"Damn." Arthur clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm glad we can help." He grinned. "Sorry, I keep getting sidetracked. So. The army surrounds the castle, and like I said, most are there under duress. There are some shifters who are being forced there as well. Our scouts have seen Bears and Wolves, but there may be more. They also saw Giants. We think they are there for, ah, fun."
"I remember the Giants. They were alway war hungry." He was silent then, deep in concentration. "Why are you all focused on taking the castle? Why not focus on just getting to Boris?"
"Apparently, the Fae castle houses some weapons or objects or something of great power. We can't risk Boris somehow gaining access to them."
Tristan and Ben came over to join them. "Discussing strategy?" Tristan said as he sat down.
"Yes. I just gave Asmodeus the rundown of what we are looking at."
"Great. You should know that our queen does not want to hurt the conscripts." Ben said.
"But it doesn't matter why they are fighting for him - they're fighting for him."
"I know. But our queen feels they are innocent and should be protected."
Tristan added, "It's part of why she'll make a great queen. She cares more about them than she does herself. But it will make battling extremely hard if we can't find those hostages."
"I'm not sure how to handle that. We'd best hope Lucifer can follow through on finding them, eh? Not that I have any doubt. He knows this Realm better than any of us. While we were playing with horses and flowers, he was exploring every part of it."
"I'm so glad to hear that," Mor smiled as she wrapped an arm around Arthur. "He's all caught up?"
Kissing her hand, Arthur said, "Yes, my rose."
"It's very important to me to protect all my people. Even those in Boris' army." Her face was serious.
"How long have you reigned?" Asmodeus asked.
"Technically, never." Mor smiled.
"My rose was just found by her Fae mates a few months ago just before Boris attempted to steal her powers and..."
"Use me like a broodmare." Mor finished when Arthur couldn't. "But it doesn't matter how long I've been a queen - officially or unofficially. It wouldn't be right to hurt them."
"Understood. I'll talk with Lucifer and make sure everyone knows." Asmodeus gave a small bow in her direction.
"Asmodeus, how long do you really think it will take for Lucifer to find the missing Fae?"
"It's already done." Lucifer's deep voice sounded from the doorway.
"Seriously? Fuck, that was fast." Atreyu grinned.
Arthur barely kept from saying something. That was not the way to address foreign royalty. But Atreyu had his own way of doing things, and it somehow didn't seem to bother the Daemons. Thankfully. Lucifer just raised an eyebrow at Atreyu and nodded. "Indeed, that was fast." Arthur said, "Thank you for your assistance."
"I will do more than that to help the one one who has brought us hope again." Lucifer smiled at Mor, bowing deeply. "You should know, my Daemons are calling you Hope Bringer."
Mor looked horrified. "Nooooo. No. No. No. That will not be a thing. That's - that's - not a thing. I refuse."
"I'm not sure you can refuse that, my rose," grinning, Arthur pulled her in to his lap. "Mor, Queen of the Fae and Dragons, the Hope Bringer."
"Uuugh. It sounds like a B-movie."
"What is a B-movie?" Asmodeus cocked his head in confusion.
"Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. That's ok, we'll invite you to movie night." Mor patted his hand.
"I want to ask, but I'm sure I won't understand the explanation and that it will take a long time." Lucifer paused thoughtfully before continuing, "I have found your missing hostages and my Daemons are working to free them as we speak. Once they are freed, I will assist you in taking them back to your realm." He sat across from Mor and Arthur. "I'd like to come with you when you go. My Daemons are ready to help in any way we can. Boris must be stopped. If he's found a way to steal power, he will not stop until he has fulfilled whatever mad plan he has."
Arthur helped Mor to sit up straight in his lap, but didn't let her stand up. He knew he should place her next to him so she could formally address the king, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go. She glanced up at him with a smile before speaking, "I can't ask you to join this fight. Too many people are being hurt already. I'm happy to have your help to get the hostages to the Magic Realm, but I won't ask for more than that."
