Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  I had forgotten that he was from their clan. “Is he attractive?”

  “Women have been trying to gain his attention for the past decade,” he said in answer.

  “And why hasn’t he agreed to one of them?” I asked. We walked inside the castle and to my chambers where I ate all of my meals unless forced to socialize. There were so many things that I didn’t know Queens had to do. So many stupid, little tasks like eating with other leaders of clans.

  “He wants to find love,” he answered. “A fortune teller foretold that he only needed to kiss a woman once to know if she would be his true love.”

  “Interesting,” I whispered. “How would a kiss tell him?”

  He shrugged. “That I do not know.”

  “Sierra,” I called to my handmaiden. “Can you get me some lunch?”

  She curtsied and left to get me some food. I’d held multiple interviews to find a handmaiden and I was not disappointed with my choice.

  “I’ll wait outside until you’re changed,” Treyce said and took up a position right in front of my door. He had been training and working to improve his fighting abilities since taking the position as my guard whenever he had free time.

  “Thank you,” I whispered and shut the door behind me before changing into a summer dress that matched my eyes and a pair of strappy sandals that Sierra had made for me.

  There were two light knocks on the door before Sierra entered with a tray of food and then Treyce shut the door again.

  “That’s a lovely outfit,” Sierra complimented. “You’re learning.”

  I stuck my tongue out at her, well aware that she was teasing me because I hadn’t had a clue how to choose an outfit before. “I’ve got another suitor coming today.”

  She set the tray of food on the table and then grabbed a handful of hairclips and began pinning my hair back with them. “Are you going to actually listen to this one?”

  “I listened to all of them.”

  “You hardly looked at the last one,” she countered.

  “He wasn’t easy on the eyes,” I reminded her and saw her flinch.

  “True,” she admitted, “but he was a very nice man.”

  “Well, I’m a Queen so aren’t I allowed to be picky?” I challenged and sat down to eat the sandwich she had made.

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” she said in a sarcastic voice.

  “Shut it,” I grumbled.

  “Who are you meeting today?”

  “Jonah of the werewolves,” I answered and popped a piece of fruit into my mouth.

  “Oh, he is very easy on the eyes,” she crooned and then took a seat at the table across from me, finished with my hair. “He’s also very polite and has the body of a god.”

  I laughed and asked, “Are you sure that you don’t want to meet him instead of me?”

  She blushed and looked at the table. “He already kissed me a few years ago and since that fortune teller told him a kiss was all he needed to know, he decided that I was not the one.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said honestly and softly. It had to be difficult to find love in this world.

  “Well, I’m sure that he will find you appealing and interesting to say the least.”

  “You make me sound like a piece of jewelry. Something pretty to own,” I said and pushed away my plate, no longer hungry.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she apologized.

  I waved my hand. “No, you didn’t. I’m just cranky today.”

  Her eyes widened and she asked, “Could it be that time…”

  “I don’t have those,” I whispered and she gasped.

  “What?”

  “I had a surgery go wrong as a child and they removed everything. I don’t bleed and am not able to have children.”

  “What about an heir?” she asked me. “You’ll never be able to have one.”

  I shook my head. “Adoption was my only hope in my previous dimension.”

  “I see,” she whispered and I knew she felt bad for me.

  It was a huge secret that I had not even told Eoghan for fear of it ruining our relationship before it even started. A King needed an heir and I was not capable of making one. I would have told him if our relationship progressed, but it wasn’t something I easily told others about.

  “Well, I’m sure that you will find a suitor to your liking soon enough,” she said with a wide smile and pushed my plate back to me.

  I didn’t respond and tried to shove the thoughts of Eoghan down into the box I had created for them. I needed to find someone to take over the ridiculous amount of time he spent in my thoughts.

  Treyce knocked twice and stuck his head in. “Your suitor is here.”

  “Yay,” I said sarcastically only loud enough for Sierra to hear. She giggled and then put some makeup on my eyelids before she dismissed herself to take my tray back to the kitchen.

  Treyce led me out to the garden where I found a man that reminded me of a character in a manga book I’d seen at the library. He had high cheekbones, a straight nose, and perfect lips. One would almost call him beautiful if it weren’t for the strong jaw and the dangerous air that surrounded him. It called to me like Eoghan’s had and for a moment I forgot all about him as I beheld this stranger with violet eyes and black hair.

  He turned, a rose in his hand and bowed to me. “Your Majesty, it is an honor to be given time out of your busy schedule.”

  “Please, call me Alyssa,” I said and swallowed the nerves I felt building.

  He stood, tucked the rose behind one of my ears and smiled warmly. “Thank you, Alyssa.” His fingertips were warm and the brief touch against my earlobe made my entire ear tingle.

  “I’ll await you here, my Queen,” Treyce told me.

  I began walking down the pathway created by the rosebushes and Jonah walked along with me with his hands clasped behind his back. He had broad shoulders, but a narrow waist that reminded me of a famous actor who took steroids to get more muscles than he could naturally.

  “Treyce tells me that you are second in line to the werewolves,” I said softly as we walked. Sierra had been right about him being easy on the eyes. I found it hard to take my eyes off of him.

