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Deidre's Faerie Tale

By: LaLaLady



"You are so not normal." 

I looked up from where I had been digging in the dirt with my mother's gardening trowel at Heather Quinn. She gazed down her narrow at me, her blonde hair in two pig-tails, and top lip curled in disgust. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked. 

"You're spending your whole summer vacation digging holes in your back yard instead of doing fun stuff. 

"This is fun," I insisted.

"No, it's weird," Heather snapped. Even at nine-years-old, she was a bitch. "I was gonna invite you to go to the pool, but you're too dirty to be seen with." She turned on her heel and began walking out of my side yard, back to the sidewalk.

I stared after her a moment, then shrugged and went back to digging. "It's out here," I muttered. "I just know it."

Honestly, Heather was right. Compared to the other kids in my Deluge, Georgia neighborhood, I wasn't normal. I was the only non-white kid for miles in every direction. I was a cinnamon-hued, dark haired anomaly. 

Even at that age, I had realized that I wasn't like the other kids in my school. I knew I wasn't black, at least...not like my mama. She had smooth mahogany skin and kinky black hair that she had to press once a week. 

My hair was softer, straighter, and longer, and my skin was lighter than hers. That could only mean one thing, my father was white. I'd never met him, my mother refused to discuss him beyond telling me that he had loved me. I just knew. 

In my mind, not only was I too light. My mother's ears didn't look like mine, her ears were small and round and mine were just slightly larger and pointed. My mother was 5'4" and by the time I turned ten, we were eye-to-eye. 

Then, there was the reason that brought me to dig in the yard for the entire three months of summer vacation between third and fourth grade...the voice in my head. There was a whisper in my dreams that told me that there was a ring waiting to be found in the earth surrounding my house. It sounded crazy, and I knew that I probably shouldn't mention the hearing voices thing to anyone, even my mother. When she asked what I was doing, I just told her I was digging for treasure. Technically true, but I still felt guilty feeding her the pirate fantasy instead of coughing up the truth. 

I didn't find the ring that summer. I made sure to fill in the pot holes I'd made and help my mother re-seed the grass before I had to go back to school. Then, the summer between seventh and eighth grade Billy Wiley got a metal detector for his birthday. I offered him five bucks to let me borrow it and I found the ring in less than twenty minutes. It was buried in the flower bed, under the peonies. 

The ring was gold with a huge emerald set atop the band. I never wore it on my finger. My mother had been outside when I'd dug it up. I tried to get her to put it in her jewelry box, but she insisted that I keep it. She even gave me a gold chain to put it on. That's when I decided that being "not normal" was not really such a bad thing. From that day, the necklace and ring never left my neck. 

***

"Bye, mommy," my six year old daughter Ella chimed.

"Have a great day, honey," I said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before she slipped out of the door. She shut the door, gave me a wave and a huge grin that made me fall in love with her again. I blew her a kiss and watched her walk a few paces before turning back to watch the brake lights of the SUV in front of me.  

Before I could put the car in gear, there was a knock on my window. I jumped a mile. I'd never been accosted in the drop off lane of Polk Elementary School before. 

"Yeah?" I asked powering down my window.

"Are you Deidre Ellette St. Germaine?" the woman towering above me asked.

"Who wants to know?" I asked glancing at the clock on the dash. I had to leave soon or I'd be late for work.

The woman bent down and smiled. I immediately didn't like her. Not only was she tall, she was slim and beautiful. Her hair was so black it actually looked blue where the sunlight hit it. Her dark green eyes were wide and honest. Her dark features only served to make her pale skin look almost transparent. I was momentarily struck by the fact that I'd never met a white person as pale as this woman.  

"My name is Trilla," she said and I finally noticed her British accent. "I've come from England on your father's orders."

I gasped and felt myself go rigid. "I don't have a father."

"Yes, you do!" Trilla said shuffling the papers that she clutched in her hands. "Your father is King Dominic Edward St. Germaine, the late king of Ellyrinia."

My ears must not have been working correctly. "King?"

Trilla's green eyes dropped to the pavement. "Late king."

"So," I narrowed my eyes and watched her face for signs of a lie, "he's dead."

"Yes, he passed away last week. His will left explicit instructions for you to be found and apprised of his identity and yours. This envelope," she wrestled a manilla envelope from her pile of paperwork, "contains his majesty's will, a diagram of your family tree, and plane tickets to England."

I took the envelope just as someone leaned on their horn behind me. I leaned out of my window to scream at the woman in the red Honda minivan. "Gimme a break, lady! Just go around!" Trilla, un-phased by my outburst continued talking. "We would be so honored if you would come to Ellyrinia."

I gave a tired sigh. "Look, you're dropping some heavy shit on me right now. I'm late for work and I don't have any vacation time saved up to take this trip."

"Quit," Trilla said with a shrug. 

I laughed. "Yeah, right."

"I beg you to consider visiting our kingdom," Trilla said tucking her black hair behind her ear. 

I gasped. Her ear was pointed just like mine, only much longer and the point was sharper. She had at least five tiny gold hoops along the lobe. I touched my own ear and she smiled. "I'll think about it," I muttered.

"My number is in the envelope!" she called as I put the car in gear and pealed away from her.

***

I didn't go to work. Instead, I drove back home, well...back to my mother's home where we were living. Sure, I could afford a small condo or apartment for myself and my daughter, but I didn't have to. My mother had insisted that I move back home after I graduated college and let her help me raise my baby. I know I should have insisted on doing it on my own, but the idea of having a baby, and working to support the two of us, and pay off my student loans all alone was too much! Besides, my mama loved me and actually wanted me back home. Why turn down a good thing? Who needs pride when you've got a mama that loves you?

"Deidre?" my mother asked coming into the kitchen where I'd practically collapsed into a chair. I began pulling the papers out of the envelope and laying them out on the table in front of me. "What are you doing home?"

"I have to ask you something," I said, refusing to look at my mother. She sank down into the chair beside me. I could feel the heat of her gaze, but I still couldn't look at her. 

"Go head'n ask then," she said, her southern accent drawing it out into one word.

"Was my father from England?"

She sucked in a sharp breath and I finally looked at her. Her dark eyes were perfectly round and beginning to fill with tears.

"Was he?" I repeated.

"Yeah," she breathed.

"Was he a king?" I asked pulling out a thick packet of papers held together by a staple.

"Not when we were together."

I pulled out the final paper which was actually a photograph. A white man with black hair and pointed ears smiled up at me. He had my slender nose and oval-shaped face...well, I had his. His hair was long, obviously past his shoulders. "He was a prince then?"

"Yeah," my mother said leaning forward to look at the photo.

"How in the world did you just up and meet a prince? You've never been out of Georgia!" My mother smiled even as the tears rolled down her face. "I was working at a fancy hotel in Atlanta. I was the hostess in the restaurant. He came through traveling and when he finished his business, he came back to Atlanta just to see me again." I let her take the picture from me. She traced the line of his jaw with a shaky finger. "I fell so hard for him, ya know? I just forgot about everything because I was so happy. Then, we had you and moved back here and I was even happier."

"Then he left," I said harshly. She snapped out of her dreamy haze and glared at me.

"You don't understand; he had to go."

"Maybe he did, mama, but he didn't have to desert us forever without a letter or a phone call." 

My mother put her hand on top of mine. "He wasn't like Jordan," she said softly. "He didn't choose to leave. His family...his people...it wasn't the same as what Jordan's doing to you and his daughter."

I sighed and felt my shoulders sag. Maybe my absentee father wasn't the same as my daughter's dead-beat dad, but it sure as hell felt the same...like abandonment. 

"Okay," I relented. "Will you go through this stuff with me?"

"What is it?"

"His will and some other stuff." I watched her face crumple with realization.

"He's dead?" Her voice was weak and wispy.

I nodded. "He sent a courier to give this stuff to me."

"Then, maybe you should go through it alone. It's not my business." She moved to get up from the table but I stuck my foot behind one of the chair legs, preventing it from moving backwards.

"Let's just go through it together," I said giving her my best I am not backing down stare.

Three hours later my mother had cried more than I'd ever seen her cry in my life and I was coming to a realization. I had gone my whole life thinking my dad was some asshole that hadn't wanted me. Nothing could be further from true. I read his hand penned letter a third time after my mother had excused herself to take a nap in her room.

My dearest Deidre,

Your mother, no doubt, has kept my secret all these years. She is an honorable woman and that is one of the reasons I love her. Now, daughter is my chance to let you know how much I love you and regret having to leave you and your mother. All those years ago when we three lived together I was the happiest I would ever be in this life. I wanted for nothing and had everything.  You must know that my leaving was a choice I was hard-pressed to make. While America had become my second home, my country and my people needed me. It is thus for any ruler. Even if your heart calls you elsewhere, you can not abandon your own people. 

I returned because my father and elder brother were killed by a rogue tribe attempting a coup. My mother had little choice but to send for me in order to rally our troops and defend our kingdom. Once I had returned, and succeeded in stamping out the insurgents, I had to remain lest our nation be viewed as weak and another coup staged. I would have preferred to return to you, and any requests to bring you to me were immediately denied. Our laws are absolute in this matter. Royals must marry royals and maintain the lineage.

Truly, my sorrow is now being felt by all in Ellyrinia, because I did marry another noble, but we were unable to conceive an heir together. I truly believe that my heart just wasn't willing. The people of my kingdom must upon my death deal with this quandary. 

Daughter, I beg you return to the country of your ancestors and experience the wonder and love that I receive every day from our people. You will be seen as a royal, the only true heir to the throne and will be treated as such. My blood runs through your veins, dear heart, I hope you will embrace it and me and return to us.

Love

D.E. S.G.

I folded the letter in half and sighed. The sound was magnified by the fact that I was now sitting alone. This neat little explanation would have been nice ten or so years ago, I thought bitterly.

My cell phone rang in my purse and after a ten second debate, I answered it.

"Deidre," my boss Margie said, "Are you sick?"

"No," I answered quickly.

"Is your daughter or mother sick?"

"No," I repeated.

"Then why are you not at your station?"

I wrinkled my nose at the image instantly conjured by the word "station". It was a gray cubicle with an outdated computer a desk-top calendar, and a phone with extra large numbers. I worked for a warranty claims department for a very expensive vacuum cleaner company. While the products were grossly over-priced, they were essentially crap...complicated multi-pieced crap. 

"Something important came up."

"More important than work?" Margie snapped. Of course she would think that, I fumed, the woman was twice divorced and came to work with cat hair all over her clothes.

"Yes, Margie. This is more important than work!" I waved the papers in my hand as if she could see them.

"If you're not in this office by one o'clock, you're fired." I swear I could hear the beginnings of a witch-like cackle in her voice.

I sighed. "Margo, you can't fire me." I could practically hear the self-satisfied grin spreading across her pinched face. "I quit!" I said ending the call and turning off my phone.

I swallowed the urge to call her back to apologize, instead I gazed at the papers strewn across the table. "I guess this means I'm going to England," I muttered.

Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 02



"Mommy, I don't want you to go!" Ella hiccupped. 

I'd just checked my luggage and she and my mother were telling me goodbye before I headed to my gate.

The front I'd had for the past week crumbled as my little girl looked up at me, her gray eyes brimming with another batch of tears to streak her already wet cheeks. I dropped to my knees, cupped her cherubic face in my hands, and let my own tears spill over. Ella was my life. Since her father Jordan was white, she was a few shades lighter than me with these eyes that I couldn't explain or take credit for. They were gray, but more accurately silver. They reminded me of liquid mercury once it hit the air, thick with a hint of wisdom behind them. She had my ears, though...and dark brown hair that grew faster than I could get her into the salon. My baby was beautiful and to see her crying because of me hurt to my bones. Ella wrapped her slender arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder.

"Oh, sugar," I choked running my hand over her hair, "I know we've never been apart, but I need to do something really important and I can't just snatch you outta school right before the year ends. You don't want to repeat the first grade next year do you?"

"It was kinda fun," Ella mumbled. "Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to do it again."

I smiled. "You say that now, but let me tell you something." I put my hands on her shoulders and held her so I could look into her eyes. "Second grade will be way more fun. You just finish up these last three weeks and if I'm not back by the time summer break comes around, you'll come to me okay?"

She shrugged.

"Will you take care of my mama for me until then?" I asked my daughter.

"Yeah," Ella said in a small voice before hugging me again.

***

The plane trip was torture. Ten hours in the air was just so wrong, even if it was first class. I'd watched three movies, had five flutes of champagne, and slept the other four hours. When we de-boarded, I thought I'd just pick up my luggage and call a taxi. Wrong! After an hour and a half in line at customs, a heavy-set, pasty bald man looked at my passport, stamped it, and muttered something that sounded like, "We'll come to in land." 

I guessed he meant to say, "Welcome to England." I thanked him and glanced back at the poor bastards that were still in the cattle-line behind me. "What a way to start a vacation," I mumbled.

I moved over to where the other passengers had been shepherded and milled around a luggage spinning machine. I was engrossed with studying the people around me, noting the diversity. There were people of all races speaking languages I couldn't even begin to guess at. 

Suddenly a red light began spinning and my attention went to the machine that had suddenly groaned to life and began rotating suitcases. 

My bag wasn't in the first three passes, but the next time I saw it and moved forward to pull it off. I didn't expect it to be that heavy. I'd pulled it on its wheels when I'd checked it, but those wheels were doing no good while it was on its side...and moving. I side-stepped along with the bag pulling at it, my carry-on bag slipped from my shoulder causing me to lose my grip as the suitcase made its way back into the abyss. 

I cursed and hurried back to the other side where it would appear again. This time I planted my feet, grabbed an accessible handle with both hands, and tugged with all my strength. It budged! Then the machine lurched and the bag escaped my grip. Unfortunately, my Nikes still had quite a grip on the linoleum floor and I ended up flat on my ass as my suitcase once again made its way back into the darkness. 

The people around me stared and I distinctly heard some giggling. My face flushed as I stood and tried to quickly formulate another plan of attack. Just as the stubborn suitcase came into sight again, a man stepped up beside me. I couldn't see much of him, just his broad shoulders and his back. I did notice that he seemed to be stretching his gray t-shirt nicely. Oh, and his hair was long, in fact his blonde ponytail was longer than my own. As I watched he reached down, grabbed two handles and lifted my bag. He planted firmly on the floor, on its wheels before he turned and offered me the handle.

"Sure, make it look easy," I said, pretty sure my face was completely red from embarrassment.

"You must be Deidre," he said. 

I hadn't looked him in the face until that moment. How did he know my name and how was it that his British accent made it sound so good? 

This guy was tall. I was above average at 5'8", but he had me beat by a head. I looked up and studied him for a moment. He had chiseled features; his hair was actually dirty blonde and matched his dark blue eyes nicely. He had high cheekbones and a Roman nose. His mouth was full and pink. The rest of him wasn't too shabby either, he was bulky, that's for sure, with those shoulders and his large pectorals evident under the t-shirt. His jeans were a bit tight across the thighs...oh...and the crotch and he was definitely bulky there too! 

"How do you know me?" I asked when I'd finished my appraisal of his looks...and his package.

"You seem to be the only American in the middle of Stanstead Airport at this moment that looks completely lost. Everyone else has met up with their party or headed toward the transportation. Plus, Trilla gave me a very accurate description of you."

"Oh, so you're my ride?" I asked trying to gloss over what he'd said about my looking lost. Let's face it, I was completely lost. At this moment, I was Alice and this bustling crowded airport was my rabbit hole.

"I'm Tolem," he said bowing his head slightly; "I'll be escorting you to Ellyrinia. It is now six in the evening. We can be there by eight if we leave immediately."

"Great," I said smiling, "Lead on, White Rabbit."

"Excuse me?" he said raising an eyebrow as he relieved me of my carry-on and the handle of the bigger suitcase.

"You know, like in Alice in Wonderland...down the rabbit hole...uh...never mind." 

He nodded and began walking through the crowd. I had to take quick steps to keep up with his long strides, but his girth effectively cleared a path all the way to the parking lot. Once we got to the car I tried to take back my carry-on back but he insisted I get in the car and let him handle the luggage.

I automatically went to the right side of the car but when I saw the steering wheel, I quickly corrected myself and walked around to the other side. I didn't hear any snickering so I assumed that Tolem had missed my mistake.

***

Evidently Tolem was not only my driver; he was some sort of personal assistant. After the drive, which I gladly slept through, he pulled up to a magnificent house...well, castle. It was on a hill, surrounded at the foot by an entire village. There was a tower and everything. I was pretty sure that it didn't compare to Windsor Castle but for a girl from Deluge, Georgia a castle of any size was pretty damned impressive.

He unloaded my bags and took them inside. I followed quickly, missing what I'm sure were some beautiful decorations in my attempt to keep up with him. He went upstairs, not even using the wheels on the suitcase, just carrying the damn thing with one hand. I watched his bicep which was huge with the effort of carrying the bag, but he showed no excerption otherwise. He didn't even break a sweat and let me tell you, half way up the staircase my thighs had started to burn like I'd been on the treadmill for an hour!

He led me across the second floor and set my bags just outside a door. He opened it slowly, stepped inside, flipped on the light, and then held it open for me to enter. It wasn't until after he'd brought my bags into the bedroom that he spoke.

"Did you leave anything at home?" he asked as he lifted the suitcase onto the bed. It bounced and the mattress squeaked as if to emphasize his point.

"Just my daughter," I snapped. Okay, so I'd over packed a little! Nobody told him to be all Herculean and not use the wheels!

He didn't say anything.

"Gosh, I'm sorry for sniping at you. It's just that I was a little emotional when I was packing so I may have over done it."

He unzipped the bag and tossed it open. A tangle of shirts, jeans, and scattered shoes swelled up and out once free of confinement. "This is what you call packing? Everything is a wrinkled mess."

I blushed. "That's how I pack. Are you going to give me grief because I didn't fold my shirts and roll my jeans?"

He watched me for a second before he responded. "I won't give you grief over it, but you may not want to broadcast it in town just yet."

"Why?"

His gaze left me and returned to my jumble of clothes. "I don't think they need to know that their future queen can't be bothered to fold her shirts and roll her jeans."

I snorted out a laugh. "I know you're not talkin' about me! I'm no queen. I just came here to find out about my father, then I'm going back home...to my real family."

He stepped away from the bed and moved closer to me. I instinctively took a step back. I assume its instinct to retreat when a 6'5" man is moving into your space...or maybe that's just me. "You are our queen," he said with an air of finality.

"No sir," I said staring up into his eyes. "I believe my father's widow is your queen."

Tolem frowned. "Our laws dictate..."

I held up a hand to stop whatever he was about to say. "I'm really not interested."

He gave me a pointed glare before turning away from me. I noticed that his ears, just like Trilla's were large and pointed at the top. I hadn't noticed before because somehow he'd pulled his hair back in a way that camouflaged it. Now, the hair was falling loose of the ponytail.

"So what's the deal with your ears?" I asked forgetting the manners my mama had taught me. Curiosity got the better of my sweet Southern upbringing.

"Excuse me?" Tolem said raising that eyebrow again.

"What I mean is: I noticed that your ears are pointed, Trilla's ears are pointed, and my father's were pointed. My ears are kind of like that too, just not as –uh- big as yours. Are pointy ears the standard around here, because I thought I was the only one with them until I met you and Trilla? I don't mean to offend, I was just wonderin'."

Tolem stared at me a moment. He seemed to be wrestling with a decision. Finally he sighed and uncrossed his arms. "These ears are standard in our society."

I nodded.

"We're elves."

It was my turn to stare. He couldn't be serious! There was no hint of joking in his face, though. He maintained that cool, unaffected look as he stood there watching my reaction. Finally, I laughed. 

"I'm sorry, I must be jet-lagged outta my mind because I thought I heard you say that we're elves." 

His blue eyes narrowed and his jaw set. "That is exactly what I said. We are elves."

I frowned. "Look, I'm all for a good joke every once in a while, and I didn't mean to insult your ears. It was just a question."

"I am not joking."

My stomach did a quick flip flop and I sunk onto a conveniently located chair. I didn't realize my hand was on my stomach until Tolem asked if I was hungry. I nodded and he excused himself to find something for me to eat for dinner. I wondered how I was going to choke down food while dealing with the fact that I had just found out that I was only half human and the other half of me was something out of a fairy tale. Part of my DNA was something that didn't exist, at least not where I was raised.

When Tolem returned, he informed me that my dinner was being prepared. "Also, your step-mother would like an audience with you."

I had been putting my wrinkled clothes into a large armoire but I froze. "Audience?"

"She'd like to meet you," he said.

"I know what audience means," I snapped. I had only been in the country for a few hours and it was already time to have an awkward meeting. I sighed. I really should have been able to get a good night's sleep before dealing with the dysfunction my father had left behind! Trouble was, I wasn't tired...damned time difference. "Let's go then."

I followed him downstairs and toward the back of the house. I remained quiet, I'd been dreading this moment for over a week. Tolem opened a heavy door to reveal a large bright room. It seemed like a grand hall with polished marble floors and heavy burgundy window coverings. The entire room had to be around half a football field big, and was empty but for three black chairs in the center.

A very tall woman stood and turned to face us. She had long blonde braide down her back and a slender silver circle rested atop her head. She was beautiful, slim nose, slanted blue eyes, and full red lips. Her sharply pointed ears sported at least seven silver loops including one set at the point.

She wore a pale yellow gown with a low scoop neck that showed off cleavage, but in a subtle way.

"Lady, Ilyn," Tolem said with a stiff bow. "I present Deidre Ellette St. Germaine."

I watched as she tipped her head ever-so-slightly. "Please, Deidre," she said, her voice soft as a light breeze, "have a seat."

I took the chair across from her.

"Your father spoke often of you," she said as she sat. "You are even more beautiful than he described."

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Look at the dress I've found for the coronation!" a shrill voice boomed through the empty hall. "Isn't it beautiful?"

I turned to see a woman roughly my age hurrying into the room. She wore a dazzling gold and white ball gown. Her long blonde hair flew behind her. She looked almost exactly like Ilyn, just thinner and not as pale.

"Oh," she said slowing to a walk when she noticed me. Her pale blue eyes narrowed to slits. "Who is this?"

"Lyrik, this is your sister...your American sister, Deidre."

"Oh...they found her, but I thought..."

"Yes, we thought it would take months, but it didn't take very long at all," Ilyn said giving Lyrik a pointed glare.

"So," Lyrik said turning to me, "You will probably need this dress."

"I don't know what you mean," I said shifting in my seat. Lyrik's cold blue gaze was unsettling. "I don't think it will fit me."

"You're going to be the one crowned...not me." Her pout struck me as childish and I looked away as she sunk into a chair. The ball gown swelled around her then seemed to deflate as it settled.

"She is the first born," Ilyn said patting her daughter's hand.

"I'm sorry," I said in the silence that followed. "I am just here to get to know my father...as much as I can at this point." My voice caught. "I don't know anything about a coronation."

"Lyrik finally looked at me. "You don't know?"

"Your father was a king, Deidre. You are his heir." Ilyn leaned forward as she spoke.

"I know. That's what his letter said. I just want both of you to know that I didn't come here for money. I just want to find out about my father."

