Chapter 15
Ena knew the phantom fae queen would have Brett killed. It probably was really irritating her that he'd gotten away from her, fought on her enemy's side, and taken her mage apprentice hostage. Ena was certain the queen would be more than furious when she saw a dozen dragons headed with them to the phantom fae kingdom also.
Halloran carried the frozen Zane, while Ena carried Brett. Freya transported fae-style, but was to keep out of sight until they all arrived to ensure the queen didn't have her taken hostage.
Then the dragons flew together but spread out enough that they could encircle the walls of the castle.
"It is me, Brett. I have come at the queen's request," Brett said to one of the guards as he arrived with Ena.
"I doubt she said for you to bring an army of dragons," the guard said, brows raised, but he seemed to be amused, more than concerned.
"I didn't have any say in it. I couldn't come here by myself. I don't have the ability to fae transport. And one dragon shifter couldn't come alone for fear of being shot. So she brought an escort—for herself."
"All right. Then tell them thanks and that they must now go," the guard said
"After traveling so far, it would be impossible to travel across your territory and No Man's Land again tonight. They wish to watch me best Zane in the magic trials."
"What has happened to Zane?" the guard asked, staring at the mage's frozen form.
"He will stay like that until I'm assured the queen releases my friends to the dragon shifters."
Brett had only planned to leave Zane there in his frozen state and free his friends. He was certain the queen intended to kill them in any event.
In her royal purple gowns, Queen Everlee stood on the royal dais in the courtyard, Maracose, her adviser, by her side, and like with the previous trial, courtiers stood on either side of the courtyard. Except this time, they had an audience of dragon shifters standing on top of the wall walk, looking extremely imperious. Brett was truly grateful. And proudly between Ena and Halloran, Freya stood and smiled at Brett. He was glad to see her smile, that she had come home without the curse, but the queen could still be her undoing.
Which made him realize he couldn't leave Queen Everlee in power.
"I have completed the second trial," Brett said, motioning to Zane. "As you can see, I've eliminated my competition."
At that moment, he saw an archer ready his bow to shoot an arrow at Brett. The queen must have given the order before Brett even arrived to have him killed. Brett shifted into his golden dragon form and the phantom fae gathered gasped or cried out in shock as the arrow hit his scales and bounced off. Ena turned her dragon fury on the archer and incinerated him.
Everyone was quiet, then a low rumble of conversation filled the air. Brett remained standing in his dragon form, eyeing the queen. Then when she sat down on her throne on the dais as if in defeat and there would be no more unprovoked attacks, he shifted back.
"You have your mage apprentice back. Now, release my friends."
Scowling at Brett, she motioned to the frozen mage apprentice. "Zane is no good to me like this."
"I will take care of it once my friends are with the dragons."
She waved a hand at a man, and he hurried into the keep. "What a surprise to see you as a dragon. We never knew what your mother's fae kind was. I didn't know a dragon shifter mating with another kind could create a dragon shifter. I thought the shifter kind had recessive genes. That if they ever mated with any other fae kind, the offspring couldn't shift into dragons."
Brushing away a strand of blond hair, she looked truly in awe. Not like she was fearful or hated him for it. Which totally surprised him and made him wary all at once.
"You won the trial."
"Who were my parents?" He couldn't believe he was both a phantom fae and a dragon fae, or that he came from a family of mages also.
Ignoring his question, she said, "You will do as my mage. I will tell you about your parents when you agree to work for me."
"What about Zane?" Brett couldn't believe she'd dismiss her favorite mage apprentice so easily. And he didn't trust her one bit as far as how she would treat him if he stayed here under her rule.
"Clearly you have defeated him. I told you. You have won."
The guard brought Mark and Bryan out of the keep, still manacled.
"Remove the manacles," the queen said.
His friends' eyes widened when they saw Brett.
"You came for us when you have to know she means to kill you," Mark said, frowning.
"Of course. You would have come for me if you'd had a way to get here." Brett knew they would have been upset when Ena gave him up as payment to the phantom fae. "Some of my friends will return you to the hawk fae kingdom." He was glad he could call Ena and her dragon brethren friends. What if one of them was even a relation? He was dying to know. He said to the queen, "Why would I want to work for you after you wanted me dead? After you murdered my grandfather and parents? And murdered Freya's parents. Most likely countless others also."
Without another word, he flew to the dais as a human, with only two thoughts in mind, of manacling the queen so she couldn't use fae transport to vanish, and to take her prisoner. He would remove her from here so that the people could have a new ruler and hopefully, a better existence.
His action startled her so, she wasn't prepared for what he did next. He grabbed the manacles that one of his friends had worn and attached it to her wrist. That was enough to stop her from going anywhere. Then he said, "It's time for a new ruler. Maracose?" He hoped the queen's advisor would be agreeable. He seemed to have a kindness that the queen didn't have, and Brett hoped he'd have the people's best interests at heart.
Maracose smiled. The queen was scowling, then she said, "You'll pay for this. Release me at once!"
"We will take you to your new kingdom," Brett said, and without even asking her to do anything, Ena dropped down beside him still in her dragon form.