"You are not asking, we are offering this to you as the Hope Bringer." His grin was saucy. "Look, either way we will be helping you. Boris was one of us and needs to be stopped. And as it is, he is incredibly powerful and we cannot risk him stealing more powers."
"My rose, we should accept their help. The more we have on our side, the greater the chance of success with minimal losses."
"Arthur is right, love." Max said as he joined them.
Mor was silent for another moment before finally nodding. "Fine. But you can't call me Hope Bringer."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Queen Mor." Lucifer grinned. "I will have the hostages brought here to the castle and tomorrow morning we will all go back to the Magic Realm. Asmodeus, please show our guests to a place they may rest for the evening. I will have dinner sent to your rooms since I must return to assist in destroying that prison Boris created."
"Thank you, King Lucifer." Arthur could see Mor trying to suppress a giggle. She struggled for a moment and then lost it.
"She did this with me, too." Arthur said to Lucifer.
"What is she laughing about?"
"She's been having a hard time wrapping her mind around meeting people of legend. You know, Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Lucifer, King of Hell. That sort of thing."
"I do not know your story but I would like to hear it some day." Lucifer nodded. "Perhaps then I will understand her mirth. For now, I will not take offense because I can see her truth." He grinned wickedly at Mor, who had finally gotten herself under control. "Goodnight, HB," he winked and strode out of the room.
"Hey! He promised not to call me that!" Mor was indignant.
"No, he promised not to call you Hope Bringer. He was quite specific." Asmodeus was grinning at her. "You will learn that we Daemons do love a good loophole. Come! I will take you to your rooms."
Arthur snorted as he stood, steadying Mor on her feet. "I rather like them. They are going to be fun." He looked around for Morgana and found her standing in the back of the room, her face carefully blank. Leaving Mor to the others, he went over to get her. "Are you alright, Morgana? You've been rather quiet since we met Asmodeus, and more so since we arrived here."
Her face was strained as she looked at him. "I'm fine. Just, um, facing some truths."
"Anything I can help with?"
"Ah, no. Not now. Maybe later?" She patted his arm with a forced smile on her face and then walked over to Asmodeus. "I'd like to be shown to my room. I'm rather tired all of a sudden."
"Of course, my lady Morgana." Asmodeus smiled and led them out of the room. "Queen Mor, you and your mates will be residing in the suite reserved for visiting royalty. Not that we've had visiting royalty in centuries, but the rooms had a preservation spell so it will be fresh."
They didn't have to walk very far before Asmodeus pushed open a set of doors with a flourish. He was right, the rooms looked like they had been cleaned just that morning. Mor grinned as she went in search of the bathroom. When they heard water running, Arthur turned to Asmodeus with a chuckle. "She won't be out for a while. Thank you for helping us."
"It is my pleasure. I'll leave you to it." He stepped back into the hall with Morgana and Tristan.
Arthur joined his brothers in pulling out their clothes. Seeing Mor's pack, he grabbed it and pulled out her things, bringing them to the bathroom. He glanced over to Mor, who was singing a song while neck deep in the huge tub. Arthur grinned and started to walk over to her when she yawned. Changing his mind, he grabbed a towel and brought it over to her. He kissed her fore
head and then left her alone. Any time she had to relax, he would make sure she had it.
Chapter 19
Mor
She had woken up before the sun was up, ready to get going. Her mates had grumbled but gotten ready with her, anyway. By the time they were all dressed, someone was knocking on their door. Max had opened it to the Daemon with the white hair and black wings. He'd bowed and gestured for them to follow him.
Mor had tried to make small talk, but he had not responded. She wasn't sure if he didn't want to speak or couldn't. When they arrived at breakfast, Morgana and Tristan were already there talking with Lucifer and Asmodeus. Well, Tristan was talking. Morgana was picking at her breakfast and stealing glances at Lucifer almost as often as he was glancing at her. That was going to be fun to watch develop, Mor thought as she forced down a smirk.
