“What if the mate helped you? Acted as an aid of sorts?”
She shrugged. “I suppose that would work, but that is what I have Ygritte and her brood for.”
Hyther sat back as his food started to appear. The server slid everything in front of him then reached behind her and did the same with the second tray that one of the kitchen guys was holding.
Oksana’s lonely little plate of eggs and toast was surrounded by his warm buffet of scents and enticements.
“So, Hyther, you are still a Master Librarian?”
He nodded. “I maintain the Royal Archive for the fey court. All of the rare documents pertaining to marriages, births and deaths are in there, but for the most part, I have a lot of time on my hands.”
She cocked her head. “Well, now and then, I host mage study groups in the library. You could join if you like.”
He smiled. “Do you?”
“Of course, if there is anything that my mother’s experience has shown me, it is that keeping the books together is good, but they need to be shared. Spreading the knowledge is my purpose.”
“You are serious? Why haven’t I heard of this? We have dozens of students who would love to see the collection.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t deal with the court. I only deal with adjunct fey clans and human mages. When the king refused to return the books, I refused to allow them access to the rest of the collection, but it did have to be shared in some ways.”
“Why don’t you want a mate?”
“I don’t need one, so it isn’t an experience within my sphere of information. My family has always been a single, unbroken line, going back before folk had a reasoning of time.”
“Do you know how you started?”
“No. It is thought that the first races drank from a fountain that granted them the power of the beasts who had come before. It created the shifters and the fey as well as the lesser races.” She shrugged. “That is the theory anyway. The living book didn’t have information on my first ancestor.”
“The living book?”
She made short work of her eggs and toast. “Yes. The book is bound to my bloodline and my power. It is written in a language that only the dragons remember, but it tells the stories that my mother read me while I was in my egg.”
Hyther blinked rapidly as if clearing tears. He swallowed slowly. “She read to you?”
“Every day since the day she laid my egg. She would sit next to my egg and teach me histories, stories of my people, stories of the other species that walked the world. Every waking moment.”
He exhaled slowly. “We thought she was dying without an heir. When she passed, a wave of energy ran through the ether, and we knew she was gone. Our team moved to rescue the books so that the elements would not destroy them, and they would be safe from scavengers.”
She twisted her lips. “You had a spot saved at the library, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but once we arrived, we realized the scope of the collection. It was both daunting and thrilling. The intent was always to come back and take them all.”
Oksana stole some of his bacon and rolled it in a pancake. “And then I had to go and shut the place down until I could learn how to move in the world. Oh, and I stole a member of your party.”
“Yes. Your pet.”
She grinned. “He started as a pet and became my companion. It was my honour to find him a mate of his own species, and I held their daughter on the day she first drew breath. We became an odd family.”
Hyther smiled. “I am getting that idea. Will you tell me about them?”
She poured syrup on the pancake stuffed with bacon and as she ate, she told him everything he wanted to know.
Chapter Six
Hyther was staring at her in surprise. “You really let them go?”
“Definitely. I only needed one of them per generation to help me and take care of me. With such large families, it was easy to find someone who would take me on.”
“Did you give them a clan name?”
She grinned. “I will not tell you that. It is theirs to disclose.”
He smiled. “So, you think you will introduce me?”
Oksana cocked her head. “Why do you want to go through with this?”
He held out his hands. “This glow is an honour among my people. I caught a falling star and I wear its energy in my skin. My family is at a dead end. If I do not find a mate, I am the representative of the final generation.”
“Didn’t your position in court assure you of a bride?”
He grimaced. “You would think so, but my family’s tendency to go running across country to seek what we now know is radiation is considered odd by the court. No woman can be forced to join with me.”
“I see. That sucks. All that effort to become someone and you end up right back where you started.”
He shrugged. “One gets used to it.”
She laughed.
“So, why did you agree to come to the Crossroads?”
Oksana looked into his eyes and shrugged. “Frankly, I was wondering what the world would be like if there was more than one child, more than just a line of mothers and daughters. I am the last of my line as well. We are always the last of our lines. It is the nature of my family. We keep knowledge because we know how precious it is. We know what would happen if it was lost. We would simply disappear.”
“You are joking. You are spoken of in myth and legend, not to mention song.”
She laughed. “But no one would actually know me. I have spoken to so few that within two generations, all memory of me and mine would be lost. It is something I have been thinking about since the Ygritte got married.”
“So, you would consider balancing with me and sharing more than just a library?”
She cocked her head again. “If you mean sex, yes. Children, yes. Housework? I don’t do housework.”
He laughed, and she realized they had a rapt audience in both the staff and other patrons. They were having their conversation in a normal tone, but it seemed that hushed murmurs were the norm.
“As for balance, I don’t think that is a great idea.”
