Faery Revenge

by Donna Joy Usher

  ‘Sabby, where do you want these…Oh she’s awake.’ My old friend Thomas stood in the doorway. His arms were loaded with a huge pile of towels.

  ‘Thomas?’ I sat up in bed and stared at my friend. I hadn’t seen him in months. ‘What are you doing home?’

  He shrugged a shoulder. ‘The School of Witching Administration has shut down. Well, to be quite honest, what with the imminent threat of war and everything, all of London has shut down.’ He had gotten taller, and broader as well. And he had stubble on his face.

  ‘You’ve grown up.’ I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, brushing away Turos’s supporting hand as I did.

  ‘I’ve grown up.’ He let out a chuckle as he placed the towels on my couch. ‘Says the village girl who just rode into Eynsford on a dragon’s back, fought a pack of goblins, and saved the day.’

  I laughed. ‘And then passed out.’

  ‘Yes.’ He nodded his head. ‘That did kind of ruin the effect.’

  ‘I’ve missed you,’ I said, pulling him into a hug.

  ‘I’m surprised you’ve had time.’ He squeezed me tight before releasing me. ‘Sabby’s been filling me in on everything that’s been happening.’ He shot a shy smile over his shoulder at Sabina. She blushed and returned the smile.

  Oh. So that’s how things stood.

  ‘I see all those fencing classes paid off.’

  I shrugged. ‘Yeah. They’ve been kind of useful the last year.’

  ‘Perhaps…,’ he scuffed the tip of his boot against the carpet, ‘I could train with you,’ he said. ‘You know, to sharpen my skills.’

  ‘You’re not going to fight, are you?’ My voice rose up an octave.

  ‘Izzy, everyone’s going to fight.’

  ‘I’d be happy to train you.’ Turos stood and stretched. ‘There’s not much else for me to do.’

  Thomas’s eyes widened as they travelled up the length of Turos’s body. ‘Th th, thanks,’ he stammered. ‘I think.’

  I laughed. ‘He won’t hurt you. In fact,’ I looked to Turos for confirmation and he nodded once, ‘he’s going to teach you a mind technique that may just save your life.’ I reached out and squeezed Turos’s hand. It didn’t feel so awful knowing Thomas would be fighting if he had the advantage of speed.

  ‘I’d like to learn that technique too.’ I hadn’t heard Aethan come up the stairs. He entered the room, his gaze pointedly on Turos and my clasped hands.

  Turos’s grip tightened to an almost painful level. ‘It would be a pleasure,’ he said. ‘But I thought Head Guard Rako said that we wouldn’t have time to train.’

  ‘The latest scouts report that the enemy advance has stopped.’

  ‘When did you want to start?’ Turos let go of my hand and wrapped an arm around me. He tucked me in close to his side.

  I pasted a smile on my face to try and hide how awkward I felt. All the testosterone zinging around the room was making it hard to breathe.

  ‘No time like the present.’ Aethan’s smile told me I hadn’t fooled him. ‘Izzy, Rako and Wolfgang are waiting to debrief you in the kitchen.’

  ‘Mum? Grams?’ I resisted the urge to add lemon cake to my list of questions.

  ‘They are both there as well.’

  ‘Excuse me.’ I ducked out from under Turos’s arm and trotted out of the room, in a hurry to put as much distance between myself and the two alpha males. I didn’t want to be there if push came to shove because I wasn’t sure which side I would come down on.

  ‘That was awkward,’ Sabby said as she followed me down the stairs. She let out a sigh. ‘Still, it must be nice to have two gorgeous hunks fighting for your affections.’

  ‘I’d rather fight a pack of goblins, blind-folded,’ I said. I reached the bottom of the stairs and headed for the kitchen, my nostrils flaring as they picked up the scent of…lemon cake. Yes!

  ‘Well, young lady.’ Mum’s foot was tapping. That was never a good sign. ‘What do you have to say for yourself?’

  ‘Ummmm.’ My thoughts flitted through the many different answers to that question, trying to work out which one would be the most likely to earn me an extra slice of cake. ‘I’m really sorry we left like that, and I missed you so much.’

