Dinner was more formal since Sebastian’s family was there. He started feeling out their loyalty to Mor throughout dinner. Mor could see him throwing out questions designed to try and trick them but they either were loyal to Mor or really good fucking actors. She kept an eye on them while keeping up a casual conversation with Ben, Max, and Atreyu. Michael, Cassandra, and Isabella were on the other end of the table trying to help Sebastian.
After dinner, Sebastian came over to talk briefly with Mor. “I think they’ll be loyal to you.”
“I know. I was listening.”
“How were you listening to that?” Sebastian gave her a surprised look.
“I learned how to do that at formal dinners with my parents. They would bring business partners with their families and I was taught to make nice with the families while keeping an ear out for my parents. If I didn’t respond appropriately or immediately when they needed me to then it was never good for me later.” She shuddered. “Usually that meant losing food for a day - or several days - or punishment workouts.”
Sebastian’s face closed down and he growled. Mor shivered as the sound sent a pulse between her legs. “It’s very lucky for your parents they are currently in jail and I cannot kill them easily.” He pulled her in for a kiss and Mor melted into him. When he pulled back, she needed a moment to steady herself on her feet. “Well, as awful as it is that you had to learn that, it is still an excellent skill for court.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. But how would you know about court? Wasn’t the royal family - my family - lost before you were born?”
“They were. But I grew up with stories about it from my parents and siblings. They were heavily involved in politics. Shocking, I know.” He winked.
Mor snorted. “Right. I’m completely shocked.” She smirked at him. “Are you going to talk to them now?”
“I am. No time like the present, darling. What are you going to do?”
“Collapse. My body hurts from what Ben put me through.”
“Oh my sweet, innocent one. Wait until tomorrow.”
With that parting shot, Sebastian left Mor glaring after him. Tomorrow? Seriously, Ben couldn’t possibly put her through that again. Surely he would go easy on her since she was so sore. Right? Shaking her head, Mor trudged back up to their suite. Max was waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom, and she crawled into his arms. She tried to stay awake and wait for the others, but Max’s hand rubbing her back soon had her drifting to sleep.
Chapter 4
Max
Waking up to Mor was Max’s new favorite thing. He pushed his nose into her hair and took a deep breath before kissing the top of her head and extricating himself from the bed. After a quick shower, he headed downstairs. Max could hear Ben talking in the War Room. Over the last week since their arrival, allies had been coming in slowly at first, then in a wave until they had a small army camped around the house. He was surprised by the number of Fae who had come without hesitation. But then again, he had a very limited view on what loyalty looked like.
He stopped in the kitchen for a coffee and went to join Ben. Ben was talking quietly to someone, but he couldn’t quite make out who. Stepping into the room, he saw Adair sitting at the table looking exhausted. When he entered, Ben and Adair both looked up at him, their faces tense. Max went and stood next to Ben, silently raising an eyebrow and waiting for one of them to speak. He had always found it best to wait and see what someone would say before jumping in. Max usually got more information from people just by being silent and letting them ramble.
“Adair just got back.”
“I see that.” Max took a sip of coffee. When he didn’t say anything else, Ben rolled his eyes and gestured for Adair to keep talking. Max knew it drove him a little crazy when he didn’t ‘engage’.
“The castle is surrounded by Fae from the Fire state and Water state.”
Max sat down at the table. “Are we really surprised by this?”
Ben huffed and reached for his own copy. “I had hoped…”
“We can always hope, but we should spend more time being realistic.”
Clapping a hand on Max’s shoulder, Ben sat down with him. “Tell him the rest.”
Adair ran an agitated hand through his hair. “John was there.”
Max went rigid in his chair. “What was he doing?”
Adair shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “He was leading. They were calling him ‘lord’.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. Insane human leading a bunch of insane Fae.”
Ben shot a glare at Adair. “MY family is not insane…just…misguided.”
Max snorted, “Really? Misguided?”