"Would you take the queen and I'll take her defeated mage?" Brett asked.
"Gladly," Ena said.
Alton and Halloran dropped down beside them.
"Do you want your sword back?" Brett asked the guard one last time.
The guard shook his head. "You have earned it and our gratitude."
"We could use you as our mage here," Maracose said.
Freya agreed.
"I had a home with the dragon fae before I came here. I will return there, but I thank you for the offer." Brett had decided he was going to marry Ena. Her home would truly be his then, he thought, smiling. But he didn't care about the home as much as he cared about her. Though learning who his parents were was too important also. That was the hardest part for him when he'd been a prisoner of the phantom fae queen. He had wanted to be with Ena, and he had worried about how she was faring. He'd also wanted to be with her staff. Every one of them was just as much family.
"You are welcome to visit us anytime. You and your friends," Maracose said.
"Thank you. I would love that at a future date."
"Thank you," Maracose said. "A soothsayer predicted a dragon would be the queen's downfall, which is why she killed any dragon that she could if they ventured within an archer's range over her lands. Who would have ever thought a human fae seer who was really a phantom fae and mage would be the one to bring her down as a dragon?"
"Certainly not me." Brett had thought if he could ever master his mage skills, he would love to come back and take her down. But he'd never imagined being able to call on a dragon, and having Ena and her friends come to his aid. "Take care, Freya."
"Take care of yourself, Brett." She gave him another hug, and he thought she really wished he wasn't going. But his home was with Ena.
He shifted and went after Zane. He carried him in his talons and led the way back to the hawk fae kingdom while Ena carried the queen, and Alton and Halloran had hold of Mark and Bryan. After they passed through the phantom fae territory and reached N
o Man's Land, Brett swooped down to the sandy soil, the sandworms quiet for the moment. He set Zane down on the soil. They wouldn't eat an "inanimate" object. They went for blood and were attracted to heat.
Ena set the queen down next to him. She couldn't do anything but run for the safety of the phantom fae land that bordered the edge of No Man's Land. She would never make it. Heartbeats, the rush of the blood through her veins, and her body temperature would call to the sandworms.
After she had killed any number of people, and how she intended to do the same to him and even Freya, he wasn't about to let her escape her fate.
They left the two of them in the sadny soil and continued on their way to Ena's castle in the hawk fae kingdom.
Brett was glad he could be one of the dragons helping to move the dragons' treasure to the caves where they stored them. Except for Ena, who stored her treasure in her dungeon. She said it was because she didn't like to pay guards to protect her treasure, but he believed it was because she loved to sort it into piles and enjoy it.
Now it was time to settle into Ena's castle, but Brett had to learn if he was related to Ena or not.
"Do you have…genealogy records?" he asked, as he was sitting with Ena at the meal.
Cook and the housekeepers had served turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, peaches, and cottage cheese with cherries on top. He loved the meals that Cook prepared.
Ena sat back in her chair. "We do. But it doesn't mean that you're one of our local dragon shifters. A few other dragon colonies exist in different parts of the world. Three of my suitors and several more are from various locations. We have to have new blood, you know."
"I haven't seen any golden dragons here. Would that be something that shows up in the genes?"
"It could. Though my brother and I have scales of a different coloration and so did our parents. It's like a friend of mine who has green eyes when both her parents have very dark brown eyes. Her maternal grandmother had green eyes, so that might be what happened in your case."
What if he was related to someone here? What if he still had family? He was hopeful that he did. But what if he was related to one of Ena's suitors? He figured the guy wouldn't like it when he had every intention of pursuing her.
"We'll help you learn the truth," Muriel said brightly. "We have archives at the library."
"Oh, yes," Cook said. "First order of business. If your family was from here, we'll find the pedigree."
Mark and Bryan were shaking their heads.
"I can't believe you can turn into a dragon," Mark said.
"Me either," Bryan said. "You've got to go back to our world and make an appearance at school."
The idea sounded like fun. First official date with Ena? He glanced at Ena to see her take on it.
She shrugged. "Works for me. But I've got some assignments to take care of, and I won't have time to go with you. For your first time, you shouldn't go by yourself. What if you got stuck there?"
"I sure wish I was a dragon shifter," Mark said. "And a wizard."
"Paladin," Brett corrected him.
"Oh yeah, wow. Here I always wanted to be an elf mage, figuring they had the neatest powers, and you always chose to be a paladin. Well, you got your wish for real." Mark finished off his turkey leg and served up some more mashed potatoes and gravy. "And more with being a dragon shifter also."
After they cleared the table, Ena said, "I want to speak with you in private, Brett."
Everyone smiled a little at the two of them.
"Absolutely," Brett said, smiling. He knew it had to be something important. Not something like courting her, but he liked that everyone thought that's what this was all about.
He and she went to her parlor and took seats on sofas opposite each other.
"I wanted to talk to you about something." He had it in mind that since he seemed to be a dragon shifter, he should pull his own weight and help pay some of the bills by doing the kind of missions Ena did. With Mark and Bryan also living here, the cost was ever increasing for food. And no way did she need three gardeners to care for her grounds. "I forgot that Mark and Bryan are gardening for you now."
