by Abby James
I forgot about the note and opened Amy’s present first. Inside was a miniature figurine, a delicately fashioned stone dragon with tiny red jewels for eyes. When I held it up to the window colors danced within its belly. I couldn’t help but smile as I placed the dragon on my bedside table. Amy knew how much I hated the statues around the castle. It was as though she was challenging me to find a flaw in this little dragon. Lorna had given me a beautiful leather journal with the face of an owl embossed on the cover. The all seeing wise owl.,The journal went inside my bedside draw, along side the present I had bought Luca and missed giving to him because he’d disappeared without saying good-bye.
Nylph house was empty. Once upon a time I cherished the serenity that came with solitude. I was good on my own. Only once in my foster care history had I been forced to share space with four other children. I had been the youngest at eleven. It had been noisy and chaotic. No one respected privacy nor personal possessions. On numerous occasions I had found their only daughter wearing one of my tops or dresses. The parents were great, made me feel like one of the family. Then the father lost his job, and they were forced to move. I was sorry for them, but glad to find my solitude again.
And here I was sharing a house with a whole tribe of people, who yelled and laughed, were chaotic and messy, played pranks and music until all hours of the night, and I’d never felt more at home. Moving through the stillness of Nylph and for the first time I felt alone.
Dressed in thick jacket and jeans, I went out onto the porch. The path to Nylph’s door remained clear by whatever magical means with banks of snow half a foot high on either side. I headed down the stairs intent on seeing the castle battlements covered in snow when Emrol came out of Nylph house behind me.
“I thought you were heading home for Christmas,” I said.
A few moments later Pen emerged in a pink jumpsuit complete with faux fur trim. While Emrol looked like he’d just gotten up with his hair artfully tousled, Pen looked like she had spent a full morning making herself up for the day. On seeing me her mouth pinched up tight as a duck’s ass.
“Is Mila coming out as well?” I said.
The flare of her eyes, the press of her lips, turning them white, she wasn’t happy, but I did a little silent happy dance inside.
She tossed her hair, which had limited affect now it was short, and turned to Emrol, curling herself into his chest as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Will you come to the Christmas feast?” she purred.
He patted her back. “Not this time. I’m requested back home.”
Pen snuggled further into his embrace, pressing her cheek to his chest. “When will you take me to the fae realm?”
Emrol looked over at me with a smirk as he said, “Believe me when I say I’m saving you some heartache by not taking you.”
Enslavement to Emrol would not be a heartache to Pen, she was already there and she’d not stepped foot into the fae realm, but maybe she would be stuck with the queen or be forced to sit at Lya’s feet and endure endless hair patting.
“One day I hope. I would very much like to meet your mother. Imagine seeing a fae queen.”
Emrol’s turquoise eyes locked onto mine. Enjoyment made the turquoise dance. If only I could say he annoyed me. He was arrogant, self-centered and pig-headed, playful, cheeky and dreamily hot. Self-assured and self-possessed, he saw no need to pretend he was anything other than who he was. An admirable quality. He never hid his sexual adventures nor made promises to any girl. He may have been a slut but he never pretended to be anything else.
Finally Emrol unraveled Pen’s arms. “I must return to my home.”
Pen pouted as she played with a button on his shirt. “When will you be back? You won’t miss the Draak’s New Years party will you?”
“Have I ever?”
She smiled up at him, then reached up on her tip toes in request. He responded with a lingering kiss. I found the snow drifts more interesting. Peeled from his arms, somewhat reluctantly, Pen turned to me, gave me a once over with a scornful eye, then headed down the steps.
I waited until she disappeared from view. “I thought that would never end.”
“Are you jealous?” Emrol said with a drawl, leaning sideways on one of the wood supports.
“I would have to want what she has to be jealous. No offense, Emrol, but I’m not into sharing my man.”
“Isn’t Luca off somewhere in Europe visiting a lady friend?”
“What he does is no concern of mine. He’s my teacher.”
“Did he give you something for Christmas before he left?”
“I don’t think teachers normally do that sort of thing for their students.”
Bastard.
Emrol pushed off from the wood and came toward me. “Since you and I both find ourselves alone perhaps you would like to celebrate Christmas with me.”
“What would Pen think if I turned up at the feast with you?”
“I wasn’t planning on attending the Darkwells feast.”
“Then what were you referring to?”
“I would like you to see how the fae celebrate Christmas.”
“You insult me, Emrol. After last time, do you think I’m that stupid?”
“You are far from stupid. I’m not foolish enough to enslave you. Mother would never allow it. She would not wish to provoke the council. Besides, of all the women I have known you are not someone I would wish to enslave. If I was to have you, I would want you willing.”
I pressed my lips together to stop myself from smiling. I couldn’t take anything Emrol said as truth. He was as sweet tongued as he was fickle.
“You are safe, Samara. I give my word.”
“You expect me to believe the word of a fae?”
He laughed a rich musical sound, which would make any woman fall under his spell. “My word as a prince then. On my mother’s crown, you are free to enter and free to leave.”
“Why do you want me to come?”
