Here There be Dragons (Book 4 in the Twilight Court Series) Page 18
I scrambled to my feet in a horrified rush.
A Chinese mask had fallen on Raza's head but it went ignored it as Raza glared at Tiernan. Raza pushed himself up with one swift movement. The mask fell aside with a clatter and wobbled to a stop, its empty eyes staring up at me in accusation. Tiernan dove into Raza's gut and Raza's clenched fist pounded into Tiernan's lower back. Somewhere in my subconscious I realized that Raza wasn't using deadly force, his claws were turned in and although he snarled, he didn't resort to biting. He didn't want to hurt Tiernan.
Tiernan wanted something else entirely. The screech of steel coming free of a sheath announced his intentions clearly. I jumped between them.
“Stop it!” I pushed them apart.
“Damn you, Seren!” Tiernan shouted into my face and I gaped at him in shock. “Trust you, you said. Just smirk? Is that what I'm supposed to do when I see him lying across you? Is it?!”
“I didn't-”
“You didn't what?” He sneered in my face. “You didn't betray me and the commitment we made? Or you didn't get that far yet? How long did you wait after I left before you laid down with him?”
I punched him in the nose.
This wasn't a king who needed a wake up call, this was my boyfriend and I was an extinguisher long before I was a princess. Tiernan not only deserved the punch, he should have expected it.
He staggered back, his hand going to his bleeding nose in shock. He stared at me like he didn't know who I was, then turned and walked out the door.
“Tiernan,” I started after him but Raza put a hand on my shoulder and held me back.
“Let him go,” he said gently. “Give him some time to cool off. I'll speak with him.”
“You'll speak with him?” I huffed. “He's just going to attack you again.”
“I can handle it,” he gave me a gentle smile. “I'm sorry, Seren. This was not my intent. I got carried away in the moment and you paid for it. I'll try my best to alleviate the damage.”
With that, Raza, the man I was starting to feel way too much for, chased after Tiernan, the man I already loved.
“Young love,” Chad sighed from my elbow. “It's so romantic.”
“Romantic?” I huffed at Chad. “Where exactly was the romance in that?”
“Or the youth?” I heard Ainsley mutter to the rest of the twilight fairies Chad had brought back. “Only one of those three are young.”
“Are you kidding?” Gradh made a sound of envious disbelief. “Two of the most beautiful fairies in all the kingdoms were just punching each other's beautiful faces for you. That's more romance than I've seen in years.”
“Don't let Conri hear you say that,” Iain chuckled.
“Trust me,” I grimaced, “it's not as wonderful as you make it sound.”
I went to the large window at the front of the living room and peered out at the men. Tiernan was glaring at Raza and Raza was making placating gestures.
“Well, at least they're not at each other's throats,” I bent down, picked up the Chinese mask, and put it back on the wall.
“Or tearing up my home,” Chad grinned. “Though I admit it was worth the risk, just to see those two fight.”
“Impressive,” Iain nodded as he joined us at the window. “A dragon and a hunter. Do you think they'll do it again?” He sounded hopeful.
“Yes, they probably will,” I grimaced. “But I don't think it will be today.” I waved toward the astonishing sight of Raza and Tiernan shaking hands.
They turned and headed back to the house. We all jumped away from the window and ran into the room. Everyone tried to look as if they were doing something other than spy on the men. For my part, I sat demurely in a chair, hands folded and eyes on the fireplace.
“Seren,” Tiernan said as he entered the room. “Can I have a word in private?”
His jaw was clenched but he appeared calm.
“Yeah,” I looked at Raza in shock and he gave me a wink. “Sure.”
“You can use my room,” Chad waved us down the hallway.
“My thanks,” Tiernan nodded to Chad and took my hand. He didn't say another word until we were behind the closed door of Chad's bedroom. “I'm sorry.”
“I'm sorry I hit you,” I shook my head.
