“Your Majesty?” Roral offered, and I turned to find he was holding the little scrap of gold and orange material by his forefinger and smiling. I had no idea how they’d managed to get nearly across the room and shook my head, then looked at Dane who shrugged.
“Tis the elastic I’m thinking,” he offered then laughed at the look I gave him. “It’s a wonder they didn’t spontaneously combust before ye could remove them.”
“Very funny,” I told him and spent a few seconds hopping around trying to pull them on without killing myself or tangling myself in the dress.
“Seems such a waste, Lass,” he told me with a forlorn expression. “And I’m not sure why it is ye bother.”
“Appearances and my own self esteem,” I replied and straightened my dress then glanced at Lira. “My apologies and my thanks,” I told him and noticed his eyes were still a little glazed but he was wearing a satisfied smile.
“Allow me to get the door for you, Your Majesty,” and he bowed his head and reached for the handle so I could move through it. Well, after four of the others, that is. It seemed I wasn’t going anywhere in the lead.
Chapter 10
The Great Hall was packed and the people nearest the doors turned to me with a mixture of dismay and sly grins. Apparently my recent quickie hadn’t gone unnoticed. I was glad I was still shielded, though I suppose I should probably drop my upper one. I thought about it for half a second and did so, not wanting to offend the Queen. I was immediately sorry, as a host of male minds quickly pressed in on me forcing a strangled sound from my throat, my eyes nearly crossing at the pressure.
“Did anyone mention the Queen came to see you while you were… away?” Jace asked after he breathed deeply and shook his head. I had forgotten for the moment how much the static from my upper shield bothered him.
“When?” I asked, curious to know how bad I looked when she’d seen me.
“Day five,” he replied. “She was quite distressed.” Of course I didn’t remember it, although I did remember my Mom visiting several times over the past day, though I’m sure I slept through more than I remembered. “And that damned Healer was there constantly.”
“Define constantly?” I demanded and Jace frowned at me.
“As in the man barely left the room to eat and go to the restroom,” he growled when the tips of my ears turned pink.
“Well, that’s lovely,” I replied and Tdem muttered a string of words in a language I didn’t understand. A couple of the others must have though, because several of them looked impressed.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure science wasn’t the only thing on his mind,” Gareth added from the other side of me. His eyes were scanning the crowd and his hand was on my back under my hair, which mercifully was down as I had developed a bit of a chill walking around the Sidhe.
Lord Aerandir met us at the door and led us across the hall toward my Grandmother, who was not on the dais this time, but amongst the crowd chatting with someone I did not know. My parents were with her and I glanced at my Father and gave him a dirty look. His eyes flicked to Talon and he looked relieved. I reached out for him mentally and whispered, we need to talk… soon. He frowned again, nodded once, then glanced down at my Mom, who turned to see me and smiled. She excused herself and crossed to us, the men parting to let her in. We hugged and she held me back to look me over closely.
“You look even better than you did this morning when I checked you last,” she informed me. “We sensed you had regained your strength or I would have been back sooner. And I heard about the caverns. How are you feeling?” she asked softly, her pale blue eyes searching my face.
“Happy to be alive,” I told her then leaned forward and hissed. “Can you not try to do something about Dad? He keeps throwing these Drakes at me as if he’s trying to offload his ugly red headed step-daughter. It’s a bit embarrassing, not to mention damn distressing” I told her.
“I tried to tell him, but he won’t listen to me!” she replied tightly, her eyes flicking over to Dad who was now watching the two of us closely.
“He told that one,” and I jerked my head in Talon’s direction, “that I’d been coddled as a child,” I breathed against her ear and felt her tense. “And he was shocked to find Dad hadn’t raised me, as if he’d enacted some kind of gross offense by not doing so. I got the impression that that was the norm for them.”
Mom hugged me, and just before she turned me toward the Queen she whispered, “Why do you think I took you and disappeared?” and my eyes widened. I turned and met Gareth’s narrowed gaze. Oh… I thought and glanced at Jace, who was also watching me closely. “What is this?” she breathed sharply, leaning back after catching a glimpse of my new tattoo.
