Dangerous Desires (2) (The Underground Kingdom)

by Steve Elliott

  Dangerous Desires (2)

  Steve Elliott

  Copyright Steve Elliott 2012.

  All rights reserved

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  I listlessly roamed around the house, thinking of Thorn. ‘And who’s this ‘Thorn?’, you might very well ask. Well, as hard as this will be for you to believe, Thorn is a fairy. You know, the tiny ones with the wings. But not one of your run-of-the-mill fairies. She’s no powder puff or flower hugger. No, sir! Instead, she’s outspoken, aggressive, extremely touchy and prone to start an argument at the drop of a hat. There’s none of your twinkly, flower-pollinator, baby-faced, dimpled cuties here. Well, I should correct that, I suppose. She is a cutie. More than that, she’s extremely pretty, what with her curly dark tresses, enormous green eyes, pointed little ears and fetching feminine figure. And, of course, there are her wings. Hey, what did you expect? She is a fairy, after all. Now, where was I? Oh yes, her wings. They’re a transparent, iridescent blue, and they sparkled delightfully in the light. And I’m her friend. At least, I hoped I was still her friend. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks and that was a long time in Thorn’s emotional calendar. Her moods were quite variable, as I’d often found to my cost. Also, she didn’t like being called a ‘fairy’. It incensed her because she believed that human concepts depicted fairies as wimpy, and she firmly believed she was anything but that. She called herself a ‘One’.

  And how had I met her, you want to know? Well, maybe you didn’t, but that’s just too bad because I’m going to tell you anyway. How does one come across a fairy, of all things? It’s not easy. You have to be in the right place at the right time. No, I wasn’t drunk or on drugs. It’s as incredible to me as it probably sounds to you. I found her unconscious beside her crashed flying saucer. Well, not a flying saucer actually, more of a flying plate. It wasn’t all that large. Anyway, I helped her home. Not that she felt grateful or anything, mind you. In fact, she was downright rude, but her cuteness softened some of that. Beautiful women can get away with practically anything.

  I met her again a few weeks later when she asked for my help to solve the mystery theft of her settlement’s Power Crystals. And how could I possibly to do that, given the disparity between our sizes? Good question and one I asked myself at the time. To cut a long story short, I found myself shrunk down, via an electronic gizmo, to Thorn’s size. But that isn’t strictly correct. What actually happened was that my consciousness had been funnelled into a fairy clone, and I ran around in its body. Confused? You should have experienced it from my side!

  Anyway, while I was with Thorn, I met her sister, Tracey (actually named Traculimna, but I couldn’t get my tongue around her name). Similarly, Thorn’s name was really Arugohumna, but try pronouncing that after a drink or two, so I changed her name as well. But back to the story …… Tracey was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen and I nearly melted into a puddle at her feet. Don’t get me wrong here. Thorn was pretty right enough, but Tracey had moved beyond pretty. A whole new word would have to be invented to describe her. And I think she liked me. She did kiss me after all, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she did that to any male she met.

  But, as I said, back to the story. Thorn and I ventured out into goblin territory (yes, yes, I know …….. goblins? Stop interrupting, will you? They lived underground, along with the fairies, and they were uneasy neighbours, to say the least.) On our way, we rescued a goblin called Nix from a pit and he agreed to join our quest – but not before he had a few, um …. physical arguments with Thorn. However, as time went on, they became tentative friends, although that friendship became tested when we were all thrown into a goblin jail by the local Mayor. Fortunately, we were rescued by Nix’s mother who revived the trite ‘file in the cake’ ploy for us. We escaped the jail and discovered that the missing crystals were in the Mayor’s room, thus sealing his guilt as a major player in the theft.

