by Viola Grace
Petal gets through life one day at a time when a strange magical transport to the world of the fey sets her on a crash course with eternal spring.
Limping after a devastating injury, Petal gets a delivery and opens it to find a box with a ceramic gingerbread house in it. One light touch and she was wearing a weird outfit inside the house she had touched, and instructions glowed on the wall.
She had to find the king of spring, and he could send her home, so she took her cane and hobbled down the path that was marked with warm air and green leaves.
The man that she found was stunning, but his focus was on the moment. She got along with him, he helped her recover from her injury, and then, they fell together to explore the present.
When the woman in his arms disappeared, Damek was furious and tried to take his revenge, but as he listened to Puck, he woke up to the situation that his lover had been in. For the first time in centuries, Damek had to think about more than just the immediacy of his desires, and the alteration was going to take some time to sink in. It was a good thing that time in Underhill passed at a different rate to that of the mortal world. Damek had to study.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Enchanting Spring
Copyright © 2021 by Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-989892-67-1
©Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.
Published by Viola Grace
Look for me online at violagrace.com.
Enchanting Spring
Falling Underhill Book 3
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Petal limped around her home with the heat turned up to toasty warm and a heavy sweater on. The doorbell rang, and she hopped over to the door, expecting to see one of the waves of parcels that had been held by the various couriers.
A single box sat on her front step, and she looked around for the vehicle that had dropped it. Nothing. Not even a track from a vehicle in the snow. She sighed and looked at the box with the large pink bow on it.
There was a card that said, “Best wishes on your recovery.”
Petal smiled and opened the box. There was a lovely little gingerbread house made of some kind of ceramic, and as she touched it, the world faded and warped around her.
* * * *
Damek worked with the others on the computers. If his bride was going to arrive, he was going to get to her as quickly as possible. With his tutor’s help, he had a business plan and an occupation that agreed with his inclination.
He sat up and looked around. “Did anyone else feel that?”
Lugh snorted. “Fingers slowly walking down your spine?”
Voronwe asked, “A phantom body pressed against you?”
Damek blinked. “Yeah.”
The other two chuckled. “Your bride has arrived.”
“What do I do?”
Lugh looked at him with a smile. “Go and get her. Don’t push her, and if you try to get under that ribbon before she is ready, it will tighten, and you won’t like it. She definitely won’t like it, and she will let you know.”
Damek huffed. “She is getting a fey king; how mad can she be?”
Voronwe lifted his head. “She didn’t choose you, and these women have the right to choose. I just thought you should know about that. Go and do what you like. She will tell you what you need to know, or she won’t. Either way, you are about to get an education.”
Damek snorted and returned to his home in a cloud of bright green leaves, closing his eyes and looking for traces of new magic in his territory. There was a shimmering pool of magic in the new forest. It was bright and pretty, and something was emerging from it.
Damek walked into the forest and went looking for the new creature who was moving around. If she was walking at a normal pace, he would intersect her in a few minutes.
* * * *
Petal grimaced as she settled in a chair with a cane next to her. It was a ridiculous candy cane shape. She was wearing what amounted to a bikini made of pink ribbon and some platform shoes.
“This is weird. I mean, I know those painkillers were strong, but I didn’t see any white rabbits.”
A wall lit up and glittered. Petal got up and hopped over. “I didn’t win a golden ticket, so those must have been good drugs.”
Dear Miss Petal, you have been transported to a realm called Underhill. You will remain here until you locate the spring king and gain his agreement to return you to the mortal world.
A wrap has been provided to protect you from the elements, and the cane is to assist your mobility. You are safe here, but tread carefully. You will return home soon if you find the spring king.
Good luck.
“How is that an actual thing?” She used the candy cane to move around and found the wrap mentioned. She looked around the room, and as she stood there, the chair and table disappeared. She looked at the fireplace, and it was empty. There were bare walls, and as she stared at the door, it disappeared. Wind blew through, and she shivered. The wrap was held around her, and it helped, but it was awkward using the wrap and cane as she hopped to the door.
“King of spring, huh? Right, which way would that be?” She hopped forward and looked around. The entire area was lush and green. She moved forward and raised her face to the wind. The warmth from the sun mixed with the scent of chlorophyll and flowers. She guessed that was the way she was supposed to go.
She moved slowly through the woods, following the feeling of warmth, and hoped that she found the guy she was looking for. She had plans for a movie marathon and didn’t want to miss her chance to wallow on the couch with her leg up.
Petal walked slowly and heard something moving in the trees to either side. She paused. “Hello?”
A rabbit hopped by and sat up. She stared. He had tiny antlers. He scratched his shoulder with his hind foot and then hopped away.
