Queens Will Play

Everyone else was in the living room, except for Trillian and Shade, who were outside manning the grill. Morio was watching Maggie, and Hanna was taking care of Delilah’s daughters. As somber as the evening was, a quiet joy permeated the room. We were still together, battle scars bedamned.

“I got a letter from Rozurial. It came in today while I was sleeping,” Menolly said, holding up an envelope. “I thought I’d wait to open it until we were all together.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve heard from him. I wondered how he and Fraale are doing. I miss him, to be honest,” Delilah said.

“So do I,” I said. “But I miss a lot of things. Life moves on, I suppose. Everything changes. Hell, I’m not even sure of my own future. My advisors are so irritated with me that I’ve taken to avoiding them whenever I can.” I let out a snort. “I like to think I’m giving the crown an updated look, so to speak, and that doesn’t sit well with them. Or with Titania and Aeval.”

In fact, I’d gone from having weekly teas with the other two Fae Queens to being on the end of their constant ‘suggestions’ and backhanded compliments.

“You’ve always been a handful to deal with,” Menolly said, grinning. She picked up her bottle of blood, labeled ‘Pizza & Beer’. “At least Morio’s made a fortune with this stuff,” she added, lifting it in salute.

“He has at that.”

Morio had resisted patenting his spell for flavored blood for vamps, but after some introspection, he decided that he could set us up for life, as well as help out several charities. So, he applied for a patent on his formulation, received it, and now was raking in the cash.

“We’re set for life. He’s decided to sell the business, though.” I laughed. We didn’t need any more money, and the business took up more of his time than he wanted. He wasn’t a suit-and-tie guy in the least, so we’d all agreed that it was best he cash out while he could.

“Really?” Menolly asked. “Why?”

“It’s blown up, and he’s really not a businessman at heart,” I said. “Why, you want to buy it?”

Menolly thought for a moment. “Roman might be interested. It would make sense to have a vampire running a business solely marketed to vampires. I’ll ask him about it.”

“I don’t blame Morio,” Delilah said. “I’d get tired of all the administration, too.” She glanced over at the two girls playing on the kitchen floor as Hanna swept past. The sturdy Northwoman flashed us a cheery grin as she gathered them up and headed toward the stairs to put them to bed.

“I’ll be up to give them kisses soon,” Delilah said.

Over the years, Delilah had changed. She was no longer our timid Kitten. Ever since she’d given birth to Chamiya, actually—even before that, when she took in Astrid, she’d become a fierce Mama Panther. She was far stronger than she had ever been. Nobody messed with her family, and her family included Menolly and me.

“They’re adorable,” I said.

Astrid, her foster-daughter, and Chamiya, her daughter with the Autumn Lord, were night and day. Astrid was tow-headed and babbled away like a bird on a sunny morning. Chamiya had the dark hair of her father, and was quiet, like an autumn cloud-covered sky.

“They had a playdate with Jason and Tim’s kids the other day. Chamiya needs all the socialization I can give her, considering who she’s growing up to be. We have to make certain she grows up with a level head. I have no desire to be the mother of an entitled brat who can start fires with her mind,” Delilah said, looking worried.

“Can she do that?” Menolly asked, straightening her shoulders. “That’s not good.”

“Her father said it will be one of the powers she grows into. I’m praying she won’t develop her stronger powers until she’s older, but we’re keeping a close watch.” Delilah shrugged.

“That seems like a good idea.” While I might be married to three men, Kitten actually had one of the most complicated relationships out of all of us.

“Let’s see what Roz has to say.” Menolly opened the letter, shaking out the page. She scanned it. “I don’t believe this. Oh, crap.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Fraale left him,” Menolly said, looking up from the page.

“Cripes, what did he do?” Delilah said.

“Nothing, actually. It’s not his fault,” Menolly said. “Let me read the letter to you.”

My friends,

I hope this finds you well. And I hope you won’t mind if I show up on your doorstep again. There’s no good way to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. Fraale left me. Apparently, while Zeus could take Fraale out of the succubus, he couldn’t take the succubus out of Fraale. We tried to make it work, but we’ve both had issues.

Apparently, I’m no longer cut out for a farmer’s life. I haven’t been the most positive husband I could be. I tried, but we haven’t been happy for several months now.

Last month I came home from selling goods in the market and I walked in on her. She was fucking our neighbor. After he left, she broke down and admitted she’s slept with every man within a twenty-mile radius. She can’t get the itch out of her blood.

