“This way,” she says, striding through the door and into a foyer that’s a lot smaller than I expected for such a grand house. It has a mirror and a small table off to the side and then an open archway to the left which leads into a sitting room, and a closed door on the right. This where Jadyn goes.
Opening the door, she brings us into an office. I don’t think it’s Grandpa’s. The furnishings are too feminine. The desk is an antique, but clearly made for a woman’s body size, not a man’s. The curtains are a dusty rose color, pulled tight over two windows. There isn’t any dust in the room, but it feels like there should be. This room obviously hasn’t been used in a while.
As if reading my mind, Jadyn says, “This was where your Grandmother’s assistant sat before she moved to the smaller house on the property. That was before my time.”
I forgot about that. When Grandma figured out that my grandfather was really a weenie with a capital W, she moved out. She only went as far as a few hundred feet away in case Mom came back, but that was the end of her marriage to my grandfather. They were married in name only after.
“Through here is the suite of offices used by both of your Grandparents at one time.” Jadyn indicates a door on either side of a large waiting room. A desk bigger than the first is sitting between them. Behind it is another door.
“What’s back there?” Kegan asks, pointing to the third door.
“That is the conference room,” Jadyn replies. “Apart from the formal sitting room we passed when we came in, the rest of the house is reserved for the royal family. And guests,” she adds, wanting everyone to feel welcome. She’s good.
“Is the King in there?” Kallen asks.
Jadyn nods. “That is where they were when the alarm sounded. I assume that is where the circle was made.” Curious, she asks, “Are you planning to sit and wait for them to come out?”
Adriel laughs and it sounds a bit wicked. “There is no need for that.”
Jadyn is yet again bewildered. I guess Grandma didn’t go into detail about my powers. “What do you mean?” she asks.
“You’ll see,” Kallen says.
It’s better to show her than tell her. Determined expression on my face, I walk to the conference room door. It’s time to meet my Grandpa again.
Chapter 13
Opening the conference room door, I see them clearly. It’s like I’m looking at fish in a fishbowl. They are seated at a long, rectangular table and crowded down at one end. No Arthurian round table for Grandpa. Saccharine sweetness in my voice, I lie, “Grandpa, how nice to see you again.”
Several of the Witches start, but one sitting close to Grandpa says, “She is bluffing. She must have been told that we made a circle here.”
“Who would have told her that?” another Witch says, not quite believing the first’s explanation. “And who are those people with her?”
I laugh. “You’d be surprised at what I can get people to tell me.” I won’t out Jadyn. They’ll find out soon enough it was her, if they don’t already know. “I’d like to introduce my friends, so why don’t we get rid of this pesky thing so everyone can see everyone else clearly. Take a seat you guys while I work out the details.” To my amusement, Kallen and Kegan both take a seat at the opposite end from the Witches, lean back in their chairs and prop their legs up on the table. Alita sits down next to Kegan, but Adriel and Tana remain standing. Taz is trying to nap behind Tana’s skirt. No one in the room has noticed him yet. Nor have they noticed the light which has appeared against the far wall. Nixie has gotten good at blending in with the light of a room.
I walk to the edge of the circle and wave my hand through the glimmering sheen that only I can see. Instantly, the magic dissolves and the circle is gone. There’s a lot of gasping and outraged grumbling. Several chairs scrape across the floor because the Witch seated in them either backed their chair away from me or stood up.
“This is impossible!” one of the Witches claims. Why do people say that when they’ve already been shown that something is possible?
I remember the Witch who just made the inane comment. “Fatin, how have you been? Have you exercised any nasty spirits lately?” He was one of the few of the original Witan I allowed to keep his magic. Other than my parents and Nixie, spirits who haven’t moved on can be bad news. Fatin has the power to call them forth and exercise them. Not many Witches can do that, so I left his magic untouched. With the threat that if he misused it again I would come back and take it away, of course. I’m interested to see if he took that to heart.
“Xandra,” he says with a tip of his head. His chair did not move when the circle came down so he’s still seated just to the right of Grandpa. How brave of him.
“What are you doing here, Xandra?” Grandpa asks. He says this more in surprise than anger or anything resembling it. Curious.
“I promised Grandma I’d check in on you guys. Make sure no one is plotting to take over your mind again.” I stare pointedly at a couple more familiar faces around the table.
Ignoring my response, he asks, “Is your grandmother well? When will she be returning?”
Um, what? “She’s not coming back. Didn’t you know that?”
From the way his face falls, I guess he didn’t. After a moment, he says, “Is there an address where I can forward her things?”
So he can track her down and grovel at her feet, he means. Thank goodness grandma’s an Angel and there’s no way he can reach her. Before I can respond, Adriel says, “She no longer has a need for the material things she collected here.”
Grandpa’s face pales. “She is dead?” I notice a couple of Witches around the table seem relieved at the thought. Bastards.
“No, she’s not dead,” I say sharper than I probably should have. “She is alive and well. She just won’t be coming back here.”
