by Bonnie Lamer
We walk a short distance down the street made out of brick. There are sidewalks, but since there doesn’t seem to be any vehicles on the road, it doesn’t matter where we walk. I wonder if the Giants have vehicles. That question is answered by the horse drawn carriage that comes around a corner. The horse is huge, just like the driver. It makes horses in my realm look like ponies.
Avoiding the carriage, Quinn turns down a peaceful looking side street with large stone houses lining it. At the end is the largest. It is almost as big as Dagda’s, but it looks much older. Not worn, lived in. Where Dagda’s house has the warmth of a palace, this has the feel of a home. It’s surrounded by a stone wall and a massive, wrought iron gate is opened by a red haired Giant as we approach.
Quinn has been quiet as we’ve walked. He remains that way as we pass a fountain with a statue of Giant children at play, and approach the front door. Turning to Kallen, he says, “Your presence is not necessary for these talks. I will have someone show you to the library.”
Kallen’s face is turning red with anger. “I am not leaving Xandra alone.”
Quinn’s brows rise slightly. “She will not be alone. She will be with me.”
If they were rams, they would already be butting heads. I have to do something before this gets blown way out of proportion. Turning to Quinn, I say, “I haven’t been in this realm for very long. Kallen is more familiar with the situation than I am.”
Quinn crosses his arms over his chest. “You were not briefed?”
Now my cheeks turn red, yet again. “I was given some information, but I didn’t have a chance to look it over.” It’s in my suitcase. I could have looked at it, but I didn’t.
He cocks his head to the side. “You do not find this situation worthy of your time?”
I’m getting annoyed again. I put my hands on my hips and glower up at him. “After fighting off Fairy assassins, then my grandfather and his band of powerful Witches who wanted me dead, and then stopping a Fairy civil war that was supposed to end with my death, I was tired. Forgive me if I thought I deserved a couple of days to relax my brain before the next calamity and/or death threat in my life. And since I’m not well versed in the topics you want me to arbitrate, I’m not going anywhere without Kallen to clue me in on the details. For all I know, you could trick me into agreeing to all sorts of things that aren’t appropriate if I talk to you alone.”
I expect him to get mad, so I’m surprised when he laughs. “You have the fire and temper of a Devas.” With a slight bow of his head, he says, “If your Fairy friend is a necessity, then so be it. I would hate to have you agree to anything inappropriate.”
There’s a twinkle in his eye that I don’t like. Nor do I like the way he emphasized the word inappropriate. And I made it pretty clear last night that Kallen is more than just a friend. I have the feeling this is going to be one of the longest days of my life. Considering the days I’ve been having, that will be quite an accomplishment. Kallen looks too mad to speak at the moment. He’s much better at following the whole ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything’ rule than I am. If I think it, I say it. Not necessarily a good thing.
Quinn turns and the door opens almost magically. Or because someone was looking out through the peephole. A woman not much taller than Quinn holds it for us as we walk by. She is older, with a head of pure white hair and a face lined by many years in the sun. She’s skinny to the point of looking anorexic, and she has dark eyes that greatly resemble a rat’s. Her chin and nose are so pointed, and her forehead so pronounced, she could serve as a model for a crescent moon. Since her beady little eyes are following me, I try to walk past her as quickly as possible. Guess not all Giants are good looking or age well. Yeesh, she’d be terrifying to run into in a dark alley.
Quinn continues to walk through the large foyer and down a wide hall lined with doors that are all closed. I come up to the doorknobs on them. The house is a bit gloomy until he opens the door of what looks like his office. The room is lined with windows that are letting in the light from the rising sun, chasing away the gloom of the hallway. A large mahogany desk sits in the middle of the room towards the windows, and in one corner, there’s a large, round table with four chairs. That is where Quinn walks. Gesturing with his arm, he points to the chairs. The chairs that are way too tall for me to climb on without looking like a complete geek, and without a grappling hook. I just stare at him with my arms crossed over my chest.
He chuckles. I’m glad I amuse him so. “How do you expect me to get up there?” I ask.
“I could lift you,” he says, and there’s a twinkle in his eyes again.
Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I look at Kallen and I believe he’s thinking the same thing. “I believe teleporting will be the best option,” he says through gritted teeth.
He’s right. Taking his hand, I imagine us both on the chair. There’s plenty of room for two. We make it to the chair just fine. Seeing over the table is still a problem, though. Kallen fixes that. He creates another chair that strongly resembles a booster seat on top of the one we’re already on. It brings us high enough to see over the table. Yup, long day already.
Quinn is comfortably seated in his chair watching the show. When Kallen and I are finally situated, he leans forward with his arms on the table. “To get you up to speed, since you know so little about us, I will give you a brief synopsis of the situation. As you know, I am the Chief of the Devas tribe. We are descended from the gods Kratos and Bia. Their blood flows through our veins. The Devas are half-gods.” Kallen snorts, earning him a dirty look from Quinn. I’m not going to comment. After all, I have Angel blood running through me, so who knows what else is possible.
