“You’re going to make him suffer badly?” She nodded at him. “Good. I’d like to say that it won’t make a difference to you if you do this or not, that it won’t bring them back, but I think that he needs to suffer. Because as much as it pains me to say this, I’m betting that he’s done far worse to other families, and that you will do the best job of it. You frighten even me at times.”
She laughed. It was a belly laugh, as if she’d been caught unawares of something he’d said. When she stood up and bowed before him, he stood as well. This was something that he hadn’t expected either, and waited for her to say the words.
“I, Brynhilde, last warrior faerie of the kingdom of Anthony and Eve, dragon lords of old, hereby pledge myself and my sword to Asher Anthony Benson, King of the Dragons, lord of the castle.” He put out his hand and she removed her sword. It was the first one he’d held in a great many years, and knew that this one was the best he’d ever handled.
“I, Asher Anthony Benson, King of the Dragons, lord of the castle, hereby grant Brynhilde, last warrior faerie of the kingdom, complete freedom.” She looked up at him and he winked. “I also grant her the ability to choose who she fights for; her sword shall be her own forevermore.”
Touching her sword to her shoulders, nicking the flesh there to make his mark, Asher felt the ground beneath him tremble and saw the trees shake. Anthony appeared, along with his wife. Others too…some of them dead, others as alive as him. But when his own family arrived the ground moved again, and he knew that this was what the castle had been waiting for. Not love from the woman before him, but her freedom to do as she pleased.
When she stood up, her magic filled the area around them, engulfing them both in it. Her wings spread out, longer, more colorful than before. No longer were they just random bits of color, but art filled them. The castle, dragons, and swords were there, as well as forests and other creatures that dwelled within. It was as if they too had a story to tell, and it was there for anyone to see.
As her hands rose above her head, he saw dragons form in them, bright with color. As they shaped, they moved to her body, filling in spaces where markings hadn’t been before. Her sigil changed, becoming a dragon like none he’d ever seen before.
He was large, spanning her body like it was becoming a part of her. Which, in a way, he supposed that it was. The wings on it spread out, and his head, it seemed to Asher, bowed to him. And all the while, he could see changes to the rest of her body. She was stronger, larger than life in her magic.
When she looked at him, her eyes were green like the grasses in the spring. Her hair, usually red, was now a shade so bright, so wonderfully full and rich, that he wanted to run his fingers through it to see if it was as soft and as hot as it looked.
When she evolved—it was the only thing he could think of to call what had just happened—she went to her knees, and Asher did the same. He was exhausted; his body ached with the newfound magic. And as he knelt there, he knew that whatever she’d just done, they had all shared in it, as his family was staggering to their own knees.
“Are you all right?” He nodded at Essie. “Good, because I’m not. What the hell was that? It felt like the earth moved.”
“I think it did.” He stood again, this time holding onto the trees or whatever else was close enough for him to touch and hang onto. Reaching for the book, he wasn’t surprised to find it was full of pictures, words that were written by a great hand. Looking at Anthony, he smiled. “You knew this would happen?”
“No. I thought perhaps, as she did, that it would be love. And in a way, I think that is what it was. Your love for her and releasing her was nothing I would have anticipated, but I surely do think it was the perfect thing for you to do.” Anthony pulled Eve to him. “We’re not for this world any longer. Our tasks are complete. You no longer need us or our guidance. Not that you needed much of it anyway. I’m very proud of you, Asher, king of dragons. More than I could have ever been, I think.”
“No, you can’t leave us. We.... We’re not finished here. We have so much to learn from the two of you.” Anthony shook his head and smiled at him. It was sad and painful, the look he gave him, and Asher wanted to grab him and hold him to him. “Please, don’t leave. We’ve only just gotten to know you.”
“Yes, and it was a great pleasure, as well as an unexpected one, to see you all together. But as our time here was never meant to be, it is something we must correct. You will be fine, all of you will now.” Asher asked him about the slayers. “Asher, look around you. Do you think that anyone could breach this family? Do you think anyone in their right mind would come here and try to harm you? Nay, they will not. You are as safe here as I wish we were so long ago. But then, things might have turned out differently, and that would have been equally as sad. We must go.”
As they faded out, he watched the rest of the family tell them goodbye, but he was the only one that had begged them to stay. His family understood better than him, he supposed, that they were only guests in this world, and it was time to let go. Asher wasn’t sure he could do this without their help. He looked at Simeon when he stood beside him.
“You’re going to be fine.” He nodded, a lump in his throat that made it hard to swallow. “You’re going to be a great leader, king, and brother. Not that you weren’t before, but now you’ll be better. We’ll all be just fine now. I know it.”
He hoped so, he surely did, because while Wilson couldn’t kill them, he could expose them to all sorts of trouble. And that, more than anything, was what worried him. He didn’t want people coming around just to have a look at dragons. There would be no peace for them if Wilson did that.
~~~
Simeon moved on the bed and felt the warmth of Bryn beside him. She’d been so quiet since yesterday that he simply wrapped her into his arms and held her. When she moved her body closer to his, he kissed her bare shoulder and held her.
