by Sumida,Amy
“Is he alright?” Arach asked immediately, completely foregoing our tradition of saying how much we'd missed each other.
He really was concerned. Surprising since he merely tolerated the existence of my other husbands. I'd secretly thought he'd be overjoyed if they all disappeared one day. Evidently, I was wrong.
“He's fine,” I assured him. “And he's on lockdown in Pride Palace, along with Morpheus, whom we believe to be the true target.”
“The true target of whom?” Arach narrowed his daffodil dragon eyes.
“We think it's Morrigan.”
“The Morrigan,” Lorna whispered. “Yes, of course.”
“Who is that?” Arach frowned.
“I told you, remember?” I chided him gently. “She was the goddess who showed up at Blue's wedding and gave me the stink eye?”
“Oh yes, the bitch with the odorous eyes,” he nodded, botching up the Hawaii slang for a dirty look.
“Arach,” I growled and looked pointedly at our boys.
“They're asleep,” he rolled his eyes before focusing them back on me. “Why would Morrigan want to kill Morpheus?”
“Morpheus killed Morvran,” I started.
“Yes, that I remember.”
“Great,” I rolled my eyes in mimicry of him. “Anyway, Morvran was a close friend of Morrigan and we think she may want revenge for his death.”
“Revenge, revenge, revenge,” Arach sighed. “That's why it's best to kill all known associates of your victim.”
“Are you serious?” I gaped at him. “You think Morpheus should have hunted down all of Morvran's friends and killed them too, just for knowing the guy?”
“And his relatives,” Arach nodded. “Just to be safe. Otherwise it can continue forever.”
“That's it, you're barred from teaching our children about morals.”
“I'm not talking about morals,” Arach gave me a confused look. “I'm talking about vengeance. Morality has no place in vengeance.”
“Just let it go, Tima,” Darius chuckled. “He's got dragon-sidhe brain, it's nearly impossible for him to understand human concepts of morality.”
“What do you know of dragon-sidhe, much less our capability for understanding?” Arach lifted a blood-red brow at Darius. “You spend all of your time in the Water Kingdom.”
“He has you there,” I smirked at Darius.
“I don't need to live in your kingdom to know dragons are stubborn,” Dare shot back. “All I have to do is listen to my Tima.”
“And he has you there,” I transferred my smirk to Arach.
“Regardless,” Arach waved aside the argument he was losing. “If Morpheus had done a complete job, Kirill's life wouldn't be in danger.”
“Fair enough,” Darius said, damn fickle lion.
“This isn't Morpheus' fault,” I sighed. “He avenged his brother, even though Phantasus was an ass and frankly deserved what he got. But Morph's whole family is lost to him now, he needed the closure.”
“Whatever happened with his mom, Pasithea?” Darius asked.
“Re spoke to Dionysus about watching her more carefully,” I shrugged. “He says Di didn't understand before but he gets it now.”
“He didn't understand that he was supposed to stop his daughter from manufacturing magic-numbing drugs?” Arach scoffed.
“Yeah, I know,” I agreed, “but what can I do about it?”
“You could kill-”
“Stop it,” I cut him off with a finger in his face. “That's not how you would handle things here and you know it. Don't expect to live out your violent fantasies vicariously through me.”
“I thought that's what a wife was for?” He gave me a wicked grin and pulled me into his side to nuzzle my neck.
“Ha ha,” I slapped him away. “Let's get back to the wedding. We can talk about this more after the ceremony.”
“If we haven't missed it already,” Lorna headed for the door, but stopped after Darius opened it for her, and looked back at me. “I'm greatly relieved to hear that Kirill is safe.”
“Thank you, Lorna,” I gave her a smile.
Lorna's kind nature always surprised me. Mainly because I'd met her when she was pregnant and a little insane with baby hormones. By the time I'd met the real Lorna, I'd already pegged her as a crazy you-know-what. But Darius had fallen in love with her and that alone said a lot for the woman. Dare was a kind man at heart, he could never love a cruel woman.