Ilyn blinked rapidly. "He was a great man." Lyrik sighed. She was confused. If her step-father's illegitimate daughter hadn't come to Ellyrinia to ascend the throne, why had she come? She didn't believe that Deidre had no intent on the throne or at least the financial benefits of being royalty. How could she not? It was every little girl's dream to be a princess, after all.

"I don't want to be rude," Deidre said interrupting her step-sister's thoughts. "I'm starting to get sleepy so if you'd excuse me, I'm going to go up to bed now."

***

Trilla gave a huge grin and pushed her inky black bangs out of her brilliant green eyes. I was struck by the many contrasts in her appearance, lily-white skin with a smattering of freckles across her narrow nose, pitch-black hair, and emerald eyes. I couldn't help but marvel at the consistent beauty that maintained throughout elfin society.

Tolem had woken me up with a very impolite knock an hour before. After a quick shower and pulling on some wrinkled jeans, a black t-shirt, and some sandals I hurried downstairs. He'd said the dining room was to the right of the stairs but when I got to the bottom, Trilla was waiting.

"It's so nice to see you, Deidre!" Trilla gushed pumping my hand a bit too roughly.

"You too."

"I can't believe the seer was right! She said you'd come, but after meeting you, I was fairly sure you wouldn't. Now, here you are! Finally, you can take the crown!"

I gasped and pulled my hand from hers. There seemed to be a re-occurring theme in Ellyrinia. "I really don't think so."

Her grin vanished and her dark eyebrows came together. "What?"

"I don't want to be queen."

Trilla blinked at me. "But you must."

I frowned. "I don't know how you do it in the UK, but I'm American and I have the right to do...or not do...whatever I want."

"If you don't accept the crown, the blood line will be broken."

"My step-sister seems thrilled to get that crown."

"No. No. No. She's an absolute nightmare. She can not be queen."

"Trilla," I snapped, "why are you so concerned?"

"I know Lyrik. She will be a tyrant!"

"Not my problem," I said with a shrug.

"These are your people," Trilla snapped.

"I don't know any of these people," I insisted.

Trilla flipped her long hair back and crossed her slender arms. "Different country, different accent, different beliefs..." She narrowed her wide eyes. "Same blood."

I opened my mouth to protest but she turned away and stalked off in a flourish of dark hair, 

willowy limbs, and long, flowing skirts.

"Damn it," I mumbled. "These people are so stubborn!"



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 03



"I need to go to a library," I informed Tolem after I'd finished my breakfast. I'd had eggs and toast. I decided that I'd have to speak to the cook about being a little more creative with my meals. I grew up with grits and red-eye gravy on tope of a slice of ham, or biscuits and sausage gravy, or at least eggs and bacon. The point? It was after ten o'clock and I'd ingested zero pork! What is breakfast without ham, bacon, or sausage? It just ain't right!

"Library?" Tolem repeated.

"Yes, it has books in it and newspapers, and videos."

"I'm aware of what a library contains, but our village does not have such a building. Are you looking for something specific?"

"Yes, I want to read up on my family's history, maybe check out a family tree or two." We were standing in the dining room. Tolem had walked in as soon as my plates had been cleared.

"The royal family's history is maintained in the castle. Trilla can help you find the appropriate information. I will take you to her office."

I frowned. Trilla probably wouldn't be too thrilled to see me after our pre-breakfast argument. I shrugged and followed Tolem as he left the room. Argument or no, Trilla would just have to get over it! I was in England for a reason and she'd be dealing with me until I was satisfied enough to go back home to Georgia.

The walk across the first floor of the castle was slower this time. Tolem seemed to be shortening his gait for me, thankfully. I took the chance to observe the brilliant paintings hanging in gold frames, the red and tan tiled floor that echoed with our steps, the heavy hanging Gone With the Wind type curtains, and the errant bodies that scurried around us, eyes forward, hard at work carrying loads of clothes, shoes, vegetables, and mops.

Tolem stopped short at a heavy-looking door and I stopped just short of running into his broad back. He knocked and the sound echoed down the corridor. Trilla didn't look happy to see me when she opened the door. Her face registered disgust, or at the least annoyance, but she bowed her head to me and then Tolem. "Please come in," she muttered.

Trilla's office was close enough to a library. A large desk was in the middle of the room. The four surrounding walls were lined with bookshelves packed to capacity. There was a world atlas open on a table in a corner, a massive file cabinet in another corner and not one window. The effect was cavernous…and claustrophobic. 

"Can I help you?" Trilla said curtly.

Tolem nodded at me but I didn't say anything. I jerked my head toward Trilla, trying to get him to ask for me. He narrowed his eyes at me and remained silent. 

"Trilla," I said with a sigh, "I'm sorry for the disagreement we had this morning." Tolem's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It's just that all this is a bit much. A couple weeks ago I was a single mom with a shitty job and now I'm a princess in line for the crown. I've been overwhelmed and I think I was too harsh with you. Please forgive me."

Trilla's shoulders softened and so did her expression. "Please, don't apologize, your highness. It is understandable and I should not have been so insistent. Will you accept my apology?"

"Of course, Trilla." I decided to ignore the your highness thing for the sake of peace. "I've come to ask for your help. I would like to get started on learning my father's history. Do you have some books that contain his genealogy? Maybe some historical texts."

Trilla nodded. "In learning your father's history, you must also learn the history of our people. Are you willing to do that?"

"Of course," I answered smiling. Who wouldn't want to find out all the information possible about elves?

Trilla returned my smile and immediately began to dart around the room. She pulled from the bookshelves large, dusty hardcover books and piled them into Tolem's arms. I listened as she recited the titles; The History of Elves, The Origin of the European Elvin Monarchy, A Tale of Two Elves, Magic and Mystery, What the Humans Really Think, An Atlas of Elvin Colonies in the New World, Elvin Innovations, and finally St. Germaine, A Royal Timeline. The pile reached Tolem's chin.

"That's a lot of books," I said staring at the heap. 

Trilla smiled. "That's just the basics. I'll help you carry them up to your room." She took two of the books from the top of the pile and I opened the door for us to exit the cramped office.

Back in my room the three of us stared at the books that had been placed on the desk. 

"Please be careful with them," Trilla said picking up The History of Elves. She took a seat in a nearby chair and looked at Tolem. "Protect them as you do her."

Tolem nodded and I came to a realization. 

"So, you're my bodyguard?" I asked Tolem.

"Security detail," he said with a shrug of his massive shoulders.

"Shouldn't you have a bow and arrows?" 

"I believe you are comparing me with that blonde elf from the movie about the ring," he said fixing a cool gaze on me. "I am nothing like him, or the actor that portrays him."

"I'll say; if you were anything like Orlando Bloom..." I fanned myself with my hand. "Let's just say, we wouldn't be standing right now." I jerked my head at the bed across the room.

Tolem's blonde eye-brows lifted in surprise. "You do not feel I am as attractive as Orlando Bloom?"

I blushed. "You're attractive too, but he's tall and thin. You're tall and wide…and muscular."

"In my profession, muscles are an attribute. I am here for your security."

"Well, I feel very secure."

Tolem rolled his eyes and walked past me, closing the bedroom door behind him. 

"What'd I say?" I asked turning to Trilla.

"You mocked his profession. Security Elves are born into that birthright, and trained up from a very young age." Her tone was serious, but she looked as if she wanted to laugh.

"I didn't mock!" I exclaimed. "I said I felt secure, that should be taken as a compliment."

"You compared him to a fictional character, and worse yet, a Hollywood actor."

"Actually, Orlando Bloom is a British actor."

Trilla gave me a look that rivaled my mother's cut the crap young lady, look.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. "I'll go apologize."

Trilla smiled and looked back down at the large book that sat in her lap.





Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 03



"Deidre," she said in that breezy voice, "Lyrik came to me this afternoon and…"

I held up a hand to cut her off. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at her like that, but she deserved it! She was rude to Tolem and I just couldn't stand there and watch it. Maybe y'all are used to talking to people like their less than dirt, but I'm not."

My stepmother's eyebrows lifted and she smiled. Wait a minute, why was she smiling? "I understand that and I agree with you completely."

"Say what?" Did she just say that she agreed with me? She had the whole wicked stepmother thing, completely wrong.

"My daughter has never been easy to deal with. I dare say that your father spoiled her terribly; he made many allowances for her. I'm sure it was to assuage the guilt he felt about not being able to be with you."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Why shouldn't he have felt guilty? 

"Lyrik has a quick temper and an acid tongue at times," Ilyn continued. "Please accept my apology on her behalf."

"She's not going to apologize for herself?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Hardly," Ilyn said with a slight shrug.

"Well, I probably shouldn't have been so mean about it, but she shouldn't have said that to Tolem."

Ilyn nodded. "Speaking of Tolem, Trilla approached me earlier."

I groaned. I'd forgotten all about sending Trilla on a mission to get Tolem fired. "You know what; I may have been a little hasty. I was upset and he said things and I said some things. I don't need a different body guard…I mean, security detail."

Ilyn smiled and nodded. "I understand."

After she'd left the room I got this feeling that she really did understand and suddenly felt embarrassed. Could she tell I was starting to crush on Tolem? I decided that I'd have to keep my distance from him…if that was possible with him five paces away from me at all times!



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 04



I sighed contently and turned my face into the pillow. I had woken up all on my own. I felt like I was getting away with something, being awake before Tolem pounded on my bedroom door. I hustled out of bed, did my toilet, a quick shower, and was halfway down the stairs before I saw anyone else.

A maid was walking up the stairs with an armload of towels. She was pale with flyaway auburn curls and dusky pink lips. She looked young, but lines were starting around her dark green eyes. I smiled and bid her good morning. 

She stared at me a moment before returning my sentiments. 

Tolem was approaching the stairwell when I hit the first floor. He was obviously surprised to see me up and about. "What's for breakfast?" I asked.

"Cornmeal porridge." He followed me into the dining room.

"Porridge? Like in the Goldilocks and the Three Bears?" I groaned.

"You do not like porridge?" Tolem asked. He sat in a chair a ways down at the table. He was distracted momentarily by a hushed conversation with one of the servers. I took the chance to appreciate his black t-shirt, well, what was outlined underneath the black cotton. His blonde hair was braided and I noticed that he was the first elf I'd seen without pierced ears.

"I'd just love some bacon and eggs right now," I said watching the server disappear into the kitchen.

Tolem chuckled. "We maintain a vegetarian diet," he informed me.

"Vegetarian?" I squeaked. 

He nodded. 

I remained quiet running through the list of things that I wouldn't be eating for another two months: fried chicken, grilled steak, southern fried steak, smothered pork chops, bacon, ham, and turkey sandwiches. Suddenly, I wanted my mama more than I ever had in my life, and that's including ten hours of labor when I was pretty damned sure that I was going to die. 

The server returned and placed an enormous bowl of yellow mush in front of me. I thanked him, trying to sound like I meant it.

"You will sit in on a public affairs meeting today," Tolem informed me. 

"What exactly is that?" I asked stirring the steaming porridge. It was a bit off-putting, not quite a liquid, not quite a solid. 

"Basically, it is a chance for the people to convene with the royal family and voice their concerns about the state of the village, or ask help for any problems they may have." 

I took my first bite and smiled…at least it was sweet. 

"Don't be long," Tolem said as he stood from the table. "It won't do for you to show up late to the meeting."

I stuck my tongue out at his retreating back, but finished eating quickly. 

The hall where I'd first met Lady Ilyn and Lyrik was where the meeting was being held. It was lined with rows of chairs facing a wide aisle; the chairs were filled with elves when I walked in, Tolem in step just behind me. Everyone turned to watch me walk the aisle and hushed whispers erupted. I hurried to the end of the aisle where my stepmother and her daughter sat on thrones. Literally, these chairs were high-backed embossed in gold with deep blue velvet cushions on the front and seat. 

I took a seat on the left side of Lady Ilyn. 

She leaned over to me, put a hand on mine, and whispered. "Smile, don't look so frightened. These are your people."

I nodded and pasted on a wobbly smile. I was nervous. Who wouldn't be when being stared down by a roomful of strangers? The meeting started when Trilla entered, stopped in the middle of the aisle where a microphone stood and addressed the room. She carried a clipboard, and wore a long, flowing white skirt and a salmon pink halter top. Her outfit was casual, but her tone was all business.

"Good morning everyone! Thank you for attending." She spoke loud and clear with a charming smile and gracious manner. No fear of public speaking there! "I'd like to start this meeting by introducing you to her highness, Deidre St. Germaine. She has only recently discovered her roots to our kind and community. I'm sure you've all heard rumors so lets set everything straight right here and right now." She folded her hands together and smiled up at me. 

"The princess was unaware of her status as a royal and she was also unaware that elves were anything besides fairy tale fodder. She has come to find out about her father and it is up to us to show her how welcoming and devoted Elvin culture truly is."

Lyrik gave an unladylike snort and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying something bitchy. It helped that most of the crowd was nodding and smiling as Trilla spoke.

"To go ahead and answer some questions that have already been posed, yes she did grow up in America, she has one heir, a daughter who remains in America. Princess Deidre is the daughter of our late king and his first wife, who is in fact a human." Insert dramatic gasps here. "Please!" Trilla urged, causing the murmurs to stop. "The king was married to her mother so she is a legitimate heir, born in wedlock. There is no questioning her lineage so her highness will be treated with respect and reverence for her title." There was another round of nodding. "Let us begin!" Trilla said moving to set the microphone she'd been using back in its stand. "First is one of our most respected farmers, Waylon, please come up."

I watched as a broad shoulder, raven haired man left his seat and stood at the mike. "My farm and all on it have been prosperous so far this season," he said in a gravely voice. "I have brought a sample of my labor for our new queen." He locked eyes with me and bowed. My blood froze. All these people were operating under the assumption that I was to be queen. How was I going to tell them the truth, especially when they'd come with presents?!

"Actually," Lyrik said with an air of condescension, "Deidre is—."

"Very grateful for your generosity!" Lady Ilyn bellowed effectively cutting off her daughter. 

When I looked over, the two of them were engaged in a staring contest. I turned back to Waylon and smiled. "Thank you so much."

He shuffled forward, placing a mammoth metal container brimming with carrots and ears of corn in front of our chairs. "Continued good health, your highness," he said with another quick bow.

The rest of the meeting went on pretty much like that. There were a few citizens with problems, neighborly quarrels, and a rebellious son that was insisting on moving to South America to marry a Chilean elf he'd met via internet. After scheduling a counseling session between Trilla and the family, the parents seemed relieved. At the end of two hours, Trilla dismissed the citizens and we were surrounded by flowers, handmade candles, a couple jewelry boxes, and more vegetables than a farmer's market on Saturday morning.

Trilla returned to the microphone in the middle of the aisle to address the crowd again. "I'd like to thank you all for coming," she said loudly. "As you may know the coronation is scheduled for tomorrow; we have no reason to postpone it, and for the safety of our kingdom, our new leader must be crowned as soon as possible. Everyone will be gathered in front of the castle for this event, you're new queen will be crowned on the stairs of her home. I hope you will all attend. This meeting is now dismissed!"

When the citizens had all left, Lady Ilyn leaned over to me. She nodded at the blanket of vegetables across the floor. "You are much appreciated," she whispered. I swore I could hear Lyrik's teeth gnashing.

"Your highness," Tolem said from behind me. "You have an appointment in town."

I was too overwhelmed to question him. I just followed him as he weaved a path through my gifts. "What about all this stuff?" I asked when we reached the door.

"The food will be taken to the kitchen and the other gifts will be taken to your room." Tolem opened the door for me.

"Can we put the flowers all over the castle; I may have an allergy attack if they're all concentrated in my room."

"I'll see to it," Trilla called through the closing door.

Tolem walked a few paces ahead of me as we went down the hill and into the heart of the city. Many people that were at the meeting were still milling around in the streets. They waved and smiled as we passed. Everything was so beautiful; I was distracted by the scenery. I almost ran into Tolem's broad back when he stopped short. I leaned around him to see where we were. 

The house was small, so much so that it barely qualified as a house. It was more like, a few rooms with a thatched roof. Tolem knocked and stepped behind me. I opened my mouth to protest but shut it again when the door opened. The first thing I noticed was the smell of incense. Strong, but sweet, similar to the scent of a burning Black and Mild cigar. 

"At last you have come to see me, your highness," a wisp of a voice declared. That's when I saw her; she stepped forward into the sunlight and smiled. Her white blonde hair was loose and hung to her hair. She had crystal blue eyes with deep wrinkles in the corners as if she smiled a lot. Her skin was so pale, the blue veins were evident all over her exposed flesh; hands, arms, throat, face. You could practically teach a biology lesson about the circulatory system off her. She was willowy, but unlike everyone else, she wasn't taller than me. So she was probably short to everyone else around. Her nails were long and unpainted. She wore a pale yellow dress with capped sleeves and a skirt that dragged the ground. Her arms were loaded with thin silver bangles. Her ears filled with silver hoops. Somehow, I immediately knew who she was.

"Seer," I said with a nod. "I'm pleased to finally meet you."

"It was inevitable my child, please come in. You too; Tolem." She stepped aside and I entered her home. I had thought Trilla's office was claustrophobic, but it was sprawling compared to this place. Every corner was filled. There were pictures on every inch of wall space. There was no actual furniture, just pillows of all shapes and sizes and colors on the floor. 

"Sit," the Seer instructed. "May I offer you some tea?"

"No thank you," I said sinking cross-legged onto a large pink pillow.

"Straight to business then," she said drifting down to a pillow in front of me. She held out her hands, palms up. I placed my hands in hers. 

"Don't speak," Tolem mumbled from behind me. I wanted to turn around and see exactly how he looked folded up, sitting on a pillow, but I was riveted to what was happening in front of me. 

Her eye's had gone from blue to white, literally. It was just like when Storm conjured up some natural disaster on X-Men. She had no iris, no pupil, nothing, just blank white orbs. 

"You and I are of the same blood," she started. "Royals are not only kings and queens; one Seer is born every generation. We share some of the same powers, though yours are not as concentrated as mine. I see you got my message about the location of your grandmother's ring." I almost snatched my hand away to touch the ring that still hung on the necklace around my neck, but I guess I was too frightened at that moment to do anything that may piss her off. "Yes, yes, and so young too. You're gift is stronger than most. That ring belonged to your father's mother, you know. It's very good that you found it at such a young age that means your connection to us is well-established." Her lips pressed together in a thin line and then she smiled. "Ah, you're still not convinced that you belong here, but deep down, you know what will happen if you don't."

My mind flashed an image that wretched a gasp from my throat. I saw an Exodus, faces of the elves I'd met in town and during the town hall meeting passed by hauling luggage, children clung to their parents' hands and skirts. They're eyes brimming with tears to match the stricken expressions of the adults around them. I saw buildings spontaneously crumble, and become overtaken by the countryside. Trees flew up in the middle of the street I'd just walked, the ivy on the side of the castle became more than decoration, instead, the face of the building itself. 

My head swam as I squeezed my eyes shut against not only what I saw, but what I felt. My heart literally ached. It was as if I could feel the pain of the crying children and the confusion and anxiety of the adults as they left their home. Their thoughts may as well have been tattooed on their foreheads. Where do we go from here? What will I do now? Why? They were leaving the home of their ancestors for parts unknown…because of me. I wasn't sure exactly how I was one hundred percent sure, it was my fault.

When I opened my eyes again, the Seer had hers back. Her blue eyes wrinkled as she smiled at me. "You know," she said releasing my hands. I used them to wipe the tears from my face. "You will do what's right."

I wanted to say something, anything. I didn't want to move out of the country, away from my mother, to be surrounded by strangers. I'd have to completely start over. My entire life would never be the same. I'm not big on moving cheese…besides that whole getting pregnant in college thing, my life followed along the timeline without many bumps or deviations. I dropped Eva at school, went to my shitty job, picked up my daughter, helped mamma with dinner, and went to bed. It was the same, every day, except in the summer when Eva stayed at home. Change was just not my thing.

"I know," I agreed.

"Thank you for coming," the Seer said standing from her cushion. 

I nodded and followed Tolem outside. He stood, watching me for an indeterminable amount of time. I barely noticed since I was deep in my own thoughts.

"Your highness," said Tolem finally.

"I told you not to call me that!" 

I could have sworn I heard him laugh, but on the surface, he didn't even crack a smile.

"Would you like to go back to the castle?" he asked when I glared.

"Yeah, I need to speak to Trilla."

"She actually worked a half day today," Tolem informed me. "She's at home by now."

"Well, take me to her house then."

Tolem shrugged. 

I followed him through the streets, it was around lunch time and pretty hot—not Georgia's one hundred and twenty percent humidity with mosquitoes, love bugs, and gnats hot—but still pretty damned hot. 

Trilla's house was bigger than the one we'd just left, but still relatively small. I couldn't get over how narrow the houses were but Trilla's was very cute on the outside…it fit her. White walls with brown shutters and wild ivy growing upwards along the lower portion. There were window boxes full of pansies and rose bushes along the cobbled pathway. 

I knocked and heard her muffled voice say, "Just a minute."

Tolem and I waited patiently until Trilla pulled open the heavy wood door. I was half expecting her to ask who it was since there wasn't a window or peephole or anything for her to sneak a peek through. Maybe that was just the cynical human in me. Trilla was obviously surprised to see us…well, me. Her dark eyebrows came together and she frowned but she quickly recovered and greeted us. "Please come in," she said moving aside.

"Wow, it's like I've died and gone to Pier 1!" I said as I looked around her home.

The layout was open, as were all the doors so I caught a peek of every room. The walls were painted a burnt orange, with iron vines reaching from floorboard to ceiling, accented leaves of gold and brown. 

The living room was full of dark brown furniture; the biggest piece was a love seat that was covered by a multicolored woven blanket. Two mahogany bookcases flanked the inside of the front door, with matching copper umbrella stands beside each. At first I thought they were giant vases because reeds were protruding from the one on the right, but then I saw two well-worn umbrellas in the other one. Toward the back of the living room was the dining area. A high gloss mahogany wood table with two matching chairs served as the dining set. On top were multiple pieces of pottery shaped like autumn leaves. Tucked in a corner by the table was a floor to ceiling, mahogany lattice wine cage holding around fifty bottles of wine. On the other flat surfaces, the buffet, kitchen counter, coffee table, and end tables were black iron and glass candle holders with leaves fashioned on the sides. Each holder contained an orange, burgundy, or brown pillar candle. 

Also on the kitchen counter were bamboo trays that held clean dishes and glasses. Another bamboo tray was beside the tiny stove. This one held a beige teapot with leaves sketched in dark brown. A single matching cup and saucer was on the tray beside the pot.

Through the cracked bathroom door I saw a peek of the white tub with multicolored, handmade bars of soap stacked high in the corner, just below the frosted glass window. The bathroom rug was brown with yellow and red stripes.

The kitchen was tiny, with earth-toned granite counter tops and a deep double steel sink. Everything was impossibly clean except for a chair that contained a mess of papers. It seemed as though we'd interrupted her working from home.

Trilla pushed her dark hair from her face and frowned again. "Your highness," she breathed, "I wasn't expecting you. I would have laid something out for you."

