The Ancient Fae

  He still couldn"t believe that he"d been recalled from exile—his father and he having never gotten along the few times he"d had to make courtly appearances as if to ensure the prince was still alive and owed allegiance to the king—to be thrust into this position of power so all of a sudden. He"d expected his father to have lived for another hundred years or even centuries more.

  Wasn"t that what always happened when tyrants ruled?

  At least in the hawk fae kingdom it was known to be true. All the way back to his great-great-great-great grandfather, with a few more greats added to that, they had always been tyrants.

  In almost every case, son had killed father, tired of waiting to rule from the seat of power.

  Which was one reason his father had exiled him. The whole situation was an irony. The king had to produce an heir to take over the throne upon his demise, but was afraid the son—or in some rare instances, a daughter—would shorten his rule should he or she be given the chance.

  Legend had it that the queen always met an early death—ordered by the king himself, although it was said that a secret order of assassins was given the task. Why? Because two sons or a son and daughter could fight over ruling the kingdom. Civil war could ensue. So best to ensure the queen only had one offspring. And then, she no longer was needed.

  He didn"t know this for a fact as he"d never lived in the kingdom proper, but he was afraid the legends might be true. He knew only that his own mother had died at his birth, and he"d been raised by nannies in his own kingdom some miles away.

  Despite that Tiernan hadn’t been living within his father"s castle walls, everyone in the kingdom knew beyond a doubt that he had murdered his father, like his father before him had done to his father, and so forth.

  He didn"t bother to correct their logic as they had in mind that it was true, no matter what he might say. It was tradition.

  His people also seemed to fear Tiernan, as they did wisely of any of the hawk fae kings who had preceded him, which was also their custom. Which irritated him. He didn"t like it that his people cowed their heads, wouldn"t look him in the eye, and appeared to tremble when he drew near.

  The thing with tradition and following the ancient ways was that breaking from convention made his people uncomfortable. They were used to everything being the way it was.

  And although he had no desire to be a tyrant and would not pretend to be, he knew his people still believed him to be. After all, he was his father"s son, in a very long line of tyrannical rulers.

  He sighed.

  So now it was to be expected that the loveliest maidens from his kingdom and the minor kingdoms that bordered his region would be shown off to him as prospective brides, and he would choose one of them. And he didn"t like the idea one bit. Not that he didn"t want a wife.

  But he wasn"t really ready for this. What if he chose the wrong woman? He wouldn"t carry on the tradition of eliminating his wife after she had his child. Nor had he planned to banish his child from the castle after his or her birth. So he had to ensure he had the right wife.

  Blond, blue-eyed Sophia, his most powerful mage, stood nearby smiling at him, as if he she was amused that he would be so annoyed over this whole affair. She seemed to be the only woman in the castle who not only was unafraid of him, but fluttered her eyelashes at him as if trying to get his attention.

  Flirting didn"t suit her. And beyond that, he wasn"t interested. She was a mage. And though she was to be loyal to his rule, and his father"s before that, he didn"t entirely trust a woman who had such power, without even being a queen of the realm. If he made her his queen, she could wield even more power.

  Romero, his human page, also stood nearby, a frown on his face. The perpetual 14-year old, though over a couple of centuries old—courtesy of the fae who had brought him to the fae realm and then died, was frowning at Tiernan. Romero could read anyone"s mind, since none knew to shield their thoughts from anyone. No one else had such a gift and no one knew he had it either, except for Tiernan. Having become friends when Tiernan was exiled to the minor castle of the hawk fae along with Romero, Tiernan had brought him to the main castle as soon as he was recalled. Now he wondered why Romero was frowning. Had he read something in someone"s thoughts that might cause difficulties for Tiernan?

  Romero"s face brightened a bit, and he caught the king"s gaze and shook his head.

  No matter how many years the king had known Romero, he could never get used to his reading his own mind.

  For days, Tiernan had listened to his advisor present each beautiful woman in a long line of beautiful women, hearing all about their pedigrees and bride prices their fathers were willing to pay for the chance that their daughters would become queen and a son of hers would be king, someday. Tiernan wished to put off the selection. The problem was every woman looked at him as though he was a despot. Beyond that, most likely each woman suspected she would not live long after she had given him a child.

  He sighed again. He needed to leave his kingdom far behind, and though his kind never ventured beyond the minor kingdoms of this hemisphere, except to fight with the major island fae kingdom nearby, he would leave and search for a maiden who would see him as who he truly was.

  When a blue-eyed, dark-haired girl stood before him, eyes shimmering with tears, Tiernan turned to his advisor and said, “Enough, Lord Srenton!”

  His advisor"s jaw dropped, his gray eyes searching Tiernan"s face as if he knew he was about to lose his position for failing to find the loveliest wenches in the realm and surrounding region that would appeal to the king. Maybe even his life.

  “My lord—”

  “Lord Srenton, either tell me our island neighbor is preparing war against us again and I must fight them, or I must journey to a place where our kind have never been.”

