by Bonnie Watts
Who-boy did our faces turn red.
“It would have been nice if you’d mentioned to us that, er,”
“Making love?” Dragon supplies helpfully,
“Yes, making love would bring about that result.” I glare at him.
“I didn’t tell you because it isn’t the physical connection that makes the Consort. That, like when Cirwin pledged his fealty to your cause yesterday, was in your feelings for each other. The love-making was merely the stage for it.”
“Oh.” I look at Jeff.
He shrugged. “I was already committed to you, Jerrie. My loving you happened a long time ago. I guess you finally felt the same way last night.”
“No, it’s been the same for me too. I’ve just been afraid to show it or to admit feeling it with my family’s death and everything. But after seeing and sensing Fred and Tor together yesterday, I realized that none of us ever knows how much time we have. We owe it to those we love and to those we’ve lost to live our lives to the fullest while we’re here.” I smile at Jeff. “Ding dong, a Consort is born.”
His eyes twinkle at my play on the wizard of Oz song. After that, we all finish our meals in peace with the only disturbance being when the two terriers prance in and start begging for food.
We try to be strong, knowing people food isn’t good for them.
“Dragon, Jeff, people food isn’t good for Beauty.” So far I had held up against the pathetically starving liquid brown eyes of Courage sitting next to me.
“I think we should rename them Con and Artist.” Jeff murmurs a few minutes later, now feeding a transferred Courage a piece of sausage.
I glance at Dragon as he meekly feeds his little bitch side-kick cut-up pieces of ham. She is now on his lap like the queen she obviously thinks she is.
“Suckers!”
Dragon plaintively asks, “How do you resist their eyes? They look so sad.”
“My brother had a hound dog called Oleo who would put these two to shame when it came to sad and pathetic eyes. My mom didn’t approve of feeding dogs at the table. No one messed with my mom. You either became hardened or perished in my house.”
They both smile with me at the memory.
“Your mother sounds like she was a remarkable woman.”
I look down at my plate. “She was.”
“Liam, can you please take the food and the dogs, please? We need to have a meeting, and I want you to be there too.”
Lucifer? will you bring Houndmaster into the living room? We have to meet.
Yes, Lucifer coming!
Tor, can you tie Fred in, or do we have to go to him?
I can tie him in.
Good.
“Let’s go in the living room for a meeting, gentlemen.”
-4-
After we all gather I start the meeting.
“Tor has tied Sir Frederick here with us. Cirwin, I’m sure you’re aware that I’ve got a Consort, but have been too polite to say anything about it.”
“Congratulations to both of you.”
“Thank you. Jeff, did you get a response from Lorang?”
“He’s not happy you aren’t coming to pay homage to them, but there isn’t much he can do about it. One thing I did pick up though. They’re scared, Jerrie.”
“Of course they are. They are conservative and lazy, not stupid. They know that any witch who can take out my family is a serious danger to them. And the creation of a White Dragon probably has them running for cover like crazy. Which is good. That’s what they need to do right now. Batten down the hatches to protect themselves and leave us alone unless they get any visions that will help. Once we have a better idea what danger is coming, we’ll know how to set up protecting them.”
“For now, getting to Tor’s and Sir Frederick’s bodies and raising them have to be our highest priority. I realized a while ago that I can’t take out our enemy alone. He’ll just strip me of my powers like he did everyone else. Even Lucifer would be vulnerable because his dimension-jumping skills and telepathy makes him magical. Tor as a Soul-Singer and I together can do it, I think. It’s the only chance we have.”
“Yesterday when Lucifer brought his ball into the otherworld, I realize we might use him to bring physical objects through dimensions. Cirwin, you haven’t probably noticed the difference, but since he bonded with me, I’ve seen that he is becoming more intelligent-sounding. To start, he spoke, well, like a dog, very simple statements about his wants and needs. Now he’s speaking to me like a sentient who understands complex concepts.”
