by Leia Stone
“Yes, of course. It’s the same here with the queen and her shifters. I’m sorry that your people are suffering, but I will fix this,” I declared boldly, catching a raised eyebrow from Violet.
The green deepened in Caspien’s eyes. “I believe you. The moment you were crowned, the sky lit up in my lands like it was mid-summer.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I offered a small smile. As he brushed past me to go back to where his familiar and my dominants were waiting, he paused, before moving closer and leaning into my hair. He inhaled deeply, and unsure of protocol, I simply watched him, wondering of course what the hell he was doing.
Our eyes met. “An interesting development,” he said, a strange expression on his face. “You’re going to be one surprise after another, Queen Arianna.” Without another word he turned and strode off.
Interesting? What did that mean? I smelled my hair to make sure I had remembered to shower today before hurrying after him, needing to ask him what he meant, but he was already gone.
I turned on Violet. “What does ‘interesting development’ mean?”
She shrugged. “No idea. He was cryptic the entire time. I’m starting to think that’s just the way the fae are. But, girl … he was hot.”
She fanned her face and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Good to see that none of this dire situation has you concerned. Your focus is exactly where it shouldn’t be … on the fact that he’s hot.”
Violet shrugged. “I kind of like that whole pointy ear thing.”
Yeah, I got that. I really did.
The enormity of his message, and my promises, hit me hard then. “Oh, Vi, what am I going to do?”
A wicked look crossed her face. “You’re going to go talk to your mecca expert and fix this whole thing, right?” She trilled this in a singsong voice. Damn me and my bold statements.
Why? Why had I said that? One thing was for sure, I did need to find Kade. Now more than ever he needed to know what was going on, because I was pretty sure I’d just promised something I couldn’t deliver.
Chapter Six
Kisses aren’t for forgetting…
The next morning I sent Finn to Kade’s with a message. I had barely slept knowing that I’d stupidly promised to try and save an entire world with powers I didn’t even know how to use. Normally when I sent Finn, he returned with the king, but this time he was alone, with a note in his collar.
Come to me, was all it said. Well … okay, then. I guess I couldn’t expect him to come at my beck and call every time I wanted.
He was very busy. Some drama with his people, Finn offered.
Sometimes I forgot that Kade had his own people to rule and care for.
After informing my inner guard and Calista that I would be traveling to Staten Island, and listening to them complain and say no, I eventually brushed them all aside and went with Violet, Finn, and Monica as my protectors.
When I was finally out of the royal house, away from a multitude of over-protective wolves, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was getting a little sick of reminding everyone that the bear king was an ally now, and that Violet and I were more powerful than him. If he didn’t bring one of his magic born along, of course. Semantics really. The bottom line was that I was not afraid of Kade. No matter what, he would never hurt me. I knew it in my gut, the place which had served me well for most of my life as heir, and so far as queen.
I chose not to tell the council I was going, against Calista’s wishes. What else was new? It felt like my advisor and I were agreeing on less and less lately. She’d been quiet around me ever since I returned from the party at the brownstone. I still hadn’t had time to interrogate her about her past with Baladar, but I was dying to know every detail. He’d called her the love of his life … that was deep. Did she feel the same way?
As I stepped onto the Manhattan vortex disc, about to merge with the mecca energy to travel, I heard a faint whisper. It was that familiar voice again.
Arianna … protect the…
The voice cut off as I stepped off the disc in a jump. My arms wrapped around my body as I fought the chills encasing me. Breathing rapidly and ragged, I turned to the girls: “Did you hear that?” I couldn’t stop my head from swiveling around as I tried to see more of the room; chills continued to creep up my arms.
Violet and Monica shook their heads. Both looked confused as they stared from me to the vortex disc and back again. I swallowed hard, trying to fight the urge to run. I’d traveled the mecca a thousand times before. Why was this happening now? What had the Red Queen done to the mecca?
The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t narrow it down to who it exactly was. All the vibrations of energy were warping the tone.
I heard nothing either, Ari. Finn sounded concerned, brushing his huge head against my side. At his touch, some of the creepiness eased and I was able to breathe deeply again.
There’s this voice in the mecca. It’s trying to tell me something. Both times they’ve used my name.
I felt his concern and worry for me. Weirdness is definitely afoot. Feels like this has something to do with the imbalance the prince mentioned. Still, there’s nothing you can do now but try and figure out how to send the energy back.
He was right, there was nothing I could do. Maybe the voice was trying to help me, or maybe it was an enemy that wanted to lure me to do their bidding. For now I would reserve judgment until I had more evidence.
“Are you okay, Your Highness?” Monica broke protocol to brush a hand across my arm, clearly sensing I needed the comfort.
Giving her a nod and forcing a smile across my face, I stepped back onto the disc. No one said anything more as I reached for the energy and we all traveled to Staten Island with ease. This time there was no weirdness. No voices. Almost like I had imagined the entire thing.
When we arrived, I was pleased to be greeted by Gerald, Kade’s war councilman.
“Your Highness!” He bowed deeply.
I smiled and clasped a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t need to bow to me anymore, Gerald. We’re friends now.”
