Shifters, Secrets & Surprises

by Lowe, Anna

  She clutched at his shoulders and responded satisfactorily. She seemed to be getting more expert at it too. She nuzzled her cheek against his beard and her arms crept around his neck. Her skin had a new fragrance that he couldn’t place, even as he noted it. He angled her so he could taste her better.

  Lexi sighed into his mouth and nestled trustingly against him. He explored the tender recesses of her mouth and rejoiced in her response to his probing. Under her long hair, her breasts swelled and the tips pouted. He was due at the table, and yet he still had much to discuss with her. Reluctantly he pulled away and just cuddled her close.

  “What did you do to me?” she whispered.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”

  They were standing together naked, wrapped in each other’s arms when his bedroom door opened. “Theodor Lindorm!” His father’s voice was outraged and surprised in equal parts.

  Instead of transforming into a pocket princess clad in some fluttery bit of nonsense – decent nonsense – Lexi shrieked and ducked behind his body.

  “What the devil is going on?” Papa demanded.

  Which really was unanswerable.

  “Dress yourself and your – girlfriend,” thundered Lord Severn. “I will expect the two of you in my study in five minutes.” He slammed the door.

  “You better change back into a pixie,” Theo said regretfully.

  Lexi put her hands on the ring and muttered the changing spell. Nothing happened. She chanted louder. Her green eyes rounded and she shook her head. “I can’t remove it,” she said, “Or change its size.”

  “What has the ring got to do with turning back into a pixie?”

  “Everything. Don’t you understand? You have transformed me into a mortal woman.”

  “I transformed you?”

  “Yes. I can’t take the ring off, and I can’t change back into my true form. I’m no longer one of the Elven Folk.” Her voice shook.

  Theo set his hands on the ring. He had put it on her. Surely he could take it off again? But although the ring warmed pleasantly, it remained an unbroken circle and it would no longer change size so Lexi could step out of it, or pull it over her head.

  “Fancy that.” He bent over and kissed her forehead, before moving off to find some clothes. He felt a surge of possessive pride and a joyfulness that seemed inappropriate for a fellow who was about to have his balls cut off by his straitlaced father.

  “You have to take it off,” she said, voice rising in volume and pitch.

  “What if I prefer you Theo-sized?”

  “Do you?” Her voice was very quiet.

  He shrugged into his shirt and pulled up his pants. “Yeah. I think I do, Princess.” He plucked her out of the chair and sat down with her in his arms. “Much.” He didn’t like the melancholy expression on her face, so he kissed her again.

  “You better put some clothes on,” he said after a bit. “My father has to be dealt with.”

  “What clothes? I haven’t got any clothes! Oh, Theo, what have you done to me?”

  “Claimed you,” he answered.

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Are you going to marry me?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “You might act happier,” she snapped.

  “I’m sure I will be happy – eventually.”

  Her doubled fist bounced off his right arm. “You don’t love me,” she cried angrily.

  “I’m sure love will come, pet.”

  * * *

  “I don’t believe it,” Anna Lindorm said.

  Severn raised his brows at his wife. “I assure you,” he began haughtily.

  Anna waved a hand. “Of course, you are telling the truth, my love,” she said. “But, Theo?”

  “I hope you don’t mean to tell me that you would think Victor capable of such behavior?”

  “Theo was always bringing strays home. Do you remember? Birds with broken wings, and fawns that had been abandoned by their mothers.”

  “He has been keeping a female in his room.” Severn’s voice was just under a roar. “Sleeping with some floozy in his mother’s house! Not a stray kitten.”

  “His mate?” Anna suggested.

  Severn cleared his throat. “I think he would have introduced us to his mate,” he said more gently.

  Anna squared her shoulders. “He’s thirty-five. Perhaps his mate is an,” she paused delicately, “Older woman.”

  Severn blenched.

  There was a brisk rap and the heavy oak door of Severn’s study swung open. Theo ushered a diminutive woman in ahead of him. She looked very young to Anna and very scared. Her flame bright hair was an untidy bundle on top of her head. Her feet were bare.

