“Well, Lark, don’t just stand there. Fix your queen a plate.”
“Yes, sir.” Lark pulled a plate from the counter and rushed to the pots on the stove.
“And everyone,” Sahmuel turned from Lark and the other servants standing around the room, “get to work. Those plates aren’t going to serve themselves.”
Feeling someone staring at her, Chalcedony looked down at the children. Once again, they turned away giggling, both of their cheeks burning red.
Sahmuel dried his weathered hands on a stained apron tied around his waist. “These are my grandchildren, Bia and Daniel.” He pointed to the girl and then the boy. “They’re shy,” Samuel said. “Most of the time, they only speak to each other in their own made up language.”
Chalcedony looked away from the chef and back toward the children. “You have your own language?” she asked them.
“We created it when we were babies,” the girl Bia whispered while the boy refused to meet Chalcedony’s gaze.
Before Chalcedony could ask any more questions, Lark placed a plate filled with meat covered in a thick glaze and roasted potatoes on the table. Chalcedony’s heart leaped with joy. The food was more than halfway gone before she felt the children staring at her again.
This time, when she turned their way, the boy didn’t look away. “You were hungry,” Daniel observed.
Heat flooded Chalcedony’s cheeks. “Yes, I guess I was.”
“Can you really change your shape?” Bia asked.
Chalcedony stretched out her arm, and with nothing more than a thought, she turned her brown skin to tan, almost white, to match the girl’s. “Does this answer your question?”
“Keif!” they both awed in amazement.
Chalcedony furrowed her brow. “Keif?”
“It means ‘amazing’ in our language,” Bia explained.
“Oh,” Chalcedony said.
“Is it true? Are humans going to move in and take our lands?” Bia asked.
“No.” Chalcedony struggled to keep her voice level. “I would never let that happen.”
“I told you,” Daniel said.
Bia shrugged before she turned back to Chalcedony. “Is it true you can disappear whenever you want?”
Chalcedony was expecting another uncomfortable question about humans, so it took a second before she realized the girl had changed the subject. “Yes; would you like to see?”
For the first ten years of her life, Chalcedony had seen her mother pop in and out of rooms like it was commonplace. She was five before she understood that it wasn’t common and only a few had the ability. Only queens and the strongest elves that a queen relinquished some of her power to could disappear and reappear wherever they chose.
“Yes.” They nodded their heads vigorously.
Chalcedony popped the last potato in her mouth. “Let’s count down from five, and I’ll disappear for you.” Chalcedony caught the cook’s gaze and nodded at him before she looked back toward the children.
Two sets of eyes were staring at her in expectation. No, not just two; Sahmuel, Lark and the other servants were also watching.
She winked at Bia and Daniel before she straightened and disappeared.
Chapter Four
After putting on a show for the staff and the children, Chalcedony walked into the meeting room with a smile on her face. She had wanted to stay in the kitchen a little longer and have another helping of Sahmuel’s lamb and potatoes, but guilt from being late began pulling at her stronger than hunger. The children’s desire to see her disappear had given her the perfect excuse to leave without having to say an awkward goodbye.
She felt bad for her tardiness. Madoc had told her a thousand times over the past few days that this was the worst time to be distracted. The wall separating the human and fey realms had been destroyed. Her land - her people - were in unprecedented danger. But it had been three weeks. She had been operating on high alert for the first two weeks after the disaster, and she needed rest.
With the help of the dwarves, elves, giants, and trolls, they had been able to organize patrols to keep the most curious and dangerous humans out of Everleaf.
But before she could trust anyone to patrol the border, Chalcedony had to ensure the guards that were chosen could defend themselves against human weapons like guns and Tasers. By the end of the second week, the sorcerers had discovered a way to protect most of the guards against bullets. If they were shot, they’d still feel excruciating pain. But unless they were shot continuously at point blank range and in the same area, they would survive.
With the border finally under control, Chalcedony had allowed herself to relax and spend more time with Coal. Unfortunately, Madoc still insisted on daily briefings with the few fey ambassadors that continued to stay in Legacy.
