Witchbane (Book 5 in The Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

  “Collected by whom, King Raza?” High Councilman Timberstride asked respectfully.

  “By Rue Reòthadh,” Raza spat. “This is all conjecture at the moment, but all evidence points to the conclusion that Rue is using the club to bring back more of the dead. Most likely to aid her in whatever plot she's constructed with Uisdean. Rue murdered the Pack team you sent, and then abducted even more witches. We believe she was keeping them imprisoned until such a time as she required them to refuel Dagda's club. One of those prisoners was Mrs. Elara Blair, Killian's mother. This was the reason Mr. Blair was on location to help Princess Seren find our missing soldiers. Mrs. Blair reported that she was snatched off the streets of Juneau, drugged, and then awoke chained. She was guarded by fairy-struck humans, kept in a room with several other witches, and never witnessed the use of Dagda's club.”

  “Elara Petrova?” Illarion Maksimov, Elder of Storm, sat up straight in his seat.

  “Her name was Petrova,” Killian nodded. “Now it's Blair. She married my father, Anthony Blair.”

  “Sacrilege,” Illarion snapped.

  “Enough!” Raza shouted, his voice vibrating the stones beneath my feet. “You're fools if you think Danu would be offended by such pairings. She would be delighted, and would probably rejoice in the birth of one such as he,” Raza said the last part grudgingly, waving his hand at Killian in a way which clearly indicated that he did not share in the Goddess' joy. “Now, move past your misguided bigotry, which is the true offense against Danu, and allow us to move on to the more important issues.”

  “If I could first introduce Elder Daniel Claybourn to the high council members?” I waved Daniel forward. “I'm assuming the coven elders don't need an introduction.”

  The witches all gave me varying expressions of displeasure. Some looked as if they were about to dispute Daniel's claim of being an elder, but one low growl from Raza shut them up.

  “I've come to offer my assistance, and that of my community,” Daniel nodded to the council members. “And I'd also like to convey our fervent hope to join this coalition.”

  “Impudent!” Gabriel growled.

  “Cease!” High Councilman Reginald Murdock, snapped. “King Raza is right. You're all being foolish. Racism has no place here. If this is a community of witches, I say we add them to the treaty.”

  “I agree,” Timberstride looked to the other fairy council members and they all nodded. “I don't think we need to make an amendment. Your people are witches, and are therefore included in the treaty.”

  “They are not!” Elder Trivedi exclaimed.

  “May I remind you of my earlier sentiments?” Raza glared at her until she lowered her eyes. “You can discuss the details of the truce another time. Right now, we must gather our forces and decide how to best deploy them against our mutual enemy. Princess Seren's foster father is one of the men held under the sway of Rue Reòthadh. Every moment we spend bickering is a moment we have added to Extinguisher Ewan's suffering. Which means you have added to Seren's suffering... and I will not allow that!”

  Raza's shout echoed through the room, stronger even than my laughter had. I stared at him in shock, as I'm sure everyone else did. Though I can't be certain because I couldn't tear my gaze away from his furious face, his flexing muscles, his widespread wings, and his glowing eyes. He was protecting me again, standing guard over me once more, ready to strike down any who would come against me. And Goddess was he beautiful.

  “Yes, of course,” Murdock finally broke the silence. “I'm so sorry about your father, Extinguisher Seren. May he rest in peace.”

  “Extinguisher Ewan is not yet at peace, Councilman Murdock,” I set my hard stare on him. “And I won't rest until he is.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I walked out of the Council chambers and smack dab into Tiernan's chest.

  “Tiernan,” I whispered in shock.

  It was easy to forget how muscular Tiernan actually was, when I was around Raza. Tiernan was solid from hours of training, and running into his chest was jarring. He steadied me, but his hands were oddly impersonal. Then Tiernan set me away from him, and his stare went first to the men behind me, before it came to rest on my face.

  “Princess Seren,” Tiernan's silver eyes were tight around the edges. He was pissed. Massively so. And behind him were ten more angry fairies. My Star's Guard. “Your Guard has come for you.”

  “Lord Tiernan,” Raza said gruffly. “I'd like to have a word in private with you.”

