Witchbane (Book 5 in The Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

Tiernan didn't say anything, just continued to stare at the wall, so I left. I headed down to the main floor of the castle, intending to go for a walk in the gardens and clear my head. My whole body was shaking. Anger,frustration, heartache, they all raced around inside my body like a game of pinball, hitting me in my fresh wounds. Ding, ding, ding, a hundred points to Tiernan for scoring a direct hit.

  I needed to find my zen again, and I was pretty sure that the garden would be a good place to look for it. Damn fickle zen, always running off to greener pastures. I was going to find it and sew the thing to the soles of my shoes, like Peter Pan and his shadow. Yep, sewing some zen was just what I needed. But as I came down the stairs, I saw Aodh standing in the entryway, speaking with a castle steward.

  “Aodh?” I hurried down.

  “Princess Seren,” Aodh smiled brightly.

  Aodh was a friend of mine from the Seelie Court. He was a male sylph, and so he had dramatic, yet delicate, translucent wings rising from his back. They were iridescent like dragonfly wings, a glistening mixture of ivy green and peacock blue. Just like Killian's, except much larger and very functional. With Aodh's golden blonde hair and sea blue eyes, he looked like the male version of Tinkerbell, except in human size.

  I had rescued Aodh's sister from the Unseelie Court ( Bress, in particular) and we'd become close friends. All three of us actually. After I'd freed the prisoners in Seelie and Unseelie, I had launched a crusade against fairy racism, with the hopes of unifying our world. Aodh had taken up my flag of fairy unity, and created a sort of secret society of seelie fairies (wow, that was a tongue twister) who were working towards peace between the kingdoms.

  Which was evidently what had brought Aodh to Twilight.

  “Aodh,” I went to hug him. “It's good to see you.”

  “You as well, Princess,” he pulled away smiling, then waved a hand behind him to a group of fairies. “I've brought some of the founding members of our peace association. We were hoping that you'd escort us to Craos-Teine so we could meet with the new king and discuss a treaty.”

  “A treaty?” I blinked at him. “Do you have the approval of your King and Queen?”

  “Mostly,” Aodh smirked. “Let's just say that I didn't mention our group,” he sent a secret smile back to his friends, “but I offered my services as a diplomat, in the event that the seelie royals decided to make the most of the opportunity a new unseelie king presented.”

  “When Aodh was done with her, the Queen thought the treaty was her idea” a bean-tigh snickered.

  Bean-tigh were some of the only fey I'd met whose appearance showed age, though it wasn't a clear indication of how old they were. A bean-tigh matures just as a human does, going from child to rosy-cheeked, old lady in about eighty years or so. But they were fey, and as such, immortal. So once they reached the granny stage, they remained there for the rest of their long lives. Which meant that the woman before me could be anywhere from eighty to eight-hundred.

  “Well done,” I congratulated Aodh. “You've already proved yourself to be an effective diplomat.”

  “So you'll take us?” Aodh asked hopefully. “It's just the five of us and a group of seelie soldiers who are waiting outside.”

  “Of course, I'll go with you,” I said immediately. Half of me was excited at the thought of getting away from Twilight and the site of my most recent heartache, but the other half of me was wary of the destination. “Why don't you bring the soldiers in for some rest and refreshments while I go scry Raza.”

  I saw the surprised looks on Aodh and his fellow peacemakers, and realized my mistake.

  “I mean, King Raza,” I cleared my throat to knowing smiles. Great, the rumors had spread to Seelie.

  “Sure thing, Princess,” Aodh bowed. “We'll be in the dining hall when you're ready to leave.”

  “You want to leave now?” I lifted a brow.

  “Why not?” Aodh shrugged. “There's still lots of daylight left, and isn't there a nearby rath which leads to the new court?”

  “It's relatively close,” I chewed at my lip. “But if we want to make it through the rath before dark, we'll need to leave soon. Perhaps you should just freshen your mounts instead of yourselves.”

  “We can do that,” he grinned.

  “Alright,” I shrugged. “But I don't know what the rush is.”

  “Peace should never be postponed,” Aodh said with complete seriousness.