  The gamine was swathed in one of Theo’s shirts tied at her waist by a striped tie. It enveloped her completely and yet it was a completely inappropriate garment for this interview. Severn scowled at her. Theo settled her in a chair. Her feet dangled a foot above the floor. Where on Earth had Theo found this child?

  “Far, Mor,” he said formally, “The Princess Alexandra. Lexi, my parents, Lord and Lady Severn.”

  Lexi inclined her head gravely and courteously. “Please, excuse my costume, Lady Severn. Theo had no normal-sized clothes.”

  Theo took the chair beside her and reached for Lexi’s small plump hand.

  “Who or what is the Princess Alexandra?” Anna asked faintly.

  “The last of the Forest Elves,” Theo said. “And my bride.”

  The little urchin inclined her head graciously. “It is my honor to meet the parents of Theodor.”

  “The princess is my fated mate,” Theo said baldly.

  “Fated mate?” Anna echoed numbly. She pulled herself together. “I suppose you have a reasonable explanation for keeping this young woman in your quarters?”

  Lord Severn glared at his heir. Theo cleared his throat. “Explanation, yes, Mamma. Reasonable? Not exactly.”

  “I claim this Son of Lind by right of capture,” said Lexi in a clear crisp voice.

  Severn tried several times to say something, but her husband could only cough into his fist. Anna recovered first.

  “Does she know what right of capture means?” she whispered to her son.

  Theo shrugged. “I doubt it.”

  “It means he is my prisoner,” Lexi said firmly. “I wounded him with my trident. And he is mine.”

  Severn finally found his voice. “May I ask why, if he is your captive, you are in his home?”

  “Because he took mine. He cut down my tree. It’s dying in this castle even as I speak.” Their visitor’s voice was resolute.

  Anna’s amusement faded as Theo continued his story. She was by no means sure what to make of Lexi. The young woman was a curious mixture of self-possession and naïveté. Despite her undignified garments, she was perfectly poised, and broke in occasionally to offer her own commentary.

  Anna stood and shook out her skirt. “I see that we are going to have a new daughter-in-law, Severn. Princess, won’t you come with me? I’ll find you a bedroom of your own, and introduce you to Christina and Ingrid. Between us we should be able to find you something to wear other than Theodor’s shirts.”

  Chapter Ten

  “What about children?” asked Severn.

  Theo shrugged. “I doubt it. Lexi says she is now and forever a mortal. But truthfully, she is a little vague about most things.”

  Severn frowned. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you choosing an elf as your bride. But I am quite certain that speaking of her with disrespect is not the behavior I expect from my son towards his wife.”

  “I only meant, Far, that this century, these circumstances, are all outside of Lexi’s knowledge. According to her, she’s been trapped on this island since the days of Jörmungandr the Cursed. Also according to her, he captured her. Don’t you think if she was going to be transformed into a dragoness, it would have happened a thousand years ago?”

  “Do you tell me
that the Princess Alexandra was captured by Jörmungandr the Cursed?” Lord Severn asked incredulously.

  “So she says.” Theo turned his palms upward. “According to her he was a pirate and a dragon. Clearly his name means more to you than to me.”

  “It was in the days of Jörmungandr that the curse of male children was laid on our race. Every living dragon is a descendent of Jörmungandr. And it is his folly that caused us to have no more daughters.”

  “Why have I never heard this before?” demanded Theo.

  “It’s not a secret,” said Severn. “And until today, I thought it was merely another legend. We dragons have a complicated history that is as much fables as it is truth. In the version that I learned when I was a child, Jörmungandr was a pirate who sailed these seas in the days of Oden and Thor.”

  “That fits,” murmured Theo.

  “Every summer he would raid the villages on the coast on either side of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is said, that on his last raid he took prisoner the daughter of the King of the Elves. And brought down on his head the wrath of King Erikki. He wound up dead of course. And the King of the elves laid a curse on his descendants.”

  “Great Thor,” said Theo.