  “Raza, no,” I said over my shoulder before dropping my voice to say to Tiernan, “I would like to speak to you, though.”

  “We don't have time,” Tiernan looked to Raza, “not for either conversation. I'm escorting the Princess back to Twilight.”

  “The fuck you are,” Killian stepped forward and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “For once, I agree with the witch,” Raza growled and took the same stance.

  It made them seem so similar, I was beginning to think there might be some credence to the idea that Flame witches were descended from dragon-djinn. As I pondered this, Daniel looked back and forth between the men in confusion.

  “You have no rights over her, King Raza,” Tiernan said coldly, as coldly as he was treating me. “And you, whomever you are,” he looked Killian up and down scathingly, “are starting down a dangerous path with me. You should consider carefully before you take your next step.”

  “I'm sorry, Princess Seren,” Conri gave me a lopsided grin, “but our orders are straight from King Keir. He doesn't want you involved in this.” He dropped his voice and leaned forward to say gently, “You shouldn't have to kill Extinguisher Ewan. It's not right, Princess. Let someone else shoulder that burden.”

  “Who do you answer to?” I ignored Conri's kind words, and looked each one of them steadily in the eyes. Tiernan narrowed his stare back on me. “King Keir or me? Make your decision right now. If it's my father who holds your loyalty, I understand, he's your king. But then I can't have you here. Not now. Go back to Fairy and give King Keir my respectful refusal to return.”

  They all gaped at me. All except Tiernan, who grabbed me by the upper arm and dragged me down the hallway.

  “I guess we do have time for a conversation,” I said snidely.

  “Hey!” Killian chased after us, with Raza close on his heels.

  Tiernan stopped and sent a look of such fury over his shoulder, it froze both men in their tracks. Then he pulled me even further away.

  “What in Danu's name do you think you're doing, Seren?” Tiernan hissed at me.

  “I came to save my father,” I snapped and pulled my arm out of his tight grip. “But I had to leave him behind so that I could rescue the living. Now I'm going back to put him to rest. I owe him that, Tiernan. He raised me.”

  “And what do you owe your King?” Tiernan growled, getting in my face. “He's your true father. What do you owe him? Or your people? Or your Goddess? What do you owe me, Seren? Anything? Or all we all expendable to your grief?”

  “Thanks for understanding,” I stared at him like I was seeing him for the first time. Was he really making this into a choice between my fathers? And him? Tiernan was making this about him? “Ewan is a zombie. He's the fucking walking dead. And you want to whine about me choosing him over you? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “Me?” Tiernan cocked his head at me. “What's wrong with you? Who are you? Listen to yourself. When did you start talking like that?”

  “I've always spoken like this,” I growled. “This was the extinguisher you met in Hawaii. This is the Seren you kissed in San Francisco. This is me. I've just been trying to become someone else to please my father... and you. But I can't do that right now. I can't be the princess, I need to be the extinguisher. I need to take care of the man who raised me. To give him the respect he deserves. The respect he's been denied lately. I have to give him peace, Tiernan. Why can't you understand that?”

  “He's dead, Seren,” Tiernan's voice
softened. “And I'm so sorry for that. But you can't help him. You need to focus on living.”

  “He's not dead, not dead enough anyway,” I shook my head. “And I have focused on the living. I rescued the imprisoned witches. But I promised myself that I would go back for Ewan. I left him there, Tiernan. Rotting away in slavery to Rue and Uisdean. It broke my heart to do it, but I knew Ewan would want me to put them first.”

  “I can't let you go back, Seren,” he said gently. “And I truly believe Extinguisher Ewan would agree with me.”

  “You don't have the authority to make me do anything,” I ground out. “And you you have no idea what Ewan would have wanted.”

  “I do have authority over you,” Tiernan grabbed my arm again. “I'm acting on behalf of your father. Your King! So my authority trumps yours.”

  “Take your hand off her, Lord Tiernan,” Raza's voice was deceptively calm, but his face betrayed the fact that he was on the verge of losing his shit and going full dragon.

  “Or I'll remove it for you,” Killian added.

