by Amy Sumida
“Congratulations!” King Cian stood as the couple approached. “Come forth, Champions of Earth!”
The couple strode up the stairs to the sound of applause, and came to stand directly before the High King. King Cian turned and waved two of his attendants forward. They were both knights of Spirit, and they held green velvet pillows with the crowns of the Earth Kingdom set upon them.
“Kneel, Lord Ruari,” King Cian commanded, “Lady Bronagh.”
The couple went to their knees, still holding hands.
“It is my great pleasure to crown the new monarchs of Earth, your strongest, most valiant, and most romantic earth faeries,” Cian paused for the tittering crowd, and picked up the larger of the two crowns.
The earth crowns were the only faerie crowns not made of metal. The circlets which formed their foundations were polished wood. The wood gleamed gold though, and formed a perfect backdrop for the leaf-shaped emeralds curving around it.
King Cian placed the crown on Ruari's head, “In the name of Faerie herself, I, Cian, High King of Faerie, crown you, Ruari, King of Earth. May your reign be long and peaceful.”
“Thank you, High King,” Ruari stood, and briefly nodded to the crowd.
King Cian returned to his throne, allowing the new King of Earth the pleasure of crowning his queen. King Ruari took the smaller crown reverently, and looked down at his wife with a brilliant smile.
“I know you let me win,” Ruari whispered to her, making her laugh, and her eyes glowed even brighter. Then he laid the crown reverently upon Bronagh's head and declared loudly, “I, Ruari, King of Earth, crown you, my beloved Bronagh, Queen of Earth.” He helped Bronagh to her feet, and whispered once more, “You were already the queen of my heart.”
I looked to Arach, teary eyed again, and he smiled at me.
“Remind you of anyone?” Arach took my free hand and kissed it.
“Are all you fey men so romantic?” I whispered back. “Do they teach you that in faerie high school?”
“No, just us kings,” Arach kissed my fingertips more thoroughly as the Earth Royals took the empty thrones beside the High Royals.
Chapter Fifteen
After the coronations, there was a feast. Of course. The Fey liked a good party as much as anyone. With all the royals and their entourages in attendance, it was a very full dining hall, but no one looked as if they minded. Faeries were rotating seats at the tables, getting up as soon as they were done eating, and joining in the revelry. There was lots of music, bards already singing about the battles of the day, and there was complicated fey dancing. Faerie wine flowed, and even some human wine, at least at the high table. I'd brought a few bottles of champagne from the stock I had at Aithinne. The royals had been amazed by the bubbles in the liquid, and had called the drink “human magic”. I explained that it was simply science, but Lugh mused that science was the human equivalent.
You may be thinking that I'm a horrible mother, drinking alcohol while pregnant. Actually, my god and fey blood gave me such incredible healing that it made it nearly impossible for the alcohol to even reach the baby. It was simply burned away too quickly. Even if it did get to Lesya, her god blood would take care of it. So I could enjoy some champagne without worry.
Yet as much as I had advanced healing, making a baby, especially one who grew as fast as Lesya, took a lot out of a person. Normally, I didn't notice it, but after all that had been happening lately, the exhaustion was catching up. I was tired and I wanted to go home. But faerie queens didn't get to leave parties early, especially not one of this magnitude, no matter how tired they were.
“This is your third child, Queen Vervain?” Queen Bronagh asked me wistfully.
“Yes,” I rubbed my belly. “Don't worry, fertility is coming back to Faerie. If you want children, I'm sure you'll be able to have one soon.”
“If we want them?” King Ruari asked in shock. “Is there anyone who doesn't?”
“Sure,” I frowned, never considering that the fey wouldn't know about birth control. “Humans have many ways of preventing pregnancy. I myself keep a birth control spell in place when I'm not trying to conceive.”
“You what?” Bronagh gasped. “You prevent pregnancy? You mean, you could have had more children, and you've impeded their births?”
