security firm in town so that he could have a more stable life with Luke. They had the sweetest love story I had ever heard.

  Eventually, a shadow cast over us. Armond smiled and shook his head, looking down at us curled up in the grass.

  “Time to go, Princess,” he said.

  “Ha, I’m not a princess anymore. You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “Ok, your royal highness, your army awaits your command.”

  “Damn, when you put it like that, I guess I had better get going. Are you coming with us, Luke?” I asked turning towards him.

  “No, but Lacy is there. I know she would like to see you again. I have to get back to work. I have a pretty busy accounting business going in the city now. I hired an assistant.”

  “Wow, that’s great, Luke. Alright, well, text me often and dream walk to me or call me or both.” I kissed his cheek and let Armond help me up. Then he pulled Luke off the grass too, and I hugged Luke one more time before allowing Armond to usher me to the waiting SUV.

  I waved out the window as we pulled away from the house.

  I was going to spend a solid 24 hours on a couch watching old movies with Luke and Roman when this was over. Some classics, like Moonstruck.

  CHAPTER SIX

  We drove for a long time, stopping once to get gas and snacks. Roman brought me chips and a pop. I cuddled into his side in the back seat. I had been texting Luke, trying to get caught up on the things I had missed while I was gone, but when he told me he was heading back into the city, I let him go. Texting and driving was no joke.

  Finally, we pulled into the old movie theatre lot. It was more overgrown than the last time I had been here. The first team was spread out around the clearing. They were good at their job. I remembered putting Armond in charge of the hunters working for my company’s security division, so I didn’t need to discuss that with him. Seeing the men in action, I knew Armond had things well under control.

  “Hello child,” Evan gushed as he walked up to hug me.

  “Hello, Evan,” I returned his hug.

  “Oh, have you tracked down your memories?”

  I smiled, “Yes. Well, the memories found me.”

  “Good, good. Let’s get you home so you can tell me all about what it’s like to be queen,” he said, ushering me through the portal door.

  As soon as I passed through, a feeling of unease washed over me like a cold wind. I couldn’t say what it meant, but I had an idea that my new power might be giving me some visionary magic. Something terrible was coming.

  I was distracted by the massive crowd of fae, and I pushed away my dark feelings to greet them. I smiled and waved and shook hands. I kissed a baby’s sweet head and hugged a cute toddler with blond ringlets. So, few fae children had survived Joshua’s deadly reign, that each one was precious. I was ready to get going and started looking around for Roman but turned back towards the door when I heard a commotion.

  An irate unicorn came flying through the portal and landed in a heap. Following Puck was a madly flapping Daisy and then a grumbling Roman who kept his feet, but just barely.

  “What the hell?” I asked.

  Evan walked through after them, and I gave him a questioning look.

  “Yes, Sorry, dear. Your non-fae members didn’t realize I would have to toss them through, seems they didn’t like it much.”

  By now, Puck had righted himself and charged the elder fae.

  “Quit it, Puck,” I said as my magic hit him. He was reverted to his human self and tumbled to the ground. This new magic was fun, too bad I had no idea how to control it, except to stop Puck’s attempts at murder.

  “That crazy guy picked me up and threw me,” he complained.

  “Oh please, look at him. It’s not like he could throw you that hard,” I said, winking at Evan who winked back.

  Puck grumbled but didn’t try attacking Evan again.

  The rest of the fae backed off, as the still-grumpy unicorn shifter marched along beside me. They all had welcoming words and gifts and I was overwhelmed, but in a different way. This time I knew who I was and what it meant to these people to have the freedom to live where they wanted and not be in danger. The vampires had kept them in a state of fear for a very long time and, once I handled the witch situation, they would be safe from her too.

  I followed the hunters into a bus. It was odd to have a bus here, but it worked much better than a bunch of SUVs to get our big group around. The bus stopped at the end of the driveway to the circular shaped cottage and about half of the hunters piled out. The rest were going to stay somewhere else since this house could only hold so many. A hunter grabbed my bag, but I ripped it from his hands and flung it over my shoulder. I could carry my own damn bag.

  As we approached, Victor was standing at the door with a smile. I launched myself across the lawn, and he caught me in a bear hug. I hadn’t seen him since I had my meltdown in Kingsville. His steady presence and easy smile made me feel safe.

  “I’ve missed you,” I said, letting him go.

  “I’ve missed you too. Margot lost her shit when you dropped off her radar. I would have stayed to help find you, but we didn’t want to leave Lacy here alone.”

  Lacy walked out of the house and I hugged her too. She was still frail but had more colour to her cheeks. Margot’s cooking could put weight on a toothpick.

  “How are you doing?” I asked Lacy quietly. She was the type of person you wanted to scoop up and tuck in your pocket and protect from the world. Except she would probably bite you if you tried.

  “I’m good. Better,” she said twisting the seam of her shirt. “Thank you.”

  I was desperate to spend more time with Lacy. I knew she and I would be good friends when this was over. For now, I didn’t have the luxury of girl time. I needed to find Evan and get my magic in order. This new powerful magic would be vital to protecting the fae and the werewolves in the new world. Now that I knew who I was and had my memories back, I had to hurry.

  Inside, Margot piled food on plates. People from all around had left pans and dishes of food for us. Mostly for me, but I could share. A little.

  Food eaten and bellies full, we sat around on the couches in the big open space of the living room. Evan sat beside me, and after a while, he patted my knee and got up.

  “Time to get to work, child queen,” he said.

  “I’m not sure I like that title, Evan. Can’t you call me Lex?” I replied, shifting my empty plate so I could stand and take it back to the kitchen.

  A hunter grabbed it from me an
d ran off with it like a thief in the night. Surely, I could have taken it myself. I sighed.

  “I will call you Lex while we are in the forest. The rest of the time you will be my queen,” he smiled.

  Close enough. I smiled and shook my head at the eccentric old fae.

  The walk to our clearing was like going back in time. I wished Luke could have come. Evan followed along behind me, at his usual leisurely pace. Behind him were a half dozen hunters; Puck, Armond, Roman and Daisy. My entourage. I was sure that I was safe here, but I was getting used to the idea that I wouldn’t be left alone.

  Evan sat on his stump, while my followers spread out along the edges of the clearing, trying, and failing, to be inconspicuous.

  “Now, child, you sit there and think about your new magic while I get a bit of sun,” Evan said from his seat on the stump and closed his eyes. God, I loved that crazy old man.

  I sat in the grass and thought about it for a while. My magic came quickly when I wanted to protect someone. I hoped I wouldn’t have to wait till someone I loved was about to be skewered by Puck to use the new magic. We sat for a long time. The hunters and my bunch of protectors kept mulling about in my peripheral vision.

  Finally, Evan sat up and said, “I’m glad you could join us.”

  I looked behind me, following his line of sight and saw Helena and Marick as a fox standing at the edge of the clearing. I hadn’t seen them since Helena had warned me to accept my new powers and the little fox reminded me just in time at the edge of the lake I nearly drowned in.

  None of my guards moved a muscle, as they were held in time by Helena’s magic.

  “Hello, again, Helena, and Marick,” I smiled at the cute fox shifter.

  “Hello, Lex. I am glad to see you made it through your transition. I suppose it is time you learned your new magic.”

  “I had no memory for a while, but I am back to normal now. Will I have to burn up and then drown again to learn to use this new power?”

  She smiled at my sass. “No, your new power is ready for you to use. But this magic is different from your own magic or your elf magic. It comes from your will only. You must truly want it to work. If you do, it will not let you down and its power is limitless. You must not have any doubts about it. If you do, the magic will not flow. That is all the help I can offer you.”