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

by Iaz Grant

  Before her very eyes, the potion turned completely colourless. She stood still, bleeding finger forgotten. Without an iota of doubt, she knew this was what she had been labouring for over the years. This was what she knew had the capacity to give Brent immortality.

  It was ironical that this discovery would be made seven years after his death. Exactly six years after her daughter went missing. She was not dead, Queen Zanna was confident.

  Queen Zanna refused to allow the tears to fall. She was stronger now. All that is left is how best to utilize this incidental discovery. She would use it wisely. She had a feeling that with the discovery, she would save The Royal House of Priya. She knew that soon, things would turn out just fine.

  Soon, she would have another child; the product of her quick tumble with a male Tien, who wouldn't remember a single thing thanks to the healthy dose of concoction she made specifically for that purpose.She felt no remorse for this and knew Brent would hold no grudge against her for it- he would be cheering her on right through it wherever he was. She knew it was going to be a daughter. Sheelah need not go to ruin for the lack of female daughter ruling alongside the Queen. The Fates had handed her a conundrum, and she had returned it to them with as much vigour.

  Now this has come up. Well, she knew what to do. Everything would soon fall in place, she was sure.

  She named the potion ‘Louvre’ meaning ‘love for eternity’.

  ----- End of Book 3 -----

  The Louvre

  The Louvre Series: Book 4

  Vivia Fleckenstein

  Copyright © 2016 by Vivia Fleckenstein

  All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Published by Grant Publishing

  PROLOGUE

  THE POWERFUL BREED

  The night was fresh and the cooing of the night’s elves told tales of the up and coming events. It was one of the most popular time in Sheelah and even the moon was delighted about it; it was up, round and full and it was smiling brightly to the whole of the lands below. The Earth itself, basking in the moon’s light, was buzzing with the whistling of the night’s wind and the silence that filled the empty streets as everyone – goblins, humans, duende, tien – slept waiting to see the arrival of the tourney’s participant in the next morning.

  This night, Queen Zanna silently walked through the empty streets thinking about everything that had happened over centuries of her rule. She was dressed in a long robe that covered her whole body, with a hood that went over her head, concealing almost half of her face. Even though it seemed as if the hood would not allow her to see the streets ahead, Queen Zanna strolled confidently and silently ahead. She seemed lost in thoughts, but the wind about her guided her feet as she kept walking to nowhere in particular.

  “I finally know who he is.” Queen Zanna whispered to the silent night.

  She raised her head a little and stopped in the middle of the street to gaze at the oblong moon. Shaking her head slowly, she resumed her walk and didn’t even bother to check if anyone was staring at her through the curtains of their windows. Of course, it wasn’t the first time that Queen Zanna strolled the streets of Sheelah in the night. Times like this, the night’s breeze agreed with the royalty and kept everyone asleep until the Queen wanted anyone back up.

  “The powerful night’s might of a Sidhe.” Queen Zanna thought amusingly to herself.

  But she wasn’t walking in the dead of the night just to amuse herself. It was only a matter of two days before the tourney and Queen Zanna for the first time since she started the tourney knew it was finally time that there should evolve a winner of the Louvre. This wasn’t just a Sidhe feeling; she told herself. Sidhe’s were quite good at feeling death before they occur and perhaps victory too. But Queen Zanna was planning something, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure everything went according to plan.

  “The curse must end,” She muttered to herself.

  It’s been well over four hundred years since Brent, her husband died, but Queen Zanna would never forget the pain of burying him or finding out the Louvre only a few days after his death. Since then, she did not only dedicate her life to perfecting the immortality portion but finding out everything about the bloodline of the House of Priya. It was one thing that she found out that her bloodline must remain pure for eternity, and then it was terribly another that she would wither away if her female child does not stay with her.

  “Well, it’s been a hundred years now, hasn’t it?”

  Queen Zanna sighed and turned left onto another street. She knew she was walking in circles, but she was fighting the urge to go back to the Crystal Palace and think about all these on her bed. Walking in circles was the only thing that would curb that urge for now.

  “A hundred years.” Queen Zanna muttered again.

  She closed her eyes and tried to remember the face of the child that she bore for Brent. Her daughter, Alova, was fully matured before she ventured out of the palace and never came back. Before she did, Alova had dropped a letter in her room informing her mother that she was going in search of life outside the royalty of the House of Priya.

