The Changeling

by Jennifer Lyndon

  “You’re pretty good at reacting, for someone who doesn’t enjoy it,” I insisted.

  “I enjoy fighting,” she said in an attempt to clarify her behavior for me. “I only kill out of necessity.” She lifted her head again to look into my eyes. “I saw your old friend Kieran today,” she observed. “I thought you’d killed her when you fought in the pass.”

  “So did I. She lost a great deal of blood,” I said. “But I only assumed she was dead. I never looked for her body.”

  “Sim’Nu must have patched her up,” M’Tek replied. “You really don’t think the witch wants to kill you?”

  When I didn’t respond, M’Tek shifted over me. Her eyes caught the light coming in through the windows as she leaned down to press her lips to mine. When she started to pull away, I pressed the soft skin at the small of her back to hold her to me. I liked the weight of her, and the way her body fit to mine. She pressed her face against my neck, and I cradled the back of her head.

  “I don’t know what Sim’Nu wants,” I admitted. “I do know I love you. And you scared me today.”

  “I know,” she replied. “I was an idiot.”

  “You were frightened,” I corrected.

  At that moment I think M’Tek would have preferred being called an idiot, to being described as frightened. She pulled away from me, lifting her body above me, studying my expression. After a moment she took my mouth aggressively. “Sim’Nu doesn’t frighten me,” she said against my mouth. “You do.”

  I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, and so I shifted to move away from her, but her hands came to my shoulders, her weight settling over my hips again, holding me under her. Her mouth covered mine more gently, before trailing across my jaw. She pressed herself against me as her teeth grazed my neck. I tried to ease inside of her mind, but she was blocking me. Her tongue teased my nipple and my back arched. Her fingers pressed between my legs, finding me already wet. She moaned softly and eased down my body, nipping my stomach gently with her teeth before settling between my thighs.

  Her mouth was perfection, coaxing the tension from my body in waves. I wove my fingers through her hair, as she carried me over. My heart felt ready to explode as every muscle in my body tensed and I cried out. M’Tek moved up from between my legs quickly, wrapping her arms around me before my breathing slowed. Her lips pressed against my forehead as I finally relaxed.

  For a fraction of a second, her mind opened to me, and I could feel the overwhelming love entwined with fear and need inside of her, twisting her in knots. M’Tek was far more frightened than she wanted me to know. If I brought her to climax, her defenses would lower. I needed to understand why she was so terrified. I pressed my lips to hers, and tried to shift her beneath me, but her arms only tightened around me, holding me still.

  “I want you, M’Tek,” I whispered.

  “Let me hold you,” she whispered in reply. “Please, let me be in control for a little while, my love.”

  I took a deep breath, trying not to be bothered by her dominant manner. “I want to have a child,” I said, rather than challenging her. When she didn’t reply, I pulled back from her as much as her arms would allow me. “M’Tek?”

  “I heard what you said,” she replied.

  “Do you want to build a family with me?” I asked. Again she didn’t reply. “Answer me.”

  “Please don’t do this,” she whispered.

  “Do you want to have a child with me?” I asked. “Look at me M’Tek,” I said gently.

  Her arms loosened, and I eased back to meet her guarded eyes. I pressed my lips to hers, and one of her hands moved down to spread my legs again. I caught her talented hand before she could distract me.

  “M’Tek, will you talk to me?” I asked softly. I could feel the tension in her. “Do you want to start a family with me?” I asked again.

  “I doubt I could stop you if you decided to become pregnant,” she replied. “I can’t even stop you from getting yourself killed.”

  “M’Tek, you’re not being fair,” I said. “I’m not forcing anything on you. I’m asking you what you want.”

  “I only want you,” she replied. “I have only ever wanted you.”

  “Yes, and I want you,” I said. “Do you have any desire to have children with me?”