  We hightailed it out of there only to be beset by a platoon of fairy guards who wanted to arrest us on behalf of the fairy Mayor. Luckily, I managed to talk my way out of it by implicating the resident Mayor, who later confessed to the theft. And there you have it. The full story. In sketchy detail, of course. One of the main things coming out of all this was Thorn blurting out that I ‘belonged’ to her and that admission startled us all more than a little. Up until then, I wasn’t sure that she even liked me very much, but here she was, saying that she wanted to be more than a friend. I didn’t know what to do about the situation and escaped before I gave a definitive answer. After two weeks of contemplation, I still hadn’t come up with any sort of an answer either for or against. I still pined for Tracey, but a human/fairy mix? How would that work? Would we even be physically compatible? Anyway, I could be with the sisters only every now and again because the clone thing was feasible for only eight hours at a time. I had a life to live as a human, after all. I had friends! Well, not very many, mind you, but I was sure they’d start asking embarrassing questions if they ever found my body comatose in bed while I ran around via the fairy clone.

  So, there I was, awaiting my next visit to that wondrous underground fairyland. I’d arranged to go there every month to renew acquaintances, but I had to be patient. I expected to meet with Phil (Phillymunna) and his magic electronic clone gizmo, but that time was still two weeks away. So, imagine my surprise when he appeared that very night. He fluttered onto my dining room table and smiled at me.

  “Phil!” I exclaimed. “What the devil are you doing here? Unless I’ve completely lost track of time, the month isn’t up yet. What’s going on?”

  “There’s a problem,” he announced, solemnly. “We need your help again.”

  “What is it?” I said, my stomach tightening. “Nothing’s happened to Tracey or Thorn has it?”

  “No, no,” he reassured me, shaking his head. “They’re fine.”

  “Then what?” I demanded.

  “There’s been a murder!” he whispered, in a traumatized voice. “It’s unprecedented! No One has ever been murdered before! Not that I can remember, anyway.” He began agitatedly walking up and down. “Everyone is in a state of shock and nobody knows what to do.” He looked up at me appealingly. “Stephen, we need you to help solve this.”

  “Take it easy, Phil,” I urged. “First of all, how do you know it was murder? And what do you think I can do about it?”

  Phil inhaled deeply to steady himself. “As to your first question,” he began, “we know it was murder because the unfortunate victim has been stabbed to death. That couldn’t possibly have been an accident. And there was no weapon found in the vicinity, so it had to be murder. What other explanation could there be?” He fell silent, and then threw his hands in the air. “It’s just impossible!” he exclaimed, shaken to the core. “The One don’t kill each other. We just don’t!”

  “I know it looks bad,” I soothed, “but there may be alternate explanations. I just don’t know what they are right now but I agree that your race isn’t the type to murder each other. What do you really want me to do? I’m not a detective. I don’t have any experience in this area.”

  “Just come,” he pleaded. “You may be able to see things that we’ve missed.”

  “Very well,” I told him. “But don’t expect miracles.”

  “Oh, I won’t expect one of those,” he smiled, “but I can hope, can’t I?”

  Chapter 2

  I went into my bedroom and stretched out on the bed. Phil began attaching the transferring electrodes to my body that would put my mind into the wai
ting clone.

  “And how are my favourite sisters?” I asked, in as nonchalant of voice as I could manage.

  “Oh, they’re the same as ever,” Phil chuckled as he applied the electrodes. “Arugohumna is as irascible as always and Traculimna somehow becomes more beautiful every day. They both miss you, you know. Traculimna is always talking about you, and Arugohumna, although she doesn’t mention you much, is uncharacteristically moping around the scenery like a lost duck.” He stopped what he was doing and looked at me shrewdly. “Have you come to any decisions?”

  “About what?” I parried, knowing full well what he was talking about.

  “About those two,” he smiled. “Traculimna told me everything that happened. I know that Arugohumna is having trouble admitting it, but she really likes you. She admitted as much the last time you were there. And as for Traculimna ……. well, who knows what she’s thinking? I know that you fancy her, along with just about every other male One, but I think she’s taken with you as well. To some extent, anyway. But for how long? Traculimna is somewhat …….. flighty, and has well known commitment problems.” He chuckled again. “A bit of a dilemma for you, my boy,” he said.

  “And one I could very well do without,” I grumbled, as Phil pressed the final button.