  I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her, waiting till I felt her body soften before letting go of her. ‘Honestly I am,’ I said. ‘And I did.’ I risked a glance over my shoulder at the table. There was half a cake left, but Radismus was reaching for another piece. The man was a lemon-cake-eating machine.

  She let out a rueful laugh and ruffled my hair. ‘Don’t worry. There’s two more in the oven.’

  I took that as my get-out-of-jail-free card and took a seat at the table next to Grams, smiling at Rako, Wolfgang, Lionel and Radismus.

  Grams handed me a plate with a giant piece of cake on it. ‘I think you’ve earnt that,’ she said. ‘But we haven’t had our conversation yet.’ Cyril, draped around Gram’s neck like a scarf, lifted his head and hissed in my direction.

  Scruffy, who had been sitting at my feet staring intently at the table, looked up at Cyril and barked. Cyril flicked his tongue once and then nestled his face back into Grams.

  ‘It was all very boring,’ I said to her as I picked up the piece of cake. ‘You would have hated it.’ The last sentence was a bit muffled, due to the cakey goodness that I had wedged into my mouth. I let out a moan as the sugar in the icing rolled over my tastebuds. It had been a long time between sugar hits for me.

  I may have been a War Faery, but at heart I was just a girl.

  The men waited politely for me to finish my first piece. Radismus, very nobly, pushed the platter towards me so I could take another.

  When I had finished, I sighed and leant back in my chair, resisting the urge to unbutton my leather pants. ‘So Aethan says the advance has stopped.’

  Rako nodded. ‘They must be resting their troops.’

  ‘You don’t think it’s because we just whipped their butts?’

  A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth but his eyes stayed sombre. ‘That was a tiny piece of their force. A drop in the ocean.’

  ‘Even the Vulpines?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Oh.’ I played with the handle on my tea cup.

  ‘Ahhhhh.’ King Bladimir stood in the doorway to the kitchen. His nose twitched a few times and his gaze locked onto the cake. ‘They told me the council was being held in here.’

  ‘King Bladimir.’ I jumped out of my seat and bobbed my head.

  A plate smashed behind me. ‘Sorry, sorry, your Highness.’ Mum swept into a low curtsy.

  ‘Fair lady, there is nothing to be sorry for.’ His nose crinkled again. ‘Does that taste as good as it smells?’ He pointed at the cake.

  ‘Please.’ I held my seat out for him and then retrieved another for myself from the next room.

  By the time I got back, he had taken my seat, helped himself to the cake, and Rako was doing the introductions. Mum had spelled the broken plate off the floor and it sat shiny and new on the kitchen bench. I placed my chair on the other side of Grams, between her and Lionel.

  ‘Do you know why my son and Prince Aethan are out the back wrestling?’ King Bladimir said to me.

  I could feel a wash of red creeping up my face. ‘No.’ My squeaky voice didn’t lend much weight to the word.

  ‘Well, not that it matters I am sure, but my son seems to be winning.’

  ‘Okay. Thanks.’ I nodded much too rapidly, and hid my face behind my teacup.

  ‘Ahhhhh. If I had known there was cake, I would have come sooner.’ King Arwyn stood where King Bladimir had a few moments before.

  ‘King Arwyn.’ I jumped back to my feet and gestured to my new chair.

  Mum let out a squeak and knocked the plate off the bench again. Grams shot her an amused look and shook her head.

  ‘Young Isadora,’ Arwyn said as I brought in another seat. ‘Do you know why my son is fighting that big, blond fellow?’
>
  ‘No.’ If I shook my head any harder, it was going to fall off.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’m sure it isn’t important, but it looks like Aethan has just given him a black eye.’

  I slid further down into the chair and let my hair fall over the side of my face.

  Grams let out a chuckle and elbowed me in the ribs. ‘You were a late starter,’ she whispered, ‘but you seem to have it sorted out now.’

  ‘That big, blond fellow is my son.’ Bladimir held out his hand. ‘Bladimir of Millenia.’

  ‘Ahhhhh.’ Arwyn nodded his head and looked at me again. ‘That makes a bit more sense now.’ He reached out and shook Bladimir’s hand. ‘Arwyn of Isilvitania. So you’re responsible for the dragons. I hear your people saved the day. I thank you for that.’

