by CC Solomon
Arwa lowered beside the female solider and touched the chest of the dead solider. She closed her eyes and her mouth moved slightly but no sound released. Soon, tiny lights appeared and floated around the deceased soldier. The illumination covered his body until all Lisa would see were the spots of light. And then he was gone.
“Where did he go?” Lisa asked, rubbing her sore head.
“To the next world,” Arwa answered before rising.
“This is all my fault. Misandre wouldn’t have attacked if I wasn’t here. Will this break your truce?”
“The truce was already breaking when magic returned. This is not your fault,” Arwa replied in a quiet voice.
“He died serving his queen. He was a good man,” the female soldier stated. She was now standing, her wand still in her hand.
Arwa nodded. “He was and we will honor him appropriately tonight. His magic helped give me the strength to combat Misandre. She is one of the strongest Unseelie court rulers. You must scare her that she would risk coming to my court uninvited and attacking someone under my protection.”
Lisa shivered, suddenly remember she was only in her bathing suit. She snapped her fingers and a cloud of sparkling dust moved over her and then quickly disappeared. She was now dry, in clothes again and healed from her battle wounds. “She kept asking if I was part of The Six,” Lisa recalled.
Arwa nodded, clasping her hands in front of her. “Yes, whatever evil is to come, she must be a part of it. She, and whoever she is working with, must know of you and know you are here to stop them. I am afraid this will be the first of many attacks towards you and your friends. You must be careful.”
Lisa frowned. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough for this fight. She was just a girl from Jersey who liked to do hair. She wasn’t a warrior fairy. She was just Lisa. And at some point, she was going to be away from Arwa and Misandre would come again. How would she protect herself? Could Amina and Phillip help? No, she forgot, she had to send them away and the others wouldn’t have her back after she did that. So, she’d be on her own. Unless… She suddenly knew of one person who was in a good position to help her, and she had some questions for him.
Chapter 9
Senna walked into Joo-won’s study, which was a repurposed hotel room. The bed had been removed and a desk was placed in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. Two chairs from another room sat in front of the desk.
“Lisa is here,” she said in a sing-song voice, a smirk on her face.
He turned away from the window, his thoughts interrupted, and looked to Senna. “Please send her in.” Joo-won smiled. Maybe his little talk with her the other day had made a difference. She would fall for him and he’d get what he needed.
Lisa walked inside the office, eyes wide and confused. She walked to the window behind Joo-won’s desk, not speaking, and looked down at the city below.
“Are you okay?” Joo-won asked, spinning around in his chair with a look of amusement on his face.
“Where am I?” she questioned, still looking out of the window. “I asked to meet you and I get a portal that pops me out in some dark conference room. No one will tell me where you live.” She turned back to him with accusatory eyes.
“That’s because, Butterfly, our location is a secret. Better, for your safety, you not know.”
Lisa snorted. “Safety,” she whispered. “I don’t think anything can make me less safe at this point. I was attacked by your girlfriend yesterday.”
Joo-won frowned. Yesterday? Hmm, her time was very different from his. Clearly, she hadn’t realized that yet. One day for her could be a week for him. She’d been hurt last week and he hadn’t known. He paused his thoughts. Girlfriend? He would never give anyone such a title.
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he replied cautiously.
“I’m talking about Misandre. I heard she likes you. Well, she came after me.” Lisa put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“Why?”
She shook her head. “The whys don’t matter. What matters is I can’t fight her on my own.”
Joo-won raised his eyebrows and then offered her a seat in front of his desk with a gesture before getting up. Lisa sat down as he went to his bar cart to the right of his desk and poured bourbon into two glasses. The liquor was specially made by his people.
He offered a drink to her and she took it. She sniffed it, suspicious.
“I didn’t drug it,” he replied. He took her glass back and took a sip before returning it to her.
She sipped the drink and raised her eyebrows. “This is really good!” she exclaimed. “There’s a sweetness to it.”
