“Oh, sometimes. But like yours, I thought they no longer existed. I floated down the river in a basket and the golden fae took me in. Who wouldn’t love a baby who had no family? They didn’t know what kind of a fae I was. There are none in this hemisphere,” Tanya said. “I didn’t gain my dream-weaver abilities until I was nine. I think maybe before that, but I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Then you finally met up with your cousin in the human world. What a shock that had to have been. I can ask you to give me a dream that will allow me to live out a fantasy while I’m sleeping, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Or if I’ve wronged people, you can give me nightmares that will make me wake in terror.”
“Right. You never want to get on my bad side.” Tanya smiled. “Well, no one wants to get on your bad side either.” She stroked her flower garland. “Did you really ensure Queen Avalon had a baby? A daughter?”
“Rumors.”
“But are the rumors true?”
Sigrid shook her head. “You can’t know the answer to that. So don’t ask me.”
“All right. Sorry. I was just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the fae.”
“True. What do we do next?”
“I’m hungry. Want to get something to eat?” Sigrid asked while Tanya set her floral wreath on the bed, and grabbed a baseball cap decorated with screen-painted flowers.
“Yeah, me too. We don’t have pizza in our world, and I’d love to get some here, wouldn’t you?” Tanya slipped on her flip flops. “Ready.”
“And we don’t have all that other cool stuff either: hot dogs and hamburgers, ice cream cones.”
They headed out of the room and went to the pizza bar in the hotel so they wouldn’t have to go anywhere in the rain.
“He’s really handsome though,” Tanya said, taking a seat in the restaurant, and smiling at the woman who handed her a menu.
“Who?” Sigrid flipped through page after page, looking over the million types of pizza. “Don’t they just have double cheese, mushrooms, and pepperoni?”
“Next page.”
Sigrid flipped the page and saw just what she wanted. “Do you want to share one, or get separate individual dishes?”
“We could get the one between us. I like everything you want to get on yours.”
Sigrid ordered and they both asked for water. Sigrid never could get used to fizzy sodas.
“The guy I was talking about, who is so handsome, is Prince Owen, but his cousins are too.”
Sigrid snorted. “Do you think they’re interested in anything more than using me as a means to an end? They need me and once I helped them, they’d no longer need me.”
“Until the next job.”
“Right, but that has nothing to do with his interest in me—as a person.”
“What if, while you were there, you did run into someone you really cared about and you decided to marry and settle down? What if the king even planned it that way? That he would have falcon fae males court you so that you’d want to stay and work for the king?”
“There’s the little matter of him killing my grandfather and making my grandmother flee for her life.”
6
Owen sure wished he had his own abilities when he met with the male friend of Tanya’s cousin so he could easily deal with him. Then again, if he still had his own abilities, he wouldn’t be chasing after the annoying falcon fae.
“I told you, this Sigrid and Tanya that you’re looking for aren’t here, so get lost.” The man was wearing a policeman’s uniform and a growly expression.
Then the dream-weaver fae joined the human and Owen assumed she was Tanya’s cousin. She was a redhead and had green eyes like her, and the same dream-weaver aura.
“Do you want to get arrested?” the woman asked, frowning at Owen.
He couldn’t imagine any fae taking up with a human like that and no longer living in the fae world. This was the playground for the fae, not a place to live permanently. And not play tricks on humans? What fun was there in that?
“Sigrid’s cousin is ill, dying. The doctors said she hasn’t long to live. I need to get word to Sigrid,” Owen fabricated.
“Why are all of you here to give one little message to Sigrid?” the woman asked, looking wary.
They did look suspicious, especially when some of the golden fae’s royal guard accompanied them, though they were invisible to the officer. Another fae could see them though. What was he to say? Lies snowballed into more lies.
“They are here to show me the way to Tanya’s cousin’s place. We didn’t have a clue where to go.” Owen could have been talking about his cousins, so it wasn’t like the woman was revealing anything she shouldn’t.
“They couldn’t have just given you an address?” the policeman asked.
Owen smiled. “I get lost easily. Thanks for your time.” Wasted time.
“They were here,” the woman said, as if she thought maybe he was telling the truth.
“But they left?” Owen was desperate to find them. “How long ago?”
“An hour or so. They did leave. We’re busy, and I couldn’t offer them a place to stay.”
“Do you have any idea where they went?”
“Honestly? No. Sorry.” She shut the door in their faces.
“Now what?” Connelly asked.
“We go to the dark fae kingdom to hire a tracker. They’re world renown for locating fae who hide their fairy dust trails.”
“Let’s go then,” Connelly said.
When they finally arrived at the dark fae castle, it was nightfall, the gates were locked tight for the night, and the guards didn’t want to let them in.
“I’m Prince Owen of the falcon fae, and these are my cousins. You undoubtedly recognize the golden fae royal guard. We don’t wish to take up much of anyone’s time, but if the queen’s advisor could tell us if a falcon fae came through here recently—”
“With a dream-weaver…” Shane said.