“Mother would like to meet you?”
“Me, in particular?”
“Lya wants you as a pet. Mother naturally is curious as to whom has enchanted her daughter so thoroughly.”
“As a pet I may bite.”
Emrol looked over his shoulder at me as he led me along the narrow path cleared of snow. “I don’t doubt it. And that’s what makes you alluring.”
I had to roll my eyes at that comment, and smiled a stupid, goofy smile. Harmless flirting was fun.
“Christmas is a Christian tradition, what are you fae doing celebrating it?”
“We like to celebrate many things. Mother is interested in many human traditions. She likes to pick apart the bits she finds the best and weaves them into some of our own traditions. Why restrict yourself to only a few times of year to celebrate life?”
“And what does Christmas mean to the fae?”
“It is a time to celebrate renewal, rebirth, joy, pleasure, all the wonders of life with our fae brothers and sisters.”
“Do you exchange gifts?”
“We exchange a great many things.”
“I only ask because I don’t have anything to give your mother.”
“She will not be expecting anything.”
And I was about to go to a fae party dressed down in winter jacket and denim jeans. Since when had I worried about my outfit? I’d never spent so much time alone with Emrol before and this was the perfect opportunity to learn more about the fae.
“Do fae marry?”
“We have no need for marriage. That is a human tradition we aren’t interested in emulating.”
“What about relationships and children?”
“Fae children belong to all and are cared for by all.”
“But they would have a mother and father.”
“A mother yes. No child knows who their father is.”
“So that would mean everyone sleeps with everyone else.”
“Of course.”
“I now understand why you are such
a slut.”
He laughed hard. It rang out through the forest, a happy, good-natured sound. It was the first time I had heard Emrol sound genuinely happy.
“Slut is a term only humans use. In the fae realm no one understands this notion of monogamy. It seems a ridiculous expectation. You would all be healthy and more at peace if your children were loved and shared by all. In the fae realm everyone cares for the children. No fae knows whose child is his so he loves and cares for all children. Marriage and monogamy leads to friction. Couples spend more time feeling jealous and fighting than caring for their children. It is not natural nor healthy to expect to love only one person.”
“You make a good point. But I’m sure it’s only the men in this world that would find living that sort of life great. I’m firmly stuck in the human world. I couldn’t share.”
“Then you are restricted in your love, Samara. Why would you want to share your life with only one person when you have a world of people that could be with you?”
“You obviously don’t have sexually transmittable diseases to pass around with all that partner sharing.”
“That is an affliction of your world. We are immune to anything you carry.”
“I’m sure the Marcel sisters are happy to hear that. And please don’t tell me you’ve bedded them at the same time because that just makes my toes curl.”
Emrol laughed again. “I don’t often find human women as interesting to talk to as I do you.”
“That’s because I’m immune to your beguilement.”
He turned and walked backward. “There is that. A challenge.”
“All men love one. It must be in their DNA regardless of race.”
Emrol stopped and I pulled up short, then cast around expecting to see the reason he halted so suddenly. He held out his hand. “To cross you must take my hand.”
“Can I ask why you won’t take Pen or Mila to see your mother?”
“My mother enjoys special, interesting or fascinating things. They interest me but would be no interest to her.”
With my hand in his, I cherished the view from his eyes. The dull day became a beautiful sight. Without fae sight the greens faded behind a blanket of white. But now I saw crystals glinting off the snow and lush, rich greens poking through the covering of white. The freshness of the day was stark and gorgeous. I could even distinguish the different smells of the trees, pine and birch, oak, aspen.
The portal shimmered in front of us, the edges growing wide to reveal a glorious day. Contrasted against the snow covered forest, it looked like a picture of an enchanted realm suspended in mid-air.
“Do you get winter in the fae realm?”
“When the queen decides she would like some snow, which is not often.”
“She dictates the weather?”
“Of course. The land is there for the queen. It is she who tends it and keeps it beautiful. Should the queen die than the realm would die with her. It is alive because of her.”
“Fae have the ability to influence nature?”
I was treated to another of Emrol’s disarming smiles and seductive eyes as he turned to face me while backing up and leading me through the portal. It felt a touch intimate, like the groom leading his bride over the threshold and into their new life together.
Entering the fae realm was heralded by a sharp stab to my left thigh. My step faltered, and Emrol’s brow twitched to a lightning quick frown. Not wanting to answer his questioning expression, and needing to inhale through another sharp stab, I glanced around. The chill fell away under the sun’s warm rays. I withdrew my hand from Emrol’s to peel my jacket off and instantly regretted losing contact with him. The vitality of the realm diminished, but I couldn’t go around holding Emrol’s hand all day.
At least the mark had stopped playing up.
While I’d undressed, Emrol had picked me a flower.
“This is for you.”
“A gift for the newbie to the fae realm?”
“A demonstration. Smell it.”
The tips were a dusty pink and by the time the petal reached the center it was a deep rich purple. Seen through Emrol’s eyes the petals likely shimmered iridescent and the yellow center glowed a rich gold. For me it was a purple flower, the smell fragrant but not enchanting.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s…a flower.” I wasn’t a flower girl.
