by Bonnie Lamer
“What is going on in regards to the Elves?” Tabitha asks. I didn’t say anything to her about it because of Whysper. She could be faking her unconsciousness and I wouldn’t want to give away any war secrets. Not that I have any. “It must be something terrible if the little beasts are not at my feet begging for food while I cook dinner.” I try not to smile about the way she says ‘little beasts’ with so much affection.
“Yet another cruelty inflicted upon us by the odoriferous one,” Taz whines. I just smile. For all his talk, he is willing to give up food to have my back. Then again, I don’t smell any bacon cooking.
Kallen fills her in while I offer Lielle toys. She’s lost interest in them, her little eyes staring up at me in question. “It’ll be alright,” I assure her. I haven’t lost a battle yet. I don’t intend to lose this one. I just hope I can prevent any of the Fairies from losing their lives.
“What makes our glorious King so certain they will not simply attack tonight?” Tabitha asks sardonically.
“He isn’t certain,” I tell her. “He said to be prepared in case they strike tonight.” A thought hits me. “Can’t we just guard the passages to the Elf realm and block them when they try to cross?” I mean, a passageway is only so big. It’s not like an entire army can cross all at once.
“I wish it was so simple,” Kallen says and I try not to take offense at him suggesting my idea is ‘simple’. He goes on to explain, “There are many passages between our realms and our troops would be quite spread out if we asked them to guard each one. The Elves are likely to send glamour through before coming themselves, convincing the more weak-minded Fairies to look the other way. And before you ask,” he says, a warning in his voice, “it would consume way too much energy for you to close the passageways. Not to mention, there are likely many Elf warriors already here.”
He does know me too well. “Fine,” I grump. Though I’m not ready to completely give up on the idea. I let it rattle around in my head
“If you need me, I will be in the kitchen making up a batch of darts,” Tabitha says. She spins around and returns to the kitchen to begin making the poisonous Fairy darts. Hers are the best in the realm.
My attention away from her for too long, Lielle hits me in the cheek with her rattle. I frown down at her. “You need to stop doing that. It’s not nice.” Her only reply is to hit me again.
“Lielle, no,” Kallen tells her in a deep baritone. Her eyes fly to him and she drops the rattle. She also gets tears in her eyes and a pout on her lips which effectively make Kallen feel guilty for speaking to her so sharply. He takes her from me and holds her close while she smiles. She knows she has him wrapped around her finger.
I shake my head. “If we have girls, they are going to be so spoiled by their father.”
Kallen grins at me. “If they look anything like their mother, my heart will be completely lost to them.”
I can’t help but smile. “And if they look like you?”
“Then you will adore them enough for the both of us,” he teases.
“Shameful,” I say, shaking my head. “Just shameful.” He laughs.
It is not long before Isla’s voice can be heard from the kitchen. I’m surprised. I thought her place would be at the palace if war preparations are being made. As if reading my mind, she joins us in the living room and says grudgingly, “Dagda convinced me to return home. The more we have guarding the child, the less likely she will be taken from us.” That sounds awfully possessive. How long does she believe we will be keeping Lielle?
The baby’s mouth opens in a wide yawn and I admit it, I cringe a little on the inside. The last thing we need right now is to deal with her glamour. But, it’s not like we can keep a baby from sleeping. It’s what they do. “I should bring her upstairs,” I say hoping I don’t sound as dismal as I feel about it.
Isla nods in agreement. “You should both go. Goodness knows what her glamour will bring about this time.” Her tone is sharper than I would have expected after her last statement.
“You know where to find us if you need us,” I tell her. Taking Kallen’s hand, I teleport us to our bedroom.
14 CHAPTER
“Are you seriously going to let the odoriferous one sleep again?” Taz asks. “You should be biting her toes to keep her awake.”
I scowl at him. “I am not biting her toes.”
“Fine, lay her on the bed and I’ll do it,” he says, jumping on the bed and waiting.
“You’re not biting her, either,” I inform him.