He smiled hugely and nodded. “Queen Arianna, you caught King Kade on a bad day, but he’s going to be very happy to see you.”
Violet and Monica shared a look and I cleared my throat. My stomach was doing weird flips at the very happy to see me part.
“Well, I have official news, so…” I couldn’t really say more in public; this news needed to be given to Kade first, and he could decide what he wanted his people to know.
“Right.” Gerald began walking away and I followed him to the curb, where a black Range Rover sat waiting. There was a driver inside and four large royal bear guards on motorcycles waiting around it. Kade had sent his best to protect me and I didn’t even try and hide my smile.
“You’re blushing,” Violet whispered as I climbed into the seat.
She was right, I could feel the heat in my cheeks, and I tried my best to calm the torrent of emotion inside of me. I hadn’t seen Kade for a few days and … dammit, I missed him. Despite the fact he had my nerves shot and my stomach tied up in knots whenever we were around each other, the friendship we had built was comforting. He was someone I felt I could share the inner workings of my life with, the burden of being queen. Who else could understand better than another leader? It was not something I’d expected, but Kade had become as good a friend as many of the shifters I had known my entire life.
I sat forward in my seat now as the SUV roared to life, and then we were off, heading in the same direction as the last time I was here. From my peripherals I could tell that Violet was still watching me. I narrowed my eyes on her, telling her silently to leave it alone. Of course, when was the last time my best friend had listened to anything I told her, silent or not?
“I love that color on you, Ari,” she said, her voice fakely happy. “Nice shade of rose pink. Really brings out the aqua in your eyes.”
My eyes were probably narrowed to thin slits, and there was no way
Violet wasn’t getting my message to shut the heck up. Of course, as she dissolved into laughter, I just shook my head. Only a true best friend would find such humor in my misery. She reached over and grasped my hand, briefly, but the effort was noted. Her gentle ribbing was no doubt her attempt to lighten the air, add some humor back into my life. For once, it wasn’t working. My world felt like it was shrouded in darkness on every angle, which made it very difficult for the light to shine. Violet had the right idea though, I had to try to figure out how to ease some of the burden or I would be crushed by the sheer weight of my responsibilities.
Gerald straightened and turned to face us, drawing our attention. Monica sat forward, as if she were about to be called on for some task.
He started slowly: “So, we’re aware that the website formerly titled ‘Royal Secrets’ is now reappearing as ‘Karianna: the royal scandal.’ Kade has members of his staff tracking down those who are responsible. We will not let your good name be sullied, Queen Arianna.”
My blush was back in full force now. Sullied … if only. The couple name was kinda cute though. “Starting to think I might as well forget about protocol. One should at least be getting some action if they’re going to be referred to as ‘Her Highness, the royal traitor whore.’”
Lots of throats cleared and I had to internally chuckle as the occupants of the car tried to figure out what to say. Did they think I hadn’t bothered to check out the site? I wanted to know what my enemies were saying about me and Kade. I needed to know what I was fighting against.
I think everyone was relieved when we arrived at Kade’s Staten Island estate. Looking out my window, I eyed the path outside as we pulled up to the mansion. The beautiful brick exterior and romantic wraparound porch were even more lovely in the daytime. I had only ever been here at night.
When the vehicle stopped, Gerald opened my door and extended his hand, helping me out, Finn was right on my heels. I thanked him, then he led us all up to the porch, stopping to speak with a few guards.
The closest of the guards, a male who was probably a brick building in his spare time, said: “He’s just finishing up his meeting with the council. He wishes for Arianna to wait for him in the garden by her favorite tree. He said she would know what that meant.”
He looked toward me and I smiled. Kade was perceptive, always watching and noticing things. That old fae treeling that had been in his garden for hundreds of years was from the Otherworld. I’d had a conversation with it right before the dark fae assassin tried to kill me. The fact that I talked to a tree should probably give me a moment’s pause, but hey, I was starting to get used to all the crazy. Nothing had been the same since I became queen of the wolf shifters, in charge of the powerful magical mecca. I was pretty sure nothing could really shock me at this point.
Gerald nodded to the brick building guard, and he turned and opened the door, going back inside. From my position I could see the foyer and grand double staircase beyond it. When the door opened I could hear muffled commands. It was Kade and he sounded enraged.
“…no debate here! You’re my council and if I want your opinion, I will ask for it. Until then, keep your thoughts to yourself and follow your leader!”
Damn! He wasn’t shouting, but the strength and fierceness of his voice had even me taking a step back. Kade didn’t need to shout to make sure everyone was petrified of him.
If I ever spoke to my council like that, they would plot to have me de-throned. But I could handle some plotting, right? The way he spoke to them made me question my own actions. Why did I tolerate my council requesting that I tell them every little thing? Demanding to have long meetings about things I didn’t want to debate. I was the leader, not them. For too long the wolf queen has had half her authority undermined by eleven others, who were outdated and seemingly predisposed toward their own gains with every decision they made.
The funny thing was that in the normal wolf world no one really knew that. They thought the queen was the supreme power, not one who had to puppet herself to the control of others. I had sort of known it from my time as an heir, but only now was I truly starting to understand the full extent of it. Understand and resent it.
