He followed her into the dining room and walked over to Mor, dropping a kiss on her head before grabbing a chair across from her. “Good morning, love.”
“Good morning. What’s the plan for today?” Mor asked.
Isabella broke in. “Today you will spend training. Adair is going to scout so we can plan our next move.”
Mor looked at Ben, waiting for him. “We need to get you to the castle. It’s the most defensible. Then we’ll be able to rally the army.”
“We can’t do that from here? What’s so special about the castle?”
“There’s a reason the castle is protected. It contains our most powerful weapons. If others were to get ahold of them…” She trailed off.
“Do you think that is why John wanted me?” Mor’s voice was quiet as she picked at her breakfast.
Max reached over to squeeze her hand. “Probably. Which brings us back to training.”
“When you fought him before, it was mostly instinct,” Michael spoke up. Ben hadn’t seen the fight, but Michael, Cassandra, and Isabella had. “Instinct won’t always save you, especially now that he knows some of what you can do.”
“After breakfast, we’ll train. I’ll train your body.”
“Mmmm, I just bet you will.” Mor winked at him.
Stifling a laugh, Ben forced his face into a serious mask. “I will. Endurance, strength, reaction time. It will not be fun.”
The smile fell from her face and Ben ached to put it back on her face. “That doesn’t sound fun.”
“It’s necessary, my queen.”
“Ugh. I’m never going to get used to that.” She grimaced and set her fork down. “Well, if we’re going to do this, I better not have a full stomach. I’ll probably throw up.”
Ben stood. “We’ll start outside.” He looked her over. She was in her favorite yoga pants and a tank top. Thank you to the Fae Gods for whatever human had invented yoga pants. He felt himself start to harden and forced his attention away. Now was not the time to be distracted by his dick.
Mor followed him outside, grumbling just a little bit. “Are you sure I have to do this? I’m still convinced I just need y’all.”
He shot her an incredulous glance. “Do you really want to depend on someone else to take care of you?”
She was silent as she walked beside him. “No. I really don’t. I’m not that person anymore.” He watched with pride as she straightened her shoulders. “What’s first?”
“First, we run.”
Chapter 3
Mor
She groaned as she collapsed in front of the house. Ben had made her run for miles and then there were pushups and squats and weights and more running. And then punching and throws and more running. She was frustrated, tired, and just wanted to take a shower. Ben wasn’t even breathing hard. He stood looking down at her, arms crossed. She glared. This was ridiculous. He should at least be breathing hard.
When he held a hand out to her, Mor knocked it away and stood up. Ben just raised an eyebrow. “Ready for lunch?”
“I’m covered in sweat and dirt. I’m exhausted. My body feels like it was hit by a semi. What do you think?” she snapped at him.
“Why don’t we get you inside for a quick shower before lunch?” Ben tried, holding his hand out to her again.
Ignoring it, Mor limped into the house, trying to force down her anger. She stomped through the house, grimacing when she got to the foot of the stairs. Stairs. Fuck the stairs. Steeling herself to make the climb so she could have a shower and then collapse on her bed, she lifted her foot only to scream when her legs were swept out from under her. “What are you doing?” She glared at Ben.
He rolled his eyes at her and said, “I’m helping you up the stairs. You said you felt bad.”
Mor narrowed her eyes at him. “Bad? Did you say bad?”
Ben apparently had some self-awareness because he looked a little nervous and set her down in front of their door. “Yeees...”
Mor felt power explode from her, pushing Ben back into the wall. She felt sparks dancing across her skin as her hair lifted. “I DO NOT FEEL BAD! I FEEL LIKE SHIT!” she screamed at him. Ben didn’t move but his eyes never left her as she started to pace. “I have NEVER felt like this!” When he still didn’t say anything she yelled, “WHY AREN’T YOU SAYING ANYTHING?!”
“I don’t think he can say anything, dear.”
