Half-Breed (Taming the Elements Book 1)

by Hickory Mack

  “No matter, we'll discuss this inside. Madam Milly, thank you for your help today,” Fen said to the elder. The cook, Alice remembered. She hoped she hadn’t offended her.

  “I’ll get something made up for everybody, I expect everyone’s hungry after all the excitement, and the young Miss hasn’t had a bite to eat all day,” she said to Fen, then looked at Alice and gave a small bow. “I’m sorry I frightened you young lady.”

  Alice stammered out a response, embarrassed and unsure what she should say. It was good enough though, the chef bowed again and saw herself out of the garden, the other demons trailing behind her. Lights were lit inside the house.

  “We can wait to clear that up until morning,” Fen said. “Come, Trouble, let’s go inside, clean you up and talk. There are certain expectations on you now, you can’t go missing for an entire day and frighten everyone like that.”

  “I don’t want to go inside,” Alice said, feeling queasy at the thought of going back in the house, even with familiar faces present.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We have all had a long day, don’t make it even more difficult. You can take a bath with Asuka, you’ll have some dinner and tea and you can get some rest,” Fen replied.

  “No.”

  “Child. You are testing my patience.” Fen sounded irritated and Alice furrowed her brow with the realization that not one of them had ever used her name.

  “I have a name you know, it’s Alice, and I will not go back inside. At least, not right now.”

  “You will. I will carry you if I must,” Fen answered, his eyes glittering with promise. Asuka was conspicuously quiet. The fae had stated she thought Fen was scary, she’d find no help from her on this.

  “You can’t take my will away! I’m not actually a pet, you can’t cage me up like an animal,” Alice protested, ignoring his threat. Fen sighed.

  “Stop the dramatics, nobody is trying to cage you. If you didn’t want to be a pet you should have said as much to Lord Makkai. The truth is we don’t yet know your official status among us, M’Lord has not spoken of it to anyone. I can only assume it’s because he has not yet spoken with you about it. Until then, we will take care of you,” said Fen.

  “Why can’t I stay outside until he comes back?” Alice asked.

  “Because it could be days before he returns. Sometimes we don't see him for weeks. It’s easier to attend to your needs in your rooms, where we have things like blankets, and lights,” Fen reasoned, “ and because I am unaccustomed to defiance of my orders.”

  “That’s a terrible reason,” Alice said, crossing her arms.

  “Okay, it’s a terrible reason. You win the argument. Now go inside,” Fen demanded, his patience officially at an end.

  “No.”

  Fen’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

  “It’s best to do as he asks. You won’t be alone again, no more getting lost,” Asuka intervened. Alice felt bad saying no to her but going back in felt like walking into a trap. She shook her head.

  “Enough of this, little Witch.” Fen grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. Alice dug her heels in and struggled hard, but she couldn’t match his strength.

  “Why does everyone keep grabbing at me? Let go of me, please!” she shouted, pulling and yanking back. Fen frowned and kept dragging her. The closer they got the more she panicked. “No, Fen, stop, don’t touch me! No, I can’t!”

  “You are shaming yourself! Behave!” Fen demanded, ignoring her

  tears.

  “Please! Fen, I’m afraid, let me go!” Alice begged but her pleas fell on deaf ears. It was ridiculous even to her, but she turned to the only person she had left. “Makkai! Please help me, Lord Makkai!”

  Fen stopped in his tracks, staring at her with his mouth slightly open. Asuka covered her mouth with her sleeve.

  “Lord Makkai is not here, and even if he were, do you seriously think he would bother to intervene with this behavior? He’s more likely to cast you out than put up with your antics,” Fen growled.

  A blue light streaked across the sky like a shooting star, but far too bright and far too close. Fen dropped her wrist and he and Asuka dipped into deep bows. The fox stood before them. There were shadows under his eyes and an irritated frown on his lips. His tails were fanned out as they had been the last time Alice had seen him, ready for a fight.

