Amara studied them and then left the room, going into every room that was empty and rifling through everything in there. She grew more and more frustrated since she wasn’t finding anything.
Sebastian shook his head. They’d been far too lax. Why hadn’t the War Room been sealed?
Amara paused by the dining room, listened at the cracked door. They weren’t talking about anything serious, thankfully. Ben and Arthur were regaling them with a tale of brawls on toilet duty. Amara stood there while the story continued, getting more and more frustrated that she wasn’t hearing anything important. When Max spoke up, telling them about dealing with a difficult noble, Amara’s frown became a glare of hate as she stared at Mor.
Abruptly, Amara turned and stalked out of the house. Anger was in every line of her body as she went out the doors. Sebastian stayed close, not wanting to lose her. She moved slowly, watching for others and putting them to sleep where necessary. But once she was past their field of vision, they woke up without realizing anything had happened. Once outside, Amara went into the forest, not following a trail. She was silent as she walked, which made it so much easier for Sebastian to follow her. He was quiet, but he wasn’t as quiet as Atreyu in the woods.
Finally, she stopped and looked around. Not seeing anyone, Amara reached into a pocket and pulled out a locket. She popped it open and whispered a word. And then waited. And waited. Finally, after more than an hour had passed a little figure formed on the open locket.
Sebastian crept closer to Amara.
“My Lord Thornheart.” Amara bowed her head.
“What do you want, Amara? You better have something to report if you are interrupting me.”
“Yes, my Lord. I’m in the home of the Fae whore.”
“They actually let you in? How fucking stupid. Did the plan work? Did Atreyu take her out?”
“No, unfortunately. The Dragon witch, Morgana, was somehow able to break your spell over him.”
“But they trusted you enough to let you in?”
“Trust is a stretch, but I am in the house, anyway.”
“That’s an opportunity. Have you learned anything yet?”
“They’re focused on the castle for some reason. They don’t have much written down, but I do know the whore has mated to the Pendragon now. So they have some dragons with them.”
“Well, we knew that from Selina. Do you have anything else?”“They’re looking for the prisoners, I think. They’ve got a map of Fae and from what I could tell in the few notes written, they’re trying to find them and free them.”
Boris laughed, “That won’t do them any good. Now, unless you can bring me anything truly useful, don’t bother to contact me again. I need real information.”
“Y-yes, my Lord. I won’t fail you.”
“See that you don’t.”
The image faded and Amara screamed in frustration, falling to her knees. “That stupid whore! I will not lose my position or my brother because of her.”
Sebastian drew back at the venom in her voice. He’d known she was angry, but this was an extra level of hate that he hadn’t expected.
Amara was silent for a few more minutes before she stood up and started walking back.
Sebastian followed her all the way to her room and watched her go back in and slam the door. As soon as she did, the scout opened his eyes and trained them on the door. He didn’t otherwise move, so Sebastian knew he had no idea how long had passed. Sebastian broke his cloak and set wards back on Amara’s door.
Without wasting another moment, he went straight to the War Room. It was well past lunch and he knew Morgana and Mor would be in there trying to figure out where the prisoners were. Mor was standing next to the table, eyes closed in concentration. Sweat was dripping down the side of her face as she tried to force her magic to do what she wanted. Sebastian waited until her eyes finally opened as she paused.
“It refuses to move from there, no matter how hard I think about the missing Fae.”
Sebastian cleared his throat, “Darling, I have some information that may be helpful to both you ladies.”
Mor turned to face him. “Sebastian! I’m assuming this means she didn’t see you?”
“Not at all. She has some magic that lets her put someone to sleep without them realizing any time has passed. Then she came in here and snooped around, wandered around checking out several other rooms and going through them, and then listened in on your conversation at lunch.”
“Holy fuck. She has balls of steel, doesn’t she?”
“That she does.” Sebastian hesitated, not wanting to bring up this last part. “She also reported to Boris.”
“How did she do that?” Morgana didn’t look surprised.
“Another one of those lockets. She had to wait an hour for him to answer, though. Thankfully, she didn’t have any real information to give him but she has figured out we’re looking for the missing Fae. And I’m pretty sure she knows where they are.”
“What makes you say that?” Mor asked, then added, “Wait. Let’s get everyone together to hear this. I don’t want you to have to repeat it and I’m guessing you’re starving since you missed lunch.” She started toward the door, then stopped and said, “How do we know she can’t get out now?”
“I warded her in, darling. She won’t break them without me knowing.”
“Good. I’d hate for her to learn anything real.”
They headed to the dining room and Mor sent out a call to her mates. Sebastian grinned a little bit. He loved seeing her get more comfortable with who she was and her magic. Morgana sent out a quick request to the Dragons with her magic, and they all settled in to wait. Sebastian started snacking - there were always snacks in the dining room, thankfully. After about thirty minutes, everyone was there. Mor sat up straighter and looked over to Sebastian with a nod.
