Twenty-one
Calypso
Riding Azulin’s shoulders was far different from being carried in his arms. Lowering my center of gravity, I dug my claws through the layers of fabric covering the shoulders of his tunic. Careful to not pierce his skin, I hung on and prayed the layers of silk and leather wouldn’t give way.
Azulin jogged through the crowd, jostling me about. Unlike every other time, the crowd didn’t part for him. Elves and fae flooded the corridor and jostled us as they pressed either toward or away from the doors into the courtyard. Through the opening, I caught sight of a running figure grabbing at another fae, preventing him from running away.
“Pick a direction!” Ghost’s roar shook the floor. “Either way you will die!”
“Sire.” A breathless dwarf approached from the left, offering Azulin a perfunctory bow.
“Nuttal.” Azulin acknowledged him with a nod. “What is the status in the yard?”
“Master Ghost has cornered the former queen. She demands an audience with you, and no one knows what to do.”
“I doubt I will give her what she wishes,” Azulin muttered. He reached behind and pressed on my back, urging me to climb over his shoulder and into his arms. I set to extracting my claws from his tunic.
“The former queen keeps racing back and forth, hiding behind plants and fixtures and trying to grab a hostage. The elf captain wishes to know your orders.”
Once I was settled securely in Azulin’s arms, he turned to the shadow elf at his elbow. “Guard her with your life.” Then, he deposited me in the elf’s arms. My senses filled with the cool sensations of night and shadow.
“But—”
Before the protest left the elf’s mouth, Azulin was walking away from us.
I hissed my displeasure.
“I suspect I agree with your sentiment, my lady.” The elf adjusted his grip on me, petting my head distractedly. “Pardon, my lady, but I have to keep him in sight at all times.”
I purred my agreement. Azulin and I would be having words once this was all over. How dare he leave me behind? I suspected it meant he intended to do something foolish that would result in potential injury. He probably left me behind to protect me, forgetting our connection.
The elf holding me stepped into the shadow world, stealing my breath with the sudden wash of cool magic. I protested with a hiss of surprise.
“Apologies,” he muttered. We emerged in Azulin’s shadow, moving backward instantly to a more socially acceptable distance before matching Azulin’s pace as we emerged into the sunlight. The courtyard spread out before us and my carrier stopped abruptly behind Azulin at the top of the main stair down into the courtyard.
The elf cleared his throat. “King Az, I must protest. I am tasked with protecting your person, not your wife’s.”
Ghost’s inarticulate roar echoed off the walls of the courtyard, making me crouch down lower in the elf’s arms. My sensitive ears rang with pain. I let out a pained cry of my own in his direction.
Perched as he was on the north wing’s roof, I doubted he heard my protest. Much like a large cat, he eyed the far end of the courtyard with intense focus.
Azulin glared at the elf. “I don’t care what your original orders were. Your new assignment is to protect her.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began yelling orders to the fae in the Seelie-colored livery. “Clear the courtyard! See that no one enters.”
Elves and fae moved to comply, ushering the few remaining people from the courtyard and locking the doors behind them.
“Az!” The sugary, coy feminine call made me cringe. We all turned toward the voice, and the elf’s grip on me tightened. I squirmed in protest.
Tana stepped out from behind a pillar in the far southern corner. She eyed Ghost warily. “Is this really necessary?”
“You attempted to murder my wife. Yes, this is necessary.” Azulin glared at his mother.
“But a dragon execution?” Tana pouted. “The indignity is so overdone. By law, I have the right to a trial. At least allow me the dignity of that.”
Ghost growled, and the roof groaned ominously as he shifted his weight. A great cloud of smoke rolled from his parted lips.
“Yes, I know your opinion, Ghost. Don’t cave in my roof.” Azulin didn’t turn his head or raise his voice. But Ghost chuffed in response. “What do you have to say about your actions, Mother?”
“You married beneath you. She obviously trapped you into it.” Tana shrugged. “I was merely rectifying the situation.”
“Without speaking to me or asking my opinion?” Azulin folded his arms over his chest. “Replacing her with a facsimile of you is not freeing me. It’s just manipulating the situation to benefit you. When were you planning on revealing your plot?”