Kallen is behind me and he sweeps my hair to one side so he can place his lips on my neck. “May I bite you?” he purrs. He nips gently at my sensitive skin.
I lean back into him. “I am going crazy not being able to touch you the way I would like.”
Kallen groans and kisses my neck again. “Ow!” he exclaims suddenly.
I turn my head to find a tiny hand in his hair, pulling at it. I try not to giggle while I pry Lielle’s hand away. “Not nice,” I tell the baby but I don’t sound very convincing.
Checking the area to make sure there’s no bald spot, Kallen says, “She has a wicked grip.” As if to say she’s sorry, Lielle holds her arms out to him.
Kallen takes the baby and sits down in the rocking chair with her on his lap facing him. “You are getting nowhere near my hair again,” he tells her, poking her gently in the tummy. Lielle laughs so he does it again. And again. And again.
“How old are they when they want to stop doing things a millions times?” I ask.
Kallen shrugs and looks at me with smoldering eyes. “There are still things I want to do over and over a million times.” He doesn’t mean playing peek-a-boo.
My mind and my body want him so badly. My voice husky, I say, “You are a terrible tease.”
He pats the spot next to him. “Come sit with us.”
I like the rocking chair made for two. I snuggle in next to him with my legs curled under me and lay my head on his shoulder. He moves Lielle so she is cradled in his arm. Her pretty little mouth opens wide in a yawn. “She will be asleep in no time,” I say softly.
“Yes, so we should be prepared for whatever her nightmares hold.”
“I’m telling you, bite her toes,” Taz instructs from the nest of blankets he has made on the bed. I don’t respond.
As Kallen rocks the chair gently, I find my own eyelids growing heavy. I fight it, but I lose the battle. My eyes close and sleep finds me.
I startle awake to the sound of birds and crickets. I’m in a field of wild flowers and the scent in the air is heavenly. The sun is high in the sky and I revel in its warmth. It’s beautiful here.
“Where are we?” Kallen asks from behind me.
I knew he was there. I felt him the moment my eyes opened. “I don’t know, but I love it here.”
Taking my hand, Kallen twirls me as if we are dancing and I laugh. When he pulls me back, I press against his chest and move my mouth up to kiss him. The kiss is long and deep. It’s the kiss I’ve wanted to give him forever. He groans and pulls me even closer, his hands exploring my curves. Lowering us slowly, he lays me down in the flowers, his body hovering over mine. The love in his eyes fills my heart to overflowing. I lift a hand and place it on his cheek. “I love you.”
Kallen kisses my palm. “I love you. Forever.”
“Can we stay here forever?” I ask.
Kissing me again, it is several minutes before he answers my question. Pulling his lips from mine, he whispers, “Yes.”
A low, deep growl has both of us turning our heads to find the source. We don’t rise, though. Nothing can hurt us here. We are simply curious. “What is it?” I ask.
“Nothing to worry about.” Kallen’s lips find mine again and everything else is forgotten.
The growl is a deep rumble over the flowers now. “It is getting closer,” Kallen says as if speaking of a butterfly. “We will see it soon.”
“Kiss me until it comes,” I insist, pulling him back to me.
We do not hear the growl again for several minutes. Whatever it is has finally found us in the sea of flowers. Kallen and I both smile at the creature. It is beautiful like everything else here. Its black coat gleams in the sunlight and its perfectly white teeth are exposed in a smile. It is smiling at us.
Suddenly, a sharp pain explodes up my leg and I cry out. There is another creature. Kallen is its next target. It is biting us, tearing at our toes, our feet. We kick at it but the creature doesn’t let go. The smiling creature next to us has joined in and is nibbling at our hands and ears. We do our best to fend them off but they keep coming at us.
“Xandra, damn it, I’m going to bite off your pinkie toe if you don’t wake up. Do you want to walk crooked the rest of your life?” the beast demands.
I recognize the voice and I still. Kallen follows my lead, staring down at me in confusion. “What are they?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t know, but I feel like I should.”
