Bound by the Vampire Queen (41 page)

The joy of seeing loved ones was transitioning into the meaning of the holiday itself. A day of endings, a day of beginnings, of hope for the future and laying the past to rest.

His lady remained silent. Jacob kept her cradled in his arms, giving her his strength and warmth. She laid her head on his shoulder, alarming him not so much with her quiet, but her lack of care of what others thought, seeing her weariness. Looking ahead at the queen in the lead, curtains still drawn, he wondered what Rhoswen was doing behind that thick fabric. Noting Cayden’s serious expression, also unaffected by the rising joviality of the group, he wondered if the two of them were having similar concerns about their respective ladies.

Lyssa slid her arms around his bare waist, her fingers hooked in the waist band of the snug hose, thumb tracing the upper rise of his buttock. He tightened his arm around her.
My lady? You are well?

Just weary, Jacob. Just so weary of it all. Of what comes tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after.

“Sleep, my lady. I have you. I'll take you to our room when we get back to the castle, and you can rest.”

She subsided. Firewind was once again riding some paces away from the rest of the host, the waterhorse not particularly the social type. Jacob wasn’t surprised when Keldwyn relinquished his spot carrying the chair to Cayden and fell back on his own mount to keep pace with the waterhorse. Facing away from him in her sidesaddle position, Lyssa didn’t stir at his presence. When Keldwyn glanced at her, Jacob had the odd feeling the Fae Lord wanted to reach out and touch Lyssa’s head to offer comfort.

“The first time one experiences it, it is overwhelming,” he observed.

It was one of the few times Keldwyn had initiated conversation with him. Then again, maybe not.

Perhaps he was well aware that Lyssa was awake.

“It is hard to know how to feel. On one hand, it is a deep celebration, to know that life goes on, to see those who have passed before. On the other, it is a reexperience of their loss, of the things said and unsaid. It is not unexpected to feel somewhat low in the aftermath, adjusting to it.”

Jacob made a noncommittal noise. Keldwyn pressed his lips together, jaw tightening. “Is she alright?”

Jacob raised a brow. Lyssa was in her own thoughts, of course aware of Keldwyn’s question, but unconcerned with whatever response he provided, trusting Jacob to offer an appropriate one. Though she’d correctly guessed he bore no love for Keldwyn, the concern in the Fae Lord’s eyes was sincere.

“She misses our son,” he said. “Lady Lyssa is not young, but she is a young mother, a mother who was still nursing her child. Tonight’s events… they make one want to be with those you love most. And they make her weary of the bullshit.”

If he was surprised by the frank speech, he of course didn’t show it. Keldwyn nodded, his gaze coursing over the position of Lyssa’s body, curved so closely into Jacob’s. “I can see that. Perhaps there is something we can do, to bring the child here, if—”

Lyssa straightened with the swift grace of a bobcat, twisting around and leveling her jade stare at the Fae Lord. “No one from this world will go near our son. You think I would allow my child, a baby, to be brought here and mocked, treated the way I have been treated, the way Jacob has been treated?” Keldwyn gave her a straightforward look. “If you fail the third quest, Queen Rhoswen will not allow you to leave this world. Your son will
have
to be brought to you.”

The energy that sparked off her was enough to send an unsettling ripple not only through Firewind and Keldwyn’s mount, but the other horses close enough to be affected by it. Though their riders couldn’t hear the conversation, they sent wary looks toward Lyssa. “He has been left with those who will see to his care and raising, if it is needed,” she said.

“So that is not your concern. I do not know or understand all the intricacies of your mind, Lord Keldwyn, what your intent is with respect to me. I accept that, for I’ve spent my life in a maze of politics and schemes. But you heed me. You bring my son into it, in any way, and you will discover that I can be so ruthless and cruel, your Queen Rhoswen will look like a pixie fairy in comparison. I will not hesitate to wreak devastation on anything or anyone standing between me and my son’s well -being.”

On this point, he and his lady were in complete agreement. Jacob was sure his own gaze had gone harsh and uncompromising, his body warrior straight and alert, every muscle prepared for battle. After a long, tense moment, Keldwyn tilted his head toward the front of the line, toward Cayden and the curtained chair. “I understand the third and final quest will be delivered to you at dawn. I wish you luck, Lady Lyssa.”

