Precious Stones

by Brandi Bell

  "Thank you for allowing us to stay, and for helping us," I tell her.

  Zeus pops his head up between us and licks her hand. She laughs, and gives his head a rub. I take it as a good sign, that he likes her. I eat my meal slowly, not to embarrass myself in front of her.

  Once we are finished, someone shows us to a suite of rooms. Zeus flops on the floor, and is snoring within seconds. I guess he's really tired. I look at my men, and don't know how to ask them to sleep in the same bed as me again.

  "Do you need us to sleep near you again tonight, lass?" Seamus asks, saving me.

  "Please," I answer, looking at them.

  We enter one of the rooms and thankfully the bed is quite large. I crawl in and Zeus hears us and comes running, Flavian, and the other two close on his heels.

  "Looks like we'll have lots of company," Grady jokes.

  "Come lay down before there's no room left," I tell them.

  They all crawl into bed, along with the pookas. We find our spots and it's not even five minutes and I'm asleep.

  Chapter 33

  Elias

  I wake up, it's almost time for Ruby to change. I get out of bed and stretch, Harley reluctantly follows me. I pad across the hall to Jade's room and open the door quietly. I quietly shake her to wake her up.

  She gasps until she sees me,then she gives me a questioning look. I motion for her to follow me.

  "Why did you wake me up?" she asks.

  "I didn't want to make Ruby change in the middle of a bed full of other people again," I explain.

  "That's very thoughtful of you," Jade tells me.

  "I'm glad you think so," I reply.

  "Glad I think what?" Ruby asks.

  "Hi, Gem."

  "Why are you in the hallway with Jade?"

  "Because I didn't want you to wake up in a bed full of other men again."

  "You are amazing," she says, then pulls me into a kiss.

  My dick hardens, I pick her up, making her place her legs around my waist. I fumble with my door, then finally get it open. I head towards the bed, and trip. We topple over, me on my back with her on top of me. The taste of her lips has my cock so hard I can't stand it.

  I quickly undo my pants, while she slides out of her dress, her naked body driving me to move faster. She lays on the bed, I kneel down and pull her hips to me so I can taste her. I lap at her until she squirms. I can tell she’s getting close, so I stop. She bucks her hips towards me, I grin, then lift myself over her, kissing my way up her stomach, to her breasts. My cock throbbing. I take her nipple in my mouth and she groans. I can’t hold off any longer, I fill her up in one long thrust. I find a rhythm that makes her moan and squirm. I keep the pace until I feel her orgasm, I increase my speed until I fill her with my seed, then fall to the bed next to her to catch my breath.

  Chapter 34

  Ruby

  I feel much better, after Elias and I have our time together. I didn't realize how much I needed some one-on-one time with him. I'm missing my other guys, but we’ll be home with them soon, I hope.

  The sun is starting to rise, so we get dressed. I go across the hall and knock on the door. I can hear murmuring and rustling around, so I know they are awake now. I sit in Elias's room for a bit waiting on everyone.

  "What's the plan this morning?" I ask.

  "Queen Annalisa is going to give us the information she finds for the Spring Kingdom, then we'll move on to the Summer Kingdom I imagine," Elias tells me.

  "Hopefully she has news," I say chewing on my lip.

  "How worried are you, Gem?" he asks me.

  "I don't want my dad stuck like this, I'm scared we won't be able to fix it," I answer truthfully.

  "We'll figure it out, one way or another," he says adamantly.

  There's a knock on the door, he gets up and answers it, the guys and their pookas are in the hallway.

  "Let's go talk to the queen, she said she would be ready at first light," Antoine tells us.

  "Ok," I respond.

  We head down a winding hallway that seems to slope downwards, then meet up in a larger one. I notice that everything inside is made of tree branches, I’ve not been very observant to have missed this until now. To be fair, Elias did distract me.

  I follow the group into the throne room; I'm impressed by the natural castle. There is a beautiful woman sitting on the throne, this must be the queen the guys were talking about.

