“Well, to begin with, I was searching for a large white cat.”
“A white cat?” Charles replied, his bushy gray eyebrows rising in a comical arch. “How very coincidental. It just so happens—”
Selena held up a finger to stop him. “All in good time, mon ami. Caresse, what was the last thing you remembered when you arrived at the other end of the cavern you were searching?”
“The scent of oranges. An orange fell from a tree,” she replied, closing her eyes as the vivid memory returned to her. “It rolled toward me.”
“And you slept?”
“Yes.”
“When you awoke?”
“I was surrounded by orange trees, a whole grove of them, all ripe with fruit.”
“And your first night at the palace, you walked among the royal orangery. In the dark.”
“No, it was lit. Lights were everywhere. I wouldn’t have walked into the dark. It scares me.” And now I know why.
Jeremiah Fustbottom came forward, waving his monocle. “Well, that explains the massive grove of orange trees that sprang up near the Spring of Ethereanna last month. We thought some fae had played a little joke on us.”
“No,” Selena replied. “When she returned, her powers returned in force after so many years away, and the trees were heralding her arrival.”
“Trees? Seriously?” Desdemona sneered. “That’s the best you can do? A bird probably crapped out some seeds and they took root where she stopped to get a drink.” She snarled and sent Caresse a dark look. “I’d have succeeded, if not for you and your little dog.”
Leandre released Caresse’s hand, and everyone gasped as he shifted into his tiny canine tangere. He growled, a tiny cute sound, and then he shifted once more into his wolfen form, a snarl rumbling in his chest like thunder. He leapt to crouch in front of Desdemona.
“That ‘little dog’ is my brother, was Ella’s protector, and is Caresse’s protector. Because of my miscalculation, he wasn’t able to save Ella from you, but he’ll deal out your retribution for Ninette.”
The wolf’s snarl amplified, and he showed his fangs, as if pleased to hear Selena’s words.
“Show proof!” Desdemona cried. “Your evidence is circumstantial! Hearsay!”
Selena nodded and gestured to Caresse. “They await your command, princess.”
Huh?
Within the link, Leandre said, Your memory has been piquing since you returned, Caresse. The scent drew you home.
You did that, I thought.
Selena said, He kept you from fleeing. But they responded to your return. The grove Jeremiah Fustbottom referred to near the Spring of Ethereanna is several hundred acres now. That would only happen for a fae with a tremendous arboreal gift.
Affirmation welled within the connection, and Caresse raised a brow. “Right here?” She looked up and then gestured to the spot next to her.
Selena nodded. “Right here is lovely.”
Silently, in the mental chatroom she said, Okay, I’ll give this a whirl, but I’m not doing all that dramatic hand twirling and flinging about—
Hey, some of us like the drama, sweetie. Come on, you know you want to. Chant, do a dance if you want to. Inspire awe.
We’re gonna talk about that pedicure of yours and that white cat later, sister, Caresse replied with a giggle.
Your wish is my command. And I would love to have you for a sister. Your subjects await.
“Fake!” Desdemona screeched, her hands contorting into claws as she tried to get free. “Wretched imposter!”
Okay, so maybe a little drama—
She gathered her fists to her middle, closed her eyes, and then flung her hands skyward. A large, fully grown, heavy-laden orange tree suddenly erupted from the marble floor. Everyone backed away in awe, and then cheering erupted.
Selena burst into laughter. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
Chapter Fourteen
Reginald cleared his throat, and the audience quieted its murmurings. “Guards, take this witch to the dungeon.”
“But…” Leandre said after he shifted back into his human form and watched the guards drag Desdemona screaming like a maniac through the doors.
Caresse giggled at the disappointment in his tone. She loved that he wanted to deliver justice, but she was ready to liven the mood a little.
“You can rip her throat out after the ball, brother,” Selena said. “No sense in messing up that very nice black leather before you’ve even had a chance to dance.”
“Oh. Good point. It’s hard to get blood stains out of leather.”