“Good or bad? Which will suit your purposes best?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Both have their advantages.

Though I would not say I am your friend, and would hesitate over ally, I am not your enemy, Lady Lyssa. I think you know that.”

“Mind if we go get that spear to test out the theory?” Jacob asked.

He gave Jacob a tight fuck-you smile. Reaching into his shirt, he tossed him a small sack. “Hold on to that. It can hold blood, preserving it for several days.

You may find a use for it soon.”

On that cryptic note, he turned his horse away, returning to the Seelie entourage, now moving in a parallel track with the Unseelie one. There was some fraternization, Jacob saw, but for the most part the two courts seemed to stand apart, a good indication that the leadership of them did.

“You are terrifying, my lady.”

“Good, that was my intent.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to be with the court tonight. We'll go for a walk on our own. Enjoy this world on our own terms, not theirs.”

Jacob made a noise of assent. “You have friends here, my lady. King Tabor as much as told you so.

We will find a way out, even if the queen tries to prevent us.”

“I know.”

Still, feeling the chaos the evening had evoked, he knew whatever occurred at that dawn hour, she needed to be at a better mental place for it than she was currently. So if she wanted to walk, that was what they would do.

The celebration around the outside of the Caislean Uisce was an awe-inspiring circus of players, acrobats and magical displays based on the castle’s favored element. Elaborate creative fountains were illuminated in myriad colors; a lake of ice was populated with animated ice sculptures ; the games were everything from dunking to a form of curling using disks of ice.

The Seelie procession had turned off at the Caislean Talamh, and the Unseelie procession disbanded here. The royal entourage had already disappeared, so little attention was paid to them as Jacob stopped Firewind at the bottom of the castle hill , a distance from the revels. He helped his lady slide off.

Lyssa turned to lay her hand on Firewind’s shoulder, looking into the large dark eye of the enormous stallion as Jacob removed the halter and gave the steed a slight bow. “Since Fae prefer thanks in the form of a gift, I'll give Keldwyn a basket of the apples along with your halter.” The horse snorted. His eyes gleamed, Jacob assumed at the promise of those sugar apples.

Waterhorses might live on blood, but this one had a sweet tooth.

Jacob bowed more deeply, hiding his amusement. “It was an honor, Lord Firewind.” Shifting forward, the horse gave Jacob a shove in his chest that knocked him on his backside. Then he rubbed his very large and quite lethal head gently against Lyssa’s shoulder, the velvet lips nibbling her face and neck, a horse’s form of kiss. She stayed still, a small smile on her face as he moved back, made that pretty leg. Then, with a snort of fire that blasted the grass at Jacob’s feet, the horse was in motion.

The Fae in his path swept back with warning cries as he charged full tilt toward the moat around the castle, the flames from his hoofs leaving small fires in the grasses. Gathering his haunches, he leaped into the air. He transformed in the air against all the glittering fireworks, the rear legs becoming the lustrous and powerful curved tail that helped him dive deep into the moat and disappear.

“Show off,” Jacob observed, getting back to his feet and rubbing his still tender ribs. “Big flirt.”

“Well, since he started out the evening trying to kill you—and almost succeeded, I might add—I think it’s an improvement in your relationship.”

“Hmm.” Jacob looked down as she linked her hand with his, their fingers intertwining as she gestured toward the moonlit fields and forests that rolled away from the castle walls.

“Shall we go that way?”

She didn’t want to go into the castle, even for a change of clothes. He was comfortable in what little he was wearing, so he had no objections to that.

It was rare that she chose to walk hand-in-hand.

When she did so, it always underscored how petite she was, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulder. When they’d put her hair in order after the white hart chase, he’d wrapped it in a silver braided cord so it fell down her back, a compliment to the dress. She kicked off the shoes to walk barefoot, absorbing the feel of the earth through her soles.

“There’s a lot more to him than meets the eye,” she remarked. “Firewind.”

“Well, there’s more than one legend about the waterhorse.”

“There always is.”

Jacob grinned, then sobered. “One story says a kelpie can also take the form of a seductive male who coaxes women to accompany him into secluded places. There he’d take their lives, drink their blood.”

“Like a vampire. Do you think Firewind can shapeshift to a human form?”