"There's no need, Trilla. I'm sorry to drop by unannounced but we've just left the Seer and I just had to speak with you."

"Really?" She eyed me warily.

"Yes. I wanted to invite you personally to the coronation tomorrow."

Trilla's eyes hardened as she turned away from me. "I'm sure I can't make it," she said sternly to the fireplace.

I smiled. "Well, I don't think I can get crowned without you."

Trilla's entire length of hair fanned out as she turned to face me again. Her eyes were full of tears but her grin was communicable. "You're taking the crown?"

I nodded.

"That's wonderful!"

"I'll need your help," I said stepping forward. "I don't know the first thing about being a queen, or the laws here, or what I'll be responsible for doing." I caught my breath. "I don't know anything!"

Trilla covered her mouth with both hands as she giggled. "This is wonderful!" 

"I'm sure my sister won't think so," I said rolling my eyes.

"It doesn't matter what Lyrik thinks," said Trilla darting to a bookshelf in the corner. "You are the first blood queen in three generations! This is a remarkable event, historic and important. I must alert the World Press Corps. Even the colonies in the New World will want full details!"

"The New World?" I repeated.

"Yes, the Americas," Trilla explained as she flipped through the slim ledger she'd pulled from the bookshelf.

"America is not so new," I said crossing my arms. 

"It's still new to us," Tolem said with a shrug. 

I rolled my eyes, but decided not to argue my point. If I was going to be queen in a day, I needed as many allies as possible. No sense in getting into a quarrel about how they referred to "the Americas" at this point in time.

Trilla's eyes skimmed a page and she absently found a tablet and started scribbling notes onto it. "I'll have to return to the castle to place these phone calls," she muttered. "I'll also have to make arrangements for all the new press and distinguished visitors."

"We will leave you to it," Tolem said with a nod.

"Okay, then," I said watching Trilla sink her nose deeper into the ledger. "Bye."

"I am actually glad that you've decided to be our queen," Tolem said when we were outside once again.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, but it's not like I really had much of a choice."

"I didn't think you were the type to change your mind so quickly."

I blushed and hoped he would think it was from the heat of midday. "My mind has already been changed once since I've been here."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh…about you. I thought you were a gi-normous tool and turns out, you're really not so bad." I smiled when his mouth fell open in shock. I didn't wait for him to formulate a comeback, I just turned back to retrace our steps back to the castle.




Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 04



***

Okay so The History of Elves is boring. I'm talking dry…so dry it shouldn't come within fifty feet of an open flame…make that any direct sunlight, lest it spontaneously combust. Once we'd gotten back to the castle, I told Tolem to stand down; I'd spend the rest of the day in my room reading. I had the best of intentions, what better way to find out the bare bones of what I needed to know than by reading about the general history of elves? 

After nodding off twice, I decided to put down the book o' boring and read the Origin of the Elvin Monarchy. Now, that's a page turner!

I was hooked even before I got to Merlin's contribution.

Turns out Arthur, yes the king, and his fellow round-table ruffians had a little secret that not even they knew. Decades before Arthur was born, Merlin predicted his coming. That crafty wizard wrote that the son of an elfin maiden would be orphaned and sacrificed to the humans for a just cause…namely, bringing them out of the dark ages! At the same time or there about, his elfin court would be orphaned and those babies would be given over to the humans also.

Then, it happened (which is where our history books pick up the tale). What our books don't say is that Arthur was born of elves from a family whose lineage goes back to the primordial ooze. Anyway, his father was unknown or at least not specified and his mother died during childbirth. Then, Merlin's prediction being what it was: the baby's ears were blunted (not like Method Man's version of blunted; when elves refer to being blunted, they mean one whose had the points of their ears surgically clipped in order to blend in with humans) and sent to an orphanage. Sure, little Arthur didn't get adopted into the best family, but in the end, he did what Merlin said he'd do. He pulled the sword from the stone, kicked some barbarian ass, and ruled Camelot. His lineage spawned the tightest-assed, bluest-blood in Europe. Besides, the some subsequent hemophilia, not too shabby for an orphan!

So after all the sword fighting, arrow-shooting, and catapult launching, the knights who didn't die in battle were told on their death beds by the magnificent Merlin himself of their birth origins. Kind of messed up, I think—oh, you're dying, well, I guess you should know that you're an elf!

It was somewhere after Camelot but before the battle of Trafalgar that I fell asleep. When Tolem banged on my door, I woke up, clutching the book to my chest.

"It's time for dinner, your highness," he called through the door.

"I told you not to call me that!" I practically shrieked. I don't usually take being waken up well. There was no answer from the other side, but I didn't hear his footsteps retreating either so I figured it was in my best interest to get my ass in gear before he knocked and hollered again.

I rushed into my bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. I was pleased at how well my hair behaved outside the humidity I'd grown up with. The black mass hung long and wavy down my back. There was no need to keep a ponytail holder around my wrist anymore. I felt like I could do a shampoo commercial. I didn't admire myself too long, though. I pulled on my flip-flops, ran a hand over my tank top and pulled open the bedroom door.

Tolem raised an eyebrow. "I see you've decided to dress for dinner," he said in way of a greeting.

"I'll have you know, these jeans are 7 For All Mankind! I got them at Goodwill, but the label is still in 'em!" 

"So, sorry, I didn't realize," he said with a smirk and that accent that made what was in my jeans quiver. I gave him the once over. He had on a pair of black dress pants with a white button-up shirt, opened to show a hint of yummy blonde chest hair, and his long hair still damp and pulled back in a loose braid. He was definitely dressed for dinner.

"Should I go change?" I asked hesitantly. 

"We haven't that kind of time," he informed me, "some of us would like to eat before morning."

"Hey, I take offense at that! I don't take that long to get ready."

He remained silent, but stopped leaning against the wall to stand up straight. "Of course, your highness."

"I told you—."

He held up a hand and then swept it toward the staircase. "We don't want to be late for dinner," he said, "after all; you have an announcement to make."

I stopped in my tracks. I'd forgotten all about the fact that I should probably tell my step mother and stepsister that I would in fact be taking that crown. Especially since Lyrik was still under the assumption that she would be queen in less than twenty-four hours. I turned back to look at Tolem. "How am I—what should I—Lyrik is gonna…"

He smiled at me, a rare occurrence, which made my heart rate increase exponentially even as I was on the brink of an anxiety attack. Not good.

"You'll do fine," he said with a nod. "The crown wasn't hers to begin with; you're just accepting what's rightfully yours."

I nodded. "You're right. I'm supposed to be queen anyway," I glanced at the stair case but didn't move toward it. "But just in case you put yourself right between Lyrik and me. I'm thinking you're gonna actually have to do some body guardin' tonight!"

He nodded and walked by me to head downstairs first.



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 05



"Hello."

"Hey, mama!" I said in my perkiest voice. It came out in a high-pitched squeak.

"Oh, Lord," she sighed. "What's wrong?"

My face burned. How was I going to tell my mother that I was moving clear out of the country and taking her granddaughter with me? 

It had been hard enough telling Lady Ilyn and Lyrik at dinner, the week before. Lyrik's usually pale face turned red as a fire hydrant. Lady Ilyn just smiled knowingly.

"Absolutely not!" Lyrik had exclaimed slamming her open hand onto the table causing her plate to jump and her wine glass to teeter.

Her mother frowned. "These histrionics are not necessary, dear."

Lyrik gave her mother a look that would have earned me a quick slap across the face if I pointed it at my mother. "There is no way I'll allow her to take the crown tomorrow! Just yesterday she didn't want anything to do with being queen! Now, she's changed her mind? What happens when she decides to run back to America and surrender the throne?"

I frowned. "I will not!"

Tolem cleared his throat and Lady Ilyn sighed. "You're grossly overreacting. Deidre is the rightful heir." Her voice was slightly urgent around the word rightful, but other than that she remained un-phased by my stepsister's outburst.

Even though I was pissed, I couldn't help but admire my step-mother's unflappable demeanor. I suddenly got the feeling that I should be taking notes.

"I won't have it mother. I'll have the coronation postponed!" Lyrik's cold blue eyes flashed in anger.

"Trilla's already began making calls...people are on their way!" I shrieked. Yup, judging from the way my blood pressure was rising along with my voice, I definitely needed some tutelage from Lady Ilyn.

"I don't care!" Lyrik screamed grabbing her plate and slinging it into the wall. The rest of us jumped when it shattered, scattering rice and vegetables everywhere. Lady Ilyn was officially flapped. Her hand was splayed across her chest and her mouth was frozen in an "o" of surprise. Lyrik stomped out of the room, long white skirt fisted in her hands, blonde hair flying behind her.

The next day, Trilla met me at the breakfast table. "The coronation has been postponed until next month," she muttered when I sat down.

I sighed and stared at my breakfast of toast, tomatoes, and a bowl of fruit salad. "Lyirk?"

"Yes," Trilla sighed. "She called last night and ranted for over an hour."

I rolled my eyes. 

"She thinks that if you stay here long enough, you'll miss home and relinquish the crown." 

"She wants to wait me out, huh? Fine, we'll play it that way." I stabbed a piece of tomato with unnecessary roughness. 

Trilla smiled.

Lyrik hadn't spoken to me since that infamous dinner. Somehow, I didn't feel any loss.

I sighed. "I have something really important to tell you," I started.

"You're staying in England." My mother's tone was flat.

"How'd you know I was gonna say that?"

My mother sighed. "I've gotten this phone call before."

"I want you to move here with me."

"Ah," she said with a dry laugh. "That sounds familiar too."

My eyes filled. I felt so guilty. "Please, mama."

"I'll have to think about it, honey. How can I just up and leave my home...my life?"

"I thought Ella and me were your life."

"Well, you got me there!" This time her laugh was genuine. "Why don't you tell me about the place?"

"Oh, mama, it's beautiful here. It's green from all the rain, and its not as hot as home, it's still hot, though. Everyone is so nice here...and there's this guy..."

"Oh...is he tall, dark, and handsome?"

I grinned. "He's handsome, but blonde with these gorgeous blue eyes. He is tall, though...so fuckin' tall."

My mother giggled. "How fuckin' tall is he?"

"He's so fuckin' tall; you could climb him like a cypress."

"Oh, honey. I'm way too old to climb anything or anybody. Besides, I'm not much attracted to blondes. I'll leave him to you."

"Well then, I'll take him," I sang happily. 

"Listen, honey, my stories are comin' on so I'm gonna let you go. Call me soon!"

"Okay, mama. I love you."

"I love you too, be careful."

***

I knocked and entered Trilla's office when she called for me to come in.

"Your highness!" she gasped leaping to her feet. She smoothed down her cream colored button up shirt and the front of her short black skirt. "How may I help you?"

"First of all, sit down. Don't get all weird on me just because I've decided to be queen."

"Weird?" she queried sinking back into her seat.

"Yeah, don't stand on airs on my account. I need your help more than I need your reverence."

Trilla smiled, making her face even more beautiful. 

"Okay, so it's been a week since the coronation was postponed and I feel like I'm floundering here. There has to be something I can do."

"What do you mean?"

I leaned forward, putting my hands on her desk. "I've worked since I was fifteen, Trilla. I can't get used to sitting around reading books and taking walks all day."

She nodded. "I understand...you're feeling...idle."

"Exactly. There has to be something I can do here. I mean, what does Lady Ilyn do all day?"

"She has charities that she organizes. She meets with citizens, plans the festivals and holiday celebrations, organizes balls, and parades. She meets with dignitaries that pass through here on the way to London."

I nodded. 

"Of course, she'll retain most of these duties once you are crowned. She will still have her title, after all. She'll remain perfectly qualified."

"What about Lyrik? What does she do besides her daily walk through town?"

Trilla's expression became puzzled. A look I'd never expected to see on her. "Nothing."

"How can she possibly do nothing?" I slumped back into my chair and crossed my arms. I was out of my mind from boredom since I'd finished reading the mountain of books Trilla had loaned me. How could Lyrik do nothing all day, every day?

Trilla stood suddenly causing me to jump. I watched her run to the door and lock it, then pull the curtains on the windows. She settled into her chair, disconnected the cord from the phone and shoved the phone itself into her bottom drawer.

When she was done, the room was lit only a few lamps. The lack of light made me a little nervous. It was almost noon, and yet we were sitting in almost total darkness. She leaned forward and I automatically did the same.

"Our Lyrik bides her time by clinging to the hope that she will one day be queen. That's what occupied her mind more than any menial task ever could. She's obsessed with it. We were schooled together because my parents are nobles who were in the king's favor. In fact, we basically grew up together."

"Really? You don't seem like friends."

"That's because we're not friends. I spent most of my life with her alternating between playing with me and insulting me. I was never good enough to be her friend, but I was her only option because she refused to play with the children of the maids and gardeners."

I nodded. "I believe it."

"Well, for as long as I can remember, Lyrik has been telling everyone how she will be queen someday. Even as we got older, she would use that excuse as a reason not to directly engage with people she felt were below her. She's an aristocrat, even if she's not a royal."

"What do you mean 'not a royal'? Her mother was married to the king."

"True, but Lyrik has no royal blood in her. Lady Ilyn's title came from her father. Lyrik was born out of wedlock, conceived while her mother was away at University."

I nodded. Lady Ilyn got knocked up in college? I could barely believe it when it happened to me, but to imagine Lady Ilyn in the family way was down right mind-blowing! 

"All that's known about him is that he was a Frenchman, for all we know he could have been a human. No offense."

"Of course," I shrugged. The scandal of being half human was not lost on me. I could easily tell what my step-sister thought of me and my non-elvin mother. I imagined Lyrik's head would blow clear off if she were to find out her biological father was a human. The idea was almost enough to make me giggle.

"Well, Lyrik is dead set on ruling and finding out about you...then finding you and you showing up here has ruined her plans."

"I don't get it. Why does she want to be queen so bad?"

"She feels entitled. She was raised by a king, in a palace full of servants. Her sense of entitlement probably comes from the same place as your hesitation. You didn't grow up a princess, so the idea is foreign to you. Trilla wants to rule. She wants the power and the respect."

"I don't see how she can feel so entitled when even her mother insists that I'm the one that should be queen."

Trilla laughed...it sounded like wind moving through one of those delicate chimes, melodic tinkling. "Trilla could have been queen of another province by now. She turned down four marriage proposals in the past seven years, three of which were from princes that had already ascended their throne."

"Why the hell would she do that if she's dying to be a queen?"

Trilla sighed. "She doesn't want to marry into the crown; Lady Ilyn is more of a figure head than a ruling monarch. If Lyrik were to be crowned as the one and only ruler of Ellyrinia, she would be able to create and change laws. She'd be able to implement changes in the deepest most entrenched parts of our ruling counsel. She'd be able to do away with Parliament if she wanted! I've known her for a long time, and I know that she would do anything to make sure her reign was unquestionable and long. Lyrik is too selfish to be queen."

I smiled ruefully. "So, I'm your other option...a clueless half-breed."

Trilla's green gaze studied me, her dark brows knit together for a second. "You're not as clueless as you think. You decided to do what's best for Ellyrinia, didn't you?"

I smiled. "Yeah...well...maybe I'm starting to understand this whole queen thing."

We laughed together and I excused myself to go find my step-mother, figure head or not, she was the best person to clue me in on some of my responsibilities as queen.

***

The next day, Lady Ilyn joined me at breakfast. 

"Tomorrow," she said leaning back in the high back chair, "there is a grand festival."

"Tomorrow?" I repeated.

I ran down my mental list of summer holidays, but none of them coincided with any date in late June. 

"Yes," it's Summer Solstice, we celebrate it extensively. "I have met with our Parliament and they agree that it would be bad for us to cross the solstice without our queen on her throne."

I swallowed a piece of dry toast around the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

Lady Ilyn stared at me, probably waiting for me to say something. I couldn't think of anything...I couldn't sound too excited about taking her place...could I? 

"The celebration begins tonight," she continued in my silence, "You will be expected to attend of course, and since you are not yet queen, I will oversee the events of tonight and tomorrow." 

I nodded dumbly.

"I understand that you have never celebrated Solstice, but it is very important to our society. We celebrate the sun, and nature itself. It's the longest day of the year, a time of renewal, love, appreciation and growth."

"I can't wait," I said trying to smile.

"Very good. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Tomorrow, we will have the coronation at eleven, paying homage to Solstice. Tolem and Trilla have your schedule."

"Okay. What about—uh..." 

Lady Ilyn shook her head. "Don't worry about Lyrik. She has been spoken to and understands that this is what's best. She'll come around."

"I'm sure she will," I lied.

"So," Lady Ilyn purred, "what will you be doing on your last day as a free woman?"

I smiled. "It's been so hot, I was thinking about finding a pool. Swimming always makes me feel better."

She smiled, tilting her blonde head to the side. "Really? Maybe you've got a little bit of mermaid in you!"

I choked and sputtered. She laughed.

"Mermaid...seriously?"

"I was just teasing, but it's not completely out of the question. England is surrounded by water after all."

"So they're...have you ever seen..." I stuttered. Lady Ilyn waved my questions away with a fan of her lithe fingers. "A conversation for later, perhaps when there are fewer choking hazards involved." 

I nodded and gulped down my glass of water. The mermaid conversation was definitely on my to-do-list.

"I will instruct Tolem to escort you to the river that runs through the woods behind the castle. It's small, but very refreshing on a hot summer's day...and without the scent of chlorine."

I nodded and she excused herself. I stared after her; she seemed to glide across the polished floor, the skirt of her off-white dress barely moving. I wondered if she would give me some lessons on how to be more graceful. So far the list of things I wanted from my step-mother was filling up faster than I could mark them off. 

***

Tolem's eyes widened and he whipped around so fast his hair went out in a broad blanket that fell over his right shoulder when he came to a sudden stop.

"Relax," I said pulling my dress off and letting if fall onto the grass. "I have on a bathing suit."

I heard him sigh and watched his head move back and forth. "Perhaps I should leave you alone to swim."

"What kinda bodyguard would you be if you left me alone in the middle of the woods?"

"Security detail...and as such, I should respect your modesty, your highness."

I shoved his shoulder as hard as I could. "Stop calling me that, besides, I'm not that modest. I mean, I'm not on any Girls Gone Wild videos, but I'm not a prude either."

He just stood there, with his back to me. 

"Fine," I snapped. "If you're not going to swim with me, I'll get dressed and we can go back to the castle."

"You said you wanted to cool off."

"I do but I'll just put my dress back on and tell my step mother you kept me from my swim." I know I sounded like a spoiled child and every bit the princess I kept insisting I wasn't but at that moment, I didn't care.

The back of Tolem's neck turned pink and I smiled. 

"Are you trying to get me in trouble?" he growled.

"No," I responded, trying to sound as innocent as possible, "It's just that you were hired to serve the royal family...namely me...and I want you to swim with me."

"You sound so self-centered," he growled. "Almost like—."

"If you say that I sound like Lyrik, you won't be walkin' out of these woods...at least not the same way you walked in here."

He chuckled. We both knew that I couldn't possibly put a dent in his shin if I kicked him while wearing steel-toed boots, but my threat at least sounded menacing.

I put my hand on his arm and tugged at it. He turned back around to face me.

"Don't be such a hard-ass, Tolem."

His brows knit together for a moment and his face fluctuated between a look of amusement and insistence. I smiled up at him, hoping he'd land on the side of amusement. He sighed. "Fine, I will have a swim."

"Wait!" I said taking a step backwards. "First you have to tell me if you like my bathing suit." I did a model-spin with my arms held out.

"Do I really have to answer that?"

"Sooner or later," I said with a shrug before turning to go into the water of the still river.

Being next to naked had distracted me from the head. The cool water made me moan. "So nice," I muttered sinking into the water until it was over my head.

When I resurfaced, Tolem was still on the bank. He had however, taken off his shirt and jeans. He was only in a pair of white boxer shorts that I silently encouraged him to go ahead and add to the pile of clothing on the ground behind him. 

No such luck. He was frowning as he stood with his arms folded. I took the opportunity to appreciate his body sans clothing. Actually, it was more than a moment because I was staring, almost to the point of open-mouth drooling. His body was magnificent without clothes. His shoulders were squared and broad, tapering down to a narrow waste. His pectorals were rounded and his abs, knotted with definition. A river could run down the divet in between the rows of knotted muscles. His legs were thick and powerful. I flashed back to the image of climbing him and sliding back down...slowly.

"Hurry your ass up!" I yelled at him. If and when he got in the water, I couldn't see his body and I wouldn't be staring like an idiot. 

As a plus, the loudness of my voice cleared my mind of the haze that had settled over it. One minute I was watching Tolem frown at me and the next my brain was trying to reach back in time and remember the last time I'd gotten some. I knew why I was thinking along those lines, but a queen should be able to enact some self-restraint! Even with an Adonis a stone's throw away.

I tread water and watched Tolem slide into the water. He was so graceful, even as tall and wide as he was; he barely disturbed the water once he was in the river. He made his way toward me quicker than any non-amphibian should be able to move off land. The water cut away from him as if he'd just bathed in baby oil.

There was that familiar knot in my gut as I watched him come closer with each impossible long stroke. He stopped about a foot away from me and I temporarily lost my mind. Well, not really but that has to be the only acceptable explanation for my actions!

I quickly closed the distance between us, coming so close that I could practically see the question in his mind. He smelled wonderful, like a man...woodsy, but not because of our trek through the trees, spicy, and clean. His jaw tensed as I leaned forward, grabbing his biceps. I kissed him! Everything in me screamed BAD IDEA, but I couldn't hear it over the tribal chanting of my sex-deprived, hormone ridden brain. All I could register was YES, YES, YES! 

His lips were warm, and soft. I felt him tense under my hands and I dug my fingers into his arms, trying to relay the message that he was not, under any circumstance, to move. He got it! Instead of pulling away and swimming back to shore, he touched me! He put his massive hands on my waist and dragged me against his front. My nipples were instantly hard, but not as hard as the torso I was wrapped around. His chest was what I imagined heated marble to feel like. The solid, planes and ridges all evident under his taught flesh. I wasn't treading water anymore. My legs were wrapped around Tolem's waist, ankles crossed behind his back. I sighed against his mouth and he growled and slanted his mouth roughly against mine. I was so thankful to be in the water at that moment. The way my body reacted to his roughness was embarrassing. If I was on dry land hell—if I was in the Mohave Desert my bottoms would be soaked through to the point of moving the needle of a barometer. 

I parted my lips and searched for his tongue with my own. Once they connected I was once again overpowered. It was as if Tolem was searching for something in me. His hands splayed across my back held me firm against him. I wished I could reach down and feeling him, just to check and see if he was as turned on as me. I wanted to feel the package I'd stared at when we'd met at the airport. As much as I wanted to feel him, I couldn't, daylight couldn't get between our bodies, much less my hand. I moaned, digging my fingers into his long hair, it was soft, but heavy from being saturated.

Suddenly, I felt myself being pushed away. My eyes flew open in time to see Tolem swimming back to shore. It took a moment for my brain to overpower my hormones and function as it should so I didn't start swimming after him until he was already halfway to land. By the time I stepped out of the water I was pissed.

Tolem sunk into the grass and dropped his head into his hands as I stumbled onto the bank. I watched his shoulders slump and my anger dissipated, just a little. My water-logged hair cooled me by dripping down my back.




Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 05



I fell to my knees beside him, but he turned away.

"What's wrong?" I asked trapping my hands between my knees to keep from reaching out to touch him.

He shook his head. "My credibility is ruined."

I frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm supposed to carry out a job, not take advantage of my charge."

"You didn't take advantage of me," I snapped. "I'm a grown woman!"

He rolled his eyes and waved my words away. "I can't do this any longer."

"Do what?!" I couldn't keep the panic from my voice.

"This," he said motioning toward the water we'd just vacated.

I grabbed my dress and pulled it back over my head. "You don't make any damned sense! Most men would be happy as hell right now, but not you! Oh no! Only you would think what happened...what almost happened was the worst thing in the world!"

Tolem chuckled dryly. "I must get you home. He reached for his clothes and I pulled on my sandals roughly.

"You know what?" I said standing up. "I'll see myself back to the castle."

I walked quickly toward the wall of trees that enclosed us, but just before I reached the brush an arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back into the clearing.

Let me go!" I screamed clawing at Tolem's impossibly strong forearm. It was entirely ineffective since I had short nails. He dumped me into the grass and I glared up at him. "Don't you ever fucking touch me again!"

He pitched his hands through his hair and growled. "I didn't even want to get in the bloody water!" he screamed at the sky. He was answered by multiple birds fleeing the trees around us.

I got to my feet and turned back to the path I'd just taken.

"Don't you dare!" Tolem snarled.

"Fuck off!" I screamed, too angry to be intimidated.

"I cannot allow you to get lost in the forest. Now, let me get dressed and lead you!"

I bit my lip to keep from screaming in frustration. He was right. There was no way I'd find my way out of the woods without him.

"I really didn't think you'd be like this," I said as he pulled on his shirt and began buttoning up. "You get some play and now you don't want anything to do with me."

I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes against the tears that were building.

I didn't see Tolem walk to me, I didn't hear his footfalls. I just felt his hands on my shoulders. "I do want you!"

My eyes flew open but I ignored the tears that ran down my cheeks.

"I've wanted you since I saw you attempting to pull that mammoth suitcase from the trolley."

"Really?" I blinked up at him trying to think of something else to say...anything else.

"God, yes," he sighed.

"I thought I drove you crazy."

He used his rough thumbs to rub away the tracks of my tears. "You do. You have a smart mouth, a beautiful face, and an amazing body. All of that...plus the fact that any romantic interest I have in you is wholly unprofessional...drives me bloody mad!"

"So you're saying that as long as you work for me, it would be wrong for us to be together?"

He frowned. "Exactly."

"Well, then...you're fired."

He laughed. It was the first time I'd ever seen him genuinely laugh. "You can't fire me."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not yet queen." He pushed my hair away from my face and leaned down to kiss me, gently this time.

"Well, the coronation is tomorrow afternoon and after that...you are so unemployed!"

"You will risk being without security just so we can be together?" The question seemed serious, but there was a smile in his voice.

"Sure," I shrugged, "why not?"

"I cannot in good conscience leave my post without knowing someone equally qualified will have my place."

"So you want someone else to guard my body?" I teased.

"Yes...but if he were to ever touch you..."

"You mean the way you just touched me?"

He blushed a nice shade of crimson. "If anyone were to—."

"Okay, okay," I said interrupting whatever threat he was about to make. "I will hire a whole team of body guards...I mean security detail...as long as we can sneak around in the mean time."

"Your highness, if we don't sneak around I might just say sod it all and fucking quit!"

"I don't think you're supposed to speak to a queen in such lude terms," I retorted.

"You are yet to be crowned," he said with a grin.

"So if I were your queen, you couldn't speak to me like that?"

Tolem nodded, his eyes roaming over my face, as if trying to memorize every detail.

"No matter how maddening I am?"

He nodded again.

"Well," I said pushing my wet hair behind my shoulders, "humbling you may be reason enough to accept the crown."

He nodded, but caught the uncertainty in my voice.

"What's the matter?" he questioned when I didn't check myself in time.

"Uh—nothing." I shook my head and turned back to face the river.

"You're a terrible liar," he muttered pulling me back around to face him. I looked up into his eyes and sighed. He wasn't going to let this go.

"My daughter." My voice was barely above a whisper, but he nodded.

"She will come here; she is one of us, after all."

"What about my mother?"

"Will she not join you also?" 

"Will she be accepted? She is a human." I couldn't keep the edge out of my voice. As much as I wanted to be a great queen, was the same amount I didn't want my mother scandalized or mistreated by my subjects.

Tolem's eyes softened and he seemed to understand exactly what I was thinking. "As the mother of our queen, she will be revered."

I smiled. "She'd probably like that."

"As will you."

Suddenly, I got a flash of the Seer. Her pale face was foremost in my mind, her blue eyes round, and her incredibly white face smooth as porcelain. She was younger, not more than twenty-five, but no less beautiful...in that eerie, mystical way. Her thin pink lips barely twitched into a smile.

"Galla!" a deep voice said behind me. I swung around and was face to face with my father, exactly as he'd appeared in the picture Trilla had given me. His shoulder-length black hair was blowing across his pale face. His eyes were darker than pitch, and then he smiled. He smiled and I immediately knew why my mother, sweet Southern girl she'd been, fell so hard for him. He was beautiful. His smile lit up his face, colored it with warmth and brought a hint of mischief into those obsidian eyes. 

"Oh, Dom," her breathy voice wafted behind me. I turned around again and the Seer was pulling up her skirts and going into the river water, ankle high. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Certainly not ruin your life," my father said behind me. I stepped aside so I could watch the conversation like a tennis match, instead of giving myself whiplash.

"Why shouldn't I?" the Seer said, her smile slipping. "They've ruined your life."

My father sighed. "No one ruined my life." His shoulders drooped after he said it, as if even he hadn't been able to convince himself of that lie.

The Seer's smile was completely gone now. She vacated the water and marched up to my father. Her white blonde hair joined his in the wind. "You were happy," she said, "You were happy there, with your wife and your daughter, but you haven't been content since you returned. Not truly, not the way you were there. I could feel it, Dom, I could feel the love you shared even while you were across the Atlantic. I can feel it now." She placed an almost translucent hand over his heart. "I can feel your sadness every day you wake up without them."

My father went stone still. He didn't try to contradict or deny. He just watched...or waited.

"My cousin," she said smiling again and taking back her hand. "I could never marry Prince Leonardo Augustos, move to Crete, and live happily ever after. Not while you are forced to leave your own happily ever after...for what...for some antiquated laws that no one can be bothered to amend for the sake of their own king..." She laughed dryly.

"Galla, you cannot base your decision on me. My life has nothing to do with you!"

She laughed again. "Your highness, I'm surprised at you. You are my cousin and my king, how can you possibly say that you hold no influence over me?"

He smiled again, but shook his head. "You deserve happiness."

"And I will have it. Don't forget my gift, Dom. I know for a fact that I'm not supposed to be queen of the Elves in Crete. I have a duty to perform, here...for you in fact."

"So, you are going to tell your father that you are going to pass up this marriage proposal out of protest, for me?"

"Of course not! I'm going to tell my father that I do not love the prince, I will never love him, and in fact his true wife currently resides in Turkey. Then, I'll go back to University and finish my studies." 

My father frowned and opened his mouth to speak again.

"Deidre!" 

I gasped as a hand on my upper arm began to shake me.

"Tolem, please, you're going to shake some marbles loose!" I pulled away from his grip and blinked against my quick return to reality.

"What happened?" he questioned, his hands suddenly on me...tilting my face upward, smoothing my hair. The intensity of his gaze was making my face burn with embarrassment.

"Nothing. I just had a vision...or something...of my father and the Seer, uh...Galla."

"She no longer uses that name," Tolem informed me.

"Okay, well my father and his cousin were in this clearing, discussing why the Seer wouldn't get married." I was consumed with an unfamiliar feeling. My insides ached every time I mentioned my father. I missed him. I slowly turned to the spot where he had been standing. Empty...I was aching with the emptiness. I'd never missed him before; my mother had never let me really feel his loss. She'd been more than enough.

"Ah, one of the unspoken mysteries," Tolem muttered. 

I turned back to him. "What do you mean?"

"No one knows why she never married. She has always been beautiful and blessed with a genuine heart but she wouldn't have any man that offered."

"It was a protest."

"Protest?" Tolem repeated. His blue gaze bore into mine as if he was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth.

"Yes, because my father couldn't have my mother and me, the Seer gave up her right to marriage in protest."

"Incredible," Tolem muttered. "If it was in protest, why didn't she let it be known by all? Shouldn't she have stated her cause?"

I shrugged. "Maybe those that needed to know did know...and still do."

"Let me take you back to the castle," Tolem said glancing up at the sky. "Lunch will be soon and you will need to change."

He held my hand as we made our way back through the forest. I felt childish, the way my heart thumped at the feeling of his large hands encasing my own. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling. Unfortunately, I also felt perturbed when we cleared the woods and he dropped my hand to walk a few paces ahead.

***

My hips looked amazing in the sage green skirt I was wearing. It had a low waist, leaving most of my stomach bare. I'd never been so glad for those fifty sit-ups a night I'd kept up since giving birth. The shirt, if you could call it that was a tiny, brown halter top that ended just below my breasts.

There was a dance in the city centre that evening...a celebration of the Summer Solstice. On the eve of the longest day of the year, a dance was held. Trilla had insisted that I wear the outfit she'd brought. I got the feeling that she was too nice to actually tell me that my wardrobe wasn't good enough. She'd also painted designs all over my body. There was a band of intricate swirls around my right upper arm, a vine with leaves and berries from the back of my neck, down to between my shoulder blades. There was a sun drawn around my belly button and a ying-yang on my lower back.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and tied it with a long black ribbon. The peasant skirt was so long; it grazed the floor and hid my bare feet.

"Are you—"

I spun around and smiled at Tolem. He stood in my doorway with his mouth agape.

"I take it you like the outfit."

"You look...so..."

I felt myself start to blush. I'd never actually rendered a man speechless before. "Aww, that's so sweet. You really have a way with words."

Tolem blushed clear up to his blonde hair. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

I took his arm and allowed him to lead me down the hall and to the first floor. I felt him suddenly drop my hand when we reached the bottom of the staircase.

He shrugged when I gave him a confused look.

"I am your security detail, my lady, not your date."

I frowned but nodded. "Tomorrow, I'll be your queen and I can order you to be my date!"

His cheeks burned red and I continued toward the front door. Tolem recovered and rushed ahead of me to open it. I snorted when he bowed low as I passed.

There was a steady procession walking the street toward city centre or "downtown." All the shops and storefronts were decorated with bunches of colorful wildflowers, paper machete suns, and other seasonal décor. There were street vendors who'd closed their eateries to cook in the middle of the road. In the middle of it all, was a fountain. I'd never noticed it before, but now it was lit with purple, green, and red lights coming out of the water. I got caught up in the wave of happily chatting elves that seemed to be heading toward the band. There was already a group dancing to the flutes, guitars, and lyres. I began to sway with the dancers. 

I was swept up in a hug from a dark-haired woman. "Happy Solstice!" she yelled over the music. She turned to hug someone else before I got the chance to return the sentiments. I returned to dancing with no one in particular when I felt a large hand wrap around my forearm. 

I bounced off Tolem's chest as he pulled me closer. Even on a muggy summer night, I managed to feel even hotter as he held me against him. 

"You look beautiful," he whispered into my hair.

I leaned back to look up at him. "Thank you."

His hands encased my waist as we swayed together. Even though it was after nine, the sun was nowhere close to setting. I felt like I was under a spotlight. All the chatter, laughter, and music faded. All I could hear was the thump of Tolem's heart against my cheek. All I could feel was the white linen shirt he wore. I was consumed by the feeling of everything being right. I never got that feeling! I'm a worry-wart, I fret about absolutely everything. There have been few times in my life that everything was as it should be. Even when I'd held my daughter the first time, my mind was racing through everything that could go wrong now that I was responsible for the health and well-being of someone else. 

"I could hold you this way forever," Tolem muttered, so low that I almost missed it. 

My heart fluttered and my lungs contracted. It had been so long since a man had said something even remotely romantic to me. The last guy that did it, Jordan Mosely, had overwhelmed me, and then left his daughter and me in the dust. I clutched Tolem's shirt in my hands and looked into his blue eyes again. "I'd let you."

His smile was brief as he let me go. He leaned down to me, for a second I thought he'd kiss me and my heart began trying to escape my chest again. I gasped when he angled his head and his lips brushed against my earlobe. His hair fell over my bare shoulders and I shivered in spite of the heat. "I cannot lose my self again...not with so many witnesses about."

He pulled away and I nodded. I turned away from him, trying my best to get my body back under control. Luckily, Lady Ilyn chose that moment to glide up to me.

"Deidre, you look flushed." 

I averted my eyes from her gaze. "It's hot out."

"Well, you look wonderful."

"So do you," I said honestly. She was wearing a long, white linen skirt, with at least three layers so it wasn't see-through. Her top was just like mine, a tiny halter, but hers was green. Her body paint was also much more intricate, as if she'd spent the entire day as a canvas. The most pronounced painting was a tree on her back. Its trunk was knotted, the base of which encompassed her entire lower back. The sprawling branches crept all over her back and up to her shoulders. Some branches were topped with bright red and yellow leaves. I didn't notice the painting until she turned to greet someone that stopped to bow. The thing was amazing! Her pale skin peeked through the brushstrokes of brown paint. 

"Thank you," Lady Ilyn said when she turned back to me. "Please excuse me while I check on some things."

I watched her disappear into the crowd and accepted a tall glass of something that a passerby handed me. With a shrug, I took my first sip.

***

I sat up and slapped my open hand against my forehead. It hurt like hell. I'd had many drinks of many different colors the night before. I'd danced until 2am. Tolem had practically carried me up to my room...okay, so he'd literally carried me up to my room and put me in the bed. 

"Oh," I groaned as I slipped out of bed. My head was pounding and pulsating by the time I crept downstairs. Tolem and Trilla were at the foot of the stairs...waiting. Why didn't they have hangovers? And why the hell were they smiling like that?

"Happy Solstice, your highness," Trilla quipped, bowing deeply. 

"Don't call me that," I muttered. 

Tolem bowed and I'd had enough.

"What's with y'all? Stop bowing like that!" I immediately regretted my outburst. I winced and held my head with both hands...just to keep it from exploding and painting the walls with my brain matter.

"Too much punch?" Tolem questioned.

"It sure as hell feels like I got punched," I groused. "I hope there's a mimosa and an aspirin for breakfast today."

When I sat down, there was an aspirin and a large glass of water. "I'll never get used to this," I said to myself before I took my medicine. When I put down the empty glass, Trilla started talking.

"As soon as you're done, we'll have to dress you for the ceremony."

"Ceremony?" I repeated.

"You're coronation, you're highness. The ceremony is at eleven."

"Oh, yeah," I said feeling like an idiot. "I'm sorry; I'm still a little fuzzy."

Tolem chuckled and I glared at him. 

"I don't know many women that would go on a bender then night before they are to be crowned as queen," said Tolem leaning back in his chair.

"I didn't go on a bender," I said, "People kept handing me drinks. How was I supposed to know what was in them?"

"Do you make it a practice to consume things just because they're given to you?"

"No, of course not. I was just caught up in the festival." I shifted in my chair and sighed.

"The spirit of Solstice was palpable last night," Trilla said smiling at me.

I returned her smile. "See," I said to Tolem, "I was just in the spirit."

He chuckled again and I would have said something else in my defense but he was looking at me in that new way. Not annoyed, but amused. He licked his lips and I crossed my legs.

Trilla had began instructing me on the pomp and circumstance of being crowned when my breakfast arrived. I picked at the oatmeal. The gray mush was not exactly appealing in my current condition.

After my bowl was cleared away, Trilla swept me upstairs in a rush. I was bathed in a tub full of lavender-scented water. My hair was washed, dried, pressed, and curled. I was dressed in a pale gold, scoop neck gown that pooled around my feet. There were crystals embossed around the neckline but other than that I wasn't allowed any earrings or rings...something about showing that I was humble in my acceptance of the crown. After I got the crown, I would be able to sport the royal jewels.

One of the maids helping me reached up to unclasp my necklace. I stepped back and glared at her. "Absolutely not!"

The maid, a slip of a girl with black hair and black eyes set in a round, pale face, glanced at Trilla.




Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 05



"Your highness," Trilla began in a dulcet tone.

"Don't start it Trilla. This was my paternal grandmother's ring that my father buried in the back yard for me to find. I haven't taken it off since I was twelve. It's not going to happen."

Trilla nodded. "As you wish."

I was led to the front steps of the castle, where Lady Ilyn waited, smiling. She looked as elegant as ever, especially wearing the crown that looked like clusters of large leaves going around her head. I was so busy being fussed over that I didn't realize the entire village was gathered in front of us until a deafening roar erupted. I gazed into the cheering crowd and froze. I had forgotten all about the fact that Trilla had given the village an open invitation to witness me take the crown.

Tolem appeared beside me and steered me to stand beside my step-mother. She continued to smile at me, slipped her fingers through mine and pulled me down as she sunk onto her knees. I hadn't even noticed the two blue velvet pillows waiting for us. 

The Seer stepped forward to stand behind us and started the ceremony. The entire crowd was silent as her faint voice wafted from behind us all the way to the last row. She spoke of the royal family, especially my father. She spoke of how proud he'd be that I was accepting him and his people as well as my own responsibility. I thought for sure she was just trying to make me cry, but I fought back the tears and that empty feeling I'd gotten by the river the day before. When the speech was over, Lady Ilyn gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

"We usher in a new era," the Seer said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her pale hands lifting the slender braided silver and gold crown of leaves from Lady Ilyn's blonde head. I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until it came out in a whoosh when the Seer placed the crown on my head. "Long live her majesty; Queen Deidre Ellette St. Germaine of Ellyrinia."

Everyone in front of the castle went down on their knees and I fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Lady Ilyn let my hand slip from hers and leaned over to whisper to me. "Stand up, dear."

I obeyed standing and turning around to look at the others around me. The Seer, Tolem, Lady Ilyn, absolutely everyone was on their knees, head down. Except one. On the fringe of the crowd, someone still stood. Lyrik's blonde hair blew in the gentle breeze. The look of pure hatred on her face made me wince. 

I was finally queen and I already had an enemy. 



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 06



"Heavy is the head that wears the crown," Lyrik said coldly. 

"Heavy is the damned crown," I said returning her venomous smile with one of my own. I took my seat, now at the head of the table. 

The stand-off between Lyrik and me had been tense, teetering on the edge of collapse. She barely spoke to me, except for a few smart-ass comments here and there. Usually, I just ignored her, per her mother's advice, but I wasn't putting up with her shit today. I was most certainly not in the mood.

To my right was Lady Ilyn, looking demure as ever in a peach linen dress and blonde braid hanging over her right shoulder. She frowned at Lyrik, who was seated right beside her. I gazed at the empty chair to my left and sighed. It was getting late, already dinner time. I'd been too nervous to eat all day and my stomach was complaining. 

I wrinkled my nose at the orange liquid in the crater-sized bowl in front of me.

"Carrot and Leek soup," Lyrik informed me.

I had never wanted a piece of fried chicken more in my whole, entire life!

"Sounds wonderful," I muttered.

"Doesn't seem that our vegan diet agrees with you," Lady Ilyn said with a small smile. I was saved from having to think up a polite way to put my opinion of not being able to eat meat.

"Sorry, we're late," Tolem's deep voice boomed as he entered the dining hall. My heart seized and I leapt to my feet and rushed toward him.

A wide-eyed Ella crept into the room behind him. 

"Baby!" I shrieked picking up my pace.

"Mommy!" she squealed breaking into a run.

I tucked her into my chest and squeezed so hard I began to sob. "I missed you so much," I choked. 

I ran my hands over her brown hair, attempting to smooth the tousled mess.

"Did you do okay on the plane?" I still couldn't believe my daughter had taken a trans-Atlantic flight with me. Trilla was absolutely trustworthy, but this was my baby.

"Good," Ella said smiling, "I watched movies and slept. It was kinda fun." Her silver eyes traveled around the room. "Whose house is this?"

"It's ours," I whispered.

Her eyes got even wider.

"Come eat dinner. There are some people you should meet."

Ella slipped her hand into mine and almost skipped beside me to take her seat at the table.

Lyrik sat cool and aloof as my daughter chatted about the flight.

My step-mother was the opposite. She was so involved with Ella's account of her trip, she barely touched her dinner. She just listened, enraptured, as she chattered.

To her credit; Ella seemed un-phased by the orange soup that was her dinner. She finished the bowl and even had seconds. My own appetite had returned, but I didn't even come close to finishing my soup.

***

"Mommy," Ella mumbled, her eyes heavy, "I'm so sleepy."

I was tucking her in after we had called my mother and let her know we were both safe and sound. I'd decorated her bedroom myself. The walls were lavender with cream-colored crown molding. The gauzy off-white lace curtains blew into the room with the cool breeze. There was a small deep purple loveseat tucked into a corner, beside a floor lamp. 

Her bed was full-sized, piled with purple, lavender, and white linens and pillows. The armoire and dresser were white with purple tops. There was a white study desk with a matching chair tucked in front of one window and vases full of purple tulips and white lilies on the end tables and desk. The rug was tightly woven, and had images of purple, white, and yellow flowers. The chandelier, floor lamp, and desk lamp were off. The only light in the room was soft light that came from the white sconces, two on each wall.

This was the room I'd always dreamt of for my daughter. All regret I'd felt over the past six years that she'd been sleeping in my childhood bedroom went into decorating that room. It was beautiful.

"I know, Ella Bella," I said passing my hand over her head. I didn't realize how much I'd missed brushing and braiding her hair every night. "I'm so glad I'm able to put you to bed again."

"Me too," Ella said around a big yawn. "Mommy, Tolem said he would take us to town tomorrow."

"Sounds like fun," I said with a smile.

"Does he live in this big house too?"

"Yes." Ella's lips turned up in a lazy smile. "Cool. I like him. He's funny. I think he's the boy."

She was asleep before I could ask for an explanation.

***

Tolem knocked on our adjoining door almost as soon as I'd entered my bedroom.

I allowed him in and watched as he fidgeted. 

He'd taken his hair out of the ponytail and it fell forward into his face as he watched the floor.

"Are you going to say something? I asked touching his arm gently.

"She's beautiful," he muttered.

"I know," I said thinking about my sleeping angel down the hall.

"I feel horrible," said Tolem, still gazing at the rug beneath his tanned bare feet.

"Why?"

"I've thought of nothing but having you for months...but I don't deserve you. Your feelings should be for her...for your child. I feel so...selfish."

I rolled my eyes. "So now that you've met my daughter, you can only think of me as a mother?"

"No," he said quickly. "When I saw her, holding onto Trilla's hand in the airport, all I could think was how she has your nose and lips and wonder if our children with also have them."

I gasped at his words.

He shook his head and the blonde curtain of his hair swayed back and forth. "I'm selfish, I know. I've no right."

