by Sumida, Amy
“Vervain,” smoke was coming out of one of his nostrils, “how many men were you with before me?”
“Oh, I don't know,” I gave him a wicked grin, “hundreds probably.”
There was a deadly silence before he finally figured out that I was messing with him.
“You haven't even been alive for half a century yet,” he huffed. “That was not a fair comparison.”
“Ah but it got my point across, didn't it?”
“Agreed,” he sighed. “So you really didn't do all that with all those men?”
“Of course I did,” I laughed as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “But like I said, that was way before you and I. It shouldn't matter, right?”
“Right,” he finally acceded.
“So are you going to show me the nursery, or what?”
Chapter Eighteen
The nursery was right next door to our suite. I have no idea how I'd remained ignorant of its existence for so long. You'd think I would have noticed all the stuff Laise had lugged in there but no, I was oblivious unless she was hugging my man.
She hugged me too when we entered the room, she really was overjoyed at the possibility of a dragon-sidhe baby. Arach smirked at me over her head while I tried to extract myself from her enthusiastic grip. I'd never met such a bubbly leanan-sidhe.
“The earth pixies made the cradle,” Laise waved toward the center of the room. “I hope you like everything, Queen Vervain.”
“It's beautiful, Laise,” I stared around me. “Thank you.”
“I'll leave you to take it all in,” she smiled her way out of the room.
I heard Arach say something to her but I was too busy gawking to focus on the words. The room was nothing close to what I'd been expecting. I had thought a faerie nursery would have lots of flowers and frilly things, maybe little baby fey globes to cast sparkling light about. The cradle would be hand carved wood and would rock beneath a bower of vines and flowers and there would be birds everywhere, like in Snow White. I know, ridiculous, but that's what I had in mind. The reality was way different.
“Laise did a lot of research using the laptop you brought me,” Arach laid a hand on my shoulder. “She wanted it to have everything a human mother would want as well as a fey. Do you truly like it?”
“I think it's amazing,” I went to the center of the room, where the cradle was the obvious attraction. It was constructed of two pieces of- “Are these diamonds?” I turned back to Arach with wide eyes.
“The baby's cradle needs to be fireproof,” he shrugged, “Laise suggested diamonds because they're also the most durable jewel.”
“What about metal?”
“Metal melts, A Thaisce.”
“You're saying our child might be born with the ability to melt metal?”
“I would hope so,” he frowned. “It's only natural.”
“Only natural,” I took a deep breath as I stroked my hand over the sparkling cradle.
It had a red marble base that flowed up from the floor in the shape of flames. Within those flames a diamond bowl was held, the outside of it faceted but the inside smooth. Nestled perfectly within the outer bowl was another diamond bowl, lined with a little mattress and silky white linens. The diamonds caught the light and sent rainbows dancing across the room. I touched the inner basin and it shifted smoothly back and forth.
“Touch it here,” Arach came up beside me and lightly pushed the rim of the bowl. “And it will move in circles too.” The inner bowl glided in a circular, rocking motion. “It's very calming to fey babies, simulating the shifting movement of the womb.”
“It's ingenious,” I pushed it again.
“Once it has the weight of a child in it, it will move continuously without intervention. You stop it by pushing this,” and he flicked a piece of the outer bowl so that it shifted in, locking the inner one in place.
“Wow,” I shot him an impressed look.
Above the cradle, hanging from a golden chain attached to the ceiling, was a type of mobile. An assortment of fey creatures had been carved from different jewels and hung on a ring of gold. They sparkled and cast their own rainbows about, adding to the diamond's brilliance. I tapped an especially fierce looking creature and it knocked into its neighbors, causing a cascade of tinkling noises.
“The earth pixies made those too,” Arach nodded to the mobile. “Laise said every human cradle she saw had something like this hanging above it.”
