Fairy Rings and Dragon Kings (Book 7 in the Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

  Fairy Rings and Dragon Kings

  Amy Sumida

  Copyright © 2017 Amy Sumida

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-10:1977552137

  ISBN-13: 978-1977552136

  Legal Notice

  This book is copyright protected. It is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote, or paraphrase any part of the content within this book without the consent of the author or copyright owner. Legal action will be pursued if this is breached.

  More Books by Amy Sumida

  The Godhunter Series (in order)

  Godhunter

  Of Gods and Wolves

  Oathbreaker

  Marked by Death

  Green Tea and Black Death

  A Taste for Blood

  The Tainted Web

  Series Split:

  These books can be read together or separately

  Harvest of the Gods & A Fey Harvest

  Into the Void & Out of the Darkness

  Perchance to Die

  Tracing Thunder

  Light as a Feather

  Rain or Monkeyshine

  Blood Bound

  Eye of Re

  My Soul to Take

  As the Crow Flies

  Cry Werewolf

  Pride Before a Fall

  Beyond the Godhunter

  A Darker Element

  Out of the Blue

  The Twilight Court Series

  Fairy-Struck

  Pixie-Led

  Raven-Mocking

  Here there be Dragons

  Witchbane

  Elf-Shot

  (Fairy Rings and Dragon Kings)

  Spellsinger Series

  The Last Lullaby

  A Symphony of Sirens

  Fairy Tales

  Happily Harem After

  The Four Clever Brothers

  Wild Wonderland

  Beauty and the Beasts

  Pan's Promise

  The Little Glass Slipper

  Other Books

  The Magic of Fabric

  Feeding the Lwas: A Vodou Cookbook

  There's a Goddess Too

  The Vampire-Werewolf Complex

  Enchantress

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  Pronunciation Guide and Character Glossary at the back of the book.

  Chapter One

  “Thank you for coming, Your Majesty.”

  I was still getting used to my new title. I had gone through a lot of titles since my first foray into the Fairy Realm. From Extinguisher to Princess, to Ambassador, and now, Queen. I was still a princess, despite my recent elevation to queendom in two kingdoms, and I hoped to stay a princess for a very long time. Because the only way I'd become Queen of Twilight is if my father were to die. Depressing thought. Let's not talk about that any further. At the moment, though, I was being addressed by my loftiest title, something done less often by humans than fairies. But I didn't know this particular human. So, perhaps he was choosing the safest route.

  “I'm happy to help if possible, Councilman ...?” I held my hand out to the unknown man.

  “Daryl Spalder, Your Majesty.” He shook my hand, then brushed back a lock of blond hair which kept curling over his eye. “I'm the Head of the Salem Council House.”

  “Nice to meet you, Head Councilman.” I nodded and slid into a chair at the meeting table. “Has Salem recovered from that ordeal with the witches?”

  The man looked at me blankly, blinked, then gave a surprised laugh.

  “Not Salem, Massachusetts,” he corrected. “Salem, Oregon.”

  “Oh, right.” I smiled. “Forgive me. We just had some issues in the other Salem, so my mind went straight there.”

  “It's fine.” He waved it away. Spalder was young for a head councilman, maybe forty. “A lot of people don't know there's a Salem in Oregon, even though it's the capital. The other Salem is rather infamous; it's hard to compete with that.”

  “Well, you can be sure that I'll never forget now,” I said.

  We were in Ireland, at the Human High Council House which was actually more like a castle than a house. It was just a little ways off from the Fairy High Council House (another castle), which is where I'd entered HR (the Human Realm). Fairy and Earth were twin planets in twin solar systems linked by twin gods. Danu ruled Fairy while her brother ruled Earth. Anu had formed the first rath by his journey to Earth, but the Fey had created the rest.

  I'd walked Anu's rath into his world for this meeting. It had been four months since my last emergency meeting here, but that time, we'd met in the High Council Chambers–a vast room with an imposing table at one end that often felt more like a judge's desk than a meeting table. This time, I'd been led to a more modest space, also more comfortable, with a smaller meeting table and padded chairs to go with it. I liked padding, especially if I was going to be sitting awhile; which it looked like I would be.

  Cat settled on the floor beside me. I only left my puka bestie behind if I absolutely had to. It upset the both of us to be separated, and it upset my father for me to be without Cat's protection. My personal Guard—the Star's Guard (it's a Twilight Princess thing)—stood behind me against the wall, looking imposing. Killian, my fiancé and caster-witch-turned-twilight-fairy, took a seat at the table beside me. He was considered royalty now, even though we weren't married yet. Once we were, he'd be Prince of Twilight, and that future title was enough to gain him respect. If only he'd learn to give as good as he got.

  “Someone wanna tell us why we're here?” Killian directed his question at High Councilman Murdock—not to be confused with my friend, Head Councilman Murdock of the San Francisco Council House.

