by Terry Spear
She was ready for battle, ready to find missing persons, or anything else she could do to help others. But she didn't see herself as being the head of a family, exactly. They were her paid staff.
When everyone smiled at her, she sighed.
"Staff," he said, but the smile in his expression told her he knew better.
Even as bad as Brett felt physically, he didn't want Ena to go fight anyone without him being by her side.
"Ena," Brett said.
"Lady Ena," Ryker corrected from the doorway.
Brett smiled. He couldn't imagine her wanting to be called anything but Ena. But he would call her anything that pleased her. The sharp look she gave her butler made Brett think calling her Lady Ena was out. Ryker, being his usual unflappable self, just looked at her as if he was in charge, and she would go by her new title or else.
"Get your rest," Ena said, returning her attention to Brett. "You still have to take care of this business with Freya."
He then noticed that Freya was standing near Ryker. He hadn't even realized she was there. Which he instantly felt bad about.
"And then you have gardening to do."
"Gardening?" Freya said, sounding offended. "He is a mage." As if that trumped a gardener by a mile.
"Mage apprentice," Ena corrected her. "And from what he says, until he can do something useful with his mage skills, he's my gardener." Her tone of voice clearly stated she was in charge of her people, and him. Freya was an outsider, a phantom fae, and she hadn't any say in how Ena conducted her business.
And yet, Ena did Brett the courtesy of glancing back at him as if waiting to see his response.
His smile broadened. "I will be whatever you wish of me."
Ena's cheeks blushed a little. The Goth-like fae rarely blushed. Certainly rarely around her suitors. But when she was with Brett, she blushed. And he took that as a good sign.
Her housekeepers, Addie and Kerry, giggled. Ena gave them a growly look. No matter how she acted, he knew she had the hots for him.
But then he felt so tired all of a sudden, and without his permission, he closed his eyes. That was the prompt for everyone to leave him alone. But he opened his eyes just as quickly and said to Freya, "I will help you as soon as I can."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Then Ryker ushered everyone out of the room, except for Ena. "If you need anything, ring the bell. One of the ladies will fetch it for you. Sleep now, and then I want to know how you shifted into a dragon."
Then Ena turned and stalked out of the room.
He had wished it. That was all. He wasn't sure why he had turned back except he'd heard Ena discussing with her brother how they needed to get him to a human hospital, but couldn't when he was a dragon. Had he wished to be human again? Well, fae?
He wasn't certain if it was the medicines flooding his cells or what, but he felt he was moving through the whisper quiet castle in the dark as a winged bird, though he could see as well as if it were daylight. He flew around the statue in the Ena's entryway, feeling free, until a roar of pain stabbed into every nerve in his side and out the other side, blinding him for an instant. Or maybe he passed out.
The resounding crash stirred him to consciousness. In pain and dazed, he sat amidst the cracked pieces of a six-foot tall hand-decorated vase, the green eye of a dragon painted on one shard staring up at him as if accusing him of the wreckage.
"Oh, my heavens," Cook exclaimed, her hand to her chest, her eyes wide with shock.
He wasn't having a nightmare, unfortunately. He was sitting near the entryway of the keep, having roused the whole household as everyone rushed to see the matter and then stood gaping at him like they couldn't believe he had just ruined a vase of Ena's. Was it really special to her? He would have to make this up to her. He was getting deeper and deeper into debt with her.
Despite his groggy and pained state, Brett noticed Ena was not there with her staff. The only way she wouldn't be there scolding him for wrecking her place—or maybe a little worried that he was hurting—was if she was off fighting a battle.
He tried to stand up, but couldn't muster the strength and was totally exasperated with himself.
"Where is Ena?" he growled ferociously, or at least he tried to. His growl was more of a hiss and at the end of his words, a puff of smoke appeared.
Everyone stood back. And then Ryker motioned with his hand in the universal way of saying be at peace, we mean you no harm. "It's just us, Brett. Your friends. Just us. Come, let's get you back to bed. You're…bleeding…all over the stone floor." He said it as if he believed Brett would be more eager to obey if he thought he'd earn more of Ena's ire if he made even more of a mess. But Ryker also truly sounded worried that Brett was bleeding again.
"What did he say before he blew smoke at us?" Cook whispered.
"He said he didn't mean to break Ena's favorite vase," Ryker said, as if he could understand Brett's dragon tongue when Ena couldn't.
"Can you shift back?" Jacob asked. "We'll carry you to bed. Or if you'd rather, you can fly there. But you look a little…"
Everyone was watching Jacob to see what he was going to say.
"We'll help you," Jacob continued as if anything else he might say could offend a dragon that they didn't know well enough. When they thought Brett was only a human, that was one thing. Even as a phantom fae, he might have had some other abilities that could have been dangerous. A mage? Definitely, especially since he couldn't control his spells well enough yet. A dragon? He could incinerate them all. Either on purpose or by accident.
At least that's what Brett figured they were thinking.
He told himself he wanted to be a human, well, fae. He really, really hadn't gotten the hang of that notion. For eighteen years, he had been a human. For a couple of months or more? A fae. So it was easy to forget that he wasn't really human.