Mor’s head whipped around to see Cassandra standing in the hallway. “Explain,” Mor snapped.
“I believe your power is holding him. Actually, I think he can’t breathe.”
“What?!” Mor scrambled to get to Ben. He wasn’t breathing. His lips were turning blue but he was still watching her. “What do I do?”
“Relax your hold on the power. Breathe slowly, in…out…in….out…”
Ben gasped and fell to his knees as Mor’s power finally let go of hm. “You are stunning, my queen.”
“How can you say that? I almost killed you!”
Ben laughed and stood slowly. “Mor, I have been far closer to death than that. And besides, I had faith in you.” He pulled her in for a rough hug and then swung her back into his arms. “Come on, you still need that shower and then I need to feed you.”
After getting cleaned up, Mor managed to walk downstairs by herself. She winced pretty much every step but she really needed to work out the kinks. As soon as lunch was finished, Mor stood and started to walk back upstairs. A nap was calling her. She had just made it to the bottom of the stairs when she heard her named called. Fuck. Now what? Turning she saw Max smiling softly at her. “What’s up, Max?”
“It’s time for your lesson.”
“What lesson? Ben already destroyed me.” She glared through the walls at him.
He chuckled. “Magic training, Mor, not physical training.”
Groaning, Mor slumped against him. “Can’t we do it later?” She was definitely not whining. Well, maybe a little bit but who could blame her?
“It has to be now, sweetie. You don’t want to accidentally choke Ben again, do you?”
“Maybe.”
Now he laughed hard. Mor couldn’t help but smile back. Max was always serious, but when he relaxed and smiled? Holy fuck, that man was hot. She leaned into him and kissed him. Max immediately stopped laughing and pulled her to him, his arm wrapping tightly around her waist. When his other hand slid into her hair to hold her in place, Mor gasped and ground herself against him. He deepened the kiss and pulled her tighter against him, pushing the hard roll of his cock against her.
“Are ye no supposed to be teachin’ the lass, Max?”
Max groaned and pulled away from Mor, resting his forehead against hers. “Yes, Trisha. We’re going to do that now.”
“I doona think that’s what you were going ta do.” She smirked at them before continuing on her way.
Mor stared after her, eyes narrowed. “She is really an excellent cockblock.”
Max sputtered, blushed, and then took her hand. “Let’s, um, let’s go outside. It’s better to be in nature to start.”
“Why’s that?” Mor asked as they went out the door.
“It helps with grounding you. That’s the first thing I want you to learn. If you can center yourself, you’ll have better control over your magic.”
“Oh.” She frowned.
“Don’t look so worried. It’s not nearly as complicated as you think.” He led her a little way into the trees and then sat down. “Join me.” Max held his hand out to Mor.
Hesitantly, Mor sat across from him, folding her legs. “Is there any way I should…sit?”
“Just get comfortable. We’ll be here for a while.” He waited for Mor to adjust before continuing, “We’re going to work on grounding you to your magic. Close your eyes.”
Mor closed them and waited. And waited. And waited. She cracked an eye open. “Um, are we going to start?” Max was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed and his face peaceful. He was so sexy.
&n
bsp; “I want you to focus on your breathing. Just be.”
Mor tried to focus on her breathing. She slowed her breath down and tried to focus on the pattern. But there was a rock under her foot. And a breeze blowing her hair in her face. And then -
“You aren’t relaxed at all, are you?”
“Erm, no. Sitting still and quiet is hard. I’ve never been able to do that. It used to get me in trouble a lot.”
Max stood and held a hand out to help Mor up. “I have an idea. We just need to walk a little further.”
Mor followed him further down the path. When he turned off it and started walking into the forest she hesitated for just a moment before following. After a few minutes she heard a soft wooshing that got louder as they walked. Finally, they stepped through the trees into a clearing. Mor gasped as a small waterfall came into view. It was falling into a pool so clear you could see rocks shining at the bottom.
“What is this place?”
