Phantom Fae (15 page)

She would also have to return Brett to her castle in the hawk fae kingdom to try to undo Zane's frozen condition and force the mage apprentice to remove the curse on Freya.

Ena wondered what the phantom fae queen would think when she learned not only had she lost Brett, but Zane was missing, and Freya also. And, the queen had allied with the loser in the battle for ruling the dragon fae kingdom. So she had lost a new ally.

Just too bad. Play with dragon fire...

Then Ena thought of the situation with Queen Everlee. Now they weren't really sure what Brett was. Then she wondered if it even mattered as long as he was loyal to her. But Ena would miss having him work for her. Not that she thought she'd be able to keep him in the position of gardener for long. She assumed once his mage skills improved, she'd be the only dragon shifter to be able to say she had her very own mage. She would have even come up with a brand new title for him. New clothes, too, as befitting his mage status. Though it was up to him as to what he wanted to wear. As long as she approved. She would not abide his wearing squeaky human sneakers again, no matter how much he might want them.

She took a deep breath. She hoped he wouldn't get into any trouble with the queen. She could just see Queen Viviana asking Ena to take him back under her wing to keep him in line. Ena smiled a little at the thought.

A knock at her castle door had Ryker calling out, "I will get it."

As if she couldn't take two steps to answer the door herself. But he was the butler and that was his job. He took great pride in reminding her which he considered his duties and which he did not.

She folded her arms and stood there, waiting to learn who it was.

"Your brother, Halloran, Lady Ena," Ryker announced as if she could not see just who was filling her entryway. "And Alton."

"Come in," she said, feeling like she needed to bathe before she did anything else. The dragon fae were having a big feast in honor of their victory, but she was more worried about her gold and the rest of her treasure. She knew all her shifter friends would be also.

Muriel hurried out to greet them. "My lady, where is Brett?"

Ena almost shook her head.
She
paid for her staff's services. Yet here she had come home from an awful battle, survived it, and her lady's maid wanted to know where Brett was?

Halloran's eyes sparkled as he smiled.

Ena squared her shoulders. "He's recovering at Crislis Castle at Queen Viviana's behest. After he is fully recovered, I will have to take him back to the hawk fae kingdom. We can't risk trying to bring the mage Zane here."

Muriel looked so disheartened that Ena didn't want to tell her the rest of the news. "Ask Cook to prepare us a meal. My brother, Alton, and I need to discuss plans."

"Aye, my lady. We'll have Brett's room ready for him when he returns."

Ena wanted to groan out loud. "The queen has taken favor with him. She intends to make him Dragon at Arms."

Muriel's jaw dropped. "But, he's not a dragon shifter, my lady."

"We've informed the queen he's a mage, but she wanted him to stay at the castle in that capacity anyway. We have a lot of business to discuss. Go tell Cook we wish a meal."

"She will be upset as she has fixed Brett's favorite black plum jelly and oven-baked white bread."

"Go!" Ena said, before she really lost her temper.

Her brother and Alton were smiling.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't all try to seek employment with the queen so they could see Brett more often," Halloran said. "As much as I wanted to hate him—kill him even—there's something about him that is hard not to like."

Alton snorted. "As much as I hate to agree, I have to."

"I don’t want to delay traveling back to the hawk fae kingdom," Halloran said, as they made their way to the dining hall. "I know you have to wait for Brett to recover sufficiently. But the rest of us want to begin moving our gold. Several of us will serve as guards while many of us will carry the sacks of treasure in our talons. We'll get a few of the dragons' treasures moved before you join us. We will leave tomorrow."

"That sounds good to me," Ena agreed, as they took their seats at the dining table.

Cook and Muriel began serving ale, cheese, and bread to them.

Ena coated a slice of bread with the jelly Cook made for Brett. "I would go with you—"

"No, stay here and be the dragon shifters' advocate if the queen needs anything from us. And see to Brett. When you're ready to return, we'll help you with transporting your treasure," Halloran said. "Now about this business concerning what Brett is—"

"That may take time to learn. Does it really matter?" She didn't want to speculate further about it.

