by Amy Sumida
“She is ours, gentlemen,” Declan said gently. “We all have sex with her; I think we can agree to admit that to ourselves. So, why not enjoy things that we would not normally indulge in. Well, things that the rest of you wouldn't normally indulge in. I find the act of voyeurism to be deeply arousing. When Banning and I were with her, I thought that I might feel jealous, but I didn't. Elaria has an amazing ability to make me feel as if I'm deeply loved, even while I watch her sharing her love with another man.”
The men looked at each other and gave grudging nods.
“But then we remain unsatisfied,” Banning pointed out.
“Not necessarily.” Declan grinned. “You could take care of your own needs, or perhaps you could join in.”
The men gaped at Declan.
“Or”—Declan held up a hand—“we could take turns if none of you are ready for that.”
“You want to use her like a water fountain?” Banning asked. “Everyone lines up for a drink?”
“If she enjoys it, why not?” Declan asked.
That shut them up. They all turned to look at me.
“Um.” I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. “Four men in one night... I don't know. The mere strain on my body may be too much.”
“Why don't we start with two?” Declan suggested. “There are four of us—an even number—and we've already tried a trinity. You were all right after you were with Banning and I, right?”
“Yes,” I said nervously.
“Which two?” Torin asked as he looked at the other men.
Banning and Torin shared a look and then nodded.
“Fine with me, I wanted to see the foot thing anyway,” Declan huffed.
“Hold on,” Gage growled. “Elaria and I have yet to agree to this.”
“I'm up for trying it,” I whispered.
“Really?” Gage asked.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “We had an audience last night.”
“That's a rather good point,” Torin muttered.
“I don't know if my griffin can deal with that,” Gage said.
“Well, I've got the last spot in this rotation anyway.” Declan shrugged. “That will give you time to come to terms with it. If you decide you don't want to do it, that's fine. If you do, you can watch us.”
“Rotation?” I asked.
“Absolutely, my love,” Declan purred. “I will rotate you just as thoroughly as Gage did.”
“No, Declan,” I growled. “What did you mean when you said you had the last spot in the rotation?”
“Oh!” Declan laughed as the other men rolled their eyes. “We have worked out a schedule. Torin will be with you tonight, then Banning the next, and I will be final.”
“And you're willing to share your spot with Gage?” I asked.
“Of course,” Declan said. “Being watched is even more exciting than watching.”
“I'm sorry, Elaria, but I have to say it.” Banning grimaced.
“Go ahead.” I sighed. “I understand.”
“You're a fucking pervert, Declan,” Banning announced.
“Thank you!” Declan beamed at Banning.
Chapter Eight
After a light breakfast, we headed out; getting vine-lowered to the forest floor before we resumed our journey. We began to get a routine of walking for a few hours and then stopping for some refreshments. We ate dry rations from the supplies we brought with us, but Reyne and his dryads supplemented our meals with ripe fruit and water from the freshwater streams that ran through Primeval.
It started to feel like an enjoyable excursion; just a nice hike in the woods. But then we stopped for the evening in another village, and everything changed.
This village was more like a series of caves, but they were outfitted with creature comforts; heavy on the 'creature.' Reyne led us through a massive, main entrance, where we were greeted by the village alphas. Thankfully, they weren't in their canine forms. It was a barghest village, and several residents were roaming about as enormous black dogs. The villagers closed in around us, watching us warily with their glowing amber eyes, but the alphas—all men—were in human forms. They welcomed us and were showing us to some rooms, where we could rest a little before dinner when a commotion caught our attention.
We all turned toward the cave entrance, where a barghest was howling. Other barghests were gathering around and they were starting to whine.
“What's happening?” I asked Reyne.
“I don't know.” He hurried back to the front of the cave with the alphas.
There was a bit of shouting, several barghests ran out of the cave, and then Reyne finally returned to give us the lowdown.
“There are six pups missing,” Reyne said. “The mothers trade off childcare so they can help the pack hunt. The woman who was watching the children today was knocked unconscious. When she woke, the children were gone.”
“We'll help look for them,” I said immediately.
“No,” one of the alphas said. “Thank you for your offer, Your Majesty, but your scents will only create confusion. We are capable of finding our children; don't worry. I'm sure we'll have them back by the time you join us for dinner.”
I nodded, but I could see the strain on the alpha's face. This didn't feel right.
“We're here if you need us,” I offered again. “We have the Griffins, who can search from the air.”
“We'll keep that in mind,” the alpha said. “For now, let's get you settled.”