I guess being a succubus for so long changed her. It became her identity. Last week, she appealed to Zeus. I went with her because, regardless of how much it hurt me, we have too strong of a history to throw each other away.

Fraale begged him to change her back. He was in an unusually good mood, so he agreed. He asked me if I wanted to return to my former state as well. I thought long and hard. I’ll never love again. Not like I loved Fraale. And as an incubus, I can once again travel between the worlds at will, into the Ionyc Sea. I can’t do that as the Fae heritage I was born with. So, I took him up on his offer. We sold the farm, and I said goodbye to her this morning. We agreed it’s best we separate and move on with our lives.

I don’t blame Fraale. She tried. But after so many years, I guess you truly can’t go home again. We can never be the people we were before we ran afoul of the gods. The war with Shadow Wing also changed us. Anyway, if you’ll have me, I’m returning over Earthside. It turns out that the home you built, was the only real home I’ve ever known.

See you soon. –Rozurial

Menolly folded the letter and slid it back into the envelope. “So, Roz is returning.”

“Sometimes, the Hags of Fate roll the dice for you,” I said. “I wondered if they could make it work. It seemed such a distant possibility. I guess, they had to give it a chance. Roz is right, though. Sometimes you run so far and so fast that the trail of breadcrumbs vanishes and you’re lost in the woods.” I thought for a moment. “How long until he gets here?”

“I’m not sure,” Menolly said. “All he said was that he’s on the way. The letter arrived today, but it’s dated a week ago.”

“Where’s he going to stay?” I asked. Then it hit me. The studio on the land still stood. “The apartment we built for him and Vanzir is still unoccupied.”

“It might need a little work. It’s been empty for over a year. But Roz could put in some elbow work. He always pulled his weight in helping around the land,” Delilah said. “He can help with the yard while he’s here, and the gardens. He might as well make use of the farming experience he’s gathered.”

I headed over to the counter to cut another slice of cake. Hanna had made a raspberry chocolate torte. After a moment, I asked, “Do you ever feel like things are too quiet?”

“What do you mean?” Menolly asked.

I turned. “Take the past few months, I’ve felt like we’re living in an uneasy peace that’s teetering on a seesaw. A couple of weeks ago, I started having nightmares. I’ve been dreaming about Shadow Wing, and the battle. You know, reliving everything that went down. I know that it’s all over and done, but every time I wake up, I feel like there’s something else out there. That someone is lurking…waiting. Like the quiet before the storm.”

Delilah nodded. “I know that feeling, because I’ve had it as well. Especially when I’m in my panther form. And it started about three weeks ago.”

“I wake up from those nightmares feeling like someone’s out there, riding the Ionyc Sea, ready to spring into our world.” I hadn’t mentioned this to anybody.

At first, I thought it was simply a bout of PTSD from those desperate moments at the end, when all seemed lost and all hope had faded. I knew that all three of us dreamed about the battle against Shadow Wing, and of those we lost along the way. It had become one more thing to bind us together.

Menolly frowned, looking spooked. “I’ve been having similar dreams, when I walk through the world in my sleep. I’ll find myself in a field of mist, with hidden things lurking in the shadows watch as I pass by. And I know they’re waiting for me to step off the path, or to reach a clearing where I’m easy prey.”

“Make that three of us,” Delilah said. “I’ve had several dreams that I’m running through a jungle, and the vines in the trees start turning into constrictors. I can’t get away. Also, Chamiya has been waking up in the middle of the night, screaming. At first, I thought it was just night terrors but now, I don’t know.”

“Does she tell you what she’s been dreaming?” I asked.

Delilah shrugged. “She insists something’s hiding in the closet. Of course, Shade and I check, but we can’t find anything. And I don’t know if this is related, but I’ve been seeing shadows of the dead far more. The ghosts are as visible as some living stranger walking by.”

She turned to me. “Remember when we were caught in the war in Elqaneve? Remember the buildings falling around us in clouds of dust?”

I nodded. That was another memory that refused to stay in the past. “Yeah. I remember the smell of burning flesh,” I said, staring at my cake. “I remember the screams.”

“I’ve been seeing buildings fall in my dreams. I thought maybe I had developed some fear about the big one—the Cascadia quake all the seismologists say is overdue. But now that you mention it, there’s a feeling of dread accompanying the dreams, rather than memory. An anxiety of things to come.”

We sat there silent until Smoky peeked through the doorway. “The food’s ready,” he said. He caught my eye. “Are we holding the ritual after dinner?”