He heaved a sigh. “Fine, maybe that’s wishful thinking. They were never bad before this…just…”
“Power-hungry? Manipulative? Willing to sacrifice anything to get what they want?” Adair looked at Ben, his gaze sharp. “There is a reason you chose to move here when Max was kicked out.”
“I guess you’re right. I just wanted to think better of them.”
“You think I don’t wish that for my family?” Max shook his head. “The only one I ever had hope for was my youngest sister, but I don’t pretend to believe she’s still decent. It’s best to not to assume, especially where Mor is concerned.”
Ben was silent. Max just waited while he thought, trusting that he would come to the same conclusion. “You’re right, Max. Mor’s safety is the most important thing. She can bring us all together again.”
Standing, Max squeezed his shoulder for just a moment before saying, “I’m going to make sure she and the others are awake. She needs to hear Adair’s full report. Will you get Isabella, Michael and Cassandra? We need to make some decisions.”
He walked out of the room and back up to their suite. When he walked in, he found Mor snuggled up to Atreyu. They weren’t asleep. He smiled, watching them kiss. Every day he thanked the gods that they had brought Mor to them. Or them to Mor? Either way, she had been what they needed. Max set his coffee down and then jumped on the bed, startling both of them. “Good morning, sweetie, Atreyu.” He grinned at them.
“Damn. We were just getting started.” Atreyu glared at Max.
“Sorry, dear brother, duty calls.” He kissed Mor’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to break this up, but we need to get some planning done. Adair is back.”
“Well, fuck,” Mor groaned. “Can’t we wait just a little longer?” She pushed her ass back against Max.
Groaning as her ass pushed up against him, Max forced himself to focus. “Sweetie.” She pushed against him again. His eyes focused on Atreyu’s hand slipping up under her shirt and cupping her breast. “Fuck it.” He bent and took her mouth in a bruising kiss. He slipped his hand around her waist and into the top of her panties. When his fingers brushed her clit, she broke away from his mouth. Max grinned and kissed down her neck, leaving Atreyu to claim her mouth.
Just as he dipped his fingers to stroke her slit, the door banged open. “Really, Max?” Ben grumbled. “What about needing to get going? Plan, blah blah blah?” He glared at them from where he stood.
“What can I say?” Max smiled. “She’s irresistible.”
“That’s true.” Ben smiled. “Really, though, we do have to get moving. Atreyu’s parents are finishing up breakfast and are going to head to the War Room.”
“Fuuuck,” Mor groaned. “Queening is hard.”
All three guys started laughing. Max smiled softly at her as he stood up. “We’ll get back to this later, sweetie.” He grinned and pulled her to her feet while she grumbled. He gently pushed her toward the bathroom.
“You don’t want to join me?” She smiled from the doorway.
“Yes. Yes, I do!” Atreyu jumped up and started to follow her.
Ben followed him and grabbed him. “Nope. If you follow her in there, then you’ll be in there for a long time.”
“Dammit, Ben, not cool.”
Ben laughed and pushed him on to
the bed. He went into the bathroom, cursed, and then ran back out a few moments later with clothes in his hands. “Fuck, she was naked already.”
Now Max and Atreyu laughed at Ben. He tossed clothes to them and said, “At least I resisted.”
“Did you have to close your eyes?” Max grinned.
“Yeah. And I ran into the door.” He rubbed his knee and laughed.
Max and Atreyu started laughing as they pulled their clothes on. “Come on, guys, lets go down before she comes out here naked. We’ll never make it downstairs if she does.” Max grinned and led them downstairs. When they got down there he said, “I’ll go grab food for all of us and meet you in there.”
Making his way into the kitchen, Max went over to Trisha. “Any way I can get breakfast for everyone?”
“Of course, boyo. Go on in, I’ll have it brought in.” She waved him off.
He bent and dropped a kiss on Trisha’s cheek and went to join the others. He saw Mor had already come in so he went to stand next to her, slipping his hand into hers. “Sorry, sweetie.”
