by 1
“Another attack on my bride will not be tolerated. I am sending a message and will have all the family heads in the council hall this afternoon.”
She dropped the ward and the assassin fell to his knees.
Tuartha lifted him to his feet and he slammed his fist into the other leprechaun’s face so hard that he flew back to strike the wall.
The baby wailed at the noise, so Asha let him have some more of her hair to play with. The colour seemed to fascinate him and he quieted.
When his parents got up the nerve to follow the furious High Lord, the mother’s eyes widened and it was then that Asha remembered to drop their ward. “Here you go. He didn’t see a thing.”
The mother smiled and pried the baby’s chubby hands from Asha’s hair. “You took excellent care of him. Normally, he fusses all the time.”
“The hair seems to be an excellent toy. I will have to remember that if I have any of my own.” Her left hand patted the baby’s back absently and the mother stared at the ring on her finger.
“I believe that children will be here for you sooner rather than later. Be well.”
As the family left the room, the assassin slowly regained consciousness. Tuartha must have sent out some kind of signal, because a flood of forest guards came into the room in a rush.
“This man drew a dagger and attempted to strike my bride.”
The attacker scowled. “You can’t prove it. It is my word against hers.”
Tuartha pointed to the mirror on the desk. “Everything done in this room is recorded. I was watching when the dagger shot forward and was stuck in the warding.”
The assassin’s eyes widened and he went silent.
Tuartha turned to the guards and murmured to them. The men snapped salutes and hauled the assassin away.
The High Lord turned to her and came around the desk to grip her in his arms. “These attacks have to stop.”
She laughed. “Tell me about it. If I wasn’t what I was, I would be dead by now.”
His expression turned grim. “I am aware of it. Come along. We will spend the rest of the morning with my father. He will enjoy the company.”
Asha didn’t have time to speak. He transported them outside the ex-High Lord’s home in an instant. Flowers were blooming on the exterior and the sight made her blink. “Your father has taken up horticulture?”
“Our houses bloom when we are in love. The wood that runs through our homes creates a fertile base for any and all signs of our marital situation.”
She smiled as she remembered the glowing blossoms of the night before. “You are pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”
He laughed and opened the gate for her, allowing her access to the charming home of Lugh.
There was no need to knock on the door. Lugh came toward them from around the back of the house. “Tuartha! What are you doing here at this time of day?”
“Father, may I present to you—”
“Your bride. The gossip is everywhere.” He laughed and extended his hand. “I am pleased to greet you, daughter.”
She swallowed at the lump in her throat. She and Lugh had spent hours of their time playing chess and talking about the political climate of Realm. He didn’t know her anymore. Her time with him had disappeared when she returned to her own body.
She extended her left hand and his eyes widened in shock at her ring. It had spread to the fingers next to it with slim bands of diamond-encrusted gold. “I am pleased to meet you, Lugh.”
He gave her a careful hug, a hitch in his voice as he said, “It is an honour to see the woman who completes my son.”
She smiled brightly as he released her. “I am honoured as well to see the man who has served his people so well in the centuries past.”
He blushed at her compliment. “Please, come inside.”
She hedged. “I would rather see your amaryllis if you are amenable. Possibly your amaranths as well?”
He looked surprised and raised his brows to Tuartha. “You told her?”
Her husband laughed. “I didn’t need to. She is the same woman that I met all those years ago, but only she and I knew the truth. She knows you father. You two spent time together, playing chess and chatting into the wee hours.”
Lugh looked dazed. “I thought that you were—”
“Insane, dreaming? I may have been, but she stands here before you, physical and perfect. Our bond is true. Now, Father, show her the flowers.”
She laughed and Lugh took her hand to lead her to the greenhouse.
Their morning passed swiftly and it brought back memories of her first days with the leprechauns. Back then, in the High Lord’s home, the greenhouse had taken the form of a solarium. He had had orchids and every variety of bloom that he could safely grow indoors. Flowers were his secret passion and he had shared it with Asha.
When she had rifled through the hybrids and snuck a trail of pollen onto Tuartha’s cheek, they went inside and had a light lunch. They had worked out a plan of attack against her attackers and while it went against leprechaun tradition, it fit right in with those of the Warders.
Chapter Nine
The council hall was full. Every seat was occupied and the nobles of the leprechauns were making sure that their houses were represented.
The High Lord and his bride walked into the hall and silence dropped the moment that they appeared.
They walked hand in hand to the council table and in a move that sent a ripple of shock through them, he set her down in his chair, the seat of the High Lord. He stood at her side, one hand on her shoulder.
“I have called this assembly together to announce my choice of bride. Asha Warder is my soul mate and despite attempts on her life, she has remained at my side.”
The wave of disbelief and confusion ran through those in the seats.
“Twelve years ago, I met a Warder and she offered protection for our people without asking for anything in exchange.”
In the gallery, a man stood. “Are you telling us that she is the same Warder?”