The other monarchs were now watching us intently. The only ones who seemed to understand were Lugh and Arach. The rest of them looked baffled.
“If I didn't, I'd be constantly pregnant,” I shook my head at them, “and I couldn't handle that.”
I didn't mention that there were children I'd already met in the future, whom I needed to conceive with specific men. That would be an awkward conversation.
“Pregnant constantly?” Bronagh's jaw dropped. “Are you that fertile? Is it your goddesshood?”
“I recall humans being quite fertile,” King Cian noted. “Do you all not remember?” he looked around at the rest of the high table.
“Oh yes,” High Queen Meara came to my rescue. “They are very blessed, but I believe that's due to their short lives. Queen Vervain is wise to control her conception. We live far too long to produce children as often as the humans. We'd overrun Faerie and end up becoming our own destruction.”
The table went silent in grim contemplation. It must have been shocking to them, the thought that something as wonderful as children could end up being a threat to their survival.
“The humans are on the verge of that very thing,” I added. “And they live around a hundred years at most.”
“No,” Ruari was horrified, “truly?”
“Yes, the human world is overpopulated,” Arach answered for me, using his wise-dragon tone. “I've seen it on the laptopper Vervain gifted me.”
I bit my lip and didn't correct his mistake. Arach's word twists always amused me, but I wasn't about to embarrass him in front of the royals of Faerie.
“What is a laptopper?” Bronagh asked with wonder.
“It's a human device that can access all the knowledge of their world,” Arach said smugly. “And it's small enough to sit upon your lap. My wife gave one to the High King as well. Do you not find it informative, King Cian?”
“It's an amazing machine,” Cian nodded. “I admit, I spend too much time using it. What was the term for it, Queen Vervain?”
“Surfing the Internet,” I said.
“Ah yes,” Cian nodded with a smile, “I spend too much time Inter-realm surfing.”
Lugh made a choking sound, and covered his twitching mouth.
“Are you alright, Son?” Cian asked in concern.
“Yes, I'm fine,” Lugh smiled brightly. “I didn't know you had a computer, Dad.”
“Are you familiar with the device?” Cian asked in surprise.
“Of course,” Lugh laughed. “Many gods make use of human technology. Humans create miraculous things.”
“Perhaps I should send you on a mission to acquire more of these miracles for us,” Cian mused.
“I'd be happy to,” Lugh said immediately. “We can get iPods, digital cameras, tablets, phones-” he stopped when he saw my face. “What?”
“You'll overwhelm them,” I shook my head. “Maybe bring them back, but go over one thing at a time.”
“No, they can-” Lugh stopped when he saw the other faerie royals staring at him with round eyes. “Oh.”
“And that was just from hearing the names,” I nodded. “Imagine how you felt when you first learned about technology. Besides, by the time you teach them one device, the others will be obsolete.”
“What does that mean, Queen Vervain?” Meara asked.
“The technology is constantly advancing,” I explained. “Humans work on making their world better every day. These machines get faster and more powerful yearly. The computer I brought the High King should probably be replaced by now. There will be better versions of it for sale.”
“The strongest magic in Faerie will not be able to take that machine from me,” Cian declared.
/> “I'm glad you're enjoying it, High King,” I chuckled.
“It's very entertaining,” he returned my smile. “I watch those human plays on it.”
“Movies,” I nodded. “So does Arach. He learns a lot of human colloquialisms through them.”
“Yes, I can speak like a human now,” Arach said proudly.
“I enjoy it greatly too,” Guirmean nodded his head to me in thanks. I'd given all of the royals laptops.
Well, except for the earth royals, because I hated Aalish, and I'd be damned if I gave her such an expensive gift which also presented her with unlimited information. But these new royals were another matter entirely. They were a fresh start, and hopefully I could build a better relationship with them.
“I'll bring you one too,” I said to Ruari and Bronagh, “and I'll send one of my imps to show you how to work it. They're very good with technology. In fact, they're the ones who helped Torrent connect a line of Internet to Faerie.”