  "Jade, your eyes changed colors," she comments.

  "Sorry, Your um, Highness? I'm Ruby, Jade won't be back for a while," I say uncomfortably. I don't do well with authority.

  "How peculiar," she says. "Anyways, there are four fae in my kingdom with the power to curse your father in the manner he is cursed. I'm summoning them to the castle now. Do you have a contact stone?"

  "We purchased one for Jade yesterday, Your Highness," Antoine tells her.

  "Very well. I will contact you when I have more information. I know you are in a rush to find all the information you can," the queen tells us.

  "Thank you, Your Highness," Grady says.

  "Now, get moving, it's a long journey to Summer," she dismisses us.

  "Well, at least we are on our way to the last kingdom, we have to find an answer soon," Seamus says.

  We exit the throne room and everything goes dark.

  Chapter 35

  Antoine

  We're in the hallway when Ruby trips, I catch her and see green eyes.

  "Welcome back, my dear," I say.

  "Was the queen any help?" she asks.

  "She will contact your stone if she finds something," Grady tells her.

  "Are we going to Summer Kingdom now?" she questions us.

  "That's the plan, but we'll have to spend a night camping again before we arrive," I tell her.

  We walk out the front door, the elves bring up our saddles and pack pooka. Our pookas turn into horses again, we saddle, and ride. I love this part of our journey. Spring to Summer is a beautiful path. Although, I'm anxious at the moment. I'd hoped we would have found the fae responsible by now with the help we are receiving.

  "There's a fruit orchard up ahead that we should grab breakfast from," I tell the group.

  "Oh, that would be amazing!" Jade exclaims.

  That girl is an eating machine. I've never witnessed anyone who put away food like her. I chuckle to myself, I wouldn't have her any other way.

  "Can I ask a question," Grady asks.

  "It appears you already have," I answer.

  "What do we need to know about the Summer Kingdom?" he questions me.

  "Well, the queen is different... she spends a lot of time in touch with nature, so when you speak with her she seems... flighty," I try to explain.

  "Her name is Genovive, but we more than likely will be taken care of by her daughter Talia," I continue.

  "Why would her daughter deal with us instead?" Jade asks.

  "Talia is more grounded in the world, her mother is lost in the plants more often than not. I fear it won't be long before Talia will be forced to succeed her," I answer sadly.

  "Why do you sound sad?" she questions.

  "For Talia to succeed her, she either has to kill her mother, or her mother has to pass it over. If her mother is that far gone..." I trail off.

  "Maybe the people will consider her dead to the world instead?" she asks hopeful.

  "Maybe, it is something to consider," I muse.

  We reach the orchard and climb off of our pookas. Jade is looking around in awe at all of the fruit trees. I smile, it makes me happy to see her so enthralled in my world.

  "Can we pick anything?" she asks her voice showing excitement.

  "Of course," I answer with a chuckle.

  She runs off between the trees, looking at all of her options, I assume.

  Chapter 36

  Jade

  I'm so excited. The orchard Antoine brought us to is amazing. The tree trunks are natural ladders, allowing you to reach the fruit easily. There a
re fruits I've never seen before, but they look sweet and juicy. I gather one of each of every kind I can carry, then head back to the pookas.

  Antoine starts laughing at me when he sees me.

  "Did you find enough to fill you, my dear?" he asks.

  "I wanted to try them all," I say with a pout.

  "Good thing they will keep for a while then," he replies.

  He helps me pack the fruit where I can reach it while riding. I take out a yellow star shaped fruit and take a bite. It's unlike anything I've ever tasted. It's juicy like a watermelon, but tastes like a strawberry crossed with a mango. I quickly finish it, amazed with how good it is.

  "I should have gotten more of those!" I exclaim.

  The men all laugh at me. I guess my eating habits aren't very normal. I look around the path as we amble along. There are fields of flowers, that fade into tall forests. In the forests you can see that some of the huge trees are homes for different fae.