  I regained consciousness, looking up at the very pleasant sight of Thorn who was peering down anxiously at me. “Stephen?” she asked.

  “Present and accounted for,” I murmured, drowsily. The transfer always tended to make me a little fuzzy until I adjusted.

  “Time to get to work,” Thorn claimed, cruelly dragging me upright.

  “Take it easy,” I protested. “Allow me a little adjustment time, please.”

  “Very well,” she allowed, scrutinising me closely. She colored a little, nervously fluttered her wings and said in a quiet voice, “I’ve missed you.”

  “And I missed you, too,” I admitted, truthfully.

  “You have?” she exclaimed, her eyes widening. “Really?”

  “Really and truly,” I told her, grinning.

  Thorn shuffled her feet, and then peered up at me through her eyelashes. “Really?” she repeated.

  “Really,” I affirmed, patiently. I held out my arms, not quite knowing what she’d do next. She didn’t strike me as being the hugging type, but I thought I’d take a chance anyway. As matters turned out, I was rather surprised when she stepped willingly into my embrace. She wrapped her arms tightly around me, her intensity once again surprising me. Well, this is nice, I thought, returning her hug. It’s not often I get to hold a beautiful girl, even if she does have pointed ears and wings.

  After a few moments, we disengaged and stared silently at each other. Thorn became the first to break the silence. “Well, that’s enough of that,” she began, her voice becoming totally professional. “We have work to do.”

  “Yes,” I enjoined. “We can’t let emotion interfere with business, now can we?” I smiled a little to take the sting out of the words.

  Thorn blushed at my remarks. “Don’t be mean to me, Stephen,” she criticised. “You know I have trouble expressing my feelings.”

  “I’m sorry,” I apologised, taking her hand. “I was only teasing.”

  “You’re holding my hand,” she said.

  “Well, duh! You’re very observant for a One,” I kidded.

  “Why are you doing that?” she wanted to know.

  “Because I like you,” I informed her. “And because I want to. It feels nice.” Thorn looked rather taken aback, but she didn’t take her hand away.

  “Yes, it does,” she murmured, smiling hesitantly. “You know, I’ve never let anyone hold my hand before. Well, to be truthful, one has ever wanted to up until now.”

  “In other words,” I grinned, “this is something of a special occasion then.”

  “I suppose so,” Thorn agreed, down at our intertwined hands. She looked up at me again, almost pleading. “Do you really like me, Stephen, or are you just being polite?”

  “For heaven’s sake, Thorn,” I exclaimed, becoming exasperated, “I like you! I really do. I think you’re a marvellous person, okay? Why are you insisting on it so much?”

  Thorn snatched her hand away, almost angrily. “Because no one has ever said it to me before, that’s why!” she shouted. “I wanted to hear it, just this once, that’s all! Is that a crime? I wanted to hear someone say that they liked me, all right? Do you know what it’s like living with my sister? Everyone loves her. Day in and day out she’s surrounded by admirers. How do you think I feel when I have to see that every single day? Do you blame me for wanting just a tiny bit of that attention? I don’t want to sound like a jealous sister, but I want to be admired too.” She took a deep breath and continued to vent her emotions. Obviously, this outburst had been slowly bubbling to the surface over a long period of time.

  “Okay, I am jealous!” she persisted, clenching her fists. “I admit it! Traculimna has always been the pretty one. Her whole life has been an unending string of boys telling her how beautiful she is. Not a single one of them would even look at me! They were besotted with her. Do you know what that did to my self-esteem? Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep? And that’s when I decided that I didn’t need anyone. That it didn’t matter what others thought of me. So I became a warrior. I put my life on the line every day, and I told myself that I didn’t care!” She stopped, and stared intently to my eyes.

  “And that’s why, Stephen,” she said softly, “I was so desperate to hear you say that you liked me. Do you understand what I’ve been saying?”

  Chapter 3

  To say that I was absolutely flabbergasted would be the understatement of the year. Where on earth had all that come from? It was just a simple handholding, for god’s sake. What would she have done if I’d kissed her? The mind boggles. But still and all ………. the poor thing. To be so insecure that a simple ‘I like you’ became enough to cause such an emotional outpouring. My sympathy glands went into overdrive and I recaptured her hand.