Caresse burst into giggles. “So bloodthirsty.”
“Death is too merciful an end for Desdemona,” Regine said. “She’s worked all these years to feather her nest. She should work now in reality. What’s the lowest labor in the palace?”
“Working in the palace vegetable gardens?” Charles suggested.
“No. That’s fresh air. Too good for her,” Regine said with a shake of her head. “I have it. The laundry! It’s done at the lowest levels of the palace, and it’s arguably the most arduous task, and that’s without wearing shackles. The chief laundress is a firm taskmistress.”
Reginald chuckled, warming to the idea. “Madam Sadisma could put her to work, and she’d never let her out of her sight. Am I recalling correctly that Ella was a favorite of Sadisma’s?”
“Yes,” Jeremiah Fustbottom confirmed. “She mourned Ella’s passing for years, along with many of the palace staff.”
The king nodded. “Then this punishment will fit the crime. When she finds out what Desdemona did, Sadisma will plague Desdemona day and night.”
“Madam Sadisma wouldn’t consider it a punishment for herself, would she?” Sebastien asked.
“No, I think she’d rather enjoy it,” Reginald replied, mimicking throwing a whip. “Whipeesh!”
Jeremiah chuckled. “Then I’ll let you tell her. The woman spits when she talks, and that crooked eye…one never knows if she’s staring at you or your companion.”
“She once tried to kiss me.” Charles admitted. “She cornered me outside the privy.”
Regine burst into laughter. “You poor baby! But did you like it?”
Charles shrugged and hid a smile. “Well…back in her day, she was a toothsome wench. All those years in charge of the laundry have taken their toll though. Working in the laundry, with the lye soap, the dyes, vats of boiling water all day long…that will be an imprisonment that Desdemona will loathe. If I may, Majesty?” Charles added with a slight bow.
“Of course, what is it?”
“I would extend the hospitality of my house to Niebleht and Poutina until such time as they find viable suitors. I’ve looked upon them as daughters all of these years.”
“Of course, if that also suits Ninette…uh, Caresse? Nicola?” Reginald said, eventually giving up with a chuckle.
Caresse nodded, more than willing. Away from Desdemona’s influence, they might do very well for themselves, and she agreed that they should have that chance.
With the matter settled, Reginald raised his hands to shush the crowd once more and then held out a palm to Regine.
She joined him, taking his hand, and in a voice that shook with emotion, she proclaimed, “Welcome home, Ninette de Rochambard, fae princess and future queen of Plaisir D’Or and the Southern Kingdom, future mother to the heirs of the throne. Welcome home!”
Looking suitably emotional, Leandre’s sister joined them and raised her hands. “Yes! Welcome home, Ninette, daughter of fae Ella and Charles, future queen of the island of Etherea. May you reign with Leandre in days of peace. The ball and all its guests await your delight!”
The guests all bowed, practically vibrating with excitement. Poutina clapped her hands with glee and bowed with her sister at her side. They’d turned out all right in the end. The orchestra started tuning up, and the maestro waved and then gave Selena a cheeky wink.
Caresse nudged Selena with an elbow. “He
y, how were you able to gather all those images for that show…thingy?”
“I’m a woman of many talents. But the poison the hag used was magic. There were traces still on you when I arrived. Sorry, girls,” she added to Poutina and Niebleht, who stood nearby.
Poutina blinked at her. “She thought way back when that one of us would somehow wind up with Sebastien?”
“All that plotting.” Niebleht shook her head. “It’s astounding.”
Selena nudged Niebleht and gestured surreptitiously at a dashing man standing nearby, gazing raptly at her, tapping his toe as the orchestra began to play. “She figured either one of you would work out for him in the end, especially if she had the queen’s ear in the interim. I used the remnant of magic in the poison and…squeezed time a little, to get at evidence that would convict her. It wasn’t exactly easy. Time is fleeting.”
“I’m just glad you figured it out in time,” Caresse said.
