by Aaron Crash
Why would Steven want to live in this great waste? Yes, there were similar places on Aqualyra, even another version of Wyoming, and there were people who called that their homeland. But Steven was an entity of unimaginable power. He could live anywhere. Yet, he’d settled down in his quaint farmhouse far away from rain.
As a girl, she’d grown up on Vankeevra on the Warm Sea, and it had rained there a lot. She’d spent days reading, writing her own books, and studying. They’d train in the rain to use their magic and their weapons. Quinnestri wasn’t sure why she’d chosen the kavs, the small axes she wielded with such deadly force. She’d been young and had laughed at the cliché of a sword. An elf princess with a sword? That wasn’t interesting. A princess with hand axes? Better.
Not that she’d ever believed she’d become a warrior queen. Aqualyra had been a pleasant, peaceful world, so peaceful. The passions of the people were with the royalty, and that worked well.
It was the kings, queens, dukes, and duchesses that experienced the erotic joys of the people, and the normal people were free to go about their lives, relieved of any kind of sexual obsession. But if a couple wanted to marry, they would be given their lust for a time. Some of the Lyra asked to be in a permanent state of arousal and that was also permissible. Oftentimes, those people returned after a few years to ask for mercy; their lusts were simply too great to bear.
Their system worked and worked well.
It might have remained peaceful if Icharaam hadn’t reached out to them. The Alpheros and the Lyra had always been close, not in distance, but culturally friendly to one another. There had been three kings back then, three Lyran monarchs, and they agreed that Icharaam would fight his war alone. He never got the chance. He was murdered by his brothers.
Mathaal, one of the murderers, had a son who had a son who had a son. One of those descendants was Mynn Lyrr, who later became Merlin, or that was what the humans called him. He knew of Aqualyra from his magic. He reached out to Aqualyra when Quinnestri was a queen.
And she felt his desperation, and unlike the wise kings of the past, she’d agreed to help them up to a point. In her heart, she believed in Attur Dro and his Dragonknights, but her fear of the shadows of teeth and talon was greater.
She loathed that fear now and what it had cost so many.
Yet, the memories were fading, her mind becoming less crisp. It was age, certainly. She was old, even by Lyran standards. But there was more to it than that, and she knew it.
She was stepping away from her royal obligations. As a result, the connection to her people was lessening. Her magic wasn’t as powerful either, which was why her Astreelia magic hadn’t taken her directly to the doorstep of Steven’s Infinity Ranch.
The walk would do her good, strengthen her muscles. Perhaps it would clear her mind.
She could return. King Selius Asreyel had promised her any honor she wanted, and the people adored her still. To them, she would always be queen. Yes, other worlds had fallen, but not Aqualyra, and it was because of her and Vandrus Dree. Not that the Lyra wanted much to do with the Ohkreela who had fled to a dark world in another part of the universe.
King Selius wanted to reach out to the dark elves, but no one else desired such diplomacy. To the Lyra, the Ohkreela had sacrificed themselves to protect those who stayed on Aqualyra, and it would’ve been better for all the Ohkreela to die. They had been tainted by Morta and were creatures of darkness now.
After all, they’d murdered each other and had waged war after war once the real elves went into hiding.
Quinnestri perspired as she walked. Tessa Ross, that odd girl, had given the elf queen clothes during her last visit in case Quinn ever wanted to return. The elf wore ripped jeans, a blouse, and a Colorado Rockies baseball cap. Adjusting her hair to hide her ears, she might pass as human, if the humans didn’t find her so beautiful with her blonde ringlets and her beautiful blue eyes. Even with the scars on her face, many men in rolling vehicles called at her and whistled. A few stopped to ask if she needed a ride.
She gave them cold stares and told them she was fine walking.
They drove off.
She walked until she reached the dirt driveway that led up to the door of the Infinity Ranch. Actually, it led up to the perimeter hotel, something new that Steven and his Escort had created.