  Alice rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his kimono. Asuka gasped behind her, and Fen made a disgruntled sound. The fox demon froze for a long moment. Long enough for Alice to feel self-conscious, but before she pulled away she felt the gentlest pressure between her shoulder blades. He looked down at the girl, then at the two on the ground.

  “Explain,” he said simply. Fen did so, making her sound ridiculously temperamental and stubborn. Alice stayed where she was, her face hot with embarrassment. She couldn’t defend herself, and she wouldn’t look up to see the disgust that was surely on his face.

  “I am sorry you were drawn into this, my Lord, over a child’s tantrum,” Fen finished, sounding indignant and irritated.

  “I see,” Lord Makkai said, leaving his hand on her shoulder possessively. “I have obviously overestimated your ability to take care of one frail child. When this girl told you no, did you stop to ask her why, or were you too intent on dominating her will with your own?”

  “You said she was your pet and pets are obedient," Fen said defensively.

  "A pet only has one master, and you are not hers," Makkai growled.

  "Be that as it may, she was installed here with no explanation and no instructions for her inevitable awakening. No one has any answers on why she is here, or why she is in those rooms of all places. This child, given an honorary space in your house? It defies reason,” Fen said, then quailed under the fierce look his Lord gave him, stammering out his line of responding to a child’s tantrum again.

  Lord Makkai lifted Alice’s hand, inspecting the outline of Fen’s fingers marked in red on her skin.

  “This child caused an explosion in my house, and you think a simple refusal is a tantrum? It is not for you to question my decisions. You will not touch her again. We will speak more in-depth later, Fen. Asuka, please ask Milly to have our dinner brought out here,” he said. Asuka dipped her head in response. “Leave us.”

  The pair bowed again and left the gardens by way of the door near Alice’s room, rather than the hole she’d blasted through. When they were alone Lord Makkai pressed Alice closer, then released her. A spark played in his dark eyes.

  “You broke my house, Little Witch,” he said, humor coloring his voice.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Alice said, her eyes on the ground.

  “Witches at your age are volatile, it will get harder until you come into your full power and learn to control it. You haven’t been prepared as you should have been. A mentor will be found for you, the search is already underway, you need teaching,” he stepped away and Alice followed, automatically pulled in his wake. She noticed his tails had relaxed.

  “I didn’t know I was a witch, my father never told me. Nobody else did, either,” Alice said.

  “I know,” Lord Makkai replied, “it seems it was a well-kept secret, even when they had you in their possession they did not know.” They came to a clear space on the opposite side of the garden, bathed in the blue were-light of a heatless fox fire. He motioned, and Alice sat, uncomfortably aware that she was still wearing her pajamas from the night before. He arranged himself near her, his hand almost touching hers.

  “Now, tell me the events of your day from your perspective. Spare no details, I want to hear everything,” Lord Makkai said.

  Alice began with waking up alone and ended with his appearance in the gardens. The only thing she left out was her reasoning for going down that particular hallway in the first place. It was too embarrassing and she couldn’t explain why she’d wanted to see him. Listening attentively, his fingers dug into the grass when she told him what the weasel had do
ne to the barrier.

  “I was so frightened. It reminded me of the basement, where the hunters kept me. I couldn’t get out and I needed to. The magic burst out and I didn't know how to stop it. It broke the barrier, but it broke your house, too,” Alice apologized again, and then she explained her refusal to go with Fen.

  “It isn’t that I’m afraid of Fen, or Asuka. I can’t go inside right now. It feels like the walls want to devour me and it makes my head scream inside. I can’t,” she finished. They sat in silence for a long stretch, broken when a pair of small female demons came out, carrying a low table between them.

  They stopped several paces away and bowed, waiting for Lord Makkai to beckon them over. They set the table on the flattest surface and retreated, a second pair followed, bringing trays of food and cups and a small white bottle. The second pair bowed and retreated as well.

  “Come.” Lord Makkai extended his hand and helped Alice to her feet, holding her hand the short distance to the table. Alice’s heart beat so hard it hurt her chest. He sat opposite of her and poured the sake for himself, leaving her cup empty.

