by Bonnie Lamer
Kegan’s face lights up with surprise. “You also believe it has been ten minutes?”
I am getting close to punching him for being so annoying. “Yes, because it has been ten minutes.”
“Whoa, I think we had better have this conversation with Dagda present.”
“What is wrong with you?” Xandra asks him. She looks close to hitting him as well.
Kegan puts his hands up, palms forward. “I am only the messenger. You cannot take it out on me, so just put that magic away. I am going to let the King explain this to you.”
Xandra looks surprised. She did not realize she had drawn magic again. Perhaps it is not Kegan who is wrong. Xandra’s magic is doing very strange things today. Could it really be distorting time? “I believe Kegan is right. If there is something amiss, we should discuss it with Dagda,” I say.
Xandra nods, the concern not leaving her face. I take her hand in mine and we follow Kegan in silence out of the room and downstairs. We find Dagda in the sitting room. He is pacing the room with a drink in his hand. Two of his security team are standing nearby.
Dagda looks up when we enter. “This is my fifth drink today. I do believe I can literally say that you are driving me to drink.”
Xandra looks at him sheepishly. “Sorry. Again.”
He shakes his head. “I assume you were napping?” In unison, our faces flood with dark red blood. We could not look more guilty if we tried. Dagda’s eyes cloud over. “Obviously, I assumed incorrectly. Is there a hand-fasting to be arranged?”
“It didn’t get that far,” Xandra blurts. Dagda does not seem convinced.
I cannot believe I need to say these words aloud. I want to become dust and simply blow away at the moment. Or have Xandra teleport us out of here. “There was no penetration.”
As if reading my mind, Xandra does teleport out of here, alone, leaving me to answer to my very angry uncle. She could have at least taken me with her. I will definitely be discussing this with her later.
Fortunately, Dagda becomes distracted by the fact that Xandra has just disappeared. Our sex life is no longer his priority. “What the hell?!” he shouts. “Where did she go?”
I run a hand through my hair, stalling for time. But the look on his face tells me that I had better quit stalling. “Xandra has gained the ability to teleport.”
“No one can teleport,” Dagda scoffs.
“You have just witnessed her do so.”
Dagda stalks over to where I am standing and waves his hand in the spot where Xandra stood a moment ago. He spins around in a full circle, his hand searching the air for some indication she is still here, possibly in a circle. Not that he could really feel a circle if that was the case. Not able to find her, he turns back to me. “How do you know she is not still here; that she has not made herself invisible?”
I am tempted to point out that no magical creatures are able to achieve invisibility, but this is probably not the best time to point out anything to him. And who knows, Xandra may gain that ability at some point in the future considering how her magic is growing exponentially. “I know because she teleported both of us from one part of Grandmother’s house to another right before we left on this trip.”
Anger is mounting inside of him. “Yet you did not share this valuable information with me?” Before I can respond, he says, “Let me guess, Isla instructed you not to do so?”
My loyalty to Grandmother makes my tongue silent. I will neither confirm nor deny his accusation. But it does not matter, he knows it was she.
Dropping that line of questioning, he says, “Where did she go? How do we get her back here?”
I shrug. “She just developed this ability. We have not learned the limitations of it yet, nor her control over it. She may be just outside the carriage or she may be in a different realm. I do not know.” Wherever she is, she had better come back soon. I cannot believe she left me here to face Dagda’s wrath on my own.
“Send her a message,” he demands.
I sigh. “I will but as I said, we do not know the limitations of this new power. She may be too far away to receive my message.”
Between gritted teeth, he says, “Try.”
I do. Unfortunately, Xandra does not cooperate and reappear. I will assume she is somewhere that she cannot hear my call, not that she is too embarrassed to come back.
Turning away from me, Dagda walks to a liquor decanter on a small table in the corner of the room and pours his sixth drink of the day. I am tempted to ask for one myself. Why would Xandra just disappear like this? Then again, maybe she did not mean to do it. Did the Angels find out she can teleport and they plucked her back to Angel time? Maybe she accidently teleported herself somewhere dangerous and is in need of help. Damn it. Here I am again. Waiting. Waiting to find out if the one I love is ever coming back to me.
Reading my mind, Dagda asks, “Do you think she is okay?” There is genuine concern in his voice even if he is still angry.
“Xandra is a boomerang. She always comes back,” Kegan says, but there is worry in his eyes as well.
Dagda practically throws himself into a chair. Sighing, he says, “I suppose I should send out a search party just in case.” Looking up at me, he says, “Please notify Radella I want to see her.”
“I am here, Sire,” Radella says, instantly appearing. It is very likely she has been in the hall listening to our conversation since we came down. Confirming my suspicions, she gives me a knowing smile like I am supposed to be upset that she now knows more about my sex life than she should. I could not care less what she knows. Yet, I still have an overwhelming urge to throw something at her as Dagda had.