He nodded knowingly, enjoying her reaction. “Our specialty.”
“I thought all elves could make were cookies.” She said dryly.
Joo-won raised an eyebrow and Lisa shook her head. “They were a cookie that used to get made years ago. The Keebler Elves?” she explained
Joo-won frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t know those elves. Where do they make these cookies? If you liked them, I can get them to make these cookies again.”
Lisa laughed. He hadn’t recalled ever seeing her laugh, or even smile. It…affected him. His heart involuntarily clinched and he frowned at the internal betrayal. He turned and pounded his chest in annoyance.
Lisa stopped laughing. “I’m sorry, Joo-won. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. It was a joke. A bad one. It was a cookie company that used miniature elves as their mascot of sorts. They weren’t real elves.”
Joo-won nodded slowly, distracted by his inner dialogue. He placed a careful smile on his face and sat down next to her in front of his desk. “I should have known this. If I’d stayed put long enough, perhaps I would have,” he replied in a gentle tone.
Lisa lost her smile and took another sip of her drink. “Don’t worry about it. My jokes are the worst.”
“What did Misandre do to you?”
Lisa gave a dramatic sigh. “Oh, that bitch. She stabbed me in the leg with her claws, tore out some of my hair in my scalp and also damaged some internal organs when she punched me. I would have died, but Queen Arwa got to Bella’s just in time to save my life. Misandre attacked me in public. If she hadn’t, I’d be a goner. Someone in the crowd alerted the queen’s people, which is why Queen Arwa arrived to save me.”
Joo-won frowned. Why had Misandre attacked? There was still time on their bet. He should have known better than to trust an Unseelie. He had to lay claim to Lisa before Misandre attacked again. He wondered what possessed her to attack on her own, without sending one of her evil henchmen instead. Could she really have been jealous of him pursuing Lisa? She knew why he was doing it. It was all part of the strategy.
He looked over at the fairy as she drank and gazed out of the window. Gods, she is beautiful, he thought. He was fooling himself if he thought he was not enamored by this woman. And it was true she had some effect on him. Maybe he actually wanted Lisa to join his court because he actually liked her. He’d certainly enjoyed her company the few times that they had met. He was more than delighted that she was here now.
“Are you just going to keep staring at me or are you going to say something?” Lisa asked, still looking out of the window. “Maybe say something like, ‘Oh no, that bitch! How dare she come for the woman I claim to really like. I’ll get her for this!’”
“Oh no, that bitch! How dare she come for the woman I really like. I’ll get her for this!” Joo-won exclaimed.
Lisa side eyed him before putting her empty class down on his desk. She rose. “Fine. This is a joke to you. Misandre said you wouldn’t care. That you weren’t telling me the truth.”
Gods, he could strangle the red-headed wench. Joo-won rose as well and grabbed Lisa’s hand. “Butterfly, don’t go. I’m sorry. I don’t know why she would do that.” Of course, he knew why. She was an evil, untrustworthy harpy who broke deals. He would have to make her pay.
“What are you hiding from me?” Lisa narrowed her emerald eyes at him.
>
Still holding her hand, Joo-won looked into Lisa’s eyes with earnest. “She means you harm and I knew that. I’ve been courting you because if you were officially with me, she wouldn’t harm you.”
Lisa stared at him a moment before speaking. “Why would you try to protect me? You don’t even know me.” She pulled her hand away from him.
“Because you’re Fae. You’re one of us. I would never hurt my kind.”
“Not because I’m one of The Six?”
“I don’t know about any Six nor do I care.” That was a partial truth. Of course, he knew about them but he, honestly, didn’t care about the other five or whether they lived or died, as long as they didn’t tamper with his plan.
“I thought you were neutral.”
She was tough.
“I am. But you intrigue me.”
“So, you don’t want anything from me?”
“No.”
Lisa leaned towards him. “Bullshit. You aren’t just jumping in to help me because I’m all sexy and mysterious to you. It’s true, but I don’t think it’s the only reason. Either you tell me the full truth or you are never going to see me again. And if you try anything to harm me, I will make your balls explode.”
