Royal Pride

by Zelda Knight

  “She wants me to speak for them,” I spoke softly.

  "I heard. I might not understand the meaning behind it other than it hurts you deeply and that you don’t want to return to India,” she replied. “How bad is it there?”

  "They are here to drag me back, and Lou is upstairs making calls to start a possible war to make them stop,” I replied, sipping my tea.

  “So, bad, bad,” Titania replied. “Should I call for help?”

  “I thought you would be heading for higher ground by now,” I said. I wouldn’t be surprised. She had helped far more than I expected. I appreciated everything she had done for me. Staying would be another step.

  "I have been in a similar position, taken with nowhere to turn to for help, and I can’t stand by to watch someone else possibly be taken,” she explained. I knew the feeling. If I saw someone else being taken, I would get involved. I could see why she would be staying.

  “Are you going to be up for this? They are closing in. I feel them now,” I stated.

  “I will be. The spirits have been warning me,” she replied.

  “Must be unusual to hear all the spirits.”

  "I usually don’t keep my senses open all the time, but they asked me in this situation. Many of them are unhappy about them coming for you.”

  "The ancestor spirits?” I asked, they cared what happened?

  “Of course, they don’t want them to capture you.”

  “I will take that warning signal,” I said. Perfect, some sort of warning.

  “I should go and make a few calls to see if I can get some help,” she replied.“It doesn’t seem like they are going to be waiting much longer.”

  “Agreed. Take this,” I handed her one of the bloodstone necklaces. “I enchanted them against Naga venom and some of the more deadly poisons they tend to spit at people.”

  "Thanks, and spit?” she asked.

  "Yes, spit.”

  “What a special surprise that will be,” Titania replied with a smile.

  “Each of us needs to learn the unique language of our own soul.”

  By John O’Donohue

  * * *

  Several friends and strangers arrived at the house to prepare for the arrival of our uninvited guests within a few hours of getting the call. The noise levels shifted, explanations given, weapons shown, bloodstones gifted, and some sort of organization by Lou. I went outside to feel the air when the first priest arrived. He appeared in a long dim yellow robe, worn from age. It’s amazing how his face is still youthful after all this time, but he is beginning to show hints of silver in his deep brown hair. His ancient dark eyes meet mine across the lawn.

  "Devishi, you appear to be blooming out here in the wild,” Laksh stated in English. I was impressed he even bothered to learn. He considered foreign languages beneath him.

  “Laksh,” I spoke without a bow or groveled. Something he would expect, behind me, some of my friends started creeping around. It had begun. Next to me, I felt fur under my hand. I stroked Lou's thick fur. Not every day one might see a hyena, given in nature, females were more significant than the males already, and she was enormous.

  “It is time to return to the Nest,” Laksh spoke. He wove his hand like he was just going to wave me over like a dog and bring me home. He was in for a surprise.

  “I will not be returning to the Nest,” I spoke clearly for all to hear, including all the Naga not showing themselves.

  “This is not up for debate, you are one of us, and it is time for you to return,” he continued like I had said nothing. “Now come to me Devishi. We will go now.”

  "I do not believe you are listening to me, Laksh. I am not returning with you. I was banished. I have no reason to return. Consider me dead for all I care, but I am not leaving New Orleans,” I spoke louder. I needed them to understand, hear me, something. If not, violence would start and soon. I felt Lou’s hackles rising below my hand.

  "I hear your words, but it is you child, that does not understand. One of the foolish Priests made an error. We are here to correct Parijat's dismissal,” Laksh spoke, nothing changing or shifting in his voice. Just the expectation is continuing.

  “No,” I replied.

  “It is not your choice,” Laksh said. “It is mine.”

  I dug my fingers into Lou’s fur to stop myself from shaking. I had to stand tall and not fall apart in front of them. This was the man who held the whole collective together, never had left India to the best of my knowledge, and now stood there staring me down. I swallowed the lump from forming in my throat, the bile lurching upward and the pit screaming in my stomach. Don’t pass, don’t pass out.

  “Do you speak to your Gods?” I heard Titania speak nearby. Loud enough to gain the attention of even Laksh. His stare turned to who dared interrupt him taking me.

  "Who dares speak to me?” Laksh demanded.

  “Titania Mallory, Voodoo Priestess, and I can hear your Gods right now telling me you can’t hear them,” she stated. And with that the truth bomb dropped. I could hear the gasps from the Naga through the open space behind the house. Several of them came into view in human form. Only a pair were in proper Naga form.

  Rapid conversations began, partially in Hindi and a few other languages from home. I could hear the surprise, shock, and awe in the buzz of conversation. They didn’t know what to think. He had probably been speaking for the Gods for years without a word from them.

  “She lies. She is not one of us. She is a foreigner. They cannot understand our Gods,” Laksh tilted his head in Titania’s direction. “Get rid of the heretic.”

  “No,” I yelled before I even thought about it. I reached for the Goddess; the instinct kicked in. Protect.

