Fae Dominance (15 page)

Kale turned my face up to his and smirked, “Never thought I would be in a relationship with a male, much less a Fae one, but we are mates. Even though we haven’t been together long, some things are just meant to be. You taught me that. Hell, if you can teach this old dog new tricks, you can do anything,” he laughed before bending down to kiss me gently.

The kiss had just begun to turn into something more than affectionate comfort when there was a knock at the outer door. Kale’s eyebrow arched and he looked at me warily.

“Are you expecting company?”

“Actually, I am. I summoned Moss earlier. That should be her now. If we are going to draw Blayre in, then the sweetest honey needs to bait the trap.”

I stood and walked over to the door letting all expression clear from my face as I did. Kale stood by the table, a fierce look of concentration on his face. I could only hope he would not scare the girl too badly to be of any help.

I opened the door to five foot of living effervescence. The girl was nearly bubbling over in excitement and she bowled me over as she threw herself into my arms.

“Oh, Puck,” she squealed. “It has been ages since we last saw you. And the rumors I have heard. Mother is not impressed that we have not seen you yet. Let me look at you,” she pulled back to take me in.

“Not a hair out of place as usual, but is that a new light in your eye?” Looking around me, she peered at Kale with huge nutmeg eyes. “You!” Moss nearly climbed over me to get to my wolf.

“Me?” Kale swallowed. I nearly laughed. The frightening look of moments before was gone and a look of near panic took its place.

He glanced at me for help but I smiled slightly and motioned for him to be ready. Sure enough, with a spry leap Moss was all over him. The sight of a large male being taken down by a girl Moss’s size was hilarious.

He had nearly a foot and a half on the chit. Fae are always much stronger than they look and her Brownie heritage gave her a lot. They were good-natured creatures and usually shy but they had great strength.

“Oh, what a handsome one you are. I can well see why our Puck had his knickers about his ankles with you! I’ve a mind to drop mine for a wee sample. I bet you are well filled out, if you know what I mean.” She giggled while she felt him up.

“I’m mated,” Kale gasped.

His eyes were nearly rolling in his head by this time with his panic.

“I’m flattered,” he stuttered. “But I have mates, very jealous mates. And a wolf can’t…” he trailed off as Moss’s pure laughter pealed around us.

“Ah, bless me, he is a gem, Puck. And still so shy! He hasn’t been around you nearly long enough.” Moss laughed once more before standing up and pulling Kale to his feet.

He stood there gaping at her, possibly still in shock over how the tiny terror took him down so quickly. Moss put a hand on her hip and the other on her head and posed extravagantly.

“As they say topside, take a picture it will last longer.” She winked saucily and blew him a kiss. “Am I the first Brownie you have met, sweetie?”

I could not help it, I laughed aloud. “Moss, sweeting, you are hardly a normal Brownie. Ignore her, Kale, she is playing with you. This sweet child is Moss and she is dear to both Oberon and me, which is why I called her here.”

I turned serious and held my hand out to the small brown creature. Her skin was a lighter hue than her mother’s was but she was brown from tip to toe. Only the length of her ears and narrowness of her face showed any of her Yarthkin ancestry. However, her essence came straight from that branch of mischievous spirits.

She quickly dropped her banter and took my hand. Her doe like eyes meeting mine with worry. “What is it, Lord Puck? You have a somber mien to you tonight. It worries me.”

My hand cupped her small child like face and I leaned down to kiss her brow. “Child, I am deeply worried. Our king is not well.”

Moss’s pained gasp was loud in the room. “No, my Lord, I cannot believe it. He was at the revelry for your mating just this past seven day. Tell me you jest or have learned to speak untruths.” She grabbed my tunic and pulled me to her. Her shoulders shook with heaving breaths.

“I must tell Mother,” Moss cried. “And Blayre,” her voice trailed off.

My finger went under her chin and I lifted it to meet her tear filled gaze. A part of me sighed at the naivety of her youth and another part yearned to be able to trust as she did.