“A line of Internet?” Bronagh gaped at me.
“It's a human created realm of information,” I waved my hand at the air. “It can send knowledge through the air invisibly. The laptop catches the information and shows it to you.”
“Sweet Faerie,” Ruari whispered. “When did they become so powerful?”
“Well, it has been quite a long time since you've been connected to the Human Realm,” I offered.
“But to create their own realm,” Ruari shook his head. “That's something which only we were able to do.”
“It was a product of their technology,” I shrugged. “And really, it's only a way of transmitting information in a sort of energy form. No humans can actually go into the realm.”
“But your imps can?” Bronagh asked.
“Yes, and so can I,” I smiled. “You probably could as well, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's much easier to receive the information on a device than have to go searching for it physically in the Inter-Realm.”
“I'm feeling a little dizzy,” Bronagh held a hand to her head.
“I apologize,” I said immediately, “this is what I was warning Prince Lugh about. It can be a lot to process.”
“Regardless,” Ruari said, “we'll look forward to this laptopper and the help of your imps. Thank you for your generosity, Queen Vervain.”
“My pleasure,” I smiled at the new Earth Royals. “I'm looking forward to getting to know the both of you better.”
“Well, you're very welcome in our kingdom,” Bronagh declared.
“Now those are words I'd never thought to hear an earth queen utter,” I joked. They all looked at me with brittle smiles. Arach shook his head in exasperation. “What? Too soon?”
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, I decided to return to the God Realm. I kissed all of my boys goodbye, and used my ring to travel back to the last time I'd left. Kirill was still asleep. I crawled up the two steps of the bed's pedestal, and onto the ridiculously large mattress, feeling a little like a child climbing into her parent's bed. Kirill stirred as I eased up behind him. I slid my arms around his solid waist, and nuzzled my face into his neck, breathing in the musk of lion and man that registered as “home” in my brain.
“Tima?” Kirill shifted so he could pull me into his side, and I adjusted so that I was laying on his chest. “You're home.”
“I am,” I sighed.
“Is good,” he nuzzled my face again and went back to sleep.
I chuckled softly, and would have joined him, if I hadn't just woke up. I did luxuriate a little longer in his embrace before I pulled myself away and headed to the kitchenette to make us breakfast. As the smell of food drifted up the stairs to my other sleeping beauties, they began to wake and stumble down in search of sustenance. I got my morning kisses, but intelligent conversation had to wait until everyone had some caffeine. Once the scent of coffee filled the air, Kirill came awake sniffing.
I looked around the table at the collection of bare-chested, breathtaking men, and had one of my moments of surreal gratitude. Mine. All of them were mine. How the hell had that happened? Who cared? They were mine.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Odin asked suspiciously.
“No reason,” I shrugged, “just happy to see all of you together.”
“I actually need to fly,” Azrael said regretfully.
“Literally,” Trevor chuckled.
“Yeah,” Az said, like that had been his meaning all along.
“Okay, honey,” I lifted my face for a kiss, and his scent enveloped me. Depending on the time of day, Azrael could smell like vanilla orchids or Jordan almonds. This early, it was vanilla orchids, fresh and sweet. “I'll see you later.”
“Death never sleeps,” he sighed as he left.
“Uh, you just did, dude!” Trevor called after him.
“Shut up, Trevor,” Azrael called back, his voice echoing through the stone hallway. “Or you'll be the one sleeping... with the fishes.”
“And so it begins again,” I sighed and sipped my coffee. “I don't think either of you are mature enough to be fathers.”
“Look who's talking,” Trevor rolled his eyes. “Are you still quoting Deadpool or have we moved onto another movie?”
“I quoted Deadpool because it was like quoting myself,” I snapped.
“Except he has potty mouth,” Kirill added.
“Yes,” I nodded to Kirill, “except for the potty mouth bit.”
“Are you sure you don't have anything from Fantastic Beasts you'd like to throw out this morning?” Trevor asked. “We did just see that.”