Hyther blinked. “Why not? I am ancient and in possession of great power, and you are as well.”
She frowned. “Right. I hadn’t thought of that.”
He let out a jaw-cracking yawn. “Well, thank you for the breakfast, and I hope I have planted some food for thought.”
Oksana swiped her wrist over the payment plate, and she stood next to his chair. “Are you steady on your feet?”
“I am, but feel free to help me. You can put your hands all over me.”
She snorted and watched as he moved out of his chair. She headed for the door, pausing when she heard him colliding with a chair. With a sigh, she waited for him to join her, and then, she slipped her arm around his waist for support.
“You have a grip like you have practiced this manoeuver.” Hyther inhaled deeply.
“My companions occasionally fall ill. I have to take care of them if they are not yet at the phase where they have a family. I also have taken care of the children when the parents need time away.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I can take care of them when necessary. I don’t do it very well, but I can bring folk from the local villages in to take care of them if things get serious.”
He chuckled. “That must be fun for them.”
“I wipe their minds as soon as they leave the library. I can take knowledge as well as give it. I do the same with members of my companion’s family when they leave. They get to keep the memories of their family, but they lose the memories of me.”
He stopped, making her halt. “What?”
“I take memories of me away so that they can rejoin the fey communities. Their parents are considered researchers and they are apprentice librarians. With that classification, they can join any large community and be at ease.”
“So, you love them. You keep them as family, and then, you remove yourself from their memories and set them loose on the world?”
“More or less. I keep the one who chooses to stay. The rest can leave at any time.”
She walked with him back to the Axion. As promised, she helped him up to his room, and when he had opened the door, she helped him into bed, removed his shoes and tucked him in.
She was about to get up when he gripped her wrist. “Stay.”
“I already got a full night’s sleep.”
“Just stay with me until I fall asleep.” He gave her a small smile that melted her heart.
He was genuinely tired, so she sat on the bed, he pressed his head to her thigh and she stroked his hair. He sighed and was breathing heavily and deeply in a matter of moments.
She smiled and began to recite her favourite poems from ancient Babylon. The chant was calm and repetitive, speaking of longing and loneliness in a crowded court.
Oksana ran her hands through the snowy strands of his hair, and she smiled at the texture. Ygritte’s hair had been like this when she was a child.
A mate of her own. The man whose breath was warming her thighs wanted to be her mate for the very reason that no one of his own kind would have him. The starlight in him made him an easy draw for her. She was pulled toward him like steel to a lodestone. It wasn’t a great situation, and if she went through with the balance, she would be his equal and he would be hers.
Her features were already pinched and narrow like the fey, but she was the size of a human. It made it easy to move in both worlds when she wanted to, and the ability to tamp down her power let her have some actual fun now and then.
She had had lovers in the past. The touch of their hands on her was enjoyable, just as it had said in the books. The variety of skill level made her focus on choosing the lovers that she could teach, rather than the ones who could play her body easily. She wanted to give knowledge, in every way.
Mastery of sex escaped her. She wanted to learn more, but it had seemed like something that had to be learned and shared organically.
Hyther sighed, and his hand slid up her thigh, under his cheek. The touch of his fey skin against her body sent a shiver through her. She was interested in learning what his techniques were, but he wasn’t going to take a day of experimentation in lieu of a permanent bond. She could feel that he was after her for life.
As he slept, she watched night fall outside the window. So, a thousand years with the elf at her side. There were worse fates. At least the library would keep him busy for a few hundred years. That was something.
She shook her head. Was she really thinking about this seriously? Taking a mate? Her family didn’t need to. She could create a child whenever she was ready to train her heir. This was a shock to her system. What was she going to do?
“So, Ygritte, I have a chance to have a mate for the rest of my life, but he would want access to the library. What should I do?”
Ygritte looked at her with a smile via the screen link that Drak had set up. “It seems like you want some companionship that doesn’t have its mind on other things. Do not get me wrong. I love working for you and with you, but I have a family to raise, and while you love them, I know that you think they get underfoot. I want you to feel that you have the freedom to love without consequence.”
Oksana looked at Ygritte with hurt. “I love you and your family.”
“And what of the siblings that left. Do you still love them?”
She blinked. “No. Yes. I think of them, but when they are gone, I don’t love anymore. I would shatter if I did.”
“Precisely. A bound mate would be yours for your lifespan and would be there no matter what. You need someone who can leave and come back to you.” Ygritte’s smile was kind.
Oksana frowned and nodded. “Right. That makes sense. Sorry, I am a bit hungry.”
Ygritte looked stern. “When did you last eat?”
“I had breakfast this afternoon.”
“Go get a burger and fries with a salad and a piece of pie. Drink it with lemonade and a glass of water. You get disoriented if you don’t eat properly.” Ygritte sighed. “So, you will still need one of our family, but we have always served happily and we will in the future. Yamilla is already planning to take my place at your side.”