Max smiled and Mor noticed that his shoulders had relaxed. Apparently he had been more stressed that she had known. “This is where I go when I need to relax. I’m from Water, so I’m used to water everywhere. And while I love being here with the guys - and now you - I miss home. Even if it isn’t a good place to be right now.”
Mor leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I get that. It’s still home.”
They stood wrapped in each other’s arms, just watching the waterfall. It was so peaceful, Mor felt herself relaxing the longer they stood there. It was as if the waterfall was washing away all the fear of what might happen. Of being a queen, of ruling, of possible battles. She felt relaxed for the first time since the attacks had started. Orgasms not counting, because those were really fucking relaxing.
“Ok, sweetie. We’re going to try this a little differently.” He led her to the edge of the pool, kicked his shoes off, and then sat with his feet in the water. Looking back at Mor, he gestured for her to join him. When she had settled next to him, Max wrapped her hand in his. “This time, I don’t want you to close your eyes.” His voice lowered so Mor could barely hear it over the sound of the waterfall. “Focus on the sound of water as it falls into the pool. Watch the light reflecting in the drops.” His voice trailed off and Mor let herself become entranced by the water.
“Keep your eyes open but I want you to feel inside of yourself. Your power is waiting for you. I just want you to find it.”
Mor tried to keep her focus on the hypnotic movement of the water as she turned her thoughts inward. Come out, come out wherever you are! “Mor, focus on the water. Don’t lose it while you’re looking.” Barely suppressing an eye roll, Mor tried again. After a few minutes of struggling, she felt heat at her back and the ground underneath her softened while a soft breeze teased her hair. She relaxed into the sensations and was finally able to reach inside herself.
“There…” she breathed.
“Good work, sweetie. Now I want you to picture it connecting through you into the earth.”
How the fuck was she supposed to do that? Mor grimaced and tried to picture it but it felt like the magic was just slipping through her fingers. “I can’t catch it.”
Max chuckled. “You aren’t trying to catch it. It’s already yours. You just need to convince yourself you can do it.”
The sensations around Mor kicked up a little as Max spoke. She felt herself sinking into the feelings. Ok. She could do this. It was already hers so of course she could. She felt the magic coming closer to her but still couldn’t quite reach it. She growled in frustration. Slowly all the feelings around her intensified more until the heat at her back was almost painful. Vines had wrapped around her legs and the breeze was caressing her and tugging at her shirt. Even the water of the pool had crept up her legs. The magic in her expanded to fill her and she imagined it flowing down into the ground. She felt a click and then everything else stopped.
“Woah.” Mor looked over at Max.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You did it.”
“Is it normally like that?”
“No. You have all the elements.” He glanced behind Mor. “So we all helped you by letting you feel the magic from all the elements.”
Mor turned to see her other guys standing behind her, grinning. “I don’t think I understand. I’m sorry.”
Atreyu laughed and dropped down next to her and pulled her into his lap. “Beautiful, if you weren’t confused that would be surprising. You’ve been in this world for less than a month. Of course it’s confusing.”
“So now what?”
“Now we work on building your shields, then defensive magic, followed by offensive magic.” Max smiled. “It should be easier for you to control your emotions now that you’re grounded. The fluctuation of your magic is part of what makes it so hard to control them.”
“That’s a relief. I’m really over that. It was like being thirteen again. That was not a fun age for me.” Mor sighed.
“But for now, darling, why don’t we just take some time to relax? We brought food.”
“That sounds good.” Mor smiled as the guys set up a blanket and laid out a picnic for them. She spent the next couple of hours relaxing with her guys. Eventually, Ben made them all head back. They needed to get back to the house. Mor giggled every time one of them called it a house. Isabella wanted to have a meeting with them all about the best course of action. And since Mor was the queen, she had to be there. To make “Decisions Regarding the Course of Action”. She thought of it in capitals when Ben had said that.