Today, there were only three fey in the room: Graido, the dwarven ambassador; Madoc, Chalcedony’s advisor, and Ramn, the newly appointed ambassador for the trolls. Ramn had shown up regularly during the first week when they were all rushing to come up with a plan to secure the border, but for the past two weeks, the troll had been scarce.
Madoc and Graido stood when she entered. Ramn, as expected, was slow to stand. Trolls were prone to push boundaries, and Ramn loved to see how much disrespect Chalcedony would allow. Chalcedony was young and inexperienced. The past year had proven that twice over. But she was still more powerful than any single troll, and Ramn knew it, so he kept his disrespect veiled and lighthearted.
Chalcedony felt Ramn’s intense stare as she sat at the head of the table.
“Please be seated,” she announced, deciding to ignore the troll. Instead, her gaze fell on a small, red clay bowl of fruit in the middle of the table just out of her grasp. Her mouth watered at the sight. She hadn’t been completely satiated from breakfast, and some grapes, Chalcedony decided, was that perfect something sweet she needed to follow the saltiness of the lamb and potatoes.
Of all the skills she possessed, telepathy was her weakest. She was nowhere near as strong as she should be. But when she concentrated, the bowl of fruit moved in her direction as if it weighed as little as a sheet of paper.
“Nice of you to finally make it.” Ramn returned to his seat and stopped the bowl before it could reach its destination. He had vibrant green skin, and his two bottom canine teeth protruded from the bottom of his mouth past his top lip. Trolls varied in body type from rail thin to morbidly obese, but Ramn was half a foot taller than Chalcedony. When most trolls achieved status and power within their clan, they tended to grow too comfortable and too fat. But Ramn was still fighting his way up the hierarchy, trying to prove his worth, so he was still well-built and muscular.
Chalcedony narrowed her eyes in his direction and bared her fangs, letting her magic seep from the bowl and probe up his arm. The tiny dark hairs on his arms rise. “Good morning to you also, Ramn.” She wouldn’t take the bait and argue with him; she preferred to let her magic do the talking for her. She held his gaze, silently begging him to say something else. She wouldn’t mind if he attacked her. A fight would be a welcome change from sitting through another uneventful meeting.
It wasn’t long before he broke their gaze. But before he released the bowl of fruit, he grabbed an apple. Chalcedony knew it was silly, but seeing the troll palming the only apple made her want it instead of the grapes.
She took a deep breath to calm herself and willed the bowl to her the rest of the way. Trying to ignore the lingering disappointment, she picked up a handful of grapes and directed her attention to Madoc.
“What did I miss?” she asked him.
Madoc’s once black hair now showed more white than black, and the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes seemed to have tripled over the past few hectic years. Right now, he was expressionless, but Chalcedony knew once they were alone, he would give her another speech about punctuality and setting an example. “The humans have offered us an ambassador to stay in Legacy with the other fey ambassadors,” Madoc revealed.
Chalcedony laughed, almost choking on the grapes in her mouth. “A human ambassador, living here. You’re kidding?”
“No, he’s not kidding,” Ramn confirmed with his strong, baritone voice. “In fact, they are so serious that they sent a delegation across the border. We found them ten miles into our land.”
“How did they get past your soldiers? I would have expected more from them,” Chalcedony teased.
Ramn growled, and Chalcedony felt a pang of satisfaction since he had taken the last apple.
“That’s the problem,” Graido, the dwarven ambassador, hurriedly interjected before Ramn could begin arguing with Chalcedony. “The delegation isn’t human... Well, not completely.”
“We all know humans worship science and technology. Well, they have finally turned the science onto themselves,” Madoc said.
“I don’t understand,” Chalcedony said.
“They are hybrids,” Madoc continued. “One has the attributes of a wolf, and the other is part machine.”
She had never seen a hybrid human made from machine or an animal, but Chalcedony had studied humans long enough not to be surprised. They had probably kept such people hidden away from the public, just like they had kept the existence of fey locked away. “Where are they now?” she asked Ramn.