  "When we aren't so busy, I would love to learn more about the people of this world," I tell Antoine.

  "I'll be happy to teach you, my dear," he replies with a lopsided grin.

  That grin makes my stomach flutter. I must be coping better with my dad’s situation, I haven't felt that feeling since I found out. I blush at the thought. I blush redder when I realize the men can see me blushing if they look.

  I push those thoughts out of my head and go back to admiring the kingdom. It's amazing how each kingdom stays in one season. The complete opposite of Earth. It is nice you can choose one season and live in it, although with the fact we had to gain permission to travel, I don't think they get much of a choice.

  We come across a large lake, with a woman sitting on the side of it singing. Grady and Elias instantly try to turn their pookas towards her. Harley and Grady's pooka fight them.

  "What's wrong with them," I scream at Antoine.

  "She's a siren, her voice calls to mortals, well most of them," he explains looking at me with an odd expression.

  She must have heard me scream, as she's stopped singing. Elias and Grady both have confused looks on their faces.

  "What happened?" Grady asks.

  "I'm afraid that's my fault," the woman who was singing says. "I'm a siren, It's not often that I come across someone affected here."

  "Thank you for stopping your song while we pass," Antoine tells her.

  "It's not a problem, I don't care for the attention," she says, then walks off.

  "Anyone else find that strange?" I ask.

  "What hasn't been strange since we arrived here?" Grady counters.

  "Has it been that strange? I haven't noticed," I answer him.

  Seamus and Antoine both start laughing at that, which makes me blush again. I feel like the butt of most of their jokes lately.

  "You don't always have to laugh at poor naive Jade," I snap at them.

  "Lass, we weren't laughing at you like that. I was laughing because you fit in so well, that’s all," Seamus explains with a grin.

  "Sorry, my dear, I wasn't intending to upset you," Antoine tells me.

  "Fine, maybe I'm a bit on edge," I say.

  "You have a right to be, baby," Grady comforts me.

  We ride in silence after that. I continue to watch the scenery and notice the further we travel from the castle the more wild the forest looks. There are less fields of flowers and longer stretches of just trees.

  The trees are still beautiful, with different shades of green, and colored moss hanging from branches and on trunks. I spot different creatures hiding in the trees. I look closer at some of them, and they wave at me. I lift my hand and wave back. I hear giggling, then see a group of tiny looking people running alongside our group.

  "The pixies gave you attention?" Antoine asks in shock.

  "I guess so, they waved so I waved back," I answer.

  "Pixies are picky about who they associate with, you should feel lucky, my dear," he explains.

  "Thank you," I say, as I wave and smile at the pixies.

  One jumps up on the saddle in front of me. He's a cute little thing dressed in orange, with dragonfly wings. He almost glows.

  "Hi," I say.

  "Hello," he replies in a small squeaky voice.

  "Is there anything I can help you with?" I ask him.

  "We wondered if you are the group from the prophecy?" he asks me.

  "I don't know. The prophecy has been mentioned to us a few times, but no one will tell us what it's about," I admit.

  "My name is Dirk," he puts his tiny hand out.

  "Jade, nice to meet you," I say while sticking my pinky out for him to shake.

  "I hope it's you, you're nice," he says then flies back to the group. They take off back into the trees once he joins them.

  "I really want to know what this prophecy is," I say with a sigh.

  "You're not the only one," Seamus agrees.

  We ride a bit further, until a clearing comes into sight. There are all sorts of flowers growing in every color I could imagine. There's a bunch of different animals playing as well.

  "This is a happy place," Antoine tells us.

  "Can we stop for lunch here then?" I ask.

  "I don't see why not," he replies.

  We stop and let the pookas free from their saddles. They immediately change into their dog forms and start playing with the other animals.

