Meanmna: Book One of the Daearen Realms (18 page)

I gave Will a hug; he almost had to bend in half to reach me. “Godspeed and Goddess save the queen.” He released me and did the heart-fist-bow as I did my fancy horse mount. “Until we meet again, Princess.”

Will walked over to Elwin and they hugged. Elwin mounted his horse and our horses walked slowly out of the camp. We took off at a full gallop the moment we got out of the woods
. I’m going to meet Mathew’s grandparents! I can’t wait.

We rode hard all afternoon to Bienn-Theine Forest. There were two older fey waiting inside along the tree line when we approached. They stepped out into the sunlight as Elwin and I slowed our mounts.

Oh
, my Goddess! I was looking at Mathew in fifty years. This couple had to be his grandparents. Mathew looked exactly like his grandfather: same build, same hair, and same face. I’m not sure what came over me—perhaps I hadn’t realized how much I missed Mathew—but I didn’t even wait until the horse completely stopped before I jumped off and ran into their outstretched arms and said, “You’re Mathew’s grandparents!” They both nodded, but they were so swept up they couldn’t speak.

Elwin spoke. “
Ethan and Meghan Conner of the Fire Fey, I would like to present Princess Sarette of the Spirit Fey!” The three of us pulled away from each other. “It’s nice to see you again, sir,” Elwin looked to the man. Then he nodded toward the woman and said while bowing, “Ma’am.”

“
Son, how many times do I need to tell you to call me Ethan?” the gentleman said.

Meghan walked to Elwin and gave him a hug.
“And how many times do I need to tell you calling me ma’am makes me feel old.” She looked up—way up—at him. “You’re huge!”

“
Hi, Meghan,” Elwin looked down into her charming face with such love that I could tell he considered her like a mother to him.

“
You never told me you knew Mathew’s grandparents.”

“It never came up,” he said with a smile.
I met his eyes and absentmindedly touched my necklace and smiled back.

“
I see you’ve already chosen your mate, Sarette. I’m so happy for you, Elwin,” Meghan said with a toothy grin.

El
win and I looked at Meghan and simultaneously said, “What?”

“Your
mazon necklace, Sarette. Elwin, what wonderful work; it is truly lovely.”

“
I did make the necklace, but it was for this mission. It wasn’t intended for a mating bond.”

“The amazonite crystal is used
only
for mates,” Ethan chimed in.

“
The only reason why Sarette and I are using the amazonite crystal is because
that
particular crystal would give us the bond we needed to get Sarette safely to Meanmna. Queen Paige herself brought the crystal to me on the other side.”

“
I see Paige hasn’t given up playing matchmaker. She hasn’t changed in fifty years,” Ethan said as he walked up and kissed Meghan on the forehead.

Meghan wrapped her arms around Ethan’s waist and looked up adoringly at him. “
Paige has been doing this her whole life and she’s never been wrong. She hasn’t even changed her method much.” Meghan chuckled.

“I, too, was a knight with a protection
mission, only mine was for the Fire Fey heir,” Ethan responded with a smile.

I was speechless
. Elwin looked shocked as well. Ethan and Meghan looked at us, then shared a knowing look with each other. Meghan walked over to me and put her arm around my shoulders. “Come. We were able to have a camp set up for you. We have guards patrolling the outside perimeter and someone is already taking care of your horses.” Meghan started to lead me through the trees. “You know, Sarette, if you leave at sunrise you could make it to the sky train around sunset. You’d arrive at Meanmna just after midnight. You could be home for your birthday on Sunday.”

“Is
today Friday? I’ve totally lost track of time.” We walked another fifty feet to a clearing with a blazing fire in the middle and a small cabin.

“W
e only had an hour to prepare. Sorry we didn’t have enough time for anything other than quaint.”

“
You did this in an hour? Wow, that’s amazing!” I went to inspect the cabin. Looking in a window, I saw a bed and a table with five chairs. There was door that probably led to a bathroom. “This is lovely! Thank you so much.”

