by F. E. Arliss
The giant of a man bowed gracefully and then introduced himself, “I am Saulaces, primigenia of the clan Colchi. The original. The oldest blood.”
Now it was beginning to make sense to Emery. She nodded, “Pleased to meet you. I’m Emery. This is Millicent Thorneridge, leader of the coven Thorneridge. This is Dorothea King,” she nodded to her beloved teacher. “These are Mur and Ray, lords of the sea.” Again she made no move to explain more than that about the twins. They were what they were.
The large man nodded. The petite blonde snorted back a laugh at the twins’ description. Emery swiveled her head to eye the girl in disdain, and lightning arced through the air causing one of the chandeliers overhead to explode as Emery’s annoyance reached uncontrollable heights. The petite blonde froze, her eyes transfixed on Emery’s antlers.
Within the same split second the huge man from the corner blocked Emery’s view of Remington Harsel as he teleported to her side. Emery simply leaned back with her hands wrapped around one knee, as it crossed over the other. “Please don’t disrespect what you don’t understand,” she asked simply. “We don’t understand you. And you clearly do not understand us. Perhaps we need to get to know each other better before judgements are made.”
The petite blonde slipped elegantly around the unyielding block of the enormous bald man, “I’m sorry. You’re right,” she said, holding out a small hand to Emery. “I apologize.” She shook everyone’s hands, apologizing to each as she did so.
Emery sighed. “We’re tired,” she said bluntly. “We’ve just been informed about the thefts of the moth amulet and possibly other items from the Osiris chest plate. We have been ‘cursed’ with protecting one of the items from the chest plate. It endangers our coven, but it is also our duty to protect it. We’re simply here to inform you that we have something that you, as the oldest blood, have an interest in keeping safe. I assume you do want to keep these items separated and safe?” Emery asked, her tone now commanding.
“Yes,” Remington Hartsel and Saulaces, the premiginia of the Colchi stated together in one ringing tone. “We absolutely do not want these items to fall into the wrong hands.”
“And who would the wrong hands be?” Dorothea asked, speaking for the first time.
“Anyone who wants to use them,” Remi said bluntly. “They should never, ever, be used again.”
The giant was even more succinct. “They should be destroyed.”
“What if that is not possible?” Emery asked abruptly.
“Why not?” Remi asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Destroying our ‘curse’ involves killing someone. We aren’t willing to do that,” Millicent Thorneridge’s soothing tone lowered the tension in the room. “The thing we have in our possession is linked to a living person’s soul. We will not destroy that person simply in order to destroy the item.”
Saulaces and Remi both nodded. “We understand.”
Everyone sat again. Bai Ling ordered alcoholic beverages and a dinner of steaks, potatoes and asparagus. Little was said as the dining service was prepared and a large round table covered with white linens set at the far end of the room. When the first course was served, a small crisp flatbread topped with fresh tomatoes, goat cheese and chives, the group moved to be seated at the table.
The hugely tall Saulaces helped the petite Remi into her seat, then sat to her right - nothing but a large glass of wine sat at his place setting. The slender body guard and tall Bai Ling melted into the darkness to watch over the diners. The twins helped Millicent and Dorothea, then Mur seated Ray and slid adroitly into the chair on Ray’s right.
Six had hovered at the fringes of the group until Emery had taken his wrist, dragged him into a chair on her left and commanded, “Sit, wife!” To everyone’s surprise, he had, without comment. Nor had he complained or made any sound at the statement calling him ‘wife’. He had blushed a brilliant petal pink. The twins had smiled at him, then Mur winked at Emery. A flash of light from her antlers zapped him on the back of the hand. He laughed outright. Remi looked puzzled. Saulaces acted like he’d seen the statement coming. Of course, Emery supposed he’d seen everything at least once in his long life.
The evening turned out to be very pleasant. Each told their story. It turned out the tiny blonde was actually the appointed human queen of the Colchi clan. Six was a sixth generation Cox who had served the Colchi clan as lawyers for centuries. Mur and Ray really were lords of the sea and the crones really were witches over a hundred years old. They tried to figure out exactly how old Saulaces was, but gave up in a wine induced happy fugue.
Emery explained that they had been involuntarily ‘gifted’ the Osiris stone when it had been sent, in its original collar, to their coven as a present for a special occasion. It now graced the neck of the recipient. She could see Remi and Saulaces perusing the necks of each member of the Thorneridge coven’s necks. Not seeing anything, they assumed the recipient was not present.
Emery wasn’t going to give away that piece of information just yet. The collar hid itself. If it wanted to show itself, it could. She knew this by communing with the Osiris stone’s consciousness. If it chose not to show itself yet, she would honor that. Better safe, than sorry, as the old saying went.
Millicent explained in her melodious voice how the collar had been gifted to them from the coven of the Isle of Skye in order to shirk responsibility for the heavy burden of protecting the collar. She included the sentence that had been placed on Gwen Sinclaire’s head and the consequences should anyone try to remove the Osiris stone from its current owner.