Asha kept quiet, this was Tuartha’s show and she would take her cues from him.
Tuartha nodded. “She was young and she made a wish. She came to me and we began a courtship as soon as it was suitable. The day that I gave her my ring, she returned to her past but took my heart with her.
“She was the woman who crafted the sun shield, to protect me in the only way she knew how. Should any member of this assembly or any of the leprechauns take action against her or hire someone to do so, the shielding will come down and the children who have grown up in safety will learn to retreat to the shadows.”
Another male stood and scowled. “You are our High Lord. You must put our needs above your own.”
Asha could see enough petulant faces that she knew she had to act. With the most delicate of touches, she pulled power from the wards. Not enough to hurt them but enough to make the light coming through the skylight uncomfortable.
“You are right, it is my duty to put your needs above my own and you need those wards to keep your lifestyle in the manner that you have grown used to. If she dies, the wards go with her. It isn’t a threat but rather a fact.
“To be able to keep my mind clear and objective, I need to have security in my personal life. Marriage to Asha has given me that and we have balanced our power. She is loyal to me and I am loyal to you, so you need to be loyal to her.”
The heat of the sun was coming through the skylight. The folk were fidgeting as they felt the burn for the first time in more than a decade.
When they started to mill in an effort to escape the light, she quickly snapped the ward back into place. The heat and discomfort passed as quickly as it had begun.
Asha spoke from the seated position. “The wards are dependent on my survival. Being attacked on a street by three citizens in the dark of night was not very sportsmanlike, neither was being on the pointy end of a dagger while I was babysitting a child for parents who were talking to your High Lor
d. With my arms around the baby, only my innate talent was able to stop the attack.”
That last comment got an angry response from the crowd and Tuartha squeezed her shoulder. They were finally on her side and it had simply taken one of their own to be threatened.
She smiled. “In my own defence, Warders are useful folk. We can block more than just the effects of sunlight. We can protect walkways, gardens and homes. For anyone thinking of coming at me, know that the mix of Warder and leprechaun magic has been a little unpredictable but highly effective. Your High Lord and I have fully bonded and while he can use my magic, I can also use his. Keep that in mind and together we will be able to see a very bright future.”
She kept her seat, lifting her hand to Tuartha’s, their fingers linking tightly.
The four would-be assassins were escorted in by the forest guard. It was smart of Tuartha to use forest guards. They were far more serious about safety than the city guards.
Tuartha addressed them, “You are each charged with an attack on a Warder, an unarmed woman and my wife. How do you plead?”
The lady was standing between two men who seemed to be identical bookends. She lifted her chin. “We are not guilty. We had no reason to believe that she was married.”
Tuartha lifted a hand and two more forest guards stepped forward. The care woman from the previous night who had told her to leave was between them. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
The woman looked at Asha with fear in her leaf green eyes. “Lady Nritha came to me and asked me to tell her everything I could learn about your wife.”
Tuartha scowled. “Did she use the term wife?”
“Yes, High Lord. She did. She was most specific. She even wanted details on the ring.”
There was a gasp from the gallery and those assembled. Attacking a Warder was one thing, but the wife of a High Lord being targeted was beyond what was acceptable.
The lady in question was standing with a sneer on her lips, but her brothers were a little more uneasy.
“What else did she tell you?” Tuartha’s voice was not unkind.
“I was to wait until you took the goblins to the guest house and then signal her before I approached your lady to tell her that she had to leave. I don’t know what happened next, but when your guards arrived this morning, I knew that Nritha had not been as successful as she had hoped.”
Tuartha bent, lifted Asha from her spot in his chair and sat down with her on his lap. Several of the males in the audience laughed, but they sobered as Tuartha called power.
His voice took on a timbre that went far beyond his normal baritone. “Lady Nritha, Lords Arcor and Neral, I sentence you to banishment beyond the wards. You will live your lives outside the protection that my soul mate has offered.” He waved his hand and they were escorted away with the forest guard binding them with magic.
The third man was held tightly by two of the guards.
“Eiran. You drew a blade and attacked my wife while she was holding a child. That is one of the vilest acts ever perpetrated in our city.”
“That goblin bitch has no business in our city.” He was considerably less dignified than the previous group.
“Guards, step away. Eiran has chosen his fate. Life in the human world.” Tuartha gathered his power and speared Eiran with it, draining him of his power and shrinking him down to the size of a mythical leprechaun before flicking him through a portal.
The care attendant was the last one standing.
Tuartha looked to Asha. “For the care giver, she took no direct action, but if you wish to give her an admonition, you are welcome to.”
Asha realized that this was the point at which she would become the High Lady in the eyes of his people. Their people.
She stood and went to the care giver’s side. “You are put in a position where folk have no choice but to trust you.”
The woman swallowed, her eyes welling with tears. “I am sorry.”
“I believe that you are, but are you sorry for your part in it or that it was not successful? That is the question that burns in me.”