  Power flowed unchecked through my veins, gifted by one so much stronger than I. I pushed a force towards Laksh. He felt it and returned, slower. His passion was weaker, not touched by the Gods anymore. He went flying back into the bushes of azaleas. I began to allow the power to flow through me, glowing with being Goddess touched fully again.

  "Any of you touch her,” I stated so no one could miss what I said. “I will put you down as I put him down.”

  I could see the golden glow stretching out from my hands, my aura spreading out into the physical realm, lighting up the area in hues of yellows, golds, and whites. Even Lou’s fur began to light up under my touch, the coat taking on a golden hue. The other Naga took several steps away, Laksh stayed down, and I heard the Goddess.

  'Now, you see,’ the voice spoke directly through me. ‘Time for a change.’

  "The Goddess says it is time for a change,” I spoke to the audience before me. I felt them more than I could see them. “I agree with her. It is long overdue. If the leaders cannot speak and hear the Gods, but are unwilling to inform us of when this happens, change is long overdue.”

  “She does not speak for us,” Laksh attempted to regain control of those gathered. Someone silenced him with a hand, as others kept him on the ground. There would be no war today.

  “I do not speak for you, correct. I am just telling you what she is saying. I do not live amongst you. I live here. I am not returning to India,” I replied. I wouldn’t return even with being touched right now. I still couldn’t go back.

  “Why not? We need you?” Another Priest’s voice came out from the bushes.

  “I was banished, and I have accepted that fate,” I nodded. “I live here now. I will accept the women who want to stay, and pledge to teach them how to survive, but not the men who do what they do to us.”

  "It is tradition,” another man spoke.

  "I don’t care. I will save them from you,” I still had the touch of the Goddess flowing. She had not taken her touch away from me. She wasn’t displeased with my choice. “That is my will.”

  "What does the Goddess say?” I was asked by several. I waited for her reply. I felt Lou under my hand, muscles tensing if she had to pounce since she was ready to hit anyone right now.

  I felt just the positive light
and energy from her against me. She agreed with me. “She agrees, it is time for a change. I will stay here. If you wish to know what she says from me, you will have to come to me. Set up a place here. But I want only the women, and the young girls sent here.”

  "We need to keep the women, who will clean, care for us?” They moaned

  “You will learn to do it yourselves,” I announced. “They are not slaves. They are free now. If they are not freed and returned to me to help….”

  I left off the threat, they understood. The voice of the Goddess would no longer speak to them ever. They knew I was it now, they had been lied to, and now I was the only hope. The change had come, and I was it. The women were going to be freed. Heck, the Nest might all move here.

  What had I done?

  Epilogue

  ONE YEAR LATER

  * * *

  The house had become crowded with all the new Naga teenagers living within our house. We had rented out homes around the neighborhood where the other women were placed to start learning English, basic survival skills, and how to successfully navigate living in America. They had finally all been escorted here by the men, most of the older men refused to move to New Orleans, returning to the old ways in India, but the younger Naga stayed setting up a new Nest with the women. I now had become responsible for a Nest, the High Priestess. The Voice, everything I had been afraid of in one swoop with Lou keeping them in line. She was learning the ins and outs of Naga life, helping them adapt.

  One of the young Naga allowed me to have a fang to repay Juniper for borrowing the dagger so I could repay the debt. It was polite, and some of the local mages started helping the regrowing process. The old Naga were horrified at the idea of giving an outsider a fang for any use. But the favor was repaid so that it wouldn’t be hanging over my head, and it didn’t have to be used on any of the Naga I had in my Nest. I also knew where it was just in case some of the older Naga started causing any problems in the future.

  It became a whole new world for us all. Naga’s in New Orleans, the supernatural world, were surprised with cobras unbalancing the natural order of things. The vipers had to learn how to handle us and us to them. The other shifters were easier to adapt to our presence, given we were not a threat to their order, just the snakes. It was a strange new world we had created.

  The End

  About W.M. Dawson

  W.M. Dawson lives with her husband, her tailless cats, and a three-legged dog that all think they run the house. Now that she is writing full time, her fiction runs the gambit of romance, horror, fantasy, urban fantasy, to whatever comes to mind in her over-caffeinated brain. Raised in the southwestern part of America, she hides from the desert sun in the writing cave, avoiding setting ablaze being a redhead. She also writes under Wendy Cheairs.

  Find Out More:

  * * *

  Website: https://indigowriter.com/

  * * *

  Books:

  Wings of Fate: A Limited-Edition Collection of Fae Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance:

  https://books2read.com/u/me9dMA

  * * *

  Welcome to the Jungle:

  https://books2read.com/u/mKwdLE

  * * *

  Moonlight: A Limited-Edition Paranormal Romance Anthology:

  https://books2read.com/u/mYG6ap

  Foxy Heist

  (A Lucky Break Novel, #1)

  © 2021 Zelda Knight

  Edited by Halo Press

  About Foxy Heist

  (A Lucky Break Novel, #1)

  A Foxy Heist

  Two Magical Realms

  Three Feisty Shifters

  * * *

  Interdimensional jewel thief Sarah Lee Ho—better known as Bijoux—slips effortlessly between the human and paranormal realms. She captures divine precious stones in exchange for mortal luxuries. But one fateful night, under a parallel full moon, everything goes wrong. Injured and trapped on the other side, she finds herself the object of desire of three immortal shifters and ex-lovers—Kim Min-joon, Bo Chang, and Toshiyuki. They agree to send her back if she answers their riddles, and if she fails, they demand a steep price: her hand in eternal marriage to three cunning fox gods.