  Bladimir nodded his head. ‘You are most welcome.’

  Aethan and Turos appeared in the doorway. Grass and leaves clung to their clothes, bits of which were ripped. One of Turos’s eyes was already swelling shut and both had broken skin on their knuckles. I couldn’t be totally sure, because it was so messy, but it looked like Aethan was missing a clump of hair.

  ‘Grab a chair boys.’ Grams gestured to the lounge room as she said to me, ‘And to think I always said this table was too big.’

  They reappeared a few seconds later and wedged into the doorway, both trying to be the first into the kitchen. I slid even further down my chair.

  Aethan managed to wiggle through first. ‘Excuse me,’ he said to Grams.

  ‘Oh be my guest.’ I didn’t need to look at her to know she was grinning as she shuffled her chair over.

  ‘Do you mind?’ Turos said to Lionel.

  ‘Not at all young man,’ Lionel said in his huge, booming voice.

  Both Aethan and Turos placed their chairs as close to me as possible. Their girths meaning their arms were touching mine.

  ‘Awkward,’ Grams stage-whispered in a sing-song voice.

  There was no way I could sit here like this and discuss how we were going to win an unwinnable war. I need to be playing my A game, and at the moment I didn’t even feel capable of an F.

  ‘Right.’ I stood up. ‘That’s quite enough. You,’ I pointed at Turos, ‘sit over there.’

  Aethan let out a snort and I rounded on him. ‘And you,’ I pointed at him, ‘sit over there.’

  The two of them glared at each other as they shuffled around to sit at my three and nine.

  I sat back down and turned my attention to Rako. ‘Have you briefed King Arwyn on my situation?’

  ‘Child, I don’t need to know about your love life,’ King Arwyn said.

  I leant forwards and put my head on my hands while Grams chuckled and rubbed my back. ‘Not that situation,’ I said through my fingers.

  ‘Isadora has been living in an alternate reality,’ Rako said. ‘King Bladimir was the monarch of that land.’ He went on to explain where they had originally come from. ‘That’s as much as I know,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure why they have all returned.’

  I sat back up as Bladimir explained about the pirates and how they had forced us to flee.

  ‘I don’t know if this is important,’ I said. ‘But it was Santanas. It seems that in that world he didn’t get imprisoned in stone, but went on to rule.’

  They were all silent for a while as they digested that bit of news.

  Finally Rako said, ‘I don’t think it’s going to affect the outcome of the next few days.’ He turned to Bladimir, ‘How much assistance are you willing to give us?’

  Bladimir popped some cake into his mouth as he considered the question. ‘Well, it appears, if we do not want to find ourselves in the same situation again, that we must support you whole-heartedly. My warriors are yours to command. We will need to ask the dragons if they will also help. They are our allies, not our pets.’

  Turos got that faraway look in his eyes that meant he was talking to Lance. A second later he stiffened. His fingers gripped the chair arms and his nostrils flared. His blue eyes bored into mine, burning with a fire, an intensity that sent a jolt of electricity through me.

  I sent my mind out to Emerald and instantly regretted it. Lust slammed into me like a high-speed train and it took every ounce of concentration not to leap over the table and take Turos to the floor. It appeared Emerald and Lance were having some ‘alone’ time.

  Bladimir didn’t seem to be having the same trouble with his dragon. I gripped the edge of the table with my fingers while I waited for the lust to fade away, but it didn’t.

  Finally, Bladimir’s eyes refocused and he said, ‘Reech will ask the others and they will hold a vote. Some of the dragons are busy, so he should have an answer in an hour or two.’

  Against my will I met Turos’s eyes. Emerald’s emotions were so strong, her pleasure so great, I was having trouble severing the link I had created. An hour or two of this? I’d probably be pregnant by the time it was over.

  ‘Water?’ Grams handed me a glass.

  I took it from her hand, using the coolness of the glass as a distraction. Condensation rolled down the outside, and suddenly I found myself remembering the way water droplets had danced on Turos’s skin the day we had gone swimming together. I risked a glance up at him. His hands trembled where he gripped the chair and sweat had formed on his perfect brow. Aethan looking between the two of us, and I knew that that should make me feel something, but it didn’t. My mind was too full of the want, of the need, of Turos.

