by Quinn Loftis
“The Forest Lords have brought back our king! I give him my fealty; I pledge to him my loyalty. The Forest Lords have brought our king a mate, his appointed queen. I give her my fealty; I pledge to her my loyalty. All hail King Triktapic and Queen Cassandra!”
Utter silence followed Tamsin’s speech. Cassie waited with baited breath. She wondered if the elves would be able to exonerate Trik of his past or if it would forever taint his leadership.
There was a sudden clap of thunder and clouds that had not been there moments ago began pouring across the sky. She looked up at the sky and then out at the people who looked as nervous as she felt. She glanced at Trik, but he looked as confident as ever.
“The Forest Lords,” he murmured to her and then nodded with his head . She followed the motion and saw the crowd begin to part. She watched in awe as three beings that appeared to be made of light walked toward them. They stopped a good twenty feet away and then turned to address the crowd who immediately dropped to their knees.
“You would bow before your creators and humble yourselves because you are the created. And yet you will not bow before the leader your creators have given to you?” Cassie was surprised to hear that the voice that carried out over the crowd was three separate voices, speaking in perfect unison.
“Should we remind you of your own wicked ways? Should we outline the shortcomings of each person assembled here today? Or would you rather we forgave your insolence and loved you despite your flaws? There is an evil that is rising, a darkness that seeks to destroy anything good and pure. We have chosen Triktapic, just as we did in the beginning, to shepherd, lead, love, care for, and protect our creation—you, the Elfin race. His faults are many and his sins as numerous as the stars in the sky, but he is ours and we have humbled him and chosen to exalt him because you will need him. You will need his strength, his stubborn tenacity, and quick intelligence. You will need his queen, the woman we have given to him as his Chosen. You will need her love, her compassion, and strength of character. For before the end, you will be tested beyond what you think you can bear. Hear us now! Stand fast. Do not give in and do not let evil have a foothold. Let go of any ill will you hold in your heart and choose to move forward. Because if you do not, you will perish and your enemies will triumph.” The Forest Lords turned and faced Cassie and Trik and she felt the full force of their light. Her knees bent of their own accord and she knelt beside Trik, who also had fallen to his knees.
“Triktapic, you have done well. Continue on in your pursuit and crush your enemy before he can destroy humankind. Cassandra, be strong and know that you were created for great things. Triktapic will need you and you will need him. Do not let anything come between you. We bless your union and you will be fruitful in time and we will be with you and your offspring. We have chosen you both, two souls united at last to save two races. Hail King Triktapic and Queen Cassandra!” Their voices filled the courtyard and a roar of approval went up as the Forest Lords vanished before their eyes.
Trik pulled Cassie to her feet and looked out at the people, his people. There were so many things in their faces, but the one universal thing he saw was hope.
“I am not worthy to be your king,” he told them. “But I will strive to be. I will never again walk away from the duty given me, and I will never again tolerate darkness to reign in my heart or the heart of our race.” The crowd cheered and Trik felt his heart swell. “The Forest Lords have told you that a great evil is coming, and I’m here to tell you that it is already here knocking on our door. Lorsan, the dark-elf king, has grown so power hungry that he seeks to enslave the human race through a drug called Rapture. He is already dispensing it through the casinos he owns in the human realm and already lives are being destroyed. He has also somehow blocked the portals so that there is no way for us to get to the human realm. King Tamsin and I have been attempting to come up with a plan for how to move forward, and we agree on at least one thing—we cannot sit and wait for Lorsan to make the next move. We must attack. We must be offensive if we wish to win this war and that is exactly what it is—a war.” Trik paused and looked over to Tamsin who gave him a slight nod.
“Any of you who can fight, you are needed. Any of you who can make weapons, you are needed. Any of you who are breathing…” A soft chuckled rippled through the crowd. “You are needed.” He looked into their faces, making eye contact with many of his people, imploring them with his spirit to stand up for their rights and freedom.
“I will fight.” A tall male elf stepped forward and looked up at them. His eyes met Cassie’s and he bowed his head. “My Queen, I give you my fealty. I pledge you my loyalty.” He turned then to Trik and bowed his head and repeated the words to him. Trik nodded to him and reached down to grasp his forearm in a warrior’s handshake.
“Thank you, brother,” Trik told him and he hoped he conveyed just how much he meant it.
Cassie didn’t know how long they stood there as one after another the light elves pledged themselves to the king and queen. She was slightly overwhelmed as she reminded herself that she was the queen that they were bowing before, and that thought brought on a whole new set of worries as she considered the responsibility that she would now hold. A few months ago all I had to manage was to get to class on time, she thought as yet another person knelt before her, and I had trouble with that. Now I have to figure out a way to save two races of people and destroy an evil elf king? Piece of cake, she snorted to herself and then bit her lip when Trik looked at her from the corner of his eye.
She reached over and took his hand and wanted to sigh at the comfort the touch brought her.
“Sorry, just having a mini freak-out moment,” she told him. Her favorite smirk twitched at his lips and she suddenly wished that they weren’t standing before the light-elf race. Could she be any more inappropriate? she wondered.
