Erotica: Beyond: Dark Action Romance Paranormal Thriller (Adventure Demon Humor International Interracial Mystery Short Stories)

by Iaz Grant

  Trust that one to hit the nail on the head. Another one spoke up, this time, the only Duende amidst them. He was a half-breed, both Duende and sidhe.

  “May I also call your attention to the fact that not one of the fighter-cheer contestants is yet to win the tourney since its inception. How, then, does Her Majesty propose to give her daughter out in marriage to the winner when it is almost guaranteed there would be none. What does the queen aim with this?”

  On occasions like this was Queen Zanna proud of her choice of advisers. They thought deep and spoke only words of wisdom. They set her on the course whenever she was liable to derail. However, this was significant and was certainly no derailment.

  "I know you are all concerned as how the people will accept this hence the reason I demanded an oath not to pre-inform anyone till much later. I also know part of your concern lay in my reason for doing this but I assure you that there is no harm intended. In due time, we shall all gather here once more and I, Queen Zanna of Sheelah shall disclose my reason to you all. Till then, I only crave your indulgence and patience. Bear with me, I beseech you all.”

  The court was silent as each thought long and hard about what they just heard. When each reached his or her own conclusion individually, Queen smiled hugely. She knew what it would be before Khorra, a half breed of human and eilking rose and addressed them all.

  "We trust and obey our Queen, let the Fates be our witnesses that your wish is our command. We know you would never lead us astray and so all you need to do is lead and we follow."

  Everyone nodded in agreement to this, raising their staff as a symbol of acceptance. Queen Zanna smiled her immense appreciation. Now, she could proceed.

  “Thank you all," She said simply, meaning every word of it. "Then, it is time to go out there and announce this bit of news. The people are waiting.”

  SHEELAH

  Tanya tagged behind Abel as they wove through the streets. As much as she tried, she couldn’t take in all the sights at once. She wanted to see the sight of the goblin performing a public appearing and disappearing act and at the same time, appraise the queer dressing of the native human females in the stalls. She wanted to take a look at the dark, enclosed spaces of the erlkings who she knew could cause devastating damages to any who chanced upon them if not for the authoritarian rule of Queen Zanna that handicapped them.

  The streets were filled with creatures of all kinds everywhere they turned to and Abel had to hold tightly to Tanya’s left hand else they lose each other in the crowd. As they moved on, Tanya did not bother to make conversation, neither did Abel. It would have been fruitless as they wouldn’t be able to hear each other over the din of the crowd. And Tanya would so love to know where Abel was dragging her off to.

  Not that she couldn’t hazard a guess; of course if it were she alone, that was where she would be headed too especially given her experience at the Tavern in Albion.

  Just as she thought, they soon came up to a tavern tucked at the corner of a long alley. This tavern was so much unlike the one in Albion that was simple in design. This tavern was much like a mini palace. There were trimmings of gold and silver on the eaves and doors. The opulence of Sheelah shone through here too.

  As soon as they got to the door of the tavern, Abel dropped her hands. She immediately felt the loss and her face fell. She, however, remained stubbornly mute; she wouldn't want Abel to think less of her because of this childish inclination.

  As if he read her mind, Abel reached underneath her chin and raised her head to look into his eyes.

  “We will be better off alone in this place. That way, we can learn more of what is going on and meet later to inform each other. If we are seen as a couple right off, some might see us as a threat and keep things from us.” He explained.

  She was appeased by his words and impressed by his logic. She would have thought of it herself but she was still reeling from the intimacy they shared upon coming close to Sheelah. The hands holding thing hadn’t helped either, she thought.

  “Good thinking. Let’s do this.” She said bravely.

  Thankfully, entering the tavern here was different from entering in Albion. She had no sweat on her body to cause her to glow and the setting of the tavern was such that there was no cause to stare at the door when it opens. The area one enters into was a kind of a receiving area. There were two beings- a female fairy and a male goblin- seated on the only two available chairs in the area. Both smiled winningly at Abel and Tanya and signalled them over; Abel for the fairy and Tanya for the goblin.

  Before long, each had a pass into the main section of the tavern after exchanging a few gold coins. They were told that the tavern was divided into various sections down the hall from where they stood and they were free to look in and enter into the section that suited their tastes. As they walked in, both exchanged a look. Sheelah, they both thought.

  As they walked down the hall, they saw that indeed, there were sections. Abel gave Tanya a meaningful look and immediately entered into the first he saw leaving Tanya standing in the large hall. She looked around, amazed at the wealth with which the hall was apparently built. She decided to walk a bit far off before she settled for a section to walk into. As she did, she heard female voices coming from within a section with a frilly pink curtain. The voices were all female and Tanya could well imagine that this was a female group catching up on gossips. She was well away on her way when she heard something that caught her attention.