Sebastian stood. “I’ll get right to it. I followed Amara as planned today. She has a power that can put someone to sleep without them knowing any time has passed. She searched the War Room and several other rooms, but thankfully we hadn’t left anything important in them. After she was done searching, she went into the woods to report to Boris directly. Amara has a locket that she used to contact him. She - “
“How do you know she was contacting Boris?” Lancelot leaned forward. He’d been mostly staying with the Dragon army in the field.
“The locket had a little hologram of him that talked to Amara - very Star Wars.”
“Star Wars?” Lancelot and Tristan exchanged confused glances.
“It’s a movie.” Mor smiled at them. “You’ve seen a movie before, right? No?” They were shaking their head at her and Mor drew back in surprise. “Damn. We’re going to have to have a movie night when this is done. That’s crazy.”
“We’ll need a weekend, Mor. We have to do all nine movies.” Atreyu said seriously.
“Absolutely, in order.”
“Moving on, perhaps, my rose?”
“Yes please, Sebastian, if you would go on?” Tristan asked.
“Amara told Boris that Mor was looking for the missing Fae. He made a comment about how she’d “never find them” and then ordered her to keep working on getting information from us.” He looked around at each of them. “I’m positive that she knows where they are. Or at least could point us in the right direction.”
“What’s our next step, then?” Mor asked.
“Well, we’ll have Morgana try and work her magic on her. If there is a spell to break, we can ask after it’s broken. If it’s not a spell…”
“We’ll have to ask more forcefully,” Max said. “We can’t hesitate just because she’s my sister. No matter how much I wish it otherwise, being blood related doesn’t mean she’s a good person.”
“So, when do we want to start? Tonight?” Ben’s voice was quiet.
“No. I’d like to wait until later.” Morgana spoke up. “Mor and I spent all day trying to force magic. I’m rather tired now and do not want to attempt tryin
g to break a hypothetical dark spell right now.” She yawned. “Is she contained for the night?”
“Yes. I set the wards myself,” Sebastian said.
“Excellent, then I will just grab a sandwich and head to bed. I suggest we all do the same. Tomorrow is going to be rather exciting, no matter what happens.”
Chapter 11
Mor
The next morning, Mor went down to breakfast, ready to confront Amara. When she walked in, there was a note from Morgana. Apparently, she was not feeling well today. “Arthur? Does Morgana ever get sick?”
“She occasionally gets severe headaches. And the beginning of summer is hard for her because that’s when she lost her mate. Actually, what’s the date?”
“June twentieth.” Ben grunted.
“Oh. Summer Solstice. Today she will not come out of her room.”
“Should I go talk with her?” Mor stood halfway out of her chair.
“Not right now. Maybe later today. She grieves in her own way.”
They were all silent as they started eating. “I think we should still confront Amara today. The sooner we can get information out of her, the better.”
“I’m not sure. We don’t know what she is capable of,” Sebastian said, shaking his head.
“Then it’s better that we find out sooner rather than later,” Mor argued.
“We will do as you choose, my Queen.”
“Good. Let’s figure out how best - “
“Can we have a meeting after breakfast, love? I need to get through some coffee before we talk business.” Ben had his head in his hand.
“Right, sorry.”
“Since when did you not need coffee in the morning?” Max grumbled.
“Oh, I got some before y’all woke up. I wanted to make sure I was ready to go.”
They all groaned and put their heads on the table. “Next time make sure you have them leave a pot of coffee in our room so we can all keep up with you.” Atreyu grimaced.
“Sure thing, I should have thought of that.”
“It’s okay, beautiful. There’s a lot going on. I’m sure you didn’t mean to make us think you didn’t care about our morning well being.” Atreyu laughed and winked at her.
Mor grinned. She couldn’t help it. The last couple of days he’d spent mostly sleeping. Morgana had said that was fairly normal after having a major spell put on you and then broken. “You poor baby. Didn’t get your coffee fast enough.”
“You laugh, but usually we’re the ones needing to bring it to you!” Max laughed.
“That’s a fair point. Now, drink that coffee. We have shit to do.”
* * *
Breakfast was done - finally - and they were meeting in the War Room. The council was there, along with Mor and her mates. “How should we proceed with Amara?”
“Mor, slow down. We can’t just jump into it.” Arthur held up a hand. “We first need to make sure that we all have the same goal in mind. I assume that is to find out if she knows where the missing Fae are?”
“Yes, but I think we should also ask how much she knows of his plans.”
“Honestly, she didn’t sound like she knew much, Mor. Boris treated her like a mostly worthless pawn. She may know a little bit, but I don’t believe we will get much out of her, darling.”
“Well, we should at least try. What are we going to do about her magic? Max, do you remember her being able to put people to sleep?”
“No, that is not something she could do when she was a kid. I do wonder if it’s basically a bastardization of healing. Sometimes, when we heal someone, we need them to sleep. So she, or someone, could have adapted that skill.”
“Max, can you keep an eye out for that? I think we can guarantee that she’s going to try something, especially because Morgana won’t be with us.”
“Absolutely, sweetie.”
“Okay, so focus on the location of the missing Fae. Find out if she knows anything else. Watch out for creepy sleepy magic.”
“Creepy sleepy magic?” Tristan raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t hate my amazing labeling abilities.”
Atreyu snorted. “You know, it’s a good thing we don’t love you for your naming abilities.”