Two stories tall, it was a stretch of red stone, dotted with windows, that acted as a wall, more defenses for the ranch. If it were attacked, Enchantrix magic would seal the windows, turning the glass into metal. The perimeter hotel had a suite in each corner of the square. It had a ton of other rooms as well, including a breakfast café and a grand feasting hall on the west side, so they could see the sunset at dinners.
Steven had told her all about it when they talked across worlds, but he’d not yet fashioned a sex room, and that was a shame. Such a place had piqued Quinnestri’s interest.
She walked up to a big gate. Through the vertical bars, she saw vehicles parked in front of the central ranch house with its six-story stone tower rising up into the unblemished blue sky.
So hot, so dry. She sighed. “Does it ever rain in this wretched place?” she asked no one in particular.
She wasn’t sure what to do next. She could use Soul magic to fly over the walls, sure, but that might bring a rain of dragons down on her. She could use Flesh magic to twist the metal to her will and walk through it. With a Spark enchantment, she could melt the bars into slag. And with Tide sorcery, she could bring an ocean pouring through this wall and reduce it to a flooded ruin.
Or perhaps she’d try to access one of the four magics and find herself empty and powerless.
“You’ve left your world and your people behind,” she whispered. “You are old.”
She thought of the lovemaking she’d done during her last visit, and that made her smile. “Not so old.”
She looked for some piece of technology that might open the gates or notify someone inside. The humans liked their gadgets.
She couldn’t find a button or anything.
Finally, she called through the bars. “Hello to the house! I am Quinnestri of Aqualyra! I have come to visit!”
Then she waited. It was unseemly that a queen of the elves would have to wait for anything, but then, she was no longer a queen, at least not an active one. She’d be honored with the title the rest of her days, but it was surprising how little that meant to her.
Steven himself left the house and walked up to her in his boots. His jeans were tight. His T-shirt showed off his muscles. Lust struck Quinnestri deep, and now that she was no longer queen, controlling her desires was going to be harder than ever.
He smiled at her. That didn’t help her tingling sex.
She wouldn’t show him any sign of weakness. “Hello, Steven. You said I could visit. I would like to visit.”
Her words came out as awkwardly as a virgin courtier’s. Where was her eloquence? She’d spent a hundred years reading poetry, and here she was, spouting off the same word like an idiot.
Steven motioned with a hand. “Incanto.”
The bars disappeared.
“You have mastered the Alpherian skill of Enchantrix, clearly,” Quinnestri said. “Did you use that spell set to build your new perimeter hotel?”
Steven stepped up to her. “Mostly it was Enchantrix, though I laid some of the groundwork with RealityFire. I have to be careful with that, though. I don’t want to burn out my core. Also, I’ve done more reading on it. There is the possibility of fracturing reality in some fundamental way. You know, spacetime continuum stuff.”
Quinnestri knew that reality wasn’t as tough as it seemed. “Yes, sorcery does not come without its dangers and challenges.” She wasn’t moving. She felt like it might have been a mistake to come.
She should have retired to the twin cities of Eleesia and Deneel, written her memoirs, and planted a garden. This human world was stinky and loud and strange. And Wyoming was an ugly, ugly place.
She felt tears fill he
r eyes.
Steven saw them. “Quinnestri, what’s wrong?”
“Everything,” she wept. “Everything is wrong.”
She might have been a strong queen on her world, but on this Earth place? She was a frightened girl, lost in her guilt, with longings she would never be able to satisfy.
Steven took her in his arms. She inhaled his scent. Orange blossoms and a smokey scent, like a fire burning sweet wood on a crisp autumn night. This man had destroyed a demon queen as old as time itself. Could he help her?
Quinnestri hoped so. Or else she would die, a sad, sick old woman with a failing mind and failing powers, well past her prime and knowing it. In her sorrow, she might very well take her own life.
And the great victory of Quinnestri Uweneel would become the greatest of tragedies.
STEVEN WASN’T SURE what to do. He was holding an ancient elf queen while she cried in his arms. This wasn’t what he thought he’d be doing with his Saturday afternoon. Her timing was impeccable, however. He’d brought the Lyran weapons from the Moab fight the day before back to the Infinity Ranch. He wanted to show them to Quinnestri.