  “I wouldn’t know how the Queen introduces this kind of glitch to the tourney. Her daughter as a gift to the winner! What about the cheer who would have worked hard beside her man?” she heard the first voice say.

  “Perhaps she did it because she knew none will win.” Another said.

  “Shhhhhhhh. It can’t be that. Our Queen is fair and just, she could not cook up such deceit in a million years.” Another, most probably a native of Sheelah, said defensively.

  What! The Queen wants to give her daughter in marriage to the winner? Tanya could not wrap her head around this bit of news. What would happen to the cheer? What would happen to her? She reminded herself that she and Abel were not lovers. More so, does this new prize mean that there would certainly be a winner this year round? Would the tasks be made easier than the previous years? How would Abel react? Would he be happy to hear it? He certainly will be favoured by this as he wasn’t attached in the first instance.

  Tanya made to quickly tell this finding to Abel when the next words from within the frilly pink curtain stopped her once more.

  “What will you do, Fira? Would you allow your Brokk to get married to the Queen’s daughter if he wins?”

  There was another tourney contestant in there! Without waiting to think about it, Tanya opened the curtain and walked in.

  “We don’t know yet. Let my Brokk get his hands on the Louvre just yet.” Tanya saw a fair, golden goblin say as she walked in.

  The room was occupied by six females; two sidhes, two goblins and two humans. The room was large with chairs and a large serving table in the middle. Two attendants were serving the ladies; the attendants were male, very handsome human males. All looked up as Tanya walked in.

  “Oh my! Someone just walked into our little den. Nobody does that these days.” The one called Fira said delightedly.

  Tanya just stood at the door, feeling her environment. In her experience, if any two females, human, encantado or fairy sat together for long, there usually was mischief involved. This could be no different, she thought amusedly. They were studying her silently as she was studying them.

  “I heard you talking and decided to come in.” she said nonchalantly.

  They didn't utter a word but continued to stare at her expectantly. She pushed herself away from the wall on which she leant and walked into the room.

  "I am Tanya," She said, purposefully taking her seat beside the human female, the one closest to the fair goblin called Fira.

  As one, they all smiled contentedly as if she had
managed a feat to their satisfaction.

  “We are the Sheelah Forever Friend’s Club, known for our great beauty and wit here in Sheelah." One of the humans said. She was gorgeous with an easy but frank smile. "Starting from your left, these here are Laura, Fira, Sheeva, Wren, Corr and myself, Marissa. We welcome you to our midst.” She finished.

  The females were indeed all exquisite in their own unique way. She could easily imagine that they cause quite a stir when they go about. Laura was a gorgeous redhead human with an almost translucent skin; Fira was a golden and fair goblin with large blue eyes with an, even more, enormous bosom and a voracious body; Sheeva was a Sidhe with honey tresses that flowed down to the chair on which she sat; Wren was another goblin with a curvedly body and Corr was another Sidhe with a curious brilliant yellow shade of hair, very dark skin and blue eyes.

  Marissa, the speaker, was a human whose thick mane of dark curls, perfectly shaped face and violet eyes accentuated her otherwise dull skin. They were indeed extraordinary beauties.

  Tanya didn’t know what to make of this club and their friendly welcome of her intruding presence. She hoped they didn’t want to make friends. The only person she would like to befriend, albeit for a while and for the sole purpose of the tourney, was Fira. Perchance, she made a mistake in coming into the room, she should have waited outside and gone to Fira when this little extraordinary meeting was over.

  "Thank you, ladies, I believe I was lost and found myself here by mistake. I will get moving now. Sorry for the intrusion."

  As she made to stand, the human closest to her held, Laura, her with a gentle hold.

  “Oh no, you can’t go just yet. We have been excited all day about your coming. We even got thinking that you wouldn’t come again when you didn’t show up on time, but I am almost never wrong in these things, you see.” Laura said in a dreamy voice as soft as her hold on Tanya.

  Tanya stalked. They have been expecting her? What was this?

  Fira rolled her eyes at Laura. She looked earnestly into Tanya’s eyes, her hands clasped in her laps.

  “You see, our Laura here is clairvoyant and she sees things that are yet to happen as bright as day. This week, she predicted that a dark haired beautiful unknown creature would walk into our otherwise hidden room at the tavern. And here you are, my friend.” Fira said.

  “What do you mean hidden? Tanya said incredulously. “There was a frilly pink curtain hanging over the door, bold for all to see.”

  They were all shaking their heads at her as if they knew something she doesn’t.

  “You saw it because you were meant to be here. That door has been enchanted since we started making use of this room a few years ago. No one has ever walked in like you did. Only the members of the club have access.”

  Tanya was confused. What was this? A prediction of her coming to this place? Enchanted doors?