Joo-won looked down at his crotch and moved away from her. “That is a disturbing threat.”
Lisa gave him a curt nod and crossed her arms.
He frowned and sat down at the corner of his desk. Would the truth work? Would she run away or could he compel her to stay? She was strong-willed but proven to be self-less. Maybe she would help him of her volition. Perhaps it was time to try a new tactic to get what he needed. Honesty. He gestured for Lisa to sit and she complied. “I’m cursed.”
Lisa raised an eyebrow. “What? How?”
He hated to talk about this. It exposed his weakness and allowed others to know, namely his enemies, that he was not indestructible. “A witch got a little upset that I took something of hers.”
“By ‘took,’ you mean stole.”
Joo-won nodded. Stealing things was one of his specialties. Unfortunately, a year ago, he’d stolen from the wrong magical being. He’d taken a pendant from her, hearing that it held great power. Of course, he’d known that the witch had laced it in magic to protect it. He’d thought he had broken any spell over the object. Apparently, he’d missed something. In particular, the tracking spell placed upon it. The old woman had found him half a day after he’d stolen the pendant. Not only had she gotten the pendant back, but she’d cursed him in retaliation.
He relayed this to Lisa and she shook her head slowly, a look of disappointment spreading across her face. “I know I sound like a jerk when I say this but, that’s what you get,” she replied.
He glared at her. “You’re right, you do sound like a jerk.”
She shrugged. “So, what’s the curse, exactly?”
“In less than a year, I will become human. I’ll lose everything. And then I will be her pet.”
“Whoa. Not only did she curse you, but she slow walked the curse so you’d have time to sweat about it. She must be super powerful and have a bit of a petty side. Not sure the punishment fits the crime for theft. This pet thing sounds pretty scary.”
“It would have been quicker, but I got someone to slow the curse and buy me time. Sadly, they couldn’t break it.”
“Why’d you risk it all for some jewelry?”
“That jewelry holds great power and you are nothing in this new world without that.”
Lisa leaned back in her chair. “Uh, don’t you have a lot of power? You’re a king. You’ve been living hundreds of years.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “I was powerful in a world where magic was not common. That has since changed and there are other elven kings out there. I must always stay on my toes, as they say.” Why was he telling her so much? This would not help his cause and yet he couldn’t, no, didn’t want to lie to her. He stifled a need to growl in frustration.
“So sorry to hear that you are going through this, but what does this have to do with me?” Lisa asked, crossing her legs.
“I was told that if I eat part of someone extremely powerful, it would break the curse. The soulmates or the Six would fall into that category. And it has to be voluntary.”
“Ugh! Why does everyone want to eat me? You’re part of the Fae, isn’t that like cannibalism?” She put out a hand in front of him. “Screw that, you aren’t eating any part of me. Not a finger, not a foot, nothing. What idiot would voluntarily let someone eat them? I’m not getting bitten, ever again.” She stood up.
Joo-won rose as well. Damn it, why had he told the truth? What was wrong with him? Of course, she would not allow this. There were limits to one’s altruism. The old witch knew this. Only a person with a death wish would be so giving. A powerful being would be even less generous.
“Clearly, you can’t help me against Misandre. You’ll just save me and then eat me,” Lisa muttered.
“I don’t want to eat you, Lisa.”
“I don’t believe you,” the fairy replied, heading towards the door.
“Of course, you don’t,” Joo-won replied, racing past her to the door. He faced her and she jumped back in surprise. “However, it doesn’t have to be you who I… Eat.”
“Well, I’m not letting you eat my friends. Well, maybe Phillip. No, that’s bad karma. Please move out of the way!” She waved her hand at him, as if shooing him aside.
“I’m not talking about killing you or anyone else. I don’t have to eat a being whole.” He paused. “You don’t need two kidneys. Think about it. I help you against Misandre, and any other threats that come your way, and you or a friend gives me a kidney to save me from a life of slavery.”
