You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to see that happen, Noah says in my head, making me chuckle lightly. Kaelen takes his throne and sits, looking out at the Council for long moments before propping his chin up with his fingers, probably out of exhaustion, although it does look sufficiently pissed off as to be intimidating.
“The Council will be reduced,” he says without preamble. “After the evidence that has come to light, and sworn before me and others, it is clear. Cassina, your scheming and your constant fostering of discord have created nearly as many problems as the demon realm itself. The poison that has spread from your throne, the way you treat your subjects, the lie that is Faeledd, all are based around you and your autocratic rule. Fine. I will not take away your throne. It is a time for healing and not war. But Lunaria’s membership in the Council is suspended for the rest of your rule. In addition, all trade agreements between Council lands and Lunaria are suspended. On the other hand, a refugee policy will be put in place to allow those who wish to leave your toxic regency to do so. I will not force innocent humans, halflings, and Fae to be punished for your arrogance.”
Kaelen waves his hand, and Cassina’s mouth drops open, her face flushing pink. “You . . . you pup!” she screeches, raising a hand. “My people will not stand for this, Lightwing! This could mean war!”
Kaelen nods and glances at me. I return the nod and raise myself a foot off the floor, letting my powers crackle around me. “Cassina, if a single Lunarian trooper crosses the border, I won’t need to slaughter them,” I say before snapping my fingers. I disappear, reappearing behind her with my hand resting gently on her neck. The power she feels is certainly real. “I’ll just take out the garbage.”
Cassina whimpers, but before any of her retinue can react, I disappear again, reappearing where I was before. I give Kaelen a respectful nod, and he returns it before looking out at the Council and those in the room. “Hear this. Eve Carter was first a guest of Solaria, then my personal ward. No longer. From this moment forth, Eve Carter is a lady of the realm, to be afforded all rights and honors equal to any lord or lady throughout the seven kingdoms. Her Declared are declared heroes of Solaria and to be given all rights and honors forthwith.”
Whoa.
I glance at Tyler, who looks awestruck. What is it?
We all just got made higher in rank than Cole’s parents. The only people who can outrank us are the Council members themselves.
Jacob chuckles. Great. Cole, tell your father I want him to wash my underpants.
Behave yourself, Jacob.
Yes, Angel.
His use of the nickname warms me, and I reach behind me, taking his hand and giving his fingers a little squeeze. They all understand, and since getting back to the Fae realm, nobody’s used it at all.
Cassina looks like she’s about to say something again, but when I give her a raised eyebrow, she turns and storms out, her entourage following her. The last one is a single young Handmaiden who bows nervously before shutting the door to the Council room behind her.
Once the commotion’s cleared out, Kaelen looks at the rest of the Council. “Lady Eve, in honor of your service and that of your Guardians, I am declaring a feast and festival in your honor, to take place—”
“Excuse me, your Excellency?” Jacob says, raising a hand. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but may I make a request?”
Kaelen blinks, probably surprised that anyone’s got the guts to interrupt him after everything that’s happened in the past few minutes, but he doesn’t know Jacob the way I do. “Of course, Sir Jacob. What is your request?”
“Can we delay any festival for a month?” Jacob says. “I have certain . . . items I would like to get for any festival, and they may take some time to procure. And a month from now is the next full moon. It’s quite lovely here in Solaria then.”
Kaelen nods, chuckling. “Well, who can argue with that? Then in one month, we’ll have a festival honoring the heroes of the realm and Lady Eve. In the meantime, Sir Cole, Sir Tyler, Sir Noah, and Sir Jacob will be accorded all rights and privileges due to them. Any questions?”
There are none, and moments later, the ‘meeting’ is over. Kaelen leaves with Connor to discuss mundane matters concerning Solaria while my Guardians also leave, Tyler teasing Jacob about being named last in Kaelen’s final proclamation.
I watch them leave before turning around to see Lorelai still standing where she’s been, her eyes exhausted. I go up to her, taking her hands. “Sister . . . you look tired.”
“He has needed my help,” Lorelai says quietly. “And I am being useful.”
“Then let me support you the way you’ve supported him,” I reply, closing my eyes and concentrating. When I open them, Lorelai looks refreshed, and behind her mask, I can see the outline of a smile. “Well?”
“Thank you,” she says quietly. “Can I ask you something? You requested my help with your powers, but . . . I feel like I am inadequate for the task.”
I smile, shaking my head. “I have power. You have knowledge, and more importantly, wisdom. If I am to have any chance of using my powers for the betterment of all the realms, then I need your wisdom. Especially the most important lesson of all.”
“What’s that?” Lorelai asks as we turn and start to walk out of the Council room.
“When to let it be,” I reply. “I’m not a goddess, Lorelai. I’m not that arrogant or that stupid. But I know I could be tempted to act like one. It’s wisdom that will tell me when to act and when to let things happen, even when they’re painful.”
“You are wiser than you give yourself credit for,” Lorelai says. We reach the door to the Council chamber, and with a wave of her fingers, Lorelai opens it for me. “Ladies first?”