“Was that the one with the little British man and his magic suitcase?” Odin frowned as he tried to remember.
“Are you kidding me?” I gaped at him. “It was amazing. And the pastries! Dear dragons, that movie made me hungry.”
“Because you are pregnant,” Kirill shrugged and then smiled wide, “vith my baby.”
“Yeah, man, everyone knows,” Trevor shook his head at Kirill. “You can stop bragging now.”
“Nyet, I'm not stopping,” Kirill scooped the last bit of his bacon into his mouth and chewed smugly. Yes, you can chew with smugness. I saw it for myself.
“Please, can we have our son next?” Trevor whined.
“You're all children,” I shook my head.
“Hardly,” scoffed Odin.
“Okay, maybe all of them except for you,” I conceded.
“Him?” Trevor scoffed. “He's the one who got me saying 'dude'.”
“I was Griffin at the time,” Odin huffed. “That doesn't count.”
This was an old argument. Odin hated being reminded of his time as Griffin; the surfer boy with PTSD, whose body he commandeered (after Griffin's death of course). I had brought Odin's soul back from the Void without his god magic, and so Odin had fallen under the sway of the body and its memories. He'd briefly become Griffin, until I was able to reunite Odin with his magic, and he was able to defeat the pull of his physical body. His magic returned Odin's memories, and had even changed Griffin's body to look just as Odin had before. Although there had been a lot of mental changes going on, Odin could remember the whole experience just fine... which annoyed him to no end. Griffin wasn't nearly as smart as Odin, nor was he in love with me. He'd said some hurtful and stupid things... and done even worse.
“It's your body,” Trevor shrugged, “take responsibility.”
“Take responsibility for a body and brain I had no part in creating or even choosing?” Odin huffed. “I don't think so.”
“If you two don't stop, I'm going back to Faerie,” I threatened. “Everyone there is nice to me, now that Aalish is dead.”
“How is Earth Kingdom dealing vith deaths of rulers?” Kirill asked.
“Actually, they just had a crown tournament and a new king and queen have been chosen,” I told them. “The last fight in the tourney was between the two of them.”
“What?” Odin scowled. “They both entered?”
“Yep, and
they both made it to the end,” I smiled. “It was pretty sweet. The King, this guy named Ruari, won, though he kind of did it with distraction. He knocked out his wife. Then he went over and held her, and cried,” I chuckled. “I may have sniffled a little.”
“He beat her, zen cried about it?” Kirill narrowed his eyes. “Sounds like an asshole to me.”
“No, it was sweet,” I shook my head. “They both agreed to the fight. Bronagh knew what she'd be facing. But in the end, Ruari hated hurting her.”
“Zen he shouldn't have,” Kirill said simply.
“I think it's sweet,” Trevor nodded. “But I would have let you win, Minn Elska.”
“Let me?” I lifted my brows.
“Oh, now you've done it,” Odin shook his head. “And he thinks I'm the stupid one.”
I was about to launch a verbal assault against my werewolf husband, when a knock came at the bedroom door. Kirill got up to answer it, and we found UnnúlfR standing there. UnnúlfR was Trevor's younger brother, next in line for the Froekn throne, figuratively speaking since there wasn't any throne. Fenrir and his rouva (queen) wore torques instead of crowns, and they weren't too particular about what kind of chair they sat in.
UnnúlfR and I had never really got along. Not since our introduction in the Froekn fighting pit. He had to fight me, I don't hold that against him, but he didn't have to threaten to rape me after he won. I guess I didn't have to enjoy kicking his ass so much either, but I'm only human. Or at least I was at the time. Mostly. Oh whatever, we didn't like each other.
“Brother,” Trevor stood up, all humor disappearing. “What is it?”
Yeah, it had to be bad for UnnúlfR to show up on my turf, unannounced and alone.
“We're having some problems,” my brother-in-law sighed. “Sorry to bother you in the middle of breakfast.”