by Amy Sumida
It was silly but it made me feel safe; that leathery wing curving over me like a shield and the warmth radiating off his body. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer until his breath brushed my face. His hand clenched on my stomach, the claws just barely digging in, and my belly fluttered with something a little like excitement and a little like something more.
But I couldn't deal with that in my exhausted state. So I just let go of the swirling emotions and fell back into slumber. When I woke again, it was to find myself pressed tight into Raza's chest. He was on his side, both wings folded to his back behind him, and both arms around me. My cheek was pressed to his bare chest. I had somehow burrowed into the V of his tunic and found the spot right over his heart.
It was warm and safe there, the scent of sugar and smoke lightly tickling my nose and Raza's strong heartbeat in my ear. I didn't want to pull away, I wanted to nuzzle closer and feel his hands roaming over more of me than my back. But then I felt his breath quicken and something rose between us that was about to make the situation awkward. So I tried to shift back.
Raza held firm.
“Any nightmares?” His velvet voice was even deeper, sleep-roughened, and it vibrated through my chest.
“No,” I whispered and made the mistake of angling my head back to look up at him. He immediately tried to swoop in for a kiss but I turned away and pushed out of his arms. “No.”
“Okay, Seren,” he chuckled. “Keep running. You'll only circle back to me in the end.”
“Do I look like I'm running?” I lifted a brow. “Saying no to you doesn't mean I'm retreating.”
“Then what does it mean?” He sat up and leaned towards me.
“It means; I don't want you to kiss me,” I said simply.
“Then No is a liar,” he grinned wickedly.
“Perhaps,” I sighed. “But it's not a runner.”
“As you like,” he chuckled and rubbed absently at the spot on his chest where my face had been.
“Did you reach your son and cousins?” I tried to distract us both.
“I did,” he smiled wider. “They're all on their way. Soon there will be more life within these halls than just the two of us.”
“I don't know,” I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the whistling wind. “It's so peaceful here. It's kind of nice having a castle all to ourselves.”
“If we were lovers maybe,” his voice was suddenly in my ear, the heat of his breath tickling me. “Are you sure I can't tempt you into using this bed for more than just sleep?”
I swallowed hard before answering, “No.”
“No, you're not sure or no, I can't tempt you?” He purred.
“Exactly,” I huffed and he burst into laughter.
“It's okay, Seren,” he kissed my cheek. “I've waited this long to regain my kingdom, I think I can wait awhile longer for its queen.”
I jerked back to face him, “Your what?”
“You didn't think my pursuit was purely sexual in nature, did you?” He lifted a brow. “I told you what the Goddess revealed to me and I've confessed the secrets of my own heart. You must know that I intend to marry you.”
“Whoa,” I slid away from him and got off the bed. “Marriage is a hell of a leap from no relationship at all.”
“We have a relationship, Seren,” he corrected me. “It's just not sexual yet.”
“And may never be,” I said gently. “Have you considered that I may never come around? What then, Raza? You'll be waiting for a queen who won't ever rule beside you.”
“No matter,” he shrugged. “Twilight has no queen and neither did Unseelie till very recently. If I don't have you, I will rule alone.”
“Son of a-” I gaped at him. “You don't seduce half-ass, do you?”
“I don't do anything half-ass,” he cocked his head at me. “You do realize what our marriage would mean to Fairy?”
“A union of Twilight and Unseelie,” I whispered. “It would tip the balance. We'd no longer be neutral.”
“And it might possibly inspire Seelie to offer Dylan to my cousin,” he mused.
“What?” I frowned.
“We could join all of Fairy,” he shrugged. “One of my surviving cousins is a woman, Seren. Hana's lover died years ago. I think she could be persuaded into such a union. Their children would be twilight fairies who wouldn't have to be sent to Twilight. Think of it.”
“You haven't even taken the throne yet and you're already planning marriages?” I huffed. “Shouldn't this wait till after you're successful?”