“…we would appreciate the help,” Owen finished. He meant only to ask for help in locating a dark fae tracker, so he wasn’t sure what had possessed him to ask if the two fae had come this way. Then again, if she sought protection, staying in another fae kingdom would have been a great ploy.
The man’s eyes widened, but then he schooled his expression. Owen knew then that the two women had been here.
“I will see if the queen’s advisor is free.”
Tarrant slapped Owen on the back, smiling. Then everyone remained silent, not wanting to say anything that would clue the dark fae in as to why they were here regarding the two women. Though Owen really wished they would learn she was staying with the queen. Then again, what could he do to convince Sigrid to come with him? Offer a bribe to yet another queen?
He was surprised when he saw the guard running back to speak with them in short order. The golden fae guard all stiffened as if they were afraid they were in for a battle.
“The queen wishes to speak with you right away.”
Owen didn’t know what to think of this. Did the queen want to hand the women over to him? Or make a deal? Feeling strongly apprehensive about this, he could speculate all night and never get closer to the truth.
“The golden fae guard can stay with me. You and your cousins are welcome to see the queen.”
Owen kept wondering how much this was going to cost him. Or his father’s treasury, he should say. The king did say he would pay any amount to have Sigrid brought home. Owen just didn’t know how to convince Sigrid of it.
The queen was wearing a fiery red gown and if she was anything like his mother had been when she was alive, that said she was ready to go to war. Hopefully, the queen was wearing it for some other purpose, and not to show him what she thought of his arrival.
“Your Majesty.” Owen and his cousins all bowed low.
Smiling, she inclined her head in greeting. He didn’t think the smile was borne out of friendliness.
“
Welcome to the kingdom of the Denkar. I understand you wish to speak with Sigrid? Tanya also, perhaps. But I suspect you have come to see the falcon fae, since that is what you are. Do you not have your own magical abilities, Prince Owen?”
“I do.” Owen was surprised she would know of it. His cousins also had abilities, but to a lesser extent. The problem was their enemy’s powerful mage, so they were at a decisive disadvantage.
“And you cannot use your own power to deflect your enemy’s?”
“Not at the current time.”
Then the queen openly smiled. “Did the mage steal your magic?”
How did she know anything about their conflict? “Yes. Due to my own foolish mistake.”
“Arrogance?”
Owen nodded. He didn’t mind admitting it to the queen, or anyone, really. Everyone back home already knew, so what did it matter if a queen from a faraway territory knew?
He realized that the only one he didn’t wish to share the news with was Sigrid. Why should that matter? Maybe she would help if she knew that he had abilities like her and had lost them? Then again, what if she worried the mage would take her powers away also?
“Have you told her about your loss of magic?” the queen asked.
“No. She didn’t know her kingdom existed any longer. I didn’t think talking about my loss of abilities was important.”
“I see. Well, I would have her stay and work for me in a heartbeat, but she is a willful fae, and if I commanded that she did something she disagreed with, she would refuse.”
He almost smiled, but he was afraid he would irritate the queen. Sigrid was willful.
“I like my people to obey all my commands. That is the way it should be, don’t you agree?”
He nodded, because as a royal, he totally agreed.
“Because she has magical abilities, if I forced her to do my bidding, it wouldn’t work. She could do as she wished. I learned my royal guard took her and her friend prisoner, and what did they do? Stay there? Wait for an audience with me? No. Sigrid manipulated my guards and they freed her. She flew through the castle as a falcon, making my people believe I was about to have another bird for the hunt.”
Owen smiled, but then quickly lost the smile and nodded quite seriously. He was taking mental notes, just like his cousins would be: Sigrid could control people’s minds. Could she make Malcolm’s soldiers turn on Sinbad, the mage? Or the mage turn on the soldiers? The king even?
“I don’t need the aggravation. If I have someone put in the dungeon, they’re to stay there until I say they can be released,” the queen continued.
“I wholeheartedly agree with you,” Owen said, hoping this meant good news for him, and that the queen wouldn’t stop them from trying to convince Sigrid to come with them.
“Good. That’s what I like to hear. That everyone agrees with me. How are you going to make her comply if you don’t have magic that you can use to force her to do it?”
Owen didn’t want to give away what he intended to do, in case the queen was really trying to help Sigrid out and wanted to know his plan of attack, even if he wasn’t sure of it himself. He smiled.
The queen smiled back. “What are you willing to pay me if I convince her to go with you?”
Owen couldn’t believe the queen had the power over Sigrid to be able to convince her to go with him. “I’m willing to give fifty chests of gold.”
“A hundred and something for Sigrid.”
“Something for Sigrid?” Owen couldn’t imagine what he could give to her that would change her mind.
“You forced her mother and father and grandmother to flee your kingdom while they were in fear of losing their lives.”
“My grandfather did. I wasn’t born back then, and neither was Sigrid.”
“You will marry her.”
Connelly laughed. Tarrant scowled. Owen raised a brow. “Neither she, nor my father, will go along with this.”
“Your father will, if he thinks she can save your kingdom.”