"You're the master gardener, so you are in charge of them."
"But as a dragon shifter, I want to do what you do."
Ena smiled. "You want to earn the kind of treasure that I do. But you would have to learn the trade."
"Right. You can be my teacher. I need to earn my own way if I'm going to court you. How will I ever be able to buy you the most extravagant gifts when I am still trying to pay off my boots and other clothes?"
She smiled. "You intend to buy my affection?"
He chuckled. "That's just part of the deal."
"All right. I'll agree if you follow my lead on everything. I don't want you getting yourself into trouble and then getting me into trouble."
"Agreed."
"I was going to tell you that I'm going on a mission first thing in the morning, and to…well, watch out for my staff. But since you'll be going with me, if you wish it, I'll just leave Ryker in charge as usual."
"I'm all for it."
"Okay, I've already got three jobs lined up. The first is to rescue a fae who's been taken hostage by a group of fae seers. We only know the one teen's name. I have the case because I can hide my fae aura and don't leave a fairy dust trail so fae seers don't recognize what I am. I usually don't go to the human world. Because of rescuing Princess Alicia, the word has gotten out that fae seers won't see me coming. You could be the bait."
"What fae aura do I have?" he asked, intrigued.
"Come to think of it, you don't seem to show one either. I would have known that you were a fae."
That had Brett worried. What if he was related to Ena because of this similarity?
"Does your brother also have this ability?"
"No. It's…" She studied Brett as if she suddenly had the same thought as he did. "No. It's really rare. It's amazing that you have that ability, too." Then she frowned. "You still can't fae transport?"
"Not yet."
"Are you certain?" She gave him a suspicious look. "You're not just saying so because you want to hold me close, are you?"
He laughed. "No. I want to be able to do both, of course."
"You know the rule is we have to eliminate fae seers when they've taken a fae hostage."
"You know it's a trap."
"Right. This will be perfect. You've been a 'human' for years so you know the scene. It's a different location, different school from yours. But the question is can you terminate fae seers, having believed you were one before?"
"If they're trying to murder an innocent fae."
"Any fae is innocent if they are captured by fae seers."
Brett rolled his eyes.
"Don't do that. It's sooo…human."
"The fae go to our…the human world to cause mischief. They break up engaged couples, steal things from people, and wreak all kinds of havoc. They're not innocent."
"Humans misplace things all the time. I do, too. Do I blame it on other fae? Of course not. As for humans breaking up, if a fae can do that to a couple, they would never have lasted through a marriage."
"The human world is the playground for the fae."
"Not all do such things. Take me, for instance. I rarely go to their world. My saving Princess Alicia was crucial, but normally, I don't go there. Especially not to play with the humans. So can you help eliminate the fae seers holding him hostage, if it means protecting and freeing the fae?"
Brett hoped he could. He wondered if he'd ever see himself as a true fae and not as a human fae seer. "I'm sure I can."
She looked skeptically at him.
"Where are they located?"
"Portland, Maine. We've had word that at least two boys and a girl are fae seers, but we only know the name of one of the boys."
"Which kingdom is the fae from?"
"Dragon. Though I've rescued other kinds of fae before. You might not want to rescue him. In w
hich case, I'll leave you home for a more suitable mission."
"Who is it?"
"Duke Tully."
"The dragon fae who takes highborns hostage for money? Not his own kind or he'd be in trouble with the ruling family. But I've heard King Tibero got kickbacks from Duke Tully's ransoms."
"Right. But Queen Viviana wants good relations with her neighboring fae realms so she said if he takes anyone hostage any further, he'll be hanged. So he went to the human world to steal items of value that the fae would love to have and pay handsomely for. That way he could continue to enjoy his lifestyle."
His lifestyle? As a forest dweller? "I thought he lived like Robin Hood in the woods, no home but the trees, except he didn't give to the poor."
Ena shook her head. "He's a duke. He has a castle and he slips off to it whenever he wants more royal treatment."
"Wait, you said he's innocent. No way."
"Okay. You don't have to go with me on this case."
"He was stealing from humans. He's taken tons of important people hostage for money—even Ritasia and her husband-to-be."
"When the fae seers caught him, he hadn't been doing anything but enjoying a Starbucks peppermint mocha. Apparently, it's something he really loves when he visits their world."
"Okay." Brett could see Ena was dedicated to saving the fae no matter what his criminal background. He was curious about payment though. "Who's paying us to bring him safely home?"
"His men. He's got the money."
"Ill-gotten gains." Brett couldn't help but say it.
She ignored Brett's comment. "The queen said he must get honest employment the next time because she doesn't want to risk any fae's life for his if he insists on continuing to commit crimes to support his lifestyle."
"All right. Have you planned this all out?"
"We've been busy and I had to set this business aside, but yes. We go to the school tomorrow and look for these three kids. I thought you could be bait. But it won't work because you don’t show any fae aura."
"Someone else then? One of your staff?"
"I don't want to risk their lives. Some fae seers are horribly ruthless."
Brett agreed. "Another dragon shifter?"