She’s a wood elf who makes trees bear fruit constantly; he’s a partridge shifter who can’t shift completely. He can’t go all the way, and she’s got wood.
Zekila was sent to the Crossroads in an attempt to dilute her powers. There was a problem, and her affinity for fruit trees took over, wrapped around her, and transformed her into what she loved.
She watched the years pass through her leaves and branches, and when a young shifter with partridge wings starts to hang out in her vicinity, she finds out that after all the years of watching the shifters come and go, she can still find a man attractive and want to be with him.
He visits her for a few weeks until the longest night of the year. He dresses her tree up and wishes her the best of the season, and in the darkness, she emerges from the trunk of the tree that had held her safe.
New day, new year, time to start again.
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Pairing the Partridge
Copyright © 2020 Zenina Masters
ISBN: 978-1-4874-3129-7
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Pairing the Partridge
Enchanted Crossroads 6
By
Zenina Masters
Chapter One
Zekila braided her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. Behind her, her mother smiled. “You look lovely.”
“I look green and brown. I can’t pass for human; I can’t pass for royal court fey. This is stupid. I am not going to fit in. You know it, I know it, Dad knows it.” Her shoulders slumped.
Her mother embraced her. “I am low court. I accept that, but you, you aren’t a brownie. You have so much more power, energy, light, and life than I do.”
“Mom, I love you, but I hate being paraded around like this.”
Kerdia looked at her daughter. “I know. But you are eighty-three, and you have your life in the human world, but there is more to life than business.”
Zekila crossed her arms. “It is just an investment company. I help humans plan for retirement. They need help.”
“And they don’t see you either. You just remain behind the scenes and keep things moving.” Her mother looked her in the eye. “Daughter of mine, I want you to be seen.”
Zekila blinked back tears. “I don’t know if I want that, Mom. Being seen rarely works out for me.”
“Give the court one more try, dearest. Your father has arranged a presentation to the king. You sort of need to be there for it.” She stroked Zekila’s cheek. “Now go.”
Zee turned toward the mirror, and she stroked the frame. Her reflection rippled and turned liquid as she whispered, “I have an invitation.”
The mirror opened, and a bright and flowered forest path appeared in front of her. With a straightening of her shoulders, she stepped through.
Zee walked the path from her gateway toward the palace. Her energy surged gently from the ground to the forest around them. The fruit started up in trees that did not usually bear fruit.
The havoc that she wreaked in the natural world was painful. She caused everything to bear fruit quickly, which didn’t necessarily translate to fertility. She was just good with trees.
She walked into the entrance to the royal grounds and ignored the guards cringing and moving away.
Zee sighed and ignored them. She had had one slip up with her power when she was eighteen, and now, none of the fey would come near her. Over sixty years since then, and she was still someone who wasn’t allowed near other fey.
She walked through the garden entrance, and the announcement was made, “Announcing Madame Zekila, goddess of fruit trees and fertility. Daughter of Achron the bold.”
She paused and gave him a look. He swallowed when she flexed her hand, “And Kerdia, princess of the brownies.”
She smiled pleasantly and walked through the parting crowd toward the king, curtsying deeply. “My king.”
“Goddess. You are looking well, Zekila. Achron, where have you been keeping your daughter?”
Her father emerged from the crowd and smiled. “You look lovely, Zee.”
“Thanks, Dad. You are looking very dapper.” She chuckled. Her father always looked precise, and his gaze was direct. When he had met her mother, he had pursued her with focus until the princess had given in. King Larion had quietly married them ninety years ago. There was no doubt, her parents were made for each other.
The king raised his brows. “Well, Achron?”
“My daughter does as she wills. She has a number of businesses in the human world, and she does very well there.”
“We have missed you at court over these last decades.” Larion was smiling behind his hand. “Your last visit was amusing for years.”
She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Your court did not think so.”
“Their opinion is not necessary. Displaying your particular brand of magic was demanded of you, and you did.” He grinned. “There is no fault with you that the arousal you generated reached its conclusion.”
She covered her eyes with one hand as he chortled. “I apologize once again for the result of that day.”
Larion shrugged. “So, no babies were conceived that year. It was not the end of our species. Things recovered by the following year, and the courtiers learned not to touch you. It was a learning event.”
She nodded. “Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty.”
“It is nothing. Now, it is time for you to look toward finding a mate. We can’t let your power simply fade away with time.”
Zee nodded. “I am not in any danger of that.”