“As do I.” Kallen rolls to the side and stands. He holds a hand out to me and we study the creatures who have finally stopped attacking us. They are sitting, waiting for something. Waiting for us to recognize them.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to be your Familiar?” one of the beasts asks. My Familiar? “You get into more trouble than a kangaroo in a crocodile pit.”
He’s my Familiar. It’s coming back to me. His name is Taz and the other one is Felix. I glance at Kallen and recognition is forming in his eyes, as well. I turn, studying our surroundings and finally, finally, I see it. It’s not real. Beyond the flowers are walls painted a pale yellow. There’s a bed and a crib behind us. As I recognize more and more, the glamour loses its hold on me. Lielle. Where is Lielle?
Whirling around, I am relieved to find her lying on the rocking chair sound asleep. Her glamour diminishes until nothing is left except our bedroom. “What the hell was that?” Kallen whispers.
“It was the two of you trying to get it on while we’re still in the room,” Taz sniffs. “Next time, I’ll bite more than your toes.”
Blood rushes to my face. We were close to tearing off each other’s clothes and making love. A quick glance at Kallen shows me he is just as embarrassed. “At least her glamour wasn’t a nightmare this time,” I joke, trying to ease the awkwardness.
Kallen walks quietly to Lielle. Picking her up without waking her, he places her in the crib. Turning to me, he whispers, “I do not remember setting her down.”
I bite my bottom lip. “I don’t remember that, either. We were just suddenly in that field of flowers.” This is scary. If we can get caught up like this in her positive glamour when we are sleeping, she could end up getting seriously hurt. I, for one, had no awareness of her at all. Hard to protect her if I’m not even aware she exists.
Stepping back from the crib, Kallen says solemnly, “We cannot both be asleep around her.” We came to this conclusion earlier, but neither of us truly believed it. We do now.
My heart sinks so far down, I feel it start to ooze out from under my toenails. “No, we can’t.” I try not to let my selfishness show. The idea, though, is still nibbling at the back of mind that if Lielle wasn’t here, we wouldn’t have that problem. But, Kallen and I sacrificing sleeping together is nothing compared to the murder of an innocent child. This is simply the way it must be right now. But, what if we must keep Lielle forever? Will she ever grow out of this? We know nothing of Elf children and how they learn to control their glamour so it’s not like we can teach her.
I see my thoughts mirrored in Kallen’s eyes. “There is no other choice.”
I shake my head. “No, there isn’t.”
A light knocking on the door startles us both. Kallen walks to it and opens it wide. Kegan is standing there. “Hey, what is with all the flowers and grass?” he asks. “It is suffocating.” My brow furrows. Lielle’s glamour is still spilling out into the house? I glance around the room. I can’t see it anymore.
“She is dreaming,” Kallen says in a harsher tone than he meant to use.
Kegan eyes him for a moment. “What are you holding back?”
Sighing, I say, “You might as well tell him.”
“Tell him what?” a stern voice says from behind Kegan. Isla has joined the fun.
Lielle is still sleeping soundly in her crib and as long as she isn’t having a nightmare, I want to keep it that way. “Let’s go into the hall.” I take Kallen’s hand and lead him from the room. He closes the door behind us. This isn’t going to be an uncomfortable, awkward conversation at all.
15 CHAPTER
We move a few yards down the hall. Not so far we won’t be able to hear Lielle if she wakes up, but far enough our voices won’t wake her. Kallen clears his throat and explains what happened. He leaves a few key parts out, like us being really close to getting naked, but they get the gist of it.
Astonished, Isla asks, “You awoke inside her dream?”
Kallen considers her words and shakes his head. “No, I do not believe we were in her dream. We did not see her or feel her. We were encased in her glamour.”
“If it hadn’t been for Taz and Felix waking us up, we’d probably still be there,” I add.
Puzzled, Kegan asks, “Your Familiars were there, too?”
I need to stop and think about it. Finally, I say, “Not really. We could hear them and feel them when they started biting our toes.”
“Why were they not trapped in the glamour?” Isla asks.