  M’Tek eased her arms from around me, moved to the edge of our bed, and stood up. She found my wrap tossed over a chair, slipped it on and left the bedchamber. I wrapped myself in one of the coverlets, and followed her. I thought she would be in the sitting area, but the room was empty. When I turned to go in search of her, she appeared behind me, carrying a bottle of torppa and two glasses. She walked to the sofa and sat down, placing the bottle and glasses on the table in front of her. She poured a glass for me, and then one for herself. Rather than taking it all in her mouth at once, as was her habit, she lifted the small glass to her lips and sipped it before reclining back into the cushions of the sofa.

  After watching her a moment, I moved around the table to take my place beside her. I did as she had done, sipping the dark liquid. As warm tendrils of that potent intoxicant moved through me, I leaned close to her, trailing my lips along her neck. Her hand came up to caress my cheek, and she turned to kiss me with such tenderness my breath caught.

  “I won’t allow it. If you proceed, it is without my consent, and there will be consequences,” she said quietly. “And don’t ask me about it again. Do you understand?”

  “I do,” I replied.

  ****

  We were lulled into a blissful sense of well-being over the next few months, as the Fae season wound into full swing. I’d sent out invitations requesting the company of several Noge families, for the final ball to be held at the palace, and received favorable responses from them all. I was working with Pet on where these people were to be accommodated within the palace. I considered inviting a few Vilken families as well, but the tension was still too high between the Vilkerlings and both the Noge and the Fae.

  I’d read in history books of the legendary Noge season, which took place over summer solstice. It had been abolished under the Vilken rule of the Demon Prince, King Edvan I. The Vilkerlings viewed the season as frivolous, elitist, and most importantly, an affront to their culture. There were no traditional Vilken dances, only feast days four times a year, where they served the spoils of the hunt in traditional Vilken dishes, such as blood porridge, while they gathered in halls, to drink honey brew and gorge on game, until they were sick. Neither the Fae nor the Noge appreciated Vilken fare, especially wild game. I was finding it difficult to bridge the differences between the Vilkerlings and the Noge, something I needed to do if I planned to rule these distinct populations in peace.

  The Noge and the Fae were a great deal easier to unite. The Noge felt a degree of intellectual superiority over the Fae, and it came across on occasion, but the Fae didn’t seem to care. The Fae held themselves and their own culture in high enough esteem to appreciate the Noge, and allow them their arrogance, without taking offence. The Fae were by far the easiest of my people to love.

  The Noge families I’d invited began arriving over the following weeks, as the balls were winding down, and the atmosphere of mirth was on the wane. Pet was busy with preparations for the final ball, the theme of which I’d yet to get even a hint about. Leaving such concerns in her capable hands, I stood at the doorway to Lareem Palace, day after day, greeting my guests, making them welcome with food and drink, and finally sending them off to their apartments within the palace. In the evenings my time was occupied throwing small dinner parties in the banquet room, bringing the Fae and Noge together as often as possible.

  With the time I had remaining to me, I read and responded to correspondence from my two councils, and worked rewriting the laws of the Noge people to better reflect their culture, rather than that of the Fae and Vilken rulers they had existed under for over two centuries. It was a tremendous undertaking, and I knew, unlikely to be completed soon. I was busy, my face buried
in an ancient Noge law book, when M’Tek came into my office to find me.

  “Pet has again taken the liberty of commissioning our dresses for the final ball,” M’Tek said as she propped her delectable rump on the side of my desk.

  I shoved my work to the side, marking my place in the law book for later. I then stood and stretched out the tension in my back and neck, before placing my hands to each side of M’Tek’s hips, and leaning in to kiss her hungrily. Her arms came around me as she grinned against my mouth.

  “If I’d known my reception would be so warm I’d have found an excuse to disturb you hours ago,” she whispered against my lips. For that, I kissed her again.

  “I’m exhausted,” I admitted. “Take me to bed.”

  “I’d very happily take you to bed, my love, but we have social obligations,” she pointed out.

  I ran my fingers through her silken hair, black to her ears already, but still white below. The contrast was striking, and I had difficulty keeping my fingers out of her hair. “Can’t we skip it this one night?” I asked.

  “If it were up to me, we could, but you have all of these Noge nobles to attend to,” she reminded me. “Your Noge require regular care and feeding, it seems. Next week it will all be over, and we can lay in bed for hours, just enjoying one another’s company.”