“I have observed the maturity in his mind-voice, my Lady. He very quickly established dominance over the alpha dog in the new pack as though he was aware that doing so would make it easier to get them settled. That is dog nature. But to do it like he did, with no fighting and little aggression, that was the thinking of a sentient.”
Dragon offered, “We can probably attribute that to his position as your Familiar, Jerrie. The magic is working on him.”
“Yes, that’s what I thought too.”
I look at my Consort. God, that is weird-sounding. “Jeff, we need to bring the Order General of the Knight Protectors to Avalon. Since you and I can’t leave through the gateway without being targeted by our enemy, who knows us, then we have to figure out another way to get Sir Tang Lo here.”
Lucifer, can you take people through dimensions to other places, if I picture the place in my head?
Yes, Lucifer take along but Lucifer need to bite people like carry ball.
But not bite hard?
Wear cover like Houndmaster does, then no hurt.
“Lucifer can take a person through to another place as long as he bites the person like he carried his ball in his mouth.”
“My Lady, we might be able to come up with a better way, like a harness that people can grip onto, if I have time to work on it.”
“Go ahead and start work on that once this is over, Cirwin. For this trip, though, if you can lend my Consort a pair of your training gloves, we’ll go with that. I need to speak with Sir Tang Lo today. We are going to need the Order’s help to get to Belgium and find those bodies. We can’t risk bringing them back here and damaging the stasis spells on them. I need to do the removal and re-animation spells there on the spot. I’m afraid that may be the place where we make our stand against this guy, if we don’t manage to confuse him enough. I would rather do it at a site and time of our own choosing. But we should be prepared for both possibilities.”
I look at my lead house brownie next. “Liam, once we leave here for Belgium, we are going to have a significant logistics confusion with our own needs and coordinating it all with the Order’s logistics people. I know it means leaving your homes here in Avalon, but can we count on Team Brownie to handle that?”
The small fey stood up in his chair and looked me in the eyes, his own brown ones proud. “Fel arweinydd y gymuned hon brownis, fy Arglwyddes, yr wyf yn addo y bydd gennym gyda balchder gwasanaethu gan ochr y Ddraig Gwyn hyd yn oed os fod ein bywydau fforffedu yn y.”
Magic translates the pledge to my mind with another island shake and gong. “As the leader of this community of brownies, My Lady, I pledge that we will proudly serve by the White Dragon’s side even if our lives be forfeit in the doing.”
I stand up, go over to Liam and take his hand in mine. “This White Dragon, who feels like just a lowly healer sometimes, blesses all of you, my generals, in this fight to come. For surely, when I look at all of your faces, against all the odds, you give me hope that everything will turn out right in the end.”
Not to mention that the little bitch dog has somehow managed to get through a closed door and onto Dragon’s lap again!
Well, maybe generals came in all genders, shapes and sizes. I reach over and pick Beauty up from Dragon’s lap, sitting back down and stroking her soft fur. She put her front feet on my shoulders and starts licking the tears from my face.
Jerrie, I need to go with Jeff when he talks to Tang Lo.
Are you sure? H
e might not want to give you back.
Oh, he’ll return me after he faces Fred.
I start giggling. Tor sounds so self-satisfied about that.
I look up at Cirwin, who hands me the heavy leather training gloves he’s brought back.
I hold out the gloves for Jeff to take.
“Here. Tor needs to go with you, so make sure that Tang Lo touches him. I gather that Sir Frederick has a few things he wants to say to him. It’s your first official duty as a White Dragon Consort. Don’t you dare say a word, Dragon, or I’ll sic my littlest general on you.”
Beauty looks over her shoulder at Dragon and snorts her disdain. It is clear to the little black terrier that the ancient shifter has been delegated to the position of royal feeder in her mind.
“I am quivering in terror. Should you give the sword to the Order, Jerrie? They might feel it belongs to them.”
“Would you keep it after Sir Frederick tells you to give it back?”
Dragon laughs his lovely laugh, the one that goes down and illuminates my soul. Now I need to get my head around what I am going to say to Sir Tang Lo.
