by Sumida, Amy
“Sometimes I really hate being right,” I whispered.
“What?”
“Not now and not here,” I hissed in a low voice and waved to the waiting Taraghlan to move us along.
“Vervain,” Arach said more sharply and I glanced at him with a raised brow.
“Just tell me now if there's anymore women in there,” I pointed inside the castle, as the doors had just been opened to us, “that I need to know about. I'd appreciate a heads up before I start yelling at another lover of yours thinking she's a murderer because she's giving me the evil eye.”
“Vervain, she's not-” but I glared at him and his jaw clenched down on the words. “There's no one else in there,” he finally growled.
“No one else in there?” I broke eye contact angrily. “So there's more in other kingdoms then?”
“This was all before we met,” he groaned. “Did you actually think I was celibate for fifteen millennia?”
More chuckling erupted from the red cap peanut gallery until Arach glared at them over his shoulder.
“How fucking stupid do you think I am?” I growled, watching Taraghlan's wings twitch. “Enough! We're not having this conversation now. Save it.”
“Fine,” he growled back at me, making our guide's wings shiver.
“This way,” Taraghlan said with forced gaiety as he led us up a staircase.
We followed in grim silence, entering a room filled with more grim and silent people, although I was sure they were grim for another reason entirely. It was a collection of the noble fey again, gathered around a table this time, each holding a glass of amber liquid and staring at it instead of each other.
“Queen Vervain,” High King Cian jumped to his feet as soon as he saw us enter the entirely too bright room. Everything was white, it reminded me a little of Blue's dining room but Blue had some accents to alleviate the starkness, this room didn't, just white and more white. “King Arach, please join us.”
Queen Aalish glared at me from her seat next to her husband. Of course, her again.
“What do you have there?” King Cian had noticed the air flower.
“Oh, it's a present from the air pixies,” I tried to smile but it was hard to do when my face felt frozen.
“The pixies have taken to giving Vervain presents,” Arach clarified with no small amount of glee.
Queen Aalish glared harder.
“The pixies?” King Fionn looked over the box in my hands. “Our pixies gave you this?”
“That's right,” I swallowed hard, not wanting another fight but knowing I had to keep my word to the pixies. “They want to be treated with respect, like the Water and Fire pixies are.” I paused to give King Guirmean a little head nod, to which he smiled back. “I know this is hard to understand, that you've always treated them this way, but it has to stop. You can't continue to abuse your own people. If you do, they will cease to be yours.”
“Are you threatening to take our pixies away like you did the Earth?” King Fionn stared steadily at me.
“Would that bother you?” I asked instead of answering.
“Yes, it would.”
“Alright then,” I shrugged. “Show that to them. Treat them better and they won't leave, simple as that. I won't take them from you but if they come looking for sanctuary, I will provide it for them. Everyone should have a place in which to feel safe and loved.” I cast an irate glance at my cheating husband.
“So be it,” King Fionn growled, his wings twitching angrily.
“Let's all sit down and have a glass of mead, shall we?” King Cian asked nervously.
“Isn't there a crime scene you'd like us to see first?” I got right to business, now that I'd said my piece for the pixies.
I wanted out of this kingdom fast, then I wanted to slap Arach, tell him to fuck off and die, and go home to the God Realm where I could hopefully find a quiet corner to cry in before my other lovers came looking for me. Fuck my life. And yes, I know I'm being an asshole but love makes assholes of us all. I think I'm going to embroider that on a pillow.
“I'm not sure if you would label it a crime scene exactly,” King Cian frowned. “There was some kind of kerfuffle, the results of which are not nearly as impressive as the last scene we witnessed, but which do indicate some level of violence.”
“Can we see it please?” I was trying my best to keep my voice level. The last thing I wanted to do was take out my anger on the High King of Faerie... and kerfuffle? Wow, I really wished I was in the mood to enjoy that word.
“Of course,” King Cian gestured to King Fionn and Queen Breana, rulers of the House of Air. “Will you take us to the room again?”