Choosing to ignore Kallen, Quinn continues. “The Daityas, the tribe to the west, were once great beings, but their blood has been tainted from centuries of mating with Cowans to increase their numbers before the realms were closed.”
I sigh. “Why does everyone hate humans so much?” I spent a lot of years thinking I was human. It wasn’t so bad.
One side of Quinn’s mouth pulls up into an amused half smile. “It is not humans that are hated, it is their blood. It weakens any line it mixes with, destroying strength, power and magic. It has also decreased the size of the Daityas.” Hmm, I wonder how much. Is there such thing as Giant dwarfs? Would that make them my size? He continues speaking as I ponder that. “There has always been tension between the Devas and the Daityas and the mixing of tribal blood is forbidden.”
I frown and shake my head. “Is there anyone in this realm who isn’t prejudice against somebody else? I can’t believe how much you all judge each other by blood lines. Haven’t you ever heard of equality? Who cares who has what blood.”
Kallen doesn’t say anything. I think he knows better than to really get me going on this topic. Yes, I know this stuff happens in my realm, too, but I didn’t like it any more there, than I do here. Quinn, on the other hand, crosses his massively muscled arms over his broad chest. “Equality cannot exist when two things are not equal. You would have us consider those who are weaker and smaller, those not descended from gods, to be equals among us and have them taint our children with their inferior blood?”
“Well, yeah. Because who cares? It’s not like you’re going to win a prize for being the biggest and the strongest or the purest of blood. What would happen if the next generation of Giants is only eleven feet tall instead of twelve? Is the world going to end as you know it? Will society have to be razed and started anew because your kids or grandkids weren’t the right height? Come on, this is so ridiculous.”
Quinn narrows his eyes. “You were correct; you do have the ability to anger people quickly with your opinions. To answer your questions, no, the world would not end as we know it. But if the blood lines are continued to be weakened, we will become a bunch of weak and frail beings having to rely on the likes of him to support us.” He nods in Kallen’s direction.
As I said, ridiculous. I sigh
and shake my head again. “Have the Daityas become frail and weak and need to be taken care of by Fairies. Or you, for that matter.”
An inferno is raging in those beautiful blue eyes of his. Considering the tempers I’ve seen that Giants possess, I’m impressed he’s staying so calm. “I will admit it is a slow process. The inevitable outcome, though, is not changed by the speed of the transformation.”
I could argue that, but I won’t, because Kallen is squeezing my hand under the table, and my fingers are starting to lose circulation. I’m taking that as a clue that I should shut up. Fine. I’m moving on. “Okay, let’s agree to disagree on this for right now. What’s going on with you guys and the Daityas. Why do you want to kill each other?”
Amusement is creeping back on to Quinn’s face as he sits back and relaxes again. “I find your desire to get to the core of the matter refreshing. You would survive well amongst the Devas.”
“Yeah, if I didn’t get squashed walking down the street,” I grumble.
A deep, rumbling laugh escapes Quinn’s throat. “After your spectacle in the street this morning, I suspect you will be given a wide berth from now on.”
Oh, crap. I grimace. “I forgot to let that guy go.” I pull back the magic that is holding him in place. I bet he’s going to come looking for me some time soon.
“In answer to your question, the Devas do not want to kill the Daityas. Yet, we will not sit back and tolerate the random attacks and violence that they are perpetrating towards our people. It has become dangerous to leave the village, and those that do have to defend themselves from attack. Livestock is being stolen. A field of crops was burned yesterday. It is as if the Daityas have gone crazy. They know a war between the tribes would have a sure outcome in our favor. Their behavior does not make sense.”
He’s awfully confident that he would win. I wonder if that’s truly merited. “But, even if you win, there would still be losses on both sides, right? Devas and Daityas would both end up with dead soldiers.”
“Which is why we have asked for the intervention of the King before resorting to war. Though, the escalating violence is a hair’s breath away from inciting us into retaliation. It has taken quite a bit of persuasion on my part to keep my men from attacking the Daityas outright.”
“Yeah, patient and laid back aren’t adjectives I would use to describe the Devas I’ve met so far,” I mumble. Louder, I say, “So, what do you want Dagda to do?”
“It is odd that you refer to your father by his given name. Is that customary in your realm?”
Hmm, how do I explain this without making it seem like Dagda and I aren’t on the same page but still be honest. “No, but in my realm, you call the person who raised you your dad. Even if he’s not the one that got your mom pregnant.” I am blushing big time. That was probably too much information.
“Does it happen often that one man impregnates a woman and another man raises that child?”
Yeah, it kind of does, now that I think about it. We’re getting a little side-tracked, though. So, I say, “No, I’m special that way. You didn’t answer my question.”
“That is true, but I find myself becoming more and more curious about you. So, from this point on, I will answer one of your questions if you will answer one of mine.”