“Something Tdem gave me with his dance of lights,” I told her, her eyes nearly popping out of her head, she seemed so surprised.
“King of the Slaug, Drows, Keeper of Elfin Souls, and now the Mark of the Gods. Lexi, are you certain you are feeling well?”
“Yes, is there some reason I should not be?”
She looked confused for a moment then shook her head. “It is just that… was it Tdem alone that danced?” she asked, and her voice was barely loud enough for me to hear her.
“If you mean dance as in glow, then no he wasn’t. He opened a door in his mind and flooded me with golden light. I think I swallowed it,” I told her trying to remember, “then he turned black.”
She raised her hand to her forehead and rubbed at her temple while looking at me in wonder. “I see,” she whispered and it was clear she did not see at all, not even a little. She took a deep breath then and slipped her arm through mine, turning so she could lead me to her own mother who had her back to us, but who I sensed had not missed our conversation. The Queen turned as we drew near as I curtsied and nearly all my men went to a knee before her.
“Your Royal Highness,” I said and I felt her eyes upon my bent head.
“Lexi child, rise,” she told me when I remained in my curtsy. “It is so good to see you up and about and looking well. You had us quite worried,” she remarked. I stood back up and she held out her arms to me. It was my first real touch from her and I slid my own arms around her waist, realizing once again just how short I was compared to the true Seelie. Although five feet five wasn’t all that short, I still came up several inches below her five feet ten or eleven. Today I wasn’t even wearing heels to help me out.
“I did not mean to worry you, Ma’am,” I replied and she hugged me tightly and rested her cheek against me.
“Children never do,” she replied, then released me slowly and glanced down into my eyes. It was nearly like looking into a mirror as hers were almost the same shape and color as mine. “Are you ready, my dear?” I must have had a blank stare on my face because she sighed and glanced over my head at those with me. “Your men did not tell you?”
She sighed again when I shook my head. “It is one of their most annoying habits, Ma’am,” I informed her and she stilled for a moment, and then laughed.
“Yes it is indeed,” she replied and slid her hands down to clasp mine. “Perhaps they did not wish to alarm you.”
“Your pardon?” I replied. “Had they not wished to alarm me, they would have described in detail what might occur thereby eliminating my need to worry and visualize possible scenarios. I have a very vivid imagination,” I informed her.
“I have observed that this is most common to the male species,” she informed me. “Knowledge is ever power. Yet they are merely men, so perhaps you might think to ask in a different manner next time,” she added. I glanced first at her and then around at my men. They were all either frowning or looking concerned and I couldn’t help the wicked grin that covered my face when I realized just how right she was.
“Thank you, Ma’am, you are most wise. I will not forget your words.” She chuckled and the sound pretty much matched the grin on my face.
“Shall we then?” she inquired, and released my hands as she took a step back. “You must
approach the dais and seat yourself upon the throne. And you must remain in this form to do so,” she told me.
“That is all?” I asked, wondering what the catch was.
“One piece of advice I will give you since no other has thought to. Do not allow your fears to overcome you. You are a strong and beautiful young woman, use your strengths,” she replied and I’m pretty sure I paled at the look in her eyes. “Go now,” she breathed. I curtsied again and rose slowly, turning toward the other side of the room and the empty dais.
A path opened for me as the Court simply faded back to allow me to pass. My eyes registered them but not their faces or names. The throne seemed to beckon to me and I walked toward it, my feet moving me along at a fairly good pace. I sensed my men behind me but knew they could not assist with this task and merely followed to be close to me. At the base of the steps I hesitated so that I might reach down and lift my dress out of my way before I started up.
As I climbed slowly, my gaze moved to my Grandfather, eternally caught in mid thrust, his naked body hard and long. My Grandmother had turned him into a statue when she had found him making love to a handmaiden, almost upon the throne. She had left him there next to the seat of her power as a warning to all who would commit infidelity. It was not known until after it was too late that the very same herb that had been placed in my room had also poisoned him. Now there was none in the Sidhe who could release him from his frozen state.