“I’m free.” He kissed her again rather than speaking. Her voice was so quiet that he didn’t want to break the silence of the morning either. “I’ve never been free before. I feel like I want to run through the woods screaming it to the top of the mountains.”
“I’m sure that everyone would understand.” She giggled and turned to her back to look at him. Akassa woke too, and leaned on his elbow to watch them as well. “I was wondering if you were going to help us today or work on your lessons for Mark. He’s getting very good with his sword.”
“He is, but no, not today. We’re moving Essie and the rest into the castle today.” He smiled, thinking that this was going to be the most fun that he’d had moving furniture for someone. “But before then, I was wondering if you’d like to have sex with me. The two of you.”
“Yes, always.” Simeon laughed at Akassa and his immediate answer. “Sorry, but I just can’t seem to get enough of you. Not just for sex, but everything about you.”
“I like the way I feel when you guys are with me as well. And like you, it’s not just the sex, though that is amazing, but the company too.” Simeon leaned over her and kissed her nipple, and moaned when the tiny tip hardened in his mouth. “More. I need a great deal more.”
“Gladly.” She was naked from last night. They all were. So, rolling over her to settle between her thighs was easy. Akassa took her breasts in his mouth, nibbling on one then the other, as Simeon slid deep inside of her. It was wonderful to have her so hot and ready for him, and he got the biggest thrill in watching her enjoy Akassa too.
Simeon took her slowly. He loved the way her face showed how she was feeling, how her body tightened around his when Akassa bit just a little too hard. Even as she cried out that she was coming, he knew that she was far from finished. That she’d enjoy them for the rest of the day should they want to.
Simeon made love to her body. He touched her where he could reach, kissing flesh that was there for the taking. Bryn was theirs, forever, and someday he knew that she’d love them as much as they did her. After he came, filling her body with his o
wn, he moved away from her and stood near the bed. Watching Akassa make love to her was as fulfilling as it had been for him, but he had something to do, and left the bedroom to them.
Winter had returned for a few days, but today it was as pretty as a spring day. He moved to the side of their home, his focus on the one thing that he knew would complete their family. Tinsel was waiting for him, as if he’d known that he was going to come there at this time. He supposed the little man had, in a way.
“You’ve done it?” Tinsel nodded and bowed to him. “She’s either going to be very happy with us, or extremely upset. I’m hoping for the first, how about you?”
“I have the same hopes, my lord.” He moved to sit upon his shoulder. “I talked with Lord Asher and the others. He thinks this a fine idea you have.”
“You had, Tinsel. This was your idea more than mine. I’m glad to have been a part of it, but this is wholly your idea. Unless it goes south, then I’ll take equal blame. And she deserves this, I think.” Tinsel said he thought she did as well. “Akassa is going to bring her down in a bit. We’re having breakfast together in the new kitchen at the castle, and then setting to work. You’re sure that this will do the same as the other?”
“Yes, my lord. I spoke with Lord Anthony and his lady when they returned to the caves. He gave it his blessings, and told me to have it cleaned by the trolls. They’re a mean lot when provoked, and sometimes even when in the best of humor. But they told me they’d be honored with such a task.” Simeon couldn’t wait to see it. “I have had it delivered to the home of Asher. That way it would be safe for you.”
He headed there now, and was glad that Asher was up and ready for him. The cloth bag was huge, and the colors of it the same as the flags that now waved in the wind above the castle. He nodded once, telling him that things were ready for them when he was. Simeon said he was headed to the castle now to set it up.
The staff was setting up the tables when he entered. Not only were there enough chairs for them all to sit round the large round table, but chairs for the babies had been brought in as well. It was going to be a family thing, them getting together once a week, more if they could make it. But this room would be reserved for family only. No one else would be invited here unless they all agreed to it. And Simeon thought it a good way to begin their new lives.
The family was the first to arrive. They were mingling around, waiting for Akassa and Bryn to show up. He’d had two cups of tea and a Danish, he’d been so nervous. But when he saw her, his love, he was blown away by her beauty.
“I thought we’d be late.” She flushed when Akassa said he’d tried to make them all late. “What I meant was, I thought everyone would have started by now.”
“No, we were waiting on you.” She looked around, and he knew that his family had lined up behind him. Turning slightly, he could see that Asher, Kiaran, as well as Essie had made this official; they were all wearing their crowns. He stepped to Bryn’s side after giving her a quick kiss. Asher cleared his throat.
“I’ve never done this before, so I practiced, and read up on how it was to be.” Bryn asked him what he was supposed to be doing. “Hush and let me do this the proper way. Brynhilde Benson, faerie warrior and family member to us all, I give to you this sword with the blessings of everyone present and some that are not. Anthony and Eve were sad not to be here, but they have blessed theirs for you.”
“I can’t take that.” She took a step back from the sword and looked at him. “Do you have any idea who this belongs to? I can’t take this. I’m…well, I’m not worthy of it.”
“Yes, you are.” Asher looked at Simeon as he continued. “I’m the one that decides who is worthy or not. And I say you are. Anyway, here.”