Watching Jeff and Lucifer dimension-hop is creepy. They just sort of pixelate away in pieces.
“That looks like it would hurt.” I put Beauty on the couch next to Courage. “I’m going to change clothes to look more like a formal White Dragon. This isn’t going to be easy.”
Dragon stands up. “Do you wish me to stay for it?”
I glance back at him, knowing that panic is on my face. “Are you kidding? I can’t do it without you. Put on your other suit. We’re doing this outside. Liam, will you set up the scene out in the yard? You would make a great Hollywood director the way you can set the mood up perfectly like you do!”
Dragon laughs again as he leaves to shift into his other shape. God, I love his laugh.
The brownies have been augmenting my wardrobe again, I notice when I look in the closet. What in the world shall I wear? Even my gay sword has better taste than me in ladies clothes, sad as that fact is.
There is a knock on the door.
“Come in!”
Four brownies are at the door, with Maggie Neverstill in the lead.
“Oh, thank goodness! I have no idea what I should wear to meet the Order General!”
“Don’t panic, lassie. Sal, get ready to do her hair, it looks like the Morrigu’s crows have made a nest in it. Aggie, get your makeup box ready, she’s as white as a ha’nt. Surl, get the red velvet gown out, the one with the gold and silver embroidery.”
I sit down and let the brownies do their magic as Maggie briefs me on what she’d heard about the Order General.
“They’s all great fighters, of course. But most of them Knights ain’t like your Consort, Jerrie. That one’s got a brain as well as brawn, which is probably why you was drawn to him for Consort, among other obvious reasons that we girls all noticed.”
All of them laugh like crazy when I blush.
“I’ve heard that this Tang Lo is more an administrator type than a Champion Knight Protector should be. He is less concerned about his Knights fighting evil than he is making sure their status is high in the supernatural world. Doesn’t like to step on toes, even when it’s needed to fight evil.”
“No wonder Sir Frederick wants to see him. He’s probably pretty pissed off at the way Tang Lo’s run his Order. I’ve seen Fred angry. When I told him about Tor being left in Arthur’s tomb for so long, well, let’s just say I hope he never gets mad at me. It was terrifying.”
“Aye, we all still feel bad about that.”
“Both Sir Frederick and Tor have forgiven Avalon for that now that Morgana’s dead.”
“Good. Speaking of her, at the funeral, Dragon and Lainn announced that your Familiar killed those witches who tried to kill you. They also gave all of Morgana’s allies a choice. They told everyone that if anyone else tries to kill or hurt the White Dragon, if they aren’t killed up front by you, they will be banished from Avalon.”
“They did? Did the Council approve that?”
“Aye, we did, with a vote of six to three. The Council isn’t stupid, Jerrie. A White Dragon coming means something big is going to threaten our world, and even though Avalon is outside of the physical world, we’re still a part of it.”
Maggie steps back. “There. I think we are done here.”
I turn and look in the mirror. Instead of sexy ice queen like the last look I had, this time the brownies have made me into a fire warrior. The velvet gown is a vivid reddish orange. On the chest and arms, embroidered in gold and silver to resemble armor, is the White Dragon figure shooting gemstone flames. On my head I wear a gold tiara with a ruby in the middle clasped by a white gold dragon.
“Agatha, is this your work?”
“Aye, Jerrie. I saw it in another dream.”
I turned to my brownie friends.
“This White Dragon can’t do this without her friends. I’m in awe at what you have done here.” I bow to them.
They bow back, just as formerly.
Maggie straightens and says, “They’re coming back, lassie. Time to go.”
Dragon is in his larger shape, perching next to the setting Liam arranged for the meeting.
All the seating, expensive outdoor furniture, is grouped around a central throne-like chair carved of some kind of wood. It had been carved into the likeness of a dragon, of course, then polished to a shining golden patina. It is a lovely thing, and I rub my hand down it in homage to the brilliant craftwork of whoever made it.
