by Viola Grace
“You put most of the warriors I have seen to shame, my Queen.”
“Thank you, dearest.”
The emissary cleared his throat. “Lord Harrow, I bring greetings from King Minyot. Congratulations on finding your mate.”
Emrie saw at once that the wizards were dismissing her as an accessory. This was going to be fun.
“Emissary Liden. She is far more than my mate. She is my queen.”
Emrie tried to look shy and demure. She glanced up at Harrow, and he gave a small snort.
“She is also queen of this territory, so all congratulations should go to her for snagging such a willing specimen as myself.”
Emrie rolled her eyes, and then, she met the gazes of the wizards.
“Greetings from our demesne to King Minyot. I hope these words find him well.”
The eyes of the young man on the left turned a hot green. Someone was looking through his eyes.
“Harrow, it is good to see you. You are looking well.” The voice did not belong to the boy.
Harrow inclined his head. “Minyot. I see you are still working with watered-down wizards.”
“It can’t be helped. My wife did not give me a child. I am looking for my successor. I will not allow my good works to fall into unworthy hands.”
“A sound strategy. This is my mate, Emrie. Emrie, this is the voice and gaze of King Minyot.”
“Greetings, Minyot.”
The green eyes flared. “Insolent. You should teach her manners, Harrow.”
“Honest. I am honest. Harrow can teach me many things, but as you dispensed with the formalities to my mate, I dispensed with them to you.” She could tell her eyes were hot. The wizards were nervous.
The channelling wizard paused, and he blinked slowly. A slight nod came from him. “You are correct, my lady. I apologize.”
“Accepted under one condition.”
“What is that?”
“I need a female instructor to teach magic females the way of wizards.”
Harrow laughed, the emissary gasped, and the other young wizard sat with his mouth open.
“We do not teach our women magic.”
Emrie nodded. “I knew that when you said your wife did not give you a child. If she had been able to become all she was meant to be, she would have had the ability to match you magic for magic. Then, a child would have come into an equal arrangement. It is awkward, but the demon queens have researched it. When the queen has power, there are heirs.”
Every male in the bath was staring at her. The king began to quiz her in earnest, and she answered until her fingers were getting puckered. She called a halt. “I will wish you good day, King Minyot. I am going to check on my assistant. She is working on shadow walking today.”
She exited the bath, and there was silence. Tyda appeared from the shadows and handed her drying cloths before picking up her clean clothing and escorting her to the changing area.
The men were speaking heatedly the moment she left, and she knew very well what it was about.
* * * *
“How can there be another demoness in a demon queen’s home? It does not happen.”
Harrow shrugged. “Perhaps it is because my wife made her a demon. She was slated to be one of my concubines, but she was just too young. She didn’t appeal, but I bought her to keep her clear of others with a less scrupulous attitude.”
The page stammered. “She. Made. A. Demon.”
“Three in total. Two are here, and one has a demesne of his own. She overcharged him. He turned a deep plum colour.” Harrow was smirking. He knew it. This was too funny. Minyot was such a superior ass.
“The new lord that took over Dorf’s lands.”
Harrow cackled. The name spell had spread that far. Impressive.
“Yes. Doryn. The new lord who took it over. He is loyal and has enough power to wrestle the mountain king himself.”
“Has your woman given you any of that power?”
Harrow got to his feet and flexed his wings. “You could say that.”
He excused himself as the others stared. Unlike Emrie, he had not thought to ask an assistant to prepare clothing for him.
Emrie walked back into the baths, dressed and elegant. She held a folded skirt for him and presented it to him with a bow.
He took it with a smile and laughed at her parting words.
“Cover that up, it’s mine.”
He left the wizards to recover from their spluttering. His grin was fixed on his face. With a woman like this, his parents might have a grandchild after all.
Epilogue
They stood at the top of the stronghold and looked out over the new construction.
Harrow nuzzled her neck, and she reached up and held one of his horns while she went up on her toes.
“Thank you, Harrow. This is just what I needed.”