When we snuck back into the ballroom, the ceremony was just concluding. So we stood in the back and watched, instead of interrupting everyone by trying to get to our seats. The vows had been said, the rings exchanged, and Nora had been crowned with a smaller version of Guirmean's silver and sapphire crown. All that was left was for the High King to pronounce them married.
“May all gathered here witness that I, King Cian of the House of Spirit, declare that King Guirmean and Queen Nora are bound together in love and the laws of Faerie. May their union last as long as their reign!”
The whole room stood and cheered. I looked over to Arach and he shifted Rian to his shoulder so he could hold his hand out to me. I moved Brevyn a little so I could take it. Even though Arach had stolen my memories and married me under very false pretenses, I still remembered our wedding fondly. More than fondly if I was perfectly honest. It had been one of the most romantic days of my life.
As I watched Arach's smile turn soft, I realized it was the same for him. And there we were, survivors of tragedy, time itself, and our own stupid treachery. Still standing together and still very much in love. What a miracle we were.
“I hope they find a love as strong as ours,” Arach whispered in my ear as the happy couple strode down the aisle together.
“And I hope their love doesn't need to be as strong as ours,” I countered.
“It was worth every wound,” Arach leaned his forehead to mine and then transferred his hand to my back. He pulled me and Brevyn into his side. “Just look at what we have, A Thaisce. Our arms overflow with happiness.”
“You're right,” I gave him a quick kiss. “But I'd hope they could find this happiness without the heartache.”
“There is no such thing,” Arach said gently.
Chapter Six
If there was one thing the Fey were good at, it was parties, and the wedding of the Water Royals was a prime example. Directly after the ceremony, we were led outside by the newly married couple, where dining tables and a dancing area had been set up in the spacious courtyard before the castle. We were in an enormous cavern and even though it was bright as day down there, we wouldn't have to worry about the weather.
The glorious garden border around Castle Under was split at the very front by the castle steps and courtyard. The courtyard was tiered, going down three levels from the castle stairs, and each level had an expansive landing. The first level held the high table, where the new Water Royals and their visiting royal guests would be dining. This dining area was set off to the side of the castle steps but it still had an amazing view, not only of the courtyard but of the entire city of Under. You could see all the way back to the gated city entrance, which was at the top of a rise, making it level with the castle.
The next tier down from this was full of dining tables for the non-royal guests and a banquet table laid with faerie food. The last tier had some padded benches placed around the edges of a dance floor. Smooth wooden platforms had been constructed for the faeries to swirl their way across in their elemental finery. A band was already set up on the shell path below the bottom tier, and soft music floated all the way up to us on the castle steps.
“Is everything alright?” Guirmean asked us as we exited the castle.
He and Nora had stepped from the castle and then directly to the side of the doors. Here they could speak to everyone on their way out. Basically a reception line.
“We're fine,” I hugged him, angling Brevyn to the side. “Congratulations, it was a beautiful ceremony... what I saw of it.”
/> “Please accept our deepest apologies for interrupting such a momentous occasion,” Arach offered as he shook Guirmean's hand.
I had moved on to hug Nora.
“Are you sure, you're okay?” Nora whispered to me.
“We're fine. Brevyn needed to share something with me,” I assured her. “Don't worry about it; enjoy your wedding. This is your day, and you look amazing in that crown, by the way... Queen Nora.”
“Thank you,” she gingerly touched the shining crown on her head. “It feels so strange. To go from captain to queen. I still feel like you're my queen.”
“You'll get used to it,” I rubbed her shoulder. “Being a queen is difficult but rewarding. I think you'll like it and more importantly; I think you'll be good at it.”
“We're holding up the line,” Arach chided me gently and then looked back to our friends. “We'll see you at the table. Congratulations again.”
