by Bonnie Lamer
“Did they believe you?”
He shakes his head and his mouth forms a thin line. “Not really. Even her father had to eventually admit that she was lying when confronted by Grandmother and Dagda, and threatened with a truth serum.”
“And Dagda still hired her as head of his security?”
“Her determination to marry my nephew has nothing to do with her ability to manage security,” Dagda says dryly from the frame that used to have a door. “Do you mind telling me why my head of security has once again been thrown from the carriage?” He leans out the hole in the hallway. “And why she appears to be wearing a door?”
I’ve been so intent on getting the story out of Kallen, I didn’t even realize that the carriage had stopped moving. I guess having a hole blown in it would break the concentration of the Fairies who are keeping it afloat. “Um, she said something that made me mad.” I look down at my hands in embarrassment. I know I’m almost purple at the moment. He has every right to be mad at me.
To my surprise, Dagda starts laughing. “Xandra, look at me,” he says after a moment, humor lingering in his voice. I look up at him. “My only concern with you, is that you did something to cause yet another delay, as my problems in the south truly are pressing. Now, my concerns with Radella are another issue altogether. I am finding her tact and diplomacy to be lacking in regards to you, and her personal feelings are interfering with her job. I am assuming she was trying to make you jealous?”
I sigh. I hate admitting this to him; and the fact that he’s so perceptive. I’m supposed to have the upper hand in our relationship, not him. Yet, here I am acting like a child who can’t control her emotions, and he’s the understanding father. Great. But, I might as well get it all out in the open. “Yes.”
He inclines his head. “I am impressed with your honesty.” He looks at the hole again. “Not to mention the creativity of your revenge.”
Revenge? Is that what this seems like? I don’t want to be a vengeful person. I guess the facts are adding up against me, though. “I’ll draw my magic back,” I say, embarrassment ringing so loudly in my ears, I am sure it can be heard back at Isla’s.
Dagda purses his lips. “No, not quite yet. Perhaps an hour or two of being wrapped up like that will do her some good.”
Yeah, I really don’t want to be like him. “That’s kind of mean.”
His brows rise in surprise. “And wrapping her up to begin with was not?”
I have no response to that. I think my best bet is to remain silent at this point. I let my magic go, and Radella is no longer wrapped in the door. I can’t see her, but I’m sure she’s free. Dagda glowers at me a moment for not obeying him, but then he turns to go. I really need to learn to control my temper, or I will be just like him.
Chapter 5
Kallen comes up behind me and with his hands on my shoulders, he turns me around. “Xandra, I am sorry that I did not tell you about my experience with Radella. I was not trying to hide it from you; I simply try not to think about such things. We have spoken before about my being popular amongst families looking to tie themselves to my family. As much as I would like to think it is my charm and good looks, most of it is political. I have never cared for anyone like I do you, but I have dated other girls. Do you want me to tell you about them?”
Good lord, no. I’m trying to learn to control my jealousy, and I don’t think him giving me a list of Fairies whom he may have dated, or kissed, will help. “How about if you just warn me if someone I meet is someone you dated, okay? That way, I’m not taken by surprise.”
A grin moves the corners of his mouth high on his face. “So you can throw them through a wall?”
I give him a dirty look. “No.”
“You are beautiful when you are jealous. And I do believe, you are almost as jealous as I am when anyone looks at you in a way I do not like.”
“How do you keep from throwing them through a wall?” Not that a lot of other Fairies have looked at me like that, probably only Kegan, but I still want to know.
He cups my cheeks in his hands and leans down to kiss my lips softly. “I know in my heart that I am who you want.” He kisses me again. “I can assure you, there is no room in my heart for anyone but you.”
I believe him, I really do. Too bad that’s not a magical cure for jealousy. Taking a deep breath, I decide from here on out, I’m not going to worry about anyone he might have dated in the past. We’ll see how it goes.
“Now,” he says, “I have to get us back on the road. Do you want to lay down for a bit? It might help with your motion sickness.”
I sigh. “Good idea. Sorry you have to clean up after me again.”
He gives me a quick kiss and a smile. “It is worth it to see you get jealous.” I shake my head and walk back to the bed. Sinking into the mattress, I push off a couple of pillows and finding the softest one left, I lay down and close my eyes.
“Xandra Illuminata Smith! You get out of that bed this instant.”
Uh oh, that must not have been the first time Mom’s called me. I have to get up now that she’s used all three of my names, or I’ll be in big trouble. Throwing back the dark blue comforter that has been keeping me so warm, I sit up and stretch. I’m still so tired. I want to crawl right back under the covers, but I know Mom’s going to come in any minute.
As if on cue, my bedroom door opens and Mom walks in. “Xandra, what’s the matter with you? I’ve been calling you for fifteen minutes. You know your father and I want to make a quick trip down to Denver, and you need to watch Zac. You can’t do that from bed.”