  “Right you are,” I bit my cheek so I wouldn't laugh at his exuberance. “I'll just go and scry Ra- King Raza.”

  I headed back upstairs, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cat smirking at me.

  “What are you looking at?” I teased her. “He's right, you know. Peacemaking and procrastinating don't mix.”

  Cat made a scoffing sound.

  “Let's just hope the dragon agrees with Aodh,” I muttered.

  My father had commissioned a crystal ball to be made for me while I'd been away in HR. So I didn't have to borrow Keir's anymore. I went directly into my little library to use mine. The absolute privacy was nice. Especially with Raza. He'd been scrying me a lot lately, and he'd been merciless in his flirtations... very provocative flirtations. Something about scrying made me more vulnerable to his seduction. It felt safer I suppose. Raza wasn't actually there, so he couldn't act on any of his sensual suggestions. Which ironically made me more open to them.

  The man was a scoundrel. And by that I meant he was too erotic to exist. Raza belonged in a movie or an art museum or Heaven, with the other sex gods.

  I truly was losing my mind.

  I sat down before the crystal with a sigh, and maybe just a smidgen of anticipation. Raza had been one of the few things which kept me from becoming a bawling ball of bitchiness these past few weeks. The others were Cat, of course, and Killian. The witch had stayed true to his promise to visit me often, and give me his reports in person. He'd also provided a bit of well needed comic relief.

  Tiernan had been dragging out our breakup, holding the possibility of a reunion over my head. But now I knew that things had been over between us the instant I left Fairy. It had been three months since that day, more than long enough to get over an ex-boyfriend. Also, it seemed an appropriate period of time to wait before to moving on. Right?

  “Right,” I whispered with a smile. This latest scene with Tiernan had been just what I'd needed to drive that fact home. “It's time to move on. If Tiernan wants to cling to his goddess, he's welcome to her. I'm going to find someone more tangible to hold onto.”

  Cat huffed in an approving way, and I gave her a surprised look. I thought she'd been decidedly on Team Tiernan. But then again, Raza had saved her life, and that could leave a lasting impression. Plus, Tiernan had made that nasty comment about her failing me.

  “You think I should go for it with Raza?” I asked her.

  One, quick yip made her opinion abundantly clear. Even my best friend thought I should be with the dragon.

  “I suppose I should stop fighting something I want to happen,” I whispered.

  Cat just settled around my feet contentedly and gave a great sigh. I could almost hear her thinking, “It's about time, you silly girl.”

  I swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and calmed myself. My heart had started to race the instant I'd decided to give in to my desire for Raza. I lifted a hand to nervously smooth the ombré, purple stripe in my hair, cleared my throat, then I called out, “King Raza of Unseelie.”

  The mist collected in the ball as the scry went out. I drummed my fingers on the table as I waited. One minute... two... three. At five minutes I began to bounce my legs rapidly. I leaned forward, just about to give up, despite my instinct telling me that he was nearly there, when a huffing Raza formed within the crystal.

  “Seren,” Raza panted as he sat. “Sorry, my love, I was in the middle of a meeting.”

  “You left a meeting to answer my scry?” I smiled as my legs stilled.

  “Of course.”

  “How did you kn
ow it would be me?” I lifted a brow. “It could have been someone else.”

  “I knew,” Raza gave me a look that said everything.

  There was indeed something strange going on between us. First there was that dream we shared, and now there was a sort of tenuous perception. I knew things about him. Just as Raza had known it was I who was scrying him. For instance, I knew he was upset, despite the smile on his face.

  “What is it?” I asked, leaning even closer in concern. “What's wrong?”

  “Ah,” Raza chuckled and shook his head. “I should have known that you would see right through me.”

  “Raza,” my voice went low and demanding.

  “The meeting I was in,” he cleared his throat and I narrowed my eyes, “it's with representatives from the Court of the Nine Sons.”

  “Oh,” I sat back. “They've come to discuss the truce?”

  When Raza was fighting for the throne, the dragons had asked to be included in the battle, mainly because they wanted to kill Uisdean. The sea dragons had offered peace with the next king as an incentive to be allowed in. Not that they came on land often, but they did rule the waters around the rath which led to Alaska, and they could make things difficult for the unseelie, if they choose to. So truce with them was a nice bonus.