"Oh, Tolem," I said wrapping my arms around his waist. "I would love to have your kids, but I'd like to be married the next time I get knocked up. I sorta promised my mama."

"Of course," he whispered, pulling me roughly to his chest.

"Three boys and two more girls," he whispered against my cheek.

"Did the Seer tell you that?"

"I don't have to go to her to know that I will be with you for the rest of my natural life."

"Oh, Tolem, I wish we didn't have to wait."

His jaw flexed as his head dropped, and his hands traveled downward, resting in the small of my back. "It's for the best, your highness." His full pink lips were dangerously close to mine. "I told you not to call me that," I whispered before going up on my toes to press my lips to his.

I could feel the change in him as soon as our lips touched. His entire body went rigid, hands pulled me even closer. I slipped my arms from his waist to his neck, forcing him to bend even closer. He groaned and slanted his mouth against mine. Then I felt his erection against my stomach and my knees went wobbly. 

Good Lord, I wanted that thing pressing against my stomach, to press against me somewhere else. 

Then I was alone, Tolem had pulled away from me so fast, I felt the wind when he turned and headed back to the door that led to his bedroom. The door didn't actually connect to his room, there was actually a three foot walkway between my bedroom door and his. By the time I got myself together I could hear the door on the other side of the hallway slam shut.

"Damn him," I swore heading for my king-sized bed.

***

I woke up with a start the next day. My t-shirt and shorts felt hot and constricting. I blinked against the harsh sunlight slanting through a gap in the drapes.

I jumped at the sharp rapping coming from the door. That must have been what woke me. Lyrik entered my room, and was past the sitting room before I could form a complete thought, much less a sentence...so not a morning person. Lyrik looked rested and refreshed in a white and pink satin morning dress that pooled around her feet, but didn't trip her the way it would me...considering my grace and the fact that I am capable of tripping up stairs. 

Lyrik walked across the room carrying a silver serving tray.

"I brought you some tea," she said with a smile. The statement sounded genuine enough, but her smile was still reptilian.

"Wow, Lyrik. That's so nice of you." The hazy confusion of just waking up was still clouding my mind. This odd change in her usually bitchy demeanor didn't alarm me, just confounded me.

"I know Americans like coffee, but we Brits love tea and I think this is a blend you'll really enjoy.

I accepted the fragile-looking white cup she held out and thanked her. It was warm in my hands. I brought it to my lips to have a sip but just before I tipped the cup, I caught sight of the liquid.

The thick red sludge was stark against the white cup. My nose caught the coppery smell and I screamed, immediately, slinging the cup across the room. The porcelain exploded against the off-white wall leaving a smear of brown liquid. 

I sat transfixed for a moment watching the tea begin to run down the wall.

"Bloody hell!" Lyrik screamed snapping me back to reality.

***

"Trilla!" I shrieked once I'd shoved past Lyrik and stumbled out into the hall. I barely heard Lyrik's exclamation as she hit the wall and dropped the tray with a metallic clang.

I glanced around but there was no one in the hall. "Trilla!" I screamed again.

I grabbed the banister and took the steps three at a time. When I hit the bottom, I finally saw someone but I wasn't looking for the first floor maid. She stared at me open mouthed as I maneuvered around her and ran across the first floor toward the offices. My bare feet slapped against the tile floor, stinging my soles.

Trilla was standing behind her desk when I burst into her office.

"Your highness?" she asked, her face only slightly registering a hint of surprise.

"Trilla," I gasped, "Didn't you hear me callin' you?!"

"No, I didn't."

I fell into a wooden chair and gulped air. Trilla poured a glass of water and presented it to me. I refused.

"Tell me how he died," I said when my lungs were handling oxygen again.

Trilla frowned. "Sorry, what?"

"Tell me how my father died."

"His heart failed," said Trilla, setting the glass on her desk.

"You said he'd been sick."

"Yes, King Dominic's heart was weak. He was bedridden for weeks. When his heart seized the last time, not even the Healer could help him."

"Did anyone see him before?" I leaned forward and clasped my hands together on my lap.

"Only the royal family and the Healer were allowed in his majesty's presence."

"She killed him," I choked out as tears filled my eyes.

"What?" Trilla asked her eyes round in shock.

"Your highness!" Tolem bellowed crashing into the office. "What are you doing, running and screaming through the palace?"

"I had to find Trilla!" I explained.

He held something out to me. I shook my head no, but he shook it.

It was a robe. I looked down and realized I was still in my skimpy pajamas. I snatched the robe and pulled it over me. I was tying the sash when Trilla recovered from her shock.

"Who are you saying killed your father, the king?"

"Lyrik," I spat. "She poisoned his tea."

Trilla went pale—well, paler. "Why would you think that?"

"She brought me poisoned tea this morning! Why would she suddenly decide to be nice to me?" Suddenly, I was consumed with fear, but not for myself. "Where's Ella?" I asked, turning to Tolem. "Where's my daughter?"

"She's in the kitchen with Cook, getting lessons." The suffocating fear lifted from my chest and I could breathe again. "If she kills me, she'll kill my daughter, and take the throne." Trilla gasped. "Of course!" she moaned as she sank into her chair. "She always insisted..."

"Insisted what?" Tolem growled.

"She brought the king his tea every morning. She said it was the least she could do; her duty as his daughter."

"She wasn't his daughter," Tolem barked before he turned on his heel and left us in stunned silence. 

I was trying to process the fact that my father had been murdered, and I'd come close to the same fate. Trilla had abandoned her chair and was pacing behind her desk, muttering to herself. It was a good ten minutes before we were jolted from our shock by the sound of Lyrik's screaming. 

"Ella," I gasped, rocketing out of the chair and rushing toward the kitchen. Trilla was right behind me. When we reached the entryway, we stopped short. Tolem had Lyrik slung over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. She struggled against him, arms and legs flailing. She pounded his back and called him every name in the book. I didn't know many British colloquialisms, but even the words I didn't recognize were obviously not very nice.

"Deidre!" she shrieked when she saw me, "call off your barbarian immediately!"

I felt this white hot rage building inside me. 

"Bitch, you killed my father. I should have him drop you on your empty, evil head!" 

Lyrik stopped struggling and gazed at me. "How'd do you know?"

The rage pulse behind my eyes, numbed my fingers that were tucked into tight fists, and made my leg muscles ache to run again...right to her so my fists could do their worst. "The same way I know there was something in the tea you brought this morning. Did you really think you could kill me the same way you did my father? Did you think you could get away with murder three times?" Trilla's cool fingers on my hand made the rage subside a bit. I looked at her and she attempted to smile. 

"Mommy?" Ella's voice cut through the rage and scattered it all directions away from me. My fists loosened and my tears began to flow.

I looked at her, on the other side of Tolem and Lyrik, her small hand tucked into Lady Ilyn's long, white fingers. 

"What's happening?" my step-mother asked, her voice strained as she looked from her daughter draped over Tolem's shoulder to me.

"She killed him," I spat. "Lyrik killed my father. She's just admitted it in front of us all."

Lady Ilyn's free hand flew to her mouth and she shook her head. Silent tears slipped down her cheeks. "Oh, no," she whispered. "No, no."

"They're liars, mother!" Lyrik shrieked, causing Ella to jump. "Don't listen to them!"

"How could you?" her mother said. "Did you want the crown so badly you'd commit murder?"

Lyrik remained silent.

"She poisoned the tea," Trilla said to Lady Ilyn. "The cup she brought him every morning."

Ella gazed from one of us to the other. Lady Ilyn looked on the verge of collapse, but Ella squeezed her fingers and smiled up at her.

Lady Ilyn looked down at my daughter, then back to hers. "Please take her to the basement, Tolem." Lyrik began to struggle again as Tolem followed the order. "Trilla, please convene Parliament. I promised Ella that I would take her into town to find a few outfits. Let me know if you need me to join the meeting, otherwise, Queen Deidre will facilitate with your assistance."

"Right away," said Trilla turning to go back to her office.

"I'm so sorry, Lady Ilyn," I started.

"No," Lady Ilyn said holding up a shaky hand, 

"I'm sorry. It is alright that I take Ella shopping, isn't it?"

"Of course," I said with an attempt at a smile. "You two have fun."

Ella grinned. "I'll be good, I promise."

I waved goodbye as they headed out the front door. I started back up the stairs; the first thing I had to do was get dressed. Then, I would deal with my murdering step-sister.



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 07



"Trilla, you've gotta tell me what to do!" I exclaimed walking past her and into her house.

The surprise of seeing me at her front door barely registered on her face. I had actually climbed out of the window, down a tree, and sprinted across the immense garden. I made the short walk to Trilla's in the dead of night. In all my years as a petulant teenager, I'd never snuck out of my mother's house, but I felt had to do it. I just needed someone's ear; I was beyond stressed about banishing Lyrik and possibly Lady Ilyn. They'd have to start all over with nothing...no title, no history, and no alliances. Lyrik deserved that and worse, but her mother was innocent.

In fact, Lady Ilyn had been so distraught over the whole messy situation, she'd stayed in her quarters crying for over a week. She hadn't been to see Lyrik and decided to holiday in France while her daughter's fate was decided.

I wondered how it was that Trilla wasn't the least bit puffy or bleary-eyed, even though it was almost one in the morning. She wore sage-green satin pajama pants and a black tank top. There wasn't a hair out of place, her pajamas weren't even wrinkled. Meanwhile, even without the aid of a mirror I knew I had bed head and pillow creases across my face. Add that to the ever-growing list of reasons to hate Trilla.

She followed me to the couch and settled beside me.

"You know I can't help you."

I frowned. "That's what everyone keeps saying! The Seer refuses to get anywhere near me. Lady Ilyn has taken a month-long respite in Paris and Parliament won't convene again until I've reached my decision." 

Trilla nodded but didn't respond.

I sighed. "Can't someone else do this? I'm not quite sure how I feel about sentencing my step-sister. I mean, on one hand, she's a total psycho-bitch and deserves the worst."

Trilla nodded again.

"On the other hand," I continued, "Lady Ilyn will be broken up no matter what, she's half there already. I don't want to hurt her any more than Lyrik has already."

Trilla's brilliant green eyes softened.

"Parliament insists I come back with the decision to banish her...but wouldn't her mother go with her? I could barely stand being away from my Ella for a month, bow can I sentence a mother to never see her daughter again?"

"Lady Ilyn's possible decisions should not influence yours," Trilla offered.

I shrugged. "Why can't y'all just have the death penalty? You know eye-for-an-eye and all that."

Trilla cringed visibly.

"Your highness, our laws dictate..."

"Save it," I snapped putting up a hand. "I've heard it all from Parliament. The importance of life...not upsetting the balance..blah, blah, blah."

"If you don't agree with our laws..."

"It's not that!" I interjected. "It's just that...I'm used to swift justice—a person does a crime, they do time, and in certain states...they get a one way ticket to hell."

Trilla actually winced.

I studied my pajama pants as we sat in silence.

"I wish the Seer would just give me a hint."

Trilla shook her head. "She can't do that. She already knows your decision and with your...gift...the slightest contact, you could see the future you have not yet decided."

"That's exactly what I meant by a hint!"

Trilla rolled her eyes.

"Well, you're about as helpful as a lop-sided step stool."

Trilla laughed aloud. "We should get you home."

I shook my head. "Nah. You get back to bed. I can walk back."

Trilla sniffed haughtily. "Tolem would never forgive me if I let you return on your own."

"I got here on my own."

Trilla smiled. "I had no control over that."

***

"Have you spoken with your mother?" Trilla asked five minutes into our walk.

"Yes," I sighed. "She's doing very well and almost agreed to come for a visit."

"Almost?" repeated Trilla.

"Yeah, then she came up with some doctor's appointment excuse. What a surprise."

"Do you think she'll ever come?" 

I laughed. "I don't think so, but that doesn't mean I'll stop asking."

"Do you miss her terribly?"

"Trilla, you're way too smart to ask such a dumb question."

Trilla shrugged. The blanket of black hair cascading over her shoulders shone blue in places where it caught the moonlight. "Of course you're right. It's just that..."

"Well, go on then," I sighed. "You know all my business, don't try and get shy on me."

"My mother died when I was eight," Trilla said after a heavy sigh. "The only thing I can remember about her now is that she did funny voices when she read to me and always smelled like laundry powder. She was the laundress."

"I'm sorry."

Trilla shrugged again. "I don't miss her anymore, is all. I guess I just wonder what its like to still be a mother's daughter as an adult."

"Its just the same a daughter when you're a child. She knows too much and thinks you know nothing, then makes you feel guilty on the rare occasions you do know something she doesn't."

Trilla's laugh was weak.

"I'll bet your mama loved you enough in those eight years to last you a lifetime. It's okay not to miss her. She's always with you anyway."

Trilla turned her head toward me. "Do you know that for sure...because of your—uh—gift?"

"Nah," I said with a shrug. "It's just what I've decided to believe."

We walked in silence for a few minutes and I realized that I was getting winded. "For heavens sake, Trilla, slow down. Not everyone's legs are a mile long!"

"Maybe next time you sneak out of the castle, you should wear shoes." 

I looked down at my bare feet. "I have no problems walking barefoot, did it all my life...I just can't jog barefoot."

Trilla slowed and I linked my arm through hers. Her usually stiff stance eased as we started up the hill toward my new home. I don't know exactly when it happened but somewhere between being irritated by Trilla's seeming perfection and being glad that I could count on her help and knowledge, she'd become my best friend. I'd never actually had one before, not even Ella's father. 

"Oh, no," I heard Trilla mutter after a few minutes.

It took a second for me to realize why she'd said that. All the lights were on in the castle...at least on the first floor. That wasn't good. It was one-thirty in the morning. All those lights meant one thing, someone realized I was missing...not good.

***

"Where in the hell have you been?" Tolem snapped as soon as I walked into the front door...not much sense in climbing back into the window when the place was already lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I walked to Trilla's house," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Trilla take a large step to the right, putting about three feet between us.

I glared at her. "Get back over here!" I whispered.

She shook her head and I noticed her eyes widen, just slightly. 

By the time I turned back to Tolem, he was less than a foot away. In what seemed like a split second, he'd come from the bottom of the staircase to right in front of my face. I understood why Trilla had stepped away from me. Tolem was beyond scary at the moment. His blonde hair was loose and spilling over his shoulders, his eyes were open so wide; I could see entire blue irises. His nostrils seemed permanently flared as he loomed over me.

"Alone?!" he choked out, "You went into town alone?!"

"Yes," I said quietly.

"Barefoot?!" he growled.

I nodded because I couldn't speak around the lump in my throat. I didn't know whether to scream, run, or cry. Honestly, I wanted to do all three, in no certain order.

"Everything is okay, Tolem," Trilla said. "I walked her home and she's perfectly fine."

He seemed to finally realize that there was another person in the room. His nostrils went back to normal when he turned to look at Trilla. The redness in his face began to ebb and I let out a relieved breath.

"Yeah," I said. "Everything is fine."

He glared at me. "You stay right here, right on this spot. Don't even think of moving. I have to turn off all these blasted lights." 

I nodded.

His eyes never left mine when he grumbled, "Goodnight, Trilla."

"I'll see you in the morning," she responded as he turned and headed in the direction of the dining room.

Trilla moved toward the door. I reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Take me with you," I hissed through clenched teeth.

"Sorry, your highness, you're on your own now. I got you home safely; it's up to him whether or not you stay that way." She twisted her wrist out of my grip.

"Just when I was starting to like you!" I said as she slipped out of the door.

Tolem returned moments later. Now that we were alone in the foyer, I was pretty scared. 

"Do you have any idea?" he snapped.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Tolem grabbed my upper arm and walked me toward the staircase. "I awoke for my evening rounds and your bed was empty!"

"You come into my room while I'm sleeping?" I asked.

He ignored me. "I assumed you'd gone to check on Ella, but she was alone in her room. I thought perhaps you'd gone to the kitchen for a snack or a drink, wrong again." We were headed up the stairs now, at a faster clip than I was comfortable with but with my arm in his vice grip, I wouldn't be able to fall on my face. "I checked every room downstairs including the closets and you were nowhere to be found. I was about to rouse the entire castle and sound the alarm and you come waltzing into the door as if it's the most common thing in the world to be about town barefoot in your pajamas!"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Sorry?" Tolem repeated. "Sorry? My only job is to ensure your safety and all you have to say after sneaking away is that you're sorry? Could you, for once, make my job simple? No more sneaking downstairs to traipse around town in the dark!"

"Actually, I climbed out the window."

That didn't really help my case any. Tolem grunted and began walking even faster down the hallway. I'd changed rooms. I was no longer close to the staircase. My bedroom was now down a series of corridors, tucked away. I regretted bitching about the pace Trilla had kept; I was practically running to keep up with Tolem's long, angry strides.

Once in my room, with the door shut, he released my arm, but grabbed my shoulders. "Never again," he whispered.

Tears were burning at the backs of my eyes.

"Never do that to me again!"

"I said I'm sorry," I said trying to turn away from his intense gaze. "Don't you think you're overreacting a li'l bit?"

"Bed empty, window open, I thought you'd been kidnapped!"

I laughed. "I'm a queen, not The Queen. No one would want to kidnap me!"

"You don't understand. Your life is more precious than you realize. You're in danger here."

I stopped laughing. "Danger? What kind of danger?"

"You still have no idea," Tolem muttered. He turned away from me and sank onto the settee in the sitting area. My new room was more of a suite than a bedroom. Once inside the door, there was a sitting furnished with antique furniture. I'd had the vases of flowers removed, in consideration of my allergies and replaced with decorative candles.

"No idea about what?" I screeched.

He glowered at me. "Be mindful of the volume of your voice; the princess is asleep."

"I know that! Tell me something I don't know...like why I'm in so much danger!"

Tolem scrubbed his hands over his face and groaned. "You still have no idea why your father had to return."

"No, no. I know all about that. There was some sorta coup, his father and brother were killed, and King Dominic had to come back to help fight."

Tolem lifted a blonde brow, obviously impressed. "That much you know, but did you know that almost all the insurgents that were defeated refused abolishment and fled? The rest surrendered, renounced their cause, and were punished. They remain in our kingdom, but at any moment they could return to their treachery. In fact, I'm quite sure some are still in contact with those in hiding." 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The elves that had tried to take the kingdom from my grandfather were still hanging around? 

The shock I was feeling must have been all over my face because Tolem's voice grew softer. "I know you think I take myself too seriously, but I can't let anything happen to you."

"Okay," I said sniffling. "Okay, I won't sneak out again."

I was crying when Tolem gathered me into his laps. His lips brushed my cheeks, smearing the tracks of my tears. I dropped my head onto his shoulder and sighed.

"I can see why you didn't tell me about my life being in danger before I took the crown, but someone might have mentioned these lingering insurgents."

"The elves that linger are no longer insurgents. You just need to learn how to let someone take care of you."

I smiled and let my eyes flutter shut, enraptured by the feel of Tolem's large hand stoking my hair. 

"My mama took care of me," I said on a sigh.

"She did a wonderful job," Tolem mumbled into my hair. His large warm body and deep, rumbling voice was bringing sleep around in a hurry. "She got you to me in one amazing piece."

I laughed and then tried to stifle a yawn.

I was almost asleep when I felt Tolem's soft lips on my own. The kiss was gentle, nothing sexual at all, just a simple peck.

"One day," Tolem whispered as sleep began to take me. "One day things will be as they should."

"Promises, promises," I muttered just before I got the weightless feeling that meant Tolem was carrying me to bed.



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 08



Lady Ilyn was pale, well, more pale than usual. She wore a long black dress, her hair was pulled back in a severe bun, and her eyes were red-rimmed. Yet, when she walked up to me, she smiled.

"You're ruling was fair, and just, and extremely generous," she said bowing her head.

"I'm sorry, Lady Ilyn. I really am sorry."

"You've no need for apologies, my queen, and I could never apologize enough." She put her trembling fingers over her mouth and turned away.

I was shaky myself. I was standing in the meeting hall. The members of parliament were bowing to me and filing out. They had served with my father; they had known him and had insisted that Lyrik be punished in the worst way possible. Their gazes never left her while I had announced my decision. 

The hardest part was looking at Lyrik. She stood before me, hair streaked with dirt, dress torn and smudged. She was practically emaciated from refusing to eat and her blue eyes were hard and dull like rocks as she stared at me.

"Banishment," I announced in a clear, strong voice, "For the murder of your king and stepfather, you are banished to the New World. Your ears will be blunted and your memory will be wiped of all you've known. You will never be allowed into another Elvin colony. You will not know your true identity. I believe this is doing you a favor because you've gone so far against our ideals and core values that I don't think you will ever be able to assimilate back into our society. Your punishment is to be executed immediately so if you wish to say goodbye to your mother, or ask her to accompany you, this would be the time to do so."

Lyrik's voice was stronger than she looked. "I have no more business with anyone."

I glanced at Lady Ilyn then, she held a gauzy handkerchief to her face, but didn't make a sound. 

"Right, then," I said facing Lyrik again. "The memory potion waits for you. Guards, escort her to the basement, and then to the airport."

"Your highness," Tolem said beside me. I jolted out of my memory and turned to him. "May I escort you upstairs?"

"Please," I said with a smile. He took my elbow and led me through the first floor, and upstairs. I was only barely aware of moving my own feet. It was heavy, deciding the course of another person's life. "Is it really a punishment?" I asked Tolem when we'd entered my sitting room.

"What do you mean?"

I sunk onto the chair and sighed. "Is it really punishing Lyrik to send her away when she won't remember ever being here in the first place?"

Tolem sat beside me. "She'll always know that part of her is missing. She just won't remember the specifics. It's difficult for us to assimilate into human society, almost impossible to do it seamlessly. When we try, they always see us as just a bit off."

"Don't I know it," I grumbled.

"So Lyrik won't remember how to get back to us, but she'll know that she belongs elsewhere. She won't remember her mother's face, but she'll miss the love that she's lost. So, I think she'll be thoroughly punished."

I sighed and put my head on his shoulder. "Good." A knock at the door made us jump apart. "Come in," I called standing.

"Your highness," Trilla said as she walked in, "I have wonderful news for you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Your mother has agreed to travel and will be here next week."

I started crying. Right there, in front of Trilla and Tolem I began to sob. My knees buckled and both of them stepped forward to catch me. I waved them back and sunk to my knees on the rug. The sky blue skirt I was wearing puffed around me like a pillow as I collapsed. I buried my face in the fabric and cried until I hiccupped. When I finally looked up, both Tolem and Trilla were staring at me as though I'd completely lost my mind.

Trilla spoke first. "Your highness, I'm so sorry. I thought you'd be pleased with the fact that your mother is coming."

"I am happy, Trilla. I just...it was just too much after what just happened. I just went into overload for a minute. I've missed her so much." I was hiccupping gently, my chest constricting after every five or six words.

Trilla nodded and turned away. 

Tolem bent down to me, tucked his hand under my arm and lifted me to my feet. His face looked like he wanted to say something. His eyebrows were drawn together and his mouth was set in a line. He opened it for a second, but glanced back at Trilla and shut it again. I let him lead me to the bed. He put both large hands on my waist and hoisted me high so I landed on the bed.

I watched him slip off my ice blue heeled sandals and drop them at the foot of the bed. 