  “He denied our appeals,” Severn said dryly. “Of course, our ancestors laughed at first. In what way was only having male children a curse? Every Dragon wanted sons – many sons – to carry on his line. If he wanted a wife, he could always find a virgin. But gradually it came home to us that never having daughters to marry to our friends made alliances precarious. That curse sparked Dragon Wars that lasted for centuries.”

  Theo inclined his head. “A barbarous period.”

  “As virgins became rarer and rarer,” Severn continued. “Our race dwindled until we are very few. We Lindorms are a hardy family, and we have cultivated our friendships with mortals so that we have a supply of maidens willing to marry dragons. But other houses have not been so fortunate. Look at those Sarkanys. Ivan and Hugo are the last of their house – even if Leah and Christina have a child every year they could not replace all the missing Sarkanys.”

  “You think Lexi’s father cursed the dragons?” Theo asked.

  “It sounds like it. To think that she has been on this island for eight hundred years.”

  “According to her,” said Theo. “She’s lost her magic powers. And her father and all the elves died long ago. I’m afraid we’re stuck with the curse.”

  “Not if you marry her.”

  “What is that got to do with anything?”

  “The curse was to last until a son of Jörmungandr married the maiden he had beguiled.”

  “True or not,” Theo said getting to his feet. “I intend to marry the Princess Alexandra.”

  “Sit down, son. I am not done.” Severn waited until Theodor was sitting again. “Having children has always been important to you, Theo,” his father said. “Are you sure you’re willing to give that up for this female?”

  “Even if I had the heart to do it, I could not abandon Lexi, Papa. She says she claimed me by right of capture. But it feels to me as though I claimed her when I made her mortal.”

  “And if you never have firelings? Do you think your passion for her will continue?” Severn asked.

  “It will be hard, never having a son. I will have to try to be a better uncle – a better brother. Maybe we can even adopt. Stranger things have happened. I’m sorry, Papa, if you are disappointed.”

  “I am. And not just because you have chosen an elf. The idea of you keeping a woman in your quarters – in your mother’s house – is repugnant to me. And to your mother.”

  There was no point in arguing with his father. Theo bent his head. “I make you both my apologies.”

  “If Lexi is your fated mate, you will have to tell the Eldest. And we must begin planning an immediate wedding.”

  Theo nodded. “What did you mean by an immediate wedding?”

  “It’s Christmas Eve. Something before the New Year. Before your leave is over.”

  “Do you think I should take Lexi with me back to the base?”

  “You can’t marry her, Theo, and leave her here on Severn Island.”

  “She’s lived here for a very long time, Papa. I’m not sure if she could be happy anywhere else.”

  “This may sound radical to you, Theo, but why don’t you treat her like an equal? Ask her what she wants to do?”

  * * *

  Lexi stood before Lady Severn’s bedroom mirror. She gazed in horror at the figure in the mirror.

  “That blue is most becoming,” said Christina. “It makes your hair more vibrant.”

  “It just needs a belt,” put in Ingrid. “To give it some shape.”

  Nothing was going to give the castoff of these giantesses a shape. Not on her. When she had seen herself with Theo’s eyes, she had thought her mortal form quite lovely. But now she stood before the looking glass she realized the full horror of her transformation. This shapeless blue tunic was not the real problem. Her new ungainly body was an improbable shape.

  “Let’s try this,” said Lady Severn bringing out a narrow striped scarf. She put it around Lexi’s waist and discovered the ring of Hrothgar.

  “You need to take that off,” Anna Lindorm said gently.

  “It doesn’t come off.” Lexi wished she didn’t sound quite so sullen.

  “Not at all?” Christina said blue eyes widening.

  Lexi shook her head. “It’s the ring of Hrothgar the Magnificent. I turned into a woman when Theo put it around my waist. I don’t know what will happen if it comes off. Theo tried but he couldn’t remove it.”

  “That top makes quite a nice dress” said Ingrid rocking her baby. “Even without a belt. Here.” She handed Lexi an armful of small soft infant. Lexi had never smelled a human child before. She breathed in little Thorvald’s sweet baby fragrance. It was milky and delicious. All of a sudden she wanted one too.