J
ust then, a girl about my age burst through the trees with what looked like a reusable shopping bag. She had pale skin, dark eyes, and fiery red hair in a spiky pixie haircut. She was running as fast as her small five-foot frame could carry her. She stopped in front of Meghan and doubled over, wheezing.

“
Grandma . . . I got dinner . . . wheeze. . . Sorry I’m late . . . wheeze . . . Did I miss him? . . . cough.” Meghan looked at Elwin and grabbed the shopping bag just as the girl took off running toward him. Without stopping, she punched him in the stomach and said, “Dude! I’ve missed you.” Then she gave him a hug.

Elwin must have expected that
, because he didn’t even flinch. “Nessa, I would like you to meet Sarette.” Elwin nodded toward me.

She looked at me, smiled,
and said, “So you know my cousin, huh? What’s he like?”

“
He’s my best friend. We grew up together. I brought a photo album. You guys want to see it?” Everyone nodded and drew near as I opened my bags.

“Let’s get the official stuff done first. Grab your wand, Sarette.” Nessa pulled her spirit blade and walked over.

After Nessa
gifted me with the magic of the Fire Fey, we spent the rest of the evening eating and looking through the album and learning about each other.

At s
eventeen, Nessa was the most powerful Fire Fey in Daearen, and a genius to boot. The magic in her was a mix of the most potent Fire Fey bloodlines. I instantly liked her.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Elwin said
, and bumped Nessa’s shoulder with his own. “Don’t let her fool you, Sarette. Nessa is smart as a whip. We all have a core curriculum to complete before moving on in our studies. The fey finish this basic education at age thirteen. Nessa finished it at age six and she hasn’t stopped taking courses and earning specialties since.” Elwin turned to Nessa and asked, “How many specialties are you up to now?”

Nessa looked at me. “Specialties here
are the equivalent of human college degrees where you’re from. I just finished my fourth specialty; I haven’t decided what to do next, though.”

“
Geeze, you are only seventeen. Why do you need to decide anything yet?” I asked.

“I just can’t decide on one thing.”

“So do them all and whatever else you want to do, too.”

“A lot of fey think I should have decided by now. Th
ey think that I should have stuck to one thing.”

“Who gives
a crap what anybody else thinks?” The whole table looked at me. “I’m so over the negative opinion of others. It’ll only bring you down. It is what it is and you are who you are, right? So who are you, Nessa?”

“A librarian, historian, geographer, geolog
ist, and I’m a pretty decent party planner too.”

“
If you’re interested, I’d like for you to be on a council I’m putting together,” I stated more than asked.

“I’d be honored,” Nessa looked stunned.

“If you’re a geologist, can you teach me about these?” I took the pouch of crystals out of my belt and handed it to Nessa.

“Sure, I’d be happy to.” Nessa was looking into the pouch.

“Good, I don’t want you coming to Meanmna until its safe though,” I said. Nessa nodded in agreement.

It was just before sunset, so I excused myself from the table and rose to set up
our protection circle. I began setting up the four protection candles that Celine had packed for us. Ethan and Meghan were smiling and hugging Nessa. Elwin was looking proudly at his old friend and Nessa was beaming. I was starting to enjoy all the good that I could do as a royal. I got back to work and spaced the candles around the fire at the compass points: north, east, south, and west, about eight feet out from the fire.

Soon everyone started drawing closer and all eyes were watching me. Several
curious guards stepped just inside the tree line. My audience made me a bit nervous so I quickly finished the set-up.

“Sarette, shouldn
’t you put those candles out a little, no, perhaps
a lot
, further apart?” Nessa said with her hands on her hips shaking her head. “I don’t think that protection circle will even reach the cabin.”

“This is about the size of
my room back home. That circle spread past my house by five feet.”

“
That’s impossible. No fey can do that!”

“Pot, meet Kettle,” I said.

“What?” Nessa looked confused.