  “Yes, Thorn, I do understand,” I said, quietly. Then I grinned. “You know, for someone who has trouble expressing her feelings ……. ”

  “Sorry about that,” she murmured, flushing with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to put all that on you. It just ……. erupted.” She peeked at me with a cheeky little smile. “I blame you for it.”

  “Me?” I exclaimed in mock horror. “How did you ever arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion?”

  “Easy,” she said. “You’re here.”

  “And that’s it?” I questioned. “That’s all you can say? I’m here?”

  “What other excuse do I need?” she asked, smiling openly now.

  I sighed in defeat. “I know when to stop,” I told her, giving her hand a squeeze before letting go. I looked at her frankly. “You know, Thorn, you’re a very complex person.”

  “No, I’m not,” she disagreed. “What you see is what you get with me. Now, Traculimna, she’s complex.”

  “Tracey?” I exclaimed, astonished. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I couldn’t believe what Thorn had just said. I mean, all apologies to Tracey and everything but, gorgeous as she was, I hadn’t detected any hidden depths to her at all. Well, so far anyway. Although, to be fair, I didn’t know her very well as yet. I’d always imagined that inside that beautiful head of hers, Tracey’s thoughts were lonely indeed. No, that was being mean. Thorn knew her better than I did and if she maintained that Tracey had a complex personality, then I’d accept her verdict. For now, anyway. I’d make up my mind about that later, when I had more information.

  “We’d better get moving,” Thorn announced. “We have a murder to solve.”

  “Phil said that, too. Are you absolutely sure it was a murder?” I asked, as Thorn strode off.

  “As sure as we can be,” she informed me. “The victim died of stab words, and no weapon was found anywhere near.” She shuddered. “I still can’t believe it! A One! Murdered! I can�
��t recall it ever happening before. We just don’t do those sorts of things.”

  “Tell me more about the victim,” I urged Thorn. “What do know about him?”

  “It wasn’t a him,” she informed me. “It was a her. And that makes it all the more gruesome.”

  “What else do you know?” I asked.

  “Well, her name is Belleamunia, and she’s the daughter of a wealthy local businessman,” she began. “She liked to party and had a wide circle of friends. She’s a bit like Traculimna in some ways, I suppose. The last time anyone saw her alive was at a function that same night. She left early in the morning by herself and no one saw her after that.”

  “What mood was she in at the party?” I enquired.

  “Funny you should ask,” Thorn reflected. “Her friends say that she wasn’t her usual self. She seemed withdrawn and moody, and apparently that wasn’t like her at all.”

  “So, she had something on her mind, then,” I mused. “I wonder what it was?”

  Thorn shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine,” she admitted.

  “Who’s in charge of the investigation?” I asked.

  “Fringapellumna,” she answered, grimacing.

  I stopped walking. “Fink?” I exclaimed, astonished. “Fink is in charge? Are you serious?”

  “Well, he is the Security Chief, after all,” Thorn explained, helplessly spreading her arms wide. “But he’s not as bad as he used to be. That episode with the Power Crystals made him a little less arrogant.” *

  I immediately thought back to my role in that little affair. After a fair bit of drama, Thorn, Nix and I had rescued the Crystals from the goblin Mayor only to be confronted by Fink (I called him that because I couldn’t pronounce ‘Fringapellumna’. These fairy names were too much for me). At that time, I regarded him as a boastful, smug, swaggering, conceited, opinionated, overconfident, steaming pile of …….. well, supply your own word there. I shattered his well-defined world by convincing him that his beloved and sacrosanct figure of authority, i.e. the local Mayor, had his greedy hand well and truly stuffed into the cookie jar. Fink didn’t like being shaken out of his well-ordered existence, and I was exposed to a profound glaring whenever we met after that, but I believed he was a better fairy for his experience. Maybe he’d learnt a bit of patience and understanding since we’d last met. I hoped so anyway.