  Generally, the dragons were an honorable sort (in their own twisted way), so it didn't surprise me that they'd come to cement the promised truce. Perhaps they were even offering Raza some sort of alliance. Though the sea dragons might be a little wary of dealing with another unseelie king after Uisdean had screwed them over so royally (forgive my pun).

  “Yes,” Raza's voice was calm, but again, I sensed something lying beneath that placidity. Anger? Annoyance? Possibly both.

  “What did they say to you?”

  “It's not what you think,” Raza sighed. “They're offering reasonable terms, mostly of the 'leave us be and we shall give you the same courtesy' variety.”

  “But?”

  “But they sent a dragon queen to negotiate for them,” he began to look uncomfortable.

  “Daiyu?” I asked in surprise. I knew the woman could be frightening, to say the least, but I would have thought Raza more than capable of dealing with her. “Is she giving you trouble?”

  I snickered. The thought of the fearsome Dragon King of Unseelie being intimidated by an underwater dragon queen, was hilarious to me. But Raza didn't laugh. He didn't even crack a smile. In fact, his jaw clenched together and he exhaled sharply through his flaring nostrils.

  “Raza,” I was immediately concerned again. “Are you alright? What did she say to you that has you so upset?”

  “A great many things,” Raza squirmed, “of a personal nature.”

  I blinked at him. Blink, blink, blink. My mouth fell open as images of Daiyu chasing Raza through the halls of Craos-Teine filled my mind. The predator had become the prey.

  I burst out laughing.

  “The situation hardly calls for laughter,” Raza growled.

  I laughed harder. I even snorted.

  “She is very... determined.”

  I was gasping for breath, soon there would be tears streaming down my cheeks.

  “Seren, she snuck into my chambers last night and waited for me there. Naked. In my bed!”

  I stopped laughing.

  “She can be very determined,” Raza ground out.

  “The bitch is dead,” I said calmly.

  “Seren,” finally, Raza smiled. “I have done nothing with her. Well, nothing by choice.”

  “What?!” I screeched.

  Yes, I know I had no room to talk, or screech for that matter. I had been playing the fool for Tiernan. Moping about the castle hoping he would change his mind. Moping and hoping, two things which made me hate myself. But now I'd finally decided to give Raza and me a chance, and some water reptile woman had shown up to try and snatch him from me. I was going to make her into fish sticks and pour some vinegar over her for good measure.

  “She may have grabbed me,” Raza confessed with twitching lips. “There.”

  “There, there?” I was horrified.

  “Yes, there,” he said dryly.

  “I'm going to murder her!” I shouted. “Oh, I've never liked that slimy she-eel. Always making sly comments and giving me nasty looks. Now she's after my man? I don't fucking think so. She's a dead dragon. She'll be swimming with the fishes in an entirely new way.”

  “Your what?” Raza began to smile wider.

  “Huh?” I looked up in surprise. I may have forgot, just for a second, that he was there.

  “Did you just call me your man?” Raza's grin got so big, I could see the tips of his canines.

  Previously, I'd had no idea that Raza had fangs. And I had kissed the man. Deeply. How had I not noticed those pointy pearly whites? They weren't as large as say, a Bite witch's fangs, but they were significant.

  “Seren?”

  “Sorry,” I cleared my throat, “my brain went off on a fang tangent.”

  “A what?” Raza's grin disappeared into confusion.

  “Nothing. Never mind,” I waved my hand, and hurried along, hoping he wouldn't ask about the 'my man' slip again. “Just hold Daiyu at bay. I have faith in you. You're a big, strong dragon, you will prevail. Let's move on to the reason I scried. I have a group of fairies here, who would like to meet with you to discuss yet another truce. Or a treaty rather. What's the difference anyway?”

  “A truce is a state of peace,” he said immediately, “while a treaty is an actual contract between two parties, agreeing on terms.”

  “Oh,” I pursed my lips. “I should probably have known that already. Being an ambassador and all.”