Anthony’s sword, the one that they’d found near his body, was shoved at Bryn. The look on her face when she took it was something that would make him smile forever. Shock wasn’t even a good word to describe her reaction.
The sword was beautiful. The gleam on it was enough to make the room light up, and the markings on it, some of them older than she was, were brighter with it in her hands. As she held it in her right hand, Simeon stepped back to give her room when she began swinging it around.
It was poetry, the way the sword seemed to become a part of her, an extension of her body, just as she had told Mark not long ago. She cut through the air and the sword sung with it. As she worked with it, getting to know the feel of it, something began to take shape around the pummel.
The metal formed around her hand, then her wrist. The more she worked with it, stabbing out, lifting up and around, he could see that not only was the blade becoming a part of her, but she a part of it as well. The colors from her wings, which were now spread out, were mingling around the blade. The scroll work became more pronounced, filling in with color now that she held it.
When she seemed satisfied with it, the way it worked, the colors that were there, she slid the long sword to her back and it blended into the place where her other sword had been, now as much a part of her as her skin. Simeon supposed, in a way, it was her skin.
“How did you get those marks? The ones that are weapons and such?” Simeon had wanted to ask her that for days now, but whenever she was naked so he could see them, he was distracted. He smiled at Onimia when he said he was sorry for asking.
“It’s all right. I got them from the queen. The night that I went to see them, I hadn’t any idea what they would want with me other than my sword. But she told me that I’d need every advantage that I could get, and gave me the sword and knife here on my thigh. Well, gave me isn’t quite right. They appeared here, just after she touched me. The other things, the weapons that came around after they were both gone, just appeared. The guns have taken on several modifications over the years. The knives have changed into larger, stronger pieces. The stars at my neck and waist have changed metals for the needs too. Like for a troll that needs to be taken down, I would have different needs than for a man. And over the years I’ve come to not notice when something appears. I just use it when I need it.”
Talk went on at the table as they were served. It was the beginning, he thought of it. A new start to all their lives. When they began to speak about Wilson and what the plan was to take care of him, Bryn reached over and took Simeon’s hand in hers. At that moment, he knew they could and would come out a winner in all of this.
Chapter 8
Grief, Wilson knew, was coloring his thoughts. As his sister was laid to rest, her small body put onto the bier as his family had been so many years ago, he thought of the day they had died. How the house around them had swallowed them up and given everything to him. Magic beyond his wildest dreams. The way they had screamed when he’d had them killed. It was so good to have heard it. Even now, in this time, it made him smile.
But now, as his sister lay dead, the dragons had taken her beyond him and his love. He could and would blame them for her death, and they’d pay with their very lives. Of this, he was most certain, more certain than he had been about anything in his days. Wilson looked at the man standing next to him when he cleared his throat.
“My lord, the Bensons have sent a man with an arrangement of flowers and their condolences.” He told him to toss it away. “There is a card as well. Would you care to read it?”
“No, I would not care to hear anything they have to say to me. This is on their heads, not mine. Throw it in the rubbish for all I care. I don’t want anything to do with them. They killed her.” His servant said nothing but stood there, waiting for him to.... Well, Wilson wasn’t sure what he was waiting on, but he could see that he didn’t approve of what he had said. “She’s gone, Pearson. Gone, and they wish to send me their pity? I cannot stand them. They’re the ones that are harboring those monsters, and now they must die.”
“My lord, I have been with your family since before your parents married. I cared for you when they would not. You know that I only have your best interests at heart. Your sister was never harmed by the dra
gons…you have been told this numerous times. The fire started in the kitchen, from a candle left burning. You know this as well as I.” Wilson stared at the mound of dirt and the flowers around Maureen. “Sir, this is not going to help you in any way. You must let this go.”
“I will, as soon as they’re all dead.” He moved away then, back to his home. “I want everything packed up. I’m not going to be able to stay in that house any longer. Please send my things to the hotel near the Bensons.”
The traveling back and forth had been a drain on him, but he’d do it all again just to be with his sister. Even though she was bedridden, they’d played chess when she was up for it. Watched movies together, and sometimes, if she was feeling well enough, he’d take her to the dock and they’d watch the water. Now he’d have no one to share things with. Willing his body to the hotel, he took the biggest room they had and laid upon the bed.
No one would bother him here. They’d not even know he was there unless he allowed them to. His magic was powerful; he’d been crafting it for many years, just to kill the dragons. And the king and queen. He had done that, or so he’d thought. Now he’d have to kill this one on his own. This was all in the name of killing the murdering monsters that had roamed the earth as long as he had.
The phone was ringing, which should have struck him as odd, but when he reached for it, a woman appeared in his room. He didn’t know her, not even vaguely. As he lifted his arms to kill her she sat down on nothing, and he realized that she wasn’t actually in the room with him. Wilson leaned back on the bed and waited. He never spoke first when with people he did not know. He thought about stripping down and seeing how that went over with her, but she did speak before he could.
“Hello, Wilson. I’m Ariannona. You might not remember me, but I do you, and your sister. I’m sorry for your loss.” Wilson said nothing but sat up straighter on the bed. “I’m wife to Elam Benson.”
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