by Bonnie Lamer
My eyes travel down her slender neck to the dress she has on. Oh my god, I am glad I chose loose fitting pants today. The dress is a brilliant green that matches her eyes. The neckline does not leave much to the imagination. That adds several more hours to what I would like to do with her. The bodice is tight and flows down into soft folds that hug her curves with delicate pearls sewn throughout. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. And she loves me. The full impact of that hits me. Our eyes meet when I move mine back up her body to her face and she is blushing. I am sure my expression is channeling my thoughts at the moment. The smile is back on my face now.
The perfectness of the moment is ruined by Kegan. “Grandmother, I am leaving, but I will return this after…” he steps into the foyer and stops at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes have travelled upwards to Xandra. “You are far too beautiful a creature to be with my undeserving cousin.”
My smile grows more smug now. “And you, cousin, wear your envy on your sleeve. You should ask Tabitha is she can whip up a cure for that.”
“Boys,” Grandmother says in warning. “Kegan, I will expect you at two. Kallen, escort this beautiful young woman to the coach.”
My pleasure. I take Xandra’s hand in mine when she reaches the bottom step. Leaning close, I whisper, “I am the luckiest Fairy in the realm. You are absolutely gorgeous, like always.”
She smiles up at me. “Thank you.”
Tucking her arm around mine, I escort her outside towards the garage where the carriage has just been brought out. Transportation here is definitely different than in her realm. I laugh at how big her eyes are as she stares at the Fairy version of a car. The driver opens the door of the floating carriage and I help her in, gathering the train of her dress and tucking it behind her legs when she sits.
Grandmother smiles as we settle ourselves on our seats. “Not what you expected?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all. Are you making it float?”
“No, that is why I have a driver. I do not want to be bothered with the tedious magic it takes to drive a coach. That way, my mind and my magic, are free to dwell on other, more important things.”
I shake my head at Grandmother’s condescending tone. I hope I am not that bad. I am about to explain more when Xandra asks, “You said you hired him. Does that mean that you have money in this realm?”
With even more fine-tuned condescension, Grandmother says, “Of course, dear. Not everything can be created with magic. Wood and bricks are needed to build houses, but they cannot be held together by magic. The process to cut them and place them can be done by magic, but to keep them from falling down, it is necessary to use nails and mortar.”
“There are also many Cowan Fairies that do not have enough magic to create what they need. So, they must purchase or trade for those things,” I say trying to soften Grandmother’s words. Xandra slips her hand back into mine and then settles back onto the leather cushion.
Xandra spends the rest of the short trip checking out the scenery. This part of the Fae realm is similar to her home with its forest and craggy bluffs. But the trees are definitely different. For one, they do not have eucalyptus trees in Colorado. Nor can you find koala bears moving slowly amongst the trees there. There is also no snow covering any of it. That is a plus for me.
“A little different from the trees at home?” I ask.
She nods. “I recognize some of them, but not all. What are these?” she asks as we round a bend and the Mountain Ash trees consume the horizon.
“Mountain Ash trees,” I say and I point to the tops of them. “Look up there. There is a wooden path amongst the highest branches for Fairies to walk and see the world as a bird might.”
She laughs. “I guess you don’t go up there much.”
“I do not, but I would love to have the opportunity to take you.” That leads to all kinds of thoughts about what we could do up in the tree tops. Best not to say those out loud.
The palace has come into view and it is an amazing sight with its pentagonal bastions and the river that flows through it. The gardens are immaculate as usual and full of bright, vivid colors. The bridge that leads to the front door gleams in the sun and the heavy oak door is impressive. I watch as Xandra takes it all in silently.
We step out of the coach and a doorman that I do not recognize opens the door for us. His eyes cloud with anger when he sees Xandra. I pierce him with my own angry stare and he backs off. Everyone who works here knows that Grandmother and I are powerful whether I know them or not. They will soon learn that Xandra is as well.
Xandra tries to hide her awe but she fails. As we look down on the great hall with the Mountain Ash growing in the middle of the river, splitting it in two for a short distance, her mouth drops open. After a moment, she gathers her wits about her again and pretends not to notice any of it.
“This way, please,” the doorman says. He leads us down one of the two marble stairways from the balcony to the great hall. We follow him in silence and he leads us across the great hall to Dagda’s throne room. He certainly is trying to make an impression. I believe it is lost on Xandra.
At the door, our guide says, “King Dagda is expecting you. You may go right in.”
Grandmother nods at him with something just short of disdain on her face. Xandra tries to do the same but she has not mastered the expression. I hold my arm out and she laces her arm through it. We walk into the throne room like this allowing no room for doubt as to where my loyalties lie.