  She had not thought about babies before. But she had an unaccountable longing for one of her own. A baby with Theo’s eyes. Although, perhaps not quite as large as him.

  The giantesses were whispering in a corner. This mortal hearing was not very good, but she could hear them.

  “Will she turn back into an elf if the belt is removed?” hissed Ingrid.

  “I don’t know. But elf or mortal – I don’t think —” Anna broke off. Lexi heard her swallowing hard. “When a dragon takes a mate the transformation should be a little different,” she said meaningfully.

  “You mean?” Christina gasped.

  “Hmmm,” said Anna. “No firelings at all.”

  Well, why not? Thought Lexi indignantly. She might be quite old, but this wobbly, mortal body was young. Brand new in fact.

  The giantesses surrounded her again. But now that she knew their smiles were faked, she didn’t feel as welcome as she had before. She clutched little Thorvald a little tighter. His rosebud mouth moved in his sleep. A bubble of milk appeared at one corner. He really was adorable.

  * * *

  Lexi gazed resentfully around her bedchamber. It was large. Larger than Theodor’s. But it seemed to her that his family had deliberately put her as far away from him as possible. She was lonely. And she felt completely unsettled.

  She ought to have known better, she thought, hugging her knees. In every story she had ever been told, prophecies and magic backfired every time. She had achieved her heart’s ambition. She had a new home, and a mate. But nothing had prepared her for the reality of being a mortal woman. She had taken it for granted that it would be just like being a larger version of herself. But it wasn’t. Not in the least.

  She had made herself into Theo’s ideal woman. Or as close as she could get. He had wanted a Valkyrie. She was somewhat shorter than that. Squat. Fleshy. Lumpy. And she was stuck with this graceless form until she died. It wasn’t fair. And nothing had warned her to expect her inconvenient human emotions.

  No one had told her she would care more for Theo’s feelings than
her own. No one had said she would fall in love with a lout who laughed at her. Or that the fact that he didn’t love her – that she was all wrong for him would overturn all her schemes.

  All she wanted to do was bawl her eyes out, or throw things. She hadn’t cried so much since she was a girl. Not since her father had locked her away. But in the last few days it seemed she had done nothing else. She turned her face into her knees and sobbed.

  The door opened. Theo’s cheerful voice spoke. “I thought dinner went well, didn’t you?”

  Here she was, trapped in an ugly body, condemned to barren mortality. What did he have to be happy about? She plucked a metal bowl off the table beside her and hurled it at her nemesis. At least she had not lost her aim. He ducked and the bowl crashed into the wall.

  “What have I done?” He picked her up as if she was still pixie-sized. “Are you going to tell me, sweetheart? Or must I guess?”

  His words opened a flood gate of complaint. “I’m not the right woman for you,” she sobbed. “I’m ugly, and I can’t have babies.”

  He sat down and cuddled her. “You are my fated mate.” His voice was very level and sure. “You’re smaller than I expected, but you’re mine. I don’t know if you can have babies, but we can have fun trying to make them.”

  “You forget, I have walked through your dreams. I know how important firelings are to you.”

  “I wouldn’t trade you for a dozen firelings – or a woman who could give me a dozen. That’s not how love works.”

  That made her sob harder. “You don’t love me.”

  “Don’t I?”

  The whole sad story came spilling out then. “I made you cut down my tree.”

  “I guessed. Were you the redstart as well?”

  She nodded. “I lied to you to get you to go on the Quest. And I didn’t tell you what I needed the ring of Hrothgar for.”

  “I thought it was to make you mortal, so you could be my mate?”

  “It was. But it didn’t work. It wasn’t supposed to wind up around my waist.” Her voice rose to a wail.

  Theo’s hand stroked her waist through the blue tunic the giantesses had lent her. They had made it smaller with magic tape instead of needle and thread. It hung strangely on her bulgy, new body. He traced the ring.