by JL Madore
Cue more of the feminine giggles.
Doubling back the way we came, we hustled down another side path, leaving the dawn lovers to their fun.
“Forgive me,” Terran said, clearing his throat. He kept a solid gaze on the path in front of us. “A poor first impression of life at the palace.”
I snorted. “Please, that was the most like home I’ve felt since I got here. My sister, Jade, married a Highborne Elf. He and his family all prefer to get their grind on in the glory of nature. Tripping into backyard sex is almost a daily occurrence. Voyeurism is unavoidable where I live.”
Not for the first time since Freya found me at the pond, I found myself missing Tham. We had fooled around under the moonlight dozens of times ourselves. Not that Terran needed to know that. I wished I’d sent Tham a text or something before I left. Even with everyone angry at me, Tham would understand why I had wanted to come here. Wouldn’t he?
Yes. Yes, he would. This was my chance to find out who I was. He would get it. If he were here, he would have snuggled in beside me last night and let me cry, scream and fall apart. Then, like the true friend he was, he would’ve dusted me off and kicked me in the ass to keep going.
“May I ask you something?” Terran asked, pausing before an opening to another path.
“Sure, shoot.”
“Did you really not know who you are all this time?”
“Nope. The big reveal yesterday came right outta the blue. I still need the deets about this whole Eligible thing and how that Balor man was my breeder and gave birth to me. I’ve never heard of men bearing children before, but hey if I can avoid pushing out a mini-me, that rocks. I like my boobs right where they are and my vagina can crack walnuts.
When Terran could breathe again, we continued.
“And the other realms? What are they really like? The portals were barred before I was born. I’ve always had a fascination with the forbidden.”
I shrugged. “I’d imagine it’s not that different from here: good guys versus bad and all the life, love and laughter in between.”
Terran nodded. “But the Modern World, the vehicles, their sense of abandon, their vernacular—it’s amazing.”
“You’re crazy. The best thing about the Modern Realm is shopping. Hands down.” I thought about the party supplies I’d imported for my Bacchanalia, things I might not get to use now. Was Julian right? Had it been selfish to want to have an amazing birthday? Had I really risked exposure?
As we continued to stroll, Terran and I fell into an easy step. “Was it terrible, Princess? Being raised in the Realm of the Fair? Everyone seems so horrified that you were taken from Attalos, but I think it must have been thrilling.”
We turned a corner and headed toward the sheer wall of the mountain attached to the back of the palace. I ran my fingers along the arcing design of the orichalcum wall and sighed. “It’s bizarre really. I mean, obviously, I love my family and my life, but I never quite fit. I don’t think you really can when you don’t know who you are.”
I looked down at myself and laughed. “I’m obviously not human. I’m short, stronger than almost any man and have an unquenchable almost obsessive thirst for all the good stuff in life: fighting, drinking and fucking.”
Terran choked again and I pounded him on the back.
“So, I knew what I wasn’t, but it didn’t matter to anyone I cared about what or who I was. They accepted me. Lexi, daughter, sister, friend, fighter or teacher, it didn’t matter.”
The look on my siblings’ faces last night triggered a tightening in my gut. Well, I thought they’d accepted me.
“What is it that you teach?” Terran asked.
“Strategic assault, weapons mastery, anything to do with kicking someone’s ass. Likely nothing anyone here would approve of.”
Terran frowned. “No, but it just might keep you alive.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Alive? What the hell does that mean?” I jogged behind Terran as he rounded the corner and we found ourselves in a green, grassy clearing surrounded by an orchard of fruit trees. Across the way, a dozen of those black, Kevlar guards faced off, working on close-combat grabs and running through striking weapons and entrenching tools. Yee-haw.
Terran gave me a look and I nodded. We’d finish our conversation later.
Tightening up his youthful lope, Terran straightened his back and squared his shoulders. The commanding officer of the group was barking direction as we strode up behind him. Hierarchy in the military saves lives, I knew and respected that, so instead of bounding in and joining the fun like I wanted to do, I played nice and observed until we were addressed.