He led us further back into the cave as Reyne exchanged a worried look with me. We all went quietly through the empty passages; the entire pack seemed to be in the forest, searching for the children, and it felt wrong to speak in the grim silence. Our large group was settled into a few barracks-style caves, shown the facilities, and then notified that a meal would be served in the main cave within an hour.
“It looks as if you'll be having an audience for your turn, after all, Torin.” Declan glanced around the room we'd been assigned.
Not only were we sleeping in it, but so were our Shining One troops.
“I'm not having sex with Elaria in a room full of soldiers,” Torin growled. “And this is hardly the time to be concerned with pleasure. There are children missing, Declan.”
“I'm just bringing some levity to the situation.” Declan sighed deeply. “I am just as concerned as you are.”
“Why don't they want our help?” Gage asked.
“I'm not sure.” I shook my head. “Maybe it's exactly as he said, and they don't want more unknown scents to rule out.”
“They have suspects,” Banning said, and we all turned to him in surprise. “Think about it; they must have someone they suspect of stealing their children. The last thing they need is our 'stranger' scents overpowering the one they're looking for.”
“Fuck this,” I snapped and headed toward the door.
“Elaria, where are you going?” Declan asked urgently.
“I'm going to talk to Reyne,” I said. “Maybe he'll know what's really going on.”
“They've already asked for our help once,” Torin said gently as he took my arm. “If they wanted more of it, they would ask for that as well. But what they've asked for is for us to stay out of their way. Let's give our hosts the courtesy of respecting their wishes.”
“But there are missing children, Torin,” I said angrily.
“Their children,” Torin pointed out. “Let them do what they can, and if it's not enough, I'm sure they'll appreciate our assistance.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “I'm going to take a bath.”
I headed toward the bathroom and then saw that it was also done in a barracks style. There were rows of stalls for toilets and then an open bathing area with overhead spigots. There were already some men bathing in the unisex showers. They weren't at all embarrassed by my entrance. Shining One males are generally good-looking, and these guys were no exception; they had nothing to be embarrassed about. But when they saw me do an about-face and scurry from the bathroo
m, their laughter followed me out. I went back into the sleeping quarters with a flushed face. I was blushing more on this single trip than I had in my entire life.
“What's wrong with the bathroom?” Gage asked.
“It's communal.” I cleared my throat.
“Barghests aren't shy,” Torin noted.
“Neither are most Shining Ones,” Declan added on his way to the bathroom. “Are you sure you don't want to join me, Elaria?”
“Declan, you need to watch yourself,” I said. “I'm a step away from taking you off the rotation completely.”
Declan sighed deeply, grimaced, and then left without another perverted word.
“Well, that shut him up,” Banning said with surprise, his green eyes widening.
“Tell a pervert that sex is hanging in the balance, and he'll do anything you want.” Torin chuckled. “Or nothing, rather.”
“You must use your power wisely,” Gage said in mock severity as he grasped my shoulder.
“Says the man with a foot fetish,” I huffed and headed for the bunks.
Gage grimaced as Banning and Torin laughed their asses off.
Chapter Nine
The children were not found by dinnertime.
The main cave was nearly empty, with just a few barghests standing watch. There was a pot of stew boiling over a central hearth that we were directed to, and long trestle tables set to the side for us to eat at. Reyne took a seat beside my men and me, casting a look over his shoulder before he spoke.
“I've received word about our prisoner,” he whispered.
“What prisoner?” I blinked and then realized who he meant. “Eileen?”
Reyne nodded. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but she has escaped. I'm loathe to tell the barghests. They may think this is Eileen's doing, and then blame my people for losing her.”
“All right, let's think about this,” I said calmly. “Eileen escapes the same day that children go missing. Yes; that is suspicious, but what would she do with six barghest children in the middle of Primeval?”
“I don't know.” Reyne scowled. “The dryads are speaking to the trees. It can take some time to interpret their meanings, as they speak slowly and in their own language, but they should be able to give us some information on how Eileen escaped and where she was headed.”
“Can't you ask the trees about the new growth, the poison, and the other disappearances?” Rentar, Gage's older brother, asked Reyne.
“We have,” Reyne said softly. “We have exhausted every option available to us. The trees are as confused as we are. They seem to think the new trees are another species entirely, and that the poison is something coming from the soil. As far as the disappearances; they know nothing about them at all.”
“All right.” I looked at the other men. “Any ideas?”
“I think the question we should be asking is why someone would want to take barghest children,” Torin said. “Not just Eileen, but anyone. What can you gain from taking someone's children? Discover the motivation, and we can narrow down the suspects.”
“Taking children would give someone power over the parents,” Gage said immediately. “But who would want power over the barghests?”