"Good morning, King Lucifer. Asmodeus. Were you able to free my people?"
"My people tell me the enchantments are just about broken. As soon as we are done with breakfast, I will take you to them."
"Thank you." Mor grinned, "I can't believe you found them!"
"What, did you not think that I would do as I said?"
"Well, we don't really know you," she shrugged.
"That is true. Regardless, your people will be free soon. And then I will show you how to use the Seeing Stone to open a portal. You won't be able to transport them all through."
"That's not possible," Morgana looked up at Lucifer. "There is no way to create a real portal."
"How would you know, young one?" Lucifer gave her a cocky smile as a blush crept up Morgana's neck.
"He has a point, Morgana. We don't really know what it's capable of. You said yourself that there were no written accounts of what it could do, right?" Mor reached over and squeezed Morgana's hand. She was definitely struggling.
Morgana just nodded and went back to staring at her food. Breakfast passed quickly, and Lucifer led them back to the entrance of the castle. The flying horses were waiting for them, and Mor ran up to the one that had carried her here. The horse pushed its head into her chest and she started petting it. "Hello again." She leaned her forehead against the horse's.
"I do believe you have stolen my horse from me." His face disgruntled, Asmodeus stood with hands on his hips. "Well, at least she will be going to a queen."
"What?" Mor looked over at him, confused.
"I am gifting you my horse. She clearly loves you."
"Oh, my gosh! Thank you! So much! What's her name?"
"Her name is Fury."
"Really? Seems a bit violent for this sweet thing." Mor kissed Fury's nose.
"You'll see why she got that name." Asmodeus winked.
"Come! Enough of this. My Daemons tell me they are about to break the spells. I've asked them to wait until we are there."
Mor scrambled on to Fury's back. This was really happening. They were going to get the Fae back. And then go back to the Magic Realm with the addition of some fucking Daemon's. She felt real hope filling her. They had an actual chance to defeat Boris and Selina and save her people at the same time. As Fury took off, Mor couldn't stop the grin that stretched across her face. She felt a pulse of happiness from her mates and looked around to see them watching her with matching smiles.
The flight only took an hour and then they were landing in front of a cliff. There were five Daemons standing in front of the cliff. None of them looked alike except that they all stood with their arms stretched toward the wall, palms out, with blank looks on their faces. As soon as they landed, Lucifer went to the one in the middle and leaned in, whispering something. A moment later there was a pulse in the air around them and suddenly a door appeared in the cliff.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Daemons who had been working their magic rushed to the door and opened it. They disappeared inside, and Mor went to follow, only to be stopped by Lucifer and her mates. "I want to go see them!"
"There are guards in there. Some of them are Daemons who have turned traitor."
"I'll go in, Mor." Ben kissed her softly and headed in, saying, "Sebastian, want to join?"
"Of course." He kissed Mor, "We will be back shortly with your people."
"Damn it. Why can't I go in? I literally have more power than either of them." Mor glared around at the others.
"Like it or not, as the Queen of the Fae and Dragons, you will be protected. You'll have to lead some battles, but for things like this monarchs have to sit it out. Too much risk." Lucifer sighed.
"We will make the best of it, my rose." Arthur kissed her hand. "Ben and Sebastian will represent us well."
They waited in silence for them to come back out. Mor cringed every time she heard a bang from inside the cliff. A short time later, Ben and Sebastian came out with smudged faces. They were followed by a line of confused looking Fae. They were mostly females and children, but there were a few males in the group. Behind them came some who looked like humans, but the way they sniffed the air and walked told Mor they were shifters. Finally, the Daemons came out and nodded toward Lucifer and Mor.
Lucifer stepped forward, "I would like to introduce myself. My name is Lucifer, King of the Daemons. You were put here by one who was sentenced to death by me. For that, you have my humblest of apologies. Your Queen, Mor of the House of Byrne, came to me with the information that you had been taken by Boris Thornheart, who was once one of my subjects, and hidden here as hostages. Your Majesty?" Lucifer bowed to Mor.