  Or at least for the most part. He was certain others had ventured into other fae realms, but interaction with the other kingdoms that far away hadn"t been a regular occurrence. He believed a hundred and fifty years ago, a cartographer had mapped the regions. And fifty years before that, a historian had made some notes about the major kingdoms on the other side of the world.

  He recalled some talk of the dragon fae and the lion fae having been at odds with one another for centuries. He was glad in his hemisphere, the hawk kingdom was the only major realm on their continent. The only way the power would shift would be if some of the minor kingdoms in the area united to fight the hawk fae. But because of the ruling hawk fae kings" power over a millennium, none of the minor kingdoms seemed to wish to challenge them.

  Which was just as well.

  “The griffin fae of the island kingdom do not appear to be considering war at the moment, my lord. You are going to find a maid from one of the other major kingdoms, I take it?”

  “Mayhap.”

  Lord Srenton cleared his throat and looked gravely at him. “Which major kingdom do you wish to see?”

  “Any of them. All of them. Except for the island kingdom.” Tiernan shrugged. “Who knows where I might find the one for me?”

  “But the other major kingdoms are very warlike.”

  “Even the women?” Tiernan asked, surprised.

  “Well, yes, my lord. Some of the women are better fighters than the men, I"ve heard tell.”

  “I wish to see these warrior women.” He smiled to himself. Maybe a woman such as that would be able to handle being married to a tyrant of a king and outlive him on the throne even after giving him a child.

  Having heard the conversation between the king"s advisor and himself, Sophia said, “It is not wise to leave so soon after you have just begun your rule.”

  Romero smiled, and Tiernan got the impression he agreed with the king, especially since he did not like the mage as she often belittled him because he was a human. He wisely did not voice his opinion though.

  “When do we leave?” Lord Srenton asked, already knowing Tiernan well enough in the brief time they"d worked together that the king would not be stopped when he had some
thing in mind to do.

  But would his quest be fruitful or would he have to return empty handed and start all over again for a bride search closer to home?

  Chapter 2

  A week after her near fight with the unseelie in South Padre Island and stalking out of the great hall in her bikini, after having said no to one more marriage proposal to a fae lord, Ritasia was finally allowed some freedom again. Her mother had taken away her ability to fae travel, punishment for not ignoring the unseelie fae like she should have done in the first place, but now she had it back. Yet, she knew her mother was planning something. Ritasia didn"t have a clue as to what it could be. But she knew from the sidelong glances her mother gave her, she was trying to figure out a way to ensure Ritasia didn"t get herself into any further trouble.

  The problem was Deveron had left her alone again. She was glad for her brother"s interest in the dragon fae Princess Alicia, but she really did feel a bit… lost. She"d been so used to getting Deveron out of trouble, or covering for him, or even partaking in his mischievousness.

  But now that he was busy attempting to see Alicia on a daily basis, when he was ordered not to, Ritasia floundered as to what to do with her own time. She hated to admit it, but she was lonely.

  She thought to involve herself in something adventurous, thrilling, dangerous, anything to chase away the doldrums. But what was there to do? She realized then that nearly every adventure she had taken part in had revolved around her brother or cousins.

  She was forbidden to go to South Padre Island for another month, just in case the unseelie was still there, hanging around, maybe with reinforcements, just waiting to “play” with Ritasia some more in her dark way. And she"d never had a chance to see Cassie and tell her whatever she would have told her once she"d come up with something. She wasn"t sure if Micala was staying away from Cassie or not, but she hadn"t seen much of him either.

  She opened her tower window as the seasonably cool breeze on the fall day swirled around her, smelling of crisp clean air. She considered the forest leaves flittering on the trees beyond the castle curtain wall in all their glorious colors—from purple to brilliant orange and bright red to sunny yellows while the grass and evergreens were still emerald green.

  If she had even one artist"s bone in her body, she"d paint the scene and capture it for all time. Or at least until she could enjoy the fall colors next year.

  Not that that would be adventuresome or dangerous. She sighed and rested her arms against the stone windowsill of the ancient castle, wondering whether she should take a jaunt to the human world today to some place that was forbidden.

  At least forbidden to her if she chose to go alone. No place was truly forbidden to the fae.

  Except if she was the wrong sort of fae when she visited a location where another had called the territory their own.

  But even Deveron almost always took a companion or two with him on his jaunts to the human world. She couldn"t even bother with her cousin Niall, who was with the winged fairy, and Micala, who was getting himself deeper into trouble with the human girl Cassie, she was certain, despite Deveron"s warnings.

  Ritasia wasn"t interested in any male she"d had to consider. Her mother had paraded a host of suitors before her all month long, attempting to get Ritasia"s consent, yet she hadn"t like any of the men. Either they were too old, or dull, or way too reckless. A couple even had human girlfriends, and she would not abide that.

  She turned her thoughts back to where she would go and what she would do.

  Before she could decide, which was another thing that was driving her insane—the inability to come up with exciting excursions that she could enjoy at the blink of an eye—a maid knocked at her chamber door and called out, “Princess Ritasia, Queen Irenis summons you to her solar.”

  That was not good. If only Ritasia had made a choice and already fae traveled, she would have been away and safe. When her mother summoned her for an audience, it was always bad news.