  “We couldn't tell you before we informed the Ambassador.” Murdock was a no-nonsense sort of guy, and he didn't mind Killian's direct approach. “It's hierarchy bullshit.”

  Killian grimaced but accepted the explanation. He was an ambassador too, but I was a bit higher up on the totem pole. Kill had been brought in to assist me in dealing with the Human Council, the Coven, and the Casters. So, generally, Killian conveyed any news he received directly to me; including news on why we were having a meeting in HR. But they hadn't told Killian anything this time, and it had burned his fine butt.

  I wasn't too worried. If it had been really bad, the full High Council would have been in attendance, including the Fairy High Council. But there were no fairy council members present. In fact, only Murdock and Spalder were joining us, and they were both human.

  Councilman Spalder's eyes widened on Murdock for his brusque behavior. Murdock shrugged and settled back into his chair. Then he waved a hand at Spalder in a go-ahead gesture. Oh, so this was Spalder's show. Interesting.

  “My apologies for the secrecy, Your Highness,” Spalder said to Killian, who smirked—he was still getting used to his new title too. “Your Majesty,” Spalder nodded to me. “I asked that we keep this under wraps until we were able to determine exactly what we were dealing with. I don't want to threaten the truce by causing a panic.”

  “There's an issue that may threaten the truce?” I lifted my brows.

  “Humans are disappearing in Oregon,” Spalder reported. “The local authorities have only recently connected the disappearances by location.”

  “They've only gone missing in one spot?” Killian asked. “That seems like a rather obvious connection.”

  “It's not one spot,” Spalder explained. “There are several sites, all over th
e state, where groups of individuals have gone missing. The separate groups were connected immediately by locale, but on the larger scale, it took longer for the police to realize that there were similarities between these mass disappearances.”

  “What kind of mass are we talking about?” Killian narrowed his vibrant, reptilian, green eyes on Spalder.

  “Between ten to fifteen people in each location.” Spalder shifted uneasily under Killian's stare; the slit pupils were a bit hard to get used to. “And there are seven locations.”

  “So, roughly a hundred people.” I leaned forward. “Tell me more.”

  “As you know, we monitor the local police and have several council members inside the force,” Spalder went on. “They conducted their own investigations into the disappearances, and they found another connection.”

  “Fairy rings,” Murdock stole Spalder's thunder.

  Spalder grimaced at Murdock, but the High Councilman was as unapologetic as ever. He probably felt that the Salem Councilman was taking too long.

  “Fairy rings?” Killian asked.

  Behind me, my guards were shifting uncomfortably. I had gone still. A horrible shiver coasted down my spine as the ramifications of the disappearances hit me.

  “Fuck,” I whispered.

  “Yes,” Spalder said on a sigh. “Now you understand our need for secrecy. We're not sure how to proceed. A few disappearances—here and there—we can ignore; not happily, mind you, but we can accept it. But this...” He shook his head. “Something must be done. We just don't know what, Your Majesty. We're hoping that your unique skills, knowledge, and position will help us to come up with a solution.”

  “It's possible that it's not even fairy related,” Murdock suggested.

  Spalder gave him a look.

  “Well, it is,” Murdock huffed.

  “What the hell is a fairy ring?” Killian asked. “And why does it have you all spooked?”

  I sighed deeply.

  “Remember that war clause I invoked to defend the elves?” I asked Killian.

  “Yeah, of course, I do.” He frowned.

  “Well, it's not the only clause in the truce,” I said. “We really need to get you caught up on all the specifications.”

  “I know the new aspects of it,” Killian said. “The ones pertaining to the witches. I just haven't had time to go over the full document. It's huge, Twilight.”

  “I know it's huge, Blair,” I growled. “I've studied it since I was a little girl.”

  “So, there's a clause about fairy rings in it?” Killian asked pointedly.

  “Yeah, but to understand it, you must first understand what a fairy ring is,” I said.

  “A bunch of mushrooms growing in a circle, right?” Killian asked.

  “Man, you really need to study our culture more”—Conri shook his head—“since it's your culture now too.”

  “I'm working on it,” Killian growled at Conri.

  “It's more than just mushrooms.” I shot Conri a quelling look, and he shut up. “It's a place in the Human Realm where the magic of Fairy has bled through.”

  “Bled through?” Killian narrowed his eyes at me. “How is that possible? I thought the only paths connecting the realms were the raths.”

  “The raths are the only connection that can be traveled,” I explained. “But our realms are so closely bound, and magic has a way of... spreading, for lack of a better term.”

  “That sounds like an infection,” Killian noted.

  “It kind of is,” I admitted grudgingly.

  “What?” Killian's eyes went round.