  Queen Zanna had read the letter with water in her eyes. It reminded her of her mother, Dana, and her grandmother, the Queen Alora. Dana had left home too and had made things quite complicated for the eternal survival of the queen. Eventually, as the Fates had promised, Queen Alora had withered away with the absence of her female child.

  Now, Queen Zanna could feel the same thing happening to her.

  But she wasn’t anything like the late Queen Alora, Queen Zanna told herself. She was much more powerful, creative and inventive. She found a key to eternity for other creatures just a few days after her husband’s death, and now, just a few years after Alova’s disappearance, Queen Zanna was very sure she has found the only thing that was going to stop the Sidhe curse once and for all, the Fates willing or not.

  Finally turning towards the Crystal Palace, Queen Zanna closed her eyes and willed the night’s wind to float her slowly and silently towards the palace. Everything that was going to happen in the next few days was part of a chain of events that started when the flag bearer of the Sidhe, Queen Zanna, made a pact with the fates.

  Now, things were about to change for Queen Zanna was about to make her own pact.

  Against all odds, she was about to start a new generation of Sidhe Queens and not one would continue to answer to the eternal curse that was to befall them.

  “We should love and be loved.” Queen Zanna thought.

  She was getting nearer to the palace, and she could feel the morning being ushered in with the waking warmness of the sun. Finally opening her eyes to stare at the morning horizon, Queen Zanna found herself smiling at the spectacle before her.

  If everything went according to plan, a winner was going to emerge in this year’s tourney and that winner was going to be the answer to the eternity curse.

  Queen Zanna could imagine how everything would play out eventually. The winner would get her forever young daughter, Luna, as a bride and then both would have a mighty son mixed from the breeds of the powerful Sidhe, the magical Tien and the fearless human.

  Not even the Fates would deny such a mortal the Sheelah crown.

  THE FLYING SHIP

  Abel told himself over and over again that it was impossible for a ship to move in the air until he was greeted by the unbelievable sight of the machine that was to convey them from the outskirt of Sheelah to the Crystal Palace before the tourney.

  According to the news that Abel had heard, the Crystal Palace was still four days away by foot, and this tells how big Sheelah is in the first place. To treat the tourney’s participants to some hours of wealth and royalty, the royal flying ship, filled to the brim with servants, food and coins has been provided to take the participants to the Crystal Palace where the
tourney would hold.

  Every participant was aboard the ship almost thirty minutes ago and the captain of the ship, a surprisingly very short human, has already begun a round of checking if all eight participants had been retrieved.

  “I am Karingou, the captain of the only flying ship in the entire universe.” The captain introduced himself first.

  He was staring up at the men and their female cheer who had comfortably found a space for themselves behind their faithful partners. Abel knew that Tanya was behind him, giving him every support that she could, but it’s been days since he had noticed that Tanya was no longer herself.

  “We would be coursing through the sky in five minutes,” Karingou announced, driving Abel’s thought away from Tanya.

  Karingou retrieved a folded sheet from the tuck of his trousers and unfolded it, reading the words on it out to the row of the participant that were arranged accordingly before him.

  “Zee, the human-duende and his cheer, Kora, the mountain elf,” Karingou called out, his eyes tracing from the first participant on the row. Immediately, the participant nodded subtly at the captain to express that he was present.

  Abel noticed that Zee was a thin stock of a man but he had a pile of sharp-pointed arrows stocked in a wooden pack on his back. With the way his left hand firmly gripped the bow, Abel guessed that the human-duende was excellent with the bow and arrow.

  “Aragon, the wood fairy and his fairy cheer, Tianna,” Karingou called from the sheet again, moving towards the next participant on the row.

  The next participant was dressed in thick leaves robes and was holding his cheer beside him. They were the only team that were standing beside each other, and it seems to notice this brought a smile to Karingou’s lips. He smiled again when both wood fairies bowed in their traditional way to express their presence.

  Karingou moved on to the next participant and seemed to be surprised that the male had found himself a chair and was passionately fondling with his female cheer who was seating on his laps and was looking dreamily into his eyes. Karingou had to cough before he spoke, surprise written all over his face. He didn’t seem annoyed, though, since he was supposed to give the participants a life of luxury and happiness atop his ship.

  “Brokk, the rare goblin and his female golden goblin, Fira, I suppose?” Karingou asked.

  Abel couldn’t hide his smile as Broke and Fira only nodded at the captain before turning to look dreamily at each other again. Those two could hardly spend five minutes together without having hands on each other’s body.