Asha had never executed the spell she was about to engage, but she trusted that it would work if she didn’t use too much power.
“I don’t believe in torturing folks for bad judgement, they do that enough on their own. I will give you a set of moral training wheels that will assist your judgements in the future.”
Asha gathered power in her hands and the care giver stepped back only to be stopped by the forest guard. “This should not hurt, but in the future, you will be unable to betray a trust. You will know when you are on the edge of betrayal and the truth will flow from you in a stream of words. As long as you deal fairly with folk from here on out, this should not interfere with your life or duties.”
The ball of energy leapt from her hands and into the care giver. The energy covered her before absorbing into her flesh. The green of her eyes brightened in surprise and she smiled for a moment before doubling over, clutching her belly.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Asha leaned forward and the woman whispered in her ear.
The moment that the words were out, the woman regained her colour and her spasm stopped. She felt better, but Asha felt much worse.
Without a word to the assembled, Asha ran for the exit, Tuartha only a moment behind her.
As the doors swung shut, she heard one of the forest guards repeat what she had just heard.
“A demon is on its way to kill her cousin.”
Hearing it spoken by another voice made it more real and Asha ran faster, hoping to reach Elhara before the assassin did.
Chapter Ten
The energy in the care centre was askew. Asha warded herself and Tuartha as they made their way toward Elhara’s bed.
A demon was leaning over her cousin and the posture of the woman filled Asha with rage. A succubus draining the life from her cousin was enough to fill her vision with crimson.
She let out a roar of fury and grabbed the woman with a hand of magic, slamming the succubus to the floor and pinning her in place. The demon struggled against the magic, so Asha switched from leprechaun magic to a ward and locked the succubus in a shell of fury.
Asha used her grip to lift the demon to her feet and she tightened the shell until she heard ribs crack. “Why, why Elhara?”
The demon hissed and choked. “She has what is mine and I want it back.”
“She has nothing of yours and you will soon be unable to even remember why you came after her.”
“Asha. Stop.” Tuartha came from behind her and spoke in her ear. “You are better than this.”
“Elhara is far better than me and she is almost dead. This demon is responsible.” Asha tightened her grip and the demon screamed.
“Asha. Stop.” The voice wasn’t Tuartha’s or either of her grandparents. Elhara.
Keeping her grip on the demoness, Asha turned toward her cousin’s bed. Elhara was sitting up in the arms of her grandparents and was wearing a shamrock necklace that radiated power.
“Ash, don’t kill her.”
“El, how are you…you are awake?”
“I won’t say I am fine, but I am awake and my memories have stopped unravelling. The charm is slowly rebuilding my thoughts and the healers here think I should have everything back in place by the end of the week.” Elhara’s eyes were surrounded by dark circles, but she smiled her familiar smile.
Asha could feel the demoness struggling against her grip and put a quick cage around the power to hold it together. Demons could slip through the ether, so Asha also wrapped the entire room in a blanket of magical mesh. If her primary containment blew, the mesh would wrap around her spirit and tangle her.
A searing pain struck her as an outside source of power ripped through the mesh she had laid. Her prisoner smirked at the pain that ruptured the wrap around her, but her expression faded when the knife blade slid through her ribs from behind her.
Asha watched in shock as a male demon mad
e of shadows appeared, stabbed the succubus and disappeared back through the rip he had made.
The demoness dropped to the floor, her back arched obscenely over the hilt of the dagger. Blood pooled under her and she was gone in seconds.
Asha leaned back against Tuartha, her head pounding from the effort of a demon strong enough to rupture the gauzy ward.
She looked up at her husband, his deep green features and gold eyes. “What the hell just happened here?”
She slumped into his grasp and heard Elhara shout, but then everything went dark and Asha slept.
Waking in the arms of Tuartha was nice. Much nicer than waking on her own. She turned and smiled up at him. “Good morning?”
“Afternoon.”
She winced and turned toward him, her lack of clothing making the contact far more fun than would otherwise have been. “Good afternoon. How is El?”
“Getting better every hour. She is still at the care centre, but there are guards posted now.” He ran his hands over her back and smiled down at her. “You had me worried.”
“I was adjusting and that demon ripped a helluva hole through my lightweight ward when he came through. It drained me of the power I had used to construct it.”
He sighed and continued his hand’s slow exploration while they talked. “I thought Warders used anchors so that could not happen.”
She blushed. “We usually do, but I was kind of angry when we found that bitch draining my cousin.”
He laughed. “I noticed. Remind me not to get you angry.”
She started her own caress on his torso, taking in the contrast of textures between his chest, nipples, the skin under his arms, the heat from the column of his neck with its fascinating pulse.
She chuckled. “You love me when I am angry.”
He laughed and rolled with her, coming to a halt with her under him. “That I do. I love you when you are angry, sad, happy or any other way. I especially love you under me.”
He shifted his hips forward and the bar of his cock rocked against her belly.
She purred and raised her hips to his.