  Tiernan slowly lowered his hand from my arm and laid it over his sword hilt. Then he turned to face the two men.

  “Oh hell no,” I slid in between the three of them. “Look at me, Tiernan. Tiernan!” Tiernan finally turned his furious eyes to mine. “No. Just... no.”

  “Seren,” Tiernan's voice went low, dangerously low, and his eyes flashed liquid silver. “Come home with me.”

  “If you don't leave this very moment, you won't just be fighting them, you'll be fighting me,” I lifted my hand and it began to spark lavender. “I'm not leaving without putting my father to rest.”

  “You know I can't fight you,” Tiernan's eyes went frantic. “I took a vow to defend you, I can't-”

  “Defend her, eh?” Killian smirked. “That's ironic.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Tiernan's gaze narrowed on Killian.

  “Killian don't-” I tried to stop him.

  “Just that most people don't hit the ones they're trying to defend,” Killian snarled.

  Tiernan's betrayed gaze went to my face, “Who is this man, that you've confided such intimacies to him?”

  “Intimacies?” Killian snorted. “You call beating a woman, intimate?”

  Killian!” I gave Killian a glare over my shoulder before looking back to Tiernan. “It wasn't like that. Killian helped me find Ewan, and we were just talking about ourselves. I was upset by what happened between you and me. I needed someone to talk to and Killian was there. But I've thought it over and I know what that was about, T. I shouldn't have hit you either. I don't think-”

  “Don't call me 'T',” Tiernan ground out. “You want to disobey your father? Fine. Go ahead and behave like a spoiled human child instead of a princess of Fairy. Go ahead and show us the taint in your blood, Extinguisher,” he hissed the last as if it were a disease. “I can't stop you. You're right about that. My vows forbid it and I, at least, honor my commitments. I shall return to Fairy and inform your real father of your betrayal.”

  “My what?” I growled, but he didn't say anything more. “Did you just call me a traitor?!”

  Tiernan turned on his heels and stalked angrily away from me. My heart was thudding in my chest like I'd just ran a marathon. It was vibrating up into my throat and threatening to shake the tears right out of me. Who was that? It couldn't have been my Tiernan. Not the man who made love to me and told me I was everything to him. His entire world. That wasn't the same fairy who had just said my blood was tainted. No, not Tiernan.

  “I'm sorry, Seren, but it was,” Raza laid a talon tipped hand on my shoulder.

  Had I said that last part aloud or could Raza hear my thoughts? I didn't know. I couldn't process it all. My brain was whirring in shock. My world was shattering, turning about and trying to reshape itself. Nothing made sense.

  “Princess,” Conri came up to me with my dwindling Star's Guard.

  Two taken by death, and now one by pride. How many would last the year?

  “Sir Conri,” I said hollowly. “You are excused if you wish to follow Lord Tiernan.”

  “Excused?” Conri huffed. “Princess, it's always been about you. I don't give a shit about Tiernan. Hell, I've never given a shit about much at all until you came to Twilight. It was why I asked to be on your Guard. And no offense to King Keir, but as soon as I gave you my vow, I became your man. My heart and my sword, remember? If you tell me to forsake Twilight and its King, I will. Without a second thought. I will follow you through the darkest corners of this human world, and kill whatever you point your finger at, should you command it. For you alone, Twilight Star, I live, I kill, and I die.”

  “And I,” Breasal said, dropping to his knees beside Conri.

  “And I,” Gradh joined him, her pale blue eyes burning with fervor.

  “I am a member of the Star's Guard, not the King's Guard,” Torquil said in his slightly arrogant fashion. But this time, it sounded good. It sounded like love.

  All of my guards made the vow; Ainsley, Cleary, Ennis, Felix, and Gilroy came forward and knelt with the others. They swore that their loyalties lay first with me, that to act in any other manner (say like a certain silver-scarred LOTWH), would be betraying their vows. It made Tiernan's abandonment a little easier to bear. And it was abandonment. I knew it. When Tiernan had walked away from me, it was away from us. From our relationship.

  “Thank you,” I said to the men, and woman, who had stood by me. “And get up, all of you. Remember that I vowed to stand beside you as well. Stand. And for that, I need you on your feet.”

