Elf-Shot Book 6 in The Twilight Court Series Read online

  “I didn't think I'd be here so long,” I admitted.

  “The Princess is perfectly safe with me alone guarding her,” Raza's golden eyes flashed within his sin-black face.

  “She has us for a reason,” Tiernan said calmly, surprising both Raza and I. “You have a kingdom to look after, and that's a huge distraction. Whereas we are focused entirely on Seren. Wouldn't you prefer her to be protected to the best extent possible?”

  “I would,” Raza sighed and held his arm out to me. “Tiernan's right, you shouldn't leave your Guard behind again.”

  “This is bizarre,” I whispered as I took Raza's hand. “First you get along with Killian, and now Tiernan.”

  “You got along with Killian?” Tiernan asked with surprise and just a little horror.

  “I tolerated him for an evening,” Raza shrugged.

  Tiernan gave me a weighted look. I shook my head. He nodded.

  “Are you two quite finished with your secret conversation?” Raza asked as he led me out.

  “Queen Daiyu is asking for Killian,” Tiernan followed after us. “Any idea why?”

  Raza and I started laughing.

  “Ah, I see,” Tiernan smirked as he stepped up alongside us. “The snake has charmed the dragon.”

  “Not on purpose,” I chuckled.

  “What would she do if she knew Killian's heart already belonged to you?” Tiernan asked me.

  Raza and I both looked at him with blank expressions.

  “Are the both of you seriously expecting me to believe that you didn't know of Killian's affections?” Tiernan rolled his stunning silver eyes.

  “I knew,” I whispered.

  Raza's gaze darted to mine.

  “You knew it too,” I gave Raza a look. “Don't act like you didn't.”

  “I knew he was interested in you,” Raza conceded. “I didn't know the extent, nor did I realize that you were aware of it.”

  “Anyone with a pair of eyes is aware of it,” Tiernan saved me. “The boy is love-struck. He looks at her like a puppy. Like Cat did when she first bonded to Seren.”

  Cat, who had been loping along behind us, yipped happily, not at all offended.

  “A fair point,” Raza muttered. “I can't recall why I tolerated him now.”

  “Because anyone who loves Seren, will fight to the death for her,” Tiernan said simply.

  “You seem rather enlightened today, Lord Tiernan,” Raza noted suspiciously.

  “I've gained a new perspective on things.”

  Tiernan's choice of words made me blink and then look to Raza in surprise. It was so close to what I'd said to him recently.

  “Yes,” Raza kept his eyes on mine. “That seems to be going around.”

  Chapter Thirty

  The throne room was full, but an aisle was made as soon as we entered. Raza's wings lifted behind him gloriously to give him a dramatic entrance. I walked in the cradle of his right wing, Cat at my side. Tiernan brought up the rear, but he held back when we reached the steps to the dais. I did not. As royalty myself, I was allowed to join Raza. As his girlfriend, I was allowed to sit in his queen's throne.

  As soon as we sat, several fairies approached us. One was Hana, Raza's cousin, who was also the steward of Unseelie Castle, the previous unseelie royal residence. She looked as fantastic as ever, her lemon yellow hair pulled back in a severe braid. She was dressed in something masculine, all leather and metal, but she could never be confused with a man. Not ever. She may be Amazonian tall, but she had curves like a succubus.

  “Your Majesty,” she bowed her head to Raza.

  “Cousin,” he said, dismissing her propriety. “Why have you come?”

  “Your scry worried me,” Hana said. “I've been thinking about these new elven weapons, trying to devise a way to combat them.”

  “Yes,” Raza looked over the concerned crowd. “I see it has concerned you all.”

  A muttering agreement circled the room.

  “Then you will be relieved to hear that I've taken steps to counter their advantage,” Raza smiled at me. “With the aid of Princess Seren and Lord Killian.”

  “What steps?” Hana asked. “How do we fight elves when we won't even be able to see them?”

  “We will be able to see them,” Raza looked to me. “Could you explain the human devices to them? I'm sure you will do better at it than I.”