  Jonah nodded. “I am. It is a position that I’ve held for nearly a decade now.”

  “How old are you, Jonah?”

  He smiled. “Twenty-four years old.”

  Surprising since I knew they could live many centuries.

  “How old are you?” he asked.

  “Younger,” I answered vaguely.

  “I heard a rumor that you’ve already met with ten other suitors,” he said as he watched me.

  “You are the sixth,” I corrected.

  “And you found none of them appealing?”

  “Appealing is not what I’m interested in,” I explained.

  “What are you interested in?” he asked.

  “A companion. A best friend. Someone I know I can count on.” Someone like Eoghan, but that I could trust.

  “An admirable quest,” he whispered.

  I stopped and turned to face him. “Are the rumors true about you?”

  He frowned. “I’m afraid to ask what rumors you’ve already learned about me.”

  “That you only need a kiss to determine if I’m meant to be with you or not.”

  He exhaled and tilted his head back. “A decade of single kisses later and I wonder if that woman lied to me all those years ago.”

  “So, you don’t want to kiss me?” I asked and resumed walking.

  “I did not say that,” he argued and caught up to me.

  “What is it that you are interested in? What do you seek?” I asked him.

  “An equal. Someone who will love me as much as I love them,” he replied. “I want someone whom I would battle the gods to keep safe.”

  “I always assumed werewolves were protective, but now you’ve confirmed it,” I teased him.

  He smiled and it did something to my stomach and made my knees wobble slight
ly. “You tease me as though we’ve been friends for years.”

  Had I overstepped boundaries? Was I wrong to tease him? “I’m sorry if I offended you,” I whispered and looked away from him with burning cheeks.

  He touched my arm gently to make me stop and stepped in front of me. “You did not offend me. I actually like that you’re comfortable enough with me to do something most other women wouldn’t think to. Most queens wouldn’t debase themselves to speak to a commoner like me.”

  “I’m one of the lowest individuals here,” I replied softly as my breath hitched at his nearness. He was too handsome. “I’ve only obtained my title to help those less fortunate like I was.”

  He brushed his thumb across my cheekbone where my blush raged on and whispered, “That’s exactly what a ruler should do.”

  He bent forward and I wondered if he could hear my heart racing and sensed my nervousness. His lips brushed mine light as a feather and then he stepped back from me and turned.

  Assuming that I had not met the fortune teller’s prophecy for him, I resumed walking to avoid any awkwardness.

  “Why?” Eoghan asked from behind us.

  I spun around and stared at him in shock. “Eoghan. What are you doing here?”

  Jonah moved closer to me, a half-step between Eoghan and me.

  “Why are you in this garden with him?” Eoghan asked.

  “Queen Alyssa is busy right now,” Jonah told him. “Why don’t you schedule your own time to meet with her.”

  “Suitors? You’re holding meetings with suitors?” Eoghan asked and clutched at his chest, gripping his shirt tightly.

  “You received my letter,” I reminded him.

  He shook his head. “No. I refuse to accept this. I refuse to accept your letter.”

  “Eoghan, this is not the time for this,” I told him nervously.

  “There won’t ever be a time for this. You’re pushing me away and trying to forget your feelings for me. I know that you love me. I know that you want to be with me,” he told me as he approached.

  He was so persistent!

  “King Eoghan, I insist that you follow protocol,” Jonah snapped.

  Eoghan paused and looked at him. “Protocol? I was courting her already. She’s already proclaimed her love for me. She’s breaking protocol.”

  “You love him?” Jonah asked.

  “It doesn’t matter what I feel because I can’t be with him,” I told Jonah. “You need trust to be together and I have none for him.”

  “If you give me a chance, I can gain your trust back,” Eoghan assured me.

  “And then what? Wait for you to break it again? Wait for someone to kidnap Padraic and have you hand me to them on a silver platter?” I growled and turned away from him. “Treyce!” I yelled.

  “Already here, my Queen,” he informed me and I turned to find him standing toe to toe with Eoghan. “I don’t wish to fight you again.”

  Eoghan turned and then to Jonah, Treyce, and my shock, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head until it touched the ground. “Please,” he begged and choked on the word. “Please let me earn your trust back. I can’t live without you and I cannot live with you only as a friend knowing that you are looking for someone to take your hand. I made terrible decisions and though it got my sister back, it has destroyed the one thing that brought me joy in this world…you. Please come home.”

  “The King of the Southern Realm is bowing to another?” Jonah asked in shock. “He does not bow to anyone.”

  I missed him more than I ever thought I could miss another human, but…

  “Please,” Padraic asked in a whisper as he joined us. “Please come back to us.”

  “Padraic,” I gasped. “I told you that you are welcome to see me whenever—”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s not the same without you at the castle. I miss our training sessions. I miss riding to town with you. Eoghan’s reverted to his old self and we can’t take it. We miss you. We need you.” He dropped to the ground next to Eoghan in a bow.

  “Stop,” I begged and fought unsuccessfully to keep from crying. “Get up.”

  “Not until you accept my apology and agree to come home with us,” Eoghan whispered.