Inside me Goldy looked up at me and tilted her head… we can she whispered, while behind me there was a murmur as I hesitated upon the third step. This is not the time I thought back at her, and she looked slightly miffed at me for being put off. Now IS the time she informed me. Her tail flicked back and forth across her cave floor much as Mi’s did when she was irritated at me. What if she doesn’t want him freed? I demanded and watched as she tilted her head to the side, then seemed to look over her shoulder back in the direction where I assumed the Queen was still standing. I didn’t dare look myself. She needs, Goldy replied when she turned back to look at me again. She had a smug smile on her face and I frowned, realizing I was having an argument with myself on the steps to the throne in a room crowded with several hundred on-looking Seelie. Could this day get any more bizarre?
I sighed and continued on up the stairs. When my foot hit the dais, a strange tingling sensation started at the tips of my toes and vibrated up my calf and thigh. I lifted my foot and the sensation stopped. Gritting my teeth I placed both feet on the dais and felt my eyes widen as the vibration shook my entire body. A low grinding sound came from the direction of the throne and I lifted my eyes from the floor toward it. My jaw dropped as I stared into a multifaceted eye, which blinked and turned from solid gold to white then black, then every other color of Dragon before settling on a pale bronze color and blinking rapidly. The eye was situated along the top of the chair. I watched as the entire back of the throne seemed to stretch and pull back from itself. When it was free it turned its head to look at me, while the arms of the throne became claws that flexed.
The throne itself expanded slightly and when it settled, the skin or surface flexed and the color seemed to flow from gold to the same pale bronze as the eye. In my head I heard a buzzing as several hundred minds cried out in amazement. I swayed slightly and reached to touch my temple from the pain. My vision blurred for a second and then I blinked and stared deep into the eyes of the Dragon that was even now pulling itself apart from the shape of the throne. Its tail unwrapped from the back and unfurled across the dais toward me, the pike-like shape at the end of its tail glimmering upon the marble floor.
I realized if I waited much longer there wouldn’t be a chair to sit on, and made my feet move in the direction of the throne. The tail flicked and the mouth opened revealing very long, very sharp teeth, which I did my best to ignore. The hind legs worked themselves free of the chair legs and the claws made a scritiching noise on the marble, sending a shudder down my spine. Inside me, Goldy began to hop from foot to foot as if in anticipation, nearly knocking me over in her excitement as I drew closer to the chair. When she spread her wings I groaned and grabbed my stomach, while the chair made a horrible sound and one very long wing extended itself from the back and scraped along the floor as it stretched out to the side.
The closer I got, the more agitated the tail became until it was nearly slapping the floor. I eyed it warily and reached for my dress with the hand not holding my stomach. When I was within ten feet, the other wing appeared and I shuddered and shook while it made the same horrid noise across the marble. The sound seemed to excite Goldy who nearly shoved me forward. Caught between the noise and Goldy’s abrupt movements, I missed the tail sweep behind my feet, and nearly went to the floor in a heap as I jumped back to avoid it at just the last second. I managed to pinwheel my arms and stumble back out of range. I pushed the hair from my face and narrowed my eyes at the thing, while its tongue rolled out of its mouth and flicked at me.
Okay I thought, and kicked at the trail of my dress while I studied it. I had to get to the throne and sit on it. I should have just run at the thing to begin with. I realized the longer I waited, the worse this was going to be. At the rate it was going, it wouldn’t be long before the thing was moving about on the dais and I wasn’t certain it would be good if it caught me. I was supposed to sit on it, but that surely wasn’t going to be possible if it ate me first. Realizing I was stalling, I reached under my dress and grabbed my knife, then spent several seconds hacking off the majority of the material so that it fell to mid-thigh, now well out of the way of any possible entanglements with my feet. I also kicked off my shoes, grabbed my earrings and crown and tossed them behind me, listening as they skittered across the marble and rolled down the stairs. Gasps and murmurs accompanied my actions but I ignored them, my focus was on the throne and the Dragon who was watching me through intelligent pale bronze eyes, and who seemed to be considering me closely.