“Seren, if I don't succeed, I'll be dead,” he said simply. “I can't think that way, it will only weaken me. So instead, I plan for the future as if it's certain.”
“Alright, Raza,” I sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “Make your plans but don't count on me as your queen. Frankly, I don't see how I could be the Princess of Twilight and the Queen of Unseelie at the same time.”
“It would be a first,” he nodded. “But there's nothing to stop it from happening.”
“Nothing except my love for Tiernan,” I said. “And my position as Ambassador and Extinguisher.”
“You're already Princess, why would being Queen be any different?” He sidestepped the Tiernan thing altogether.
“Because I'd have a lot more responsibilities as a queen.”
“We'd share those responsibilities.”
“Enough, Raza,” I growled and started to head out of the room. “I don't want to talk about this anymore.”
“Yes, my love,” he chuckled and strode after me.
“And please stop calling me that.”
“No.”
I stopped and turned to glare at him.
“It's the truth and it's finally been spoken between us,” he shrugged. “I'm not taking it back or hiding from it. The least you can do is allow me to face it.”
“Ugh,” I groaned and turned away again. “Do you think we could find something to eat? I'm starving.”
“Yes, my love, I will fill your empty belly.”
“Oh sweet Goddess!” I threw my hands up into the air. “You just made that sound naughty on purpose, didn't you?”
He laughed and sauntered by me.
“Come along, Seren, I'll show you the kitchens. You can wait there while I hunt.”
“Oh, okay.”
Craos-Teine's kitchens were as beautiful as the rest of it. Slate counters stretched down both sides and red tile covered the floor. To the left was a fireplace big enough to roast a bull in and to the right was a door which looked like it led to a pantry. Then, directly across from the door we came in through, there was a sturdy wood table nestled into the curve of a bay window. Raza went to the window and opened two of the panes. He gestured me forward.
I leaned out the window beside him to see that we were on the left side of the castle and a kitchen garden was growing on a wide strip of land right beneath us.
“If you could look through the garden and find some accompaniments for the meat, I think we can create a fine repast.”
“Sure.”
He smiled and led the way out of a door beside the window. It opened onto a stone staircase which led down into the garden. I followed him down to a pebbled path which bisected the garden. On one side were neat rows of vegetables. On the other were fruit trees with herbs and berry bushes growing around their roots. Behind us, the path led into a darker area where the sun could barely reach. There the garden changed into the midnight variety, very similar to the one found in Castle Unseelie.
Night blooming flowers sprouted among ferns and silvery plants. The pebbled path was spotted with moss and at the end of it was a well. A traditional, stacked stone, honest-to-goddess well just waiting for Snow White to come sing her wishes to it. There had to be an underground river running through the mountain.
I'd probably need to get some water later but for the moment, I set to work searching through the plethora of vegetables, fruit, and herbs. I wasn't as familiar with fey plants as I w
as with those from Earth but they were similar enough that I was confident in my ability to chose wisely.
“This shouldn't take too long,” Raza said as he strode down the garden path and out towards the courtyard ledge.
“Yeah, yeah, have fun hunting. I know you will,” I muttered as a roar announced Raza's transformation. “The mighty dragon off to slay supper. He just better not be expecting me to cook it.”
I bent over a bush very similar to rosemary and started breaking some branches off. As I did, something floated upwards out of the center of the spiky plant, right into my face. I fell back on my butt in surprise and stared at the fluffy, glowing thing bobbing up and down before me.
“A kuperi,” I whispered and sat forward. “Hey there. You know, I freed some of your cousins recently from a cage in Unseelie Castle. I'm Seren Firethorn, Liberator of Kuperis.”
As most fey creatures did, this one seemed to understand me and it bobbed happily forward. I reached out a finger tip and stroked its glowing belly. It squeaked and then made a soft purring sound.