“I may have deserved it,” he gave me a little smile. “It looked bad, Seren. When I walked in, it looked like...”
“It looked like I was about to have wild, crazy dragon sex?” I asked him with my own smile.
“Yes, exactly.”
“I was just asking Raza to stop when you walked in.”
“I know, he told me,” he sighed and ran a hand through his ombré hair. “This is getting insane.”
“Maybe,” I sighed and sat heavily on Chad's bed. “But I think I should tell you something.”
“What?” He focused on me warily.
“I've kissed him,” I admitted.
“When?”
“During that business with the raven-mockers. When he chased me from the battle,” I met his gaze steadily. “He kissed me and I stopped him but then I kissed him back. I have no excuse for it and I should have told you before but I was afraid...”
“I'd slam my fist into his face?”
“Yes and possibly break my heart,” I shrugged. “The guy is just relentless. He keeps saying we're meant to be. It's difficult to withstand that kind of intensity.”
“You are,” he whispered.
“I'm sorry, what?” I lifted my brows.
“You are meant to be,” he swallowed hard and looked away. “I haven't been completely honest with you either.”
“Whoa, hold on now,” I stood up and went over to him. “You can offer your opinion on whom you're supposed to be with but I say who I'm meant to be with. Not you or Raza. I do.”
“It wasn't Raza or I who said it,” he whispered and set wounded eyes on my face.
“Then who-” I gaped at him. “No.”
“The reason Raza is so intent on winning you is that Danu herself told him you'll be the great love of his life.”
“Danu can go-”
Tiernan laid a finger over my mouth.
“I love you, Seren,” he smiled. “I love you even more for that little blasphemy you were about to utter. But don't do it. You see, the Goddess spoke to me too.”
“She what?”
“Silver and gold,” he whispered and kissed me gently. “Seelie and unseelie, bound by twilight. Danu has her heart set upon uniting Fairy through you, in more ways than you thought.”
“Danu wants me to be with you both?”
“It's a very fey arrangement.”
“No,” I said simply.
“I said the same thing,” he sighed. “I said no, over and over to the Goddess herself. She chided me for being selfish and foolish. She told me that I would lose you if I didn't allow your heart to love where it was fated to. That's why I've been so crazy over this Raza thing. I've denied our Goddess for you but the whole time I've known, I've sensed, that she's right. How could she be anything but? You are destined to love us both and I can either be a part of that love or I can fight it and lose you completely.”
“No,” I laid my hand to his cheek. “Danu forgets that I'm only half fey. I love her, she's been good to me. She's saved my life and given me a new home with my true father. But I'm not hers. I won't allow her to use me in some divine chess game where she moves pieces into place to suit her fancy. This is my life and I will live it, loving whomever I choose.”
“What are you saying?” He whispered as his eyes went wide.
“I love you, Tiernan,” I pulled his face down to mine. “My body may have moments of weakness but my heart is strong and its yours. I'll keep fighting for you if you'll stand with me.”
“Always,” he whispered.
“Good,” I grinned. “Because I don't want to be a thruple. I want to be a couple; with you.”
He caught me up and kissed me like it was the first time our lips had ever met. My body
shivered with the intensity of passion and the emotions that Tiernan always stirred within me. Yes, Raza was amazing and he was rising in my esteem every day but I was raised to want one lover and someday possibly, one husband. Any more than that seemed wrong. Greedy and dirty somehow. Even if I didn't feel that way, Tiernan didn't want it and I didn't want Tiernan to be unhappy.
So I kissed him and reveled in it. I delighted in my rebellion of Danu, who seemed to be speaking to everyone except me these days, and I pushed away all the little doubts inside my head, warning me that the Goddess was seldom wrong. Damn my doubts and damn Danu herself if she tried to force me into something I didn't want. I'm not the kind of girl you can push around and Danu should have known better. Now that her plan had been revealed to me, I'd definitely be holding onto Tiernan with both hands. The call of Danu would fall on deaf ears.