He led us out to the first tier and over to the high table, where the High Royals were already seated; one to each side of the two newlywed chairs in the middle. To the left of King Cian were the Earth Royals, and beside them were the Air Royals. So that left us sitting next to the High Queen- insert huge sigh of relief here. It looked a little lopsided but I didn't care. Whomever had planned the sitting arrangements had been both wise and generous.
“Can't we get some food first?” I nodded to the impressive spread on the lower level.
“Darling, we're royalty,” Arach shook his head at me. “They'll bring it to us.”
“Oh, right... of course,” I said in my most snobby, upper-class accent. “I was just shocked they didn't give us our own banquet table.”
“And have us serve ourselves from it?” Arach lifted his brows. “That's hardly appropriate.”
“I can't tell if you're joking,” I narrowed my eyes on him until he cracked a smile.
“I would rather get my own food too,” he admitted, “if for no other reason than it would be faster.”
“Oh please, may I?” Queen Meara held her arms out to us as soon as we reached the table. “I haven't held a dragon-sidhe baby since you were born, King Arach.”
I lifted a brow at Arach. It was seriously hard to tell the age of faeries, what with them being immortal and all. Still, I hadn't expected Meara to be old enough to have held my husband when he was an infant. But then, Isleen had raised Arach and she looked all of twenty-four. I glanced down to where she was filling her plate at the lower banquet table and wondered if I'd look the same as I did now, in a thousand years. The thought was sobering; a thousand years. There was a part of me, the part that had once been a human witch, who still thought that life was meant to be finite. Living for thousands of years wasn't natural. But you couldn't get more natural than faeries, could you? So maybe that little witch in me was wrong.
“Of course,” Arach's voice pulled me out of my immortal musings and I looked over to see him laying our sleeping Rian in the High Queen's arms.
“Oh,” Meara sighed and stroked the green scales at Rian's temples. “He's so lovely. I bet he's a beautiful dragon.”
“I think so,” I slid into the chair beside her as Arach held it out for me. “But then I could be biased, being his mother and all.”
“Nonsense,” Meara beamed down at Rian. “He's a verdure, the rarest of dragon-sidhe. His color alone makes him attractive. You have every right to be proud.”
“He's a what now?” I blinked from her to Arach as he took his seat on my left.
“I didn't want you to think I was being a braggart,” Arach laid one arm across the back of my chair as he leaned into me and brushed a fingertip over Brevyn's blonde curls. “I thought it would be best to let someone else tell you.”
“He's nearly six months old, Arach,” I huffed at him while Meara chuckled. “I would have liked to have known earlier that our son is a rare color. And when have you ever been modest?”
“He's rare; period,” Arach cocked his head at me, ignoring my questioning of his modesty. “The first dragon-sidhe born in thousands of years, Vervain. I hardly thought the scarcity of his color would make a difference.”
“It's not very surprising, considering his lineage,” Meara offered before she leaned down to Rian and inhaled deep. I couldn't blame her, Rian smelled amazing; smokey and sweet.
“Now what does that mean?” I asked as a waiter placed a full plate before me. I glanced back at the selkie and nodded, “Thank you.”
“You're very welcome, Queen Vervain,” the selkie bowed to me with a smile.
“My mother was a verdure,” Arach smiled wistfully, leaning into me further so a plate of food could be placed before him. He nodded to the waiter before he went on, “I don't have a lot of memories of her, but I do recall her color vividly; like spring leaves washed with morning dew. She just... shone.”
I took the hand he had on Brevyn and squeezed it, my heart clenching in commiseration for his loss. Arach had been a little boy when his parents were murdered, and he'd been the one to find their dead bodies. It was a horror no child should ever have to see.
“So she was a lighter green than Rian?” I asked gently.
“Oh yes,” he looked over at our dragon-sidhe son. “Males tend to be darker.”
“But he definitely got the color from your mother,” I clarified.
“Yes, part of her lives again,” Arach sighed and then sat back in his chair and started eating. Nothing kept a dragon from his meal for very long.