  “That sounds like perfection,” I whispered, resting my head on her shoulder for a moment. “I’ll still have all of this work to wade through next week, though,” I added.

  “We’ll work from our bedroom at Cliffside,” she promised. “And Pet can assist you. She’s surprisingly adept at administrative work.”

  “That would help. I have to travel back to Vilkerdam soon,” I added. “Judging from the correspondence I’m receiving, they’re feeling neglected. It’s affecting my popularity. The last thing I need right now is a rebellion,” I said, feeling exasperated. “I think I’ve found a way to combine my social obligations with the Fae and the Noge, but the Vilkerlings are another matter. They don’t seem to get along with anyone.”

  “Pet says you want to begin a season in Nogeland next year,” M’Tek said. “Is that how you plan to combine Fae and Noge obligations?” she asked.

  “Yes. It will be shorter than the Fae season to start. I was thinking of maybe just doing a solstice celebration, for a while. We can host a month long social event,” I suggested, trying to forestall any argument. “Eventually, I want Fae and Noge attending all of the balls in both countries.”

  “How do you plan to organize all of this? You don’t even have a home in Nogeland,” M’Tek pointed out.

  “Yes, well, the Noge are building a palace for us,” I said.

  “Not for us,” M’Tek corrected. “This palace is for you. I was tolerated in the former Eastern Noge Territory because I have a powerful army, and because I kept those filthy Vilkerlings out. In more than two hundred years, the Noge never thought to build a palace for me,” she added, smiling in that caustic way that always made me want her. I pressed my mouth to hers, wishing I had a bed in my office. When I drew back, her eyes remained closed for a few moments, as if she were slightly dazed.

  “It will be our palace,” I said, smiling as she blinked at me. “Not because the Noge intend it, but because everything that is mine is yours,” I said, before trailing my lips down her neck. “I want to crown you my Queen, if you’ll allow it.”

  “If that’s your sneaky attempt at unloading Vilkerland on me, my love, you’re going to have to try harder,” she said, teasing me as my lips traveled over her shoulder, but then her voice became more serious. “Of course I’ll allow it, Lore. Where will our new palace be situated?” she asked, halting my progress as I began unfastening the neck of her tunic. I drew back to look at her.

  “On the southern shore of Sweet Lake at the foot of the Pale Mountains. I’m forming a new Noge capital there,” I explained. “People from the east and west have already begun to settle the area, to provide for the building efforts. We’ll have to pay a visit soon, to check on the progress.”

  “Your Vilkerlings don’t plan on returning Vilkerdam to the Noge, I guess,” M’Tek observed quietly.

  “Absolutely not,” I replied. “It would be impractical, even if I could by some miracle manage to negotiate the transfer without starting a war, and getting myself ousted from the Vilken throne. Besides, there are no Noge living in the village of Vilkerdam anymore. Regardless, Vilkerdam, or Eatherdam as the Noge still refer to their lost capital, is a sore subject, better left unexamined.”

  “Sweet Lake is a beautiful area,” M’Tek said. “Do you have the plans here?”

  I stepped away from her, returning to my desk to find the drawings for the new palace in the bottom drawer. I took them out and spread them across my desk. M’Tek stood and walked around to stand close to me, studying the potential structure with far more interest than I’d anticipated. She slowly went through each sheet, that faint crease appearing between her dark eyebrows as she studied them, tracing her finger over certain areas.

  “Do you mind letting me have these for a little while?” she finally asked, raising her gaze to mine. “I might have a few suggestions to make.”

  “Please, take them,” I replied. “We’re only working on clearing the land at the moment. I would have told you about it sooner, if I thought you’d be so interested.”

  “Of course I’m interested,” she said, still focused on the drawings. “Would you like to see the dresses Pet had made for us?” she asked.

  I glanced at my desk, and the several more hours of work I intended to wade through that afternoon, and then decided my work could wait. After retrieving my keys from my desk, I accepted M’Tek’s offered hand, and allowed her to lead me off to our rooms and preparations for the final ball.