  “I shall tell no one of your ignorance,” Raza vowed.

  “You're an idiot,” I laughed.

  “But am I your idiot?” Raza smiled again and leaned towards the crystal. “Would you like to see what merely speaking with you has done to me? You've already caused a dramatic change in certain parts of my anatomy, where Daiyu could not so much as inspire a twitch.”

  My mouth went dry. Raza did this every time. He inevitably found a reason to give me a little strip tease. But the additional information that Daiyu hadn't got a rise out of him, as it were, made it all the more sexy.

  “Save it for when I arrive,” I said breathlessly. “I want to see these changes in person.”

  Raza's expression went suddenly serious. He had been teasing, as he always did, not expecting any kind of result. He knew I loved him, I'd made that clear to him, but he hadn't known when I'd give into those feelings. My casual declaration of intent had thrown him. His mouth was slowly falling open.

  “You're... I mean,” Raza cleared his throat. “Seren, are you saying that-”

  “I'm on my way, Raza,” I gave him a secret smile. “Unless you don't wish to discuss peace with the Seelie?”

  It was a bit underhanded of me to put it like that. But I was pretty sure Raza wanted peace as much as I did.

  “I do,” he said immediately. “I'd be most happy to meet with them.”

  “Good,” I dropped my voice to a purr, “then we'll see you soon.”

  And I cleared the crystal.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  I found my father relaxing in his bedroom. I informed him that I was heading into Unseelie with Aodh and his people, to work on a treaty with Raza. Keir sat up in shock, immediately encouraging me to go and “stay as long as necessary... for the sake of peace”. This was declared with a brilliant smile, and I was pretty sure it had more to do with my seeing Raza than the chance of peace between the kingdoms. I shook my head, and turned away. But he stopped me at the door.

  “Seren, be sure to take your Guard with you.”

  I froze. There was no way I was taking Tiernan along with me to see Raza. That was just rude.

  “How about I take six of them?” I offered.

  Keir frowned a second, and then seemed to realize my dilemma. His eyes went wide, and he started noddin
g emphatically, “Yes, yes, that's fine. Take Cat too.”

  “I will,” I promised him and hurried away. This was not a conversation I wanted to continue with my father.

  I headed to the lower levels of the castle with a smile and a swing in my step. I felt powerful again, beautiful and wanted. I felt... alive. Flirting with Raza had always been a bittersweet sport for me. I had desired him from day one, but had loved Tiernan more. Now Tiernan had gone and shown me another side of himself. Actually, Raza had done the same thing, revealing to me that there was more to him than I'd realized. Tiernan's revelation had tipped my love lower, while Raza had lifted it. The scales had shifted and now Raza was the one whom I loved more.

  I stopped short on that thought.

  Dear Danu, was it true? Did I love Raza more than Tiernan? Was it even about more or less? Or was it simply about possibilities? Tiernan had put up a road block, while Raza had always remained an open path.

  No, this wasn't about something as irrelevant as who was available to me. It truly was as simple as a scale, tipping to one side or the other with the weight of my love. Or maybe it would be more accurate to describe love as a monument which is climbed as it's built. Tiernan and I had started with a tall foundation and we had built on that until our love towered above the earth. Which made the fall all the more painful. Our love had toppled, and now laid shattered across Tiernan's unyielding pride. But I refused to lie there with him, languishing in the wreckage of our relationship. Not when Raza was offering me the chance to build another monument.

  I came out onto the knight's floor, and headed down a corridor in search of my Guard. It didn't matter to me which ones came with me to Unseelie, so long as Tiernan wasn't among them. I reached Conri's door first and shrugged. He'd probably enjoy a jaunt over to Unseelie. I would have knocked, but there was something jammed between his door and its frame. So I bent down and pulled it free. The motion flung the door open.

  I stared down at the object in confusion for a second before the sounds emerging from Conri's chamber permeated my mind. I realized suddenly why there had been a woman's undergarment wedged in the doorway. I dropped the panty and backed away, but not before I caught a glimpse of who Conri was with. My eyes widened, and I shut the door as quietly as I could. Cat stared up at me and cocked her head.