Taking a deep breath, Mor stepped forward. "You do not know me, but I am the last daughter of the House of Byrne. I was found by Atreyu, Sebastian, Ben, and Max. Now, I am fighting to end Boris' invasion. He has conscripted your loved ones to his army." She took a steadying breath before saying, "I am asking you to join me, and to fight if you are able, so that we can let your loved ones know they do not have to continue fighting for Boris to keep you safe." She waited, holding her breath to see what would happen.
One by one, the Fae and then the shifters stepped forward and bowed to her. Mor couldn't stop the smile on her face if she'd wanted to. She bowed her head to the former hostages before turning to Lucifer, "Alright. How do I use this to create a portal? And how many of your people are joining us?"
"Asmodeus will be leading these Daemons to join you. They are our strongest magic uses and most skilled in combat, both physical and magical."
"You will not be joining us?" Max asked.
"No. I need to remain here to find out if this poison goes any deeper than those that were here." His face was grim. "Will you please put on the Seeing Stone? I need to get you all home so we can all start to excise the poison that is Boris."
Mor nodded and reached around into her pack. She pulled out the circlet and put it on her head. "Alright, what do I do?"
"Before, you turned your thoughts inward, correct?" When Mor nodded, Lucifer continued, "This time, you push your thoughts out through the Seeing Stone. Focus your magic there - imagine it is a funnel for it. As you do that, picture your magic forming a gate to wherever it is you want to go."
"Where would be safest, do you think?" Mor asked Atreyu, who looked thoughtful.
"I would say near the practice yards. One of us should go through first, as fast as possible, to clear anyone out and make sure they know it's not something bad."
"Will you do that?"
"Sure thing, beautiful. Let's do it."
Mor nodded and closed her eyes. Focusing the magic through the stone was much harder than she thought it would be. She felt sweat break out on her forehead as she struggled to force the magic through. Finally she felt a pop and suddenly everything was flowing. Mor turned her thoughts to a door - a really big door - and pictured it opening on the yards. Her magic was searching and then she felt a little click when it settled on the yard.
She opened her eyes, "It's ready."
Atreyu nodded and ran through without hesitating. A moment later, he came back through and said, "Works," before disappearing again.
"Holy fuck, I can't believe he did that."
"He trusts your magic more than you do, Mor." Morgana stepped up next to her. "You should trust it like he does."
"I'll work on that." Mor nodded. "Ben, can you get everyone moving? I'm not totally sure how long I can hold this."
"Your Majesty, how long will Mor need to rest after this?" Morgana finally looked directly at Lucifer. Her voice was steady, but the blush was creeping back up her neck.
"She will most likely sleep for a day. This will drain most of her magic." His stare was direct, unwavering, like he was memorizing her face.
"If you will excuse me, I am going to try to speed them up." She gave a small bow and walked away with Tristan close on her heels.
The Fae and shifters began moving a little faster. She wasn't sure how many there were, but it was at least a couple hundred. Boris had been very thorough in his abductions. When they were about halfway through Mor felt her magic running through her faster and swayed where she sat on the back of Fury. "I think they should hurry."
"Fuck," Max ran off to help Morgana, Ben, and Tristan.
Arthur and Sebastian got on either side of Mor, on their horses. The horses all kept their wings tightly folded so they could be close to Mor and hold her up. "Get her next to the portal so we can go through as soon as everyone else is through."
Fury snorted and started walking forward slowly so the other two could keep pace with her. Mor's vision narrowed as she focused on keeping the portal open until all she saw was the gate and everyone pouring through. "Almost...done?" She gasped.
"Just a few more, darling. Hold on."
Sebastian had his arm around her, holding her up. If he hadn't been, Mor was sure she would have fallen off of Fury already. Her vision was down to a pinpoint when Arthur shouted, "Go, now!" and she felt Fury take off at a run. Moments later, she felt pressure pushing her down and leaving her gasping before it was gone just as quickly.
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