“Thank Sebastien for calling out to me. If he hadn’t…well, I shudder to think of what might’ve happened. I had other matters to attend to. I suppose I shouldn’t juggle so many irons at once.”
“You can’t blame yourself, enchantress. Madness takes its toll,” Charles said with a sigh. “My, my, that’s a rather energetic tune they’re strumming in the orchestra, isn’t it?”
“Listen closely,” Selena drawled, her smile widening as she looked at Caresse, and then Leandre laughed out loud.
“I guess Caresse is going to have to wait for the answers to the rest of her questions.”
Caresse recognized the melody and grinned at him. In a slightly creepy voice, she said, “Not for very much longer.”
“I’ve got everything under control,” Leandre said in a growly tone.
“That’s not how it goes!” Caresse and Selena shouted at the same time.
“Purists!” Leandre teased.
The dashing man Selena had pointed out earlier, along with a friend of his, came forward and bowed to Niebleht and Poutina before offering their elbows and escorting them to the dance floor. Poutina and Niebleht happily accepted.
“Wait, what dance is this?” Sebastien asked. “More Cupid Shuffle? Another Cotton-eyed Joseph?”
Caresse giggled at him and said, “It’s very simple.”
“Show us!” Poutina called.
“It’s just a jump to the left,” Caresse said, facing them and demonstrating to that effect. “And then a step to the right!” she called, waving jazz hands.
“Oh, this looks fun!” Regine said as she and Reginald joined in their line.
“Put your hands on your hips!”
Selena joined them in a flash of silver silk and chimed in “And bring your knees in tiiiight!”
“Selena!” Leandre called out in surprise.
“What? You think you’re the only one who loves human pop culture? But it’s the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane!” Demonstrating that move made all of them laugh and try it out. “Let’s do the Time Warp again!”
“Why, it’s so dreamy!” Poutina shouted as she followed Selena’s steps and smiled up at her line dance partner when he mimicked taking a bite of her.
The Time Warp was a hit, but Caresse begged off when Selena suggested that she could live stream the Rocky Horror Picture Show with magic, make toast and rice materialize, and they could roleplay if they wanted to.
“I don’t think this group is ready for Sweet Transvestite,” Caresse said with a snicker. She turned to Leandre and raised an eyebrow. “Unless you have other stuff in your wardrobe besides Tom Ford tuxedos and Lord of the Rings elven leathers.”
“Uh, no. Sorry to disappoint you, my princess,” Leandre said with a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Although I’d do anything for you in private.” He nodded melodramatically and mouthed anything with a wink.
“Not that!” she answered, laughter bubbling up inside her.
“What do you mean?” Sebastien asked as he put his hands on her hips and did a very fine pelvic thrust against her backside.
Caresse pictured in her mind what Leandre would look like in a corset, panties, pearls, and platform heels.
“Ugh, no! Never do that again!” he said. “What has been seen can’t be unseen.”
“Granted,” Leandre replied, looking over his shoulder, “although I think I could rock the platforms.”
Sebastien had a full body shudder. “Not even that, thank you. I may never have an erection ever again!”
“I did not just hear you say that out loud,” Regine called from behind as the music, which must’ve been augmented by either Selena’s or Leandre’s fae talents, came to an end.
“Just kidding, Mother!”
All the guests clapped and cheered and called out, “Again!”
“Soon it will be midnight,” Regine called out. “It’s time for Sebastien and Leandre to have their special dance with Ninette, er…Nicola, er…Caresse. Which is it, my dear?”
“Caresse, if you don’t mind?”
“By any name, we are happy to have you back among us, princess,” Sebastien said as he kissed her forehead. “Leandre has been looking forward to this moment ever since you said yes.”
“Oh, you mean when I was—” She imagined the moment when they’d made love to her together, so erotic, joined so closely.
“Yes, that’s the one, lusty vixen,” Leandre murmured from behind her. “Have mercy and dance with me.”
“The night suddenly feels like it’s going to be a long one,” she whispered, a shiver going down her spine as the heat from his hands soaked through the silk of her dress.