The troll gave her a wide, toothy grin.
Were there flecks of bloody flesh in between his teeth? Chalcedony furrowed her brow, afraid to ask the next question. “Are they still alive?” So far, she had been able to keep the humans who had been found in the fey realm alive, but the trolls had developed an insatiable appetite for human meat during the fey-human wars. The war had ended centuries ago, but their lust for human flesh hadn’t.
“They are alive, mostly,” Ramn finally answered.
“Mostly?” Chalcedony repeated.
“A few of them are missing fingers,” Graido clarified, rolling his eyes.
“I may have chewed on a leg,” the troll said without an ounce of guilt.
Chalcedony relaxed. That wasn’t so bad. “Well, at least they’re alive.”
The troll ran his dark red tongue across his top lip. “My thoughts exactly.”
“We need to find a way to keep them out,” Graido implored. “Are we any closer to finding a way to recreate the barrier?”
Ramn sneered. “I don’t believe anything you say, dwarf. Your clan is partly responsible for bringing the wall down. You’re profiting from this.”
“They are being punished,” Chalcedony interjected. The last thing she wanted to see was a dwarf and a troll getting into a fight. Graido was slender for a dwarf. She’d seen him fight once, and he was fast. “The dwarves are forbidden to trade with the humans for the next twenty-five years. Hopefully, we’ll find a way to recreate the door long before then.”
“Do you really think they are going to listen to you?” Ramn voice was filled with anger.
Chalcedony leaned back and popped a handful of grapes into her mouth. “We have ways of ensuring that they listen.” She actually didn’t have any way of ensuring the dwarves did as they were told, but Ramn didn’t have to know that.
“Where are these humans?” Chalcedony asked, changing the subject.
“In our cells,” Madoc answered. “They refused to leave until they talked to you.”
“They sound determined.” Chalcedony licked grape juice from her fingers. “Are the jails secure?”
“Of course,” Madoc said. “We’ve tripled the guards just in case they are more determined to get out than they appear to be.”
“Goo . . .” Chalcedony’s began, but something in her stomach lurched before she could finish.
“Are you okay?” Madoc’s eyes were wide with worry.
Chalcedony tried to answer ‘yes’, but before she could speak, her insides did a cartwheel, sending its contents into her throat. It was as if her breakfast suddenly developed legs and was trying to kick its way out. Hot bile hit the back of her throat and tears sprang from her eyes.
She snatched the bowl of fruit from the table and vomited.
When her stomach was completely empty, Chalcedony lifted her head and wiped the side of her mouth with the back of her hand. Chunks of undigested meat, potatoes, and grapes lay on top of the fresh fruit.
As Chalcedony looked around, she noticed Graido’s seat was empty, and there was no sign of him in the room. However, Ramn and Madoc were still there. The troll’s green skin had gone pale while Madoc looked almost as green as the troll’s.
Chalcedony straightened. “Where were we?”
Madoc set his lips in a straight line. “You’re done for today. Go see the healer. Now.”
Chapter Five
The first thing Coal saw when he opened his eyes was Queen Isis sitting in a chair, her chin resting on her hand, looking impatient and bored. When she saw them, she jumped to her feet. “Finally; what took you so long?” she asked Jade.
Coal hesitated. He hadn’t expected to see Queen Isis. Something was unusual about the room they were in. It was empty except for a small wooden table and four chairs perched against one of the far walls. He could hear footsteps and muted voices outside of the room. When he looked up and saw the light fixtures, he knew exactly where he was.
He turned to Jade. “You didn’t tell me we were going to the human realm.”
“I told you it was a surprise,” Jade replied.
Coal groaned. Why was he even surprised to be here? Of course, Jade would take him to the last place he expected. Nothing was ever simple with her. Even as he thought it, he couldn’t stop the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He had a mother. Even after all that had happened, it felt good to think of it.