  “How can she know this isn’t a ploy for you to take advantage of her position as Queen?” Jonah asked, but it seemed like he didn’t even really mean his question.

  I had not even considered that he could be doing this to increase his territory. It was very possible, since he was the closest and most capable of throwing me off base.

  “I don’t need this territory,” Eoghan replied. “I just need you, Alyssa.”

  “I don’t know,” I told him and stumbled back a few steps. “I just…need time.”

  He looked up and said, “We don’t have time.”

  What was he talking about? We had plenty of time.

  “You’re in danger,” he told me and stood. “Come with me to my realm where I can protect you.”

  “I don’t need your protection anymore,” I snapped despite a part of me wishing to be back in his protection and his arms.

  “Then let Padraic stay with you,” he begged.

  “I can’t leave you unprotected,” Padraic argued with him.

  “She needs you more than I do,” Eoghan argued back.

  “I have a Guard,” I reminded them as Treyce approached.

  “What threat is there?” Treyce asked Eoghan.

  “There’s rumor that a certain group seeks to take over,” Padraic answered vaguely.

  “It’s not a rumor,” Jonah said.

  I had forgotten that he was even here. I was a terrible, rude woman.

  “What?” Eoghan asked.

  “There will be a coup d'etat,” he said. “Though, I had assumed it wouldn’t be for quite some time.”

  Someone was going to try to overthrow me as Queen? I didn’t really want to be Queen anymore, but I didn’t want to be killed to vacate that post.

  “Please,” Eoghan begged me. “Please come back with me so that I know you’re safe.”

  He reached out towards me, trying to take my hand, but I stepped back, putting Treyce between us. “No.”

  He dropped his hand and clenched it into a fist at his side.

  “If the Queen wishes, I will be more than happy to stay as an additional guard for a few days,” Jonah offered.

  Eoghan’s lip lifted in a snarl and he opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him.

  “That would be wonderful,” I said.

  Padraic said something that I was certain was a curse word and Eoghan’s jaw clenched so tightly that I swore I heard a tooth crack.

  “Thank you for the warning, but I think it’s time that you returned to your realm, King Eoghan,” I said and dipped my head in acknowledgement to him before spinning on my heel and walking away.

  “Don’t do this,” he whispered from my side.

  “The Queen no longer wishes to see you. Be on your way,” Treyce growled at him and shoved Eoghan so hard that he flew back several feet. Padraic took a step forward and Jonah stepped between him and Treyce.

  “How convenient,” a deep voice said from above us.

  We all looked up to find a dozen vampires sitting in the trees around the garden. Treyce put himself in front of me with a hand on my forearm and Jonah stood behind me to keep someone from snatching me from behind. Eoghan and Padraic backed up towards us.

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded.

  “Aren’t we allowed to seek an audience with our Queen?” a vampire to the left asked.

  “I am not holding meetings at the moment,” I replied calmly. “You can come back tomorrow afternoon.”

  “We were going to split our forces in half, send half over to visit with King Eoghan and half to visit with you, but you’ve conveniently brought yourselves together in one place,” the vampire who first spoke said. “That means we don’t need to split up.”

  Out of the forest at least fifty more
vampires walked towards us with evil smirks on their faces.

  “We can’t defeat this many,” Padraic whispered to me. “Not on our own.”

  “The guards are on the opposite side of the castle right now as well,” Treyce whispered.

  “What is the purpose of your visit?” I asked the vampires and pushed to the front to stand beside Eoghan in front of the others. I would not cower behind the men. I could teleport myself and one other person to safety, but I would not leave the others to face the vampires. I would not let them sacrifice themselves for me.

  “Your title is a joke,” the vampire who appeared to be their leader said with a hiss. “You haven’t been here more than two months and you think you can lead us! You’re no better than a human.”

  “Perhaps we need a bit of humanity in these uncertain times,” Eoghan said.

  “You’ve always had a soft heart. So did your father, that’s why he allowed your family to be slaughtered. That’s why he didn’t even put up a fight when they came for them.”

  Eoghan growled and said, “Come down here and I’ll show you what your heart looks like when I rip it out of your chest.”

  “How about we show you what hers looks like instead?” he asked with a wide smile.

  I raised my hand and froze the vampire who had been attempting to sneak up on us from the left. I brought him closer, his eyes moving frantically while I held his body in place. “Do not test me,” I threatened.

  “Have you ever killed before?” the leader asked with a smug expression.

  Painful memories from my pre-teen years flickered in my mind, but I shoved them down. “I’ve killed before to protect myself and I have no problem doing so again,” I told them.

  Eoghan glanced over at me, but didn’t speak. I wasn’t certain if he’d seen my memories or if he just sensed my mood shift.

  I flung the vampire to his comrades and he rolled on the ground and then leapt to his feet and dusted himself off. “Leave now or we will take this as an attack against me,” I ordered them loudly.

  “Oh, it’s an attack on you and your little lynx there,” the leader said.

  I heaved a sigh and said, “So be it.” With a deep push I used my magic to freeze all of the vampires in place. “Kill them all,” I ordered Treyce.

  “As the Queen commands,” he said and shifted into a mixture of wolf and man and ran to the nearest vampires with his claws extended.