Mor stuck her tongue out at him. “Alright, I’m ready to get this shit show on the road, gentlemen. Who’s coming with me?” Her mates all raised their hands. “Tristan, Lancelot, want to come play too?”
“Um, no thank you, Your Majesty. We’ll go check in on the army while you go deal with Amara.” Lancelot said.
“How can we stop her magic? We need to make sure she can’t just make us all pass out.”
“I have that covered, darling. I can bind her magic without an issue.”
“Alright then, let’s get moving. I’m sure this won’t be easy.” Mor stood, went out the door. She went to the visitor wing where Amara’s room was. The scout was standing across from Amara’s door. “How’s it been?”
“Quiet, your majesty. There hasn’t been a peep out of her.”
“Good. We’re going in for a chat. Please remain on duty.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” The scout bowed.
Mor took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and walked in the door.
Amara was pacing around the edge of the room like a caged animal. She growled at Mor when she entered. The growling got louder as all her mates followed her in.
“Good morning, Amara.”
“You need to let me out of this room. Now!”
“Now, sister, why would we do that when you were snooping where you didn’t belong?” Max’s voice was sharp.
“I do not know what you mean by that, dear brother. Why would you be sleeping with this dirty little whore?”
Max’s face went instantly red and he was to his sister faster than Mor could blink. He had her pushed against a wall, his hand around her throat. “You will not speak of my mate - your queen - that way ever again. Do you understand me, little sister?” Max’s voice was harsh as he held Amara’s gaze.
Hurrying over to Max, Mor put her hand on his arm and said, “Let her go, Max. We need her. You need her. You don’t want to kill your sister.”
After a moment longer, Max let her go.
Amara fell to her knees and held her throat. She coughed. “I can’t believe you would choose her over me!”
Atreyu knelt down next to Amara. “She is his mate, Amara. You know what that means. I know your parents didn’t have that bond, but you saw it in the Water villages. You know what it is to be a mate, even if you haven’t felt it yourself.”
Amara nodded and let Atreyu help her to the bed. She kept rubbing her throat, but they all just waited silently, not giving in to her attempts to make them feel bad. “What do you want.” Amara’s voice was sullen.
“Where are the hidden Fae?”
“Some place you’ll never find them.” Amara smirked, sure of herself.
Arthur growled. “Try to be a little more specific.”
“I thought I was pretty clear there, Dragon. They’re someplace you’ll never find them.”
“Amara, we will not stop until we get the information. Do you understand what I am saying?” Sebastian asked.
“Max will never let you torture me.”
“On the contrary, little sister. I’ll help. You are not the sister I remember. The one I protected, the one who would come to me when she was sad. You’re just like mom and dad.” Max stalked toward her and crouched in front of her. “Amara. I will do what is necessary to make sure our people don’t suffer. As a wise man once said, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
Atreyu grinned. “Max, Max, Max. You just quoted Star Trek. I can’t believe you.”
Max glanced back at him with a grin. “What? It’s completely applicable here.”
“Well, yeah, but - “
Amara had been quiet, but now she growled and launched herself at Mor. Mor collapsed to the ground when Amara’s weight hit her. Amara had her h
ands around her throat, but Mor was able to get a finger between Amara’s hand and her throat so she could breathe.
Mor hooked her legs around Amara’s and then bucked her hips up, forcing Amara to roll and take Mor with her. Arthur ran over to help break Amara’s grip while Atreyu hauled Amara away from Mor.
“Are you ok, my rose?” Arthur anxiously checked Mor’s neck.
“I think so.” She rubbed her throat. “Either way, we have work to do.” Mor slowly stood and walked over to where Atreyu was restraining Amara.
“Why isn’t my magic working?” Amara looked panicked.
“It’s been bound and you will not get it back until we are sure you are safe - if that ever happens.” Sebastian said grimly.
“What? How dare you! Release my magic now! You have no right to do that! I am Lady Amara of House Marinus!”
“Right now, Amara, you are nothing but a spy for a murderer. We will find out what you know. One way or another.” Mor’s voice was hard.
“Do your worst, whore.”
Mor lowered her voice, “Do you think I won’t? I will do anything to protect my people. If that means letting Arthur work you over, then I will allow it. And as corny as it is, Atreyu is completely right. Your safety and happiness are far outweighed by the needs of an entire realm of people. Do you understand, Amara? Your life is not worth a kingdom.”
Amara drew back and her voice was uncertain. “You really care about the Fae.”
“Yes, I do.” Mor smiled sadly at her. “I will do what is necessary, even if I don’t like it. Now, tell me where Boris is hiding the Fae.”
“They’re in another dimension.” Amara’s face became sly. “There is only one portal, and it’s in the heart of the camp in Boris’s quarters. So when I told you that you could never find them, I was right. You’ll never be able to get them back. How will you keep your people safe now, Mor?”
“What do you mean by ‘in another dimension’?” Sebastian knelt next to Mor.
“Boris isn’t from here, you’ve figured that out, right? Well, he has stored away all those collateral Fae in his home realm. You don’t have a hope of finding them.”
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