While we ate, I looked out across Under. As I mentioned before, it was quite bright there but the light was faintly tinted blue. Mainly because most of the light came from the glowing azure algae which coated everything. Well, not everything, just everything made of the forest green stone so prevalent in their building construction. All the homes were made from the stone, as well as both the walls and ceiling of the enormous cave which contained Under. The only building not made of the stuff was the castle. Perhaps the stone encouraged the growth of the algae. Whatever it was, the blue algae loved it. Which was good because they gave off light like crazy.
Despite the abundance of glowing algae, which would have been more than enough light, there were also floating faerie lanterns bobbing about the labyrinthine city. The homes of Under were all similar in design, but they were placed around the cavern with no discernible order to them. Seashell paths wound around these homes and gleaming white fountains nestled in little nooks formed by the strange placements. As if the fountains weren't enough water features for an underwater city, there were also several pools, bordered by rubbery plants. It was alien looking but undeniably beautiful.
“So are you going to tell me why you raced out of the ballroom earlier?” Queen Meara asked casually as she pointedly looked over my loose hair.
“Another vision,” I nodded to Brevyn.
King Cian and Queen Meara had both been advised on Brevyn's gifts and his ability to borrow magic. What they hadn't been told was that Brevyn had been using his psychic gifts for my benefit as well as his own. There hadn't really been anything that we'd felt the High Royals needed to know. Most of the visions had been confusing images of me and Brevyn together in the future.
Perhaps Brevyn was showing me all these visions because my star was broken and he wanted to help me. My nine-pointed star wasn't a physical thing. It was a bond between the magics, animals, and races inside me; three trinities united into one star with nine spokes. There were my three magics; Love, Lions, and the Moon. My three beasts; Wolf, Lion, and Dragon. And my three races; Human, Goddess, and Fey. When they were united, I could do some pretty groovy things but when they were separated (like now) my inner world was in chaos. I'd had to settle my beasts several times already and had completely lost my ability to shift into a wolf. Then there was the dragon, whom I could still shift into but whose transformation would be so overpowering, it might kill my other animals. At least I could still become a lioness. It's hard to stay trapped inside a human body when you've known the freedom of becomi
ng an animal.
“Anything we need to know about?” Meara asked with concern.
“No, it's-” I broke off as I caught the look Queen Aalish was giving me. It was smug and deeply satisfied. So not good coming from her.
Meara followed my gaze and Aalish immediately looked away, innocent as can be.
“What was that?” Meara whispered to me.
“I have no idea but it can't bode well,” I looked around the courtyard warily, wondering what Aalish was up to.
As I finished scouring the crowd, Guirmean and Nora strode up and took their seats. I was just about to warn Nora about my suspicions, when a deafening crack echoed through the city, and water began pouring down the path which led up to the city's main gate.
Women screamed and men shouted as soldiers began running for the gate. I panicked for just a second because you automatically panic when your children are in danger. It just can't be helped. But then I remembered that my moon magic gave me control over water and I couldn't possibly be the only faerie there with that ability.
Even as I thought the words, the tide reversed and started flowing back towards whence it came. Shocked gasps and wondrous proclamations directed my attention down a level, to where Lorna sat with her son and Darius. Prince Morgan was standing up on his mother's lap, arms outstretched towards the gates, and hands glowing bright. He was giggling as he playfully worked magic more powerful than many grown sidhe were capable of.
“Well damn,” I whispered.
“That's my son!” Guirmean added his wonderment to mine.
“It sure is,” Arach nodded grimly. “Now let's go help him. King Cian, King Fionn, King Cahal, we'll need you as well.”
“Of course,” King Cahal stood and as he did so, I noticed his queen, Aalish, slipping a large pearl back into a pouch.
The bitch had come prepared with a breathing pearl. She knew this was going to happen. Whatever this was.
“What are you going to do?” I asked Arach as he began stripping off his clothes.
“It must be one of the crystal tubes,” his eyes strayed to our sons, who were starting to cry.