“ET phone home,” I said in my best ET impersonation. The kuperi looked solemnly at me with its huge green eyes. “Yeah, I know you don't understand but trust me, it's funny. You wanna help me rustle up some grub?” The kuperi floated after me as I headed over to the vegetables. “I'll take that as a yes.”
And then his friends joined us.
By the time Raza returned, I had a herd of kuperi keeping me company in the kitchen. There was a bowl of berries sitting in the center of the kuperi pow wow on the kitchen table. I'd snag one for myself every now and then but the little fluff balls were so cute when they ate, that I ended up letting them have most of the bowl. I'd already sliced the vegetables and filled a pitcher with water from the well. The bowl of veggies and water pitcher were set out on the counter behind me beside a chopping board covered in herbs.
I'd even found a fair amount of dry goods in the pantry, which seemed to have been preserved along with the rest of the castle. I'd made us some quick flatbread to go with dinner and it looked edible enough I supposed. The kuperi seemed to agree, I'd had to put it behind me on the counter with the other dinner fixings so they'd stop eating it.
“I've got din-” Raza stopped and stared at the gaggle of kuperi, who were all staring back at him in wide-eyed terror.
“He's not going to hurt you,” I assured them. “This is your returned king. He's here to bring the fairies back to Craos-Teine.”
The kuperi squeaked happily. Squeak, squeak, squeakedy-squeak. Which was evidently kuperi for yay!
“Your Majesty, may I present your court?” I bowed and waved a hand out to the kuperi.
The little golden glow fluffs all bobbed down to the table and reverently bowed their heads to their new king. It was so ridiculous and yet so innocently beautiful. Raza dropped the carcass he'd been carrying and strode to the table. He looked from me to the floating kuperi and then, careful to hold his claw aloft, gently touched a fingertip to each little kuperi head.
“I accept your fealty and grant you my protection in return,” Raza said solemnly. “You will be welcome at my hearth and my table.”
Silence fell over the kitchen.
“So that joke bombed,” I teased Raza.
The kuperi went back to their happy squeaking and berry eating.
“Every creature is important,” Raza said softly. “They all contribute to the kingdom. Be it by sustaining us,” he waved a hand towards his kill, “or by granting us light,” he nodded to the kuperi. “Danu made them all for a reason and I would be a fool to discount any of them.”
“Sweet baby cakes,” I whispered in awe. “You're going to make a fine king, Raza.”
“That was my intention,” he smirked at me.
“And the moment's gone,” I grimaced.
Raza, the kuperi, and I cooked our supper together and shared the first feast Craos-Teine had seen in centuries. Then Raza and I headed to his bedroom, leaving the kuperis to bob around the castle to their hearts content. Raza showed me where the bathroom was so I could shower and when I came out, I found a cerulean silk dress was waiting for me on a chair beside the tub. It was simple but well made and it felt wonderful against my skin. But the bust was a bit tight.
I went out into the bedroom tugging self-consciously at the material, trying in vain to cover my bulging cleavage. I stopped short when I saw Raza. He had lit a fire, pulled the velvet bedspread off the bed, and laid it in front of the fireplace. He was sitting on the midnight velvet, one knee up with an elbow across it, staring contemplatively into the flames. His wings were down and folded behind him, the tips crossing over each other, and it made him look more like an injured bird than a powerful dragon.
“Another fire to share,” I noted as I sat beside him.
“We both have an affinity for it,” he smiled and his eyes strayed to my cleavage. “Oh, yes. I was wondering if that might be a tight fit.”
“Whose dress is this?”
“It was my mother's,” he shrugged and looked self-consciously back into the flames. “I thought you might like to change out of that clinging material.”
“I did, thank you.”
“You're welcome,” he glanced at me and his eyes strayed down again. “Though now I wonder which was more distracting; the skin-tight material or this dipping bodice.”
“I can get a blanket to cover myself with,” I offered and started to stand but his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
“Don't you dare,” he grinned. “Allow me a little pleasure.”
“Tell me about your cousins,” I said in an effort to get us off the dangerous topic of his pleasure.