  But then again, who would know if Ritasia had only just left the castle? Or had been gone before she received the summons?

  And then she was decided. Ritasia transported herself in the fae way to the Dallas airport.

  She"d never been anywhere else in the human world but Texas. Time to see what else there was to explore.

  She didn"t even pay any attention to the flight she was getting on and didn"t care, as long as she got away for the day. She didn"t need a ticket or ID because she was invisible to the passengers.

  Except for one.

  Her back stiffened as she saw the male fae, his shimmering aura telling her he was invisible also, as his brown eyes darkened at spying her, and his mouth curved up a bit. He was tall and lean like her brother, with broad shoulders and a nice enough face. But he could be the most evil of fae. No one could tell by just a look.

  When he quickly changed direction and headed straight for the plane she was taking, she felt her heart take off. She didn"t have to bother with a passport or tickets so she stalked down the walkway to the plane.

  When she was out of sight of the fae, she thought to transport straight back home. She didn"t need a stalker fae on her trail. He wasn"t one of her people, so he couldn"t be tracking her, intending to return her to the castle. But she didn"t know what he had in mind where she was concerned.

  But why should she have to give up her quest for adventure because this guy was about to ruin it for her?

  He was still trying to maneuver through the people standing in his way, which meant he was a pretty considerate fae to not walk straight through the passengers. He couldn"t see her at this point, so she transported to another location in the airport.

  But she walked through several people who were in her way. It didn"t hurt them, as far as she knew. Just made them feel like body parts were falling asleep. But she wasn"t going around them when she was in a hurry. Besides, she was a princess and of the fae, and they should have moved out of her way. Not that they could see her. Or that they would know what she was if she revealed herself. But as much of a hurry as everyone was in, she didn"t figure they would have moved aside to let her pass even if they did see her.

  She hurried for another plane and intended to get on it before they"d even made first boarding call, although several passengers were already lined up and ready to board. Of course she"d take a first class accommodation. If anyone sat in her seat, she"d just move to one that wasn"t occupied.

  She instinctively glanced back to see if the man had followed her, but didn"t see any sign of him, smiled, and headed down the walkway, wondering again what her destination was, but it was too late to check on it now.

  She was seated in one of the more luxurious first class customer seats when a white-haired man in a business suit tried to enter her row and sit on her lap. She considered letting him and making him numb until she moved, but then she sighed and moved over a seat. A white-haired woman joined him, and Ritasia scowled, walked through the people waiting to go to the second class rows and sat in the window seat on the left side of the plane.

  And saw the fae.

  He was looking down at the floor of the plane, not in her direction. Then he looked at the seat where she"d first sat. He was tracking her fae dust. His gaze shifted to the seat where she was now sitting, and he smiled.

  She shook her head at him and motioned for him to sit somewhere else.

  He only smiled again and sat down beside her. She scowled, turned away from him, and peered out the window, hoping he"d just vanish.

  Instead, he leaned over and whispered to her, “Are you running away?”

  She jerked her head around. “No! I"m…” Ritasia hesitated, then added in a hushed voice to the fae, “I"m taking a trip.”

  “You were going to Florida before. Now you"re going to Scotland. Had you no preference for the place you"d visit today?”

  “Scotland?” she said, her voice raspy with surprise. She thought to go somewhere else in the States. Certainly not across the ocean.

&
nbsp; “Which kingdom are you from?”

  “Which are you from?”

  “The hawk.”

  She stared at the fae with incredulity. “I"ve…never seen one of your kind.”

  He smiled again. She didn"t care for his smile. It was more calculating than pleasant.

  “And you are with which one?”

  She had no reason to hide which fae kingdom she was with. They"d never had any trouble with the hawk fae on the other side of the world. “The lion fae.”

  Now it was his turn to look at her in surprise. “I have heard their women are warriors.”

  She lifted a brow.

  He chuckled. “Mayhap we were misinformed.”

  “So who are you?”

  “Brandolin, war minister to King Tiernan.”

  “You are here looking to do battle with one of the kingdoms?” she asked, surprised to high heaven, but hoping if it was so they were fighting against the dragon fae, although she didn"t want Princess Alicia involved in the mess.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I"m merely…on vacation. So at the castle of Denkar, what is it that you do?”

  She hated the question. Her brother was the one who did everything, at her mother"s request. And the only time her mother gave her a job to do, it was because her brother didn"t want it.

  “I oversee…the servants.”

  Not that she really did. She oversaw her servants—all two of them—and no one else. She oversaw her brother, but he would say it wasn"t true. She oversaw her cousins" misdeeds, when she caught them at it, but that was about all.

  Brandolin"s mouth parted slightly, then he glanced down at the medallion she wore at her throat. She noticed his was hidden. His gaze shot back up to her face. “You are royalty.”

  If he was King Tiernan"s war minister, Brandolin would be royalty also. So why the big surprise?

  “Who are your parents?” he quickly asked.

  “My father has died and my mother rules.”

  She was pretty certain she outranked Brandolin, and she thought it was important to let him know that, just so that he knew where she stood.