I laugh. The joke’s a good one. “Only if you follow me to my chambers and promise to lie down for awhile. If Kaelen needs your help, he can send a runner. Speaking of which, I saw something—”
“What happened to the Moonstone and Hellstone?” Lorelai interrupts me, cutting off my question with an innocent pointedness. “Where did they go?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But if what I’ve learned is any indication, I’d say there are realms far beyond our understanding. The Stone is there now. Will it return? Perhaps. If we need it.”
“Are you sure you need to go?”
Jacob nods, stroking my arm tenderly as we kneel across from each other on the bed, not a stitch on us. “I do. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the reason.”
“And you can’t tell me?” I ask, pouting when Jacob shakes his head. “And there’s nothing I can do to entice you?”
Jacob takes a deep breath but shakes his head again. “Sorry, Angel. It’ll be worth it, though, I can promise.”
“Then give me something to remember you by while you’re gone,” I whisper, reaching down and taking his cock in my hand. I kiss him deeply, stroking his cock as precum leaks out, coating my fingers and adding delicious slipperiness to my stroking. Jacob moans into my mouth, and I feel the little click inside that is a new level to our Link.
Whoa.
I didn’t expect this.
Intense.
I chuckle, breaking my kiss with Jacob to lie back and look over his shoulder at Cole, Tyler, and Noah, who are all as naked as we are. Tyler crawls up the bed on my right while Noah stays on my left, both of them kissing my body. “You can feel it all, can’t you?”
“It’s . . . weird and amazing,” Tyler admits, his eyes widening as Jacob slips inside me. “Oh, fuck.”
It is weird and amazing. I can feel the experience at a level deeper than ever imagined as Jacob thrusts his cock inside me while Tyler and Noah alternate kisses on my lips with strong sucking and nuzzling at my breasts. It’s overwhelming, each sensation being reflected to everyone else and magnified, cascading, and building. It makes Linked sex before look like a hollow echo of the joining I feel.
We slip, and there’s no more me, no more they. The five of us merge, one soul shared among five bod
ies as we keep thrusting into our body, our pussy milking and creaming over our cock until we cry out, filling ourselves and quickly being replaced by another cock.
We can’t believe it, it’s never-ending, just crescendo after crescendo as we keep going, our bodies tumbling, rolling to find a new position, a new connection. We take our thickest cock in our pussy while sucking and nuzzling at our exhausted one, cleaning it until our mouth drifts lower, sucking and nuzzling on our balls and then lower, lapping at the tight, clenched entrance to our ass. Our cries of pleasure reach another climax, and we shift again, impaling ourselves on our long, deep cock as we suck our other cock, crying out around our cock as we come a third time before quickly taking our cock doggy-style. We pound our exhausted body, our hips slapping and shoving our face into the pillow until we explode, shattering and being torn apart to only come back together in our own bodies.
I open my eyes to look at my Guardians, all of them smiling, shaken, and exhausted. “Well?”
“Well, I’m going to miss the next month,” Jacob rasps, sweat running down his chiseled abs. “You guys are a great fuck.”
Tyler laughs and punches Jacob in the shoulder. “No eye contact, it doesn’t count.”
Noah and Cole look confused while I laugh and roll onto my back, looking to see that our bed is covered in a sticky mess. I guess in all of the sharing, we’ve all come more than once and probably need a bath.
“Say,” I ask as I lift my tired body from the mattress and get to my feet, “can we just call a servant to change the sheets? I don’t want to sleep in Lake Cumstain.”
“I’m sure we can figure it out,” Noah says, lifting me in his arms and carrying me toward the bath. “For now, though . . . that bath is big enough for five.”
“And we can rehydrate,” Jacob adds helpfully. “For, you know, later.”
I giggle, leaning back in Noah’s arms to kiss Jacob. “Before you leave, you and I will have some one on one time . . . giving me just what we both like.”
Jacob grins, a new pep in his step. “Last one in the tub has to clean up with their tongue!”
Like that’s a bad thing?
Epilogue
Cole
The central square of Solaria is bedecked in lights, twinkling and glowing and making everything look like they’re walking among the stars. It’s Cole’s job tonight to escort his sister, who looks nervous as she walks with him, arm in arm. “Is everything okay, Lorelai?”
Lorelai, wearing her most beautiful dress and mask, turns to Cole, nodding. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because you’ve barely said anything, even when we passed the fried dough stand,” Cole points out. He finds it strange that a festival and feast for the ‘Heroes of Solaria’ would include common foods that one would find in a country fair after Eve explained that since she was unable to attend the Festival of the Nine Brothers, she wanted to have a glimpse of what normal Solarian life is like.
That he can understand, at least. His sister, on the other hand . . .
“Cole, what would you say if I didn’t return to the Vale?” Lorelai asks suddenly. “I know that after this, you’ve asked to leave Solaria, but what if . . . what if I wanted to stay?”
“Oh?” Cole asks, stopping and lifting an eyebrow. “And is there a particular reason you want to stay?”