“You must not speak of this to others outside of our little family, Moss. The king has been asking for Blayre, but he and I are estranged,” I shrugged. “This is between you and I. The king used too much energy. That which was supposed to make him weak for a few days took much more from him than we thought. Now, he is in essence mortal. We fear the worst and I feel it is time to draw our loved ones close. I need you to go and speak quietly to your mother and inform her of what has occurred.”

“Blayre must be told,” she whispered defiantly. “It is his father of whom we speak.”

I nodded solemnly. “I agree, sweet girl, but he no longer speaks with me. Nor will he take what I have to say to heart. If you still speak to him then you may inform him that his father…” My tongue stuck on the next words, as they were not technically truth. Thankfully, my wiley wolf knew when to jump in.

“What my mate is struggling to find the words for is “the king fades,” Kale said flatly.

“Oh no…no…no…,” Moss wailed. “That cannot be. Oberon is eternal. He cannot fade,” Moss broke down and slipped to her knees, rocking back and forth while her body wracked itself with heartrending tears.

“We all fade eventually,” I whispered.

Her sobs intensified and I knelt down and pulled her against me. “Hush, child, you will make yourself ill.”

“What are we to do? The king…” she broke off with a shuddering breath.

I tilted her head up to look at me. “We will endure as we always have. Listen to me, Moss, time grows short and we must make plans. Would you like to see Oberon before you go and find your mother?”

Her eyes widened more than I thought possible and she nodded her head. Her hands shook as she lifted them to dry her face on a corner of her hem.

“Please, my Lord. If I may, I would like to see him.”

Pulling her to her feet, we walked to the doors to my chambers. Before opening them, I warned her, “He will not know you are there, Moss, he is not aware.”

The realization of just how serious the situation was began to dawn on her. With a wave of my hand, the doors slid open and Moss hesitantly stepped into the room.

Oberon lay pale but breathing in my bed. He still looked like the king he was. Black silk covered pillows propped up his head and matching sheets covered him to just below his chest. His hands lay clasped over his waist. If it were not for the steady rise and fall of his chest one would think he lay in state ready for burial.

Poor Moss put a fist to her lips to hold back the shocked cry and flew to the bedside. Gently, she ran a finger over the king’s cheek and whispered a choked, “My Lord.”

The king made no movement and after a moment the girl I had watched fondly grow from an infant, put her head on the mighty Oberon’s chest and wept silent tears.

The warmth of Kale’s body told me that he was now by my side. His eyes were troubled as I glanced at him. It was easy to tell he was not happy with the deceit that we laid.

“Is this necessary?” he quietly asked.

A nod of my head was the only answer I was willing to give him at the moment. I did not like my job but I would do it. My wolf was seeing a side of the Puck that he had not seen before. The side that would mentally torture and trick those that needed to be in the protection of the king.

I sighed, “It is what it is, Kale, and I am what I must be.” I did not like it but I had a duty to fulfil.

We gave Moss an hour with the king before gently pulling her away. Her tears were gone, she had cried until there was none left.

Kale and I watched while she slowly made her way down the hallway to contact her mother and Blayre.

“Do you want to follow her,” Kale asked.

“No,” I shook my head. “There is no need. She will do what needs to be done and the message sent. We will hear from Blayre before the day is out I would imagine.”

“Well, what do we do in the mean time?”

I raised an eyebrow at the snarky question. My wolf was very testy it seemed when worried.

“We will wake the king, feed him and ourselves, and go over our plans while we wait. That is all we can do, puppy.”

"I just want to go on record with saying, I don’t like this plan,” he growled.

“Duly noted,” I said dryly before leaning in to kiss his chin. “Come, we have work to do. Once all this is done and behind us, I will want to have you to myself for a while.”

Kale just rolled his eyes but followed me back into the bedchambers to wake Oberon.

Chapter Fifteen

Blayre…

So much fucking darkness. How did I come to this point in my life? My head hung down and my fingers raked through my hair. All I ever wanted was to belong and have my Moss.

Those bastards at court denied me even that. My sweet Moss, she was the only light left in my black shriveled heart.