Oksana snickered. “She is eight.”
“And in fourteen years she will be out of college and she will come and work for you. She has it all planned. I will go and live with her father and I will fade from your memory as you take my knowledge of working with you.”
Oksana felt a pang of grief. “If I take Hyther as mate, I can leave you with your memory when you go to join your clan.”
Ygritte smiled softly. “I would like that. Now, go and eat, and change your clothing.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Have a good night, Ygritte.”
She turned off the screen connection and sighed. She stood and rubbed her butt.
Hyther came down, rubbing his eyes. “You left.”
“I had to make a call. Now, I have to go eat.”
“May I join you?”
She smiled. “You may, but you are going to pay.”
“One way or another, the males always do.” Hyther offered her his arm, and she took it.
This time, he led the way to the café and she followed. When she saw the general store, she stopped and said. “I will be in in a moment.”
“Would you like me to wait, or shall I order for you?”
“I would like a burger, fries, lemonade, salad with Italian dressing and pie.” She nodded with a smile as she ticked it all off on her fingers.
He looked like he was memorising the list. “Right. I will put the order in.”
Grinning, she went in to buy a change of clothing. Her companion had given her clear direction and that was all she needed.
Oksana chose a long dress with slits up to the thighs in a brilliant purple. It was almost as if it was designed to match Hyther’s eyes.
The glittery silver slippers made her smile, and she twirled a few times to make sure she was decent before paying for her clothing and heading to the café.
She used a burst of energy to brush and arrange her hair as she walked into the café.
Heads turned as the last tendril fell into place, and she smiled at the shocked look on Hyther’s face. If she hadn’t been sure that she looked good, she would have felt self-conscious. Checking with Andy at the store hadn’t hurt. He had been very direct about what looked good on her. She guessed that he was good at his job and trusted his judgment.
Oksana walked up to Hyther’s booth, and she slid into place on the vinyl while he stared.
The food arrived after she sat down, and she started to eat a moment later. When she had demolished the burger and fries and was about to start on the salad, she looked up at him with a smile. “Oh, by the way, I will accept you as my mate. Drak said he will make the arrangements as soon as we both agree.”
Hyther blinked and he nodded. “You look lovely.”
She grinned, showing teeth. “Thank you.”
They finished their meal, and she finished her lemonade. He jumped to his feet and held out his hand, while swiping his wrist charm across the payment plate.
Outside, with the moon high and the stars bright, he asked, “So you just made up your mind?”
“I was reminded of a few things. Mating with you will give me other advantages that I hadn’t taken into account. It is more than having a partner, my folk will gain acceptance through our association. My family will have a better life.”
He inclined his head. “Whatever you need of me, I will be there.”
Oksana turned to him in the lane, and she cupped his jaw in her hand. “She mentioned that, too. I went ahead and said yes anyway.”
His kiss was electric, and it was an excellent start.
Chapter Seven
Dira brought her a dress
made of thousands of iridescent crystals. “This will suit you. Has he seen your form yet?”
Oksana slipped the gown over her head and used magic to arrange her hair in elegant braids and loops. “No. He is going by the reports and images that the fey have on record.”
“Does he know about the marking?”
“My back? Nope. We have had one kiss to seal the deal. The rest will wait until we are back at the library and I can let the power out.”
“Thank you for that. I don’t think I am in shape to contain what you two will produce.”
Oksana gave her a glance in the mirror. “You make it sound so squishy.”
“That is part of it if you do it right. How long has it been?”
“Two hundred years. I just didn’t feel like having a lover while I was forging myself a new library.”
“How did that go, by the way?”
“Pretty good. I have two hundred acres, all underground. I am at about fifty percent capacity, so the labs have plenty of room for the mage guild practicum students.”
She turned from side to side and made sure that the dress was hanging in smooth lines. “Is everything ready?”
“The mage is ready. We had to borrow her from the Isthmus. Our regular mage would have exploded if she tried to do this balancing.”
Oksana smiled. “Let’s go. I want to get back for dinner so Ygritte can tell me what to eat.”
“I am glad her family is still with you.”
“So am I. I wasn’t sure when one of the girls wanted to marry a human, but when their third child was in my arms, I understood. Sometimes you have to take extraordinary measures to make sure you don’t die out.”
“Is that what this is?”
“No. This is combining what I know with what I want for my future generation. It is the best combination I could come up with.”
“Well, I am not regretting my choice, though the triplets were a little bit of a surprise. There are so many folks here now to help that it is as easy as having one.”
She lifted the edge of her skirt and walked out of her room in the Axion and down the curving staircase that brought her back to the main hall.
Desperately Seeking Starlight Page 4