  I gripped the glass harder. Perhaps the water would be more affective if I tipped it over my head.

  I lifted my hand and Isla appeared in the doorway, Mia curled around her neck.

  ‘Izzy.’ Her eyes studied my face, no doubt taking in my dilated pupils and shallow breathing. ‘Some of the dragons need healing.’

  The dragons! I leapt to my feet. Dark Sky. I had totally forgotten about them, what with passing out and chasing Galanta and now my problems with Turos and Aethan. It was no excuse though. They deserved better than that.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ I looked around the table. ‘I need to go.’ My eyes settled on Turos and I licked my lips.

  ‘I’ll come too.’ Turos started to stand but Bladimir clamped a hand over his arm. ‘No son, you will stay. Isadora will look after the dragons far better than you could.’

  The muscles on Turos’s face bulged as he clenched his teeth and for a second I thought he would disobey his father. I was toast for sure if he did. I wanted to use my teeth to rip off his clothes and my tongue to bathe him. Then he nodded stiffly and Aethan, who had also risen, relaxed back into his seat.

  I dragged my gaze away from Turos and followed Isla from the room. Scruffy let out a sigh as he dragged his gaze from the lemon cake, and trotted after me.

  ‘Looks like I got there in time to stop you making an idiot of yourself,’ Isla said.

  ‘Huh?’ An image of Turos, stripping off his trousers and striding into the ocean, was taking up all my concentration. If I could only go back in time, I would make much better use of that situation.

  Isla stopped, turned to face me, and slapped me hard on the cheek.

  ‘Ooooowww.’ I clutched my face. ‘What was that for?’

  ‘Trying to break you from your lust bubble.’ A grin appeared on her face. ‘I seem to be doing that a lot lately.’

  ‘What are you….’ I pulled a face. ‘How did you know?’

  ‘Lance and Emerald have been making cow eyes at each other since we got here. An hour ago they flew off, leaving Arthur in my care. I figured it could only mean one thing.’

  ‘No, I mean how did you know about that?’ I waved a hand back towards the house. ‘About what happened to us?’

  ‘I wasn’t totally sure. It was just a hunch I had that Lance and Emerald’s relationship might be influencing your and Turos’s feelings for each other.’

  I stopped walking and stared at her. She was the most astute person I knew. I shook my head and hurried to catch up. That was food for thought for
a later time. I had work to do now.

  We reached the top of the windy track down to the field below the house. Ahead, I could see Arthur. Well most of Arthur. He stood upright behind a large oak, but the bulge of his body and his tail stuck out on either side.

  ‘What is he doing?’ I asked.

  Isla let out a little laugh and whispered. ‘He’s hiding from us.’ She laughed again. ‘He’s so adorable. Pretend you can’t see him.’

  ‘Okaaaaay.’

  We made heaps of noise as we progressed down the path. Just before we got to Arthur he leapt out from behind the tree, waving his front feet on either side of his head as he roared. We both let out terrified shrieks and Isla even went as far as to stumble backwards, landing on the ground with her legs up in the air.

  Arthur let out a delighted gurgle and clapped his front feet together. Then he reached forwards and slapped Isla in the face with his huge tongue. When he had finished licking her, he grabbed the neck of her shirt with his teeth and lifted her back to her feet.

  ‘You are so naughty,’ she said, her huge smile belying her words. ‘We had no idea you were there.’

  Arthur let out another gurgle then turned, leapt into the air and floated down to the field. Little puffs of smoke came from his nose as he went.

  Isla shook his head. ‘I started playing peek-a-boo with him when he was in his egg. Now it’s his favourite game.’

  I shook my head and laughed as I followed her down the track. I wish a playful dragon was the top of my problem list.

  It took us another five minutes to reach the injured dragons. I could see Sabby and her mother Grindella with some of the Guard healers.

  ‘They can’t get the metal out,’ Isla said. ‘They can heal all the other wounds, just not those ones.’

  ‘So if I draw out the metal?’

  She nodded. ‘They should be able to finish the job.’

  Well, that was a relief, because half of the dragons seemed to be in the injured area. I felt a flash of guilt. It was my fault they were hurt. If I had been stronger I could have held a bigger shield.