She smiled up at him and Max’s breath caught. It was still hard for him to believe that she was theirs. “It’s okay. We do have shit to get done. Do you know where Sebastian is?”
“I’m here, darling.” He walked in and pulled Mor into a sweet kiss. He hesitated before saying, “Would you mind if my parents joined us?”
“Do you think they can help?” Mor asked after a thoughtful moment.
“I do. They were both heavily involved in the old court and my fathers both fought in the Royal Army before finding my mother.”
“Do you trust them?”
“With your life.”
Max smiled at that while Mor looked startled. Of course Sebastian held her life to be more important than his own. “Sebastian wouldn’t have suggested it if he didn’t trust them.”
“Alright. We’ll wait for you to come back with them.”
After Sebastian left, Max said, “We’ll need to be formal in front of them for now.”
“Why? I thought I could relax with family?”
Atreyu slung an arm around Mor. “That’s true. But, we have to take into account what Sebastian’s family is like. They thrive on pomp and circumstance.” Atreyu puffed out his chest and stuck his nose in the air, making Mor giggle.
“Seriously? That sounds exhausting.”
“It is, but what can you do?” Max shrugged.
“It’ll make them feel special to be addressed formally and officially by the queen. If they feel special, they’ll be more helpful.” Ben looked at Mor gravely.
“Ugh. Fine. We’ll be fucking formal.”
She looked so cute when grumpy, Max couldn’t help but kiss her. She started to lean into it when Atreyu coughed. Max pulled away to see Sebastian walking through the door. He gave Mor’s hand a gentle squeeze before leading her to the chair at the head of the table. Atreyu’s family had essentially added a mini-throne. None of them had mentioned it to Mor. She didn’t seem to actually like the trappings of royalty. Which he loved. His family had been the opposite, demanding a formal facade be maintained at all times.
She sat down and gestured for everyone to join her. Max sat on her right with Sebastian next to him. Ben was on her left and Atreyu next to him. Michael, Cassandra and Adair sat to the right of Atreyu, leaving the other side for Sebastian’s family. Max watched Sebastian’s mother narrow her eyes at Sebastian’s placement. Please don’t say anything, he thought.
“Is there a reason my son is not sitting next to you, Your Majesty?” Amelia stood stiffly next to Sebastian.
“Mother!” Sebastian snapped out.
Before he could say anything else, Mor spoke up. “Is there a reason you have a problem with Ben and Max sitting next to me? Last I checked, I had four mates. Not one. How they seat themselves is up to them. They’re grown-ass men, er, Fae.” Her voice was hard as she stared Amelia down.
Amelia nodded stiffly and sat down. She opened her mouth to say something, but Sebastian cut her off. “You will not show disrespect to my brothers.” He glared at her. “They are just as worthy as I am, if not more so. If you cannot be respectful, then leave.”
Sebastian’s father Brandon held up his hands to stop Sebastian from saying anything else. “I’m sure no disrespect was meant.”
Max snorted and rolled his eyes. “I’m sure,” he said dryly before adding, “Is there a reason you are sitting next to Amelia instead of Joshua and Ethan?”
Joshua and Ethan snorted as they sat down. “They’ve got you, my love.” Ethan smiled. “Let the children make their own choices.”
Amelia relented with a small smile and a nod to Mor. “May I ask what the purpose of this meeting is, Your Majesty?”
Mor stared her down for a moment before answering. “Adair has returned from scouting the palace. Decisions need to be made.” She looked over at Adair and waited.
Adair cleared his throat as everyone looked at him. “Right. As you all know, there is no direct route into the palace grounds. I used the rings to get to the border between Earth and the palace grounds.” He stood and pointed to a location on the map. “From there I made my way toward the palace.” Adair glanced at Max and then Ben before continuing, “I was able to sneak into the camp. It’s being led by John. They weren’t calling him that, however. He was going by Boris Thornheart.”