Halloran looked at Alton. Her suitor reached out to take her hand, but she tucked it in her lap. He sat back in his chair, frowning. "If you are interested in having him as your suitor,
yes
, it
does
matter."

Chapter 14

By the third day of everyone waiting on Brett hand and foot at the royal castle, he was ready to leave the bed. He couldn't believe how his life had changed so much from being known as a human fae killer to someone who was highly respected by a fae queen.

When he had the audience with Queen Viviana—he thought the world of Princess Alicia ignoring her grandfather's wishes and wanting her mother to rule instead—Brett was surprised to see the turnout in the Great Hall. It appeared as though everybody in the kingdom was there.

The queen proclaimed that he would be Dragon at Arms, a prestigious position held by some of the most distinguished dragon shifters in ancient times. But Brett didn't feel he deserved such an honor for doing one heroic deed for the queen. Most of all, he wanted to work for Ena, but he wasn't going to give the reason why—in that she needed payment for his clothes—just as a jest now. He wanted to work for her, be close to her, and if he was being honest with himself, he wanted in the worst way the chance to court her.

"After all that Halloran has done in acting as the spokesman for the dragon shifter kind, I believe he should have the honor of being Dragon at Arms, with all due respect, my lady," Brett said.

"Despite being raised by humans, and according to you and Freya you are a phantom fae, you still seem to have some common dragon fae sense. If Halloran wishes the position, so be it, and I will be happy to have him take on that job. It has not be filled for way too many years. But I will still bestow a title on you as it is my duty and my utmost desire to do so. In that regard, you will be given the royal title of duke and you may have any job in my employ that you wish."

"Master Gardener to Duchess Ena?"

The queen glanced at Ena who was blushing furiously. He smiled a little at her. The color in her cheeks turned redder. His smile broadened. He loved it when he made her blush.

The queen, and everyone who was close enough to see, watched the exchange. Then the queen smiled and nodded sagely. "If you ever need a different position, the offer to work for me remains open."

Then she asked Halloran to step forward.

He looked so serious, much more like the man who should hold the position.

He knelt before the queen. Shoot, Brett always forgot that part. He was still a human at heart who hadn't lived around royal persons of importance.

"Will you accept the honor of serving as Dragon of Arms, Halloran?"

"With the utmost honor and with my undivided loyalty, I will, my lady."

Well, at least Brett remembered the "my lady" part. Though he seemed to have the queen's favor, and she didn't seem to be bothered by his lack of proper royal courtesy.

After Halloran proudly accepted the position, she named others to serve as her staff, including Countess Saliness, who had freed Princess Alicia from a fae prison earlier.

Then the celebrating began in earnest, but Brett noticed right away that Freya wasn't there. He needed to fulfill his promise to her.

Ena was eyeing him with a look that he couldn't quite comprehend. He moved toward her, surprised none of her suitors were anywhere near her. Most were congratulating Halloran and telling him he needed a second in command, and vying for the position. He realized they were always intrigued with something else. Except for the one time that Alton transported her from her keep when Brett was dining with them as her prisoner, Brett hadn't once seen him act affectionate in any manner toward her. Maybe dragon shifters weren't much for dating. What did he know?

Brett made his way through the crowd of courtiers and though he noticed several turned to see where he was headed. He didn't care if anyone knew how much he cared about Ena as long as she was aware of it.

As soon as he stood in front of her, she folded her arms and looked cross. "You don't have any gardening skills. You turned down a prestige job to weed the garden?"

"I will be rewarded richly in treasures untold."

She raised a brow.

"I've heard dragon shifters pay a lot of money to merchants and the like."

"Ah, but you are also a dragon shifter—of a sort."

"Yes, but I'm a gardener. Which means I don't go on high-risk missions to earn my gold. I doubt anyone would want to pay a mage-created dragon the kind of treasures you get."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Princess Alicia approaching. "Duke Brett." She curtsied.