  “It's called a thermal imaging scope,” I said, and the gathering went quiet. “Looking through it allows you to see how hot things are. Bodies radiate heat and therefore can be seen through things that don't manufacture their own warmth, such as trees and bushes. You will see the shapes of their bodies, their heat signatures, which will provide you with targets to aim your own arrows at.”

  “But our arrows won't be tipped in iron,” Hana growled. “We need weapons to match theirs.”

  The unseelie shifted uneasily and a new muttering started.

  “You may be right,” Raza held up his hand. “I will look into arming our troops with iron arrows. But I cannot guarantee that I will be successful. The man who created the arrows for the elves is now dead.”

  “Shot by Moire,” someone in the crowd said.

  “Yes, he was shot by Moire,” Raza agreed. “So I would have to find another human with the skills to create these arrows, then hire him to make us thousands of them. That will take time. Time which I'm not sure we have.”

  “We will fight regardless, Your Majesty!” One of the red caps in the back of the room shouted. “We are not afraid of iron, be it arrows or swords!”

  The room cheered and bolstered, but Raza held his hand up for silence.

  “I know you are brave and loyal,” Raza stood to speak. “You are unseelie!”

  They cheered again.

  “But bravery should not be hampered by imprudence,” Raza went on. “We will have healers among our warriors, so that iron poisoning may be dealt with immediately. And if we do attain iron arrows, you will be trained on how to properly handle them. Over time, a close proximity to the iron can injure us. Remember that. We don't carry iron swords for that very reason. No matter what we made the hilt of, an iron blade would be too close to our skin for us to safely wield. These arrows give us the distance we need between us and the iron, but if they are carried or used incorrectly, there could be injuries. I will not lose any fairy unnecessarily. We'll alleviate the threat and even the fighting field... carefully and shrewdly.”

  The room broke into applause, cheers, and even foot stamping. Yes, Raza was a born leader. He could make pretty speeches like nobody's business. But his words didn't assuage the fear I felt, festering in my chest. I hated to admit it, but Danu's desertion was messing with me. Bad.

  Still, I smiled at Raza when he looked to me, and I tried to appear as confident as possible for the unseelie fey. These fairies had once frightened me, but now they were like family, and I would support them in every way possible. If only Danu would as well.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Aodh?” I rushed down the hallway to meet the sylph halfway. “What are you doing here? Nighean? Neala? You've all come? What's happened? What's wrong?”

  “All of us, and several more,” Aodh looked over my shoulder to Raza and Tiernan, “but still not enough, I'm afraid.”

  “What's he talking about?” I asked Raza.

  “I sent a request for troops to Queen Iseabal,” Raza stepped forward as a small group of seelie fey came through the front doors of Craos-Teine. He looked them over and frowned, “So she refuses to honor the truce?”

  “Queen Iseabal said she did not recall military assistance to be a part of the truce agreement,” Sorcha Silverlight stepped forward and bowed to Raza, “Your Majesty.”

  “Mother,” Tiernan went to hug her, then turned to greet his sister, Latharna.

  I felt a little awkward around Tiernan's family now that we weren't an item, so I held back and tried to catch up on what was happening.

  “Damn her,” Raza growled. “It
stated clearly that we would stand together, supporting each other with soldiers during times of war. She has broken the truce with us. Now I shall be forced to war with Seelie after I finish defending Unseelie from Moire.”

  “Wait,” I held up a hand. “You requested that Iseabal honor her end of the agreement, but she's refused?”

  “It seems so,” Raza's jaw clenched.

  “Then what are all of you doing here?” I looked past Tiernan's incredibly beautiful family to Aodh's, and then to several other seelie fey, quite a few of whom I recognized immediately.

  They had been prisoners of Unseelie once. I had rescued them from the dungeons of Castle Unseelie, and taken them back to their kingdom. There, I had done the same for the unseelie prisoners, freeing them and returning them to their homes. Now the freed prisoners were back in Unseelie. Why?

  “Her Majesty wouldn't listen to reason,” Rose, a buttery sprite, one of the smallest fey there were, was sitting on the shoulder of a duergar. “But Aodh argued until she finally agreed to allow all of those who wished to fight on behalf of Unseelie to do so. We are those who have chosen to honor the truce, Your Majesty. We hope that it will be enough to stay your hand from acting against Seelie when this is over.”