“You’ve been showing the guests how to line dance, but you’ve never once said what you really want to dance to,” he said as he gazed down at her.
“Well, now that you mention it, I’ve always wanted to slow dance with a really tall, sexy man.”
“Is he taller than me?” he quipped.
“He is you,” she murmured to both of them as Sebastien kissed her cheek and allowed Leandre to lead her out on the cleared dance floor.
“A slow dance?”
“A really sexy slow dance.”
“You miss the music from your world, don’t you?”
“Sometimes, yeah.” She nodded as a song came into her mind. She broadcast it to him in the mental chat room, and she was surprised a moment later when the basic melody of the song filled the air. The maestro listened for a moment and then turned to his musicians and gave direction for where they could join.
“I can’t believe you made that happen.”
“Anything is possible in Tangere, princess. Look at us. Look around you.”
“I miss certain things about my world, but I couldn’t trade it for this one.”
“I love you, Caresse,” he murmured. “I’m so glad you returned to us.”
“I thought you drew me to that cave.”
He shook his head as she held his hand and twirled in the dance and then came close, rubbing her pelvis against his. “I got you to safety, checked in on you, but the choice was yours all along.”
“I felt so drawn to that cave, despite the dark. I think we all felt that way to some extent. I just had to overcome the fear. And I’m glad I understand where the phobia came from in the first place. Thank you for saving me all those years ago.”
“I think I’ve loved you since then. Okay, that’s not true. I loved you from the moment Ella showed you to me the first time. I just assumed it was the love of the devoted bodyguard.”
“Well, you were an excellent bodyguard.”
“TEFBG”
She shook her head. “TSSBAFBG.” At his arched eyebrow, she translated. “The Super Sexy Bad Ass Fae Body Guard.”
“TSSSBAFBG.”
“Okay, that’s too much.”
“But you forgot S for Stylish.”
“Okay, hush now because they’re playing our song.”
“Okay,” he replied as he pulled her extra close and dipped her, not even missing a beat to “B
lue Ain’t Your Color.”
“You make me look so good, handsome.”
“You do that all on your own. I’m gonna teach the orchestra how to play ‘Love On The Brain’ later, and then we’re really going to dance, baby.”
“Promise?”
“Yes. It’s Sebastien’s turn.”
“I want you both.”
“You can have us both any time you want,” Sebastien whispered from behind her, sending sexy little rivers of shivers down her spine.
Leandre retreated to stand with Selena on the sidelines, having an animated conversation in which he smiled and nodded a lot.
The piano melody began to play, joined by stringed instruments. A tall, beautiful man with dark skin and eyes the color burnished bronze came to stand near the conductor and lifted his voice, adding lyrics to the haunting melody. As he sang he held everyone in thrall, and Caresse lost herself in one of the dances he’d taught her.
“Was it only two nights ago that we met? Time is a funny thing, isn’t it?” he murmured against her lips before kissing her.
“I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”
“You have,” he whispered and then tilted his forehead to hers.
An image flickered in her mind of a little boy of no more than three or four years of age, sitting on the floor of a nursery, the same one from Selena’s vision. He was kneeling over a cradle and rocking it gently while his mother looked on.
“Aww, pitty beebee,” the little boy whispered to the infant, stroking her tiny hand when she reached out to him.
“Very pretty baby,” his mother agreed, smiling up at the woman who joined them. Her mother, Ella. Caresse’s eyes stung and tears threatened at the love she could see in Ella’s expression.
Caresse turned in his arms, so her back was against his chest, and smiled when she saw that all the guests were watching them, some with trembling lips and big smiles.
“Growing up,” Sebastien said, once he’d turned her to face him again, “I could recall feeling resentful at the idea my parents would arrange a marriage for me.”
“How dare they, right? How can love grow in an arranged marriage?”
“They evidently knew what they were doing. Our families were close. They knew each other well and had similar values. I suppose if you’d stayed it would’ve worked out just, as well.”
Midnight of the Fae [Tangere Tales 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Page 19