The door was closed by Gerald. Clearly he’d decided we’d heard enough of Kade’s reprimands. Stepping back off the porch, it took no time for us to be in the beauty of the lush garden. Even though I could no longer hear the king and his council, some of the unease must have still shown on my face, because Gerald turned kind eyes on me, looking far less fierce than was normal for Kade’s war advisor.
“The council thinks we should fight the fae separately, not join forces with you and your people.”
I nodded, not at all surprised. No matter how much control Kade had over them, it was difficult to undo hundreds of years of animosity and mistrust. “Mine think the same. Stupid if you ask me. A sure way to get us all killed.”
Gerald chuckled, giving me a nod. “I agree,” he said.
That admission had me relaxing. One only had to spend a small period of time with Gerald to know he had a military mind like no other. It was he who had orchestrated much of the battle that had saved Kade’s people when the fae first attacked us all, the night of the Red Queen’s murder. Kade had told me all about it, giving me a completely new insight into Gerald. I respected him a lot in regard to these things. If he thought our two shifter races working together was a good idea, it made me feel better about my decision to push this angle.
Gerald bowed to me when we reached the middle of the garden – close to the faeling tree. “I’ll leave you here. I have to attend to some other duties. The king will be by shortly.”
Violet and Monica spread out then, giving me privacy and also scouting the garden for another dangerous razor-wielding fae. My gaze was drawn to the spot where Derek had lost his life, and I had to swallow down a huge lump in my throat.
Finn brushed against my leg, distracting me, and I took hold of his fur, stroking him softly. Without thinking, I placed my hand on the tree to support my weight and suddenly I was filled with that tingling feeling of mecca and life.
Hello, young Queen, the treeling said to me.
Hello again…
You don’t smell your usual self. You smell of the Summer Court fae, the treeling said in its deep, multiple-trilling-voice.
My eyes widened. Well, yes, I met with one just last night. I sniffed my armpit. What was it with these fae and their sense of smell? Wait … how could a tree smell anything. Did it have a nose somewhere?
The treeling was silent for a moment and I wasn‘t sure what to say or if I should just pull my hand off.
Can I tell you a story of old? it finally asked, just as I was about to remove my hand.
Yes, of course. Story time with an old fae tree. Totally normal.
When I was first planted here, there were many shifters of both bear and wolf origin that lived here.
Okay… Like spread out in the mecca?
No, no, here in this house. The king was bear, the queen was wolf, and they had a mixture of each in their staff.
Chills trickled down my back. That’s not true! No way our kind used to mingle like that. The tree must be confused.
It is true. The wolves and bears were always meant to work and live together. Only greed and misinformation tore you apart.
I yanked my hand off. I couldn’t hear anymore. What he said was blasphemy. Treason. And … exciting. Was it possible that any of that story was the truth? Surely someone would have known if bears and wolves existed together. It would have been passed down through our storytellers, especially if at some point bear and wolf shifters did not only coexist, but actually ruled and bred together. If that happened, where were their offspring? How did they cover it all up? Was there anyone alive, besides the treeling, who knew about this?
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Kade said from behind me, startling me. I jumped, and so was already half in the air as I spun around to find him right behind me. My breath went very
shallow and all I could see in my head were the images the treeling had painted. Bears and wolves ruling together. It was like seeing Kade in an entirely new light.
Sure, he looked the same as always, strong, sexy, deadly, the epitome of a woodsman. His huge muscled body was coiled and lethal, just waiting to spring into action. Where had the usual warning gone, the one that generally flashed before my eyes when I was around him, slamming me with the reality of our situation – there could never be anything between us? Damn that tree. It had given me a brief glimpse of a life that I’d die for – bear-wolf children running and playing in this amazing garden, of Kade lifting babies up and spinning them around. My heart was literally bleeding as I stood there, stunned.
“Ari?” Kade stepped even closer to me, blocking out the sun. “Is everything okay? You seem distracted.”
I shook my head in a jerky motion, trying desperately to pull myself together. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. And even if that had happened in the past, we lived in the present, and there was no chance for Kade and me. For us.
“No, I’m fine. Thank you for asking. Just been a long day. You know what I mean.”
He ran his hand through his tousled hair, those amber eyes tearing me apart, but thankfully he didn’t push me. “I understand perfectly. Today was one of my more trying since taking the crown.” He leaned in closer to me then, with a mischievous glint in his eye. “So Gerald tells me you’re ready to have this affair, earn the title our people are bestowing on us.” His half-smile grew, the depth of his eye color deepening. Clearly he found this amusing, and I couldn’t hold in my own laughter.
“You wish,” I said playfully.
His face went dead serious in a millisecond. “Every day, Arianna.”
I was pretty sure I stopped breathing then. Heat sizzled down my body and settled into my core. “The fae prince of the Summer Court visited me!” I blurted out, desperate to change the subject.
Kade’s face turned lethal. “When? Why didn’t you call for me? Are you okay?” He scanned my body as if looking for injuries.
