by Conn, Claudy
Her renowned abilities were formidable. With the flick of her wrist she could send them to cool their heels in the middle of a mountain, where she could trap them for eternity if she so desired. What he was attempting to do, was dangerous to them all, but more so for him. He believed the Queen had never really liked or respected him.
Even so, he depended on her sense of fair play. She would hear them out. She was not yet prepared to harm any of them. She just was not that sort and that was another of her failings.
He would cut down his enemies before they could strike.
She, on the other hand, would first attempt to show the members they had made a grave mistake. She would attempt to talk sense into them and show them their failed logic, easing them into backing down. Her diplomacy was always though charming and quite convincing, undeniable in its might. He would have to be cunning and make it impossible for them to do so.
He could smell the fear on some of them at his back. He could sense the sudden indecision in others as he raised his hand and pounded fiercely at her door.
Her voice when it invited him in was such that he experienced a moment’s weakness. She seemed too confident, for surely she knew who was on the other side of her door and why they were there.
Some of the members began to murmur to one another as he raised his hands. “There is no turning back. We are here to do the right thing for our fellow Fae and our lives here in Tir”
“Enter,” said Queen Aaibhe.
He opened the door wide so that she could see in one fell swoop of her glance who was backing him up.
Her head was held high. Her smile, was as always confident and when she directed it at him, contemptuous.
She would see now what he could do!
He looked back at the members he had collected and nodded encouragingly at them. He could almost feel a few of them tremble.
He thought them, cowards. He could see the worry flit across even his most reliable followers’ faces.
He smiled at them and then led them a few feet into her chamber and then all at once stopped.
Queen Mab had been out on Aaibhe’s balcony communicating silently with Deimne. With Banzar’s entrance, she stepped into view. Her brows arched. She had an arrogant expression on her lovely face. She had been alive and the ruler of the Daoine Fae for over one hundred thousand years. She was Aaibhe’s cousin and she did not look pleased.
Banzar was momentarily taken by surprise, then hit with a sense of unease. The members at his back were astounded and a few of them stepped backward, their heads lowered respectfully.
Queen Aaibhe stood tall and regal, exquisite as always. Queen Mab took a few strategic steps and stood right by her side.
Alone, Queen Aaibhe was a commanding presence, but with her cousin by her side, Mab the Queen of the Daoine, the Council was completely undone by the might both matriarchs.
Banzar had not expected this. He silently chastised himself for walking into it unguarded. Daoine never visited Tir. The Seelie always thought them too arrogant and never gave them much thought, but he should have known.
He should have realized that the Daoine would fight the onslaught of the Unseelie.
For a moment he was overwhelmed with the task he had set for himself.
This was a serious complication.
His obsession had made him reckless. He felt it was the moment to make his move regardless of Queen Mab’s presence. He could not keep the Council members on the edge teetering to his side much longer. He could almost feel their retreat behind him.
Neither Queen spoke, but their mood was palpable.
Banzar cleared his throat and his voice squeaked out of him and as he heard himself. He attempted to gain control of his nerves as he said, “I regret, Queen Aaibhe, that I must inform you, we have taken a vote and have found that you have broken Seelie Fae law.”
Queen Mab clicked her tongue and looked at Aaibhe, “How do you suffer these fools?”
Aaibhe smiled softly at her and turned to Banzar. “Indeed, why don’t you tell me how I have done so.”
“You are physically interfering with the human world. You have sent our warriors to fight on their behalf. Our law prevents us from interfering with the humans and their world.”
“But that is not exactly what I am doing, as you well know,” the Queen answered calmly.
“It is precisely what you are doing!” Banzar snapped.
“And that is why you are not fit to lead my Council Members. All of whom I am gravely disappointed in.” She held her head high and with a slight sneer, and said, “The Dark Prince has moved his monsters into the Human Realm. The lower castes are feeding on the humans and will multiply if not stopped. We have a duty to stop them from feeding on humans, because we brought them to this universe when we left Danu. It was our duty to keep them imprisoned. When they have conquered the humans, where next do you think they will turn?” She pyramided her fingers. “What my Council should be doing is research for me. I need to discover where we can gather the Twalla which will keep them in the Dark Realm once we have returned them there. That is what you should be concentrating on doing.” She eyed them all, “Now I think you should all leave and reflect on what you have tried to do today.”
Her Council would have left then. They would have run for they could see she was out of patience, but Banzar put up his hand. Some of them stayed because they felt now they could no longer turn back. If she remained Queen, they were doomed. Others stayed out of way. Others stayed because they thought they should be heard and explain their actions to the Queen.
“No my Queen. We will not be thrown off course by scare tactics,” Banzar said.
“Will you not?” Aaibhe returned her brilliant eyes glittering.
Mab raised her hand, “Do let me send them off somewhere out of the way.”
Aaibhe smiled at her cousin and turned back to them and said simply, “As I said, please leave. Scurry back to your hovels and think about your priorities.”
“We have no choice but to continue with this. We have, you see voted to remove you,” said Banzar.