Standing barefoot on the soft, carpet-like grass I realized, this was the first real greenery I’d seen since I got here. Bronze metal walls and stone floors had a remarkably soothing effect on me, but the cool, strength of green things reminded me of Haven.
When the commander’s attention shifted, he looked at me for a long moment, quite expressionless. “What is this?”
“Constable Tasso, Sir,” Terran said, staring straight ahead. “The Princess of Grace has asked to observe your men in training. She is new to our City and has heard of the skills of our Queen’s mighty Strati soldiers.”
“And why does she wear indoor training gear?”
Terran blinked but showed no emotion. “Having arrived late last evening, she has yet to be fitted. The wardrobe provided her was not to her liking and it was too early in the day to rouse her sisters in search of something appropriate.”
So . . . Terran wasn’t slow after all. The commander’s scowl softened, but his beady eyes didn’t leave me for a second. He wasn’t the first man to feel threatened by me.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your session,” I said, offering what I hoped was a genuine smile.
The scowl returned. “If you wish to observe, do so. Settle yourself out of the way and don’t disrupt training any further. Princess or not, there is no place for the mounds and valleys of a female in the field of war. I don’t care who you—”
“Constable Tasso,” a voice boomed behind us and squelched the rebuttal about to spew from between my clenched teeth.
The three of us turned to the harsh glare of Master Constable Estes. With his shoulders stretched to his full height and his brow deeply creased, his dark features raised the hair on my skin. “You are addressing an Eligible!”
“Apologies, Master Constable.”
Estes joined our little group, his gaze sweeping over my garb. “Princess Grace is an important guest of the Queen’s and will be awarded the highest courtesy you and your men have to offer. If she wants an extra guard you will provide it. If she wants a dance partner you will clear the floor and start the music. And if she simply needs directions to the grand dining room you will escort her through the palace and pull the damn chair out for her. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, Sir.”
Estes frowned, still looking piqued. “Take a shuttle to bridge two-sixteen. There are reports of violence and thievery along the outer ring.”
“Two-sixteen is in the Badlands of the fire ring, sir.”
Estes arched a brow. “And?”
Tasso shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “That’s tier one work. I’ll send one of the duty soldiers—”
Estes looked almost amused as he leaned closer. When he spoke, his voice was calm and controlled. It crept across my skin like shade beneath the passing sun. “I said nothing of deploying duty soldiers. You are relieved of your duties here. Now go.”
Tasso didn’t argue. He lowered his gaze and turned to go.
Though the scene was really none of my business, the tension was electric, much too entertaining to turn away from. As he stepped past me, Tasso’s eyes fixed on mine, dark coals in the bright morning light. ‘You did this’ they said, and, ‘I won’t forget it’.
That’s fine. Neither will I.
When the fiery orange of Tasso’s cape disappeared out of the clearing, Estes
pulled Terran to the side and spoke to him privately. The Master Constable didn’t seem to be angry and though Terran was standing at attention a good distance away, his responses remained straight forward. Yes sir. No sir.
“Princess?” Estes said as they rejoined us. “Chamber Guard 11 assures me the two of you have gotten on well enough this morning. Do you share his opinion on that?”
I caught Terran’s wide gaze and smiled. “Yeah, I do.”
“Very well. I’m assigning him as your personal guard.” Estes held up his hand as I made to speak and shook his head. “Indulge me. Your return is the talk of the city. It would lessen my worry if a palace duty soldier was with you. This is no time for an Eligible to be alone.”
“All right.” I tilted my head toward the five soldiers in black, glaring at me from where Tasso had been holding their training session. “So, what’s up with them?”
Estes lifted an ebony brow. “Your guard said you were looking for a dawn workout.” He gestured to the stiff-lipped group. “I offered for you to join these men.”
That piqued my interest and I took a closer look. Physically they were conditioned, thickly muscled through arms, shoulders and thighs. They held themselves with confidence and seemed comfortable within their frames. Young, but strong.