“Never.” Tana paled and covered her mouth. The sweet expression on her face transformed to anger. “Did you cast a truth spell?”
“Not me.”
A cool breeze brushed my whiskers as an elf and a fae stepped from our shadows. “I did, Mother,” Oran announced. He nodded to Azulin. “Proceed.”
“Even if—” Azulin never finished the statement.
“She is gathering a spell!” someone yelled from an open window above.
Ghost growled. A flash of light and heat brought everyone’s attention back to the southern end of the courtyard as a targeted blast of fire cut across the courtyard and hit the former queen, sending her reeling backward into the column she’d previously hidden behind.
“Monster!” Tana shrieked as her spell exploded in her face. Fire crawled across her gown and caught her hair. She screamed.
In a matter of moments, she was engulfed. Then before anyone could move, she was consumed.
Chaos erupted around us as doors were thrown open all around the courtyard and fae and elves crowded through them.
Azulin was immediately surrounded by jostling fae. Oran disappeared into the crowd, fighting his way toward where his mother had been.
The elf holding me moved from shadow to shadow with nauseating speed to keep close to Azulin, but even then, he wasn’t able to move fast enough. An Unseelie fae reached Azulin first.
Time seemed to slow. Holding a knife poised to strike, an assassin was about to stab my husband. I yowled a warning. My escort leaped to Azulin’s shadow, calmly placing me on my husband’s shoulder. I launched at the assailant’s face, claws and teeth bared.
The assailant shrieked and ducked so I landed claws first on his head. I managed to draw blood and extract tufts of hair before Azulin grabbed me.
Herman the sithcat popped into existence on top of the assailant’s head, exactly where I had been moments before. Twice my size and infinitely stronger, Herman clamped his massive paws around the fae’s head. The fae screamed. Herman yowled, an unearthly sound that made my fur stand on end. The fae wailed, grabbing at the massive cat’s paws, but Herman merely hissed and swatted at the fae’s waving hands. I caught a glint of extended claws before my husband wrestled me into his arms.
Azulin turned aside, shielding me as he tried to soothe my ruffled fur, but I didn’t want the assailant out of my sight. Climbing up Azulin’s tunic, I reached his shoulder just in time to witness Herman transport the screaming assailant with a giant popping sound. One moment the pair were standing there, and the next, only the assailant popped into existence twenty feet in the air. The fae fell to the ground with a thud. Our elf bodyguard approached the motionless body with caution, eventually checking to see if the assailant still lived.
“Sire!” A guard in Seelie livery approached. Behind him Oran followed, carrying a pot.
“Your Majesty, was that the former queen?” A fussily dressed courtier minced over the grass toward us.
I crouched on my husband’s shoulder as he turned to answer the questions being launched at him. Feeling exposed, I tried to make myself as small as possible. Surely, we were safe now.
I regretted my assessment when someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pulled me from my perch.
“I have you!” my tormentor cackled, backing away from the frenzy around the attempted assassination.
Dangling by my neck, my legs splayed, claws extended, I twisted and swung. My human instinct warred with the cat form. Natural cats normally hung limp when scruffed, but I was not a normal cat. On one aspect of my situation both natures agreed—panic, anxiety, and pain exploded through me—I wanted out of his hold now!
“Cease!” my assailant ordered, thrusting his face into mine. I caught a fleeting glimpse of the Unseelie king’s face. Then he lofted my body above his head. I gagged and spat as my equilibrium disappeared. The world whipped around, and pain exploded in my head as he dangled my whole cat’s body weight from my neck. “I have your mate, Azulin, and I will kill her if you do not submit your throne.”
Whirling around with the motion of his arm, I tried to catch his sleeve with my claws. I missed—well, not entirely. He swore when my back claws caught his forearm. I smelled blood when I dangled helpless once again.
“Unhand my wife, or I will kill you where you stand.” Azulin’s coldly calm response caused instantaneous silence. The audience in the courtyard seemed to take a collective gasp.
“I knew it!” someone yelled.