  “No wine for you,” he said and smiled slightly. “Yukio.”

  The beautiful woman from before appeared before them, her face keen and focused on Lord Makkai. She, too, bowed before him. Alice flinched and scooted away, her eyes wide. Makkai observed her reaction before turning to the woman.

  "Hmm," he said.

  “Yes, Lord Makkai?” she said breathlessly.

  “Go to the kitchen and ask for a soothing tea, include chamomile and valerian. Bring it back here for us. My guest is far too fragile for sake,” he said. Yukio’s eyes darted to the cowering Alice. If the woman could have spit venom she would have. She forced her face to go blank and looked to Lord Makkai.

  “As you wish, My Lord,” she said, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice, then she vanished. Alice was shaking.

  “She hates me.”

  “Her feelings for you are irrelevant, she was only ever temporary here. It was unfair of me to forget about her as I did, but that will be rectified. She will be taken care of,” he said, taking a sip of his sake.

  “Can all demons do that? Pop in and out like it’s nothing?” Alice asked.

  “No. Most lessers cannot and some of the upper caste do not have the talent for it, either. Yukio is quite the accomplished young ferret,” he answered. “She was amusing and served her purpose well, but her presence is no longer needed here, and she is bitter because of it. Please accept my apologies for how she treated you today. I should have taken care of this before, I was remiss in leaving it until now.”

  “Th-thank you,” Alice said.

  A cup double the size of what she already had slammed onto the table.

  Yukio had been quick, and she’d heard everything. Alice froze, but Lord Makkai maintained a bored look on his face. Yukio put the tea pot down hard enough to rattle the table but not hard enough to harm the china.

  “That will be all, Yukio,” Lord Makkai said, releasing the ferret demon for the evening. She dipped her head and vanished.

  “There you are, my Lady,” he poured the tea for her. “This will calm your fears.”

  “My name is Alice,” she said in a much softer tone than she’d used with Fen. He put a piece of tofu in his mouth and looked her in the eye.

  “I know that as well. Miss Alice, the hunter called you. My intention was to simply keep you as a pet, Miss Alice. You would have been well cared for, educated, made useful. For this, a contract would have been drawn up, under my protection you would have been given a short name, something cute. Rin, or Chi, a pet name.” He ate some more tofu and Alice followed his lead, dipping the small square into a little bowl of thick, sweet soy sauce.

  “But I haven’t been given a name, and nobody in the house will call me Alice. They call me ‘Dear’ and ‘Halfling’ and ‘Trouble’.” Alice complained, taking another tofu with sweet soy. “This is really good.”

  “I’ll make sure Milly is informed that you like it,” he said, watching her awkwardly wrap her fingers around the chop sticks. She scooped up a miniscule bite of rice and he chuckled at the triumphant look on her face. “You’re like an infant.” Alice scowled and stuck her tongue out at him.

  “I’m learning. I just woke up yesterday, and today doesn’t count,” she said.

  “Indeed,” he said, emptying his cup of sake and pouring another.

  “Why did you put a pet into the rooms you put me in? Asuka told me they’re special, that they’ve always been empty. You called me your ‘Lady’, what does that even mean?” Alice asked quietly.

  “Straight to the heart of the problem, Miss Alice. You see, I can name a pet. I can name a servant. I can name an assassin or a warrior or even a lesser lord, if the need arises. You however, it would be foolish to think I could name you without first knowing you. Without knowing something of who you are. Insolent, even,” he said, his black eyes impossible to read.

  “Why?” Alice asked, picking up a small bowl with a strange brown paste in it.

  “Because as it turns out, you have the potential to be quite precious to me,” he answered. Alice stared, her heart hammering. “There are a limited number of people in this world that could be what I think you are to me. Maybe two or three in an entire lifetime have the potential. The likelihood of finding you while I’m stuck here is unfathomable.”

  “I don’t understand,” Alice whispered. He smiled gently and took her hand again. Alice swallowed hard. If he didn't stop doing that her heart was going to come through her chest.