Wait a minute. This isn’t right. “You’re not a ghost,” I say.
Mom’s eyes get big. “What on earth would make you say such a thing? Did you have a bad dream?” She comes over and sits down on the bed next to me. The bed from my old bedroom back home, not the soft bed I’m sure I fell asleep in. The one with the light comforter instead of the dark blue one from my old bed. Mom presses her left hand against my forehead, checking for a fever.
I must be dreaming right now. “Mom, you and Dad died in a car accident a few years ago. You’re a ghost now.” Why am I arguing with my dream Mom about her being dead? That’s kind of creepy. Still, “You’re not real.”
Mom frowns. “Is this some new age teen angst thing or something? You try to convince your parents that they’re dead?”
“You are dead.” This is getting frustrating. I want to wake up now.
“Julienne, what’s the hold up?” Dad asks from the doorway.
She turns so she can see him. “Your daughter doesn’t want to get out of bed. I think she may have had a nightmare. She keeps telling me that I’m dead.”
Dad walks over and he takes a turn feeling my forehead. “You don’t feel warm. Does anything hurt? Do you feel ill?”
I pull back from his touch and his hand drops to his side. “I’m not sick. And you and Mom are dead. I’m dreaming.”
“Dreaming?” He has worry lines on his brow, now. Looking at Mom, he says, “I think we should postpone our trip until we figure out what’s wrong with her.”
Mom nods. “I agree.” She gives me a stern look. “Unless this is some sort of scheme to get out of watching your brother?”
I sigh and snap. “I watch Zac all the time because you and Dad are dead.”
Dad puts his hands out, palms facing me. “Okay, don’t get excited. Maybe you should lay back down for a little bit. You’re looking a little pale. Perhaps more sleep is all you need.”
That’s the first thing either of them have said that I agree with. I nod and lay back down. Mom pulls the covers up and tucks them around me like she used to when I was a kid. “Feel better, sweetheart. If you need anything, just let us know.” She leans down and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I can’t help but smile. It’s been so long since she could do that without making my body temperature drop ten degrees. I close my eyes and my parents leave the room quietly, closing the door behind them.
“Xandra,
wake up. You have to wake up.” Kallen is shaking me. I get the feeling he’s been doing it for a while.
I open my eyes, blinking against the bright light of the room. “I’m awake,” I mumble, sleep still clinging heavily to me.
Kallen sits up straight and runs his hand through his hair. He’s taking deep breaths. I think he’s trying to calm himself down. From what, I don’t know, but I’m a little more awake now. “What’s wrong? Was I talking in my sleep or something? I had a strange dream…”
I’m interrupted by Alita bounding into the room. She climbs on the bed and pulls me into a hug. “Oh, Xandra, you are awake!”
“Oookaaay, what did I miss?”
I hear Kegan in the hall. “Let the King know she’s awake. He and his drivers should have control now.”
Control of what? Pulling out of Alita’s bear hug, I turn to Kallen. “What happened?”
His breathing is slower and more even now, but he’s still looking a little ragged. I’m getting pretty nervous, now. “You seem determined to keep us from going south.”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. “Could you spell it out a little more for me? I just woke up and my brain’s a little foggy.” More than a little, actually. It feels like the spiders I called before came back and turned my brain tissue into spider webs. And then buried them in the sand.
“You took control of the carriage.”
Still not penetrating the sandy sticky webs. “What do you mean, I took control?”
“You used your magic to take over driving the carriage, and you have had us heading west for the last six hours.”
“Six hours? Kallen, I’ve only been asleep for about five minutes.”
He stands up and pushes one of the curtains aside. The sun is heading towards the horizon already. “No way. I couldn’t have been asleep that long.”
“The evidence is to the contrary,” he says. A little snippety, I might add.
“So, you want me to believe that during what I believe was a five minute nap, six hours have passed and during that time, I hijacked the carriage and have been driving it towards some unknown location.”
“Yes.”
Obviously, he didn’t catch the fact that I was making fun of the whole notion. “But you said earlier that I wouldn’t be able to drive this thing.”
His shoulders move in a barely perceptible shrug. “When it comes to you, I am often proven to be wrong.”
His eyes tighten. He hates being wrong. I push back the covers and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I need to stand up and move around. Clear away at least some of the cobwebs. “You’re positive it was me?” I ask, as I stand up.
“Your magic has a distinct flavor,” he says dryly.
I scowl at him. “I was just asking.”
He sighs and stands up, as well. “I am positive it was your magic.”
“Then why didn’t you wake me up before now?”
There’s a vein on his temple that I believe is trying to jump out of him, so it can wrap itself around me, and squeeze like a boa constrictor. I hope it’s just the vein that feels like that. There’s something in his eyes that tells me he just might be thinking about it, though. And, I’m pretty sure that he has a comment on the tip of his tongue trying to pry his teeth apart, but he’s trying to push it back down his throat. I assume that’s why it takes him several heartbeats to answer me. “We have been trying to wake you up for the last six hours.” I bet that was hard to say without moving his teeth.