Lisa narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t speak. She was thinking about it, he could see it on her face. Would she really take his deal? This would be the best of both worlds. He could have what he needed and keep her alive. Maybe get her to his side. He wanted her alive. He didn’t feel good about taking anything from her, but becoming a slave to the old witch for eternity was not an option for him.
Finally, she looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “I’ll think about it. Maybe I could get Phillip to do it as repentance.” She snorted. “You prove to me that I can trust you and then I’ll help you out.”
Joo-won smiled, before taking her hand and kissing it. “Thank you, Butterfly.”
She moved her hand, slowly, away from him. “Don’t thank me yet. I didn’t say yes. Well, let me go back to the Fae. I’ll be leaving there soon and coming home. It’s been almost two weeks. That’s long enough.”
Joo-won raised his eyebrows. Two weeks? It’d been much longer than that in the Human realm. Did she really not know how much of a time difference there was between the Fae and Human realms? Why had no one told her? Interesting.
Lisa glanced at him with squinted eyes. “What?”
“Ah, Butterfly, you’re going to need another drink.” He grabbed their glasses and quickly poured a drink for them both. He passed her a glass again and she took a sip, giving him a suspicious look. “You think you’ve only been gone two weeks but that is only in Fae time. To those you left behind in the human world, you’ve been gone for two months.”
Lisa coughed, covering her mouth. Joo-won, patted her back. She raised her hand to stop him. “I’m fine. Thanks.” She paused. “No, I’m not. Two fucking months! The others must be worried sick about me. He must be losing his mind!”
“He? What’s his name?” If she still remembered, Joo-won would have a harder time wooing her over. He really had to find out more about his competition. Since he had secured his deal, he could freely admit to himself that his interest in Lisa was not just about ending his curse. He would get her kidney and her heart.
Lisa frowned, her eyes roaming the room as if she would find the answer there. She covered her mouth and her eyes watered. “I-I don’t know. How could I forget him? Even two months wouldn’t be enough for that. I could never forget
him.”
“The Fae world clouds your mind. It doesn’t like human intruders or any elements of the human. You must still seem very human to the Fae world.” He put his drink down and took her drink, also setting it down. He then moved closer and carefully wrapped his arms around her, preparing for her to push him away. Instead, she leaned into him, resting her forehead on his chest.
“They’re going to hate me even more now,” she mumbled into his chest.
Joo-won patted her back lightly. It felt so good to have her in his arms. She smelled like strawberries. That fragrance affected him more than he wanted to admit. He didn’t want to let her go. “You can explain to them what happened. You didn’t know it was this long. Bella or Arwa should have told you.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“That’s a good question. Perhaps they had plans for you that required you to stay. Maybe they wanted your friends to be apart from you all this time.”
“My God, they could be looking for me. Will I even get my memory back when I return?”
“You’re back now, Butterfly. Remember, I live in the human world. Recall his name now. Sometimes it just takes a bit for your memory to return.”
He didn’t know the names of The Six. They had suspicions but this was his chance to verify. Of course, he wasn’t going to jump to tell Misandre now. His loyalty was not to her. Only to the original soulmates.
“Uhm, Charles. That’s his name! Charles! He’s Amina’s brother. Then there’s-” She pulled away from him and a sudden coldness washed over him. He wanted to feel her warmth again. He needed to touch her.
“I should go see them now,” she said, dabbing at her eyes.
“Don’t.”
“I know you don’t want me with Charles again but I—”
“Although I am concerned about Arwa’s secrecy, you should return to your friends when she planned.” He was in no rush for her to return to this Charles or the other members of The Six. He wasn’t sure he could prevent it from ever happening but he sure wouldn’t rush it. “Whatever, Arwa has planned, she is doing it with your best interest at heart. She is good and protecting the Fae is her main responsibility. Be careful about defying her before you know the full truth. She wouldn’t harm you.”