  “Magic isn't natural here,” Murdock tried to help me. “It can only disperse so far into the land before it fades. There is no source to fuel it, and so it eventually dies. The circular pattern of the mushrooms occurs at that dying perimeter. It's simply Earth's reaction to the infection. Kind of like ringworm.”

  “Gross,” Gradh muttered.

  “Magic mushrooms?” Killian went another way with it and laughed at his own joke.

  “A magical mushroom warning.” I gave Killian a grim look that stopped his laughter. “The mushrooms sprout at the border between magic soaked land and normal soil. It's almost as if the Earth itself is telling people to keep out. The mushrooms remain there until the magic fades.”

  “And while the magic is there, the land is considered to be Fairy,” Spalder added.

  “The land is Fairy?” Killian shook his head. “I don't see how.”

  “It's magic land,” I huffed and rubbed a hand over my face. “Think of it as an embassy. A US Embassy in any other nation is still considered to be US soil. If you're an American citizen, you can seek asylum there.”

  “So, fairies can find sanctuary in fairy rings?” Killian asked.

  “In a way,” Murdock snorted.

  “Fairy rings are sacred spaces,” I tried once more. “For however long that magic remains, the land belongs to the Fey. It was decided upon long ago; for several reasons, the biggest of which being that humans had no idea what to do with magical land if something were to go wrong with it. By giving the Fey rulership over fairy rings, they gave up responsibility for anything that occurs on within them.”

  “Okay, okay.” Killian held up a hand. “I get it. Fairy rings are a piece of Fairy here on Earth. They're off limits for humans. That's why there are all those folk tales about never stepping into a fairy ring.”

  “Exactly,” Spalder muttered. “We've tried to pass that warning down, but humans have forgotten that some fairy tales are true.”

  “Wait ...” Killian frowned.

  “Oh, I think he's figuring it out,” Conri whispered dramatically.

  “Shut it,” I snapped at Conri.

  “Yes, Your Highness!” Conri pulled himself up into full attention.

  Technically, all of the land fairies were my people now, but my original fairies were twilight, and they addressed me as “Princess” or “Your Highness” because to do otherwise would be a betrayal of their king, my father. It would come close to a declaration of rebellion on my behalf. Titles in Fairy were tricky things.

  “If it's fairy territory”—Killian ignored Conri entirely—“then the laws regarding humans don't apply there.”

  “Now, you see the problem.” I nodded. “Fairy rings are loopholes—physical loopholes. If a human goes into one willingly, they're fair game. None of our laws can protect them.”

  “Fairy game, you mean,” Torquil muttered.

  “Good one.” Conri chuckled.

  “'Willingly' being the keyword,” Murdock growled. “Such a large amount of humans, wandering into the same fairy rings, where they just happen to go missing? That's a little too coincidental.”

  “There's a problem with that too.” I sighed. “It's hard to prove if a human was willing or not unless there's a witness.”

  “And luring a human, through the use of bargains and such”—Spalder grimaced—“is completely legal. The only crime would be using physical force to pull someone into the ring.”

  “Or magical force,” Gradh added.

  “That hardly seems fair,” Killian growled.

  “No, it doesn't,” Murdock said. “But our laws allow for some rather unfair treatment of fairies too.”

  I looked at Murdock in surprise.

  “Just because I'm human, it doesn't mean that I can't admit to the truth about the truce,” Murdock snapped. “We have the better end of it as far as the laws go. But there's a reason for that; this is our world. The Fey are only visitors.”

  “Looks like the visitors are taking home some souvenirs,” Killian muttered.

  “From my state,” Spalder growled. “Will you help us sort this out, Your Majesty?”

  “I'll do what I can,” I said evasively. “Honestly, Head Councilman, if the Fey aren't breaking the truce, there may not be much I can do.”

  “You could at least investigate,” Spalder implored me. “You can go where we cannot. You can explore other options, other
leads.”

  “You're not even limited by kingdom anymore, Ambassador,” Murdock noted.

  “Fair enough, High Councilman,” I agreed. “But I am limited by the law. Because of my close ties to both worlds, I cannot play favorites. I must stay neutral, like a judge.”

  “We understand.” Murdock sighed.

  “As far as criminal behavior goes, I will abide by the truce. I won't apprehend any fairies unless they've broken the law.” I held up my hand to stop their protests. “However, if I see humans in Fairy, being kept against their will, I will be forced to act on their behalf. As someone who is part human, I will feel compelled to do so. The humans may have no rights in the Fairy Realm, but I do. I have quite a bit actually. I promise you that I will use my influence to correct any wrongs, as I see fit. You may not get to punish those responsible for the disappearances, but I'll do my best to bring the missing humans home.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Spalder stood, smiled, and held out his hand. “My citizens are what matter to me most. If you can get them back safely, I'll be satisfied.”

  “We'll see if my best is good enough, Councilman.” I shook his hand.

  I didn't have nearly as much faith in my abilities as Spalder's shining face was giving me.