Jacob snorted. “That last little maneuver, nibbling on your neck, makes me wonder. And during our struggle… some of it was man against beast, but there were moments it felt almost… warrior to warrior. But regardless, there’s something very sinister below the surface on that one. Intriguing, but sinister.”

“Again, much like vampires.” Her fingers tightened on his.

“True. Though now that you’re hanging with the Fae, you'll probably want to associate as little as possible with that fanged rabble.”

She gave him a small smile, that sensual curve of her lips that made him imagine all the things she could do with her mouth. Though they were setting a casual pace, the castle had already dropped out of sight behind them as they followed the rise and fall of the hill's before them. The firefly Fae were out in clouds tonight, buzzing around them in greeting, then flitting on about their business. Circles of dancing Fae dotted the hill side with glowing bonfires, the tunes of many different musical instruments wafting across the hill's. The Fae musicians used the sounds of nature as their inspiration, so it wasn’t surprising that they made a harmonious and appealing composition. Jacob wondered if any of the circles contained euphoric humans who had stumbled into them tonight to dance until dawn.

“Do you think Keldwyn misses our mountains the way we do?” Lyssa asked unexpectedly.

“I think it’s hard to get into that old bastard’s mind.

But yes, I think he does.” He looked down at her, leaning against his shoulder as they walked.

“I’ve often thought that’s a measure of what a person truly is. If some part of them yearns for quiet and peace, for places of solitude, then no matter what else they seem to be, that’s the window into their soul, into who they really are. Or want to be.”

“So what about Rhoswen?”

“I think she’s a powerful sorceress and queen who’s had to build a lot of layers inside herself to be who she is. So she’s afraid of those quiet places. Of the things that will be said to her soul there, buried under those layers.”

“Hmm.” Jacob watched a group of Fae fly across the field, several of them doing somersaults to avoid the chase of the others. “When I was preparing to be your servant, Thomas had me do a lot of sitting by myself in the chapel. He said that we have to be brave enough to face the still ness inside ourselves.

He said Purgatory is like a monk’s cell. The still ness will either drive you mad enough to tear the brain out of your own head to silence whatever voices rise out of it, or you'll find acceptance and true quiet, a peace that might make you wish you never had to leave that cell.”

“Or the mountains, in our case or Keldwyn’s.” She slanted him a glance. “Then there are those whose heads are already filled with silence, because of all the empty space there.”

She shoved him off balance, caught the hem of her skirt and was gone, running across the field. He watched her go, grinning, giving her a headstart mainly because he liked watching her run, the attractive movement of her breasts as she turned, the quiver of the small curves, the brush of her hair against her delectable ass. When she startled a covey of birds that looked like doves, their white wings gleaming against the moonlight, she laughed, turning among them, raising her arms as if she could fly as well.

He took off after her then. She bounded through the grasses as if she might transform into a slim-legged black hart herself, with shiny hooves and sharp horns, deceptively delicate-looking. Unlike the white hart earlier, he was pretty sure he could catch this one—and that his lady would approve of him doing so. He caught her at the forest edge, clamping an arm around her waist and swinging her into him, but she ducked under his hold and took off again.

This time she shed the dress as she moved, flinging it away and transforming in one swift movement into her Fae form, launching herself on the leathery wings. He cut left, using his momentum to push off against the trunk of the nearest solid tree and leap through the air. When he snagged one slim leg before she could get above the tree line, she twisted with him, her hands sliding intimately over his chest and hip as she wrestled with him. He made sure they landed safely, though her wings slapped him, none-too-gently.

With a chuckle and an oath, he gave her sleek gray flank a healthy smack that won him an indignant shriek and a nip from the sharp teeth. Her talons scraped his flesh as she rolled.

The key was controlling her wings, so he made sure he had her pinned beneath him in short order, her wrists above her head, body pressed on her stomach into the forest floor. As she struggled, he knew she was fully aware of how that would rouse his predator instinct, make him harder. Reaching beneath her, he ran his hand down her firm belly , finding the bare mound there, teasing her. Her body transformed then, back to the pale flesh of his vampire queen. He could sense she had more mischief planned, and braced himself to be turned into a tree, his cock a branch protruding at just the right angle.