  The dresses Pet had commissioned for us were beautiful, as always. M’Tek was stunning, her dark hair pulled back, the white showing through in the intricate pattern it was woven into at the back of her head. She was wearing a black and white dress in an old Noge style, which emphasized the changing color of her hair, while I was wearing Noge blue.

  As we walked into the ball, I recognized the theme. Pet was honoring our Noge guests with a Noge solstice festival theme. The lighting was low, with thousands of tiny white lanterns, meant to be stars, speckled across the high ceiling of the ballroom. The moon was the main chandelier, encased in a silvery sphere that gave off eerie shadows. There were trees and bushes throughout the room, and a faux grass surface on the floor. The garden doors were open to allow the party to spill outside, where an enormous bonfire was lit with giant stones placed in a circular pattern around it.

  “I like this theme,” I whispered to M’Tek.

  “That’s because this is the first time you aren’t the theme,” she replied with a wry smile.

  “You’re right,” I agreed. “No one expects me to admit I’m in love, or accept an offer of joining.” M’Tek laughed.

  “You’ve born it all with such grace,” she whispered before spinning me around so the light folds of my dress flared out around me.

  Dizzy from spinning, and happiness, I landed against M’Tek, and laughed. She had managed to maneuver us behind one of the larger trees in the corner of the ballroom, where we stole a moment of privacy. She kissed me gently, her hands circling my waist. When we emerged from behind the tree, Pet approached, a broad smile on her lovely face.

  “How do you like it?” Pet asked, indicating the entire ballroom with a graceful tilt of her hand. Pet was more beautiful than usual; her golden eyes alight with anticipation as she awaited my approval.

  “It’s great, cousin,” M’Tek said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.

  “This is absolutely spectacular, Pet,” I replied. “You’re amazing. I know the Noge will love it, too,” I added. “They’ll appreciate being honored.”

  “Well, I did it to honor you, Lore, not them,” she said with a hint of haughtiness in her tone. “You’re the Noge Queen. Most of them are only mi
ddling nobility.”

  “Pet!” I said. “Don’t repeat that. Please!” I said, laughing at her obvious arrogance. She outranked everyone, aside from M’Tek and me, and she knew it.

  “I might have already said it a few times,” she admitted, cutting her eyes away from me. “Well, they’ve been awful,” she added. “I made the mistake of asking for an opinion from Vidame Feala about the bonfire. It was going to be spectacular!” she said. “Every half hour the color of the fire would have changed from red, to blue, to purple, to green, and back again. The light cast across the ballroom would have been glorious! But apparently authentic Noge solstice bonfires aren’t colorful, or so I was informed by the Vidame, and every other random Noge noble from whom she could gather an opinion. I was forced to build a regular fire, or risk offending your overly sensitive guests. It nearly ruined the entire event.”

  “I’m so sorry, Pet,” I said. “It’s still beautiful.” She nodded.

  “Thank you, Lore,” Pet replied. “It could have been astounding, though,” she said sadly.

  “You’ll have another chance to build a colorful bonfire,” I assured her.

  “When?” she asked. “I can’t imagine an occasion. It’s not as though a colorful bonfire fits with just any theme.”

  “Maybe next year,” I said.

  “We’ll see,” she replied in a despondent voice, sounding as though she didn’t believe me.

  When Pet left us to attend to a faulty lantern, I turned to M’Tek. “You’re still being cold toward her,” I observed.

  “I complemented her work,” M’Tek replied, baring her teeth in a tight smile that appeared to be more of a snarl. “Did you expect me to fawn all over her simply for doing her job?”

  “You still haven’t forgiven her for what she said to me the opening night of the season,” I observed.

  “Nor is it likely I will,” M’Tek said sharply. “Loyalty and discretion are both important to me. Apparently my cousin lacks these qualities.”

  “You don’t deserve her,” I said. “She was not being disloyal, M’Tek. She’s been my closest friend for years. It’s a testament to her discretion and loyalty to you that she said so little, and only after I was crowned. Do you think I’m blind? Do you think I don’t see when you’re manipulating me? Pet only pointed out what I already knew.”