“It's called a mobile. It gives the child something to focus on when he's lying in the crib,” I walked past it to the sturdy dressing table placed against one wall. It was actually made of wood, I guess it wasn't as big a deal if the table got burned. The wood was a deep red color and polished to a glassy finish. It had two drawers near the top and then an open shelf on the bottom. Half of the top was padded to use as a place to change the baby's diapers, the other half was crowded with bottles and jars of who knows what. The shelf on the bottom had stacks of white cloths, I'm assuming diapers, and a large pan of what looked to be some kind of moss.
“What's all this?” I pointed at the pan.
“For the swaddling,” Arach frowned. “You put the cloth down first, then a layer of moss, and lay the baby on the top. Pin the sides and you're done.”
“Moss?”
“It's very absorbent and keeps down the odors,” he shrugged. “When the child has soiled the moss, you remove the swaddling and empty the moss down the chute,” he waved at a panel in the wall. “It leads to one of the lava streams. The waste will be burned away and help to heat the castle.”
“Waste not, want not,” I laughed.
“Indeed.”
“It sounds very efficient,” I looked around the table. “What do you wipe them off with?”
“What do you mean?”
“When you change the diapers, I mean swaddling, what do you clean them with before you put a new one on?”
“The moss keeps them clean,” Arach shook his head. “There's no need to bathe them after each changing.”
“Damn,” I eyed the tray, “that's some awesome moss.”
“It grows fast as well, so one tray is usually enough. In fact, Laise shouldn't have brought it in yet, it'll overflow that pan soon.”
“What's that?” I pointed to a post set up in a corner. It went from floor to ceiling and was wrapped with thick rope. “It looks like my cat's scratching post.”
“Well,” Arach made a face, “if you mean your cat likes to scratch poles to keep his claws sharp, then it's exactly what it looks like.”
“Our children are going to need a scratching post?” I shot him a horrified glance.
“Either that or they'll ruin all the furniture.”
“Great,” I sighed and went to sit in the thickly padded chair set near the window. It slid when I sat and glided in a rocking motion similar to the cradle. “Whoa, it's a glider.”
“Yes,” Arach pulled a lever on the side of the chair and it stopped. “Or not, it's up to you.”
There was a thick rug right in front of the chair and a big chest in front of that, for toys, I'm assuming. Then, near the door was an armoire, in the same red wood as the dressing table, painted with scenes of the Fire Kingdom on its doors. It was a wonderful room, I just didn't know if I was ready to produce its occupant yet.
“You feel pressured,” Arach sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “This is why I didn't want you to know about the nursery.”
“You could have just told her no.”
“You did meet her, right?” He huffed a laugh. “It was so much easier to just let her have her way.”
“Yes, but she's not the one who can truly make life miserable for you.”
“Maybe,” he smirked at me, “but you're much more reasonable.”
“Afraid of a leanan-sidhe, are we?” I laughed at him. “You're supposed to be the King of Fire. What kind of example would you be to our children?”
“A great one. I'd teach them the importance of
knowing which battles to fight and which aren't worth your time,” he pulled me out of the chair and kissed me till my toes curled. “I'd much rather be fighting with you than wasting my time with her.”
“Oh, well played.”
Chapter Nineteen
Hours later, we laid in bed recovering from our latest bout of lust magic enhanced sex. I guess thinking about making babies had inspired Arach to start practicing. Or it could be that he was just a hot-blooded dragon. Whatever the case, I was pleasantly exhausted.
“You've never tried to mark me,” I noted lethargically.
“Excuse me?” He looked down on me, where I laid nestled into his side, with a shocked expression.
“I just realized you never really try to leave a mark on me,” I gave a one sided shrug. “It's just a little surprising with the whole dragon thing. I mean, we can get carried away with the biting and all but you've never given me a magical nip on the neck or anything. With the Froekn it's a sign that you're pleasing your mate in bed but Blue bit me once to send me a message, which led to Thor putting a thunderbolt on my neck to cover it up. Even Anubis cut me and left a scar so that he could get revenge, but you've never tried to do anything like that.”
