Chapter 7 #2
Jeros braced himself. A part of him wondered if Lexi might unleash her tiger to maul him as punishment for his behavior.
He silently scolded himself for such a ridiculous thought.
His mother would do something like that, but not Lexi.
She might be angry with him and hurt by his behavior, but he doubted very much if she could ever bring herself to commit a felony as she had threatened.
Kindness and compassion rolled off her in waves, a rarity for mortals—a rarity for any race, actually.
Lexi swept into the room wearing a day gown of royalty.
The sight of her stole Jeros’s ability to breathe.
The high-waisted, silk gown of the richest green brought out the beauty of her long, lean figure and the deep hazel of her eyes.
Her maid had coiled her dark umber hair up onto her head and fastened it in place with emerald hair pins.
Rill had also adorned Lexi with emeralds at her throat and her ears.
This lovely woman could easily be mistaken for a Fae princess of the wood.
“You are staring,” she said, her tone cold and accusing.
“Ye are beautiful,” he said without hesitation.
She blinked as though taken aback, then frowned. “Don’t think you can get on my good side that easily. I am not a fool.”
“Nay, lass.” His heart ached for her. In fact, his entire soul ached for her. He longed to pull her into his arms and never let her go. “It is I who am the fool.”
She tipped her chin higher as if shaking off the compliment that she didn’t trust. “Who were you speaking with? I thought I heard Mairwen.”
He would not lie nor put on any sort of act. Her reaction to his overzealousness during her bath had taught him that. “Mairwen appeared for a moment to warn me about the dangers the Fifth Kingdom brings.”
Her hands fisted at her sides, Lexi closed the distance between them. “Why didn’t you call me? You knew I wanted to talk with her. She’ll know how I can get back.”
“She insisted on keeping her visit brief and refused to see ye. I informed her of yer wishes.”
Lexi eyed him, weighing his words. He felt her judgment as surely as a touch. After a brief moment, she tossed her head. “Did you tell her I wanted to see her as soon as possible? Did you ask her to come back as soon as she could?”
“She knows ye wish to see her because ye long to return. I dinna ken when she will come back to Sevenrest. She did not say.”
“Well, isn’t that just great?” After a glance at the windows, she caught up her skirts and started toward the door. A flash of red at her feet gave him pause.
“Did Rill not provide ye with appropriate slippers that would match yer gown?”
“My red cowboy boots are good luck, and I need all the luck I can get right now.” She swished her skirts to one side and stretched out a toe so he could better see them.
“She took off with my jeans and shirts before I could stop her. All I could save was my denim jacket and boots. She better keep her hands off both of those, or I will proclaim war against the Seventh Realm myself.”
“That blue jacket and yer red boots mean a great deal to ye, then?” He stored that away for future reference.
“More than you will ever know.” Hand on the door latch, she turned and frowned at her bedchamber door that she had left ajar. “Aylryd. Come on, if you’re coming. We’re burning daylight.”
Alarmed, Jeros hurried to look out the window to find the fire. “Burning daylight? Dinna damage the trees, lass. Many creatures take refuge there.”
“What?”
“Ye said ye were setting fire to the daylight.”
“Ahh…” With a sheepish look, she tapped on the back of her wrist, then shook herself as if irritated with something only she understood. “Burning daylight is a way of saying that the day is passing quickly, and we need to get a move on before it ends. It means we’re wasting time.”
“I see.” And again, he felt like a fool.
The tiger ambled into the room, yawning and looking as if he would much rather still be asleep.
“The Fifth Kingdom has declared war upon us,” Jeros told the beast. “Bear that in mind.”
The mighty cat immediately changed, became alert, and ready to attack.
Lexi stood at the door, chewing on her bottom lip like an indecisive child.
“Will they attempt to come onto your land? How big is your estate? Do you think my car is within your boundaries? Is it safe for you to go out there and walk around? What about the unicorns? Will Pegasus and his family be okay?”
He struggled not to smile since he couldn’t answer as she fired off question after question without taking a breath. Discovering a patience he never knew he possessed, he waited for her to realize that she needed to be quiet so he could speak.
Her worried scowl turned sheepish. “Sorry. When I am concerned, I babble.”
“My guards are already in the woods, watching and searching. We will not see my men, but they will be there.” He offered his arm, praying she would forgive him for his earlier behavior and take it.