She blinked. “Right. So, grey rabbit with tiny horns. It’s the drugs.”
She continued down the path and paused. “If you are another rabbit, you can just hop your ass out of here.”
A heavily muscled man with long golden hair, a crown made of bright green leaves, a loose, gauzy vest, a set of trousers being held on by a simple drawstring, and bare feet stepped out. She looked at him in surprise. “You aren’t a rabbit.”
He paused, and he smiled. “I am not. Enjoying the walk?”
She used the cane and hopped forward. “Not particularly.”
He frowned. “What is wrong?”
“My leg was broken, and I just got the cast off. I am learning to use it again and not very successfully.” She shifted and leaned on the cane. The fucker snapped out from under her.
She dropped to her good knee and inhaled as pain lanced through her left leg. She was about to go through the laborious process of getting to her feet when he simply picked her up.
He began a long stride back the way he had come.
“Are you the spring king?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“Great. Can you send me home?”
“Not quite yet, and certainly not in this condition. The one thing I am good at is healing. That, and my creative dances.”
She swallowed and hid the pain that that one word had caused her. Dancing had been her favourite thing until an asshole stalker had found her on Halloween.
He a
sked her absently, “Do you dance?”
“Not anymore. Aside from the injury, it borrows trouble.”
He stopped. “You don’t dance?”
“No.” She said it firmly.
“Puck must have gotten things wrong then.”
“Puck?”
“The fey who had this great idea to find brides for the kings of Underhill.”
She stared at him, and he continued walking. “What?”
“Puck wishes to tie the mortal realm and Underhill as it was centuries again.”
“With brides?”
“That was the idea.”
She snorted. “I am fairly happy that I am defective then.”
“Why? Do wealth and eternal youth hold no appeal for you?”
She shrugged. “Knowing that death is inevitable makes you live life a little more fully. You can’t live a perpetual youth. It means you never have anything to hope for. You are stuck.”
“Perpetual youth has its advantages.”
“Oh, I am sure.” She chuckled. “I just can’t see what they would be.”
“I am sure your lovers would enjoy it.”
Petal grimaced. “Oh, I am sure they would, but I wouldn’t enjoy them. A guy after you for your youth alone is not one you want to keep. You want a man you can grow with. A guy who treasures youth keeps seeking it.”
She tried to keep herself upright, but it was tempting to lean against him. “So, pardon me for asking, but where are you taking me?”
“There is a pool with healing waters nearby. If you bathe in there, it should have a restorative effect on your flesh.”
“My flesh is fine; it is the muscles and tendons that need work.” She turned her leg. “Fine, it is a little scarred up but otherwise fine.”
He glanced at it and frowned. “That is quite the injury.”
“Yeah, it felt like it at the time and for quite a while afterward.”
“What happened?”
“I was at a performance, a man who had fixated on me rushed out of the crowd, and he struck me in the leg with an iron bar trying to expel the elf blood in me, or that is what he was screaming on the videos.”
“Video?”
“Yeah, there were a few people recording the event. It was all over social media for a while, but it did mean that he was arrested and charged the next day.” She was having a nice chat with her drug trip, so it was weird to see him getting angry.
“Someone struck you.”
“Yup. Broke my leg into three pieces. I learned my lesson. No more dancing.”
“You were dancing, and he struck you.” He seemed to be getting the idea.
“Yes. I was performing for friends. It was a Halloween party.” She rubbed her head. “When this wears off, I am going to have such a headache.”
He smiled slightly. “Hopefully not. Here we are.”
She looked around, and she inhaled sharply. “I thought it was a small pool.”
The pool was Olympic-sized, and he chuckled. “Everything needs healing now and then. The longer you can stay in, the better off you are.”
“So, what do I do?”
“Swim. There is nothing else to it. Just keep your injured area under the water, and it will restore it.” He set her down on a stone at the edge of the pool.
She nodded and slipped into the cool water. “How long do I have to stay in?”
“As long as you can.” He smiled. “I will be back within the hour.”
She stared, and the golden hunk was gone in a burst of small green leaves.
Slowly swimming from one end of the pool to the other was difficult the first time, but it got easier, and she didn’t push herself.
* * * *
Damek grabbed the laptop, and he closed his mind and remembered the details that she had given him. Halloween. Dancer. Attack. Leg.
Links to videos were given, and he got the attention of Lugh and Voronwe when the music poured out, and the woman spun across the stage, graceful as a nymph.
The figure surged out of the crowd, and folks yelled for him to get down. He grabbed her by the arm, screamed at her, and brought an iron bar down on her leg in two places. The surprising part was when the slip of woman grabbed the bar and placed it across his throat, making her fall and using it as a weapon.