Since magic was rolling from this room in waves worthy of a tropical storm, it is no surprise that it is filled with palace guards. I shake my head and sigh. The only message Dagda is sending with this display of force is that he is afraid of Xandra. As he should be. But still, I would have guessed he wanted her to believe that he is not afraid of her.
Dagda is sitting on his throne at the back of the room. When the room is not littered with guards the throne is impressive. It is made of silver and surrounded by a small garden. But as we walk through the crowd, Dadga just looks small sitting there.
I feel Xandra tensing next to me when Dagda rises to his feet. She has already pulled magic and is ready to overflow. Dadga had better tread carefully.
“Welcome, Isla. Kallen.” He gives me what is supposed to be a withering look but I simply stare him down. I also give him the same small inclining of my head in greeting that Grandmother does.
Now his eyes turn to Xandra. “And here is my beautiful daughter. Welcome. I hope the journey was not difficult for you.”
I was in need of four small holes in my arm so I am glad that Xandra has taken the opportunity to give me some with her nails as she tries to maintain her outward calm. “It was no trouble at all. I simply created a gateway and stepped through it.” I smirk at the flash of anger on Dagda’s face.
He recovers quickly. “Yes, of course.” He walks closer to us and stops right in front of Xandra. “I can see your mother in your features. She was a great beauty.”
The mental dam holding Xandra’s magic back bursts into tiny pieces. A boundless rush of magic fueled by her anger fills the room. The guards are poised, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. If I was in this situation with anyone else, I would pull magic myself. So would Grandmother. We do not though. Why? Because this is a showdown that Xandra has earned and we will not interfere.
Her magic lashes out and surrounds the guards. Then it begins moving towards the door that we came through a moment ago. It takes the guards with it. Every single one of them. They struggle and try to fling their magic at Xandra’s, but to no avail. In less than a minute, there are only four of us left in this room.
Chapter 14
I have never seen Dagda so angry. Even when he was ranting and raving about going back to the Cowan realm. He has never been bested by anyone magically except for Grandmother and to have been so publicly, he is fueling his anger with humiliation. He opens his mouth to begin a verbal war but Xandra does my least favorite trick. U
sually it is anyway. She takes his voice away. I have a hard time not letting my smirk become a grin.
Xandra’s green eyes flash as she says, “You will not say another word to me about my mother. If you do, I will leave this realm and let the Pooka do what I myself want to do. Tear you to shreds.” I feel her pull her magic back allowing him the opportunity to speak now.
With the ease of one who has been a politician most of his life, Dagda pulls out his best ‘we can work this out’ smile. “I was simply trying to pay you a compliment. I will refrain in the future.”
“Good, you shouldn’t say them when you don’t mean them.”
“What interesting terms you use. Have you not been taught the correct way to speak?”
Is he an idiot? This is not the time to be concerned with her grammar. I grip Xandra’s hand tighter because I think she may forget magic and attack him physically.
“The nice thing about being the only Witch Fairy ever born is that I get to set my own rules. If you don’t like the way I speak, then you’ll either deal with it or not. But, know that I don’t care one iota what you think about me.” I have a hard time keeping the laughter climbing up my throat from escaping.
There’s about a million cracks in his politician’s smile now and his eyes are trying to lodge missiles at Xandra. She just smiles sweetly. I am impressed at her lack of restraint. Honestly, I thought that he would be writhing around in pain by now.
“I see you have the spirit and the lack of fear expected from a true Pooka warrior. Perhaps we should forget the formalities and get down to business.”
“Great.” She leaves it at that. Amazing.
Without another word, Dagda turns around and walks towards a door behind the throne that leads to his office. I have to tug on Xandra’s arm to get her to start walking. I know she wants to leave but she has come this far. I cannot let her give in to her hatred now. There are realms at stake.
Dagda sits down behind his desk and motions to the two chairs in front of it. I escort Xandra to one and then stand behind her so that Grandmother can have the other chair. There are more chairs in the room but I will not give him the satisfaction of watching me pull another to the desk. He knew there would be three of us coming today.
To prove my point, he says, “Your presence is not required for this meeting, Kallen.” He does not even look at me when he says it.
Xandra responds before I am able to say a word. “Yes, it is,” she says.
Dagda looks at Xandra, up at me, then back to Xandra. Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, he says, “Then the rumors are true.”
Grandmother crosses her leg in a move that somehow draws all of our attention to her. “Dagda, we are not here to discuss the status of Kallen and Xandra’s relationship. Unless you have forgotten, there is a bounty on your head.” A bounty? Grandmother did not mention that before.
“No, Isla, I have not. But why should I not be concerned. If the girl’s distracted because the Brathadóir is monopolizing her attention…”
I pull magic by reflex. I have done everything for the safety of both realms and I will not stand here and let him call me a traitor even if he is my uncle and the king. Grandmother steps in before any violence can ensue. “You will not refer to my grandson in such a manner.” The threat in her words is quite clear. No sugar coating at all.