“There are two types of soldiers in Attalos,” Estes said. “The duty soldiers and the Queen’s guard, which we call Strati. The Strati are the city’s strongest and most promising warriors. With the rising conflicts flaring from the outer ring, the Queen is strengthening her forces. I’d like to see how they fare against a warrior from outside the realm”
I eyed the five and my heart quickened its pace. They were out to make me suffer. “Cool . . . but I have to warn you, with the Alice in Wonderland turn my life has taken I’m going to be tough on them. I need the exertion.”
“Then enjoy your workout.” Estes gestured for the Strati to close in. “See if they possess the mettle to become more than they are. I believe the trainings here have left them lacking in some areas. The nobles refuse to listen. They think it foolish to restructure a military system that has been in place for millennia.”
I eyed the men. They were obviously insulted by our conversation and the order to spar with a woman in front of a high-ranking commanding officer.
Ooooh fun. “All right. I’ll see what they’ve got.”
Estes bent at the waist and stepped back. “Begin at your pleasure.”
A guttural growl came from the one on my right. “Permission to speak freely, Princess?”
“Of course. Always.”
“There’s not much to you. Ydorus and I will snap you like a glass doll. You should run along back to your quarters and play hair and dress-up. We don’t wish for you to get hurt.”
“Yeah,” another one chimed in. “You have much to learn from the other Eligibles.”
I snorted. “Ah, that’s sweet, but when I can’t sleep I get cranky and when I’m cranky, I really should crack a few heads before I’m put under pressure or I tend to go off. I’m supposed to meet the Queen for lunch. Wouldn’t want to cause a scene now, would I?”
“Enough talk,” a soldier in the back said, his gaze narrowing on me. “If she needs a lesson on what roles are fit for women in Attalos, I have no problem teaching her.”
I snorted again. “You’re not my type either, hon, but my father taught me it was rude to point out a man’s short-comings. It makes him bristle.”
“Bristle, eh? Well, Princess, if you swear not to go crying straight to the courts saying that we abused you, and you’re sure you won’t reconsider . . . ready yourself for battle.”
Yee-haw.
A good while later, with my mind finally settled and my body aching for all the right reasons, I accepted the canteen from Estes and joined him and Terran under the shaded umbrella of one of the clearing’s date-plum trees.
“Well?” Estes asked, watching the last two soldiers I’d faced off with. Their comrades had hauled their asses upright and were currently in different stages of regrouping their manhood. “What do you think?”
“They’re decent fighters.” I gulped down three large swallows of sun-warmed water. It was stale but wet. I gulped down a bit more. “They’re too rigid in technique. It makes them slow on adaptation. Maybe because I’m a woman they underestimated me. Maybe not.”
Estes nodded. “Thank you, Princess. If you find yourself in need of another workout and wish to continue working with the Queen’s men, that can be arranged.”
Terran’s unfinished warning still niggled in my head. “I’m not sure what my days will be like yet, but I’ll think about it.” I scanned the crowd of bruised egos, reluctant respect, and all out fury. “Nicely done, guys. Don’t let your pride take a hit because I’m a woman. Like you said, I’m not from around here. Besides, you gave me quite a workout.”
One of them huffed, his lips pursed. “Don’t patronize us, Princess. You aren’t even winded.”
“Next time. If you’d like a rematch I can show you where you faltered.” The daggered looks were nothing I hadn’t seen a hundred times before.
“Who taught you to fight, Princess?” one asked.
“My father.” My stomach knotted and a pang of betrayal flipped in my gut. The kind-eyed man in the courtyard had been my father too, yet I knew nothing about him. “I was raised by a warrior named Maximus Reign.”
Estes adjusted his breast plate when he stood and joined us. “You men would know him as the Reign of Terror. Those legends of the unstoppable warrior from the Realm of the Fair have been whispered as bedtime stories for decades.”
Eyes widened and jaws dropped slack. It warmed me that Reign’s reputation had touched this secluded corner of the Realm of the Fair. Made me feel less cut off from him.