Standing, I nodded. “Down at Birchwater Pond, storm or not.”

He held his arm out, and I slid into his embrace. His other arm had been severed during the war, but the dragons had fashioned a holographic prosthesis that had substance, and it changed into his wing when he transformed, helping him balance. The disability had hit his ego hard, but compared to some of our losses, at least it had been fixable.

As we filed out of the kitchen, a ripple shivered down my spine. I glanced over my shoulder, and—out of the corner of my eye—I saw Chase standing there, watching us. I froze. It couldn’t be. Surely Delilah would have said something if he was still hanging around. But he caught my gaze and smiled. I swallowed my shock, nodded at him, and turned to follow the others outside.

***

So, introductions are in order. Some of you know me; others—not so much. I’m Camille D’Artigo. My sisters and I are half-human, half Fae. One day some years back, we showed up Earthside after a bad run-in with my former supervisor. By we, I mean Delilah—a two-faced werecat, Menolly—a vampire for almost twenty years, and me—a witch who can’t always control her powers. And now I’m queen of the Keraastar Knights, and one of the Fae Queens in the Triple Court.

At first, we thought we were here for a couple of years’ time-out, essentially stuck in the corner before being allowed to go home to Otherworld. Now, over seven years later, we’ve come to accept that we’re here for good. And we’ve all been through changes nobody should have to endure.

***

Trillian drove on the way home. He’d bought a black Cadillac Escalade, which fit all four of us, along with Maggie. Smoky and Morio sat in the back with Maggie in her car seat between them. I rode shotgun. As we headed for Talamh Lonrach Oll, back towards my Barrow, I thought about Roz. It had been over a year since he and Fraale had come to visit. One look at them and I suspected it wouldn’t work out, though I held out hope. Fraale had been unhappy—that had been apparent. And Roz had felt diminished since being changed back from the incubus we had known and loved.

“Things are starting to shift,” I said, breaking the silence.

Trillian let out a soft grunt. His long, silver hair was pulled back in a ponytail, reaching his waist. It shimmered against his skin, which was so dark he almost faded into the night. His frosty blue eyes glimmered in the faint light of the dashboard.

“I think he lived among humans so long that he lost site of what his former life had been. He expected to go back to a life that really wasn’t his to begin with,” Trillian said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m not talking about the farming part, though I think that was part of it,” Trillian said. “I mean, both Fraale and Rozurial were Fae to begin with. And the Fae aren’t naturally monogamous. Combine that with years of being a sex-crazy succubus…and incubus for Roz. Well, I don’t know how he expected monogamy after that. I think both of them were wearing rose-colored glasses.” Trillian shrugged. “Some of us can manage it,” he added, then looked at me. “And some can’t.”

I let out a soft laugh. “I see your point.”

My husbands—all three of them—were true to me, but I had always known I couldn’t choose between them. And they loved me enough to accept sharing me. In turn, I did my best to acknowledge the special qualities they possessed. Each one complemented a different side of myself and I tried to make certain they all knew they had a unique place in my heart, as well as my bed.

“I hope he’s not too disappointed,” Morio said.

My yokai-kitsune and I worked death magic together, and we had dived deeper into the realm of shadow ever since I became the queen of Shadow and Dusk. Morio had a wild, feral side to himself that Trillian, and even Smoky, didn’t. He could take me places with his magic that I couldn’t even reach on my own. Our sex life walked a razor’s edge, especially when he was in his full demonic form. Of the three, he was the most unpredictable.

“Of course he’s going to be disappointed,” I said. “But I have the feeling he always knew it was a long shot. He’s not that naïve.”

“Rozurial’s a romantic, even though he wouldn’t ever admit it,” Trillian said.

“You’re correct,” Smoky said. “I have the feeling he’ll regret asking Zeus to return him to his incubus state, though. One day, he’ll meet the right woman.”

“You think so?” I asked. “Some people aren’t cut out for monogamy or marriage,” I added. “Some people long for love, but when they get it, it becomes a burden. I think Roz might be one of those. And it’s fine, as long as they can accept who they are.”

“Whatever the case, his love life is none of our business,” Trillian said. “We need to support his choices, as long as he’s not hurting anyone.”

“So, what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” I asked. “I have to hold court in the morning. I hate holding court.”

And that was the absolute truth. I detested sitting in on petty grievances, and even more, I hated being in charge of other peoples’ futures. And for some of the cases that came before me, my decision made the difference between freedom or a life behind bars. Unlike Aeval and Titania, I didn’t hand out death sentences, not unless it was an open-and-shut case that involved severe abuse or assault or murder.