  “I think you do, in some small way,” he said. “You do not want my people to touch you. Not Fen, not Asuka, not Milly. Why?”

  Alice shook her head. Every time someone reached for her, she was afraid they were going to hurt her. How could she explain that he didn’t illicit the same fears, when she didn’t understand it herself?

  “But this is okay?” he asked, threading his fingers through hers and rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. For a second she lost the ability to breathe. She stared at her hand, swallowed up by his and nodded.

  “I can feel you, Little Witch,” he pointed to his chest. “You’re right here, tugging at me. Starting from the moment these hands touched mine at the Matriarch Tree. You’re just a human-raised, halfling child. And yet I am inexplicably drawn to you.”

  “Oh,” Alice breathed, swallowing hard. His words bolstered her bravery. “I was looking for you today. Before I got stuck. Asuka told me your rooms overlook the garden, too, and, I wanted to see you.” He nodded at her red-faced admission.

  “I’m still not entirely convinced I’m right, I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and you’re so young, we cannot allow the bond to form as quickly as it wants. I think, you have the potential to be my mate. Which makes you precious. You must be protected. The others have not been told, and it’s why there is so much confusion. It’s why you have not been named. There will never be a contract, we will be bonded, so a contract would be redundant. You will stay with me because you will want to stay with me.”

  “When you say mate, you don’t mean?” Alice left it hanging in the air. She couldn’t say the words.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. We are linked, our lives intertwined, to be lived together. There will be no expectations or obligations placed on you anytime soon,” he answered, looking away. Alice searched for the right thing to say, he was almost acting uncomfortable. On account of her. The girl everybody hated.

  “I’m not a demon,” she said, stating the obvious.

  “And I am a son of Inari, the God of all Fox Gods. It would be an insult for me to mate with anyone other than the daughter of some exalted fox clan, once I am free of my banishment and declared forgiven. It’s expected that I will do my part to pass on his genetics to future baby fox. You may be the one to free me from that fate, an arranged marriage to a stranger. A mating bond, once forged, cannot be severed. It’s a rare and wonder
ful thing among my kind, and my mate must only be compatible, you do not have to be a fox, or even a demon.”

  “That’s why I get the title, and the rooms. Because of a rare something I might someday be…”

  “Yes. Precisely.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense to me,” Alice said.

  “It will, eventually,” he said, tracing the lines of her palm. “When the bond grows, it will all make sense.”

  Chapter 11

  They continued eating in an awkward silence, Alice sneaking looks at the Fox. Her nerves were agitated, both excited and unsure of what to think of everything he’d just said. He was beautiful and she had already been nursing quite the crush on him, despite his many tails and furry ears. In her imagination he was kind and she romanticized his moody nature as some deep torment. It went well with his protectiveness but conflicted with the creature who’d dragged her to his killing ground against her will.

  The food was good, though she didn’t know what most of it was. The pile of cooked greens with little chopped nuts had given her pause, but when she’d tried it, it proved to be flavorful and delicious. It wasn’t enough to distract her, she had more questions than she knew what to do with. Alice worked up her confidence, feigning boldness.

  “What am I supposed to call you?” she asked, taking another sip of tea. It was sweet and he’d been right, it was helping to calm her. He finished drinking his sake and regarded her carefully before answering.

  “When we are alone like this, you may call me Makkai. When in the company of others it is appropriate to use Lord. No pet names,” he said, looking at their empty plates rather than her.

  “Why can’t I just be me? Alice?” she asked. She’d never been one to dwell on names before, and now that she faced losing it, she found she was perfectly okay with the name she already had.

  “Names have power over the ones who bear them, they can shape an entire lifetime with the emotions attached to them. Miss Alice is a name with negative connotations. It is the name known by humans and hunters alike, a name of misfortune, tainted with violence. I want you to associate the name I call you by with hope and strength, and one day, happiness,” he said. Alice smiled and quickly covered it with her hand, taking a second to compose herself.