  The duergar (sort of like a dwarf) was only two feet tall himself, but he was still much larger than Rose. She looked like every young girl's image of a fairy, all delicate and pale. But she wore hardened, leather armor, and her creamy blonde hair was pulled back in a war braid. Her oak eyes, much too large for her face, regarded Raza solemnly.

  I suddenly had another image of Rose, bloody and bruised on a dirty stone floor. Horrible things had been done to her in Unseelie. Terrible things had been done to all of the prisoners, from both kingdoms. But the vision of Rose, in particular, had haunted me. That she was among those who had come to support Raza, both baffled and inspired me. It gave me hope.

  Rose was here for both her people and herself. Fighting beside unseelie fey would heal her in a way I couldn't even fathom, and maybe it would even keep the Unseelie King from declaring war on her kingdom because of a broken truce. What an amazing amount of courage and conviction to be found in such a little body. I suppose the best parts of people are not restricted by size, race, or sex.

  There were only around sixty seelie fairies there, nothing really, when it comes to an army. But Raza suddenly acted as if they were the most magnificent fighting force he'd ever seen. He walked forward regally, and laid his hands upon the duergar and Rose, grasping their shoulders before looking to the rest of the seelie.

  “We are honored to have you with us,” Raza said to the seelie fey. “Know that you have made a personal friend of the King of Unseelie today. You have chosen to be honorable despite how difficult it was to do so, the greatest obstacle being your own queen. I find this to be not only admirable but awe-inspiring. I will repay your bravery as best I can, by sparing our kingdoms the war your queen has nearly initiated. I declare that she has held up her end of the truce. I have no need of further assistance from Seelie, Queen Iseabal has unknowingly sent me her best warriors!”

  The seelie cheered, and Raza went out among them to shake hands and speak personally with every one of them. As he did, I knelt down to kiss Rose, and then her duergar friend. He blushed, probably unused to such attention. Duergars were not the most attractive fey, and they tended to be standoffish, especially with humans. This one had a nose bigger than Rose, and eyes the color of dirty dishwater. But he still managed to look gallant when he bowed to me... after getting his blushing under control.

  “Thank you for coming,” I said to them. “I will not forget this either.”

  “You made a huge leap forward when you freed us,” Rose said to me. “That leap has turned into a roll, and it's picking up momentum. But it will take time to heal old wounds. We will get there, Your Highness. Do not lose faith in us.”

  “I have to admit, I'm astonished that all of you, so recently imprisoned by the unseelie, would heal your wounds the fastest,” I shook my head. “This act alone ensures that I will never lose faith in the fey.”

  “We know better than most, the horror that hatred can bring,” Nighean said softly, her enormous, translucent wings shivering behind her. “So we also know that forgiveness is the only way forward.” She laid a pale hand on my shoulder, “I heard about Bress. I'm so sorry.”

  “Dear Goddess, Nighean,” I pulled her into a hug, “could you not be so damn perfect?”

  “Your Highness?” Nighean blinked her huge, ivy-colored eyes at me.

  “Bress would have raped and tortured you,” I shook my head. “Yet you're sorry for his own torment.”

  “His torment was what led to mine,” Nighean shrugged. “I understand that, and I know he's changed. More importantly, he's trying to change. Aodh told me he spoke with Bress, and Bress expressed his regret over his treatment of several seelie, including myself.”

  “You spoke to Bress?” I asked Aodh in shock.

  Before he could answer, I overheard Tiernan's conversation with his mother.

  “Where's Father?”

  Aodh gave me a look in response to Tiernan's question and shook his head. I closed my eyes and sighed, knowing the time for keeping my distance had passed. Tiernan was about to get some very upsetting news, and I needed to be there for him. I eased up to his side and took his hand. Tiernan glanced at me in surprise, then squeezed my hand, taking it more firmly before looking back to Sorcha. But it was Latharna who answered him.