“Where did you get this? And don’t tell me Aggie
saw this in a dream too. This took months to make by a master woodworker.”
Liam answers. “It was Uther Pendragon’s throne, which supposedly disappeared when he was killed. Morgana had it hidden away in one of her sealed rooms all this time, spelled not to rot.”
“This is a treasure of Avalon, of the whole world. I shouldn’t be sitting on it, it should be in a museum.”
Dragon speaks up in his rumbly draconic voice. “All of her things are now yours by right of conquest. There isn’t time to replace it. They’re coming, so sit in the darned thing, Jerrie. By the way, you look like a true warrior queen and exceedingly lovely, my dear.”
I smile. “Thank you. My friends have excellent taste in clothes.”
“I wasn’t speaking about the clothes, though they are stunning as well. Agatha’s work, I assume?”
“Yep, another dream design.”
Our conversation stops when my Familiar appears with two people whose arms hang from his mouth on either side of him.
Jeff, who has Tor in the harness on his back, steps over to me, pulls off the glove and tosses it on the ground like he is glad to see the end of the thing. He straightens up, looks at me and just stares.
His counterpart, an Asian man in his sixties or so in a fancy Order surcoat with rank badges of an Order General, does the same. His vibes, however, aren’t as flattering as my Consort’s are, that is for sure. Oh, there is a grudging acknowledgment of my feminine attraction there. I feel another kind of lust coming from the man that has nothing to do with sex. It is a lust for power, and I can sense him sending it my way big time.
Lucifer not like this Knight. Want to bite him. He tried to take Tor. He wants to use White Dragon
I can feel his desire for power, Lucifer. You were good not to bite. Maybe later.
I smile at Jeff and motion him forward to me. He comes over and I pull his head down and kiss him right in front of the Order General.
“I need Tor, and I’m glad you’re back.” I whisper in his ear.
“Me too. I’ve forgotten what an ass this guy is. Here.” Jeff hands me the harness holding Tor, and my sword’s mind voice slips back into my mind.
How bad was it to get him here?
That wasn’t hard. Forcing his greedy mitts off of me was tough, but Fred gave him a good scare. The big problem is that this guy thinks you’re the Order’s property, Je
rrie, and we’re going to have difficulty getting him to cooperate outside of that idea, I think.
Thanks for the brief.
I look at the Order General, who has awkwardly remained standing.
“Please have a seat, Order General, there is no need to be uncomfortable.”
He takes a chair to the side where we can all see each other, but he has to crick his neck to look at me. Liam set it like that on purpose, to give me an edge.
“That sword belongs to me!” He barks, obviously used to giving orders in that tone.
“The sword is a sentient being, and if he belongs to anyone, which he doesn’t, it is to the Champion Knight Protector who bonded with him after passing the Gallows test by your Order’s own laws. Since that was me, I am the sword’s current bond mate.”
“All Knight Protectors, young lady, including the twin sister whose powers you now have, work for me as Order General under those same laws. Both you and the Sword of Power are under me. It’s all semantics. The oath your sister Georgie Spears swore…”
How dare he try to use my murdered sister’s vow to grab power!
Furious, I use my healer’s gift to stop his vocal cords. “Be silent!”
“I stopped your speech temporarily to catch your attention, Tang Lo. I’ll release them when I’m finished with what I have to say. I suggest you use this small demonstration of my magic as a lesson. Never hold my sister’s oath up to me as a means to manipulate the White Dragon again. She endured four hours of torture before breaking and giving away my location before her Final Glory spell sent my family’s powers to me along with her spirit in warning. She risked her immortal soul to do that in the hopes that I could kill the enemy who destroyed our family. She more than stood by her pledge as a Champion Knight Protector.”
“You are here for one reason only, Order General. A White Dragon has come again and we have preparations to make. A Knight Protector’s prophesy has predicted my coming and that something will threaten this world. One of the great Hounds of Hell has chosen me as Familiar. There is an evil witch out there who requires killing before he becomes too powerful, and the White Dragon needs the Order’s help to do it.”