  “I can see that you do not understand.” Marissa took over. She seemed like the leader.“We ladies of the Sheelah Forever Friend’s Club come here from time to time to deliberate on helping young creatures out there to make better choices and to become better persons.”

  She allowed Tanya to gradually process everything.

  “We were handpicked and approved by none other but Queen Zanna herself. She established us in secret to counsel the wayward and erring of our land that she sends our way. Sheelah is almost crime free but a few erring ones come up to disrupt the hard-won peace and tranquillity we have. Our Queen is most lenient with offenders as she believes in redemption for all souls. So she set us up to correct the little misdemeanours we have in Sheelah. Of course, we also come here to gossip like you caught us doing when you walked in." she ended with a wink.

  Tanya took it all in, all the while wondering what she has got to do with any of this.

  “But what is my role here? Why was I able to see your door and hear your voices? Why did Laura predict my coming?”

  They all looked at each other coyly. There was certainly something going on here.

  “You are the next member of the Sheelah Forever Friend’s Club. Though we know you are not human, we are yet to know what you are. But Laura has informed our Queen of her prediction and she approved. The Fates, can after all, not be argued with.” Corr spoke up.

  Tanya sighed heavily. She wasn't willing to be a member of any club but she couldn't tell these gorgeous females so. Moreover, she felt there was something else they were not telling her; maybe it was about the tourney. She needed to befriend Fira as well. She sighed again.

  “Indeed, none can argue with The Fates. How do I become a member? I am only a visitor here.” She decided to go with their wishes, at least, for now.

  “You already are.” They all said together, laughing uproariously.

  ϖ

  Abel was not having a good time. There were too many creatures in the room he entered that there wasn’t much space to turn. The room was gigantic occupied by humans, goblins, sidhes and a few fairies. There was noise everywhere and most of the occupants were drunk. He would have left long ago but for the bits of news, he was catching here and there. The whole room was abuzz with the news that it didn't take long to put it all together- Queen Zanna was giving her charming daughter, a Sidhe, in marriage to the fighter who wins the tourney.

  She had apparently announced this to the people at her resident palace yesternoon before he and Tanya arrived in Sheelah. He didn’t know what to think of this. Though he didn’t come to win the Louvre when he started out, as they made their way through the streets of Sheelah holding hands, he found himself wondering at Tanya’s reason for wanting in on the tourney and wanting the Louvre. He also found himself wanting to win the Louvre for her at all costs. Now there was something else attached. What was The Queen thinking?

  He also gathered that some couples who intended entering into the tourney already changed their mind since the cheers couldn’t condone losing their lovers to the Queen’s daughter.

  Was this a ploy to reduce the number of contestants? Abel thought. One thing was certain, however- it looked like there was going to be a winner this year if the Queen was to achieve her aim. He hoped Tanya was yet to hear this.

  The sounds of the drunken men who had engaged in a drinking spree with some goblins grated on his ears. It was known that goblins’ stomach was strong and could hold anything put into them. It was folly for a human to compete in drinking spirits against them. He was just about to head out in search of Tanya when he heard one of the goblins speak up.

  "I've about had enough. I need to get to my Fira.” The goblin was tall and dark but fair of face.

  “Going to give her another romp, you mean?” a man said with a leer on his drunken face.

  “Go easy, Brokk. You need your strength for the tourney. You can't go spending it all in the sheets instead of in the field of the tourney." Another goblin said.

  The whole room burst into raucous laughter at this innuendo. The tall goblin laughed with them while making his way to the door. Abel promptly followed him out. This was one man he could talk to. As they walked down the silent hall further into the tavern, the man looked back and saw Abel following him and promptly disappeared.

  Ahhh! A goblin with disappearing powers, no wonder he wanted into the tourney.

  Abel was disappointed that he wasn’t able to talk to the goblin. There was a good chance that he would learn something from him since it looked like he was a native of Sheelah. Perhaps, he could have found out how the intending contestants indicate their interest in the tourney and get registered. That was one thing he has not been able to find out. He had only gathered that the mode of entry changed every year.

  As he deliberated on this, he felt a presence behind his back and swiftly turned, his sharp knife already out for attack. It was the tall goblin.

  “I saw you following me.” He accused.

  "Yes, I was," Abel answered bluntly.

  “Why?” the goblin asked, blue eyes boring into him as if he could tell if he lied.r />
  “I wanted to ask you about the tourney. I heard from the room that you intend to contest.”

  The goblin visibly relaxed and a smile took over his face.

  “I am doing it for my Fira. She asked me to enter this year though I wouldn’t know what for. She never seemed to have any interest in The Louvre in all the years we have been together and living in Sheelah but I would do anything for her, even kill that so-called monster and any other monster that dare stand in the way, so I agreed.” He said excitedly.