“
It’s true, Nessa. I tried to break through her protection circles for a week. All I accomplished was burning up her water candle faster than normal,” Elwin said as he put an arm around Nessa’s shoulders and led her backward and away from the candles.

“Okay,
I think I’m ready.” I raised my hands.

“Where’s your wand?” Nessa asked
.

I lowered my arms. “
Don’t need it.” I raised my hands again and said, “I call upon the—”

“
What? This is never going to work. I guess I’m a pot. Whatever that means. You are not even using the ancient language, Sarette,” Nessa said.

Elwin put his hand over
Nessa’s mouth. “Proceed, Princess,” he said with a wink and a grin.

“I call upon the five elements:
spirit, water, fire, air, and earth to protect this space and all those who enter with peace and love in their hearts.” Nothing happened, and Nessa started shaking her head. “Maybe I need a real spell in Daearen,” I said. I took a step toward the fire.
BOOM!
A ten-foot multicolored flame shot out of the bonfire and threw me airborne. Elwin caught me as I flew backward, knocking us both to the ground, where we landed with me between his legs. We both sat up and watched as a one-foot-diameter column of purple light burst upward out of this ten-foot flame and spread outward into a dome—not just around our camp, but farther than we could see.

“
Holy shit!” I looked up to see Ethan, Meghan, Nessa, and the guards staring at me with their mouths open. “Excuse my language.”

“
That was the coolest thing I have ever seen! Oh, my Goddess! Oh, my God! Did you see that! Holy shit!” Nessa was yelling and jumping around.

“Okie dokie
, then. So, standing inside the circle of candles is too close. Before I do this again, I need to figure out how far away to stand.” I looked at Elwin. “Not that I don’t love landing in your arms, but it’s not very regal.”

Nessa was still jumping around and screaming. “
A column of light shooting up. Oh, my God. Everyone needs to hear about this! That was the most amazing shit I’ve ever seen.”

Ethan looked around the clearing
and spoke to the guards, “One of you will walk us home. The rest of you, go and find out how far this protection circle extends.” Ethan gave Elwin and me a hand to get up from where we were still sprawled on the ground.

“That was
truly amazing, Sarette. You are going to make the most wonderful queen,” Meghan said as she gave me a hug. Then she turned and looked at her granddaughter. “Time to go, Nessa. And, please watch your language.”

“Yes, Grandma.” Nessa gave me a hug and punched
Elwin in the stomach. “Later, dude.”

“
I’ll let you know when we find out how big this circle extends. Goodnight.” Ethan hugged me and Elwin, then took Nessa’s hand and led her out. Meghan hugged us both and all three walked out of the space.

“You are amazing.” Elwin took my hand and led
me into the cabin.

Sometime later, I walked out of the bathroom after my shower, my long johns on over my tank and shorts. “I am willing to wear this hot and ridiculous thing for now, but I refuse to sleep in it,” I said as I set my backpack down. “Do you really think my grandma did this on purpose? You know, matched us up, you and me? If she believed that I needed to choose a mate based on power, why would she have brought this crystal?” I looked down and held my necklace.

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” Elwin said
, walking over to me. “You know, she can be linked to my parents getting together. Dad became a steward in the castle kitchen specifically to help my mom. He never knew why he was selected; I guess I do now. Plus Mathew’s dad, Liam, was Penelope’s hand-to-hand combat instructor by order of the queen. I think Paige has had a part in the matching of every couple I know. So no, I don’t think she would have brought me this crystal if she thought your mazon should be anyone else but me.” Elwin put his hand over the hand I had holding the necklaces. He lifted my chin with his other and kissed me.

Elwin went to take a shower and I took off my hot
and sweaty long johns. I grabbed my iPad and climbed into bed. I was on the last chapter of my book when Elwin walked out of the bathroom. He was only wearing a pair of jockey shorts that came to his mid-thigh.

“Seriously?” I put my iPad down and sat up.