  They smiled and got up. All except for Conri, who had never knelt. He smirked at me and gave me a cocky wink, as if he'd known what I'd wanted all along.

  “No one's ever held my loyalty like you, Princess,” Conri declared. “And it's because of things like that, your belief that we're equals. A mistaken belief, but beautiful nonetheless. And don't you forget that Danu herself brought us all together. We are with you till the end, Princess.”

  “Not all of you,” I whispered.

  “Tiernan will return, Seren,” Raza was still holding my shoulder. “You will get beyond this.”

  I turned to stare at him in amazement. As much as I hadn't recognized Tiernan, I was even more shocked by Raza's behavior. Wasn't this the chance he'd been waiting for? Why wasn't he swooping in to snatch me up when I was vulnerable? Or did he truly believe we were meant to be together, the three of us?

  “Your face,” Raza shook his head sadly. “Do you think so little of me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you truly believe I would stoop to using your tragedy to my romantic advantage?” Raza sighed. “I'm a dragon, Seren, but I try not to be a monster. I've tried very hard, ever since the day a half-human, fairy princess told me that I wasn't one.”

  I swallowed hard, blinking back my tears before I could speak. “You've never been monstrous to me,” I vowed. “Majestic, magical, miraculous, and other wonderful M words, but not that one.”

  “Yet, your eyes say otherwise,” Raza's body was suddenly crowding mine. But instead of feeling trapped, I felt drawn to him. I eased closer.

  “Did I mention that one of your M words is manipulative?” I lifted a brow. “You use situations to your advantage, Raza. But it doesn't mean I think less of you for it.”

  “I would never manipulate you, Seren,” Raza said with sudden, blazing sincerity. “That's not how I want to win you.”

  Killian cleared his throat.

  I pulled away from Raza as he glowered at Killian. When he made a move towards the witch, I laid a hand to his massive chest to stop him. Raza's heart started beating faster beneath my palm, and he immediately turned back to me, his own hand laying over mine, pressing it tightly to him.

  “We will speak on this later, my love,” Raza said in a low, deep voice. The one that always resonated inside me. His glowing, gold eyes added a shiver to that resonance.

  “Alright,” I agreed and he le
t me go. “But one thing first.”

  Raza lowered his gaze to mine again.

  “Thank you for not trying to take advantage of Tiernan being an ass.”

  “Lord Tiernan is often an ass,” Raza smirked. “If I tried to use it to my advantage every time, I'd be constantly plotting.”

  “As if you're not,” I huffed and headed down the hall. “And you can stop smirking,” I told Killian as I passed him. My Star's Guard fell into step behind me. “Tiernan walking out on me has nothing to do with you, Killian.”

  “Maybe not,” Killian upped his smirk. “But unlike King Raza over there,” he waved towards the dragon, “I'm not above manipulating the situation to my advantage. So, just let me know when you need that shoulder to cry on, Twilight. I got two of 'em, and I'm told they're quite comfortable. You can switch off from one side to the other, and perhaps stop for a little lip lock in between.”

  “I will destroy you, witch,” Raza said simply, in the same tone he might use to remark on the color of the sky.

  “Yeah, whatever, big guy,” Killian pounded Raza's shoulder. “We both know she likes me, and I don't think you're going to win any points with her if you kill someone she likes.”

  “I will kill you both if you don't shut up,” I growled at them over my shoulder. “Now come along, I need some rest before we head out again. And it's probably going to be soon.”

  “You got digs around here?” Killian asked skeptically.

  “I'm the Princess of Twilight and he's the Unseelie King,” I waved at Raza. “We're kind of a big deal, Skeletor. I think they'll give us some rooms.”

  “As if I ever doubted you, Twilight,” Killian chuckled and took my arm.

  Raza snarled and took my other arm.

  Elder Claybourn and my Star's Guard followed after us with varying expressions of dismay and bafflement.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  We were given quarters in the High Fairy Council House. Killian and Elder Claybourn shared a room, while Raza and I each had our own collection of suite. My suite collection was considerably larger, but only because I needed rooms for all of my guards.