“We’re not here to discuss Xandra,” Kallen growls. The tension in the room has just been upgraded to a code red and I think we’re headed towards a nuclear meltdown. It feels like there should be an alarm sounding somewhere and an evacuation started.
“Kallen, I don’t care what he asks about me. I don’t have anything to hide.” I bet that’s the look I get on my face when he says something and I decide I want to discuss it with him later because it pissed me off. That’s a pretty annoying look.
“Then, it is agreed. I will answer your question now. I asked the King to come and exert his control over the Daityas.”
“How?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “It is my turn to ask a question now.”
I roll my eyes. I guess we’re really going to do this. “Okay, ask away.”
“Has your father set your Bride Price yet?”
“What?”
“Your bride price, what he will be owed if this Fairy convinces you to actually wed him.”
I whirl around to Kallen. “You guys sell women to get them husbands?”
Kallen glares at Quinn as he answers me. “As in your realm, dowries and bride prices are a thing of the distant past. The custom was actually discontinued here long before it was discontinued there.”
Quinn smiles and inclines his head towards Kallen. “My apologies for not keeping up with the Fairy traditions.”
I don’t think he’s the least bit sorry. He looks pretty smug to me, for getting me upset with Kallen. I refuse to take his bait. “Anyway, what kind of control did you want Dagda to exert?”
“Under our charter with the King, it states that acts of war not sanctioned by the King will be considered treason and will result in the death of those found to be guilty.”
“And you the things the Daityas are doing are acts of war and that they’re guilty of treason?”
He wags a finger back and forth in front of him. A finger that is as long as my head. “It is my turn. Why have you not come together with the King’s nephew in a real marriage?”
“You’re getting awfully personal.” I know he’s just trying to upset Kallen. “But, to answer your question, we haven’t because I’m too young.”
“Yes, I believe the Daityas to be guilty of treason. Their Chieftain should have taken it upon himself to enforce the Charter. Too young by your standards or your father’s?”
I sigh. “Both. Who’s their Chieftain?”
“His name is Ellu. He has always been a lunatic, now he is an erratic lunatic. Have you explored other options for marriage?”
“I don’t need to. Have you tried to talk to Ellu?”
“He refuses to see me, which is another violation of the charter. Either Chieftain may call a meeting to discuss any issue that is creating discord amongst the tribes. How will you know he is the person for you, if you do give yourself the chance to explore your options?”
“Explore her options with whom?” Kallen’s green eyes are slitted and I feel him pulling an awful lot of magic.
I have completely lost control of the situation and it’s only been five minutes. I knew I wasn’t meant for this. “What’s your point besides making my boyfriend mad?”
Quinn smiles and there’s something sinister in it. “I believe a hand-fasting between a Chieftain and the King’s daughter would go a long way to convince the Giants that he considers us equals. Which, as you pointed out earlier, is how an ideal realm should consider all the races living amongst it.”
“You want to marry me?” How did I go from never having a boyfriend to two marriage proposals in only a few months? And I thought things were out of control a second ago. “What about your blood lines? You said that the Devas don’t like to taint their blood.” Okay, that may have sounded like me backpedaling on the whole superior/inferior line of thinking, but the man wants me to marry him for god’s sake!
“We do not taint our blood with Cowan blood. You are not Cowan.”
“No, but I was raised with them. Doesn’t that count?”
He chuckles. “No.”
In a flash, my magic creates a wall between Kallen and Quinn. Why? Because Kallen just hurled the equivalent of five lightning bolts at him. I’m pretty sure it would have killed him. If not, it would have seriously maimed him. I’m so in shock that my calm, cool and collected boyfriend just lost all control, that it takes me a moment to realize Quinn has shouted something and the room is filling with very tall people. Great.
Quinn points a finger at Kallen as he snarls, “You dare to attack me in my own home, Fairy? You are not the King and you do not have amnesty from the laws. Under Giant law, I can kill you for this.”
I sigh and shake my head to clear it. “But you
won’t, because I won’t let you,” I say and even I can hear the steel in my voice. Wow, go me.
“You will not dictate to me what I can and cannot do in my own house.”
“Gee, you’re being so charming right now. I can’t believe I’m not falling all over you and accepting your crazy marriage proposal.” As I’m talking, I realize that the other Giants in the room now have crossbows pointed at me and Kallen. Well, that’s just beyond rude. “This is a private conversation,” I say to them. I expand the wall around me and Kallen to slowly move towards the door, bringing the troupe of Giants laden with pointy objects with it.
When they’re all out of the room except Quinn, who now looks even angrier, which I never would have thought possible, I say to him, “I am not marrying you. That’s not even an option. And no, you can’t make Dagda make me do it. We don’t have that kind of relationship. Hell, he’s probably furious that I’m here talking to you at all. I decide who I’m going to be with, and politics is not a criterion for consideration. Now, if you want to keep talking about what to do about the Daityas, I’m all ears. If not, then we’re leaving.”