“Hello, handsome” I breathed and it blinked, its eyes whirled softly while it exhaled a breath in my direction. It smelled of… forests and… something sharp and fragrant and Goldy made a ‘mmm mmm’ noise inside me. I smiled and moved to the left, slowly working my way around the chair while it flicked its tail and rotated its head to follow me.
“Any chance we can negotiate?” I asked, edging closer and coming in from the side. I was about eight feet away when the wing swept forward and I had to dance back to keep from being knocked over. “Guess not,” I muttered and stood there for a moment with my hands on my hips considering it. Hmmm, I thought and moved farther to the left, out of wing range and toward its back. No real chance from here of getting into the seat, which by now had pretty much become the Dragon’s belly. Still, I was interested to see what it would do if I went all the way around it.
The head continued to rotate and when I was directly behind it, the tail shifted from the front to the back as it swung its head in the other direction. All of this while keeping eye contact nearly the entire way. If I could avoid the tail, I might reach its back in the middle of the wings. I wondered if it would count if I simply straddled it like a horse. Though it had changed into a Dragon’s form, it still appeared glued in place, as if the form had sifted but the intent had not. It was still a throne, just one that moved and was shaped as a Dragon. A Dragon that when stretched out would probably be over thirty feet long. It was quite possibly as big, if not bigger, than Talon had been.
Scales appeared over the body as I balanced on the balls of my feet and began swaying from left to right. The thing exhaled again and blinked. I timed the blinks and at the next one, I exploded at it, managing to step upon the tail and use it to spring myself toward its back. Huge wings captured me mid-leap and crushed my body between them. Holding me above the floor, the thing’s head leaned toward me and its tongue flicked over my right cheek as if it was… tasting me. Its breath flowed across my face and I held perfectly still, wondering if I’d soon be missing my head. It vibrated and made a grinding n
oise and I eased my fingers forward to grip the bony ridge at the top of its wings.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I muttered and the beast blinked again and shifted its wings, while I carefully eased my legs around its back. “How about we go for a ride?” I asked. In response it bugled in my face, while I gripped it tightly between my thighs and forced my head back out of reach. My fingers dug in and it roared and yanked its wings forward, nearly jerking my shoulders from their sockets. The tail slid over my back and wrapped around my neck, forcing me backward as it tried to pull me from it. I held on tightly for several seconds, and then felt my fingers give and I nearly struck my head on the floor when I refused to release my legs. Hanging upside down on the back of a persnickety Dragon is not a good plan, I realized. My skirt was now flopped over my body and basically got in the way of my vision and arms. Gee this was special, I thought. I was flashing the entire Court and suddenly thankful that Roral had found my underwear earlier and that I’d had the foresight to put them on.
While I was hanging there considering my options, the thing’s tail wrapped itself around my body and started squeezing and steadily pulling at me. My thighs held tight for several minutes and then started burning from the force I was exerting. Until I thought they might spontaneously combust from the fire in them. What to do, I wondered. Realizing if I simply let go, I’d still be wrapped up in the tail and I wasn’t sure how that would work out for me. Not that hanging around here was any better. In fact, I could feel my ribs starting to compress. It seemed I didn’t have much choice and I just let go. That was a mistake, I thought, as the tail lifted me up and flung me across the floor.
I flipped over twice and skidded several feet, my hair wrapped around me like so much Spanish moss. I struggled with it while I lay on my side and tried to pull air into my collapsed lungs. The Dragon seemed to smile at me and rested its head on its shoulder, while I pushed myself up into a seated position and proceeded to braid my hair. I stared back at it all the while considering my options. I used a strip I cut from the bottom of my dress to tie off my hair and pulled my legs to the side, then rested on one arm. Obviously the direct approach wasn’t going to work here. And I was fairly lucky I’d only received a couple bruises instead of some broken bones for my trouble. What I needed… was a plan. My goal was to sit on the throne. Apparently the throne’s goal was to keep me from mine. The longer I waited the more animated the thing got. I couldn’t shift to Dragon, so that left me with what? I wondered, chewing at my bottom lip. Use my strengths Grandma had said and I debated on what that might mean.
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