"Rest," he said after he'd put my legs up on the bed too. "I will return."

I let my eyes drift closed after the door shut behind him and Trilla. I was spent. Not physically, but emotionally. My mind was muddled with the emotions I'd felt rolling off Lyrik and Lady Ilyn and Tolem and Trilla. 

Lyrik had stood in front of me, cold and glaring, but behind that façade, she was seething with anger. I knew it because I could feel the resentment rolling off her in waves. She resented me for being me and taking the crown that she'd wanted. She resented her mother for being lucky enough to marry a king, but not using that luck to secure Lyrik's position or even provide an heir that would keep them royals even after the king's death. She even resented my father for never loving her mother the way he'd loved mine. Lyrik hadn't wanted a father, not mine and certainly not hers. She'd wanted position and security. She'd wanted to know that her future was going to make her special. It wouldn't have mattered if she was the bastard child of some unknown once she was a queen.

Lady Ilyn had been devastated. She couldn't understand why she hadn't seen her daughter's true nature beneath the smiles and pomp. She really couldn't understand why Lyrik had done something so dark and devastating; to murder the man that had raised her...the man that she'd loved so much...even if he didn't love her that way.

Tolem had been overwhelmed when I'd started crying. He'd never been around someone as emotional as me. He had to physically fight the urge to pick me up and soothe me until my tears dried. 

Trilla had been jealous after I'd confessed how much I'd missed my mother. The emotion had come out of nowhere and caused her acute distress. She didn't want to be jealous; she didn't want to feel the loss of her mother any more. Being motherless had never been such an issue before. She couldn't ignore it anymore.

I knew all this and I'd felt all this because since I'd gotten up that morning, I'd been in my own hyper-emotional state and that had, somehow, left me open and unguarded to all other people's emotions. The people that I'd gotten close to in the past months were transferring to me. That had been part of my breakdown. The happiness I'd felt at the idea of my mother being with me had put me over the limit. I just couldn't feel one more damn thing.

I don't know at what point I passed out, but next thing I knew, I was being woken up. Ella was sitting cross-legged beside me when I opened my eyes. "Hi there, Ella Bella," I croaked.

"Hi there, Mommy." She smiled at me and giggled. 

"What's so funny?" I asked sitting up.

"Tolem said that you were tired because of the meeting this morning, but I snuck in here and watched you sleep. You breathe funny when you're sleeping." Ella's dark brown hair spilled over her shoulders as she covered her mouth to smother more giggles.

"Are you saying I snore?" I teased.

"No mommy, but you kind of mumble in your sleep and sigh a lot." Ella snuggled close to me, pulling my arm over her chest. I pressed my nose into her hair, it smelt like lavender. Ella was wearing a play set, gingham-print pants and a paisley t-shirt. Her bare feet wrapped around my leg as she settled in.

"So, what's going on?"

"Lady Ilyn is sad," Ella started. "She said it's because her daughter did something bad and had to leave."

I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything.

"She also told me that I'm getting a security detail, like you've got."

I had almost forgotten about that. Trilla had insisted that Ella needed her own security elf for protection. I argued that I'd raised her for the past seven years and she was fine, but Tolem had cleared his throat from the corner. One look at him and I was reminded of his warning about my own safety. Even if I was willing to risk my own safety, I wouldn't do the same to my daughter. 

They were right. Ella had to be kept safe.

"Yes, Trilla is interviewing for the position now." I ran my hand over her soft hair.

"If I'm getting' a tutor why do I need a security detail? That's an awful lot of stuff just for me." Ella pressed closer to me.

I smiled. "You're worth it, Ella Bella. We've gotta keep you safe and keep you smart."

"I get the tutor, because I'm not in school here yet, but Tolem told me that grandma is going to be here soon. Why can't she watch me instead of someone I don't even know!" Ella huffed out a sigh.

"Your grandma is tough, but she can't fight anybody. She's not trained to fight. She can cook like nobody's business, but she's not a bodyguard. Honestly, we may have to get a security detail for your grandma too! Can you imagine her in a sword fight, or boxing somebody?"

Ella laughed out loud. "Okay, I get it."

There was a knock on the door just before Tolem walked into the room. Something softened in his face when he saw that both of us were curled up on the bed together. The subtle change wasn't obvious, his jaw line softened and the corner of his mouth twitched. 

"Your highness," he said nodding to me. "Princess Ella," he said to my daughter who giggled. "Dinner will be served in the next half hour. Lady Ilyn would like to join you for the meal."

"Of course," I said. "We'll be ready."

Tolem nodded and left us.

"He wants to kiss you, mommy. He's the one, I just know it." Ella untangled herself from our cuddle. "Do you want to kiss him?"

I thought about lying. It would be so convenient for my daughter to imagine me as some asexual being that had been given her through Immaculate Conception. That wasn't honest, though. "Yeah," I said on a sigh. "I'd like to kiss him, but don't tell anybody."

"Why not?" Ella asked, tucking her legs beneath her.

"Queens can't go around kissing any and everybody. It wouldn't be right. It's not royal behavior!"

"Oh," said Ella frowning. "Then how will you two get married?"

If I hadn't been sitting in the bed, I would have fallen down. "Married?" I repeated.

Ella opened her mouth to respond, but Tolem knocked again. "We've gotta go, mommy. Hurry up and get ready. I'm going to watch Miri set the table."

Miri was one of the kitchen staff, a tall pale red-head with a shy manner. She was mostly responsible for cleaning and prep work. She also set and cleared the table for meals. Ella enjoyed watching her work, something about the meticulous way she did things.

I hurried out of the bed, hopped in the shower and pulled on some linen pants and a pale yellow halter top. I stuck my feel in a pair of flip flops that had been delivered from Guam a week before. There was a dinner scheduled where she would meet all the royals that kept sending her gifts to congratulate her on ascending the throne. I wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting the United Colors of Elvin Royalty, but it had to be done. I pushed that frightening thought from my mind as I pulled a brush through my hair. 

"There was one last knock on my door before I rushed out. "Okay okay, I'm ready."

Tolem glanced over my outfit and smirked. 

"Lovely," as he fell in step behind me.

"Yes," I threw over my shoulder at him, "I did dress for dinner."

He chuckled and I practically jogged down the stairs.

Lady Ilyn stood when I entered the dining room. One more thing that just didn't sit well with me; she was my elder and I really didn't think she should have to rise for me, queen or not. Ella hurried up to me and slipped her hand into mine. 

"We're having Vagan Bateta nu Shak," Ella said grinning. 

I nodded like I knew what the hell she was talking about. I didn't.

Turns out Vagan Bateta nu Shak is an Indian dish, an eggplant and potato curry served with Basmati rice. Maybe I was acclimating to the vegetarian diet, but it was delicious. I made a mental note to ask to have it again.

Miri was clearing the dishes with quiet efficiency when Lady Ilyn spoke to me directly. She inclined her head, causing her pale hair to tumble over her shoulder. I tried not to notice how her black dress made her pale hair and skin even more so, she was just shy of translucent. 

"My queen," she said in a voice thick with emotion, "I feel it necessary for me to leave. I've made arrangements to open my family's estate for my arrival."

I didn't know what to say. Dropping to my knees and begging her not to leave because I needed her to teach me how to be a queen didn't seem appropriate. Sure Trilla could teach me the rules and regulations, but only Lady Ilyn could teach me how to be deferent and commanding at the same time.

"I know that your mother is on her way and after the events of today, I find myself, not up to the challenge of confronting a woman that most certainly resents me."

I blinked. "My mama doesn't resent you. She doesn't even know you."

Lady Ilyn's shoulders slumped slightly. She still had the posture of a Prima Ballerina, but there was a minute collapse. "She was his first love, his only true love. He married me and that led to his demise." My step-mother's slender fingers pressed against her pursed lips for a moment, to gather herself.

"My mother won't be mad at you, I promise."

"Grandma loves to make new friends," Ella offered.

We both smiled at her. "Ella is right," I pressed. "Please don't leave on account of your own assumptions. My mother isn't vengeful, she's a loving person and very forgiving. Trust me." Lady Ilyn smiled. "If it is your wish, I will postpone my trip."

"I do wish," I said smiling at my step mother. 

"Don't worry about anything."

***

I am not the world's best shopper. I don't get into trying stuff on or price-matching. I don't quite get double coupons and it took me a while to catch on to what the hell BOGO means.

That's why I was so glad that Lady Ilyn was well-versed in the fine art of shopping and volunteered to take my daughter along for some on the job training. I didn't realize until the third day Ella came to the breakfast table in a silk and lace dress...a far departure from the jeans and Hanes t-shirts still packed in her little suitcase upstairs...that my daughter was becoming a little princess.

I already knew my own wardrobe had changed, but Ella seemed to really fit the delicate dresses. Her pale skin and rosy cheeks, in addition to the ankle-length gowns reminded me of a Jane Austen novel. For her part, Lady Ilyn took very well to having a child in the castle. She doted on Ella, even more than Tolem—which was saying something. The child was going to be spoiled in a hot minute.

"Mommy," Ella said over breakfast, "may I puh-leeze go into town today and play with the flower girl?"

I pushed my Belgian waffle pieces around on the plate. "Please use her name," I admonished.

"I can't remember her name," Ella sighed.

"Well," I said, "learn her name and you may go into town and play with her."

"Mommy," Ella whined.

"Ella Bella," I answered, "Just because you're a princess, doesn't mean you gotta act like one!" Tolem cleared his throat behind me. I ignored him. "Nissa is a wonderful little girl and I'd like for the two of you to be friends, be respectful enough to at least take the time to learn her name."

"Yes, ma'am," Ella sighed looking forlorn into her syrup covered plate. Her waffles were long gone.

"Your highness," Lady Ilyn said from her seat. She was no longer wearing black. Two days after Lyrik's leaving, she was back in the pastels and her smile was almost back to what it was before. This morning she wore white linen pants and a lavender blouse. All she needed was a sweater tied at the neck and she would look like a country club lunching, SUV driving, suburban dwelling, soccer mom. "If it's all right, I'll escort Ella to the flower store. I'm sure her father can spare the girl for a few hours, especially with a playmate like Ella."

I smiled. "I'm sure he will, Lady Ilyn. You won't have any problems watching both girls?"

"Baer will be with us," Lady Ilyn said gesturing to her own security detail. Baer was putting it mildly if you asked me. Lady Ilyn's security detail was a hulking man, he could have easily passed for a professional wrestler and not just because his bald head was always suspiciously shiny. His muscles had muscles and his neck was nowhere to be found. It was easy to forget that he was around since he always stood so still, but as soon Lady Ilyn moved, he moved and you were immediately nervous. Let's just say, you could pitch a tent in Baer's shadow at high noon. 

"I think that would be nice," I told my step-mother. "Thank you."

***

My hips rose off the mattress.

"Tolem," I whispered.

He laughed deep in his throat, a cross between a growl and a chuckle. His long hair drifted over my bare skin as he hovered above me. The tickling of his hair was driving me to distraction. I couldn't focus on his chiseled bare chest or his cocky smile...my concentration was drawn to the goose bumps caused by the gently caress of his soft hair. 

Then he touched me.

We were on my bed. Lady Ilyn and Ella had gone into town right after breakfast and we'd had a meeting with Trilla in her cramped office that morning. She left after the two hour meeting to go home. It was one of her half-days. I'd given Tolem a meaningful look and headed up the stairs. He followed in silence and locked the door behind us. 

As soon as he turned around, I was in his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and locked my ankles behind his back. This was quickly becoming my favorite place in the world. Tolem walked us through the sitting room, to my just-made bed and proceeded to wrinkle the duvet...a helluva lot.

His large hands gripped my waist, and then traveled up my sides. He stopped at my breasts, dragging his thick thumbs over my nipples. I heard myself whimper...actually whimper...I was seriously close to begging.

Tolem's only answer was a kiss, a deep, probing kiss that seemed to explore every nook of my mouth. I whimpered again and bit his bottom lip, the soothed it with my tongue, but he growled anyway. I was shaking, I wanted him so bad. My hands drifted down his sculpted chest and I began to tug at his pants. They didn't budge. 

Tolem leaned closer and I could feel his erection snug against my weeping pussy.

"Please," I begged, pride forgotten. "Take them off, please!"

"I can't do that," he said evenly. "The princess could return at any moment and Trilla..."

"Trilla is off this afternoon," I hissed, "and Ella will play with Nissa all day."

I have never wanted to rape a man before, but I hadn't gotten laid in so long, it was just plain sad. My battery-operated-boyfriend was doing nothing for me. I suspected it was because I wanted the real thing, in the bedroom next to mine. Tolem rolled off me and I stared up at the ceiling. He straightened his clothes and I glowered at him. 

"I'm gonna need you to send someone to the store and pick up some industrial sized batteries." Tolem laughed.

"I'm serious," I said struggling to sit up. I couldn't even think about pulling myself together when my pussy was still buzzing.

Tolem dropped onto the bed. I bounced twice. "Tomorrow, we'll speak to Trilla about our future."

"Trilla?" I breathed. "We have to talk to Trilla about this?"

Tolem smiled. "She'll find out eventually...everyone will."




Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 08



"You're right," I said with a shrug. "I'm too hard up to keep this secret any longer."



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 09



Trilla blinked. The slow, deliberate movement conveyed the fact that she was running low on patience. I've never seen Trilla do anything slowly. Everything about her was quick. Her speech, her walk, sometimes I swear I can hear the beeps and whirs of Trilla's brain launching into overdrive.

Tolem and I were standing in front of her desk. When we walked in, she was taking a sip of tea, with a thick stack of papers in her free hand and a red pen stuck into the bun atop her head. She had looked up at us, smiled, put down the steaming mug, freed the pen and jotted something on the papers.

"Your highness," she said as she stood. "You're in my office earlier than usual."

I glanced between her and Tolem, but he remained still and silent. He'd been that way all morning and I was ready to slap him in the back of the head. Regardless, I was the one that had to broach the subject of the relationship Tolem and I shared.

"I was wondering," I said after I'd finished a bumbling explanation of how I'd gone from absolutely hating him to wanting him so bad I could taste it, "how soon a wedding could be arranged."

That's when Trilla stared at me for a solid two minutes. She hadn't spoken since her greeting and I was getting worried.

"My queen," she said finally, "a royal marrying a normal is not done."

I found it funny that anyone without noble blood was referred to as "a normal." We were all elves after all; "normal" was stretching it. "Trilla, if you're referring to Article 182, paragraph 48, you are talking about the antiquated law that forced my father to leave my mother and eventually marry Lady Ilyn, even though he wasn't in love with her. It would be in your best interest not to bring that up. It's kind of a sore subject."

"I understand," Trilla said with a nod, "much is involved in changing the 'antiquated law' and a suitor is en route even as we speak."

"Suitor?" I repeated my voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes."

"I hope you mean someone from the House of Chanel coming here to make pants suits."

"No." Trilla had the good grace to look regretful.

"Suitor, like looking to marry me...that kinda suitor?!"

"Yes."

"Drop the one word answers and tell me how to get rid of him so I can marry Tolem."

"Well, Trilla said as a wry grin spread across her face. "Prince Irial Force from the Green Isle arrives in four days." 

"The Green Isle?" I asked.

Trilla sighed. "Ireland."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

"As you wish; Prince Irial Force from Ireland will arrive in four days. He comes under the pretense of attending the Royal Dinner, but in actuality, his intentions are to ask for your hand. His family is quite firm in maintaining the old ways. His father is distressed by the fact that you're half human but if a match is not made with you, the prince will have to search for a mate in the White North or the Far East."

"So I'm the only unattached royal in Europe?"

"Yes," Trilla said with a sharp nod. "There is a princess in Sweden, but her marriage has already been arranged."

"I just love being a last resort. It's so romantic." I rolled my eyes. "Get to the getting rid of him part!"

"Champion for change. Object with tradition and challenge his politics." Trilla shrugged one shoulder and smiled as if to say, simple as that.

"Can't I just tell him I'm not interested?" 

"Our law states..."

I held up a hand. "If I hear those words come outta your mouth one more damn time!" I huffed.

"Trilla," Tolem said behind me. 

I clenched my jaw. Look who decided to contribute!

"The parliament could be persuaded to convene on this matter."

Trilla looked worried for around three seconds. A vertical line formed between her black eyebrows. "They will not be happy to have to return so soon."

I clenched my fist in my lap. The way this conversation was going, I had no chance in hell of getting laid. 

Trilla sighed. "I will make the appropriate calls. However, they may have to be invited to the Royal Dinner for all the trouble."

"That'll be fine," I muttered. "Thank you for your help." I stood, my knees a bit wobbly at the weight of Trilla's immediate rebuff. 

"I'll do my best, my queen." Trilla said this to my back because I was already out the door with Tolem behind me.

***

The next day, after breakfast, I found Lady Ilyn and Ella in the back garden. The back garden was a sculpted, colorful array of flowers, trees, shrubs, and ponds. The living area was cobbled with gray stones, as well as a path that weaved around the yard, through the trees, and back to the castle. When I stepped outside, Lady Ilyn was sitting in a chair swing, her bare toes propelling her backwards and forwards. Ella was wandering around a thickly planted area, small scissors in her hands as she cut flowers and put the in a basket. In that moment I was thankful she hadn't inherited my allergies and hay fever. She wouldn't paint the pretty picture she did if her nose was red and her eyes were watering. As it was, she wore a cobalt blue dress that reached her ankles, her feet were bare, but she did have on a crisp white apron over the dress. Her curls were pulled back into a sturdy French braid and her pale cheeks were flush from the sun. 

"Mommy!" Ella squealed when she saw me. She bent down to put the scissors in the basket and ran toward me. 

I bent over and collected her into a long hug. "What's on the calendar today?" I asked.

"Trilla wants me to meet the candidates for my security detail," Ella sighed. "She interviews all of them today."

"Fun," I said. "What are all these flowers about?"

"I want new flowers for the vase in my room."

I nodded. "Okay, but make sure you leave some flowers for the Royal Dinner on Friday."

"I will, mommy." Ella extricated herself from my arms and got back to the business of flower-picking.

I didn't notice Lady Ilyn had left her seat until I straightened and saw her gliding over to us. She also wore a blue dress, but it was barely so, in the right light I would have sworn it was white.

"My queen," she said smiling at me when she got within speaking distance. "I understand that you are concerned with implementing a policy change."

My eyes must have been big as saucers when I said, "What makes you think...how'd you know...I mean..."

Lady Ilyn just smiled. "I noticed this morning at breakfast that you were a bit stiff...and Tolem was more so than usual. I just assumed that the two of you were finally going to bring your...situation...into the light and do something about it. When you insisted on seeing Trilla after taking two bites of your rice porridge, I assumed the meeting was more urgent than a review of your schedule."

I blushed. "You mean..."

Lady Ilyn nodded. "Ella and I have had quite a few conversations and her opinions of you and Tolem seem to be more fact than fantasy. Also, the two of you share the occasional affectionate glance when you think no one is paying attention."

Tolem shifted behind me. Just that slight movement proved that he was uncomfortable.

"Okay," I breathed; momentarily dazed by the revelation that my step-mother and daughter were aware in whatever small manner of my feelings for Tolem. 

"My point, your highness, is to say that I hope the policy will be amended to your benefit. You deserve a loving marriage...the real kind."

I smiled. "Thank you. Will you be available to watch Eastenders this evening?"

Lady Ilyn laughed lightly. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Your commentary is the best part of the show."

"See you tonight," I muttered, turning on a heel and almost running into Trilla.

I swallowed the urge to screech in surprise. "You snuck up on me, Trilla."

Trilla muttered an apology, but she wasn't looking at me. She was flipping through the calendar. The calendar was actually a leather-bound book, the size of an atlas. There were many things to do in a day and it was all annotated in the calendar. The pages snapped; she was flipping so fast. "I just spoke with your mother and she gave me some distressing news."

My stomach dropped to my feet. "What news?"

"She's taking it upon herself to fly in this week."

"Oh." I wasn't exactly able to pinpoint the distressing part of that statement.

Trilla stopped flipping and looked at me. "It's good news, to be sure. The conflict comes in the schedule. Initially, I was going to fly to the U.S. next week and act as her escort. Her early arrival will put her here during the Royal Dinner and now with Parliament invited, the castle will be in quite a state. The entire thing may be a bit...much for a human visitor." She started flipping again. "Now I'll have to quickly arrange another security elf and make sure all the delegates are made aware that a human will be present."

I laughed out loud. Trilla looked up from her calendar again. She didn't find it funny that she was going to have more things to do and not much time in which to do it.

"I'm sorry; I was just thinking that the perfect person to state our case," I glanced back at Tolem, still silent as the grave, "to Parliament is my mother."

Trilla smiled and closed the calendar with a whump. "You're quite right, my queen."

I nodded. "When I speak to my mother tonight, I'll be sure to tell her that she will be expected to speak in front of Parliament about letting me marry exactly who I want instead of some pompous Irish prince that thinks he's better than me!"

"Very good," Trilla said with a deep breath. "I have calls of my own to make in the meantime."

She bobbed a curtsy and headed back inside. 

***

That evening, I was in bed with Ella sleeping deeply beside me. She had climbed into bed with me to take her turn speaking to her grandmother. 

After I hung up, we both pulled out our books and spent a good while reading before Ella fell asleep. I took the book, a Judy Blume novel I'd read myself when I was a few years older than Ella, stuck the bookmark in and put it on my nightstand.

I recognized Tolem's knock and called for him to enter. He walked into the room and smiled at Ella. 

"You've been quiet lately," I snapped, shutting my book and placing it on top of Ella's.

"I'm new at this," he sighed, sinking onto the bed. "I've never wanted to be with anyone...I mean, just the idea of being married was..."

I sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't even think about marriage right now. We haven't even..." 

"Do you need the physical connection before you can commit yourself to me?"

I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell him that he was perfect and I was sure he'd be just the same in the sack, but I couldn't. What if we didn't fit sexually? Then again, the last man that had fit sexually had fit me with a baby and ran like hell. 

Tolem shook his head at my silence. "One time," he surrendered.

The shock must have registered on my face.

"Really?"

"Yes, tomorrow night. Give the upstairs help the night off so we won't be overheard."

I lifted a brow. "It's like that?"

He smiled. "It's like that."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"You do that...tomorrow. I'm taking the princess to bed."

I watched him gather Ella into his arms and exit the room.

I didn't even bother picking up my book again. I just turned off my lamp and settled in to sleep. My mother was leaving Georgia the next day. She'd arrive on Thursday, have a day to recover and then she'd have to attend the dinner on Friday evening. I was worried about her traveling such a substantial distance alone.

Even worse, prince Irial Force was arriving first thing in the morning and I had to be nice to him, even though the only reason he was coming was to size me up for marriage. And why wouldn't he want me?! The most important thing a king needs is an heir and I had child-bearing hips...and I'd already made a child! I wondered what he looked like, I hoped he was ugly, that would be the best excuse. I'd have no qualms about saying, "I cannot marry you Prince Irial; your appearance offends me greatly!"

I fell asleep with my thoughts and worries unanswered and swirling in my head.

