by Conn, Claudy
* * *
I did not follow my enfant at once. I stood there for a moment wondering if Ete and Willow were going to attack me, for they had the look as they moved towards me. However, they didn’t quite attack me physically, though what they did was worse. They shook their heads and hands at me and clucked. Imagine that. I was a Royal prince being clucked at!
Bantry sighed and said, “You are in for a bad ride if you don’t nip this problem immediately.”
“And how, do you think, he should nip this?” Willow asked him sweetly, but I didn’t think there was any sweetness in her eyes. She looked annoyed as hell and not ready to witness any male bonding in that moment.
His brows went up, and he smiled ruefully. “What? I only meant he should chase after her and explain … whatever it is she wants explained.”
Breslyn laughed out loud, slapped me on the shoulder, and said, “I never thought to see you tied up by a female, but, Danté, old friend, so you are—tied up in knots. Go after her, or there will be an even hotter hell than the one you are presently in.”
Ete made a face at him and touched my arm. “Yes, but if you go after her, Danté—be ready to take everything she throws at you and then … take care of her.”
Ete was right. I had thought Z should know better. I had thought Z would believe I would never betray her, but perhaps I had not made my commitment clear to my enfant?
I shifted off and tracked Z to Tir and the queen’s chamber. I walked in and found my enfant crying her heart out in my queen’s arms, and my body clenched with pain. I could not see her thusly and survive without emotional injury.
I am a Royal Fae of logic. I do not allow myself to become emotional on such a level, and I—I almost burst into tears to see my beloved hurting so badly, and I felt my body start to shake.
I went towards her, fully intending to get on my knees and beg forgiveness, although I had done nothing—really nothing. The incident with Morrigu was not my fault. She had thrown herself on me … physically. What should I have done, slapped her? After all, I had been attacked … not the other way around, and had Z not appeared I would have extricated myself, and Z … should have known that. Z should have known me.
The queen halted my progress with a hand in the air—her eyes told me to stand down. I wanted to take Z into my arms and assuage her pain, so I resisted my queen’s demand and took another step towards them, but the queen’s eyes were very persuasive, and so I went into the ante-chamber and began pacing.
I could hear my beloved sobbing. The cries came from her soul and pulled at mine, and, yes, Fae have souls—for what is the essence that makes us individuals, if not a soul? Time, so much time, changes our brand of ethics. Logic demands a price not all of us are willing to pay, and now I knew what Breslyn had always tried to tell me.
I went into the room in spite of the queen’s wishes, and my heart was in my voice when I called her name. “Radzia … my love, my own enfant …”
She sniffed and turned to look at me and, like the child she was, swiped at her tears and took part of her sweater to wipe her face. She was a mess, but a beauteous one, and I adored her with everything I had been or ever would be. I got down one knee. “It was not what you thought … or what it looked like. I know that sounds lame, but, Z … beloved Z … please, I am incapable of lying to you, believe me.”
She sniffed again and eyed me and said, “You allowed it—you allowed her to … to …”
“I did not.”
“You should have shifted away from her. She was naked!”
“I thought to get information from her …” Apparently the wrong thing to say. She jumped to her feet, stood over me wagging her wonderful finger, and said in the most indignant terms, “Never go after information from naked women.”
I nearly burst out laughing, for you must realize the queen was looking on with avid interest, and her eyes sparkled with laughter at this juncture. I was able to control myself and said, “Never … ever … will I do such a thing.”
She sniffed once more and put her lovely chin up, pushed her black velvet hair away from her face, and turned to the queen. “What do you think, my Queen?”
“I think he is worthy, but what matters is what you think.”
She smiled to herself, and her green eyes glowed. “Very well, then—”
I jumped to my feet and, heedless of the queen, took her into my arms and kissed her until I heard from Aaibhe, “Ahem … I think, that is quite enough for now.”
We turned and saw the queen smiling sweetly, and I hugged Z and never wanted to let her go.
* * *
Aaibhe sighed softly and said, “Now, you two have a mission ahead, and you will need to be vigilant. I cannot stress enough that we have a serious problem and one I did not expect.”
“Do you mean the ‘traveling’ portal?” I asked curiously.
“For one thing … yes, but more than that is the fact I had not expected Gaiscioch to acquire the extent of black magic he had evidently accumulated over the centuries. Black magic is behind his present accomplishments—how else could he move portals? Evidently, I have underestimated him. I don’t want to be caught doing that again.”
“May I ask what you wish us to do?” Danté stuck in as he snuggled the top of my head with his chin.
“Yes, and, Danté, I will be depending on you … both,” Aaibhe said on a dark note that disturbed me. She sounded more worried than she should have been—than I was comfortable knowing.
Immediately, I worried for my mom and asked, “My Queen, may I ask, please … about my mother?”
“My dear, only time will tell. There is nothing more you can do … and truly, how can we blame her just now? In that world she has your father—in that world she has lost nothing.”
“It will lead to madness … I know, I have heard the talk. She will go mad if she stays within the realm of illusion much longer.”
“Yes, you are quite right. It is why we bring her out each day for a few moments. Yesterday, I am told she asked for you.”