When they got back to the house, Ben led them to the new War Room. This felt like an actual War Room, though. There were weapons on the walls with maps of the states hanging on two sides of the room. There was a long table in the middle with a rather large and ornate chair at one end. Mor started to slide into a chair on the side when Isabella spoke up.
“Your Majesty, please take the head.” She gestured to the fancy chair.
“I’m not sure - ” Mor cut off at the look on Isabella’s face. Okay. Time to woman up. She suppressed a sigh and made her way to the chair. Looking around, she saw everyone still standing behind their chairs. Max tilted his head toward the chair and raised an eyebrow. Oh. They were waiting on her. Fuck. She sat and everyone immediately followed suit. No one said anything, just looked at her. Mor felt annoyance surge in her. “Does someone want to start the meeting?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, we were just waiting on your permission.” Cassandra smiled softly.
“Nothing will get done if y’all do not tell me about this shit. You all know that I have no idea how to do this.”
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Darling, we will help you in private but if we are in public we cannot speak out loud. No weakness can be shown if we are heading toward a fight.”
“Then instruct away in private. And someone needs to give me a rundown of expectations. I can manage not to embarrass myself at formal dinners and cocktail conversation, but fuck if I know what else to expect,” she huffed, then gestured to the maps spread on the table. “Let’s get this going.”
Isabella stood. “We sent Adair out to scout the route to the castle. He should be back within a couple of days.”
“Why can’t we just pop in there through the fairy doors?”
“There are none that are in the palace lands. It was too much of a risk to have that kind of access. No matter how closely kept, a spell for a castle circle would eventually get out.” Michael shrugged from his seat.
“So we have no idea if there is even a problem?”
“We have reason to believe there is a faction against a possible royal return.” Isabella stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her posture rigid.
When no one else spoke, Mor said, “Do I have to pull it from y’all? What reason?”
Ben rubbed a hand across his head before saying, “My family threatened Sebastian’s family when they refused to intervene in my refusal of Marissa.”
Mor thought for
a moment. She didn’t really have much knowledge base on sources but she did know about gossip and how fast it could spread. “Are you sure it isn’t just gossip?”
“Trisha’s brother heard it.”
“Well fuck. I’d trust her and if she trusts him….” She leaned her head into her hand and tapped her chin. “The only experience I have with this kind of thing is social power plays. When someone starts threatening you, the first thing you do is gather your allies in.”
Isabella smiled at her approvingly. She actually fucking smiled at her. “That would be my suggestion as well, Your Majesty.”
“Do you have to keep calling me that?” Mor whined just a little bit.
“During meetings and gatherings with anyone other than family than absolutely. It’s important for two reasons. One, to remind others that you are the ultimate authority. Two, to remind you that you are the ultimate authority.”
Mor started to roll her eyes and say something snarky like ‘How could I forget? I fucking glow’, but truthfully? Isabella was right. She did need to be reminded that she had to make the decisions. Especially since she had never had to do that before. “Thank you, Isabella. You are right to remind me. Now, how do we go about bringing in our allies? And how do we know who the allies are?”
Mor sat back and let them debate. She had no clue who would be on her side or how to contact them. Eventually, it was decided to start in the Earth state with the family reaching out to others they knew who served in the Royal Army. Sebastian hesitated on the Air state, but was going to have a chat with his family over drinks following dinner. If he felt they could be trusted, then he would start contacting Fae in Air with their help. For now, they would not be contacting anyone from Fire or Water. The risk was too high because of who ruled them. Ben had argued for contacting his friends there, but Mor had overruled it when she found out he hadn’t talked to them in a century. She knew how fast alliances could change just from her time in a sorority. When the meeting broke up, Mor felt like she had a little better grasp on how this would work. Basically, it was just a social maneuver on a large scale. With fighting. And risk of death. Okay, so maybe not quite the same but the principle idea was basically the same. Just much higher stakes.
Fae- Beginnings Page 3