  Antoine grabs a blanket out of the pack, and spreads it out for us to sit on. I take the fruit I picked in the orchard out and choose another one to try. There's a deep purple fruit, that was round like an orange, but has thin skin like an apple. I take a bite, it was extremely sour. I make a face and spit it out. Antoine falls over laughing. I give him a dirty look.

  "I'm sorry my dear, I should have warned you off of that one. It's worse than a lemon until you have honey on it," he says, still laughing.

  "Thanks for nothing," I say to him, desperately trying to pick a sweet fruit.

  "Here this one tastes like berries," Antoine says, handing me an orange bunch of grape looking fruit.

  I pop one in my mouth and it was amazing. It totally replaced the sour taste. It tasted similar to a mixed berry smoothie, only more. I finish the entire bunch, sad I didn't grab more of them.

  "Any of the rest of these I should avoid?" I ask Antoine, while giving him a pointed look.

  "No, the purple one is the only one," he says around a chuckle.

  "I'll remember that next time you try something new," I tease him.

  We pack up the rest of the fruits and the blanket, then call our pookas back to saddle them. Zeus comes running back with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. It looks like they're having fun.

  "Ok, boy, we need to get going. Can you go back to the horse for me?" I ask him.

  He answers by shifting immediately.

  "Thank you," I tell him.

  As soon as the rest of the men are in their saddles, we continue on. We are back in the trees, and everything smells alive. The air has a different quality in this world, no pollution, it just feels cleaner.

  "Why don't humans work with the land like the fae do?" I muse.

  "Because humans are selfish creatures who can't see their nose for their face," Seamus says.

  "Why does this feel like home, when I've never been here?" I wonder aloud.

  "Because this is where your bloodline comes from. You should all feel at home here," Antoine says.

  "I don't," Elias mutters.

  "Why not?" I ask him.

  "I miss Liam and Felix. It's not home without them," he states matter of factly.

  "I'm sorry. I hadn't thought of what it must be like not having them with you," I tell him, feeling badly it hadn't occurred to me.

  "It's fine Jade, we'll be back to them as soon as we save your dad," he comforts me.

  "It should be me comforting you, not the other way around silly," I say with a smile.

  He just laughs at me and catches up to Antoine. Seamus falls in step beside me.

>   "Lass, what would you say, if you had the chance to live here forever?" he asks me.

  "I would say no. It's not fair to Ruby, and two of her men aren't here," I reply.

  "Let's speak like you didn't share a body with her, would you want to live here then?" he asks again.

  "If you guys all wanted to as well, I would love to live here," I answer honestly.

  "Good to know how you feel, lass," he tells me with a grin.

  We resume riding in silence, I get lost in my thoughts watching the scenery. If I could live here, in Spring or even Autumn I could be happy I decided, just not Winter. Winter creeps me out, there is something not right going on in that castle. That makes me remember Akashka and the contact stone. I fish it out of my pocket and it's glowing.

  "Antoine, how do I use this thing?" I question him.

  He falls back next to me, and I hand him the contact stone. I watch him as he holds the stone in his hand and squeezes it. Nothing happens.

  "Interesting, this message will only open for you, my dear," he tells me. "Close your hand around the stone and think about the message, it should play for you then."

  "Ok, I'll try," I reply.

  I take the contact stone back, close my hand around it, and close my eyes to think about hearing the message. Suddenly it feels like I am standing in a room with Akashka.

  "Sorry for the secrecy, but I want to make sure this message could not be intercepted. My father hasn't even attempted to look into your problem, but I did. None of the hags who could produce such a curse have left Winter Kingdom, so it wasn't from here. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help," she explains. "If I hear anything at all, I will contact you again. I wish I could come help you. Goodbye."

  I'm back in the forest suddenly, which makes me a bit dizzy.

  "What did the message say?" Antoine asks.

  "She said none of the hags have left the Winter Kingdom so it couldn't be them, but she will listen for any rumors going around," I reply.

  "Nice of her to pass it along, she really doesn't belong with her father," Antoine states, then rides forward again.