After a moment, Dagda inclines his head as if rethinking the situation. I am not fooled. In his heart he thinks I am a traitor. “Perhaps I am being too harsh. Kallen has always been like a son to me. I was greatly distressed when he showed his loyalties were neither to me nor my throne.”
As much as Grandmother would like me to I will not leave his comments unchallenged. “I was never anything but clear Uncle that I believe the realms should remain closed to each other.” Each word is in such a hurry to get out of my mouth I think there may be a little saliva in Xandra’s hair from them flying out. It is piled so high she will never notice.
“Kallen left the realm on my request, Dagda. You are well aware of that.”
Xandra sighs. “Can we just get on with this?”
“Yes, that would be wise,” Grandmother says with a smile that could freeze the entire ocean if given enough time.
“I have made arrangements for the girl to move in here…”
Xandra does not let him get any farther. “Whoa, what? You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way I’m moving in here.” Her words are a mix of disgust and incredulity. “Your people would take every possible opportunity to try to kill me.”
Dagda is fighting his fury and he has only been in Xandra’s presence for approximately ten minutes. I cannot wait to see what he will be like after an hour. “You are here to protect me. How, exactly, did you plan to do that if you are not under the same roof?”
Unfortunately, he has a good point. But Xandra is not giving up. She is determined as usual to get her way and I am silently rooting her on. “I thought it was understood that you would accompany us back to Isla’s house where you will stay until I leave the realm. Didn’t you get that memo?” Other than a tightening of the skin around Grandmother’s eyes, she does not react to Xandra’s impromptu plans. I do my best to keep my face blank as well.
“I was not aware of this change in plans,” Dagda says to Grandmother.
Grandmother seamlessly weaves the new plan together. “How did you expect to be protected Dagda when you are surrounded by Fairies who could turn on you any second? Xandra does have to sleep sometime. The safest thing for you to do is remove yourself from their reach. And with four of the most powerful Fairies in the realm under one roof, your chances of survival greatly increase.”
Xandra gets her determination from him. “It would be quite simple to move the three of you here.”
Xandra stands up. “You know, I really don’t care what you do. Come. Stay. Whatever you want. Keeping the realms from being open to each other can be done whether you’re around to see it or not.” She purses her lips in a way that cannot be good for Dagda. “Actually, if the rebellion is successful in killing you off, all I’d have to do is get rid of your remains and the threat disappears.” I am picturing her throwing his dismembered corpse onto a funeral pyre. Not that she could actually do something like that but it is a comforting thought at the moment. “I’m okay with that.” She turns and walks out of his office.
Chapter 15
With a grin on my face, I say, “If you are looking for respect for your authority, or as her biological father, you will not find it within Xandra. She is here to protect her realm and no other reason. She is strong, determined and moody. You have passed on your strongest genes to her.”
“Kallen,” Grandmother reproaches with a smile. “As true as that may be, you are not helping the situation.”
“No, you are not,” Dagda growls but I can see in his eyes that he knows I am right. He also is not having me placed under arrest for speaking to him as I always have. His displayed disdain for me earlier may have been more superficial than I thought.
Grandmother stands. “Kallen and I will take our leave before Xandra decides to take her anger out on your guards. She is not known for her self-control.” She looks at Dagda pointedly. His lips form into a grim line and nods once in dismissal as if Grandmother was actually waiting for his approval instead of implying that he passed on another gene to her.
We find Xandra waiting with the carriage. There was no carnage to wade through so no one must have attempted to get in her way. Smart. Grandmother is silent as she gets into the carriage and for the ride home. I am usually good at reading her but her face is completely blank.
When we arrive back at the house, Grandmother walks briskly into the kitchen. “Tabitha, will you please ready the pink room. We will be having company soon.” Pink room? That has to be one of the most uncomfortable rooms in the house. Dagda will not be happy. That makes me smile.
Tabitha looks at her in surprise when Grandmother grabs the edge of the counter
and takes a deep breath. “And who might this company be?”
“I expect Dagda to be here within the hour.”
“You want me to ready a room for that piece of…”
“Tabatha,” Grandmother warns. Her knuckles are turning white.
“Grandmother…” I begin to defend Xandra but she holds up a hand. Then she motions for the two of us to sit down.
Taking another deep breath, she stands up straight and faces Xandra. “I am impressed that you thought this plan out more thoroughly than I imagined.” She has to be crazy if she thinks Xandra thought about this more than a second before she said it. I am not going to bring that up, though. “But in the future, I would appreciate it if you did not blindside me with a new plan after we leave the house.” If it had been me that had done it, I would have been in a lot more trouble than a quiet scolding.