“I don't know much about them,” he shrugged. “We grew up together but Hana and Kader were older than I and left Fairy a few years before I did. So I really only knew them until I was fourteen.”
“They're not full dragon-djinns?”
“No, my grandfather's generation was the last of the pure dragon-djinns,” he said sadly. “Hana's mother was half red cap and half dragon-djinn. Her father was an unseelie sidhe. Kaden's father was half leanan-sidhe and half dragon-djinn, while his mother was full leanan. So he leans towards the leanan-sidhe in looks.”
“That's interesting,” I offered. “Both his father and your grandfather liked the dark muses.”
“It's in their very nature to be alluring,” Raza chuckled.
“Well, I suppose their survival kind of depends on it,” I shrugged.
Leanan-sidhe were a type of psychic-vampire. They were ravishingly beautiful but in a predatory way. They used their looks to lure in lovers, whom they'd inspire to great feats of artistic creativity while simultaneously siphoning away their lover's life energy. The brutal combination of obsession, inspiration, and exhaustion would lead to insanity and then death.
“So wait, your grandfather; the king, had children with a leanan-sidhe and a red cap? I didn't even know there were red cap women.”
“How do you think more red caps are made?” He laughed.
“I guess I've never contemplated it,” I blinked. “I don't think I've ever seen a female red cap.”
“You probably have,” Raza said. “They just look a lot like the males.”
“And your grandfather slept with one of them?”
“He was very open-minded in his sexuality,” Raza shrugged. “He never had a queen, just lots of mistresses. And I believe he enjoyed the red cap because she could handle coupling with a dragon.”
“She...” I gaped at him. “They would...”
“Yep, while he was in dragon form,” he smirked. “Those red caps are sturdy fairies.”
“No kidding,” I huffed. “So your grandfather had three children but you're the grandchild with the claim to the throne. I assume your father was his heir?”
“Yes, my father was the first-born, so right of succession goes to me.”
“Do your cousins have the dragon features too?” I waved a hand towards his brow ridge and pr
ominent cheekbones.
“No. I only look this way because the rest of my blood is sidhe and the dragon-djinn is more dominant than sidhe, even when it's in the minority,” his wings came forward around us. “I'm the only one with wings too. At least in this form. Hana and Kader may not have received the dragon-djinn features but they did get the shapeshifting ability and when they're in dragon form, they can fly.”
“Hmmm,” I considered it. “I suppose the dragon-djinn genes would be dominant when blending with sidhe. The only real distinguishing features among the sidhe are their slim builds and breathtaking beauty.”
“It's only breathtaking if you're not used to it,” he tapped the tip of my nose with an ebony claw.
“So you don't share your father's appreciation for sidhe women?” I nodded up to the portrait of his parents. His mother had been exceptionally beautiful, even among the unseelie sidhe.
“Mother was a rare gem,” he shook his head. “But I've found my own priceless jewel.”
“Raza!”
We both flinched.
“That would be Hana,” he smiled and stood. “Come, Seren, let's meet my cousin.”
He helped me to my feet and we went downstairs to find an Amazon waiting for us. She was as tall as Raza and thickly muscled, like a female wrestler. Her hair was buttercup yellow and neatly pulled back in a braid. It went well with the deep tan she was sporting. Her cedar colored eyes widened when she saw us and she strode forward to meet us halfway across the floor.
“Cousin!” She opened her arms and Raza went readily into them. “Sweet Goddess, it's good to be home.”
“I'm so happy to have you here, Hana,” Raza said when he pulled back. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wouldn't miss a chance to regain the unseelie throne for our family,” she declared. “It's about time you took it back, Raza. I'm so proud to be a part of this.”
“And I'll bet you're excited to shift again too.”
“Are you kidding?” She laughed. “I've already shifted. Did you think I'd walked up that road?”
“Invigorating isn't it?”
“I didn't realize how much I missed being a dragon until I was flying,” she sighed.