“Your throne for the woman.” The Unseelie king shook me a bit, making stars dance before my eyes. I attempted to protest, but no sound came out. Then I tried to transform but my magic didn’t respond.
True panic set in. Azulin couldn’t give it all up for me. To strive so long and hard to preserve his nation and keep them free of the power-mad fae, only to have me be the cause of his failure. I struggled with new fervor.
“That is no woman,” one of the Unseelie commented.
“She’s a shapeshifter,” another fae said.
Sounds of revulsion passed through the crowd. “No one slights my queen!” A familiar brownie’s voice cut through the silence.
Herman yowled and hissed, but I couldn’t place the direction.
“Unhand her.” I recognized Soren’s voice somewhere behind my assailant.
Suddenly, I was falling. Landing on my feet came naturally as a cat, but I didn’t wish to remain a cat. I’d be trampled.
Transforming in an instant, I sprang up to my full height, knocking aside the hand that had grasped my scruff moments before and turning to face my assailant. My hand found the handle of the knife Azulin had given me that morning, and without hesitation, I pulled it free and stabbed the man who had been holding me.
At the same moment, the courtyard exploded with a blanket of power. My skin prickled and the warm sensation beneath my breastbone expanded. Instinctively, I fed my magic into whatever spell Azulin was using. Herman appeared at my feet.
Distracted, I didn’t see the Unseelie king’s retaliation until his fist connected with my cheek. I fell, landing hard on my backside in the muddied pavers of the courtyard.
“Meddling human.” He sneered down at me.
Herman yowled and slashed razor-sharp claws across the Unseelie king’s shins. The fae yelled and attempted to kick the sithcat. Herman disappeared and reappeared at my side, snarling up at the fae, fur sticking out and back arched in challenge.
“What did you call her?” Ghost rumbled as his massive white head rose above the king and glared down at the fae. Smoke curled from his nose. “It better have been respectful. Because everyone knows how I feel about those who disrespect my brother or his mate.”
“I can fight my own battles, Ghost.” Azulin’s icy tone sent a shiver down my spine. “Herman, stay.”
My husband stood behind me, every muscle tensed and every line radiating power. The air practically zinged with the charged sensation of the magic he held at the ready. I half expected lightning to strike.
“Come to my side, wife, and let me deal with this piece of filth.” Azulin rotated a fist, and golden sparks spat across the pavers and exploded from a few flagpoles.
The Unseelie king flinched.
“Might we have a turn first, sire?” The castle cook and half his assistants stood to the side with a smattering of the household staff, various makeshift weapons in their grasps. “I suspect there won’t be much left after you, Herman, and Master Ghost finish with him.”
Someone beside me cleared his throat loudly. I twisted around to find the large, intimidating Unseelie fae dressed in all black standing over me. Personally, I found Greyson more intimidating than the Unseelie king. He radiated power in a way that the king didn’t.
“As a friend, might I request that you spare his life. For my sake?” Greyson cleared his throat again. “I would rather not have to take up a regency role until his heir is trained.”
“Noted.” Azulin’s gaze never strayed from the other king. “I claim the right of retaliation. You stole from me years of my life, my peace, my freedom, and attempted to take my wife and my kingdom as well.”
The Unseelie king flinched.
“The world shall know of your failure. Although I will not curse you as you did me—a fate I would not wish on anyone—I can contain your poison. First, as of noon tomorrow, every Unseelie is banned from crossing the borders of Seelie lands. Where they are after that deadline, they shall remain until your death, or until your heir takes the throne.”
Azulin took a step toward the other king. “Second, you touch my wife again in any way—magical, physical, or even by extension of sending an assassin after her, sending her threatening letters, or even so much as sneezing in her direction—and I will kill you.”
The Unseelie king sneered. “I can harm her without doing any of those things.”
Greyson groaned and rolled his eyes.
Azulin didn’t pause. Sparks licked the stones at the Unseelie king’s feet. “If you even speak so much as a grumble about my wife, I will hunt you down.” He didn’t have to say what he would do when he found the other king.