“Yes, High King,” King Fionn stood from his backless stool and helped his Queen to her feet. Her butterfly wings rustled in a distinctly distraught manner as she let her husband lead her out of the room and down the hall toward the left.
We walked through silken white marble corridors, rounded to look more like tunnels than hallways. Everything was smooth, floors, walls, and ceiling, and I wondered if it was to prevent accidental damage to delicate wings. Light was everywhere, probably due to the mass amounts of windows allowing it to enter unimpeded. The white stone seemed to magnify it though and I felt my eyes start to water. If I didn't start crying over Arach, I was going to start due to light sensitivity. I wasn't enjoying Castle Blàthaich at all.
Finally we entered a room and it was blessedly lined in beautiful tapestries, giving my eyes some much needed relief. Unfortunately, the tapestries had seen better days. It looked as if a tornado had hit the room, tearing the fabric and breaking several items in the process. I took it all in from the doorway; the flipped bed, strewn clothing, and the curtains that were half out of the open window.
A tornado. That almost got a chuckle from me. There was a whole Wizard of Oz theme going on.
I winced when I realized everyone was watching me, waiting for me to do something unusual. I frowned and tried to ignore them. Sometimes I felt like a pet monkey when I was in Faerie, all the fey waiting for me to dance for them. Then I saw it, a smudge of dirt on the windowsill. I made a beeline for it, sinking to my knees to bring my eyes to its level. The royals closed in behind me.
“Arach, you got another handkerchief?” I asked without looking back at him. A piece of white fabric was waved in my face, like a flag of surrender. I grimaced at it before I snatched it up.
The smudge was long and thin, like a tiny finger had been drug over the edge, or a tiny hand had rested there while it's counterpart had been used to push someone out the window. I glared at the mark before I wiped it up with the cloth. Standing, I lifted it to my nose, closing my eyes as I inhaled deep. I didn't recognize the scent but there definitely was one this time. I finally looked at Arach and his eyes were surprisingly gentle when they met mine. That look made me feel like such an ass, which in turn pissed me off again. I held the hanky out to him.
“Do you recognize this scent?”
He took the cloth and did as I'd done with it. His eyes widened and he looked over to King Cahal. “It's a fir darrig.”
“Our suspicions are confirmed then,” King Cian shook his head as King Cahal cursed.
“I take it you're missing a fir darrig in the Earth Kingdom?” I asked.
“Ualraig,” King Cahal nodded. “He went missing shortly after the last site was found.”
“Well, I'd say that's some pretty damning evidence,” I sighed, at least we knew who one of the villains were. “You should have told us sooner.”
“But how would a fir darrig get into Castle Blàthaich unnoticed and overcome a bean-sidhe and an air sidhe? It's just not possible,” Queen Breana finally showed some spirit. “Also, it appears that they were tossed from this window. That would barely injure either sidhe, much less kill them. In fact, it would allow for their escape.”
“Huh,” I leaned over the window ledge and looked out at the far drop to the courtyard below. “What if they were unconscious?”
&nbs
p; “I think someone would have noticed two fey falling to their deaths,” King Fionn said. “At the very least, we would have seen the blood.”
“And there are no signs of any kind of struggle below?” I asked him.
“None at all?” He shook his head. “It's as if they simply vanished into thin air.”
“Or into dark air,” I frowned, a thought skirting the edges of my mind.
“What's that, Queen Vervain?” Queen Meara scooted over to me, her sparkling red hair blazing to life in the stream of sunshine coming in the window.
“Faerie has announced that the Darkness is coming,” I spoke softly but everyone in the room heard me loud and clear, judging by their gasps. “You guys know what she's talking about?” I looked around in sudden hope.
“No,” Queen Meara answered for everyone, “but it sounds horribly ominous and we fey know there is power to a name.”