  “He's being an absolute brute,” Latharna huffed, swinging her thick, ebony braid over her armored shoulder. Her silver eyes flashed as she met Tiernan's nearly identical stare. “He said we were being traitors, and he was finished with his family disobeying our queen. Father said if we left, we shouldn't come back.”

  “Mother?” Tiernan gaped at Sorcha.

  “He didn't mean it,” Sorcha's jaw clenched.

  “Mother,” Latharna sighed. “You know he did. But he has no say over whether we are let back into Seelie. The Queen gave us her consent. We are here with her permission, if not her approval.”

  “I hate that woman,” I muttered under my breath.

  “She did not force my father to be...” Tiernan trailed off.

  “A huge bastard?” Sorcha asked, shocking us all.

  Sorcha looked pretty impressive in her seelie armor, just as Latharna did, but she hadn't really looked deadly until she'd said those words. I gave her a smile and looked over her lightweight leather with its inset silver plates. There were signs of age to the armor, but also signs of use. Sorcha Silverlight had fought before. More importantly, she had survived.

  “It's good to see you, Countess,” I said to Sorcha.

  “Come here, child,” she held her arms out to me. “I'm glad to see you as well.” Then she whispered in my ear, “Please forgive him. Take him back before he hardens his heart once more. I can't bear to see him suffering.”

  I gaped at her as I eased away.

  “We're happy to be here, Princess,” Latharna gave me a hug too. “Honestly, it feels damn good to get away from Seelie, and that bitch queen of ours.”

  “Latharna,” Sorcha chided, her cerulean eyes softening on her daughter, despite the censure.

  Sorcha's hair was just like Tiernan's, and seeing her standing directly beside her daughter brought home the fact that they each had one of his features. Put them together, and you got a Tiernan...with lady bits.

  “Tonight we feast!” Raza shouted, drawing our attention over to where he stood, surrounded by seelie. “We will celebrate our new friendships and our true allies.”

  Raza's eyes landed on me, warm and happy until they lowered to my hand... which was still holding Tiernan's.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I spent a tense evening with Raza at the high table. Normally, he'd invite a few other people to dine with us. Seeing me holding Tiernan's hand must have unsettled him, though because we were eating alone. Oh, he conversed with the re
st of the hall, calling out good-natured comments to his people and his new allies, but there was a distinct boundary around us. Obvious enough to prevent any but our servers from approaching.

  “I was just comforting him,” I finally said.

  I had spent fifteen minutes playing with a few kuperis who had come to light our table, and Raza had sat and stared at me through all of it. A clawed hand on my thigh and one wing curled around my shoulders. It should have felt safe, pleasant. Instead, it felt awkward. Possessive, and not in a good way. I had the strangest feeling that he was going to snatch me up and fly out a window with me.

  “I realize that,” Raza whispered.

  I found it very telling that he knew exactly what I was referring to.

  “So why does it feel like you're upset with me?” I looked up into molten, gold eyes.

  “I'm not upset with you,” Raza sighed, his wings finally folding away. “I sense something stirring around us, something which feels a lot like fate, and it... concerns me.”

  “I don't believe in fate,” I shrugged.

  “Yes, you do,” Raza's hand clenched briefly on my leg. “You don't want to believe in fate, but you do.”

  “Raza... sometimes I feel like you drug me kicking and screaming into this relationship.”

  His hand fell away.

  “I loved Tiernan, and yet, slowly, you wedged your way into my heart,” I stroked the glowing kuperi before me, then nudged it gently back towards its friends. “Then I loved you both. That has haunted me. The fact that I could love him, and still fall for you. I felt fickle and disloyal. Dishonest. And sometimes I wonder if you can see it,” I looked to him. “How could you not? I loved Tiernan, but I still went to you in the end. You must think me incapable of being true to one man. So, why do you love me?”

  Raza swallowed hard, his gaze flickering to Tiernan before settling back on me.

  “I don't believe that love is finite,” he said. “Nor do I think you fickle or incapable of being true to me. I think the heart, with all of its layered emotions, is complicated. Loving one person doesn't negate the feelings you have for another. The fey have long recognized this, and that's why we don't put restrictions on our relationships. No limits and no judgments.”