Emrol took the flower from my hands and touched one of the petals. Brown radiated outward from his touch and spread across the petal to infect the next along and so on until the flower withered and died.
I tried to hide my fascination. “You’re not a flower person either?”
Emrol raise the dead flower to his lips and kissed a crinkled brown petal. A purple imprint of his lips soon turned into a mass spread of die, running around the flower until it returned to bloom.
“Nature is my gift.”
“Impressive.”
“Does anything die in this realm?”
“The queen does not hold back death. Fae understand the impermanence of all things. Life and death is a cycle that should never be broken. We do not mourn.”
“Even when it is someone you love?”
“It is a cycle, Samara. All things are reborn.”
“You must hate the vampires.”
Emrol inhaled the perfume of the purple flower. “Nothing is permanent.” He stepped closer and placed the petal behind my ear, then ran a hand along a thin strand of my loose hair. “They are immortal but they can be killed.”
Needing space, I took a step back. Emrol close was suffocating when you weren’t chasing a kiss. If that were Luca I’d be climbing his leg by now.
“But you know what death means. You have suffered the loss of your parents.”
“You can’t mourn people you never knew.”
“Emrol.”
Saved by the soft feminine voice. Lya walking through a field of flowers, could the scene be any more perfect for a commercial. She looked as I remembered, dazzling and practically naked, the gauze dress revealing more than the last one I’d seen her in, including her bare muff. Perhaps this was her special welcoming outfit. I tried not to look, but she was too perfect for even a woman’s eyes to ignore.
Her face lit up. “You brought my favorite toy.”
I had to swallow her wordage with a smile.
“And your favorite toy will be returning with me after my visit.”
Even in a droop her lips were delectable, if you were into that sort of thing. Emrol swept her into a hug, then turned her to walk beside him. “We can’t keep what belongs to Darkwells. Mother’s given you that lecture before.”
Even her sigh was dainty. She looked around her brother. “But you will be mine for today. Won’t she Emrol?”
“If that is what you wish,” he said with all the tolerance of an adoring brother.
Lya slipped around Emrol and sidled up to me. I had to inhale in preparation for her touch. It was hard to imagine this clueless nymph would inherit the throne of the fae realm. Wrong of me to judge, sure, and she was likely as shrewd and manipulative as all the other fae.
Her touch was gentle, a beguilement all on its own without the added wattage that came from fae power. “You will pay your respects to mother first and then you will come and play with me. Emrol and mother will speak boring talk of all things Darkwells, which I’m sure you don’t want to hear. I will show you off to all my friends and we shall explore all the wonderful places to see and then we shall feast and dance and share.”
She was taller than me by about half a foot, but it felt like I should be looking down on her.
“I’ve nothing to share. I wasn’t prepared to come here.”
Lya turned to her brother, but since he was on the other side of her I missed her expression. Emrol winked at her. She took my hand, and I felt smothered in fickle love and gluttonous desires. I fell into her eyes.
She continued to talk to me, but I didn’t hear because I was too busy staring a
t her perfect face. If I could curl up at her feet and sleep for eternity I would be happy.
“Perhaps you should lay off a little, my sweet.”
Emrol’s voice came from afar.
“I…what?” Lya said.
“Lya.” Emrol pulled her away from me. The release was all I needed. Wow, she was good. Funny thing was I was sure she didn’t mean to do it. But the poor little creature ended up as beguiled as me.
Curious eyes peered through the thick ferns and blooming flowers. Eyes like a sea of jewels, glinting in the sun. Each moved forth out of the lush foliage and joined our small procession through the forest and into a clearing. Once in the clearing I turned into a gawking school girl, slowing steps and arching my neck in every direction. In front of me the queen sat on her throne, a throne grown out from the base of a massive tree with a bough thick enough to carve a house out of. The roots had grown up into a knot of twisted wood, bending and curving into a majestic seat. Jewels, nestled between the roots, sparkled in the dappled sunlight that made its way through the thick broad leaves that surrounded the clearing.
Beside me Emrol swept into an elegant bow, his sister a curtsey, which was my cue. I chose to bow because how do you curtsey and make it look as good as a fae?
Dipping forward to one knee, Emrol took his mother’s hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. “I have brought you a surprise for this occasion.”
The queen looked old enough to be my peer. Changing the weather, bringing flowers back from the dead, holding back aging, the fae seemed to dabble in all things to do with life. The epitome of everything to envy, cheekbones, oval face, plump lips, I could go on. The worst was her figure, two children at least yet her body was better than mine.
She patted her son’s cheek then turned to me.
“Step forward, child.” Her voice poured over me, dragging me to my knees in front of her.
“Welcome, Samara, human child. Emrol has been most effusive in his admiration of you.”
That was a surprise. She was queen, though, and perhaps master of lies.
I took her extended hand to mean she wanted to pat my cheek as well. What would it feel like to be touched by the queen? In her realm, at her feet, I had little choice but to accept her invitation.