“Shall I go to her?” I was excited and started working my fingers together.
“No … we would prefer that she go to you. We told her the truth, that you were on a mission and that, very soon, you might need her help. I am not certain she absorbed this thoroughly, but we will try again.”
“What did she say?”
“She said that we must bring you home at once, that she would not have you put in any danger, and wasn’t it enough that she had already lost …” The queen shook her head. “At that point, the poor dear slipped back into her illusion, but it gives us great hope.”
I turned and hugged Danté, and he stroked my head until the queen gently touched my shoulder and said, “Now … we must put some effort into the next step.”
“Which no doubt is where we come in with this new mission,” Dante said thoughtfully.
“We are certain, are we not, from what you have seen, Radzia, on the maps in Gaiscioch’s war chamber, that he means to set up a portal of some size in Dublin and Inverness? However, Nuad also believes he will set up portals throughout Scotland and Ireland to allow the Dark Fae to escape and cause havoc and distract us. Nuad believes that Gais means to diffuse our resources by spreading out his attacks.”
“Yes,” Danté said at once. “I had discussed this with Nuad weeks ago. We are in agreement on that, and on the plan of guarding and holding him back at the larger portals. We can deal with the smaller ones later.”
The queen eyed me under her frown. “Is there any chance, do you think from what you saw of the maps, that he will change his locations?”
“No … I don’t believe so. I think he has enough ego to believe it doesn’t matter that I saw where he means to open the largest dolmens.”
“I agree,” said the queen before she sighed. “However, we are outnumbered.”
“But we have the strength of Seelie Fae,” I objected.
“Samhain is upon us, and we are outnumbered, Rad
zia. We need additional manpower, and I know …” She turned to Danté. “You will not like this, but we need the Milesians.”
“Not like it? Not like it?” returned Danté on low throttle because it was the queen and he had to control himself; then because he couldn’t, he growled, “I hate it.”
“Nevertheless, we need them … and they will want to help. Danté, our team is spread thin. Their army, while impotent against us, can break away and feed on humans indiscriminately. We can’t allow that to happen. We need numbers to contain the problem while we push them back.”
“Why doesn’t the Dark King do something?” I asked helplessly. “How can he allow this, and it is no use saying he doesn’t know—he knows, his Crystal knows, so he must.”
“Crystal?” The queen’s eyebrow rose. “You actually spoke with the king’s consort?”
“With her holograph,” I answered absently as my mind was flying. “She says he has evolved—whatever that means. Riddles—what is the point of riddles when so much depends on the answers? Anyway, the Dark King wants her to evolve as well, but she says she isn’t ready … so the ‘evolving’ must be something major.”
“Interesting …” Queen Aaibhe said softly but offered nothing more on the subject.
“How so?” asked Danté, wanting answers.
“Never mind—we don’t have time for that now. You must leave for Dravo,” the queen told him firmly.
Danté took a spin around the room, looking like he was about to do a stampede on something, anything, when he came up short in front of the queen, took her hand, and bent low over it. “Of course, my Queen. Your commands are always mine to perform, and I shall always protect and serve you, but Dravo—really?”
I laughed out loud and then bit my lip at Danté’s fevered expression. I realized he meant what he said. He wanted to do as she asked, but it was killing him. I found his strength of character admirable, and it warmed me deep inside.
“Don’t look so glum—you may end up liking them,” the queen offered gently. “You know our Druid priests are doing all they can, including allowing their blood to be given to the earth at the dolmens, hoping to keep the portals closed against the Dark Fae. Everything that can be done is being done. We need to do our part … it is our duty. These things threaten us all because we were unable to leave them behind when Danu was destroyed.”
“The Milesians are not to be trusted,” Danté insisted.
“That is not quite precisely true, Danté. We, the Milesians, and the Seelie Fae have a common enemy, Gaiscioch and the Dark Fae.” The queen shook her head of white gold hair and sighed. “In this goal we are bonded.”
“And Queen Morrigu—she is still Seelie. How can she be destroyed?” I asked, looking away from Danté.
“She is quite mad—and that is no wonder, living as she has without the comfort of her own kind all these thousands upon thousands of years. It is not our way to put such as she to death. If she escapes, she will be returned to the Dark Realm—punishment enough.” She touched my cheek with her elegant finger. “And, Radzia—you are not so foolish to think you have anything to be concerned about from that quarter?”
Danté was apparently still stuck on his problem with going to Dravo. He made a sound that denoted that he didn’t think joining with the Milesians was anything that could ever be considered good and gave no indication that he had heard what the queen had just said to me. I, however, felt myself blush, but I reached out and touched his hand.
He took hold of my fingers as though they were a lifeline and whispered, “I suppose the sooner we get there and get this done, the sooner we can return.”
“You know, Danté, having them on our side is better than not?” I said, and we had a moment when our eyes met, and I wanted him to take me away. Just the two of us alone and away from all of this—to forget it all, and just be, to touch and hold and …
He held me close and said, “Then we are off for Dravo.” He nodded at the queen and looked at me once more before we shifted.
* * *
Chancemont is a Milesian, and Milesians are the original humans that formed the contractual agreement that was signed and called The Treaty with Man. I have a notion it was Chance’s father, in fact, who did the signing.