“I could help you with that,” Trik’s velvet voice caressed her insides and she had to release his hand to get him out of her head. She let out a deep breath and smiled at the woman who stood up after just having pledged her loyalty. Cassie nodded to her and shook her hand and then realized that she was the last one. She wondered if it would be totally shameless of her to do a happy dance, and then decided, yes, yes it would.
“Thank you,” Trik told the crowd. “You humble me with your words and your willingness to put your lives on the line. We will begin training tomorrow morning. All those going into battle please meet here at dawn. Syndra will be in charge of the construction of weapons, so all those who will be assisting her will meet in the great hall.”
He turned then and looked at Cassie. She suddenly realized that he wanted her to address the assembled elves. Somehow she managed to avoid an all-out panic attack. Cassie cleared her throat and smiled what she hoped was a genuine smile. She looked out at all of the unknown faces and reminded herself that all of these people put their pants on the same way she did, or at least she hoped they did. “As Trik has said, I too want to tell you thank you. Thank you for accepting me as your own, for welcoming me, and for being willing to fight for my race as well as your own. I will stand with you and fight with you,” Cassie felt pride swelling in her chest as she continued to talk and realized that they weren’t just words, they were truth. “I will lead you, serve you, and do whatever I need to in order for the Elfin race to prosper. I will strive to be the kind of queen you deserve and, with your help, we will become the people the Forest Lords intended us to be.”
A thunder of applause went up as they cheered her and she knew that she was grinning like an idiot, but she didn’t care because she wanted these people to be safe and healthy, just as she wanted the human race to be safe and healthy. And she realized maybe for the first time just how much she was willing to give up to see those things happen.
“You’re a natural,” Trik told her as he ran a brush through her hair. She closed her eyes and focused on his fingers brushing across her neck as he gathered her blonde locks into his large palm.
“A natural dork?” she only half joked.
“We already knew you were a dork, Cassie. I meant you’re a natural leader. The people soaked you up like you were the last bit of rain they would get for years. You were spellbinding.”
The awe in his voice had Cassie turning to look at him. She saw his silver eyes nearly glowing as he brought her hair to his face and sniffed deeply of her.
She grinned. “That’s sort of creepy.”
“Maybe,” he agreed nonchalantly, “but then you knew when I told you I would stalk you for the rest of your life that I was creepy. What’s a little hair sniffing compared to that?”
Cassie threw her head back and laughed at his words. What made it funnier was that it was true. He would stalk her even if she said she didn’t want him. She looked at his incredibly handsome face, his shiny, black as night hair and his silver eyes and thought she’d be crazy to not want him. He had a presence about him that drew her like a magnet to metal. He called to her and she longed to be close to him. Okay so maybe she was just as creepy as he was.
“I realized while I was standing there talking that everything I was saying was true.”
“Well, it’s always good to make sure that what you are saying is true,” Trik teased her.
She rolled her eyes. “I just mean I finally realized how much I want this—how much I want you.”
Trik’s eyes snapped up and he perked up from his lounging position on the bed. “Finally realized?”
She nodded and then turned so that she was fully facing him, causing her hair to slip through his fingers and fall away from his hand.
“I’ve known that I wanted you, Trik, but I didn’t know if I wanted the whole elf-kabob.”
Trik laughed. “Elf-kabob?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not saying this right. Okay, basically I guess I realize that I’m needed and I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
“I get what you’re saying, Love. And I’m glad that you want to be here, that you want me and my elf-kabob.”
Cassie grabbed a pillow and hit him as he laughed. “That’s not what I meant and you know it, Triktapic.”
“It sure sounded to me like you were saying you wanted my ka-bob.” He was laughing so hard now that he no longer tried to block her pillow shots. Instead, he rolled and grabbed her around the waist and continued to roll until they rolled right off the bed. Cassie squealed until the air was knocked out of her as they hit the floor.
“Umph!” Trik grunted as she landed on top of him.
“Trik!”
“Cassie!” he repeated in the same outraged voice. “Why are we hollering out each other’s names if we aren’t in the throes of passion?”
“Ugh!” Cassie groaned. “You are incorrigible.”
Trik reached up and held her face in both of his hands forcing her to look at him. Her breath caught in her lungs as she saw the raw emotion where only moments ago humor had been.
“So you will stay with me, be my wife, my queen, my Chosen?” he asked her seriously.
Cassie felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs, and the only thing that could put it back was the man before her. His large, warm hands, capable of destroying, held her face gently as he earnestly awaited her answer.
“I will,” she finally told him. Deep inside of her, she knew that such a proclamation should feel heavy, like maybe the weight of a supernatural race had just been laid across her shoulders. But for some reason, she actually felt lighter. As soon as the words left her mouth and the intent filled her heart, she knew she was fulfilling her destiny, her role in this world, and lucky for her it just happened to be at the side of the sexiest, albeit deadliest, elf assassin ever. But you wouldn’t hear her complaining.