“I dinna ken if yer vehicle is on my land or not. We can only search and find out. However, with the Fifth Kingdom as stirred as they are, I dinna recommend our leaving Sevenrest’s borders.
We have many magical wards strategically placed to deter those rising against us, but we still need to take care. ”
She seemed more worried, if that was even possible. “But what about the unicorns? I know Pegasus healed them, but those babies are so fragile at this stage—at least, if they are like horses, then they’re fragile.”
“Pegasus and Lunaria know how to keep their family safe.”
“I hope so.” Lexi stole a glance at the windows, then turned back and stared down at her hand on the door’s latch.
“I don’t want to endanger anyone—people or animals.
Maybe you should stay here and keep Aylryd with you.
The Fifth Kingdom doesn’t even know I exist. They won’t be looking for me.
I can slip through the woods unnoticed.”
A heavy sigh left him. How could he make her see that her safety mattered to him and his own safety did not? “They know about ye, lass.”
“How could they possibly know about me? I just got here.”
“Whenever a royal of the Seventh Realm’s fated mate is found…
” How could he explain it? It was as though this part of Scotland possessed a consciousness all its own, and the royal family was a part of that consciousness.
Whenever something good…or bad… happened within the family, Scotland’s Seventh Realm shared it by setting the sky aglow.
“At sunrise this morning, the sky took on a distinct purplish hue to announce my fated mate had been found. Purple is my birth color. Therefore, anyone who saw the sky would know the Realm was announcing my mate.”
“But they don’t know it’s me.”
“Ye are a mortal woman, a stranger here in the Realm. Even the thick-skulled fools of the Fifth Kingdom would know ye were the one the Realm meant.”
“Oh.” She turned and frowned at the window again, giving him the slightest hope that she might decide not to go on this trek to find the way back to her Scotland.
At least, not today, and the longer he delayed her, the more time he had to win her trust—and trigger the love for both of them that the fated mate bond promised.
“Stay with me, lass. Just for a little while. Please?” He longed to drop to his knees and implore her to stay, but feared she would think it another act.
With every passing moment, he saw more of her kindness, her goodness, her inner beauty.
He needed her to stay and give him a chance to prove he wasn’t always as great a fool as he had been.
A knock on the door startled them both.
Lexi yanked it open and revealed a surprised Nightleaf.
“Do forgive the interruption, miss,” the butler hurried to say, then cast a nervous glance at Jeros. “Ye have visitors, my prince. In the smaller salon. I thought it best to hold them there. Commander Darkcord is also aware of their arrival.”
Alarm set his every nerve on edge. Jeros gently but firmly placed Lexi behind him. “Who is it?” he asked Nightleaf.
“Princess Faeniana Boldsong and her retinue.”
“Who is that?” Lexi moved to stand beside him. “And stop trying to be my shield. I don’t want you hurt because of me.”
“Princess Faeniana was bartered by the Fifth Kingdom to be my wife. I refused her. And it is my place to protect ye,” he said with a sternness he meant more than she would ever know. “Ye will allow me to do so, and there will be no argument or negotiating that fact. Am I clear on that, my lady?”
Her eyes flared open wider, but there was no anger in her expression. If anything, dare he hope he spotted a softening of her resolve against him?
She gave him the barest nod. “I appreciate your protection.”
The Fae tiger shoved around them, exited the room, and headed down the hallway. Jeros couldn’t resist a smile. “Let us allow Aylryd to greet our guests first, and then I shall join them.” He nodded at Nightleaf. “Tell the princess and her entourage that I shall be with them shortly.”
“Yes, my prince.” The butler bowed and hurried away.
Lexi surprised him by looping her arm through his. “We shall be with them shortly. I want to meet this poor woman. She might be coming to you for help. If her kingdom is as you say it is, once you rejected her, they might have threatened her or something.”
Her ability to side with and think well of the enemy worried him as well as impressed him.
Na?veté was a dangerous trait when dealing with the Fifth Kingdom.
They would exploit it to their own benefit and destroy her or use her to destroy him.
Raging protectiveness surged through him.
“Ye must carefully weigh every word that falls from Princess Faeniana’s lips.
She canna be trusted and is known for her sly cruelty.
I would prefer ye stay here in our solar—where it is safe. ”