Reyne dropped his spoon; it clattered to the table as he looked up at us.
“Reyne?” I asked urgently.
“The Trinity,” he whispered. “It must be the Trinity. We're nearly certain that they're behind the strange occurrences in Primeval. Now, the barghest pups are taken. It must be the Trinity.”
“To what end?” Torin asked.
“To control the barghests, as you said.” Reyne gestured futilely. “They have an army of redcaps, dryads, and leanan-sidhe who are loyal to them, but that wouldn't be enough to stop all of the races of Primeval if we were to rise against them. Having the barghests under their control would add some fierce fighters to their side.”
“This is all conjecture,” I said. “We need some proof. If the barghests aren't willing to let us search, we need to search on our own.”
“How are we going to search without alerting them?” Reyne asked.
“I can search without stepping a foot outside this cave,” I said as I stood.
Reyne stared at me in confusion while my men just smiled encouragingly. I stepped away from the table and closed my eyes; trying to come up with the perfect song to find abducted children. It seemed as if I were always searching for missing people; I should have a song list prepared for this sort of thing. But I didn't, and I had to go with whatever I could think of. Luckily, I could transform the meaning of a song, twisting the words to become whatever I needed them to mean. I decided on “Wake Me Up” by Avicii. It was more about life in general than a search, but it had key elements that I could use.
As soon as I made my decision, the sliver of kyanite shivered in my throat, and my stone came alive. I could feel it in the caves—minute traces of it—but still; my jewel was near. I didn't need it to be close to connect with it, but it was comforting and empowering. I felt it rise inside me; the magic of communication buoyed by the strength of its proximity. Millions of years of patient knowledge and fortitude supported me, and then it burst around me; taking the music from my mind and bringing it to life. That was the beauty of my union with Kyanite; it gave me its magic, and I gave it a voice. A voice of pure music, but it was still a way to be heard by all.
The barghests and dryads froze when the music surrounded us, but our people explained what was happening to them in hushed tones; the Spellsinger was at work. The entire cave went still and watched me in rapt fascination as I added my voice to the music of my jewel. A soft, rolling sort of song; the words were just a touch shy of being uplifting. You wanted to feel hope within them, but you knew there was a seed of sadness in the lyrics; enough to make you listen with respect. This was music that connected people; a story that we all lived—the search for meaning and understanding. But I needed it to be more than that. I needed this journey—this search—to be for the barghest pups.
The magic bowed to my will and entered my voice; echoing off the stone walls and into Primeval. I felt the forest pause; the fairies, creatures, and even the plants stopped to listen. I pushed the power outward, urging the forest to help me find these lost children; help me carry the weight of this burden and lead the little barghests home. A keening howl added itself to my song, and I felt the hearts of those searching parents; filled with fear and desperation. I gathered that feeling and poured it back into the music, giving my quest even more strength.
Then I saw them; six children of various ages. They were crying; clutching each other. They were crouched in a cage, and it seemed to be jostling about. The bars were metal and covered by canvas, but light came in through the bars that formed the base of the cage. The whole of it was being carried by a large fairy; I could see the back of his legs through the bars. I couldn't tell what kind of fairy he was, or where in the forest they were.
Rage filled my chest, and I pushed my vision outward. But as I began to expand my sight—my music creeping through the canvas—I felt a powerful presence. Someone knew that I was there; knew that I was looking for them. A shield slammed over my vision, and then another, and another. Before I could engage the magic and try to break through it, I was completely locked out, and my vision disappeared.
I ended the song abruptly with a frustrated screech.
“Elaria!” Torin was on his feet immediately. “What happened?”
Torin reached for me, and—without thinking—I pushed him away. I sensed the other men around me, and opened my eyes to see them all standing there; arms limp at their sides as they stared at me in shock. I looked up at Torin and saw that his expression was the most surprised... and the most hurt.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered. “I don't know why I did that.”
Torin nodded but didn't say anything.
“What did you see?” Declan asked me.
“I saw the children,” I said. “But before I could determine where they
are, something blocked me out.”
“As Thomas did with the Sirens,” Torin muttered.
“Yes; exactly,” I confirmed. “Whoever has the children; they also have some powerful magic.”
“It's true,” Reyne whispered as he stepped up to us. “You make magic from music.”
“You doubted it?” Torin asked.
“We hear a lot of rumors here.” Reyne shrugged. “Echoes from the Jewel Courts. Usually, we ignore them. It's hard to know what's truth and what is gossip on the wind. We knew when you were crowned, though, Queen Elaria.” He paused to stare at me a moment before he went on. “We heard that clearly. We heard Kyanite rejoice.”