Trik pulled her face down to his and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
“I love you,” he breathed out and the warmth of his breath poured over her face. She wanted to crawl inside that warmth and wrap herself up and then wiggle around in the utter joy of it. “You think the strangest things sometimes,” he whispered to her as he listened to her thoughts.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine what a stroll through your mind would look like.”
“I’m an open book, Baby,” he winked, “at least to you that is. You can take a leisurely stroll through the bowels of my mind anytime you want.”
She laughed. “I don’t think I want to stroll the bowels of anything.” She yawned then and wished not for the first time that she had Trik’s energy level. She could get so much more done if she didn’t have to sleep.
“Time for you to get your beauty sleep,” Trik murmured to her as he sat up. Quite a feat since she was sprawled across him. He shifted her in his lap so that he could carry her and stood with no effort at all. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her back to the bed.
After he got her situated under the covers, he started to move away from the bed and Cassie’s eyes popped open. “You aren’t going to stay?” she asked, suddenly panicked over the idea of Trik not with her.
His brow furrowed as he looked at her, trying to search for the source of her insecurity. He took in her suddenly alert and nervous state and immediately returned to her side. “You know me better than that love,” he crooned to her as he brushed her hair from her face. “You and I will always share a bed, day or night.” He grinned wickedly at her. “Now tell me why you freaked at the idea of me leaving you?”
Cassie tried to duck her head but Trik wasn’t having it. He placed a finger under her chin and gently raised it so that she was looking at him. “Talk to me, Cassie.”
She let out an exaggerated sigh and flung herself back against the headboard. “I don’t know why, okay?” she nearly whined. “For some reason, every now and then I just have these little, minor moments of irrational clinginess.”
“Irrational clinginess,” he repeated and it sounded so much more ridiculous coming from his mouth.
Cassie frowned at him. “Don’t judge my choice of words, quiver boy,” she growled which only caused Trik to laugh.
“Kitten and her claws,” he chuckled.
“Just promise, you will sleep with me tonight,” she implored him with what she knew was a whine but she just didn’t have the energy to care.
“Oh, how I have longed to hear you say those words,” Trik groaned as he peeled his shirt over his head.
“Uh, Trik, I was…I meant…not…,” she stammered as she took in his very chiseled, very muscled, very lick-able physique.
He pulled back the covers and climbed in next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her down next to him. She was still sputtering when he used his power to put out the lights.
“You’re just too easy, Baby,” he teased her as he tucked her in close to him. “And yes, I do wish that meant being easy in multiple ways, not just easy to tease. Now go to sleep. We have a busy life ahead of us, and I don’t need you falling asleep when I save the world.”
She couldn’t stop the school girl giggle that bubbled out of her. He always knew exactly what to say and exactly what to do to put her at ease. Awesome, freaking elf boyfriend, she thought to herself with a mental snort.
“Yes, I am,” he murmured against her neck where he had buried his face.“Now go to sleep. You can think about my awesomeness tomorrow.”
Though she was smiling to herself, she let out a huff. “Is it me or has the bossiness gotten worse since you got your crown?”
Trik pinched her butt, drawing a yelp and then giggle from her. “Woman,” Trik growled low, “go to sleep, or I will find a way to exhaust you until you can sleep.”
Cassie stilled instantly.
“That’s what I thought,” Trik rumbled.
Still grinning, she wrapped her arms around the one he had stretched over her stomach and snuggled back into him. His warmth enveloped her in a cocoon of love, and as his lips pressed against her neck, she felt her heart swell and wondered if Dr. Seuss
had it right when The Grinch’s heart grew from love. She felt as if her own heart was going to burst straight out of her chest. As she finally drifted off to sleep, she let go of her worries, let go of her fear, and embraced the hope that had been set before them today in the form of a people willing to forgive their king and fight for a world they didn’t belong to.
Chapter 6
“Note to self: Laugh about the idea of a soul mate because really the joke is on you. Meanwhile, the powers that orchestrated this little fiasco are laughing their asses off while you try to keep from jumping his bones and he tries to keep from killing everything that breathes too closely to you. Ahh, good times.” ~Elora
“We ready to do this?” Elora asked as she poured herself a glass of milk. She rubbed her head absently, trying to push away the dull ache that had taken up residency there.
“Are you alright?” Cush asked her as he watched her from his leaned position against the wall.
Elora glanced over to him, her glass frozen in mid raise to her mouth. “Uh, I suppose so. I’ve got a little bit of a headache and the world is going to pot because of some liquid poison and a delusional elf king, but otherwise I’m peachy keen.”
Oakley let out a derisive snort as he looked from her to Cush. Elora chose to ignore it, not that it was hard since Cush had suddenly pushed away from the wall and was walking towards her with a frown plastered on his beautiful face.
“You have a headache?” he asked her and the concern that shown in his eyes melted her heart.
Damn hormones, she thought, knowing full well it had nothing to do with her hormones, or almost nothing.
“We don’t get headaches,” he told her.