Ghost dropped his head low, nudging the gathered fae aside to get closer to the Unseelie king. “Don’t bother. I will get him first, and I won’t be merciful.” He blew a cloud of smoke out of his nostrils and the cloud enveloped the Unseelie king, causing the fae to cough violently.
The Unseelie king flailed his arms about in an attempt to wave away the smoke. “Understood,” he gasped. “Fetch the horses.” He waved in Greyson’s direction.
“Fetch the horses yourself,” Greyson responded. In a wave of extremely powerful magic that brushed across my face like a bird’s wings, great wings covered in glossy black feathers sprouted from Greyson’s back. “I’m flying home. I refuse to risk being trapped on the wrong side of the border, away from my wife. Besides, I have your heir to find. Always an honor, King Az.”
“Lord Greyson,” Azulin acknowledged him with a nod.
Then with a great swoop of his wings and a burst of magic, Greyson took flight.
The Unseelie king started swearing, demanding his fae attend him. No one came forward, and I spotted some fae backing into the crowd.
“Enough!” Ghost rumbled. Taking to the skies, the dragon circled the roof once before swooping down and plucking the unwanted invader from the middle of the crowd. Before anyone could do anything, the dragon flew away, the Unseelie king dangling from Ghost’s talons andscreaming in terror.
Herman leaned against my legs and began purring like a rusty chain dragged over a wooden board.
I glimpsed the fae king’s kicking feet far above my head moments before Azulin completely enveloped me in his embrace. One arm encircled my ribs and the other wrapped around my hips. Then he lifted me against him as he straightened. Burying his face in the curve of my neck, he clung to me desperately.
“Never again,” Azulin whispered harshly. His embrace tightened. “Never do that again.”
“Do what?” I asked. Winding my arms around his shoulders, I hugged him back. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Following me into a fight. Attacking a fae who could murder you without a thought. Never place yourself in such danger again.” Azulin set me down on my feet, and, ignoring the general uproar going on around us, he bracketed my face between his large hands. With gentle firmness, he guided my chin up so I gazed into his intense expression. “I mean it, Calypso. My heart can’t take it. Promise me you won’t walk into such a situation again.”
“I can’t promise that.” I grasped his wrists loosely as I studied his beloved face. “You left me behind, and I refuse to let you walk into danger alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. I had a dragon to back me up.” Herman yowled in protest at our feet. “And Herman,” Azulin added.
“No, I won’t stand back and watch while you march off to face a monster.” I waved in the direction that Ghost had flown. “You needed me. My place is at your side, not in the care of your bodyguard.”
Azulin frowned, his brows lowering as he glared down at me. “I placed you in his care because I feared losing you, my opinionated wife.” His thumb traced the curve of my ear beneath the fall of my tousled hair.
My eyes lowered briefly at the heat the small touch created within my chest. Our mingled magic hummed happily.
“I don’t think I would survive if something happened to you,” he murmured. His other thumb caressed my bottom lip.
“And I can’t abide being left behind.” I smiled mischievously. “I believe we are at an impasse, my love.”
His eyes darkened and his gaze fell to my mouth. “Have I mentioned that I enjoy your stubbornness?”
“You will regret that,” I warned him.
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest, and a smile teased his mouth as he leaned closer. Azulin’s breath brushed my ear. “I do already.”
Reaching for his head, I threaded my fingers through his hair. Then pushing up onto my toes, I kissed my husband.
Wrapping me in his arms, he hefted me against him and took control of the kiss.
A few moments later, cheering washed over us.
“Sire?” Soren’s voice yelled next to us. “I really must protest, sire!”
Azulin paused and rested his forehead against mine with a heavy sigh. “Later, Soren.”
“But, sire, the people—”
“—are cheering. I can hear.” My husband brushed his fingers over my cheek. “It sounds like they approve.”
“Of the Unseelie king’s expulsion?” I asked, leaning into his touch.
He smiled, wide and uninhibited. “Of you and us, love.”
To emphasize his point, a sprite danced past us throwing magically disappearing flowers into the air as he leaped about. “Long live the queen! Long live the king! Long live their union!”