“We have taken turns,” Alita says softly. “When not trying to wake you, Kallen, Kegan and King Dagda, as well as Radella, the drivers and the overseers, have been trying to take back control of the carriage. Unsuccessfully.”
I can’t help but gulp. All of them were trying to use their magic against mine and they couldn’t get control? What is there to say to that? “Um, sorry.” Yeah, that sounded weak even to my own ears.
Someone I have never met comes to the door, startling me. Which, of course, makes me start drawing magic. He’s short in stature, and dressed in a wrinkled white shirt and dark brown pants. His face is heavily lined and he looks like he’s spent way too much time in the sun.
“Xandra,” Kallen says, with more than a little reproof in his voice about me drawing magic. I think he might be a little tired of my magic at the moment, what with two holes to fix and a hijacking. Wow, I’ve packed a lot into one day, even for me, and it’s not even over yet.
I force my magic back down. “Who are you?” I ask the now very nervous Fairy standing in the doorway.
“I-I am…,” he stutters.
Kegan takes pity on him. “This is Sindri, Dagda’s assistant. He has come to call us to Dagda’s quarters.”
“Oh, okay.” Guess it’s time to face the music. Or guillotine. I bet he keeps one in his office.
Alita looks nervous and Kegan looks resigned. This is not going to be good. Kallen comes to my side and I tentatively take his hand, wondering if he’s too mad at me to want to hold hands with me. He gives mine a reassuring squeeze and I smile up at him. He’s not smiling, but I think that’s more because of fatigue than me. He has dark circles under his eyes, and he looks like he’s ready for a six hour nap. Or twelve hour nap.
Like a funeral procession, we walk single file down the circular staircase, coming to a halt at Dagda’s door. Sindri steps ahead of us and after a light knock, he opens the door. Dagda is sitting behind his desk, and I have never seen him look so haggard. He has the same dark circles under his eyes as Kallen.
“Thank you, Sindri,” Dagda says, as he rises from his chair. “Please stop at the kitchen and let the chef know we are ready for dinner. That will be all for the evening. We will be back on the road in the morning, and as soon as we start moving, meet me back here.” Sindri nods and backs out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“Shall we?” Dagda says, sweeping his arm towards a door that I assume leads to his private quarters.
Kallen has to tug a little bit on my hand before I follow. I feel like a kid whose Mom brought her back into the store because she stole a piece of candy, and now has to apologize to the store owner. This day is completely ruining my equilibrium in regards to Dagda. I don’t want to feel like a little girl around him. Now, I’m embarrassed and defensive. Yeah, this is going to go well.
We walk into a sitting room with a gold leather couch and a brown reclining chair. The floor is carpeted in a light brown and the walls are a soft tan. The room is comfortable and masculine at the same time. I wonder if his wife decorated it. There is a mahogany table against the back wall that has a decanter full of a brownish liquid and several glasses. Dagda heads there and pours himself a drink. I don’t think it’s tea.
After taking a stiff drink, he turns towards me. “You certainly do keep life interesting.”
“Must be my heritage.” I said I was feeling defensive.
He sits down in the chair and leans back. “Yes, I suppose it is.” Huh. I thought he’d get defensive, too. Good job sucking all the air out of my attack. “Have a seat,” he says, waving his glass towards the couch. It’s a tight squeeze for all four of us, but we manage.
Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, Dagda asks, “What were you dreaming?”
He’s takes me by surprise again. I guess I’m kind of amazed that he’s the first one to ask me that. “I was dreaming of my parents. My real parents,” I add. Hmm, not one feather ruffled on him. I want to scream at him to stop being so accepting of my behavior. Then, I’d have a reason to take out my tension and humiliation on him. Wow, I’m mature at the moment.
“And,” he prompts.
I sigh. I’m kind of embarrassed to talk about it, but then again, I don’t think any of them are going to make fun of me. “I dreamt that I woke up in my bed back in my own realm and my parents weren’t ghosts. They were real. And I tried explaining to them that it couldn’t be real…” I pause a moment, thinking about how real it did feel at the time, “They thought I
was crazy, or sick, or something. They tried to convince me that I had a bad dream, and that they were reality.”
“Xandra woke believing she had only been asleep for five minutes or so. She was completely surprised that it had been six hours,” Kallen adds.
I nod. “I swear, I was only in my realm in my dream for five minutes. The rest of the time, I must not have been dreaming.”
Dagda looks thoughtful. “During this dream, did you use any type of magic?”
I shake my head. “No, none.”
He’s deep in thought again. Finally, he asks, “Your home in your realm, it would be west of here?”
I have to take a minute to think of my geography lessons. “Northwest, but yes, west of here in general.”
“Do you think she was trying to go home?” Kallen asks, sounding dumbfounded.