Or was she Quinn?
She certainly didn’t seem like Quinnie at the moment. Her Rockies cap had fallen off her head and onto the gravel.
It was strange that the elf queen had walked up to the gate without contacting them. With her ability to cross worlds, in body or in spirit, she should’ve been able to walk right into their great room in the ranch house. Or contacted them telepathically to come pick her up.
Instead, she’d shown up at the front gate. With their wards in place, they all knew someone had walked up. Sabina had called out that they had a guest, and that they’d better be careful about the baby.
Everything was about the baby now as far as Sabina was concerned. Zoey might be a bear, but Sabina was the mama bear supreme. They were all feeling the effects of that. Lucky they had a ton of room now.
The perimeter hotel surrounded the main compound and gave them room for guests and whoever else. On the other side was the running track they’d created when they first moved. They’d laid down gray gravel because they were wearing through the topsoil, especially Zoey. She loved to run. With Sabina having gone baby crazy, Zoey was running more than ever, but Tessa wasn’t. At this point, she’d dove in headfirst into the intensity of taking care of a newborn.
As for the Texas machine-gun twins, they mostly stayed in Wayne Manor to avoid Sabina’s moods, which swung like a punch-drunk boxer.
Steven was patient though because it would pass. Mouse had laughed that while the Zothoric might have plagued the multiverse, it would be a hormonal Dragonsoul mother who would end it.
Sabina hadn’t laughed. There might’ve been magic missiles involved. Good thing Mouse had gotten so quick with her Magica Defensio.
Quinnestri finally stopped crying.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Steven asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet. I long to see Zoey and Mouse. To hold baby Regina, and to kiss you, Steven. Things have changed in my life, grand things, tragic things, and I am lost. I have many homes I could have retreated to. But I came here because the last time I was truly happy, it was here.”
“And that makes me happy,” Steven said. “We want you to be with us.”
Quinnestri wiped the tears from her face. She stood a little straighter as if she were trying to put on a brave front. “I will not be a burden. I will check on Aria’s heart to make sure she is not suffering any ill effects of my sorcery. Turning that powerful magic item into part of her heart was a particularly fine piece of Flesh magic.”
“Flesh magic?” Steven raised his eyebrows. Before, Quinnestri hadn’t gone into much detail about Lyran magic. Then again, they’d been fighting a war, and then celebrating a victory. Perhaps now they could talk. He’d never seen the elf queen so vulnerable, or at least she had been in those first few minutes. Now? Her stately mask was back on, and she was royalty, distant and strong.
“I am also interested in seeing Tessa, though at times, her obsequious nature does try my patience.” Quinnestri sniffed. “I am assuming you still house the Prosha creature and the dark elf?”
“Heridan and Nefri?” Steven asked. “Yeah, we’re making wedding plans. We wanted to do it after Reggie was born.”
At the mention of a wedding, Quinnestri stiffened. “Yes, a wedding. We spoke of this before, and I said that was impossible for me. I...I am queen.” She swallowed hard, obviously trying not to break down again. “I am of Aqualyra, and I chose not to take a husband. However, I have had many lovers, as you know. Let us go on to the house? Is it not cooler inside?”
“It is. We have air conditioning,” he said as they crunched across the gravel.
Quinnestri harrumphed. “As if I would know what that is.”
Steven wasn’t sure why she was being so prickly. He didn’t know the elf queen that well, and they had started off on the wrong foot. Ha, that was putting it mildly. He’d endangered her entire world to ask for her help. Yet, it had been the right thing to do. Without Quinnestri and Vandrus Dree, they never would’ve been able to kill the Horror Mother.
Steven enjoyed the familiar scenery of the Infinity Ranch. The Wayne Manor to his left, and the Widow House to the right, were built into the perimeter hotel. Both were connected to the main house by covered walkways, which was new for the twins. In the back lay Sabina’s bungalow, also built into the hotel. Sabina had her own private outdoor living room outside of her bedroom. The Latina Magician loved living in her little house with her daughter. However, Reggie, more often than not, was in someone’s arms, held, soothed, and walked.