Remi, Six and Saulaces were riveted by the tale, gasping in morbid delight when the sentence involving Kull, the shark, was narrated.
“Ooooh, so appropriate. Though she got off lightly,” Remi had said with a snort. “She would so be fuel for the clan already, if it were us,” Saulaces had nodded abruptly, agreeing.
The members of the Isle of Eigg were suddenly reminded that the red stuff in the giant’s fluted glass was not wine. Millicent stroked the pearl choker around her neck in reassurance.
Remi held back a giggle. Saulaces sent her a dirty look. The rest of the table laughed out loud.
It had been a pleasant evening.
Six succumbed to being wrapped in the arms of the Amazon-like warrior-woman from the Isle of Eigg. When she kissed him passionately in the hall later, he had never felt so attracted to anyone!
For the next few months he ended up being so confused about his sexual identity that Remi had finally slapped him on the back of his head and stated bluntly, “You’re gay! It’s just that she’s a guy! Or at least - guyish! Ok! Got it?”
Georgie had nodded, happy with that explanation. “When are we going to Eigg?” he’d asked eagerly.
Remi had rolled her eyes and said, “Soon! Ok? We need to find out what situation the collar and stone are in and how to protect it.”
“Ok,” Six agreed happily. “I need to go shopping,” he’d added, excitement dancing in his brown eyes. “What do you think she’d like? He’d like?” Six added cautiously.
“She’d like,” Remi said firmly, rolling her eyes again. “You’re still a he and she’s still a she. It’s just that you’re a her and she’s a he. Oh my gawd!” Remi screamed. “This is even starting to confuse me! Stop!” The blonde had stomped off, yelling over her shoulder, “You already know I hate shopping. Don’t ask me! Now I know why Saul just wears the same damn suit all the time!”
Georgie had wandered off humming to himself. Now, what would his delicious queenie like? Yes, that was the perfect term, queenie. There were drag queens in his world, but none of them were nearly as queenie as his. He patted his hands together in happy contemplation. What would his queenie like? Hmmm.
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Emery lay quietly in the sun unmoving. It was good to be back on Eigg. It felt safe. Safe was something she’d not felt for a long, long time. Here people loved her and meant her no harm.
Perhaps that was why she felt a bit lighter, not like she had been slogging through muck - which is how she’d felt the last few months. It had been a heavy weight to carry, the carrying of the Osiris stone - and one she still bore.
Though having finally met someone she was deeply attracted to had also lightened her spirit. She didn’t feel confused about her identity as a woman anymore. She was attracted to the pretty attorney from Paris, and he was definitely a man. A pretty man, but a man nonetheless.
To realize that people really might want to kill her for the Osiris stone had been only a confirmation of what she’d already intrinsically known. They would want to harm her not because she’d done anything to them or because she deserved it, but because she had something of power.
Often the people trying to kill her might even admit she was kind or naive or a better person than they were. It didn’t change the fact that they would still want to kill her. Power corrupts. She had power. Would she be corrupted? She hoped not.
What mattered to the outside world was that she had something they wanted - even if they could never wield the thing she had, they still wanted it. Humans came to hate each other not for any cruelty the other had perpetrated upon them, but simply because they had something the other did not.
Plus, it was not always a material item that caused envy and hatred. Sometimes it was a simple gift of personality or birth that caused the deep-seated rage.
Emery had encountered this type of envy from the shamanic leader in the jungle. That high priestess had feared Emery’s skills and natural talents and had come to perceive Emery as a threat to her position. As ridiculous as that had been, as Emery had no intention of ever staying in the jungle, it had still been enough for the shaman to try to kill her.
Now Emery had seen that possessing skills that others envied wasn’t the only reason to kill. Possessing something that others wanted materially also brought about enough jealousy to warrant killing in their books. Many groups had tried to kill her in order to possess the talisman around her throat. None had succeeded, but it didn’t change the fact that they had tried and any who knew of its existence would keep on trying.
Here on the isle, she’d been safe. Here she had nothing others wanted. The people of the isle didn’t envy her because they didn’t want what she had - her gifts as a witch. These villagers had been raised with the burden of skills. They’d seen what happened to others with great gifts. They’d heard the stories of the great scourges where others tried to wipe out the whole population of the island. They’d seen what being a selkie or having great power did. Invariably, those with extraordinary gifts were persecuted or hunted or killed. They didn’t want those gifts.
Nor did they want her relationships. The old crones trained her hard - now Emery knew they did it out of love for her. They wanted her to live, to survive. The young women of the island didn’t even want her relationship with the beautiful twins. Everyone knew those twins had hearts and hopes only for each other. Emery might be included in the grouping, but in the end, she was only there because of the generosity of their spirits. They loved each other first and foremost, but they were loyal to her and loved her in their own way.
She had to hide the ugly amethyst. She had to protect those she loved and the island she loved. She had to hide herself or in some way camouflage herself and the talisman’s very existences. How? She wasn’t sure. But it had to be done.
Besides, she had to live so she could kiss that pretty lawyer again.
The End