He spoke against her neck. “This dalliance in the moonlight?”
“It is daylight, my dearest. My King.” She chuckled and turned in his arms.
He smiled down at her with his eyes aflame. “You glow and darken the world around you wherever you are. It is what I first noticed about you.”
“You noticed my aura? How sweet.” She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I noticed your chest and shoulders and kept going lower from there.”
Their kiss was sweet, and before it got hot and heavy, Emrie pulled back. “Thank you, Harrow. This feels right.”
He wrapped his wings forward and concealed her completely as his hands ran down her back and slid under the slit in her tunic. “You have always felt right, my dearest.”
She giggled and surrendered to the comfort of his shadow.
Emrie paced back and forth in the main hall. “Are you sure that the notices went out in every demesne and kingdom?”
“They did. Jamis went to each one and made sure. Be easy. Today is the first day, after all.” Tyda smiled and remained stationary next to the main doors.
“I just... I mean... this is the sort of thing that the families who took me in would have dreamed of. The danger that my presence put them in was a constant worry.” Emrie wanted to bite her nails.
“They will come. Jamis has put up over two hundred of the signs across the expanse of the known territories. They will come, and when they do, we will be here.”
Emrie paused, and she sighed. “I don’t know what I was expecting. I mean, this would be wasted if there were no girls who needed refuge and an education.”
“My lady, come, and I will fix you a cup of tea.”
Emrie sighed and looked down at her first apprentice. “That sounds surprisingly nice. Let’s inspect the kitchens again.”
They had just turned to walk to the back of the building when the doors creaked open. Emrie smelled blood, fear, and pain as it stumbled through her doorway and fell to the floor.
Emrie ran to her side and eased her over, looking into eyes so blue it was almost painful. Split lips parted, and on a whisper of words, the girl said, “Is this it? Am I safe?”
Emrie lifted her and walked purposefully to the clinic that she had installed near the entrance for just this purpose. “This is the Bride School, and you are safe.”
The young woman collapsed, and her blood-matted hair fell over Emrie’s arm. The last sound that she made before she was in the infirmary was, “Sssafe...”
Emrie blinked away the tears in her eyes and went to work. If this was going to be her first student, she was going to have to survive the night.
The girl was clutching one of the postings that Jamis had been putting up. Just wait until she told Harrow.
Girls and young women of power.
If you can read this, you are invited to a safe place.
The Bride School will educate you free of charge in magic, medicine, and all that you need to run your household and your lives.
First, you will be taught to be strong women, and then, you will learn how to be a Bride. The choices are yours. Your life is yours. You need onl
y follow this map, and you will be safe.
Welcome and fear not. Your life and safety is our primary concern.
Come, be safe, and learn how to survive.
The page was stained with blood, but the words were the same ones that Emrie had agonized over. It had worked. A future as a tutor lay before her, and she couldn’t wait to share her joy with her mate.
“Tyda, get me some—”
“Water. Yes, my lady.”
While Tyda prepped the water, Emrie removed the girl’s clothing via the sharp crook of her finger. The girl was covered with punctures, and since the nearest vampire coalition was two hundred miles away, the girl had either run an incredible distance or teleported. Either way, she needed help, and she needed it now.
The main door opened and closed. Emrie looked at her assistant.
“Here is the water, I will get the door.” Tyda nodded.
“Good. Call the others. I am getting the feeling that tonight it will be all hands on deck. Go, now.”
“Yes, my lady. Congratulations on a successful start to the school.” Tyda’s grin was a flash of amusement.
Emrie began to clean the wounds that were bleeding the worst, and when she had done that, she covered her patient in a blanket.
Emrie was mixing a draught to help clotting when a whisper caught her attention.
“Where am I?”
Emrie answered while working. “You are at the Bride School. It is a new establishment designed to help women of power to ease into their own skins, as it were. You are safe, you will be fed and cared for, and if you are ready to go back into the world, you will have the tools to do so.”