Grandpa suddenly looks like someone turned his eye into a disco ball. His left eye is twitching rapidly and the eyeball itself is swirling. Creepy. He looks like he’s in pain. He brings his hand up to shield the eye’s movement from us. “I see,” is his only response. Ironic since I don’t believe he can see at the moment. Not out of that eye, anyway.
If someone’s eye is twitching uncontrollably, it’s universal law that you must ask why. I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere. Tactfully, I say, “What’s wrong with your eye? Why is it being all funky?”
“It’s nothing,” Grandpa grunts.
Sure, that was believable. From behind me, Jadyn says, “It is the consequence of reversing mind control spells. Because of the damage those spells can cause, the victim usually suffers intermittent loss of control of some of their nerves and muscles somewhere on their body. It can range from a slight tic to what appears to be a seizure. For your grandfather, he loses control of his eyelid.”
Oh. “That sucks, Grandpa. Is it going to do that the rest of your life?” I ask, still the Queen of Tact.
I called him Grandpa but my tone clearly indicated that what I really meant is ‘man who sired my mother and then outed himself as a total schmuck to the point that he tried to kill his own granddaughter – twice’.
I’m going to continue to call him Grandpa, even though it seems to make his eye twitch more. It definitely bothers him. A lot. He’s more of a ‘call me Your Highness or Sire’ kind of guy. That’ll never happen.
“I don’t know,” he admits gruffly, irritated that I didn’t do the polite thing and ignore his eyelid which is now flapping so hard it’s like it’s trying to fly off his head.
Is it wrong to hope his eye does twitch the rest of his life? Probably. “We have a lot to discuss and I’d rather do it without your friends.” I’m sure at least a few of them are trying to control him as his Witan had before. I can see it in their guilty faces. Why did he let any of the Witches who did that to him before back into his power circle? The man is an idiot.
“Yet, I suppose your ‘friends’ will be able to stay?” Fatin says friends like he just threw up a little in his mouth. Jerk.
Smiling sweetly, I say, “I like my friends better than dear old Grandpa’s. Mine have never slowly taken over my mind and reduced me to a zombie-like person to do their evil bidding and then left me with a twitchy eye.” Fatin has the decency to flush a deep red and keep his mouth shut. The day is just filled with shocking events.
“I have no desire to speak with you privately,” Grandpa says, bringing my eyes back to him. His face is a blank page, no anger, no disgust, no sign of emotion at all. Weird.
“Aah, Gramps, you make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you say such nice things to me.” There is so much sarcasm in my voice, the air in the room feels heavier.
“Do not call me ‘Gramps’,” he growls.
“Enough,” a voice says from behind me and my skin begins to crawl as magic floods up from the earth. Tana had better not be planning to use it in any manner that can be construed as dark magic. If she does, this is going to get ugly fast. “You are in no position to refuse to meet with the Princess who serves two realms. Even if you were, such a crude reception and barbaric behavior on the part of you and your staff towards your own flesh and blood makes you unworthy of your crown.”
Um, how does the old phrase go? Something about the pot calling the kettle black? Then again, Tana hasn’t acted as if she expects to resume her position as Queen of the Fairy realm. That’s for dwelling on later. I have other things to worry about now. For instance, the magic which is barely being leashed inside her.
Before I can say anything, Kegan removes his feet from the table and leans close to Alita. “Are you alright?” he asks.
My eyes fly to her. She doesn’t look alright. Alita’s skin has paled and her lips are a pasty, whitish color. There’s only one thing that makes her react like this. Dark magic. My first thought is Tana, but I’m not getting any vibes from her which would indicate she is doing anything other than holding magic within her. It doesn’t feel malevolent.
Kallen sits up and leans across the table. “Who?” he asks Alita. I guess he figured out it isn’t Tana faster than I did.
With a shaking hand, Alita points towards a Witch I haven’t met before. She has strawberry blonde, frizzy hair, and her skin is aged and wrinkled way beyond her years. Unless she’s really a hundred and fifty years old. If that’s the case, then she looks fine. Her body is hunched forward due to a distinct hump between her shoulders and she is rail thin, bordering on anorexic. This Witch has apparently had a hard life. And sure enough, she’s uttering a spell under her breath. I really need to pay more attention to Witches’ mouths.
Before the Witch can utter the last phrase of whatever dark spell she is going to use, Tana’s magic goes flying. “Lift the curse of darkness from this Witch’s lips who will let evil unfold like the lash of a whip.” I know that’s not really a spell. She only said it for effect. The magic Tana twists as a dark magic repellant can be done by a powerful Fairy without any type of spell.
Tana’s magic hits the Witch so hard, her chair goes flying backwards. Her legs flail helplessly as her body plunges and her head hits the carpeted floor in a loud thump. Unfortunately for the rest of us, she’s wearing a dress. I really, really didn’t need to know that she’s wearing a pink, lacy thong which is exposing her wrinkled butt to us. That image is going to haunt me for a long time. With nervous glances in our direction, the Witches on either side of her help her up and back into her once again upright chair, one of them making sure her skirt is covering everything it should. Thank god.