Lugh whistled. “Who is that?”
“Puck’s selection for me. I don’t know her name yet, but I think I need her to dance again.” He brought up another view, and he steeled himself to watch again. He kept his focus on her face. She felt surprise, pain, and then rage. When the rage hit, she used it. He was sure that it was not a healthy instinct for most women, but for her, it had been her choice.
Voronwe asked, “Where is she? Your home?”
“She’s in the healing pool. Her leg isn’t recovered from the break, and she limps a lot.” He looked at another video that had a caption of the attacker screaming about driving out the unclean forces in her.
Lugh nodded. “That would be the fey blood he was referring to. He must have it, too, or he wouldn’t detect it.”
Voronwe chuckled. “You might want to return to her. If you don’t make yourself agreeable, she won’t allow you near her, and you won’t have a bride.”
“How long does it take to woo a mortal?”
Lugh paused. “You haven’t?”
“No. I had fey lovers. The humans pursued me, but there was always something vital with more beauty.”
Lugh winced, and Voronwe covered his eyes while saying, “Just go back there and talk to her like you talk to us. Things will work out or they won’t, and Puck will try again.”
Damek frowned. “Are you telling me to give up?”
Lugh patted his shoulder and said, “No, he is telling you that there is zero chance that we are going to fuck you. So...”
Damek realized that he had left the first good candidate for his bride alone in the woods. “Shit.”
He closed his computer and returned to the healing pool.
Chapter Two
She finished her laps and pulled herself out of the water, dangling her leg in the water. The ribbons acted as a bikini if one that went translucent when it got wet.
Her hair had come loose from whatever was holding it up, and her black waves of hair seemed to be getting longer as she continued to swim, so she pulled herself out of the pool.
He appeared next to her in a hail of tiny leaves and crouched next to her. “How is your leg feeling?”
She flexed her knee and pulled the leg up. Her pale skin only had faded marks from the stitches and screws. “It feels much better. Thank you.”
She pulled some hair forward as the ribbons were nearly invisible while wet.
“If you are tired, we are near my home. You can rest, and we can figure out what will happen next.”
“Can’t you just send me home?”
He shook his head, and she could see the pointed ears at close range. Her fingers wanted to touch, but they were shaking a little from the exertion. She grimaced. “Fine. One more lap, and then, I should be completely flattened.” She slipped into the water, kicked off from the edge, and dove under the surface.
When she pulled herself out of the water, he extended his hand to her. She took the help, and he lifted her out of the pool and set her down on her feet. Her leg felt better, but it was still weak.
She walked slowly and carefully. “Just point me in the right direction, and I will get there eventually.”
He snorted and lifted her up. “This will be faster.”
She blushed. “I am getting your clothing wet.”
“It will dry. It is just water.”
He walked through the forest and down paths that seemed to appear just for him. She combed her hair over her translucent ribbons and kept her head down. It was a walk of fewer than ten minutes, and then, a low stone keep built into a hillside emerged when they left the forest. The house was built in tiers, a
nd each tier had a swath of gardens that were in a riot of blooming.
Her feet started kicking slightly with her excitement.
He frowned. “What has gotten your attention?”
“Plants. Flowers.” She breathed deeply and stopped her body’s childish reaction. She wanted to clap her hands. “It has been a really bad winter.”
He walked to a bench and sat her down on the cool stone. “Here. Look around and wander around if you like. I am going to prepare some tea.”
She was on the first tier, and she smiled. It was like he didn’t want her in his bachelor pad.
She leaned over and inhaled the bright scents of spring. The summer flowers were budding, the spring flowers were excited, and the whole area was very alive. She got up and slowly walked around the gardens, crouching to raise little plants into a better position with a little tucking against the plant next to them. She spoke to them quietly and encouraged them. It was after the tenth such moment that she realized she had been using her leg normally. She smiled and waited for the pain, but there wasn’t any. There was no pain, no ache, just the stretch of her tendon as she crouched.
There was a slight click of the tea tray, and she rubbed her dirty fingers along her thighs, standing up.
He poured her a shallow cup of tea and held it out. “You are familiar with plants.”
She blushed and tried to ignore her dirty fingers, but his hands were so tanned and elegant that she felt small and grubby in return. She took the tea and inhaled the aroma of flowers and herbs and rain and sun. “It smells like a warm spring.”
He chuckled. “It is my favourite. I would not have pegged you for a woman of the soil.”
“Then, you are a bad judge of character.”
She stood and sipped at the tea, feeling the curl of warmth slowly work its way through her belly. He looked at the area she had been digging in. “You were adjusting the plants for light exposure?”
