Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (10 page)

I gave him a very watered down version of what happened between Dominick and
me.

Lucius turned on Dominick and sent him flying down the hall. “Fucking
hell, Lucius, what was that for?” I ran to Dominick’s side. He was already trying to get up, but he looked like he was in a lot of pain.

“Did you hurt her
, you mangy mutt? Did you?” Lucius was seething. I noticed a white hand on his shoulder. Kael held him back from doing further damage.

“I pleasured her. You should have heard her moaning.”
Dominick’s eyes were amber and his voice was rough and deep.

“Enough.” Kael’s voice echoed down the hallway and everyone froze. “We must let t
his go and present a united front when we go into that room. The brooch was not meant to kill. It was meant to do exactly this. So stop it.” He looked disgusted at their behaviour.

It seemed like a good plan.
I hoped they took his advice. 

“Lucius, Dominick didn’t know my behavior was brought on by the brooch. He didn’t do anything I didn’t act like I wanted him to do.”

He nodded slowly. Dominick refused my help and walked down the hallway, clutching his arm to his chest. It didn’t look broken. Wolves don’t have the healing powers of vampires, but they do recover much quicker than humans do.

We cont
inued down the hall that ended in double doors. Lucius and Kael entered first. They swaggered to the other end of the room. I walked as cockily as I could muster, but I was going to be happy if I made it to my chair without tripping. My legs were shaking. My whole body was shaking.

The others were already here
. My council turned in unison and I felt every unfriendly look turn my way. I walked straight for the head of the table and stared back. I gave them a brief smile and took a seat.

My entourage formed a horseshoe around my c
hair. “Welcome, everyone. I’m honored to have you all here. This is the beginning of a new government. I know we will look back on this day and be immensely proud that we were part of it.” The fae at the table looked at each other and started to talk all at once.

“Enough.” Kael’s deep voice boomed through the room. He unfurled his w
ings and widened his stance. I didn’t have to look behind me to know how impressive and terrifying he was. The look on every fae in the room was proof enough.

“
I warned you all, that an attack on our queen was an attack on the slaugh. I fear you have forgotten our true strength. You have forgotten why we were chosen to protect the queen. Why even after all these years of absence, we still live in your nightmares. Our queen has been attacked twice. When I find out who is behind it and I will, they will experience pain like no other. I’ll teach you what slaugh retribution feels like. You will pray to the goddess for mercy, but even she won’t dare to intervene.”

The fae around the table tried their best to keep their composure, but they had dulled somehow. Their inner glow had been snuffed out and I had never seen them look so human. I couldn’t help the smug grin I had plastered on my face
. I knew I should be above getting pleasure from the pain of others, but I guess I’d just have to work on that. Kael folded his wings, but didn’t move from behind my chair.

“If you know something
, I would encourage you to tell me. I don’t know about you, but slaugh justice sounds terrifying.”

Silence prevailed. There wasn’t even a murmur coming from anyone. “Very
well; let’s begin, shall we? Why don’t you all introduce yourselves? Lochlan, why don’t you start?”

“I am Prince Lochlan of the
seelie court.” Lochlan looked like a different man. He had dressed to match his title. Someone who had nimble fingers and a brilliant mind embroidered his pants and top. It looked like some sort of coat of arms. He had recovered much better than Oona.

“I am L
ord Eton of the unseelie court.” He looked old for a fae. Fine lines graced his delicate face and he had grey hair running through his dark blue hair. The slight flaws made him more handsome and when he smiled at me, I blushed.

“I am Olwen and
I represent the lesser fae. I’m a brownie.” Olwen was tiny, even when you compared her to the few other brownies I had seen. She looked delicate. Gold eyes twinkled and her bow lips spread into a smile.

“I’
m King Trehern, Your Majesty. Of course, you know that. We have already become acquainted. May I say my wife is very excited to have you for supper in our home? She is driving me mad with preparations.”

“We’
ll set a date soon, Trehern, and don’t think for a second that I am charmed by your obvious posturing. I intend to meet with every group of fae.”

The others glared at Trehern. Fae were like spoiled children. They couldn’t stand it if one got something the other didn’t have.

“I am Lady Arwen of the seelie court.” She was taller than most of the fae I’d seen and she was more severe. Most had a serene look, no matter how demented they were underneath. She must have been sour enough to let it leak through. Her hair was pale, almost white. I made a mental note to keep an eye on her. For some reason, she gave me a bad vibe.

“Lord Cian of the
unseelie court.” He dipped his head and gave me a wicked smile. I’d have to watch out for him too. His hair had all the color of a flame and his blue eyes had a mischief in them.

“I am Taryn
, a sprite of the lesser fae.” She was tiny, not much bigger than a Barbie doll. Her body was pale green and she had gossamer wings; four of them, and each shimmered like they lit up. Her voice was high pitched, like Mickey Mouse on helium, except it was so quiet I had to strain to hear her.

“Nice to meet you all. I want to let you know that I understand why you wouldn’t want a human as a queen. My life span is short, my age is young. I’m sure you feel I can’t possibly have enough experience and intelligence to lead such an ancient race. I
won’t try to convince you; I will prove my capabilities, I promise you that. Humans have made incredible advances in so many things. The world now is so far beyond what you remember, that I think you would be in awe of us.”

I saw a sea of skeptical faces staring back at me. Fair enough. “There
are so many things to discuss it’s almost hard to pick a topic. Before we start, I would like to give everyone an opportunity to have a say. I want to let each group vent a little before we start off fresh.”