Little Regina Drokharis wasn’t the best of sleepers.
Once inside the house, Quinnestri spread out her arms. “I feel cool air. Is this Tide sorcery? Have you harnessed your ArcticWind Exhalant? It is so cool in here!”
“That’s air conditioning, a human invention. Pretty nice, huh?” Steven asked.
They stood in the entryway, facing inside. Across the way were Mouse’s bedroom, Aria’s bedroom, and the master bedroom. A doorway led out to the north garden. In the center were the steps that led up to the central tower. On his left was the great room, with its couches and chairs in front of a big fireplace To his right lay the dining area and the kitchen. Most of the time, they ate at the big rough wooden table there, but now that they had the western dining hall, they could accommodate far more guests. And they had guests a lot. Steven was a little sick of the meetings and planning.
One of his favorite things to do was to walk to the eastern breakfast café on the bottom floor of the perimeter hotel and sip his coffee alone, watching the sunrise.
Steven Drokharis had all the money and women he could ever want. Now, he needed sleep, as much as he could get.
Zoey was the first one down from her new room in the tower. She’d moved up after she started wearing the freedom ring, and she was less interested in group sex now. Really, she loved having Steven to herself. She’d come a long way from the frightened thing she’d been when they’d first given her a home.
The bear girl ran down the steps, a dizzy smile on her face, and then she was hugging Quinnestri hard enough to make the elf wince.
“Easy, my friend,” the queen gasped. “I have missed you too, Zoey Nova. I have missed you too.”
And then Quinnestri couldn’t hold back the tears. She clung to the bear girl like if she let go, she would fall into a bottomless pit of sadness.
A bad feeling filled Steven. Something was wrong with Quinnestri, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the magic spear he’d taken from Umbra. Or the sword Silas von Forcade had carried with him into his ill-fated rebellion.
Zoey started crying as well because the bear girl liked to say that no one in the Infinity Ranch would ever have to cry alone. If anyone was weeping, Zoey would join them.
Seeing the two women holding each other made Steven feel a little better. Quinnestri had com
e to him, looking for happiness and a home. If anyone could provide it for her, it would be him and his Escort.
Mouse wandered in wearing shorts and a T-shirt over a bikini top. She’d been lying out by the new pool area in the northeast corner of the compound, right below the northeast suite in the perimeter hotel.
The small blonde walked up next to him, drinking a bottle of homebrewed root beer and looking at the werebear holding the crying elf queen.
“So that’s a thing, huh?” Mouse asked.
With a red, weepy face, Zoey motioned for Mouse to join them.
The blonde rolled her eyes and handed Steven her root beer. “Hold my drink, big man. I’m going in. If I start to cry, shoot me.”
Chapter Four
TESSA CAME IN FROM Sabina’s bungalow through the back door. “Quinnie! Welcome to our madness. I hope you don’t like sleep because no one sleeps here.” The barista hummed Reggie’s song.
Zoey, Mouse, and the elven queen had retired to couches in the great room.
“You guys don’t get up,” Tessa said. “I’m going to make us coffee, and I know, Quinnie, you want a mocha. Everybody likes the mocha. It’s the chocolate chip cookie of the coffee world. Does a sugar cookie get any love? Nope. And don’t get me started on oatmeal raisin. It’s prejudice, I tell you. Come on, it’s a cookie, it transcends both oatmeal and raisins.”
Tessa’s hair was wild, there were circles under her eyes, and her tank top was covered in spit-up—spit-up if they were lucky. The gunslinging barista wandered over. “Quinn, you okay? I’m feeling some very weird-ass energy from your beautiful ass, and I mean, it’s really beautiful.”
The elf queen stood up. Steven got ready to jump in if things got violent. After the elf’s crying bouts, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Hello, Tessa Ross,” Quinn murmured. “I would like a mocha, thank you. I do not think my ass is weird, as you say, but I could say the same thing about you. You are tired, clearly, but inside, you have so much power. I can nearly taste the Animus.”