Even through her mask Lorelai’s blush is evident, and she looks down. “He says I’m beautiful.”
Cole lifts his sister’s chin, looking into her eyes and smiling. “You are. You’re the second-most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. And I’d miss you . . . but we can always visit Solaria. And you can always catch up with us, wherever we are.”
“Any ideas where you’d like to go first?” Lorelai asks, and Cole nods. “Where?”
“The Vale. A lot of refugees are streaming north, and they need assurances. Seeing us, seeing Eve, it’ll make the impression we want as we help them find new lives. And hopefully, it’ll keep Cassina in check if she thinks Eve might just pay her a visit.”
Lorelai laughs softly. “Will she?”
“She’s decided on mostly a policy of non-interference. A light show every now and then, just to keep the peace, but no bloodshed, if we can. Something about love being the most powerful force around. Wonder who could have taught her that?”
Lorelai smiles and kisses Cole on the cheek. “I wonder. Come on, I don’t want to miss the fireworks.”
They keep going, reaching the plaza just as the musicians finish warming up. Spying Noah and Tyler, they head over, exchanging hugs all around. “Noah, I swear every time I see you, you’re an inch broader in the chest,” Lorelai says, patting his chest. “Are you trying to show off or something?”
“No, just working,” Noah says, laughing. “Since Captain Connor stopped being a dick brain, I’ve actually enjoyed helping out with the repair work on the wall.”
“Yeah, we just have him get behind the cart and push a few tons of rock from the quarry to the work site,” Tyler says with a laugh. “You look stunning, Lorelai. Absolutely stunning.”
“Keep it up. I love compliments,” Lorelai says with a giggle. Looking behind Tyler, she points, and Cole turns with the others. All thoughts of his sister looking beautiful are erased as Eve floats in, her dress swirling around her while next to her, Kaelen rides on his most magnificent horse. It’s taken a while for Cole to accept calling the emperor Kaelen in private, but he’s come to accept it.
“If Jacob were here, he’d have some wisecrack,” Cole murmurs as his beautiful Declared touches down to a round of cheering and applause, “but right now, I can’t think of anything.”
“Where is he, anyway?” Lorelai asks. “I saw him this morning.”
“He said he had to grab a very special package,” Noah says, shrugging. “He’ll be late, but he’ll be here. After missing Eve for most of the month, I’m surprised we’ve been able to drag him out of bed the past two days.”
“I’m sure he’s behaving . . . for Jacob,” Lorelai laughs.
They cross the square, bowing to Kaelen before Cole takes Eve in his arms, hugging her. “You said you were going to be low-key.”
“Oh, I am,” Eve says. “Kaelen wanted me to create the fireworks display for tonight.”
“I thought it might tire her out some. The servants are complaining about these loud thumping noises coming from her chambers on a nightly basis,” Kaelen says, grinning. He offers his arm to Lorelai, and Cole can’t help but nod in agreement at the way they look together. “Shall we?”
“Just a moment!”
Cole turns, and out of the gathering crowd comes Jacob on a white stallion, in his finest clothes, of course, but behind him, holding onto his waist . . .
“Alyssa!” Eve squeals, totally abandoning protocol to run over and practically maul her sister as soon as her feet touch the ground. “How’d you end up here? Jacob!”
“What can I say, Angel?” Jacob says, bowing after he dismounts. “I figured you needed family here. Especially for my present.”
From inside his tunic, Jacob withdraws a wide black box, and even Cole’s impressed as Jacob opens it to reveal five bands. They’re not gold, or at least not all gold. Instead, in a feat of craftsmanship that Cole knows can only be replicated in a few places within the Fae realm, five bands of different colors intertwine, weaving and mixing before in the center, they form a round disc that blends them all. Cole can see gold, platinum, silver, iridium, and steel all mixing into a beautiful piece of artwork.
“Eve, if you wouldn’t mind the festival being a little longer tonight,” Jacob says, handing a ring to each of his brothers before holding one to Eve, “I can’t think of a better time to make this official.”
Eve nods and looks at Kaelen. “If you don’t mind?”
Kaelen holds up his hands. “Don’t ask me. This requires a priestess. So what do you say, Lorelai?”
“Of course,” Lorelai says, grinning. “What a way to lead up to the fireworks.”<
br />
“Actually, I have another surprise,” Eve says. “Not for the public yet, but . . .”
Eve rubs her stomach, and Cole’s heart tightens in his chest. She looks around at her family, nodding, and Cole feels the first tears start to fall.
“You sure?”
“No . . . but by the time we get to the Vale, we can know for sure,” she says, taking Cole’s hand. “You ready for the future?”
Cole nods and takes the hands of the rest of his family.
“To the future . . . whatever it might bring.”
About the Author
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Guardians of the Fae Series:
Book 1 - Guardians of Magic
Book 2 - Guardians of Hellfire
Book 3 - Guardians of Moonlight
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Guardians of Moonlight: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Guardians of the Fae Book 3) Page 23