They all started to speak at once, getting louder and louder
as each tried to be heard over the other. One minute in and I had already made a mistake. I tried to be heard over the din, but it was impossible.

“Enough!” Kael’s bellow echoed through the room and my body, but
it did make everyone shut up and look my way.

“I apolo
gize. That wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had, I’ll admit. Maybe and this is for no reason except he is closest to me, we could start with Prince Lochlan and move clockwise.” Did the fae have clocks? I used my hand to motion the direction.

Lochlan looked at everyone at the table before he began.
His stance was proud and his posture pin straight. “I’ve been tortured for many years and worse still I had to watch our queen go through things that I can’t bring myself to speak of. Mab has done appalling things to our people since gaining her freedom, but continuing this feud will lead us to our extinction. We have no children. That may come in time, but it might not. We need to save everyone we have. I’ve a lot of anger and mistrust, but I’m willing to do my best to put that aside so we can move forward,”

Lord Eton was next
. “What Mab did to you and Queen Oona was horrible and beyond anything anyone should have to endure, but she was trying to exact revenge for her whole race being imprisoned. You lumped us all together and used the slaugh to get rid of those you deemed unworthy of the light. Let’s not pretend that revenge was anything compared to being locked away for thousands of years in a dark hole. No offense to our goblin cousins.”

“I had nothing to do with that
, Eton. Queen Oona felt it was better for us all if we were not in danger of being murdered in our sleep every night. Maybe we were over-zealous, but it was self defense.”

“You must have told yourself that lie enough over the years so you believe it.
Even if it were true, you never did anything to stop her either.”

“It is not a lie.”

“Gentlemen, please. This will get us nowhere. I want to end the arguing, not give it new life. Let’s move on. King Trehern, go ahead.”

“Well
, we were locked away with the unseelie, who only tolerate us because we have a use. We outnumber the seelie and unseelie combined and we were not weakened by the slow death of magic in the fae realm, so we have to be tolerated. The seelie see us as something you might find in a privy. Even the lesser fae use us to make themselves feel better. Still, goblins have survived and thrived. We are what we are. We would like a bigger say in how things are run. That is why I am here.”

“I agree with King Trehern
. Brownies are not tall or majestic. We don’t even have a monarchy. We are tolerated because we do all those jobs the seelie feel they are too good to do. We also would like a bigger say.”

“
I feel I must echo Prince Lochlan’s sentiments. I know not how to achieve the lofty goal of being a united fae, but I do know we need to stop this war. Our people are much too few. I’m afraid I see our extinction on the horizon in the not-too-distant future.”

Lady Arwen was next. She wrung her hands and stared at her lap before she began.
“I was paired with a goblin. I was his slave. He made me share his bed. Am I just to forget that?” Her pain was etched into her face.

“No
, Lady Arwen, forgetting what went on before is impossible. I’m asking you to set aside your pain for the greater good. I know you must have suffered, but unless you want to see your people slowly fade from existence, then working together is a must.” She nodded, but tears were in her eyes.

“I am not used to speaking to any
fae except my own kind, but I too think the lesser fae need to be heard. We are just as much a part of the realm as anyone else” Taryn’s tiny voice was a small squeak. I nodded and smiled.

“I don’t deny we have a steep hill to climb, but let’s take the first step. Any fae who has been paired against their will
shall be freed today. No discussion. I want everyone freed. There has been too much vigilante justice.”

“You have no right to come in here and tell us what kind of justice we deserve.” Lord Eton’s mask of civility had plummeted to the floor.

“Are you threatening me?”

“No
, of course not.” He looked red and flustered. I wondered if King Trehern had looked his way.

“I want those
women removed as soon as this meeting is over. If the parties are upset, I will make time to meet with each couple and hear what they have to say. Then I will decide what to do in each case.”

“I’m Lord
Cian of the unseelie.” He winked at me before he continued. I almost laughed out loud. “You’re a breath of fresh air, Your Majesty. We need change, but I’m afraid the fae are bloody awful at it. I pledge to try my best, though.”

“I am
very grateful, Lord Cian.” He was extremely charming. “Now some good news. I have seen signs of growth. The queen’s flower garden is starting to sprout again. The trees have started to bud in places. I hope it is only the beginning and everything continues to come back.”

Cian turned
and flashed a toothy smile. “I’ve heard the great hound is back.”

“Is he all white with red eyes?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can confirm that si
ghting. I have seen him myself, although if I never see him again, I will be okay.”

“He is a disturbing sight
, no question, but he is part of the fabric of the sithe.”

“Then it
’s good news. I’d like for someone to keep track of the changes. I want to know exactly what kind of progress we are making. If the magic starts coming back, we should know.”

“I would be honored if I could do that for you
, Your Majesty.”

“Thank
you, Olwen. Now I would like to say something, King Kael has told you that my life has been threatened. He also told you the consequences of my death. I want to tell you that I am committed to doing this. I’m human and I know being on this earth for twenty-six years is nothing compared to any of you, but maybe the fresh perspective might help. In the end, it doesn’t matter. I am here and I am determined to stay the course, so let’s work together.”

It was hard to tell
, but I was skeptical as to how much of an impact my speech was having. “I have promised to meet with King Trehern. I need to know your customs. I’d like to come and visit with each of you. That way, we can get to know each other one on one.”

Still no response. This was going to be just a big old bowl of fun.

“Okay, we will meet tomorrow, same time and place. I want you to think about this table and everyone around it. I want your new government to look like this. Representatives instead of one absolute power. Just mull it over. Monarchy hasn’t served you very well. It allowed Mab and Oona to do horrible things. A wise man once said, ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ It’s time for something new.