Mor snorted, coughed, and then tried to suppress a laugh and failed. “Boris Thornheart?” She laughed harder. “Thornheart! I always knew he was a douchebag!”
Max laughed and kissed her hand before looking at Adair. “I assume you found more?” Max already knew what he had to add, but it needed to be said out loud.
“Yes. I’m sorry to report that both your family and Ben’s were there supporting the claims of Boris.”
“That must be what Michael and Sylvia meant when they said we would regret not siding with them.” Joshua looked over to Atreyu’s family. “Michael, have you heard anything from them?”
He shook his head. “No, we’ve never gotten along.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Mor held up her hand. “We can’t keep calling you Michael and Ben’s dad Michael. It already hurts my head. Can I give you a nickname? Mikey, maybe?”
Michael laughed and started to talk, only to be cut off by Isabella. “Absolutely not.”
Laughing, Mor said, “Then is it okay to call your dad Mikey, Ben? I’m pretty sure it would piss him off and that would be fun.” She beamed at him.
Ben cracked a smile. Max heaved an internal sigh of relief. If he could smile at that, then he was going to be fine. It was hard coming to terms with your family disowning you. “At this point, I’m definitely in for anything that makes him uncomfortable.”
“My family being mixed up in all this does not surprise me at all.” Max leaned forward on the table. “I’m worried about the people of Water, though. My family has been brutal towards the people and a war will just make them worse.” He shook his head. “I have no idea what to do about that.”
Mor reached over and took Max’s hand as Adair shook his head. “Even if we gather all the fighters in Earth and Air, we won’t have enough to take on the army I saw gathered. They don’t just have Fae. They have shifters and humans. I heard rumors that they may have some of the giants with them, too.”
“Fuck.” Sebastian leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head.
“What about conscription?” Amelia rolled her eyes when every one gave her a shocked look. “What? We need to win, by whatever means necessary. Mor on the throne will be better for every one. It’ll help your people, Max. And hopefully prevent Ben’s from going down that road.”
Cassandra glared daggers at Amelia. “We would just be gathering cannon fodder. We will not do that to our people!”
Arguing broke out around the table. Max sat quietly, watching Mor take it all in. He leaned over to her and whispered, “You make the call.”
She looked at him hesitantly. When he nodded, she sp
oke up. “Stop.” Of course, no one listened. Mor glared and tried again. “Stop.” She stood and slammed her hands on the table. Everyone stuttered to a stop. “I said stop.” Her voice was low and sparks were dancing across her skin.
Max shifted in his seat. Her hair had started floating and now he just wanted to bury his hands in it and pull her to him. Fuck. He wondered if that would happen when he was buried deep inside her. He forced his attention back to Mor. She stood leaning with her hands on the table, staring each person down until they dropped their gaze.
“You are all arguing like a bunch of children!” Anger laced her voice. “Arguing about whether or not we throw untrained people at an army of dark mages? Are you fucking insane?” The sparks crackled now. “We would be just like them if we did that! I may not know much about being a queen or leading an army, but I promise you one thing. I will never allow that.” Her voice resonated throughout the room.
“Very well, Your Majesty. We will not suggest that again.” Brandon formally bowed his head.
When she sat back down again she said, “What other options are there?”
Everyone was silent. Max looked around, waiting for someone to say the obvious. “Is no one going to suggest it?”
“Well, the history…” Sebastian glanced at Atreyu while everyone shifted uncomfortably.
Atreyu grimaced, nodded once at Max, and then put his head in his hands. Mor looked over expectantly at Max. “There is a kingdom of shifters to the south of Earth.”
“I thought Adair said there were shifters with Boris.” Mor looked liked she was barely keeping her face straight when she said that.
Adair nodded. “Yes. But they were bears, wolves, some lions. Shifters without a leader. Rogues. Max is referring to the Pendragon Kingdom.”
Mor’s mouth dropped open. “Pendragon? Like Arthur Pendragon?”
Isabella smirked. “Many of the human myths come from our people.”
Fae- Beginnings Page 4