My hands started to slide lower to do some sweet, sweet holding, when Tiernan pulled back and stared down at me with a bewildered smile.
“What's a thruple?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After Tiernan and I were done making up, I scried for my father. His reaction to the news of his brother's latest shenanigans was unexpected; he hung his head and wept.
“Dad?” I leaned in to the crystal ball. “Dad, are you okay?”
“He's going to try and bring back Rue,” Keir whispered.
“That's what we believe as well,” I nodded.
“Part of me admires his gall,” Keir smiled sadly and swiped at his eyes. “Sweet Goddess, if only I were brave enough to bring your mother back.”
“Dad, no,” I said firmly. “They told me how anyone brought back dishonorably would be tainted. If Uisdean succeeds, his wife will return even more evil than he is.”
“But she will return,” Keir said wistfully.
“You know you wouldn't want Mom back that way. It's better to let her spirit rest,” I touched the crystal with my fingertips. “She wouldn't want to come back like that and she wouldn't want you to be sad either. I think she'd prefer it if you moved on, tried to find someone new to love. Shoot, find two. That seems to be all the rage.”
“That part of my life is over,” he shook his head and smiled at my teasing. “I have a new type of love in my life now.”
“Dad, you're immortal. You can't cut yourself off from loving someone else because Mom's death hurt. That's far too long to live without love. And you're far too handsome to live without sex.”
“You're biased,” he chuckled.
“And you're blind if you don't know how attractive you are,” I grimaced. “This just got weird. I'm stopping now.”
“Just promise me one thing, Seren,” he went serious.
“What?”
“Be as gentle and kind to your uncle as possible.”
“What?!”
“He's acting out of love and deep loneliness,” another tear escaped Keir's beautiful starry eyes. “And I could very easily have been in his place.”
“No you couldn't,” I shook my head. “It took you all of thirty seconds to realize bringing back the dead is a bad idea. You'd never be in Uisdean's place. You have too much morality and common sense to try something like this.”
“Seren!” His eyes flashed, the silver stars brightening so that I could barely see the amethyst beneath. “Stop behaving like a child! Compassion and kindness are easy to show to those who are kind and compassionate in return. But to be truly kind and to be the princess I know you were born to be, you must also show compassion to those who scorn you or abuse you. That is true nobility.”
“Then I think you're far more noble than I am,” I grumbled. “Or any fairy monarch, for that matter.”
“Nonsense,” his hand sliced through the air. “I've seen you show compassion to Bress and after all he's done to you, that was a noble thing, Daughter. You have it in you to be a great queen one day and I intend to do my best to guide you there. Now here is an opportunity for you to test yourself; push yourself. See past the horrible deeds and look into your uncle's heart. Can't you feel the smallest piece of sympathy for him?”
I swiped at my eyes, knowing that my tears were only partly sympathy for Uisdean. The other half was shame. My father was right, it's not the easy path which makes us good leaders. It's choosing to walk through the brambles and thorns, knowing you'll emerge bloody on the other side. Even when you'd rather someone else do the bleeding. Maybe especially then.
“Alright, Dad,” I gave in. “I'll do my best to help him, not just stop him.”
“That's my daughter,” he nodded approvingly. “But if that lying, slime ball tries to hurt you again, wrap him in thorns and burn his ass.”
“Okay,” I chuckled. “I promise.”
“I love you, Seren.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
The image within the crystal faded and I was left looking at a hazy reflection of myself.
I headed out into the living room, where the twilight fey who weren't asleep, had gathered with Chad and Raza. They were discussing what we should do when we reached the castle. As I walked in, Raza gave me a steady look and I mouthed a silent thank you to him. It was the first time I'd seen him since Tiernan and I made up.
He nodded but smiled as if he had helped himself in the process. I suppose if he believed that we would be a threesome, then he was helping himself. But I was surprised that not only was Raza interested in being a part of a threesome, he was actively pursuing it. Hadn't he vowed that someday he'd be demanding my loyalty? And he'd said that right after he...