The Council broke out into objections. For most of them, this was suddenly unthinkable. They had in fact been led by the Queen through those first unthinkable years after Danu’s destruction. Suddenly a few of them saw what they were doing with distaste and began to protest.
Aaibhe’s lips trembled with her outrage, “Banzar, tread carefully. I consider your actions now at such a tumultuous time to be treasonable.”
“It is odd how we consider yours.” Banzar didn’t know where the courage was coming from to take such an unprecedented stand.
The Council members had been quietly arguing amongst themselves. Then one spoke up and said, “Indeed, Queen Aaibhe. Banzar has a very grave point. You sent the warriors into battle without even consulting us.”
“It’s my right as your Queen. It’s my right as a warrior. It’s my right…period!” returned Aaibhe.
“We don’t have time for this Aaibhe,” Queen Mab said as she regarded these Fae with contempt. “Shall I put them somewhere you may deal with later?”
“No, it is not my way.” She turned to Banzar. “Have you any military willing to put me under arrest?”
Banzar frowned. He did not. He had tried to talk a few of their royal militant leaders to follow him, and they had laughed at him. “I did not think that was necessary. I mean only to put you under house arrest in the comfort of your own quarters. We are not barbaric after all.”
“Are you not?” she sneered at him. “And how then do you mean to recall the warriors I have sent into battle?”
“You will do that as your duty, commanded by the vote we have taken,” he answered.
Queen Mab was out of patience. She flicked her wrist and the entire Council vanished.
Aaibhe was not shocked but concerned as she turned, “Mab, what have you done?”
“Aaibhe, we have a problem in Killarney and they were taking up our valuable time.” Queen
Mab said.
“But dearest, what have you done with them?”
“I have sent them to a dimension where they cannot be harmed and where they can do no harm. It will give them pause and perhaps they can reflect on the majesty of their Queen, her loyal family, and Royals and her warriors.” She shook her head, “None of those fools were royals, Aaibhe. Why you appointed them is a mystery to me.”
“I wanted the point of view of our citizens,” Aaibhe said.
“They have lost touch with your citizens. I do not wish to discuss them. Deimne has finished removing the Portal from Venice and has shifted to Killarney where your Royals are in a fierce battle. We must concentrate on that.”
Aaibhe knew she was correct. She could if she wished insist that Mab return her Council to Tir and let them do what they wanted. Mab, however, had a very good point. They had lost touch with everything important and perhaps they needed this time away, reflecting on the magic that was not theirs. It just might help her political situation.
“Very well then, Mab. We will speak of this afterwards, as I do not wish to retrieve my Council without your leave.”
Mab smiled and touched her younger cousin’s face. Aaibhe knew that no one ever balked at what Mab did any longer. She was her senior by thousands of years and her experience and wisdom was legend.
Mab said softly, “You with all your wisdom and life challenges have much to learn if you are to survive creatures such as Banzar. He, like Gaiscioch is only concerned with his own needs and puts his entire race at risk to achieve that. The others following him have forgotten who they are and what they owe you. I am glad you have not forgotten the respect due to yourself, but in this I shall overrule you. They can rot in the realm I have sent them, for they are no longer trustworthy.”
“Still I can not allow that.”
“We shall talk again later, for now…” Mab waved her hand and her sacred Orb appeared on the nearby round table and she said, “Look here…and concentrate with me to infuse our warriors with power. They are gravely outnumbered.”
Aaibhe felt a lump in her throat when she looked in the Orb and discovered hordes of Unseelie converging on her Royals and the meager number of warriors at their backs.
There were less than a hundred, but the Unseelie numbered nearly five hundred. Some evidently had already multiplied.
Matters were dire.
~*~
“They are overrun”, Trevor heard his Queen say as he took his mate’s hand. “We are for Killarney.”
Jazz wondered if Fae ever got tired. She sure didn’t feel tired. They had left Inverness swept clean of Unseelie, and then Edinburgh as well. Could they just keep going at this rate? She thought of those humans who had been tortured and eaten whole. The survivors would all tell the same tale and the military would no doubt institute a search for the origin of these creatures.
They had not left any bodies in the streets for authorities to investigate and Jazz knew investigators would not be able to solve this ugly attack—yet.
Deaths like these would sweep the globe, sooner or later, if they couldn’t send them back to the Dark Realm soon enough. The authorities would start sharing information and draw their conclusions. She could only imagine what those would be.
This was a problem for another time, for as they stepped out onto the grassy knoll overlooking the lower lake and the giant Monoliths, Jazz caught her breath.
The Royals and the warriors were surrounded by the worst of the Unseelie Fae, the ones that were problem solvers. Their numbers were such that she could only think, that their first feeding had allowed them to multiply in astounding numbers!
She could see Deimne flying overhead and bombarding those numbers with deadly magic, laying them on the ground for the Seelie Warriors to destroy with their Death Swords.
The mass of creatures were jumping on the backs of those brave warriors as Trevor and Ete rushed in to help. Jazz realized they needed more than Death Swords and more than Deimne from above. Why hadn’t she remembered what she could do? She could Slam. She was a Fios Slammer long before she had been infused with Fae Blood.