“Because it's stupid and barbaric,” he growled.
“Whoa,” I pulled away to look him over. “You're growling at me while you call something barbaric, that's rich.”
“You don't actually like it, do you?” He looked horrified.
“It took me awhile to get used to,” I shrugged, “but it's in their nature. I even bit Trevor once, and left a mark on his neck. He was pleased as punch.”
“It's a human desire to own those you love,” Arach sighed. “The fey don't do that.”
“Why don't you try saying that again but this time without the arrogance.”
“I'm not trying to be arrogant,” he gave me wide-eyes. “Humans, and gods it seems, have this need to display ownership. They mark their land with fences, their cattle with brands, and then each other with evidence of sexual prowess.”
“The fey mark their land as well,” I lifted a brow at him. “There are clear borders between the kingdoms.”
“It's not about ownership but safety. We need our lands to be clearly defined so that the fey of each element know whether they are safe or need to be wary. Also, we attack each other from time to time, and defenses are important. Humans on the other hand, will leave a land completely defenseless and yet stick a flag in the ground to proclaim that it's theirs. Ridiculous.”
“Okay, okay,” I waved at him. “Go on then.”
“From what I've seen in your Inter Realm, it's only gotten worse. Humans today get their lover's name tattooed upon their skin as if it's a declaration of love. To me, that's not love, that's possession, similar to the branding they do on their livestock. I don't want to own you, you're not a cow or a piece of property,” his eyes went intense. “Love is not about ownership, it's about freedom.”
“I've never felt like Trevor was trying to show ownership,” I defended my wolf while simultaneously feeling the pull of Arach's words. Something of what he was saying resounded inside me. “It felt more like passion. After I drank from the Grayel, his marks wouldn't stay, so now he has to satisfy himself with scent marking alone but sometimes I get the feeling that he misses seeing the bites.”
“I can't speak for Trevor,” Arach shrugged. “I can only tell you how I feel on the matter and I don't need to put a mark on your skin to show the world that you're mine. I know you love me and for me, that's everything. Love is brand enough, the scent of you on my skin enough of a banner of our passion for each other. I don't need to mar your beauty to make sure other men know you're taken. I know you love me and would make sure any potential rival knew you were already committed. I trust you.”
“You're kind of amazing,” I smiled and he beamed at me before puffing out his chest. “Ah, now you ruined it,” I sat up and caught a glimpse of my wedding rings. “What about these?” I held up my finger. “Aren't these a form of marking?”
“Wedding rings are a tradition we adopted from humans,” he laughed. “They're a symbol of love and commitment, which we both wear,” he held up his hand to show off his band. “A circle, which is a form of magic, as you know, so we liked that as well but honestly, I think a female fey started it all as an excuse to wear more jewelry.”
“You have no idea how human you just sounded right then,” I laughed and snuggled back into his side.
“Watch it,” he growled, “I'll take them back.”
“Over my dead body,” I growled, curling my hand around my rings protectively.
“Never,” he whispered and kissed my forehead. “You can have all the rings you want. Just refrain from speaking about your own death.”
“You spoke of dying in our wedding vows,” I mumbled into his chest.
“And you released me from my vow and bid me to instead, live for you,” his voice was soft and serious. “I vowed that I would live forever for your love, that there was nothing else for me to live for anymore. How could you ever have doubted my commitment to you, A Thaisce?”
“I don't know,” I whispered. “Sometimes it all seems too amazing to be true. I can't possibly be lucky enough to be loved the way you love me.”
“I vowed to live for you but you never made me the same vow,” he sat up and pulled me with him, his hand going to my neck to make me look up at him. “Promise me, that you will live for me as well, that you won't lay your life down for another, even if that person is me. That instead of dying for me, you shall live.”
“I...” I felt the weight of the words hovering over me.