“Son of a sea serpent,” I muttered.
That was why Raza had been trying to convince me to accept a polyamorous relationship and be loyal to him. He'd been trying to ease me into a threesome. Loyalty to two men. Because the Goddess wanted it. Which left the question of whether it was something Raza truly wanted too or whether he was simply answering the call of Danu.
“Seren?” Tiernan cocked his head at me when I took a seat beside him. “Is everything alright with your father?”
“My father has counseled me on kindness,” I said loudly so that the others could hear me. They all went quiet. “He asked me to consider that King Uisdean is acting out of love and that all of us have it within us to do terrible things for the people we love.”
“Your father can be a very perceptive man,” Raza nodded. “But sometimes kindness can be crippling.”
I grimaced because I agreed but I'd already committed myself to the thorny path.
“So what shall we do when King Uisdean orders his knights to attack us?” Iain asked. “They're only following their king's orders. Do we kill them or lay down our arms?”
“We try to reason with them,” I sighed. “If we can't reason with Uisdean, then we need to take the club by force. Try and merely incapacitate instead of kill but if it becomes necessary, defend yourself in whatever manner you need to. We can't allow Uisdean to resurrect an evil queen.”
“Yeah, Fairy already has one of those,” Gradh muttered and we all nodded.
There was only one queen in Fairy and she was my grandmother, Queen Iseabal of the Seelie. She was indeed an evil bitch. So evil in fact, my father had worked a spell of death against her. Not to kill her but to make her seem dead to him. He couldn't see or hear her anymore and also, none of her spells would work against him. She was like a ghost in his world.
“So do you all agree with the plan?” I asked them.
“An ambush,” Gradh grinned. “That will definitely give us the upper hand, Your Highness. I'm all for it.”
“Like Robin Hood,” I smiled back. “Stealing from the rich and... what exactly are we going to do with the club when we get it?”
“You are going to place it in the twilight vault,” Chad declared.
“What twilight vault?” I frowned.
“Doesn't your castle have a vault?” Chad's black brows went up. “A safe? A hidden room? Perhaps a pit or an oubliette? Anything?”
“It sure does,” Conri
said from the top of the stairs.
“How do you know?” Tiernan narrowed his eyes on the bargest.
“I've got excellent hearing,” he huffed. “Which is precisely why I'm up right now. I can't sleep with all this ruckus.”
“We're speaking at a moderate level,” I cocked my head at him.
“Did I not just mention my superb hearing?”
“So we've got a vault?” I countered.
“Yep,” he sauntered into the living room. “And from what I've heard, we've got something important to put in it.”
“Not yet,” I felt my face settle into determined lines. “But we will. Soon.”
“Sir Conri, could you awaken the others please?” Tiernan asked. “It appears that you'll be leaving much sooner than we expected.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Before you go, could I have a word, Princess?” Raza's deep voice poured over me like warm caramel, slithering down my spine.
“Of course,” I agreed and turned to see a serious expression on his face.
He led me into a back bedroom and Tiernan barely gave us a glance. I suppose now that everything was on the table, it was easier to trust me with Raza. But when Raza closed the door behind us, I was the one with trust issues. I had an immediate urge to flee.
“I wanted to make something very clear to you,” he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I'm assuming that Lord Tiernan has told you of Danu's wishes?”
“Regarding us?” I lifted a brow. “Yes, he told me.”
“So you understand that what I did yesterday, speaking to Tiernan and bringing him back to you, that was for us. As much as I detest the idea of sharing you, I believe in the Goddess and her vision.”
“I do understand that,” I said gently. “And I hope you can understand when I tell you that I'm not going to live my life by what the Goddess wants. At least not in the bedroom.”
He gaped at me.
“Tiernan and I want a monogamous relationship and nothing the Goddess says is going to interfere with that.”
Raza burst out laughing.