I honestly could not give a damn about anyone else. Father, Puck, Mother…even Isbeth mattered next to nothing.

In fact I tried to get rid of one thorn in my side already this week but it failed. I had heard that Oberon was weak from the sex magic he performed for his precious Puck. I sent several Unseelie with cold iron to kill the bastard. That would have solved so many of my problems.

While they were able to take down the guards easily enough, the wards that Puck had constructed were too strong so they failed me in their duty. I made sure they would not fail me again.

The only time any joy filled me was when I saw her smiling sprite like face and heard that tinkling laughter. She loved me and that kept me from destroying everything in my power.

The majority of the time hate filled me. It was a burning rage so hot that I struck out killing and brutalizing everything in my path. Deep down I knew I had my mother’s madness but when the thought arose, I pushed it deep down.

The cold-hearted bitch did have a few decent ideas though and where I was now, was one of them. My head lifted and I looked around my playroom.

The room itself was cold stone. We were underground; the trolls had carved this room for me. It was the only thing that kept them safe from it. They still had a use to me.

A narrow window high up in the far right corner let in the only light. What fresh air could find its way down here came from there. I also liked that passer-byers might hear the screams when I played.

In this place of darkness, agonized screams would not raise a call for help. It would only bring a sick curiosity or fear that they may be next. My gaze took in the room and that of my toys.

The far wall had chains embedded into them waiting for guests. A few feet from there was a pulley system hung from the ceiling where I had a whimpering female Dryad hanging.

Her hands were tied behind her back with a hook through the ropes to keep her suspended. Her ankles were tied with another rope. From there hung a chunk from the trunk of her tree. That in itself would kill her, but we would play before she left this world.

My gaze slid from her to the rack where another female lay. She was drawn tightly over the rack, her muscles straining with tension. This one was lovely. Human by the look of her, so she would not last long. The best part—she looked so much like my whore of a mother. I would make this one scream so prettily before releasing her human soul.

I skimmed over the rest of my toys before going back to the human. A smile tilted my lips and I rose from my leather bound desk and walked over to the table. Her eyes widened and she whimpered behind her gag the closer I came.

Once I stepped into the light from the torches, her body relaxed slightly. I just shook my head, why was it that humans saw beauty and thought that it was automatically good.

I had learned long ago that outer beauty often hid something much uglier. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “This is not going to be pleasant for you, sweetness. But don’t worry, you won’t live for very long. Your kind never does.” I removed the gag and she began to beg. She begged so sweetly for her life. Her pleas turned to screams when I started to cut. It was music to my ears.

We had only been playing for an hour when the door opened and my mother came in. I frowned at her at the disturbance. Looking back down at the female on the table the resemblance she had to Mab, now laid ruined under the finely cut strips of flesh I had pulled away.

“Yes, Mother? What can I do for you today? I am busy.”

"I can see that, my beautiful boy,” she purred. Her golden hair trailed down her back to curl around her waist. The white of her gown glowed brilliantly in the dankness of my playroom. She did not wear her crown today but the iron belt lay in links around her small waist. She was a small woman but her strength was formidable. They did not call her a warrior queen for no reason. The fact she wore iron was enough to cow even the most fearsome of the Unseelie.

“However,” she glided up to me and kissed me at the corner of my mouth, “you have a visitor.”

My brows arched. She knew better than to try to seduce me. I would kill her if she tried me too much. I was curious though. Few would seek me out here.

“Who could possibly come here to visit me?” I mused.

The wicked smile she sent me did not offer comfort. “Why it’s our dear little Moss, of course. Poor thing, she does look awfully wan though. Something must be wrong for her to come all this way.” Her fingers trailed down my neck before taking in my handiwork. “I didn’t think she would like the atmosphere down here, so I left her upstairs with the Redcaps. They can keep her company until you can clean up.”

By this time, all of her concentration was on the female on the table. Mine was on getting to Moss before a Redcap stepped out of line. Of all the fucking Unseelie to leave her with. “One hair mother,” I warned. “And I will treble onto you whatever they do to her.