This was a complicated promise and I knew why he was being so insistent. I'd nearly got myself killed with Iktomi and it had pissed Arach off royally. I told him then that I wasn't going to stop fighting just because I had people who loved me. He wasn't asking me to give up on the god war but it was a type of restriction. A restriction that I'd placed on him, I realized. I'd basically made him promise to not try to save me if it meant he could die in the process. That had to be hard on him, he was the type of man that would lay down his life for those he loved and I had taken that away from him.
“Vervain,” he gave me a little shake and I refocused on his face. “Promise me!”
“I promise,” I whispered.
“Say the words,” he pushed.
“I promise to live from now until the end of time for you and your love,” I repeated the vow he'd once made to me.
“Fair enough,” he sighed, knowing I hadn't exactly promised all he wanted but then he'd never really said the words either, merely agreed when I'd asked him. There was some wiggle room there and we both knew it. “I'll take it and I'll hold you to your vow of eternity.”
“Well, at least you didn't mark me.” I laughed, “Eternity is so much easier.”
“When you're living it with me, it is,” he smirked.
“Ah, there's my arrogant dragon,” I kissed him. “I've been wondering where you went.”
Chapter Twenty
I was chopping faerie tomatoes.
King Guirmean was coming over for dinner and I'd decided to cook us pizzas. I'd invaded the kitchen and enlisted the help of the fire fey working there, to create an entire table's worth of pizza dough. The dough was rising so I was on to making the sauce.
The fey gathered around me, watching avidly as I tossed the tomatoes into a large pot and started adding the spices. Faerie spices were similar but had different names so I had to kind of wing it, smelling and tasting each before adding it to the pot. One female fey, with restless hair that kept spontaneously combusting, was taking detailed notes as she watched and I kinda felt like I was on the Fey Food Network.
“What's this?” I picked up a bottle of sparkling red powder.
“Oh no, my Queen!” Borgach, a fey with platinum blonde hair and red eyes, grabbed the bottle back. “That's Fire essence, we can't put it in food being served to water fey.”<
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“Fire essence?” I looked over the shimmering crystals. “Would it kill them?” My TV detective skills perked up.
“Oh no,” she laughed, “but t'would make them very ill.”
“Did you just say t'would?” I teased her and she blushed. “Well forsooth, fire maiden, we musn't make our guests ill.” The rest of the cooks started giggling. “What does it taste like?”
“It's just to add a little heat,” she winked at me and everyone giggled some more.
“Well maybe I should take some of this with me then,” I waggled my brows at her. “Methinks the King might enjoy some in his wine tonight... before we go to bed.”
“Queen Vervain,” Caoimhe, the one with the fire hair, gave me a smirk, “if you add any more heat to your bedsport, the whole castle is liable to explode.”
That caused a round of laughter that made some of the fire-sidhe cooks snort fire out of their noses. I swear, fire out of the nose. It was hilarious but we finally left my spicy love life alone and got back to the cooking.
Once the pot of pizza sauce was properly seasoned and simmering, I left it to go to another table where I'd already set some fey to work on grating a thick, white faerie cheese that had a similar flavor to mozzarella and I was told melted nicely. I nodded happily at the huge piles of cheese filling three bowls already.
I checked on the sausage table next, where large amounts of hard sausage were being sliced to resemble pepperoni. I gave my approval to the kitchen help and then went to the last table, where vegetables were being sliced. It all looked good and I had a fleeting thought that I was actually going to pull this off. I was going to serve pizza to faeries.
“Okay, it's all ready. That sauce just needs to simmer for about an hour and then we can assemble the pizzas. For now, just finish the prep and then you can get back to the rest of the meal.”
The chefs were intent on providing more than one course for dinner, even though I told them pizza is a meal unto itself. I had no idea what else they were serving but I wasn't going to worry about it and I didn't want to make them nervous by hanging over their shoulders while they worked. So I asked one of them to look after my sauce and then left them to it.