The Milesians had led the war against the Fae in Ireland, and therefore there is still to this day, after all these thousands of years, no love lost between Chance and Danté, who were both at that war where each witnessed loved ones die …
It was odd to think that only a short while ago, we fought a huge number of Dark Unseelies in Inverness side by side with the Milesians, although we did it as an unwilling, but nevertheless a well-tuned, team. We fought together as though we had been fighting side by side all our lives, which of course we hadn’t, and now we were about to ask the Milesians to join us in the war against the Dark Fae. I believed they would. They loved the ‘good fight’ and would no doubt be thrilled to kill as many Dark Fae as they could.
I don’t think Danté and Chance would have liked one another under any circumstances. Their characters don’t mesh, and there is the fact that Chance, being the hunky player that he is, tried playing with me not so very long ago. He had even abducted me and taken me off to his dimension, Dravo. Danté had come after us and, ha, that was a scene …
So I knew I wasn’t being fair when we arrived at Chance’s home in Dravo, a mixture of medieval facades and modern conveniences, which, by the way, at first glance is quite disconcerting.
Chance’s long blonde hair was loose and flying in the wind. He wore a leather vest over his naked, tattooed, and oh so beautiful torso. He wore leather pants that hugged his strong, muscular thighs, and he walked with self-assurance as he came towards me, looking only at me and ignoring Danté.
I purposely batted my long, dark lashes at him. Childish—tit for tat still playing around in my system over the Morrigu incident: jealousy dies hard. I know, game playing, yes, but I had a vivid picture of Morrigu working Danté’s leg in my very active mind.
My game playing worked a bit more than I wanted it to, because Danté’s jaw clenched and his eyes clicked off anger—and a definite threat. I decided to cool it before he exploded.
Chance and Danté never seemed to need much reason to go at one another, and I didn’t want to give them more cause. We were here for a reason—saving the world—and my petty jealousy (I believed justified) had to take a backseat, for the moment … just for the moment.
“And what can I be doing for ye, darlin’ lass of mine?” Chance asked, and I had the feeling he was purposely goading Danté.
“She isn’t your darlin’,” Danté snapped and turned to me. “It was a mistake to come here.”
I grabbed Danté’s hand, and he pulled me close up against his naked, hard chest. A shiver went through me. It seemed to do something to him as well, as he looked at me sharply; I saw him experience an intake of breath. It was as though time was suspended in that moment, and then a vision of Morrigu, naked and exquisitely beautiful, rubbing herself on his thigh, flashed me and I sharply pulled away.
Chance grinned. “Och … aye … what ’ave we here? Trouble for the love doves, is it? Don’t ye worry, lass, I’m here for ye—whenever ye want.” He made a show of sighing woefully. “Sorry I am, little Daoine, ye didn’t choose me first. Och now that would have been something—and I promise ye, it still can be.”
Danté took a menacing step towards him, and I hurriedly put my hand to his chest and ignored the sensations that rushed through me. I looked hard at Chance and said without a smile, “Chance, we are here because we just came from the Dark Realm, and—”
His whistle, low and long, interrupted me. “Have ye now? Doona know why you went there, no, I don’t—” He cut himself off and pointed his chin at Danté. “Did he not try and stop ye? Baffles me, it does.”
“Well, if you would shut up for a moment, maybe you wouldn’t be baffled so much,” Danté grumbled sharply.
They eyed one anoth
er, and I saw them both clench and unclench their fists as well as their strong jaws. I stepped completely between them and held a hand to each, trying to contain the situation.
Fae and Milesians haven’t forgiven each other in all these thousands of years. What has made it worse is that this remaining community of Milesians used our own Danu dust to forge their weapons against us in the Great War. In so doing they also managed to breathe in quite a quantity of Danu dust, rendering them immortal with similar magic as we Fae—not as powerful perhaps and not as refined, but mighty all the same.
“We have to get this organized, and it won’t be done unless you two …” I tried to reason, but Danté got by me and was up in Chance’s face, and the two of them looked as though they were just about to go at it.
I needed to diffuse the situation, so I did the only thing I could think to do. I played girlie girl, put a hand to my head, and pretended to swoon. Me—swoon? Never happen, but I made a good show.
Did either of my hunky hunks care? No. Did either one look my way? No.
There I was, fainting with no one to catch me, when suddenly Ete was at my side, taking my hand in hers with Prince Breslyn bolstering me from behind.
I pulled a face and whispered, “No—no, I’m fine! Them … I was trying to distract them!”
Breslyn jumped into action, and I stood back to watch these three incredible warriors go at it in fine style. They were in each other’s faces, and a few Milesian hunky bucks were idling over and appeared to want to join in the argument.
Ete pushed her waist-length auburn hair behind her back and tied it with a leather as she smiled sweetly at me and said, “Males are forever a trial, are they not?”
“Understatement, sweetie pie,” I answered, my arms now folded across my middle. There was a whole lot of shouting going on, and suddenly I had had it. I marched right up to them, took Rolo off my belt, and held him up. “Go on, Rolo—put them each in a corner and silence them.”