“There are tales of a time before the fey,” King Cian spoke and everyone gave him their full attention. “When magic roamed through the wind, the earth, the water, and the flame but had no fey to hold it and give it life. It felt loneliness and that loneliness became the dark, gave form to the places the light could not reach, and it grew, became powerful. Magic created bodies of the elements it rode, birthing the first fey with the purpose of battling back the darkness and bringing forth the light.”
My skin shivered and I looked around to see that I wasn't the only one disturbed by the imagery the story created. Loneliness becoming a force of evil, it felt true, plausible. It felt terrible. I shook my head in denial.
“We heard the cry of birds the last time,” I suddenly remembered the poem, “of ravens I think. That doesn't fit with your story.”
“I can think of no raven magic involving darkness,” the High King frowned.
“No fey magic,” I clarified.
“What's that?” Queen Meara asked.
“Last time it was noted that the magic wasn't fey,” I glanced at King Guirmean and he gave me a worried look. He really believed it wasn't Kanaloa. “That leaves god or human, and I somehow doubt it's human.”
“So, you believe it's a god abducting the fey,” Meara's eyes were focused intently on me.
“A god who's in league with a fir darrig,” and possibly a water-sidhe but I'd keep that thought to myself for the moment. “Has there been any visitors to the Air Kingdom that you know of?” I directed the question to the Air royals.
“No, definitely no gods if that's what you're implying,” King Fionn answered.
“You think Ualraig brought this god into Faerie?” King Cian looked shocked. “To murder another faerie is one thing but to betray your entire race by aligning yourself with a god to murder us is another.”
“Alright,” I held up a hand, “don't get upset just yet, this is all conjecture, we really don't know anything beyond Ualraig being involved. So let's circle the wagons,” blank faces stared at me. “I mean let's gather our guards and pull in our people to the castles, up our security. We need everyone close and protected for the time being. And I swear to god, er, to a god, uh, I swear to Faerie herself, that if you don't protect everyone, including the pixies, I will personally call the Hunt down upon your heads!”
“Vervain!” Arach snapped. “That is not the way to speak to royalty.”
“Oh fuck you, Arach,” I'd had enough and my patience was wearing thin, so yeah, I was being bitchy. “This is not the time to coddle them either. Every life is precious and you yourself told me how none of the other sidhe view the pixies as anything but useless garbage.”
“I...” Queen Breana looked to her husband with wide eyes. “I never, I don't... garbage?”
“I think it's about time someone said that to us,” King Guirmean was smiling at me. “Some may view this pixie crusade of yours with disdain but I know this has less to do with the fact that they're pixies and more to do with equality and justice. Thank you, Queen Vervain, for reminding us that we swore to lead and protect all of our people.”
“Hey, anytime,” I smiled back at him, a weight lifting from my heart.
I knew he already treated his pixies well, so I wasn't surprised that he was on my side in the pixie crusade, as he called it, but I was surprised to find that he understood the motivations behind my actions. It was easier for him though, he was probably the only one who could actually still remember taking the oath of kingship.
“I guess sometimes it takes tragedy to clear the cobwebs from thine eyes,” Queen Aalish said quietly, then looked over at her husband with a serious expression.
Well holy shit, miracles do happen.
“You have our word, Queen Vervain,” King Fionn said as he took his Queen's hand. “All of our fey shall be looked after equally well.”
“We love all of Faerie and all its inhabitants,” vowed King Cian.
“If ever they decide to return to us,” King Cahal said lastly, “we would protect the little ones to the best of our abilities.”
“I'll let them know you said that,” I promised.
See, I told you, you could change them.
I smiled and nodded but restrained myself from answering Faerie in front of the others. It felt too much like rubbing salt in a wound if I did. I felt her touch in my heart and her laughter in my head.
This is only the beginning. It will not be so easy as that.
Chapter Fifteen
No, it's never easy.
I thought over Faerie's words on the ride back to Castle Aithinne. Arach sat silent and brooding across from me until, at last, he could handle the silence no longer.
“Are we going to discuss this?”