  Karingou opened his mouth to talk but seemed to think twice about it. He shook his head irritably and moved on to the next participant, calling out their name as he did those before them until he got to the creature before Abel.

  “Gogk, the Hulk and his fairy cheer, Karina.”

  Abel hadn’t even thought to look at the participant a few feet away from him until he saw the awe on Karingou’s face after he called his name. Following his gaze, Abel was as well shocked to notice that the participant was a monster of creation. He was huge, tall and his wide shoulders carried a very long and heavy fork that could sever a man’s head in a single swipe. He wore a mask but it was evident that his face was roughly scrapped, and his breaths were heavy and sounded like an animal’s groan. His cheer, however, was a beautiful sight of a fairy and was staring shyly at the floor. None of them indicated their presence, though.

  Karingou, consequently afraid of the creature only nodded his head and moved on to Abel.

  “Abel, the human….” Karingou seemed surprised by the remaining content in the sheet. He looked amused as he looked up at Abel, surprise and shock written on his face at the same time.

  “I can’t but notice that unlike the rest of the participants, you have no sharp weapon on you. Would I be too unruly if I told you I am curious as to what your weapon would be?” Karingou gaze rose from the sheet as he spoke, surprising Abel with his question.

  However, Abel answered him by dropping his hands in his pants pockets, turning round in a fast motion and throwing two very small and sharp buttons at him. Immediately, two small holes formed at the tip of Karingou’s collar as the buttons whisked past his ears and formed a big hole on the walls behind him.

  It took almost ten seconds before Karingou could gather his wits again. He stayed rooted throughout the time and wasn’t able to say anything. The first thing he did was to turn to look at the big holes caused by the small buttons thrown at him.

  “Show off!” One of the participants irritatedly whispered from a corner of the ship.

  “Point noted.” Karingou managed to say. He wasn’t paying any mind to the participant’s comment.

  “Glad to have amused you by being human,” Abel muttered back. He folded his arms across his chest and stared nonchalantly at the captain before him.

  Karingou seemed ashamed that he had passed on the wrong message with his question.

  “Oh, it isn’t you are human that amused me, participant,” Karingou answered.

  He dropped his face back to the sheet in his hands and finished calling out the last name.

  “Abel, the human, and Tanya, his cheer, the Encantado.”

  Abel had entirely forgotten that Tanya was still behind him until he heard her loud gasp behind him after Karingou finished reading from the sheet.

  He was about to ask her a question following Karingou’s reading when he saw her turn immediately and walk abruptly towards the inner halls of the ship. He turned confusedly back at Karingou and couldn’t but notice the surprise written on the captain’s face.

  “Well, I would have thought her human too,” Karingou whispered before walking away and shouting orders at his crew.

  “Holst the Flying Ship and turn her towards the Crystal Palace!” Karingou yelled.

  Abel could only watch as everyone stared at the sky in amazement as the ship began to move slowly and off the ground.

  The only thought in his head was about to drive him insane.

  What the hell was an ‘Encantado’?

  Abel gazed at the stars in the distant sky and was surprised that even though the Flying Ship was far off the ground, the stars still looked forever distant. They shone bright and proud amongst each other in the dark blue sky, making him dreamy as he gazed continuously at them.

  Shaking the dreamy state off, Abel began to think about Tanya again. He hadn’t been able to find out what she was and why she was called an Encantado. Heck, he told himself he hadn’t been able to find out why she was ignoring him. He tried to imagine if he had done or said anything wrong in the recent days, but surprisingly, things had been good for them. Things might have gone south considering that they finally had sex, but it had been all Tanya’s idea, and he had only wanted to satisfy her.

  Thinking about this, he was forced to consider if he had hurt her while he made love to her. Or was there something she expected me to say? There were no possible answers to his questions, and he just had to keep thinking about the little time they had spent at the tavern before the message got to them that they had been accepted to the tourney. It had been a time for everyone to know each other and he was still finding it unbelievable that he had spilled his gut to Brokk. Brokk had further leaked his secret to Tanya, and Abel can’t explain it yet, but Tanya had changed since then.

  “She looks at me more compassionately now,” Abel whispered into the cold night.

  He knew he would hate it if the compassion in her eyes were out of pity. But Abel wanted to think that he knew women better. Her eyes spoke of love and respect more than pity, and he was beginning to think that she was in love with him. Or was it that he was in love with her.

  Thinking of Tanya was stressful, Abel told himself.

  Then, why am I smiling?