  * * *

  Foxy Heist is a paranormal reverse harem MFMM shifter romance novel. It can be read as a standalone in the Lucky Break series. It features a cunning interdimensional jewel thief and three feisty fox shifter gods with strong language, graphic violence, and sexual content, including bisexual MM.

  A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom.

  ~ Proverb

  Prologue

  Sarah

  The Last Riddle

  Slipping through space and time came as easily as walking and breathing for interdimensional jewel thief Sarah Lee Ho. She was used to exchanging divine precious stones for mortal luxuries, doing back door deals with all sorts of divine, demonic, and super-wealthy human clients for big paydays and otherworldly thrills. But Sarah would be damned if she would spend eternity trapped with a bunch of bored immortals without her magic just because she couldn’t solve a riddle...or three.

  “Bijoux,” the elder crow shifter in front of her quipped, “You know what you must do. There’s no point resisting any longer. The foxfire will only burn for another hour.”

  “Must I go now, Old Crow?” she groaned.

  “Yes. Now. And you’re one to talk, calling me old,” he squawked, beak clacking as his dark wings shoved thick white tiles around the table separating them.

  “Hmph! I’m pushing thirty, not three-hundred, old friend.” Sarah scoffed in-between sips of green tea, hands darting across the table encrusted with gold and diamonds as they played a fast-paced game of mahjong to pass the time in the House of Nine Foxes. Which, if she really thought about it, was sort of ironic since only three fox deities lived there currently.

  Young hotshot foxy immortals still in the prime of their eternal youth—compared to their ancient immortal neighbors at the very least—Kim Min-joon, Bo Chang, and Toshiyuki were becoming royal pains in Sarah’s ass. They promised to help her when she found herself stuck in between realms on the verge of death, all to draw her into some elaborate game of riddles that lead back to their tiny planet of a mansion. The princes were the craftiest shape-shifting little shits she’d ever encountered, and that was saying a lot because Sarah got around and met many shifters during her travels.

  “Bijoux,” the old crow called out to her again, swiping aside the tiles into the gutter of the table. They were swallowed up and re-sorted. And now she was forced to focus on him and not on their shared distraction. Reluctantly, Sarah met his milky gaze, the polar opposite of her obsidian black.

  “I know, I know. I need to give them an answer. My time, it seems, has run out, old friend. Pray to your gods I make it back in time.” She stood, smoothing out her shimmering blue gown before bending down to tug on her couture black flats, fixing her sparkling diamond earrings in the process. If she wanted to steal some hearts, she figured she had to look the part. And she couldn’t help but thank them for fixing her outfit.

  Before turning to leave, Sarah adjusted the silver pin holding her waist-length black hair in a messy bun. Her transformation to femme fatale complete, it was time to go claim her prize and get herself a ticket back to her realm.

  It’s now or never, Bijoux. This is the ultimate test. So don’t screw it up.

  After giving herself a brief pep talk, she steeled herself and left, waving away the divine messenger who flapped his jet-black wing in goodbye. She found it strange that after years of knowing each other, she’d never seen his human form or learned his true name. But she wasn’t one to corner a shifter syndicate leader, who was her main connection between the human and paranormal realms before the whole debacle that brought her there.

  A little mystery always added to one’s reputation, and as much as her male pseudonym and impossible heists inspired shock and awe when rivals matched her face with Bijoux’s l
egend, nothing beat a six-foot talking crow who casually dealt in the mortal and immortal realms and seemed to never age.

  Sarah marched down the elaborate hallways with her mission in mind, though she couldn’t hide the worry from creeping into her otherwise neutral expression. Beside her were row after row of high arches overseeing a slice of divine paradise. It should have been amazing to see. A sinful human like herself who could only dream of reincarnation, let alone an audience with three divine beings, should be blown away.

  However, as much as she hated the expression, Sarah could read the tea leaves in her situation, and they weren’t looking good. The triad of shifter princes were immortals, having cultivated their magic over anywhere from one hundred to five hundred plus years. Sarah, on the other hand, could barely muster the magic to block out the sweltering heat from their cosmic fox flames. Mortals like her were not meant to stay in the paranormal realms for long, especially that of the divine. And it wasn’t like she could transcend her lot in life that easily.

  No, she was running out of time in more ways than one. Immortals tended to get fickle with the value of life when their lives never truly ended. While the foxes were ascended, immortals who had known the threat of death before joining the ranks of the divine, they would never again understand Sarah’s struggle. To them, this was a fun game, payback for breaking each one of their hearts in infinite ways when they popped the question that made her flee. But to her, this wasn’t just a game. This was life or death. And Sarah was determined to win.