“Wonderful to know you were lurking around waiting for me to call you,” Dagda says dryly, wiping the smile off Radella’s face. “I want you to organize a search party. Do not return unless you have found my daughter or Kallen sends you a message to come back.”
She is itching to argue, but she does not. “Of course. I will bring two of the security detail with me and we will scour the area.” Right, she will probably look half-heartedly behind bushes surrounding the carriage.
“Fine,” Dagda says with a dismissive wave. Radella leaves the room. Turning to my cousin, he says, “Kegan, please go check on Alita.”
Subtle. Kegan leaves the room with a smirk on his face, knowing Dagda wants to discuss something with me alone. He and I both know what he wants to discuss.
Dagda leans forward and sets his drink on the table in front of him. With his elbows on his knees, he looks up at me. “Have a seat. We need to talk about your intentions regarding my daughter.”
I take a seat on a sofa and face him squarely. “I intend to spend the rest of my life with your daughter.”
He shakes his head and leans back in his chair. “You are both so young.”
“I believe I am the same age as you were when you married,” I counter.
He snorts and waves his hand around the room. “Do you see my loving wife here?” he asks sardonically.
It is not the same situation at all. “My understanding is that it was not lack of love that caused your wife to leave.” I know I am treading on dangerous ground. She left because he had sex with Xandra’s mother to fulfill the prophecy. His wife was devastated by the betrayal of their hand-fasting.
Dagda’s eyes darken. “No, I suppose it was not. But I am speaking of you and Xandra. Kallen, she is so innocent. She lived inside a cocoon until recently, which I know is entirely my fault. But that has left her vulnerable to falling in love with the first male she dates.”
I am seething inside but I try to keep a cool exterior. “I have more faith in her love than that.”
He sighs and scratches his head, taking a moment to choose his next words. “I suppose I do as well. When she makes up her mind, she does not second guess her decisions. Much like myself,” he adds wryly. “But I am still worried that you may end up getting hurt.”
Me? He is worried about me getting hurt? “I was under the impression that you we
re worried about me hurting her.”
He chuckles. “Oh no, I know you have fallen hard. I had that same look in my eyes once.” Sobering, he says, “I am fearful that lust will force the two of you into a union neither of you are ready for.”
I have gone from angry to embarrassed in a nanosecond. “We know what we are doing.”
He laughs outright which sends me reeling back to anger. “In the heat of the moment, everything feels right.”
“Must we have this conversation?” I ask.
He nods. “We must. I want you both to be sure of what you want in the future, and to do that, I believe Xandra needs some space. Perhaps some separation would be good for the two of you.”
I am on instant alert. “What type of separation are you suggesting?”
“Do not get worked up, I am not suggesting years. I merely would like you two to follow the more traditional methods of courting. You cannot tempt yourselves night after night and still make rational decisions about your relationship.”
“We are left hand-fasted. We are living within the boundaries of that.” My tone is defensive. Guilty even. I know that Xandra and I have pushed the boundaries until they are bell shaped.
Dagda obviously knows this as well. “Do I look like a stupid Fairy?” he asks. I assume the question is rhetorical, though at the moment, I would love to respond. Continuing, he says, “This is something I will discuss with Isla when we return. I want to give you both a chance to make good decisions.”
I am fuming. I am surprised the raging inferno inside of me has not caught the carriage on fire yet. “Xandra and I will continue as we are,” I say rigidly. Who is he to make demands regarding Xandra? Her true parents have given their blessing. We do not need his.
He raises a brow. “Considering I am both her father and the King of this realm, I believe I have the final say here.”
“We do not have to stay in this realm,” I counter in anger. Xandra will feel the same way when I discuss this with her.
Dagda studies me for several heartbeats, sadness peeking around the edges of his eyes. Perhaps he did not expect this response from me. “No, I suppose you do not.” I expect him to continue, but he remains quiet. We sit in an uncomfortable silence for quite some time.
After a while, Sindri comes into the room. If he notices the tension between Dagda and me, he ignores it and asks, “Any word, Sire?”
Rising from his chair, Dagda shakes his head and starts pacing, his drink in hand. “No, word yet. Please let the Giants know that we have yet again been unavoidably detained.” He gives Sindri a fierce look. “Do not tell them why. Make up whatever you would like, but leave Xandra’s name out of it.” Sindri nods and backs out of the room.
Dagda and I do not speak. We wait in this awkward silence for any word that Xandra has been found and is okay. Or for her to turn up on her own which I expect her to do.
The longer I sit here, the more I fume. I am angry with Dagda for his plan to separate Xandra and me. I am angry with Xandra for simply leaving when things got hard. I am angry with the universe for everything else that has gone wrong today. It takes everything I have to hold my tongue, for I would love nothing better than to tell my uncle exactly how I am feeling and what he can do with his opinions regarding Xandra and me.