“What, you mean your infidelity?” I raised a brow at him. “You can start by telling me how many of them you're fucking.”
“Fuck you, Vervain!” He shouted, startling me into silence. “You have the nerve of the fucking Christians, you know that? I can't believe you would ask me that after taking my blood no more than two hours ago, right here!” He pounded a fist on the seat beside him. “You know me, you know me better than anyone ever has, including that vapid air-sidhe. I'm a man and a King. I've been without a mate all of my life, without the hope of ever having one. I took lovers, so what? Hundreds of them, if you must know, and none could ever come close to being as precious to me as you are! I would never jeopardize what we have for a bit of sex with such as her.”
“I saw you with Laise,” I said softly.
“What do you mean, you saw me with her?” He lost a little of his steam but not much.
“In the hallway, that day I ran into you both,” I sighed and looked away from his piercing eyes. I didn't want to see the lies in them. “I ran into you earlier and saw you hugging her. Then there was that asrai with her groping hair, and now this air-sidhe. It's too much of a coincidence, Arach.”
“Vervain,” he huffed a disbelieving and grim laugh. “Laise hugged me. She can be a little exuberant, especially when it comes to children.”
“Children?” Oh fuck, don't tell me I brought Arach out of stasis so that he could father a damn vampire baby. “Laise is pregnant?”
“No,” he sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I didn't want to tell you about this because I didn't want you to think I was pressuring you but then Laise volunteered and I thought I might as well be prepared, so I agreed.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I was a little relieved that Laise wasn't carrying their vampire-dragon love child but not much.
“Laise is putting together a nursery,” he settled his gaze on mine a little apologetically. “For us. In the hope that we'll fill it soon.”
“For us?” I stared at him as he nodded. “So she's not sleeping with you?”
“She doesn't even like me like that,” Arach grimaced. “I've actually never been with a leanan-sidhe, I don't like the idea of giving them so much blood. Blood is important to us dragons.”
“Yes it is,” I said slowly. “You're building a nursery? For our possible future child
ren?”
“Yes, Vervain,” he rolled his eyes.
“Well then,” I huffed a laugh, “I guess that settles that then.”
“What settles what?” He watched me warily.
“It settles it,” I nodded. “I'm the bigger asshole.”
His face went slack with shock, which I must admit I took great pleasure in, since he'd just shocked the hell out of me. Turn about is fair play and all. His mouth hung open for a second before he started laughing so hard, I feared for his sanity. His hands covered his face as he leaned back against the carriage and continued to laugh. I continued to stare at him, one eyebrow lifted and arms crossed.
“Are you done yet?” I asked in a snarky way. “No? Alright then, keep smiling, scaly face. Just chuck it up Mr. Chuckles. Giggle away, Puff. Slap your knee, Heehaw Hornhead. Jest away...”
“By the flame, woman,” Arach was still laughing, “will you stop?”
“Sure thing, Happy Pants,” I grinned at him. “Wanna go home and have make-up sex?”
“What is make-up sex?” He raised an interested brow.
“Oh,” my grin got bigger, “just you wait, my laughing lizard of love, this is gonna rock your world.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Hundreds?” I asked as I leaned across Arach's belly after the best session of make-up sex ever. Even better than the one I had with Thor. We'd hung from the bedposts at one point. Yes, it can be done.
“What?” Arach asked sleepily.
“You said you've been with hundreds of women,” I tapped his nose and he raised one eyelid to peer at me.
“Are you messing with me again?” When I only grimaced at him, he opened the other eye. “I'm a dragon, we're a passionate fey.”
“Uh huh,” I snorted, “whatever. You couldn't settle on one woman for any length of time?”
“Well,” he sighed. “Aoife lasted a few years, and they were recent ones, so that may be why she was so confident today.”
“Ah, so now the dirt comes out,” I grimaced. “Dish. What happened?”
“You happened, of course,” he gave me the look he always reserved for moments when my idiocy became apparent to him.