***

The next morning I drug my feet once out of bed. I was not ready to face the prince. For once Tolem didn't hurry me along. I dressed slowly, picking out a plain white t-shirt and a pair of well-pressed khaki trousers. I pulled a brush through my hair, settling with pulling it back into a simple ponytail and put on my favorite flip flops. I looked very plain, and very unroyal.

Everyone stood when I entered the dining room and my heart sank. There were two new male faces in the room and neither one of them offended me greatly...not even a little bit. The prince rose from his chair with fluid grace. His hair was even longer than Tolem's, but black as pitch. It looked soft and had an unbelievable shine. It flowed around his narrow face as if he was being followed by a gentle breeze. His eyes were rich brown; his skin was pale as moonlight and his lips were generous and a pale pink. His ears stuck out from the sheet of his hair, and they were pierced with diamond studs. When I entered, his dark eyebrows raised a millimeter. I didn't want to think about why. Whether he was impressed, surprised, or disappointed in my appearance, didn't matter. I was just annoyed that he was so damned handsome...his chin was strong and his cheekbones could cut glass. He put me in the mind of Johnny Depp. I pushed that thought aside. That kind of thinking wouldn't help me figure out a way to get rid of him.

Behind him, his security detail eyed me warily. Irial must have been an important somebody, or someone thought he was...he had two...count 'em two...security elves behind him. One woman and one man both stared me down.

The woman was tall, of course, she was a head taller than me with long chestnut brown hair tied back. The thick braid almost reached her, impossibly high behind. She had narrow grey eyes, a slender, oval face, and a permanent frown. The man looked like a male version of her, except taller, with broader shoulders and his brown hair was short, but shaggy. They both wore dark blue tunics and neatly pressed beige pants. 

I attempted to smile at my guests but failed. "Good morning," I said as politely as I could.

Lady Ilyn smiled and bid me the same. Ella repeated the greeting. She was eyeing Prince Irial with disdain. The prince was the last to reclaim his seat. "G'mornin', your highness," he said with a thick Irish brogue. Damn him, that voice was sexy. I concentrated fully on eating my toast and tomatoes and drinking two cups of tea.

"I appreciate your graciousness, your highness," Prince Irial said once I'd finished eating. "I did not wish to impose when I scheduled my travels."

"Its fine," I said with a weak smile. "I hope the guest wing is to your liking." I was proud of myself; that sounded like something Lady Ilyn would say. I glanced at her and she beamed at me. 

The rest of the morning went by in a blur. Trilla was uncharacteristically distracted, but I chose not to bring it up since I was also off my game. I wish I could say my mind was occupied with thoughts of the dinner or Parliament's visit, or my mother being in midair, but I wasn't. All I could think about was finally getting some, that evening.

"Trilla, please make sure the upstairs help is off this evening."

She glowered at me. "I can't do that. Prince Irial may need something in the middle of the night and if we're unstaffed, he'll think we're..."

"Ill prepared," Tolem finished.

I sighed. "Okay, that's fine." I tried to sound like I meant it.

***

I thought I was dreaming when I woke up and saw my mother's face smiling at me. I hugged her as hard as I could without breaking her. She looked just the same as when I'd left her months ago and she certainly didn't look like she'd just stepped off a long flight. 

"Oh, mama, I need your help," I said when I finally managed to make myself let her go.

"I know this thing with Parliament is important and I will gladly speak to them on your behalf. Did he really propose?"

"No," I muttered pulling the sheet closer around me. "He has this sense of propriety and he thinks he's not in a position to make me a serious offer."

"Why don't you tell me all about him and why you want to marry him."

I decided not to start with the fact that I was aching to jump Tolem's bones, one in particular. 

"He's powerful and he's honest. Tolem has this way of making me feel like I'm the most important person in the world, and not just because his job is keeping me safe. It's more like his life is keeping me safe. He's helped acclimate me to this being queen of the elves thing by accepting nothing but the best from me. He adores Ella and I get the feeling that he wants to be her father just as much as he wants to be my husband."

"Do you have any reservations about the fact that he'll be a king if he marries you, and if he doesn't, he'll just be workin' for the queen?"

"Not at all, mama. He knew who I was before I did and he's always been so real."

My mother's hand drifted over my hair, smoothing my bed head. "Oh honey, you are so in love. I think these elf men have something extra...something that makes us lose all our senses."

I smiled. "Maybe we're the ones that have that extra something."

My mother laughed. "Maybe your right. Lets take this down to brass tacks, okay? I trust your judgment. I've known for a long time that you have a special sense about things that I don't. If you think he's worthy of you, I'm willing to bet he is."

I frowned. "If I have such a great sense of people how did I end up with Jordan?"

"You were young and ignored your instincts because you wanted him to love you. It all turned out just fine since we got Ella outta the deal."

I smiled. "I love you so much, mama."

"I love you too. Now, get outta bed. I hear there's some kinda party happening tomorrow night and we've gotta get ready." 

***

Tolem was at the bottom of the staircase when we went down for breakfast. 

"It's awful quiet," I muttered once my mother and I had settled at the table.

"Prince Irial has gone to surveille your kingdom. Lady Ilyn has taken Ella to play with Nissa. Trilla is in a meeting with Neele to sign the appropriate contracts."

I'd met Neele the evening before when Trilla and I had done his third and final interview. Neele wasn't as tall as Tolem, he wasn't as wide as Baer, he wasn't as stoic as the security detail that accompanied Prince Irial. His background check was flawless. His training was impressive. He was lean, but athletic, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and trained at the most prestigious Sword Academy in Great Britain. He'd also managed to squeeze in a degree in Sports Medicine from University. He was younger than Trilla preferred, he'd just passed his twenty-ninth birthday. Trilla grilled him about his experience, but this would not be his first charge. He'd spent the past two years in France as protection for a prince that had just been sent to an extremely private academy with built in security. 

Neele had curly mouse brown hair and a crooked smile. His skin was golden brown because his parents were of Brazilian descent. He had an easy way about him that I felt would go well with Ella's personality and age. When Ella had met him the day before; she warmed easily to him and he didn't seem bothered by the questions she fired at him in rapid succession.

"When will our guests arrive?" I asked watching Miri serve us French toast. 

"All through this afternoon," Tolem answered. 

"The receiving room is set up for you and Ella to receive them."

"Well," said my mother. "I'm stuffed."

I looked at her still full plate.

"I believe I'll ask the gentleman that drove me here from the airport for a tour of the village." She stood swiftly and walked toward the door. "Y'all have fun."

My fork fell out of my hand and landed with a clatter on the plate. Miri hurried in from the kitchen. "Is everything well, your highness?"




Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 09



"Yes," I said trying to smile at her. "Breakfast was wonderful. Thank you, Miri."

I jumped from my seat and stalked out the door past Tolem. He followed closely behind. All I could think on the way up the stairs was that I had the best mother in the history of mothers.

Once in my suite, Tolem locked the door and I began pulling off my shirt. By the time I got it off, Tolem was already shirtless. He pulled down my bra and used his massive hands to palm my breasts. It couldn't have been more than a minute and we were in each others arms. My legs wrapped around his waist as he carried me to the bed. I kissed the faint blonde hairs that splayed across his chest.

Tolem's hands were doing wonderful things to my breasts and nipples. "You're so beautiful," he rasped, "my queen."

He busied his mouth along the column of my neck and I moaned. "Please," I whispered. "Please."

Tolem nodded and moved back. He tugged my bra off my shoulders, undid my jeans and pulled them off. He took a moment to appreciate what he'd uncovered and I silently cheered myself for wearing matching underwear and bra...lacy teal-colored underwear I'd found in my dresser. 

I watched Tolem work himself free of his own pants. I didn't take time to appreciate his boxers, no, I only wanted to see what I'd dreamt of for months...what I'd felt that afternoon in the water. Tolem didn't disappoint. His cock was long and strong, standing prominently from a nest of blonde hair. I actually licked my lips. 

I wrapped my fingers around it and gasped when it jumped.

"I'm very impressed," I moaned.

Tolem chuckled and rolled us over so he was between my thighs. I felt his thick erection against my leg. We were so close.

"I love you," he whispered just as he pushed into me. 

I was tight, from years of single-motherhood induced celibacy. I cried out when he was completely inside. 

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm great," I groaned trying to blink away the tears.

"I didn't hurt you?"

I was having a bit of trouble breathing, talking, and hovering on the verge of orgasm all at once.

"A little," I murmured, "but I'm okay now."

Tolem moved slowly in and out, stretching me around his dick and kissing the breath right out of me. For once in I don't know how long, I wasn't worried about being a good queen, or a good mother, not even a good person. I was just a woman having sex with a man that was really, really good at it. His hips rocked in a slow, steady rhythm, his lips grazed my breasts, neck, and lips. He whispered to me; told me that I was beautiful...and thanked me. I don't know why he was thanking me. I was four orgasms in before I could even speak. 

"I think I should be thanking you, right about now." My nails were in his biceps and my body felt like it'd been wound up tighter than a new girdle, one more orgasm, one more sensation and I may have just fell completely apart. 

I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep from screaming as my undoing orgasm came through me, starting at my spine and spiraling in every direction. Tolem felt my release and gasped when his own orgasm chased mine. He filled me, shoulders shaking, and face pulled into a slight grimace.

"Bloody hell," he said against my skin, sending a shiver through me as his warm breath teased the cool sweat on my skin.

"You got that right," I said.

He laughed and rolled over to lie beside me. He grabbed my leg and put it over his hip. "I love you," he said again and I smiled.

"I know, you said that already."

"Just so you know I mean it," he said kissing my shoulder. 

"I believe you."

"Will you marry me now?" he asked going up on an elbow. 

I laughed. "Bring me a preacher and I won't even bother puttin' on clothes. We can get married naked in this bed, as far as I'm concerned."

Tolem chuckled quietly. "I'm sure your mum would love that."

"Oh!" I said pushing away from him. "I forgot about mama! We gotta get cleaned up and dressed before she gets back!"

Tolem nodded and slid out of bed. He gathered his clothes and walked toward the sitting room, to go to his room via the small passage between our rooms. 

"Wait!" I said hurrying over to him.

I went up on my toes to give him a quick kiss, but he grabbed my waist and deepened the kiss.

"You'd best be careful, your highness, or I might never leave."

His large hand slipped away from my waist and I stood naked in the middle of my room, watching him leave. I could hardly believe what had just happened...but it was so perfect, I kept replaying it in my head. I did my best to make the bed perfectly, collected my clothes, and got in the shower.



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 10



"You're majesty," a smooth baritone voice said behind me. I slowly turned around. I'd been staring out of the French doors that lead to the back garden, dazed and daydreaming about my afternoon in bed with Tolem. Mostly, wishing we'd had more time, or could do that again very soon. Then, one of my main problems called me out of my daydream.

"Yes, Prince Irial," I said with a polite smile. 

My back teeth clenched at the way his rolled R's skittered across my nerves in a good way. I was such a sucker for a man with an accent. When I looked at him, my nerves calmed. He just didn't do it for me, not the way Tolem did it. Maybe it was his regal manner; I just knew he'd never scowl at me or roll his eyes at something I said. What would be the fun in a life with a man that was all good manners and etiquette? I certainly wasn't the most polished person in the room, but knowing that Tolem knew that and believed that I should still be queen made me feel that I'd made the right decision. He loved me, he believed in me, and he had a big...

"I find your kingdom very charming," Irial said with a glance out the window behind me. "Quaint and the people seem happy."

"Thank you," I said with a genuine smile.

Something crossed his face, a look of hesitation. His mouth open and shut quickly. He licked his lips and ran a hand over his chin.

"Is there something you wanna say?" I asked a bit too harshly even to my own ears.

"I was just thinking, considering you are only half elf and half royal, you are quite an exceptional choice for a wife." His lips tugged up into a small smile.

"Was that a compliment?" I crossed my arms.



His eyes dropped to my cleavage for a split second before coming back to my face.

"Yes, of course. It was a compliment."

I wanted to slap his beautiful face. Instead I sighed. "Your highness, I'm not used to your traditions and I don't plan on marrying a man who doesn't love me. I'm flattered that you find me an 'exceptional choice' but you're not going to win my heart with that kinda talk."

His brows raised and his lips slammed into a thin line. "I was merely musing on the benefits of a union between us."

"While slamming my mother and ultimately insulting me. I may only be half royal but even I know that's pretty rude...your highness."

He glanced sideways; his female security elf didn't meet his gaze. When I looked at her, she was staring at me! "I apologize if I inadvertently hurt your feelings."

"Apology accepted," I said turning back to the French doors, this time walking out of them, into the garden and away from the Prince.

"Wait," he called behind me. 

I cursed silently; he'd followed me outside; so much for a dramatic exit. I turned back to face him again.

"We are a perfect fit," he stepped close, crowding me. "Our marriage will be beneficial to you and your kingdom."

"You say 'will' like you've actually proposed and I've actually accepted. Neither has happened and I'm not interested in you, even a little."

He stepped back as if I'd slapped him.

"I'm sorry, was that rude?" I blinked up at him. "I guess, I'm not your traditional queen. I wasn't sitting here waitin' for you to choose me to marry. My mother is human, my father is dead and I've been raising my daughter on my own for years. You can judge me and my kingdom as much as you'd like, but I don't plan on making it easy for you to become their king. You're basing the possibility of a marriage between us on all the wrong things."

"I am basing it on tradition and my father, the king has deemed you acceptable."

"Acceptable and exceptional," I said, "Now I'm really flattered."

"I don't understand what I'm saying wrong," the Prince said, his dark brows coming together in confusion.

"Exactly," I said, turning and walking quickly away from him.

***

Later that afternoon, I was walking around the ballroom with Trilla as she pointed out imperfections in the settings or the flowers or seating arrangements and scribbled notes. I ran my hand over the back of a covered chair and sighed. 

"Your majesty, is everything alright?"

Before I could respond, heavy footsteps started across the marble floor. We both turned to see who approached. I couldn't hide my surprise as Prince Irial's female security elf stopped in front of me and curtsied. 

"Hello," I muttered. "I'm sorry, I was never told your name."

"Selka," she said; her voice just as one would imagine from looking at her. Her voice was stern, and her tone was terse.

"Hello, Selka."

"Your majesty, I would like to tell you that the prince has taken offense with your position on marrying him. He believes that you are in a position to encourage the marriage."

I gazed at her a moment. "What do you think?"

Her grey eyes went wide with surprise. "Excuse me?"

"I asked what you think. You heard the conversation, you were there. Was I out of line?"

She glanced at Trilla who nodded and shrugged at once.

"Well," Selka said, as if she was stalling. "I don't think you're wrong."

I laughed. "That's a long way to go around telling me I'm right."

"I personally believe that love should be the first and most important reason for marriage." She self-consciously tugged at her long braid.

"Tell your prince that I meant him no offense."

"Yes, ma'am." Selka turned to Trilla and smiled nervously. "My brother wishes to speak with you. He waits in your office."

It was Trilla's turn to look surprised, but Selka didn't stay long enough to explain further. 

Trilla turned to me, stumbled out a goodbye and left through the door closest to the hallway by her office.

I stood in the beautifully decorated ballroom and sighed. It was the first time in a long time that I'd been left alone. It was gloriously quiet. I realized that I was dreading this Royal Dinner. If I didn't manage to get things changed, I could be forced into an arranged marriage and lose Tolem forever. 

I decided to retreat to my room for the rest of the afternoon. I was strung so tight, one false step and I might snap like a rubber band.

***

Being dressed for the Royal Dinner was actually fun. Trilla hovered as two other women made sure every inch of me was clean and pristine. I sat in a pink chenille robe as a blonde elf did my hair. She pulled it into a gorgeous updo with strategically falling curls. Trilla fussed with those curls and gave instructions for my makeup. I kept myself from rolling my eyes as Trilla discussed eye shadow shades as if it was life or death. 

Another elf, with lustrous black hair and huge green eyes had finished steaming my dress. She brought it over and I was put into an amazing sea-foam green gown. The bodice was fitted, with boning that cinched my waist in nicely. The skirt reached the floor, flowing like water from the bodice. 

After my makeup was done, Trilla checked her watch and clipboard. Trilla wore a simple black gown, her hair pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck. She could have passed for Secret Service. 

Trilla led me out of my bedroom as I was thanking the women who'd done so much work to make me presentable. Tolem was outside the door, dressed to kill in a tuxedo that seemed cut to fit him especially. A ghost of a smile tipped the corner of his mouth. I took that as, "Hot damn woman, you look gorgeous."

I gave him a small nod, which I hoped he interpreted as, "You're looking pretty damn sexy yourself, mister."

The two of them walked in front of me down the grand staircase. The entire castle was filled with lights, flowers, music, and the sounds of tinkling glass and small talk. Fanfare was played when we reached the ballroom door. I closed my eyes and pictured Lady Ilyn and my mother. Lady Ilyn was genuine royalty, she had the game down. She knew just what to say, when to say it and when to shut up. Her mannerisms were flawless. My mother, while not royalty, was a proud woman who had managed to keep her head up even as a single mother and a black woman living on her own in the south.

I straightened my spine, put my shoulders back, and took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes, Trilla was smiling at me. She stood a bit in front of me, beside Tolem, but had turned to meet my eyes. The fanfare finished and they walked forward. I followed; keeping the smile I'd given Trilla on my face for everyone one in that room.

I almost let my smile slip when I entered the ballroom. It was wall-to-wall well-dressed elves; and they were all staring at me. I'd never been in a room filled with so much beauty. Elves were uniformly gorgeous, no matter the skin-tone, eye-shape, or body-type.  

Trilla and Tolem led me to the head table, which was at the far end of the ballroom. My mother, Ella, and Lady Ilyn stood as I approached. I nodded to Baer and Neele. Tolem pulled out my chair and I claimed my seat. Everyone followed me, shuffling into their own seats after I'd taken mine. 

Dinner was served: carrot and leek soup, green salad with radishes, pears, and almonds, followed by quinoa with curried tofu, and finally strawberry rhubarb tarts. The meal was amazing. Ella was getting sleepy by dessert and I bid her goodnight. Neele picked her up and she rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were already half-closed as he walked with her out of the room. Some women rose from their chairs to coo at her or pat her back. 

After dinner, I was led to another room where I stood close to the entrance with my mother and Lady Ilyn. The receiving line started and I got to shake hands with royalty from around the world. The queen from Guam wore a beautiful white dress decorated with red hibiscus flowers; her think black hair shined and her brown skin glowed. Her king wore long a long white tunic top over black pants, his shoulders were broad and his dark features smoldering. They presented me with a basket overflowing with tropical fruit. I thanked them graciously for the fruit and for the gifts they'd sent before. Things went on for over an hour in the same vein. I was given many gifts and forgotten just as many names as they were told to me. I hoped Trilla was keeping track of both on her clipboard for thank you notes later. 

Once the meet and greet was over, Trilla excused us to another room. This one was smaller and Tolem immediately locked all doors by one. I sat at a table, my mother sat beside me holding my hand tightly. Across from us was an empty table, long with a starched white table cloth. I let out a nervous sigh and squeezed my mother's hand.

Parliament filed in quietly. There were twenty men and women, all different, from all over the world. I had just met them, but I couldn't have given one name if someone held a gun to my head.



"You're majesty," a small woman, with a large voice who sat in the middle of the table started, "we were informed you have issue with a long-standing marital law."

I looked at my mother and stood. "I do, but first I would like to thank you for attending this evening." I took a slow deep breath as they gazed at me. "My issue is with marriage. I have been told that I cannot choose who I marry."

"My Queen," a tall, white-haired man said on a sigh, "you can choose who you marry, as long as you choose a royal."

"In all fairness, I realize that these laws have served since the beginning, but I am the product of a relationship between a royal and a non-royal. My father was a king and he loved my mother. This law separated my parents. My father fulfilled his obligation and married to satisfy the law, but his sole heir is me. I am half human, but I am queen."

The small woman looked bored. 

I looked at my mother and she stood from her seat. "I'd like to say something, if I could."

The small woman drew her eyebrows together. "It is not done to have a human in these procedures, much less let one speak."

I glared at her. "She is my mother!"

My mother put a hand on my arm and smiled warmly. 

I locked eyes with the small woman and she frowned. "She may speak," the woman said grudgingly. 

"I loved Dominic Edward St. Germaine. I loved him before I knew he was an elf. I loved him before I knew he was a king. I loved him after he left and I loved him when he never came back."

My eyes filled and I sunk into my seat. I'd never heard my mother talk about my father. She would give me small bits of information about him as I grew up: his hair color, his eye color, his height, or how much he'd loved me, but she'd never discussed him in depth.

"He was an honorable man. I know he loved his daughter, I knew it all along. When things got tough from time-to-time, an envelope of money would arrive with no return address. At times the refrigerator would be empty and suddenly, I would have a couple thousand dollar credit at the local grocery store. I never had to pay a dime for my daughter to eat school lunch. He was always there for us. I never married anyone else. I never loved anyone else."

She paused and took a deep breath. "I don't want my daughter to be alone like I was alone. I want her to be loved; I want her to be happy. If certain royals can amend laws to allow a woman heir to take the throne, I'm sure there is something that can be done about this situation. Certainly, you are at least as progressive as them."

A chuckle came from a woman at the far right of the table. She bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain brand-spanking new princess. Her ears stuck out of a sheet of straight brown hair, her eyes were grey, and her rosy pink cheeks lifted as she smiled.  "I'm quite certain we are," she said with another laugh.

The small woman rolled her eyes. "We will consider your situation and let you know our decision.

I leapt to my feet. "Thank you."

The entire table stood in unison and filed back out of the room.

Trilla let out a sigh of relief once Tolem closed the door behind them. "That went well."

I dropped my head into my palms. "That's what you consider going well?"

"Whenever the answer isn't no straight away, it went well."

I looked up into Trilla's brilliant eyes and laughed a loud laugh. I had to let out the nervous energy somehow and with a party going on in the next room, a frustrated screaming wouldn't do.



Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 11



Three days later, I was frustrated beyond belief. What little sleep I got was restless. I picked at my meals. I could hardly stand the sight of Tolem, and he was always there! We spoke few words to each other and when we did, our tone was terse. 

Prince Irial had picked up on the tension, and the fact that I was less than willing to be wooed by him and left the day after the state dinner. 

"Good riddance," I growled when Trilla informed me that he and his entourage had taken off after breakfast without so much as a "by your leave."

Trilla stared at me a moment, gave a sharp nod and went back to her office.

Something told me Trilla was out of sorts, but I couldn't bring myself to ask her about her issues since I had issues of my own.

I woke up on day four and began crying as soon as my eyes opened. Tolem must have been in my sitting room because he was on the bed beside me as my first sob escaped.

Gathering me into his arms, he whispered against my hair as I sobbed on his shoulder. 

"I don't think I can handle it," I muttered. "You are doing a wonderful job as queen," he assured me.

I shook my head. "No, I can't handle you leaving."

"I'm not leaving."

I pulled out of his grip so I could meet his blue eyes. "You will."

He swallowed. 

"If the decision is against us getting married, you're going to leave."

"I would have to leave," he finally admitted. My tears flowed harder. 

"I love you," he whispered, pulling me tighter against him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and sniffled. "I love you too."