Kallen shrugs. “Perhaps they are immune.”
I shake my head. “No, because they saw and felt other parts of her glamour.”
“You know, you could ask the talking Tasmanian devils,” Taz says dryly. “We are here for more than just looking pretty.”
Surprised, I ask, “You know what happened?”
“No, I just wanted you to ask so I’d feel important,” he snarks. “Of course we know what happened. We were there.”
“Then what happened?”
“Its glamour became entangled with your own magic. You were wallowing in the mixture.”
Taking offense, I declare, “We were not wallowing in it.”
Taz snorts. “You are more concerned about my choice of words than what happened.”
He’s right. “Go on,” I say.
“It was an unconscious response to her glamour. Before, when the odoriferous one had nightmares, your magic was evoked and became defensive magic. This time, it was a dream your magic didn’t need to fight against, so it became entangled.”
Seriously? “You mean every time we’re asleep and Lielle emits glamour our magic automatically responds?”
“Have you considered taking a class? Something like How Not to be Stupid 101?” Taz snarks.
Growing impatient, Kallen asks, “What is he saying?”
I hold a finger up in a ‘wait a sec’ gesture. “How do you know this?”
“Hmm, let me see,” Taz drawls, “Oh, because I was there.”
I turn to Isla and Kegan. “Did you guys feel Kallen and me draw magic?”
Kegan nods. “Why do you think I came to check on you? I thought maybe there were more than just wild flowers up here.”
This is even scarier than I thought. Kallen and I are subconsciously intermingling with Lielle’s glamour. This is going to end so badly. I explain what happened to everyone and Kallen is as taken aback as I am.
“I have never unconsciously drawn magic before,” Kallen says. He’s not arguing, he’s in awe of the situation.
I, on the other hand, do it all the time. “Welcome to the club,” I mutter.
“Yet, you had no awareness of the child this time?” Isla asks.
I shake my head. “None at all.”
Before she can say anything else, Kallen says, “We know this means we cannot both sleep while Lielle is sleeping.”
I didn’t expect the sympathy I find in Isla’s eyes. “I am sorry.”
Growing more uncomfortable by the second, Kallen shr
ugs, “We will deal with this as we have every other challenge.” I smile up at him and he wraps an arm around me, tucking me into his side.
“I think she knows you left the room,” Kegan says.
I am about to ask what he means, but I see it, too. Around us, the walls begin to ooze black gunk again. Can she really tell we are not near even when she is sleeping? En masse, we all return to Kallen’s and my bedroom. In her sleep, Lielle is restless. Her little arms and legs are moving and her eyes are darting back and forth under her eyelids.
“Maybe you should wake her up,” Kegan suggests.
I give him a sour look. “Yes, because it’s so easy.”
“Perhaps you should try,” Isla insists.
I am about to give her a snarky reply, as well, but my mouth closes on the first syllable. It is not just the walls oozing anymore. The floor is being covered in a tar-like substance and it is wrapping around our ankles. When I try to move my foot, I find it is stuck.
Yanking his foot up so he can take a step, Kallen moves forward. He repeats the action all the way to Lielle’s crib despite the fact the tar is becoming more and more solid. He has some really strong legs. Reaching into the crib, he lifts Lielle into his arms. For once, she must be easy to wake because it only takes a moment for the tar and ooze to dissipate. Kallen has a teary eyed Lielle in his arms when he turns to us. “She woke as easily as any child would,” he says in amazement.
I’m amazed, too. “That’s weird.”
“It is certainly odd,” Isla concurs.
I am at a complete loss as to what to say next. Fortunately, Kallen is not. “Any suggestions regarding what we should do when the war begins? If Xandra and I can be caught up in Lielle’s glamour as long as she is not having a nightmare, that may incapacitate us in regards to the fight.”
He knew what to say but now I wish he hadn’t said it. “I didn’t think about that,” I admit.
“Nor did I,” Isla also admits. Staring at Lielle for a moment, she finally says, “The child will need to be kept away from you if there is a fight.”