So he wished he was human and then he wished he was in bed.
And then he was human, or fae! Only he hadn't made it back to bed using the traditional fae transport. Instead Ryker, who said that carrying half-dead mages who turned into dragons in the middle of the night was not part of his buttling duties, and Jacob, carried him there. So a fae transport of another kind.
"Should we get word to Lady Ena?" her lady's maid asked, wringing her hands as they all looked down at Brett lying in the bed.
As a raven, Freya was sitting on top of a chest in the chamber watching him. She cawed, "Of all the dumb things to do." She shook her head. "You were healing and now look at you. Just so you could fly around as a dragon?"
He realized the housekeepers weren't in the chamber, but they soon returned with bandages and they gave them to Cook who went to work bandaging him again.
"Ena," Brett said, his voice only a whisper.
"She is busy. When she returns, we'll tell her what you've gone and done." Ryker shook his head. Then he ordered the two housekeepers, "Clean up the blood and the remnants of the vase and dispose of them. I'll tell her when she returns."
"When," Brett gritted out. Oh, the agony. His whole body roared with pain and his insides burned.
"Get the healer," he told Ena's lady's maid.
"Aye." She hurried off.
"Jacob, you've got guard duty first. Make sure he doesn't leave the chamber."
"Aye."
Ryker glanced up at Freya. "Will you keep him company?"
She cawed.
"She will," Brett managed to whisper.
Ryker frowned. "You can understand her?"
Brett closed his eyes.
"All animals, or just her?"
Brett heard the question, but he was already soaring off into the night, searching for Ena. At least in his dreams.
Chapter 11
Ena was trying to concentrate on the conversation between the dragon shifters who had come to fight Prince Grotto. She and her brother, and the others had fought a terrible battle to regain Halloran's castle.
Why the dragon fae thought Prince Grotto's wor
d was rule, when she and her dragon shifter kind came back to claim what was rightly theirs, was beyond her comprehension. They should have known that even a handful of dragons could oust them.
Despite talking about their next strategy, and how important that was, she couldn't stop worrying about Brett.
"Ena?" Halloran asked.
All her suitors looked at her as they sat at his dining table. She realized she really hadn't heard what they were planning.
She waited for him to repeat the question.
"Princess Alicia is pinned down with her force at Warblers Creek. Prince Deveron is pursuing some of Prince Grotto's elite guard force up to the North. Even his mother is leading a force against the royal castle where Prince Grotto had his grandfather murdered."
Ena hoped her brother had not already said all of that while she was zoned out, concerned about Brett. "Right."
"But Princess Alicia is most concerned about her mother's welfare. Last we heard, Princess Viviana is still in the dungeon there, but if Prince Grotto feels he's losing the battle, he might have her put to death. He has been using her as leverage so far, but he's unpredictable."
"So we are to go in and free her."
"No. Brett and Freya will. They're supposed to be on Prince Grotto's side, the phantom fae pledging their loyalty to him. They'll be less suspicious if they try to gain entrance."
Ena knew her brother and the others there could hear her rapid heartbeat. No way did she want Brett, in his current condition, for one thing, to try to enter the castle by any means. "Prince Grotto knows who Brett is. He knows I saved his life. He knows I had taken him in as a member of my staff."
"But the word has gone out that you betrayed Brett by giving him up to the phantom fae so you could obtain safe passage through their lands," Halloran reminded her.
He didn't do it in a way to make her feel bad, but she still did. She would always regret that moment, yet Brett had gone freely to help protect her and her staff. No matter what, he was always doing that.
"He can't do anything yet. He's too weak from his injuries," she argued.
"Which gives Brett the perfect excuse. He's seeking refuge until he can fight the dark fae who injured him so badly," her brother said.
Ena didn't believe Brett could even manage to walk there on his own. If he did, he would be too weak to even fight. "If any of this is possible, what exactly are we to do while he's risking his neck? Freya is unable to retain her fae form for long. Prince Grotto will only want them there if he feels they can prove useful. What if he believes Brett cares something for me? Then he could use him as a hostage."
"You proved you didn't care anything for Brett's welfare when you gave him up to the phantom fae," her brother reminded her. "Brett only needs to get in and cause some kind of diversion for us. Maybe he can use his magic to help us gain entrance."
"He isn't very good at it. What if he turns into a dragon at the wrong time? They will think he's really one of us and finish him off. He's already half-dead."
"It's the plan we all agreed to."
She looked at all the other men there. No one said anything. Her brother had to know she wouldn't agree with this. Too many things could go wrong. "Brett and Freya would have to agree."
"They will."
"Only if Brett is well enough. I'm not handing him over so that he can be thrown in the dungeon and die there."
"If he agrees, it's up to him, Ena," Halloran said, using his sterner, older voice.
"If he's even capable of making such a decision in his condition. When do you propose to do this?" Ena asked.
"Before first light. We don't want to wait because word of our taking back our castles will most likely reach Prince Grotto's ears before long. We fear Princess Alicia's mother will be more at risk, the longer she is there. The faster we free her and take down the prince, the faster the bloodshed ends."