Terran and I turned back toward the palace. “If you want a rematch, boys,” I called over my shoulder. “I’m sure the Master Constable knows how to contact me. Or not. Your choice.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You move like lightning.” Back in my suite, Terran showed me how to open the vanity mirror in the dressing cabinet and then took up a formal position standing just inside my door. “I’ve never seen anything like it. And your sister, Jade, is a warrior too?”
“Mhmm.” I’d finished my bath and was trying to get my spikes to stand up with the slimy paste that passed as hair gel in this city. “She’s different though. I’m speed and strength, Jade has powers. She can call on the strength of the gods.”
“Truth or tease?”
I giggled. Terran seemed to catch on to sarcasm rather quickly, but still couldn’t tell when I was using it or not. “Truth. She was adopted by Reign, like me, but her biological father is Castian Latheron, God of Fae gods.”
“And you know him?”
“Who, Castian? Yeah, I know him.” I flicked my way through the forest of eye pencils standing at attention and found a green one that would accent the purple of my eyes. Terran stared across the room at me, his face screwed up like he didn’t believe me. “Truth, I swear. I know Castian. When I get this all figured out and contact my Haven family, you can ask Jade.”
Terran sat up straighter. “Contact your other family? How will you do that?”
I shrugged and pushed my lips out. I found a great mango lip-gloss in my welcome basket. “Once I get my clothes back, I’ll call them on my phone. Between my genius brother Julian and Castian’s godly mojo, Talon tech works in any realm.”
Terran rubbed his palm over his mouth, looking concerned. Moving directly behind me he bent down to speak close to my ear. “You must be careful. You shouldn’t—”
“Oooo there she is.” A chorus of giggles and chatter invaded my suite. It was hard to determine how many Princesses had descended upon me since they had obviously just popped out of their genie bottles and all of them dressed and spoke exactly the same.
“Princess Grace,” one of the harem said, “these are Princesses Charity, Faith, Hope, Mercy, Peace, P
urity. . .” The list went on as elegant fingers and curtsying maidens identified themselves one by one. I scanned the crowd, the vapid smiles, the flowing skirts and the ringlets bouncing against blushed cheeks. Besides them all having the same amethyst eye color as me, I couldn’t see any indication that these were my peeps. I mean . . . really?
It took about two seconds before they noticed I was still in my robe and started scrounging in my closet, picking out what I should wear to be presented to the Queen.
“Princess Love told us all about you not having a mentor.” Insert a chorus of identically pity-filled gasps. “And that you weren’t even raised as a royal?”
In that moment, I had never been so glad that Reign had raised me in my life. Thank the gods, or the Fates, or Balor or whoever connived to have me raised differently than these women. They were staring at me. I’d missed something and they were waiting for a response.
Shit.
“Of course she does, Princess Zeal,” Terran said, accepting a violet scarf from the outstretched hands of one of the blond ones. “Princess Grace was just saying how she loved the contrast of violet next to her eyes. How thoughtful of you all.”
I nodded and reached out for the embroidered scarf Terran was holding. “Yes. Thanks. It’s beautiful.” I flashed Terran an adoring smile until a familiar sensation heated my spine.
Oh, no. Not now.
With as much calm as I could fake, I grabbed Terran’s wrist and shot him an urgent look. His gaze met mine and his eyes widened. My irises would be almost completely violet by now. Shit, I should have given him a head’s up on this. Just once could I leave my freak-defect out of things?
Terran discreetly sat me back into my make-up chair and ushered the crowd out of my bathroom and toward the door. “All right ladies, Princess Grace needs to gather her composure before meeting the Queen. It’s a very exciting time and she needs to . . .”
***
From one instant to the next my consciousness transported from my suite inside the palace into a windowless room, dimly lit by the glow of pillar candles. Blue smoke rose up from a wide stone hearth to coil beneath blackened beams and what appeared to be an earthen ceiling. The sinister cloud roiled above the head of a sixty-something brunette with a hot-pink racing stripe in her hair. She tipped her head back with a glass bottle propped between red wine lips.