The voice grew stronger. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to try. Choose a profession, a skill, or a subject that you are passionate about and focus on it. We can teach almost anything.” Emrie finished the draught and put it in a cup.
When she turned to her patient, the girl recoiled. “Demon!”
Emrie inclined her head. “Demoness. Queen Demoness if you wish. But I was once a girl who looked human and wasn’t, who had power but no outlet, who was lucky enough to find caretakers who encouraged knowledge. I became a woman before I became a bride and that is an advantage I wish to share.”
The girl recoiled. “I don’t want a man anywhere near me.”
“That is fine, but if you are destined to be a bride, your blood will call your lord when you are ready.”
“They took all my blood. It won’t be calling anyone. Where did my clothing go?”
Emrie moved toward her with a casual air. “I needed to remove it to get most of the blood off you. I was a healer before I was a demon, so I did not touch you in any inappropriate way. Now, drink this. It will help stop the blood loss.”
The girl blinked slowly. “What is it?”
“It is a mixture of herbs that will slow the flow of your blood, you will remain awake, and if you like, I can show you how to make it.” She handed the girl the cup and stepped back to sit on the stool near the medication counter.
She spun idly on her chair and waited while the girl drank the draught.
The blood stopped seeping in under a minute. Poor thing, she must have had nothing else in her system.
The door regularly opened and closed for the next six hours, ending up with twelve young ladies of varying ages and all bristling with magic.
Meals were served, a trip to the baths in the lower levels was arranged, and Emrie was smiling so much her face hurt. By the time everyone was treated for their ills and in bed with caretakers watching over them, Emrie was more than ready to return to her king’s embrace. The child that had its start within her during the evening deserved for its father to know.
She looked over the girls in their dorm one more time, and she smiled before leaving them for the night. Private rooms would be issued in the morning. Tonight, the comfort of their own kind would let them rest.
Emrie chuckled the entire way from the school to the stronghold, ignoring the demons that were guarding her against every shadow and rampart.
She was in too good a mood to regret her decision to demonize the more elite of Harrow’s forces.
When Emrie walked into their chambers, Harrow was waiting in bed for her, naked, on his side, with candles burning all around the room.
“I hear congratulations are in order, my Queen.”
She sat at the edge of the bed and pulled off her boots. “Thank you. Jamis did well. They all had the flyer with them. It was wonderful and horrible, all at the same time.”
He sat up. “Horrible?”
“The first girl had been abused by vampires. At least six if the marks were any indication. She is resting, but she was covered in blood.”
“Is she one of yours?”
She loosened her sash and dropped it to the floor before pulling her long tunic over her head. “Oh, definitely. I am guessing that the indicator came on late, or she would have fought them off. I also think she teleported, so I am guessing witch.”
“Is she all right?”
Emrie reached up and stretched while letting her hair unravel into a living mass around her. “She will be.”
Harrow moved to her, and he pulled her across his lap, pinning his erection between them. She grinned at him. “I have other news for you, my King.”
He nibbled on her neck. “Did you also get a wizard and a dragon?”
She hissed and leaned into his lips. “Yes, but what I wanted to tell you is that you can begin to work on your landing techniques. Ten months from now, you will be flying.”
His head jerked up, and she dodged his horns.
The next hours were spent with him worshipping every inch of her, with special attention paid to her belly. She was sated and happy when he held her in his arms, and feathered kisses over her cheeks, nose, and forehead.
She waited until he was almost asleep, and then, she had to ask the question she was dying to know the answer to. “Did you wax your horns?”
His laughter answered her question, and she looked forward to thousands of nights and days with the joy she was feeling on this one, perfect day, with her destined demon in her arms.
Author’s Note
Whew. Now, I know why I shouldn’t anime binge during the holidays.
This is going to be a sealed series of four... or five. Let’s see, demons, witches, wizards, dragons, so four. Four for now.
So, off for more cartoon heroes and heroines who can be so much more. Since it isn’t bee season, I have a lot more time to just keep my head down and go.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.
In real life, she now is engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.