He laughed. He hadn't thought how it would sound to be called that. "Princess Alicia." He gave her a low bow. "I heard that you shot Prince Grotto with three arrows, all on target. How did you ever learn to be that accurate a shot?"

"She is a dragon fae," Ena said for her. "When Prince Deveron learned how well she could use a bow, he challenged her to a contest. She was so good, he realized she had to be a dragon fae."

Suddenly both Ena and Alicia's eyes widened as they cast each other startled looks.

Ena said to Brett, "How well do you shoot a bow?"

***

Ena couldn't help feeling the excitement thrumming through her veins as she prayed to every god and goddess that Brett was truly a dragon fae. He might have had one parent who was phantom fae. But what if his ability to shift into the dragon had nothing to do with being a mage?

It was dark out as archers set up torches to help light the targets in the area.

Brett was adamant he'd never held a bow before, let alone used one. Ena showed him the rudiments. Yes, not all dragon fae excelled at the task in the beginning, but they had a natural talent for doing well with the bow. With practice, they were better than nearly any fae in other realms.

Brett said to Ena in private, "I don't want to disappoint you."

She frowned at him. "I'm just curious, is all." More than curious. Hopeful. But she would try her best not to be disappointed if he didn't have any skill with the bow.

"I would do anything to please you, you know," Brett said, with his usual charming smile.

"I bet you broke girls' hearts all over the place back home."

"Not me."

And then she realized he'd probably worried he'd get a girl into trouble with him being a fae seer and how dangerous that was. She didn't want to even bring that issue up.

"Okay. Are you ready?"

Brett fired the shot and hit the farthest stake out. The archers had set them up at various distances and gave him free reign to shoot the one farthest away that he felt comfortable with. There were gasps because if it was true that he had never used a bow before, he truly had a gift.

"Beginner's luck." Brett sounded like he couldn't believe it himself.

Everyone waited to see what Princess Alicia wanted to do. "Set up another farther out."

If he could hit another even farther away, he had a rare talent. But did it make him a dragon shifter?

"Do not miss this one on purpose," Ena said low for his ears only.

He glanced at her. He should have been surprised that she said that to him if he had not planned to miss the target. Instead, he looked like he'd been caught.

"Why do you think I would do that?"

"Just a hunch. Do it right, Brett. Do what you know in your heart you can do."

"I want to court you, but I don't want you to court me if the only reason is that I have dragon shifter genes."

She snorted. "What if you are related to me?"

"Kissing cousins?" He grinned. "I'm not fond of the cousin part, but…"

"You want to court me?" she finally said, sounding surprised.

"Ever since you took me prisoner, I've wanted to be as lucky as Alton or any of your other suitors who were eligible to win your heart. Except I wanted to show you how much I really care about you."

"Oh?" Ena's voice had challenge and he loved it.

"But I don't want my being one of you the only reason you would consider it."

"I don't date my hired help."

"I'm a duke in my own right. And you're a duchess." He smiled. "No one else is qualified to court you."

She chuckled. "You think you have it all figured out. You don't even know courting protocol."

"I believe we can work out something that's mutually agreeable."

She smiled. "Take the shot. And hit it."

"Yes, my lady."

She snorted. He'd never called her lady yet. It sounded funny coming from him.

Then he took the shot and hit the target. Silence, then cheers.

If he truly was a dragon shifter and not just good at archery without some prior knowledge, she had to know his family roots. She had to, because if she was going to court him, she couldn't be related to him.

Before she was ready for it, he turned and smiled. "Farther?"

Princess Alicia laughed. "Show off. And yes, make him keep shooting until he can't make the target."

He hit the stake so far out, three of the archers whistled. One said, "Don't let Queen Viviana hear of this or she'll make you the Master of the Archers. You really want to be a Master Gardener?"

"It's what I pledged to do. And I'm bound by duty to do the job."