"And if Brett isn't healed enough to carry out your plan?"
"We'll worry about that then."
"All right. I'll check on him and send word of his condition in an hour."
Feeling reluctant to go along with Halloran's plan, when Ena arrived home, she smelled blood—Brett's blood, in the entryway. Where her ancient vase had stood, now a tall shelf filled the spot.
"What…" She vanished and reappeared next to Brett's chamber. Jacob was now sitting outside his door, in guard mode.
"What has happened?" she demanded.
"My lady, Brett turned into a dragon and injured himself further. Cook gave him something to aid his sleep."
"My vase?"
His eyes downcast, Jacob looked miserable. "I'm sorry to say that he flew into it as if he had suddenly lost control, hit a wall, and then he collapsed. Ryker and I had to carry him back to bed. He was bleeding again, but Muriel stopped the bleeding."
"Why in the world would he do such a thing? Shift and fly around the castle?"
"We think he was sleep flying."
"Oh, just great."
"What is the plan your brother is devising?"
"It concerns Brett and Freya and the dragons. Not you or any of the rest of my staff. You must make sure none of Prince Grotto's loyal men try to retake my castle."
"Aye Agreed. Whatever plans Halloran has for Brett, unless the mage recovers quickly overnight, it better be that he's pretending to be nearly dead. I believe that's that only role he's going to be able to play. When is this to happen?"
"In a couple of hours. I'm afraid he'll end up in the dungeon or worse—that Prince Grotto will have him killed outright."
Jacob shook his head. "Brett is sleeping now. But if you are going too, you must get your rest."
Ena wasn't used to her staff telling her what she should do for her own health and welfare."I'll just check in on him first."
She opened the door and saw him sleeping soundly. She walked into the room and when she reached the bed, she put her hand on his forehead. No fever, thank the goddess.
Brett stirred.
She quickly drew her hand back.
His eyes opened, then widened. "Ena," he whispered.
"I hear you are flying through my keep while you are supposed to be recovering."
He managed an elusive smile.
"And broke an ancient vase."
His barely-there smile faded. "I'm sorry."
She waved a hand of dismissal. "You can pay it back. It will take several lifetimes, but you know the human store policy."
"You break it, you pay for it."
"Right."
"Does this mean you're keeping me for good?"
She couldn't help but smile at his words. "As hard as you will have to work in the garden, you might decide you wish you had made other choices."
"I intend to become a master mage and take care of it with a sweep of my hand."
Which brought to mind this business with him turning into a dragon. "Brett, you must get your sleep and I must, too, but my brother has proposed a plan where you and Freya will enter the castle grounds and pledge your loyalty to Prince Grotto."
"He will want me dead. Before you took me in, he wanted the king to eliminate me."
"I…I gave you up to the phantom fae. You're one of them, so you say. I…betrayed you."
"No, it was my decision. It was the only choice we had at the time. You don't truly feel that I would believe you sacrificed me to them, do you?"
She didn't say anything, and she tried hard to conceal that she did.
"I have to admit I was afraid of what they would do to me, but we did what was right. I would have done nothing differently. As it was, it turned out fine. I met my grandfather before he died, and he gifted me with his magic."
"That you still don't know how to control or use."
"Yes, but learning something new always takes practice."
"Elorian said that he knows of no mage who can do what you can do—turn into a dragon or any other non-fae form. How did you do it?"
"I wished it. I don't know how I did it. And t
hen I wished I was human after that."
"Human." She snorted.
He gave her a whisper of a smile. "Fae, then."
"Can you control your shifting, if you can even get to your feet and go to the royal castle? Or are you too weak? My brother thinks if you say you're suffering from wounds we gave you, and the fact Prince Grotto knows I gave you up to the phantom fae, and that you're with one, Freya, another phantom fae, that should put you in good stead with them."
"And then?"
"You've heard of the Trojan Horse? You'll find a way to let our forces in. But I still worry that they'll want to put you in the dungeon. Or worse."
"I will do it."
"Only because you wish it," Ena insisted. "Not for any other reason."
"To do it for you? For your brother? For your kind? Princess Alicia? Her mother? I do it for all these reasons and more. Princess Alicia told you not to terminate me when you had asked her if you should. She had been like me—living in the human world, believing she was only a fae seer, not knowing she was one of the fae. And she worried that I might be the same." Brett suddenly switched topics. "Speaking of fae seers, what of my friends? Where are they?"
"I don't know. They were at my keep, supposed to be doing your gardening work. But when I returned from burning the wagons, all my staff was gone. All of them were here, except for your friends. We don't know what became of them. When we can see King Tiernan, the hawk fae may have taken them with his forces. I didn't see Freya when I came in. I'll have to ask her if my brother's plan is agreeable to her. But I must get some rest if I'm going to be able to do anything myself tomorrow."
Then she said good night, hating how bad Brett still looked, and left the room. After she closed the door, she asked Jacob, still sitting guard duty, "Any word on Brett's friends?"
He shook his head. "They disappeared the morning you left and when we took off for here, we never saw any sign of them."