Still, I can’t help a grin. “I guess I really should introduce my friends. Grandpa, and the rest of you,” I say, my eyes traveling around the table to the members of the Witan, “this is my dear friend Alita.” I point to where she is seated, still looking kind of green but getting better. “She is a very talented Fairy who has the ability to sense dark magic anywhere around her. She also can tell who it is coming from.” The last part isn’t always true, but I still smile maliciously at the frizzy haired Witch.
Moving to stand next to Kallen, I say, “This is my husband, Kallen.” I ignore the gasps around the table. Okay, so I’m a bit young to be married in this realm, but they’re just going to have to deal with it. “He and his cousin, Kegan, are two of the most powerful Fairies alive today.” I move back and stand between Adriel and Tana. I want to be near Tana to make sure she doesn’t do anything else magical that might push her back over the ‘I’m evil’ ledge.
Looking at Adriel’s long, blonde hair and Angel perfected looks, I say, “My beautiful friend Adriel is an Angel of Death.” The gasps are accompanied by fear fueled rumblings now. Huh, I don’t know if I like it that everyone is more afraid of her than me. Wow. That is wrong on so many levels. A year ago I wouldn’t have been able to even imagine feeling something like that.
“This,” I say, laying a gentle hand on Tana’s shoulder, relieved when she doesn’t flinch, “is Santana, Queen of the Fairy realm. Those close to her call her Tana. You may address her as Queen Santana.” Tana stiffens under my touch, but despite the jumble of emotions which must be rampaging through her, she keeps her face blank. Fairies are so good at doing that. Yet another helpful gene lacking in my DNA.
Kallen has swiveled in his chair so his back is to the Witch’s. His eyes flick rapidly between me and his aunt. I think he’s waiting for one of our heads to explode or something from us touching each other. I ignore him.
To my great surprise, Grandpa stands up and walks around the table. He comes to stand before us and scowls deeply at me, making me tense. “You bring the Queen of another realm to my home and wait this long to inform me of her presence?” Turning to Tana, he lifts her hand and presses her fingers to his lips. Eew. Grandpa cooties. “Forgive her, for as you know, she was not educated properly in regards to royalty. Rooms will be readied for you and your guests. If anything else is required for your comfort, you need only ask.”
What?! Me, his granddaughter, gets rude comments and disdain. But the Queen of a realm that he hates gets the royal treatment? My face hardens in hurt, embarrassment and anger. Magic is ripping through me, just waiting for me to release it on my grandfather and his cronies. The Witches are lucky they can’t sense magic like Fairies can. If they could, I would shoot to the top of the fear inducing scale.
Rising quickly, Kallen is by my side in a flash. He takes my hand in his and squeezes gently, trying to help me gain control with his calming touch. It’s not working. Looking at my grandfather, he says, “Whether you recognize Xandra as Princess of the Witches is irrelevant. She is Princess of the Fae realm and she will be treated with the same respect, and afforded the same privileges, as the Queen.”
Watching old Gramps sputter through the logic almost makes me laugh. It goes a lot farther than a hand squeeze in calming me down. He has backed himself into a corner and now he can’t get out of it without sounding like the hypocrite he is, and insulting the entire Fae realm. Kegan has come to join us along with his new wife. Alita is still clinging to his arm as the effects of dark magic slowly leave her. We are now standing as the united front that we are.
“Shall I have the staff prepare the appropriate rooms now?” Jadyn says behind me. I forgot she was even here.
Grandpa says in a guttural voice, “Yes, do so.” What, no please or thank you? How rude.
“Shall I also prepare an itinerary for their stay?” Jadyn pushes. “I imagine you want several times to meet with the ambassadors of the Fairy realm, as well as make their stay as comfortable as possible.” Huh, I went from granddaughter to ambassador just like that. Lovely.
The tension in the room jackknifes and the head exploding thing Kallen was waiting for earlier? I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Grandpa’s head. I have to admit, though, watching him bite back the words begging to come out of his mouth, and restraining his hands that want to wrap around both my and Jadyn’s throats, is impressive. I know my limitations and there is no way I could do it. Maybe these things come with age.
“Yes.” The word
is thrust upon the air so sharply, I’m tempted to search my body for lacerations.
I can’t stop myself from saying, “How wonderful to be welcomed into your home in the manner in which we deserve.” Gentle squeezing could never be applied to the pressure with which Kallen is using on my hand now. It feels like he’s trying to get my fingers to all meld into one big one. A quick glance at him with narrowed eyes gets him to release the pressure. I don’t think he realized he was squeezing that hard.
“Jadyn, go. Now. Bring our guests with you.”
Despite Kallen’s grim lips and stony face, I put my free hand over my heart and say, “Warm and fuzzy, right here.” Before Grandpa can respond, my furious husband puts an arm around my waist and practically carries me out of the room in Jadyn’s wake. I’m pretty sure I hear Kegan chuckling, though. Alita’s lucky she got the cousin with the sense of humor. I somehow manage not to say that out loud. At least I’m making some progress.
Blood of the Exiled (Witch Fairy Book 10) Page 10