Then his gaze landed back on Queen Isis. “Why is Queen Isis here?” He couldn’t win a fight against Queen Isis. He could not look at Queen Isis without remembering the things she had done. Not only had she almost murdered Chalcedony, but she had put his mother under a loyalty curse that had prevented Jade from seeing him for almost eleven years. Coal understood that Jade had forgiven Queen Isis, but that didn’t mean he had to.
“You didn’t tell him I’d be here?” Queen Isis asked Jade. She wore a simple but elegant blood red gown. Her hair was usually short, but she had allowed it to grow, or, more accurately, made it grow, and her hair was gathered up in curls nesting on top of her head. “I didn’t think it mattered,” Jade said with a furrowed brow in Coal’s direction.
“Are you still upset with me?” Queen Isis asked.
“You almost killed me and Chalcedony.”
“Gnawing on your arm would not have killed you,” Queen Isis said as if he was obnoxious for bringing up the incident.
“That’s not the point,” Coal snapped.
Queen Isis’s red eyes flared. Coal widened his stance and lifted his hands, expecting the queen to leap at him, bear her fangs, and try to rip his throat out like she had tried to do with Chalcedony. But Jade touched Queen Isis’s arm, and like water quenching a flame, Queen Isis relaxed.
“I’m sorry,” Queen Isis softened. “I know my apology doesn’t mean much right now. Nothing can make up for the years you lost with your mother, but I will make it my life’s work to earn your trust.”
Coal let the silence grow between them. Six months ago, he would have been naive enough to accept Queen Isis’s apology. But he remembered the insane, feral look she had in her eyes while her teeth were embedded in his arm. Common sense told Coal that Queen Isis could snap at any moment. He had already seen her willfully lie and manipulate to get what she wanted. He believed she loved his mother, but that love didn’t extend to Coal. He had the lingering pain in his arm to prove it.
He wouldn’t accept her apology. He never would.
Without another word, he turned away from Queen Isis and took in the rest of the room. “What am I doing here?” Coal asked, changing the subject.
Jade smiled. “We’re in Atlanta, we’re about to officially come out to the humans, and we want you with us.”
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Coal cringed. “Are you crazy?! Why didn’t you tell me this back at the forge?”
“Because you would've said no.”
“And you would have been right. If Chalcedony knew I was here—”
“This doesn’t have anything to do with Chalcedony,” Queen Isis interjected. “This is about your legacy.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re the heir to my land,” Queen Isis explained. “You are more than Chalcedony’s mate. You’re a prince. You are in line to be a king. The very first fey king.”
“What if I don’t want it?” Coal asked. “I haven’t heard from either of you for three weeks. None of this makes any sense.”
“It will in time,” Queen Isis said. “You just have to get used to it. Who wouldn’t want to be a prince?”
I wouldn’t, Coal thought, thinking of the stress Chalcedony went through on a daily basis, but he kept the thought to himself.
“I know I haven't been there for you.” Jade grabbed Coal’s arm. “But I'm trying to make up for it.”
“Why bring me here? You know Chalcedony is still trying to keep the human and fey lands separated. She won’t be happy to find out I’m here.”
“If Chalcedony wants to bury her head in the sand and pretend that nothing has changed, that’s her business,” Queen Isis said. “But that doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. At least not with us, you don’t.”
“I promise you’ll enjoy this,” Jade said before Coal could argue. “Humans love royalty, and they will eat you up.”
“You tricked me into coming so that you could show me off in front of the humans?”
“This is what mothers are supposed to do,” Jade said without an ounce of guilt. “We trick our children into doing things they wouldn’t have done otherwise for the child’s, and sometimes the mother’s, personal benefit.”
Coal crossed his arms. “You mean mothers lie to their children.”
“No; there is a difference. I did not lie to get you here.” She grabbed one of his hands, pulling it away from his chest before she clasped it within her own. “We also give incredible guilt trips.” She took his other hand. Her touch was foreign but oddly familiar at the same time. He couldn’t help but let her hands linger. “It feels wrong to present ourselves to the humans without our son.”
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