Owen had to agree that might be true. She was a beautiful fae, but he wasn’t interested in marrying the granddaughter of a traitor, or someone who refused even to consider saving her own people. Not to mention, she was much too prickly for his taste. “She won’t agree.”
“Then it’s up to you to change her mind.”
Owen frowned at the queen. “Why do I need to pay you gold if I still need to convince her to come with me?”
The queen smiled again. “She is on my land, and free to come and go as she pleases. So, aye, if she leaves my land, then you wouldn’t have to pay me. While she’s here, you’ll have an audience with her if I say so, and only in my presence.”
Owen thought about it, but he knew if Sigrid was staying here under the protection of the queen, he didn’t have much of a choice. Convincing the woman to marry him when he didn’t want to marry her? Not that the woman his father wanted him to marry appealed a whole lot more, but at least Princess Esmeralda would do her duty to wed him to make an alliance with the hawk fae kingdom.
“If I pay you, and she sees me and she says she’ll go with me and she doesn’t agree to a marriage…”
“Your loss.”
“Okay, I agree to the terms.”
Tarrant and Connelly looked at him like he was crazy.
Owen had nothing to lose, unless he couldn’t convince Sigrid to go with him.
The queen motioned for her advisor to draw close and whispered in his ear. He nodded.
“He’ll send someone to fetch Sigrid, and you can convince her of what you will. In the meantime, I’ll have someone escort you to your chambers where you can clean up for supper.”
Owen and his cousins bowed their heads in acknowledgment.
The advisor ushered them out of the throne room, called on a servant to take them to their chambers, and left.
The pretty dark fae took them to three different chambers, each connected. “You may choose whichever you wish, my lords. I will come for you when it’s time for the meal.”
“Thank you,” Owen said, and when she left, he and his cousins all went into the same chamber.
“I can’t believe you said you’d marry that witch,” Tarrant said.
“What will the king say about that?” Connelly laughed.
“It won’t come to that. Sigrid won’t agree to it. At least I’ll have another chance to convince her to come with us. With the dark fae queen protecting her, we won’t be able to use a dark fae tracker to locate her. None of them would help us. She won’t want to marry me, believe me, any more than I want to marry her.”
“Your father is going to be furious if she doesn’t agree to go with us this time, and he has to pay the queen all that gold,” Tarrant said.
“If you have any suggestions, I’m open to them.” Owen sat down on a blue, velvet-covered chair and was trying to figure out how he was going to deal with Sigrid—successfully, this time.
“It’s times like these that I’m glad I’m not the heir to the throne,” Connelly said, smiling.
The weather clearing, Sigrid had been swimming in the Gulf when she saw the dark fae guards speaking to Tanya sitting under an umbrella on the beach now. She was talking to one of them and then pointed out to the Gulf where Sigrid was now treading water.
What now? Had the queen already changed her mind about allowing them a safe haven here?
They didn’t appear to be arresting Tanya though. Sigrid swam toward the shore and when she reached the beach, she grabbed her new towel off the sand, shook it out, and wrapped it around her. She joined the guards and Tanya, who was now standing, wrapped in her towel. “They want us to go with them back to the castle.”
“I thought she said we could be here for as long as we wanted.” Sigrid hoped the queen hadn’t been busy making a deal with Prince Owen behind her back.
“The queen wishes your attendance at supper.” The guard didn’t budge, and she knew this wasn’t an offer, but a command.
“Okay, great
. That’s wonderful. We need to shower and dress at the hotel.” Sigrid pointed to their hotel. And she needed to grab the woman’s traveling gowns and return them while they were at the castle.
“We will go with you,” the guard said.
“Sure. But not into our room.” Sigrid didn’t like this, feeling as though they were being watched, afraid they’d escape. The guards had to know they could at any time. Once they were in the castle though, that was a different story. Here, they could transport. There, she’d have to use her magic to control them so they could leave the castle.
Before she or Tanya could react, guards snapped solid iron bracelets on their wrists.
“What…”
The guards took hold of their arms and transported them to the castle. So much for getting a shower and getting dressed. Sigrid was getting ready to cast her magic but the guards brought them inside the castle, then took them to a chamber and released them. Then inclined their heads.
To Sigrid’s surprise, the queen arrived unannounced in a flurry of lavender silk. “So glad you could come and have supper with us.”
“Dressed like this?” Sigrid said, frowning, showing off her pink bikini.
The queen smiled. “You have gowns to wear for supper. I want to warn you that a certain crown prince is here seeking your hand in marriage.”
“What?” Sigrid asked, shocked and not believing this turn of events.
“Yes. Prince Owen. I told him it was entirely up to him to convince you that he wants this more than anything. But it’s entirely up to you if you accept his proposal of marriage.”
“So that I fight off his enemies?”
“He is just as powerful as you,” the queen said.
“What do you mean? If he were, he wouldn’t need me.”
“He’s lost his abilities, for the moment.”
Sigrid had sensed the princes all had magical abilities, but she didn’t think it was more than minor magic skills, or they wouldn’t need her. “How?” Sigrid couldn’t believe any of this. That the queen would even think she wanted to marry the prince or have supper with him irritated her.