“Nonetheless. Either choose any of the single men available here today, or you will be going to the Crossroads.”
Her father squeezed her hand. “Your Majesty, is that absolutely necessary? She is not really inclined to finding herself a mate.”
“The Crossroads will help with that. Besides, bleeding some of her power off into another species might help things a little.” Larion smiled. “It isn’t a punishment, Zekila; it is an opportunity. You have made no move to take a lover and do not associate with any fey you are not related to. That is a lonely life, Zekila. It is not healthy.”
She nodded. “I understand, Your Majesty. How long must I remain at the Crossroads?”
He smiled. “You will remain there until you find a mate. It is up to you.”
She stared at him. “What?”
“You are going to the Crossroads, and you are going to seek out a mate. How long it takes is up to you.”
Zee paused. “I have to stay there until I find someone?”
The king nodded. “You do.”
She blinked back tears and inhaled. “When do I have to go?”
Larion smiled slightly and flicked his fingers. “Now.”
Zee’s eyes widened as power wrapped around her. She was pulled away from her father in full sight of every member of the royal court.
She staggered on her feet, and a concerned woman came toward her, holding her arm and steadying her.
“You don’t look so good.”
Zee took a few steps forward and collapsed to her knees. She was gasping for air, and her body was frantically seeking anchor points. There was a roaring in her ears, and a man helped the woman get her to her feet, and they dragged her through the town and to the edge of the woods. Zee felt her body locking up. She looked at the two shocked guardians, and she whispered, “I am sorry about this,” before her body froze in her default shape—a pear tree.
Time went by, and she watched couples mix and mingle; some even ate fruit from her tree, and that had violently frisky effects. She sat and remained a tree, hoping that her family and friends were well. There were no seasons at the Crossroads.
Teal and Tony came to her, picnicked, and kept her company every few weeks. They picked the fruit and kept her branches from getting heavy.
Life as a tree continued, and she enjoyed watching hundreds of couples find love. She had no idea why her magic had rooted her to the Crossroads, but she had to watch and wait. She wasn’t getting out under her own power.
Things continued normally until that one day, until him.
Chapter Two
Zee was listening to the light breezes when a flapping got her attention. She would have looked up, but that wasn’t an option. It sounded like a huge bird was landing.
First, she saw feet, then knees, thighs, hips, waist, wings, and then his chest and head. An angel? She chuckled inside the wooden column.
He walked up to her, reached up to her branches, and got a pear. “Thank you.”
She was surprised. Aside from Teal and Tony, no one spoke to her. Everyone just assumed she was a tree.
He sat back against her tree trunk and made himself comfortable.
Zee was flustered. He rested the centre of his back against her trunk, and his wings retracted while he munched the pear.
He sat with her for an hour, sighed, and his wings came out, and he flew off again.
Zee watched him, and her bark was warm where he had been leaning. She sighed and tried to think of what she would have said if he had spoken to her.
She tried to flex or shift herself a little, but she only drooped one of her branches. She silently sighed.
He was back. He took a pear, sat back against her, and he let his wings retract. She watched him as he sat and simply enjoyed the view of the shifter’s meadow.
“So, two weeks down and no prospects. The fey like to play, the mages are nervous, and the shifters look at me like I am broken.”
She focused on him as he spoke to her.
“It looks like I am going to be here for a while. So, how is it being a tree? Is it good? Are there perks?”
She was confused. Did he expect her to answer? She focused and whispered through her leaves, “No.”
He stiffened and turned to look at her. He didn’t say anything, just got up and left. He was a few feet away before he took flight and headed back for the Crossroads.
She sighed. Her bark was still warm.
Well, she had managed to scare him away. How the hell had he heard her anyway?
* * * *
Axl landed outside the Meditation Centre. He looked around for Tony, and when he found him, he asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Tony smiled with a curious expression. “Sure, what’s up?”
Axl rubbed the back of his neck and pulled in his wings. “Um, this is kind of weird, but do the trees here talk?”
Tony paused. “Not as a rule.”
Axl blinked. “Right. Of course not. It’s just, I was talking to the meadow and asked a tree if it was good. It said, no.”
Tony cocked his head. “No?”
“That is what it said. It said no, very clearly.”
“How?”
“Oh, the uh, the leaves shaped the sound or something.”
Teal wandered toward them, obviously having overheard them. “Was it a fruit tree?”
Axl frowned. “Um, it was. I had a pear. Should I not have done that?”