But it was part of my job. I had to pretend like I cared about somebody stealing a neighbor’s carrots, or someone planting their tree too close to the fence dividing properties. With the expansion of the Fae Sovereign Nation, we were starting to see a lot of squabbles in the courts.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Morio said, “but I just got a text from Vanzir asking if he can come over tonight. I told him sure, that we’ll be home in half an hour…Hmm,” he added.

“What is it?” Trillian asked.

“I don’t know. There’s something odd about his text—it’s more the feeling behind it than the actual text itself,” Morio said. “Tonight’s an odd night.”

“Speaking of odd,” I said, “did any of you see…” I hesitated, not sure whether to bring up the fact that I thought I’d seen Chase’s ghost.

“See what?” Trillian asked.

“I know it sounds crazy, but guys, I thought I saw Chase’s ghost while we were in the kitchen. He smiled and waved at me.” I shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing, but inside, I had the feeling there was something there that we needed to explore.

“Did you ask Delilah? She can see ghosts,” Morio said. “I didn’t notice, to be honest. I was trying to keep Maggie from ripping up a couple of books that were within her reach.”

“No, to be honest, I wasn’t sure she’d tell me the truth,” I finally said. “Working with the Autumn Lord has made her reticent over the years. I can see why his spirit would hang around—Delilah’s taking care of Astrid, after all, but something felt odd.”

“I think you need to have a talk with her,” Smoky said. “After all the three of you have been through, you shouldn’t be keeping secrets.”

“You’re right,” I said, deciding to give her a call when we got home. Kitten would just have to open up, because I wanted to know whether I was overworked or actually seeing things. “So, did Vanzir say why he’s coming over?”

“No. He said he’d meet us at the Barrow. But…something’s up,” Morio said. His black hair drifted around his shoulders.

“Mama Camey—Camey!” Maggie suddenly woke from her nap and began babbling away. She would be a toddler for decades still, but she was going through her first growth spurt and had begun to form sentences. Now, she babbled on nonstop when she was awake. “Home now?”

“We’re almost home, yes,” I said, turning around to give her a smile. “Are you hungry?”

She nodded. “Hung’gy. Ceeam drink?”

She still ate the supplemental food we’d started giving her since I first found her. I’d been fighting a demon on top of the Space Needle, and I managed to steal his lunch bag. Inside, I found Maggie, thankfully still alive. So, she’d come home to live with us.

All gargoyles took several hundred years to reach the point where they were ready to go off on their own, so taking her on had been a commitment. But her mother was dead, and we couldn’t give her back to her own people back in Otherworld. The woodland calico gargoyles wouldn’t have been kind to her, as far as we could tell.

“We’re almost there,” Trillian said.

I sighed. That meant bodyguards and handmaidens and all the trappings that had become an albatross around my shoulders. Maybe someday I’d adjust to them, but the whole entourage thing still felt foreign to me and weighed heavily on my shoulders. I just wanted to breathe sometimes, to run through a grassy field, with no one to oversee my every move.

“All right, back to reality,” I said as we pulled into the driveway. “Let’s go find out what Vanzir wants.”

***

As we entered my quarters, I tossed my cloak to Vine, my personal maid. I’d gone through four before I found one who fully clicked with my nature. Vine understood me, and she loved her job so she did everything she could to make royal life easier on me.

“Vanzir here yet?” I asked.

She nodded. “He’s in the living room,” she said. “Do you want to change first, and do you want some coffee?”

I shook my head. “Nope and nope, but send Miki in anyway. Vanzir might be hungry.”

“Right,” Vine said, turning away as the four of us headed into the living room.

Vanzir was there, looking even more like a David Bowie goblin-king lookalike. His platinum hair hung in a long shag, and his eyes still spun like a kaleidoscope, never landing on any one color. He let out a sigh when he saw us.

I was about to ask him what the hell was going on—the man looked wrecked—but my phone buzzed at that moment. I glanced at it to see a text from Aeval.

Frowning—Aeval and Titania seldom ever texted me—I scanned her message.

vanzir should be at your barrow by now. i’m warning you now: do not take his side, or you and i are going to have words. i know he’s your friend, but i’m warning you now: you know better than to make an enemy of me.

My breath caught in my chest. Aeval never made a threat on which she wasn’t willing to follow through. With a sinking feeling, I turned to Vanzir and asked him, “Dude, what the fuck did you do?”