Amazingly, all that anger temporarily dissolves when Xandra is suddenly standing before us again. “Xandra, where the hell have you been?” Dagda shouts.
I am out of my chair in a flash. Placing my hands on her cheeks, I search her face for any sign of trauma. “Are you okay?” I ask. She nods and my heart lets go of the angry knot of fear it has been holding. Relieved, I bring my lips to hers and give her a demanding kiss, a kiss filled with the worry and fear and love that I felt every moment she was gone. “You had me going crazy,” I murmur against her lips. “Please do not do that to me again.”
Her brows furrow. “How long?” she asks.
I know what she means. I check the clock hanging on the wall. “An hour and a half. We had no idea where you were. Radella and her team have been searching for you.”
Her only response is, “Oh.” .
I step back from her and run an annoyed hand through my hair. Now that I know she is fine, some of my previous anger washes through me again. I find I cannot hold my tongue. “I cannot believe you were gone so long simply because you wanted to avoid a difficult conversation. That was not fair to me.”
Her look is incredulous. “You think I left because I was embarrassed? You think I left you to deal with that because I was too much of a coward?” Her anger is rivaling mine now. “And you didn’t think for a moment that maybe, just maybe, I would be having a hard time controlling the teleporting just like all my other stupid magic?”
Guilt and shame creep over me. She is right, of course. All those thoughts did go through my mind. “I apologize for thinking the worst,” I say quietly.
As if to prove the point that she had not run away out of embarrassment, she turns to Dagda and says, “Kallen and I didn’t have sex earlier, but we did come close.”
Now, it’s Dagda’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Yes, we covered that while you were gone,” he says dryly.
Feeling awkward having this conversation again, I say, “When we were…otherwise occupied earlier, two hours had passed.”
She is even more incredulous now. “That can’t be.”
I shrug. “The clocks and stars do not lie.”
Dagda turns to me. “Kallen, please call Radella and her team back. We need to get to the bottom of whatever is going on between you two.” To Xandra, he says, “We are all anxious to know where you have been for the last hour and a half.”
Xandra’s face flushes. “Um, dancing in the woods with Nymphs.” When neither Dagda nor I say anything, she says, “What? Why are you just staring at me?”
Dagda narrows his eyes. “We are waiting for you to tell us where you really were.”
Her eyes flash. “Um, are you guys deaf? I said I was in the forest with Nymphs.”
This has to be a figment of her imagination, a part of whatever is making her magic malfunction. “Xandra,” I say gently. “There is no such thing as Nymphs.”
She does not believe me. “You’re telling me that there are Fairies, Giants, Witches, Angels and Shadows, but there aren’t any Nymphs? Why would I believe that?”
“Well, cousin-to-be-very-soon,” Kegan, who has reentered the room, says “you should believe it because it is true.”
Xandra gives him a dirty look. “Then who were the three women dancing in the woods?”
“A figment of your imagination?” Kegan suggests, speaking aloud what I am thinking. “We are currently in an unpopulated area.”
She puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. “Who says I was in this area?”
“Xandra,” I say, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Tell us more about these women. Did they tell you they were Nymphs?”
Her anger defuses slightly as she realizes we may be right. “No, I guess that’s what I called them.” There is a sigh around the room. She is simply calling whatever creatures she met by the wrong name. “What were they, then?” she asks.
“Come,” Dagda says, returning to his chair. “Sit and we will try to figure it out.” Xandra sighs and plops down on one of the couches. Kegan, and I sit as well. Dagda waves a tired hand at Xandra. “Whenever you are ready.”
Xandra sighs heavily again. “Like I said, there were three of them. One blonde, one brunette and one redhead.”
“None with black hair?” Kegan asks, obviously trying to identify the women as Fairies.
Xandra shakes her head. “They didn’t have green eyes, either. They had brown and blue eyes. And they were wearing these toga-like things in bright colors. And they liked dancing. A lot.”
I frown. “You are not describing Fairies. Were they large, like Giants?” She tilts her head and gives me a dirty look. I guess she would have known right away if they were Giants, but I am only trying
to get to the bottom of this. Calmly, I say, “Fine, not Giants then.”
Dagda shakes his head. “Xandra, you lost another hour and a half, and before that, you and Kallen lost almost two hours. Before that, you lost six hours. It is now coming close to midnight and I am tired. Are you absolutely certain you did not fall asleep in the woods and dream these creatures you speak of?”
She bites her bottom lip and considers this. Finally, she says, “No, I don’t believe I was dreaming.”
Standing up again, Dagda says, “We have the necessary items for the dream spell. We should get on with it and discuss this more tomorrow. As soon as the drivers are well enough rested, they will be resuming our southern progress this evening as we are so far off track now and need to make up for the shift in direction. I am hoping they will make good time if you are in a dreamless slumber.”