"If I leave, you will go on. You will find another, worthy of you, and you will love him."

I shook my head again. "I wouldn't...I couldn't...my family history proves that we're all too stubborn to accept second best."

Tolem chuckled and kissed my temple. "You certainly are stubborn."

"Shut up," I growled.

"Would you like to get dressed and make an appearance at breakfast?" His large hand smoothed my bed head.

I swatted his hand. "No."

"Breakfast in bed, then?"

"No," I groaned. "I have to go downstairs...I don't want Ella to know what's going on."

Tolem opened his mouth, but I put my hand over it. "I know she's intuitive and she's picked up on my stress levels and the tension, but I will continue to pretend that I'm not about to go stir crazy, so she won't be under any undo stress."

He nodded. "I'll wait for you to dress."

Breakfast was Irish oatmeal baked with blueberries and apples. It was delicious, as usual. I tried to keep up with polite conversation, but I was obviously distracted. 

Lady Ilyn had to call my name to get my attention twice.

Just as Miri took away my bowl, Trilla hurried into the dining room. The look on her face was so serious I immediately shot to my feet. My dining chair teetered behind me, but didn't fall. I wouldn't have cared if it did.

"Your majesty," Trilla said, practically running up to me. She clutched a cream-colored envelope in one hand. I could see the red seal was broken and she held a letter in the other hand.

"Trilla," I answered. My hands shook and my heart started to hammer out of control.

Lady Ilyn, my mother, and Ella all sat silent, staring at Trilla. I was getting so much nervous energy off them; I thought I was going to hyperventilate at any moment. Even Miri had frozen; my bowl suspended halfway between the dining table and the tray in her other hand. Tolem took a step forward.

"When would you like the ceremony performed?" Trilla asked, a beautiful grin spreading across her face.

I wanted to scream, and cry again. I wanted to jump up and down and hug each and every person in that room. Instead I just let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding and said, "Yesterday."

"Thank heavens," my mother exclaimed. She and Lady Ilyn grasped each others hands and grinned. Ella launched out of her chair and ran to hug me around my waist. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her face.

Tolem took another step forward and took the letter from Trilla's hand.

"It says, the amendment is effective immediately," his voice was ragged.

I met his gaze and for a moment he hesitated. He looked down at the letter again, as if he couldn't believe what he'd read and had to check again to make sure. He tossed the paper aside and before it hit the floor, Ella and I were in his arms. 

It was the best hug I'd ever gotten. 

"I guess it's finally time to plan a wedding!" I heard my mother say.

***

I've already admitted to being bad at shopping, but now I knew that I was ten times worse at wedding planning. After breakfast, my mother, Lady Ilyn, Ella and I piled into Trilla's office. The three women chattered happily about flowers, dresses, venues, and food. My mind was occupied with other things, well...one other thing. Sex with Tolem. His resolve was unshakable and I knew he would keep his word about us not sleeping together again until we were married. Now that I knew for sure we were going to actually get married, I wanted him even more.

"Your majesty," Trilla called, bringing me out of my dirty thoughts.

"Yes?" 

"What would you like?"

I looked at all the faces around the room, all staring at me expectedly. "I would like to be married before the end of the week. I don't care what I wear; I don't care if it's inside or outside. I want it to happen soon and I want the entire kingdom to celebrate this momentous occasion because this is the only time I'm getting married."

Trilla gave me a small smile. "Your majesty, we will arrange the most spectacular wedding celebration this kingdom has ever seen.

"I appreciate that," I said returning her smile.

***

"Lady Ilyn," I said giving my step-mother a warm hug. 

"Mama," I said trying to keep the question out of my voice. My mother gave me a squeeze and stepped back, her smile wide as a mile.

"What are y'all doing back here?"

The afternoon, Trilla had told me to meet the two women in the cellar that I never knew existed. Tolem led me to the cellar, but remained at the top of the stairs. I had to make my way to my two moms alone. The cellar didn't really look like a cellar. It was more like a home with no natural light. Not that the space was dark or anything like any cellar I'd ever been in before. My path was well-lit.

I made my way to the area Tolem had given me directions to and came upon the women talking amiably. 

"This is one of the most important rooms you will ever enter," Lady Ilyn said taking my hand in her cool, gentle grip.

Her other hand flew over the heavy metal door, typing in two separate key codes and providing a scan of her thumbprint. The door hissed open and the light that came through the cracked door was brighter than where they currently stood.

We walked into the room and I gasped audibly. "Oh my," I managed around my constricting throat. "These are all yours," my mother said holding up a hand and gesturing around the best closet I'd ever seen in my life.

"The crown jewels," Lady Ilyn explained. 

"Yeah," I breathed, "I kinda got that from all the crowns on that shelf...and the tiaras." I pointed to the shelf that stretched around the room. "Gives a whole new meaning to crown molding, doesn't it?"

Lady Ilyn nodded patiently. "Its time you chose an engagement ring."

My gaze flew to her. "He hasn't even proposed properly."

"Well, how can he when he doesn't have a ring?" my mother teased.

Maybe it was the bright light glinting off the precious stones, or the sheer joy of being in the presence of so many pretty things, maybe there was a lack of oxygen in the well-sealed room, but what my mother said made perfect sense.

I'd been frustrated with Tolem's tight-lipped demeanor since the day before. I'd been trapped in the wedding planning meeting until dinner. We'd eaten lunch in Trilla's office. After dinner, Tolem had walked me to my room and left me alone for the rest of the night. 

He'd been a bit distant the entire morning. If it wasn't for that hug he'd given me after reading the letter, I'd think he was getting cold feet.

"I have to pick one from here?" I muttered glancing around.

"The choices are plenty," Lady Ilyn assured me. I gazed around the room for a moment. It was approximately the size of the living room in my mother's house. There were trays lined with black velvet holding diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls. Black velvet busts displayed necklaces, chokers and tiaras. Then there were the drawers, the room was white, everything was white except for the jewelry displays. My hands itched to open every drawer to see what was inside. 

Instead, I followed Lady Ilyn to the far corner of the room. Towards the back was a stack of drawers taller than all of us. My mother handed me a small black stool. "Go through these to find your ring," she said. "Take your time."

I watched them walk toward the front of the room and take seats on a overstuffed white leather settee. I couldn't hear their conversation and I really didn't care. I began methodically opening drawers and trying on dazzling rings. 

My hands stopped shaking after the third drawer. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and nervous about picking out an engagement ring, I became excited. This was something normal women did. They planned for a future with the man they love. They chose diamonds. It felt wonderful to think of nothing but a single piece of jewelry to wear for the rest of my life.

My fingers stilled on a cushion cut diamond framed with sapphires. The stone was cold to the touch. I frowned. Something wasn't quite right. I closed the drawer and turned back around. 

"I don't want any of these," I stated.

Lady Ilyn's face mirrored my frown. "You must choose a ring."

I shook my head. "I don't have to choose a ring. A ring already chose me."

I tugged at the chain around my neck and pulled the ring I'd found in the garden from its hiding place in my cleavage.

"This is my wedding ring. This is the ring I'm meant to wear for the rest of my life."

My mother laughed. "I believe you're right, darlin'!" She held out her hand and I quickly removed the ring from the necklace.

I stared into the emerald for a moment before placing it in my mother's palm. 

"Its perfect," Lady Ilyn said with a smile. All I could say was, "I know."

***

That evening, Tolem met me at the bottom of the stairs on the way to dinner. His face was grim and I was fed up.

"Have you changed your mind?" I whispered, since a maid was walking past, barely five feet away. His blue eyes went wide. "Of course not!"

"Then why are you acting like a scared rabbit?"

He clenched and unclenched his jaw, but I kept staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"I don't deserve you," he hissed finally.

"Don't be ridiculous!" I said rolling my eyes.

"They had to change a law...a long-standing law. Am I really worth that much trouble?"

I stared at him for a moment. How could he possibly think he wasn't worth me moving heaven and earth to have him?

"Yes," I said fiercely. "If I had to renounce the throne like Edward, I would. The law was antiquated. It caused more heartache than it was worth. Love should be enough and I love you." He smiled down at me. I rolled my eyes and swatted his arm. "Can we go to dinner now?"

I walked into the dining room and stopped short. The room wasn't set for dinner. The large table had been removed and three small, round tables had replaced it. The place settings were minimal and there were no center pieces. Instead of a large spread, a huffet was stu up against the wall by the door leading to the kitchen. I couldn't tell what food was on the buffet from a distance.

My mother and Ella sat at a table together. Lady Ilyn stood by the buffet holding a glass of wine and talking to Trilla. The conversation looked serious. It was probably about flowers for the wedding.

The security elves bowed when I entered and reclaimed their spots against the walls. When she saw me, Ella ran over and hugged me. Then, she hugged Tolem and I felt my heart leap. He placed a hand on her dark curls and a look of love took over his usually stoic expression.

I didn't bother questioning the different dinner situation. Instead I accepted a glass of wine from Trilla. She gestured toward the buffet. "When you are ready," she said.

I nodded. I wasn't ready to eat just yet. Instead, I accepted a warm hug from Lady Ilyn. "The wedding will be beautiful. This room will be filled Friday evening."

I nodded. "I think I'm ready...almost."

A hand on my elbow made me turn. "I hope that 'almost' is just because you don't have this yet." My eyes went wide as Tolem dropped to one knee. I"d never quite understood why women cried when a man proposed. I mean, the subject had to have come up at some point—why the surprise? Now I got it. I knew it was coming...there was a gaggle of people planning my wedding for Pete's sake, but Tolem, on his knees, looking up at me was heartening. 

He was asking me to give him my life. He was offering to be Ella's father and the father of any kids we would have together. He was giving me his life too. I didn't realize until that moment that I'd been operating under the assumption that I would never have a husband.

I cried. 

He held up the ring, my ring, and let out a slow breath.

"My love," he started, "I am forever grateful to you for making it possible to give me the privilege of having you as my wife. You've changed my world and I would like the chance to change your life."

He held my left hand in his right and rubbed his thumb over my bare ring finger. "Will you, Queen Deidre Ellette Saint-Germaine, do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes," I choked around the emotional lump in my throat. He slid my ring onto my finger and I gasped. Calm settled around me and I stared at the ring. I felt infused with a warm light that made me feel peaceful, happy, and warm. I wondered for a moment if I would have felt this way if I'd put the ring on myself at some point...or was the cocoon of happiness a message that Tolem was the right one to put that ring on my finger? 

The emerald caught the light and winked at me. I smiled. Question answered.

Tolem stood and hugged me against his broad chest. When he loosened his hold, I put my hands on his face and pulled him down for a kiss. It took a moment for me to realize everyone in the room was clapping, even Miri and Mattie, the chef, who stood by the kitchen door. The rest of the household staff was just inside the dining room door, also clapping. 

I swiped away my tears and shrugged. "I guess we can eat now!"

***

I held Tolem's hand as we ascended the stairs that night. Ella had bathed and my mother had read her a story. We went up to tuck her in and say goodnight. 

She was grinning when we walked into her lavender room. Tolem and I took seats on either side of her. I held her against my side and Tolem put an arm around both of us. 

"Are you happy?" I asked her.

"Yes...and so are you...both of you."

"That's very true," said Tolem squeezing my shoulder.

We stayed together, like that in whispered conversation until Ella's grey eyes grew heavy. I let Tolem tuck her in and watched him kiss her forehead before he slipped an arm around my waist to lead me to my own bedroom.

Once inside I smiled up at him. "She's going to be so happy," I said pulling my hair out of a complicated braid. 

"I hope she will love me," Tolem said on a sigh. I couldn't help smiling. "I think she already does," I said wrapping my arms around his waist. "I love her," he whispered into the top of my head. 

"She's easy to love," I said smiling. "You're a tougher sell."

"I didn't think I'd get the chance to be a father. Until I saw you, I never considered myself the marrying type." 

I pulled out of his grip and continued loosing my hair. I knew exactly what he meant, I'd felt the same. 

Tolem stood watching me for a moment before he took my hands out of my hair. His fingers went to my head to finish taking out the braid himself. I couldn't help but moan at the feeling of his fingers in my hair.

"My love," he whispered; his mouth less than an inch from my ear. My heart hammered at the closeness. "Those sounds weaken my resolve." I bit my bottom lip, hard. "Then, quit bein' so damned resolved."

He gripped my shoulders and turned me to face him. "A few days," he muttered.

I held up my left hand and wiggled my fingers. "We're engaged, Tolem. Certainly that entitles you to some liberties."

He chuckled. "I do believe it does, my queen."

His mouth crashed against mine and I immediately opened for him. His hands went to my ass, hoisting me up his front. I wrapped my legs around his waist and crossed my ankles behind his back. Tolem walked us into the en suite bathroom. He didn't put me down as he grabbed a towel and placed it on the granite-topped vanity. He used one foot to pull out the chair and sat in it. I was automatically on his lap, legs wide. 

Lucky for me (or him) I was wearing a skirt. It was modest enough, flowing and ending just below my knees, but at the moment there was nothing modest about it since Tolem pushed it up around my waist. My breathing was coming in ragged gasps.

Tolem slid his thick fingers over my damp panties, tracing the crease of my pussy. My moan could only be described as pitiful. Tolem spread his legs, effectively spreading mine further apart. He grabbed my underwear and yanked, ripping the thin straps on both sides. The fragile pink garment fell into his lap, but he payed it no mind. 

Tolem grunted a sound so animalistic I whimpered. His lips found my neck as his hands pulled the straps of my shirt off my shoulders. I cried out when he pulled my camisole down, exposing my breasts. Again, lucky for me (or him) I hadn't bothered with a bra. His mouth quickly found my nipples and he nibbled and sucked them in turn. I cried out. My pussy was throbbing with need. I wanted to strum my clit to release some tension, but my hands were gripping Tolem's shoulders for dear life. 

Finally, his hands moved up my thighs, gripped my waist and hoisted me onto the towel-topped counter. He put my bare feet on the counter on either side of my ass, opening me up wide. I watched him stare at my pussy; I was soaked and absolutely throbbing with need. He slid the chair forward, as if scooting up to a table so he could properly dig into his meal. 

I felt his breath on my pussy and bit down hard on my bottom lip. My head was swimming with need. 

"You're so beautiful," Tolem growled. His tongue parted my folds and I thought I'd pass out. "You smell like vanilla and cream." He stiffened his tongue and used it to tease my clit.

"Oh God," I hissed.

"I want to taste you," Tolem muttered, "but after tonight, I won't touch you again until our honeymoon."

I nodded. I would agree to just about anything at that moment.

"No teasing me," he growled. "I am only a man."

"I won't tease, I promise." 

His blue eyes met mine and he smiled. "Don't give me those plaintive looks either."

I rolled my eyes. "So I can't even look at you?" Tolem pushed my legs even father apart. "You can look at me, but don't look at me like you want me to fuck you."

The last two words made me gasp...because that's exactly what I wanted. It was always what I wanted. Our one time together had just whetted my appetite. I wanted Tolem all the time. I seemed to be living my life in a state of constant arousal and it was just about to drive me insane.

"Then you'd better hurry up and hire some new security," I snapped. 

He quirked an eyebrow at me; I fisted his hair and glared at him. "You got me up here, wide open, are you gonna put up or shut up?"

"Both," he growled before dropping his mouth onto my pussy.

My toes gripped the edge of the countertop as I screamed. Tolem had a talented tongue. He sucked my clit into his mouth, which made my spine stiffen and my head spin. He slurped the juices that wept onto his tongue as if he was drinking nectar and ambrosia. He clamped his mouth over me and hummed, which made my toes curl under. 




Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 11



I fell apart with my first orgasm. My hands, which had been supporting me as I watched him work his magic, went out from under me. I leaned back, my head and shoulders against the mirror behind me. I panted his name and he growled in response. His slurping sounded down-right greedy. Tolem's thick digits plunged into my wetness as he tongued my clit. "Fuck," I groaned. I pinched my nipples, reveling in the pleasurable pain of it all. He pressed his fingers upward, hitting that magic spot, making me cum so hard my knees knocked together. 

Tolem took pity on me and sat back in the chair. When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me. Then he licked his fingers, slowly, deliberately. I reached for him, but he held my wrists.

"My love," he rasped. "I can't allow you to touch me right now."

I opened my mouth to protest, but his stern look stopped me.

"If you touch me, I will fuck you. I will take you hard and cum inside. The next time I am inside you, there will be no barriers and I will not risk making a prince or princess with you until we are officially married."

Somewhere in my overheated brain, I knew he was right so I nodded.

Tolem stood, adjusting the erection straining against the front of his pants as my torn underwear fell to the floor. I was just dying to grab it and return the favor, but instead I allowed him to lift me from the counter and put me on my feet. He rubbed his thumbs over my aching nipples once before returning the straps to my shoulders and making me properly modest again.

"I'm going to my room, now," said Tolem. I could hear the strain in his voice. "Good night."

"G'nite," I muttered watching him walk out. I sunk into the chair Tolem had abandoned and took slow, deep breaths. He'd made me cum twice and just walked away. Soon, I promised myself, soon I'd have him all to myself and he wouldn't walk away from me unsatisfied.

***

My dress was white, which I thought was hilarious. "I don't understand why I can't wear cream or off-white. I've given birth for Pete's sake. Nobody is buyin' this." I waved my hands over the white silk and lace bodice and the skirt. "Not that I'm complainin'...I just feel like a hypocrite is all."

Trilla smiled at me. "Do you wish to be our virgin queen?"

"Not likely," I said sticking my tongue out at her.

The maid in front of me clucked her disapproval and checked that my lipstick was in tact.

"This fabric is a gift," said Trilla running her fingers over her own dress, "a gift of silk from Asia...and the Parliament."

"Wouldn't want to insult anyone, would we?" my mother said with a smile.

I returned her smile and turned back to my reflection in the tall mirror that had been placed in my room. The gown was blinding white, cut low in front, a scoop neck that showed a modest amount of cleavage. The stark white popped against my brown skin. The hem stopped well-past my feet since I was barefoot. My hair was set in large, loose curls, with the delicate crown pinned inside. I looked basically the same...same skin, hair, eyes...but there was something different about me. I felt better, I looked better, my smile was real, and my skin was flush. When had I changed? Was it my new diet? Was it Tolem? Was it my family? Hell, it could be Trilla. Maybe it was everything.

Once everyone finished fussing over me, we made our way out of my bedroom. A relatively new face was waiting for me in the hallway.

"Syne," I said with a nod.

He fell in step just behind me as we made our way out of the castle.

Days before, a familiar face had returned. Syne had been waiting outside my bedroom door first thing in the morning.

"What are you doing here?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Your majesty, I have been hired on a trial basis."

I narrowed my eyes and gave him a good glare. I had never expected to see Syne or his previous employer again. I had been more than relieved at the idea of never seeing Prince Irial Force or his security elves again, even though I kinda liked Selka. Gotta like an honest elf, not afraid to speak her mind. I hadn't gotten a chance to speak to her twin brother during their visit, so I quickly swallowed my bias and stopped with the glare.

"The prince didn't send you here to spy, did he?" I watched his face closely.

He was undeniably handsome, shaggy, thick chestnut brown curls looked as if he had been running his hands through them, his grey eyes were stern; his jaw was squared and smooth-shaven. His full mouth was set in a serious line. He was neck-breaking tall with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. "Your majesty, I am no longer under the employ of the prince. I am hoping to attain this as a permanent position. My intentions are to remain in this kingdom, or nearby for personal and professional reasons."

I didn't press for anymore information. I believed he wasn't a spy. I also seriously doubted his former employer was concerned with me any longer. I hoped Prince Irial found an acceptable match, whether he took advantage of the amendment or not. I was just glad he wasn't looking at me or my "quaint" kingdom any longer.

"Well," I said with a nod, "I hope you find a permanent position."

Our small parade made our way through the gardens and into the woods.

The entire wedding party—the furniture, the flowers, the arch, everything was white...draped in silk and linen. There weren't many people in attendance for the ceremony. Chairs were set up on both sides of a white aisle. I could tell it was silk under my feet.

My mother and I walked from the castle, through the garden arm in arm. Trilla and Ella were in front of us.

My mother whispered plaintively to me. She told me she was proud, that she loved me. She told me that I deserved happiness. I was too emotional to say anything back. I couldn't cry or I'd be a mess before I even got to exchange vows.

Trilla walked the aisle first. She looked like an angel in her white dress. Her neckline was higher than mine, the dress simpler, but she looked equally amazing. Her black hair flowed in loose curls over her shoulders. The contrast against the dress was breathtaking.

Ella followed Trilla. Her own white dress flowing around her feet as she dropped white rose petals up the aisle.

My mother let me go once we reached Tolem. She kissed my cheek, kissed his cheek and took a seat beside Lady Ilyn on the front row of chairs.

Tolem took my hands in his and we both turned to the Seer who smiled at us in turn. The ceremony began and I squeezed Tolem's hands. He looked amazing. His straight blonde hair hung down his back. He was dressed in a white linen tunic, pants, and like everyone else—barefoot.

Something shifted when Tolem put my ring back on my finger. The air shook. The water stilled, so did the trees. All the people around me faded into gray and my father walked out of the tree line, grinning.

"Deidre," he said when he'd gotten within arm's reach. "You are beautiful."

"Thank you," I squeaked.

"I'm very proud of you," he said crossing his large arms across his broad chest. "You have very good judgment. He's a lucky man...as was I."

I nodded. The conversation with my dead father had me a little put off, but I didn't want it to end.

"Galla sacrificed and stood strong when I could not. Please thank her for me...and for yourself."

I reached out my hand, I wanted to touch him. I wanted him to hold me, kiss me, and answer every question I could think to ask.

"Not today," my father said shaking his head, making his dark hair sway. "I'll always be with you. I'll always love you."

I nodded. "I'm sorry Lyrik killed you," I whispered to his fading form.

"You're brilliant," he said with a dazzling smile. "I always knew you were a smart girl." He bowed his head to me and was gone. The clearing rushed back into sharp focus. The green of the trees, the coolness of the water, and the brightly colored flowers came all came back at once. Tolem was holding my hands, looking down at me, concerned.

"Your majesty?" the Seer said, her pale hand reaching for my shoulder.

Her wispy voice brought tears to my eyes. I pulled my hands from Tolem's and turned to her. "Thank you, Galla," I said to her. Before she could speak, I was hugging her. She felt fragile but hugged me back in a strong hold. "Thank you for standing up for us. Thank you for helping us."

The Seer gently patted my back. "You're welcome," she whispered. "You're all very welcome."

When I finally let her go and turned back to Tolem, he raised both eyebrows. I shrugged.

Once the ceremony was complete, Tolem kissed me long and hard as everyone in attendance cheered. Somewhere outside the forest, bells were ringing.

"Let's go celebrate," Tolem whispered, slipping an arm around my waist.

As we walked down the aisle, good and married, I noticed that many of the dignitaries from the dinner were in attendance. I tried to acknowledge as many of them as possible with a wave or nod.

When we were a safe distance away from the guests, I nudged Tolem's ribs with my elbow. "Let's skip the party and start the honeymoon."

"Patience, wife, patience."

My body flushed hot. "I love it when you call me that!"

He chuckled. "I'll remember that tonight."