She zeroed in on twenty murderous monsters attacking a lovely blonde Fae female, and an immortal who was not a Fae. They were in trouble.
She began in her Fios style, taking the magic of the Dark Fae. Even as she drew their magic out of them, she realized something inside of her had changed. Her power had changed. Not only could she take their magic, she was able to merge her Fae magic with her Slamming ability. The result was going to be phenomenal.
She stood with her legs apart and concentrated as she felt, then saw the air shift. Her magic traveled like a rocket, splintering as it grew in size. It took out the twenty abominations without effort.
They were on the ground helpless, unable to move. The Royals only paused a moment to give her a shocked expression before they fell on the beasts and began decapitating them one by one.
Here was how she could really help.
She could lay them down in groups, which would allow the warriors to slaughter them quickly and move on. She began systematically doing this. She didn’t know how long they would be unable to move, but the royals were fast. Killing and shifting continuously as the grassy field became covered in green, yellow, and black goo.
As she turned to attack another group of Unseelie, she felt a sensation. She looked up and there was Pestale!
Pestale had positioned himself well out of the battle at the top edging of one of the rolling foothills of the neighboring mountains. He was far enough to be safely out of the battle, and yet close enough to oversee it.
Before she could react, he shifted in and put his Death Sword to her throat.
~*~
Trevor had watched his mate with a swelling of pride which was as illogical as it was profound. She was a swirling whirlwind of quiet strength. She took on dozens of grotesque Unseelie, knocking them over and out with her Fios might.
And then the world stopped.
Time stopped for him as he heard none of the din around him. He saw nothing but his beloved caught in Pestale’s deadly grip. He had to think, he had to act. Here was Pestale who had killed his Lana so swiftly and without a thought.
Now he had Jazmine Decker. Pestale had her with the blade of the Death Sword at her delicate neck.
She was his bonded mate and he was certain that he could not go on living without her. Pestale was about to kill her. He had to think.
He had only one advantage. Pestale had not seen him.
And then he knew just what he had to do.
He shifted in behind Pestale with his sword ever ready. His free hand gripped Pestale’s shoulder and squeezed. “What now devil? You can’t shift anywhere without taking me as well.”
Pestale turned his head slightly and said with a sneer, “I can kill her you know, even if you manage to drive your sword into me before I cut open her throat. I can still cut her enough to give her a long agonizing death. Will you chance it?”
“For the good of all, I will,” Trevor bluffed and hoped the Dark One would buy it. In truth, he would rather die on the spot than chance it, but he told himself that the Dark Prince was unaccustomed to such a notion. He was unfamiliar with a sense of true love and loyalty.
“You don’t mean that. I have seen the way you look at her. You want her and she wants you. You are not ready to do without her,” Pestale said derisively. “I know you believe I don’t know about such things, but while I don’t understand such emotions, I do discern them in humans…and some Fae.”
Trevor’s sword tip was firmly in place and with but one pierce of the sword would give Pestale a slow death. “Release her demon and I shall release you. We are not at an impasse for if you kill her, you will die. I will make certain it will be long and torturous.”
“You don’t wish to anger my father. The Dark King will not readily accept the death of another of his sons”, Pestale said on a low hiss.
Trevor’s voice was lined with hatr
ed. “Do I give a damn what the Dark King wants or doesn’t want? No. I mean to put all his sons in the ground and end this once and for all. I am not a diplomat like my Queen.” He knew that Pestale believed this. He knew because he had spoken the truth and the Dark Prince had heard it. He felt his words take their place in the Prince’s complicated mind.
“If that is so, I think I will gut this pretty before I die”, the Dark Prince said on a low and threatening note. “Shall I let her go…shall we deal more elegantly than that?”
“I never want to see any pretty gutted, so deal,” Trevor said with a growl.
“You know if I slip and the sword cuts her, she will die a slow death in horrible agony,” Pestale said, “So be careful how you hold your sword to me.”
“You won’t slip, to do so means you die…slowly.”
“How then shall we accomplish both our goals at once? You get the pretty and you put down your sword.”
“In that order. I get her and then I release you,” Trevor said.
“Ha! I should trust you in this? We are at an impasse,” said the Dark Prince.
Chapter Twelve
FRANKIE WALKED BESIDE a tall young female Fae, whose thousand Fae years, put her at about a couple of human years older than Frankie. “Suade, I am afraid,” Frankie said.
Suade put her arm around her and sighed, “We all are, but I trust the Royals. My mother says they have seen us through terrible trials and shall do so again.”
“The problem is that the Dark Princes are very different. They do not think like Seelie Fae, even though they have Seelie in them. They have no…no…what is the word?”
“Empathy,” Suade supplied and smiled. “I know, but it doesn’t matter. In the end they will be beaten.”
“In the end our Royals will strike at the Dark Princes and defeat them at their stronghold.” Frankie said grimly, “I have seen the war ahead in a dream and it was frightening, because I couldn’t see the outcome.” She touched the spot in her chest where she still had a very human heart. “I feel so much in here, where my mother lives in my heart. The Dark Princes are planning a trap, I just know it.”