Tony focused. “You haven’t had any ill effects?”
“Are they poisonous?” He wasn’t that worried. The first one hadn’t done any harm.
Teal smiled. “If you don’t feel effects, then something has run its course.”
Tony blinked. “Is that what was happening?”
Teal shrugged. “It must have been. We will keep an eye on that tree for you, Axl.”
He blinked. “Is there something special about it?”
Teal shook her head. “No, not yet.”
The phrasing was strange. He asked slowly, “But it will be?”
“Maybe. The tree has been like that for over a decade. This has been the first sign of awareness since the tree arrived.” Teal smiled. “It’s a positive sign.”
Axl frowned. “A sign of what?”
Tony shrugged. “We honestly have no idea.”
With that resounding declaration, Axl returned to the bar for another drink. He needed one.
* * * *
The next day was the same as the one before it for Zee. She looked out at the meadow and watched the shifters play and screw and laugh. The wind ruffled her branches, and she waited.
The man returned, and this time, he bowed slightly before he turned and leaned against his trunk. “So, they told me that if you spoke once, you might speak again. Since I am here and killing time until my family allows me back, I thought it would be nice if we could have a picnic. I brought a basket and a bottle of water and some mulch.”
She would have smiled, but she couldn’t, so she swayed her branches and let some pears drop.
He reached out and took one of the fallen pears, adding it to his picnic. “Thank you.”
She waved her branches in response, but she tried to whisper, “You are welcome.”
He paused, nodded, and ate his meal. When he was done, he loosened some soil around her roots and put the mulch down with the water making a tea that seeped onto her roots. It felt like someone tickling her feet.
Zee smiled inwardly; it had been years since she had feet.
He leaned back against her, and she realized that he had fallen asleep.
She sighed and wanted to smooth the thick locks of tawny hair away from his face, but she couldn’t reach him. She sighed again and enjoyed the warmth against her trunk.
When he got up and stretched, he patted her again, and she wanted to feel the warmth of that hand, but she was stuck as a tree.
He smiled. “I will keep visiting you, now that I know someone is in there. Male or female, everyone deserves to be with someone on Christmas. So, tomorrow, I am going to wrap some garlands in your branches.”
She chuckled and whispered, “Thanks.”
He patted her trunk. “I don’t know what you are, but no one should be alone at Christmas or Yule or whatever you like.”
She would have smiled, but her expression was wooden.
He left but returned to her several times during the day, and each time, he brought a box of supplies with something festive or shiny in it.
The man with the wings chuckled, and he looked up at her leaves. “I couldn’t wait. This was always my most favourite time of the holidays.”
She watched him as he carefully covered her crown with ribbons and sparkles as well as small glass icicles. When he settled back, he smiled. “You are stunning.”
She wished she could look, but she could see the glow and sparkling ribbon in his eyes. She shivered her branches, and he grinned, stacking the boxes t
ogether before flying off with them after a, “See you tomorrow.”
Zee watched him fly away, and she sighed. She wished she could properly see what he had done to her tree. It felt gaudy but fun.
The wood around her flexed. Zee paused. Until this week, she had been the tree, now it was moving without her. That wasn’t right.
The tree flexed again, and with every flex, she could feel her limbs once again. Fingers, toes, they replaced the feeling of her roots and branches.
The flexing got stronger, and the tree detached her from being able to see through it. Blind and in the dark, she was expelled into the night.
Zee panted as the air hit her lungs for the first time in years. She touched her ears, still pointy, her body was the same, but she was weak. Her skin had been wet, but it was drying rapidly. She heard a low sound and looked around. Teal was kneeling near her with a cloak held out. “Welcome back, Zekila.”
Zee smiled weakly. “Sorry to have overstayed my welcome.”
Teal wrapped her up and held her. “It was literally no trouble at all, Zekila.”
She sighed and leaned against the guardian. “I am guessing that my reservation is no longer in place.”
“That’s okay. The Axion is up and running now. You can rest in a fey-run bed and breakfast.”
Zee pushed herself to her feet, and she looked at the tree. It was still standing there, and the bark was sealing up. The tree was sparkling in the starlight. “She looks pretty.”
Teal put an arm around her shoulders and walked her across the meadow. Light began to stream toward them, and Zee muttered, “Looks like there have been some renovations.”
Teal snorted. “Boy, keep you in a tree for a decade and a half, and you get all chatty.”
“Has it been that long?”
“It has. I am guessing that the seasons here are a bit weird for you.”
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