Guardian (18 page)

“Follow me,” the seer said.

When we went through the same ceremony again, I didn’t think it would do anything different.  Coming home to find my mother alive, the seer searching us out, and now watching my girl be tormented was not my idea of fun. 

“Now, recite the prayer again, and have the crown placed on Grace’s head all in the order the magic requires of the new queen.” 

Grace did.

“To all those behind and beyond

To all those to come

I give my life to the Fey

I relinquish my own

The union I will bond

Each season to the next

I’m bound to you.”

I was terrified, overwhelmed, and amazed all at the same time. 

Her eyes.  They were the color of clovers on the sunniest day of the year, with slivers of yellow running through them.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Several things happened at once.  Altheon and my mother left.  Grace said something to me.  Um...something about what just happened.   “I don’t know.  It’s all new to me too,” I told her.

She closed her eyes.

“Don’t close them.  I want to see them.”  I was in awe of her courage, her recent boldness, her willingness to take a leap of faith, her audaciousness in more than just caring about me, her pure compassion, and most definitely her eyes.  Wow didn’t seem enough here.

She was self-conscious about it, but I wasn’t about to shy away. 

“What do they look like?” she asked.

“Like two emeralds sparkling in the sun.  It’s very distracting.”

“Good distraction or bad one?”

“Oh, very good!”  Good enough to devour her whole at the moment.   

“How?” she dared to lower her voice, driving me to the brink.  Didn’t I hit that several times over already?

She looked intently at me and I rocked back and forth. “You’re doing something to my head, my queen.  You’ll have to stop or I’ll have to punish you.” 

Men can say all they want, but women rule us.  Ask and she shall receive.

“Punish me?  But I’m the queen.  I think not.  Besides, I didn’t think I could affect your mind.  I didn’t try any mind mojo just now,” she teased.

“You can’t the way you’re thinking.  But rather, you can’t believe how incredible you look right now.  What it’s doing to me.”  I looked from the crown to her eyes again.

“You say that a lot, you know,” a smile sliding up her mouth.

“It’s true,” we held onto each other for a long time neither willing to end it.  “I think we better move before the morning comes,” I told her at some point.  More than anything I wanted to avoid walking her to her room to sleep alone, but in the end I did.  Danella liked to have killed me herself checking on me, checking on her seven times in the night to be sure she slept.

I was lurking around her door for the last sunup hour waiting for her to emerge.  It was an hour and a half since her usual time to awaken and I paced in worry.  Suddenly, I heard her scream.  Loud.  I burst in the room attacking the object above my Grace. 

“Ian, what are you doing here?” Grace’s voice surfaced in my mind like a dark angel from the treetops. She scrambled in the bed.  “Ian, its Danella.  She would never hurt me.”

I took a deep breath and dismissed Danella.  I shot my hand up at her when she didn’t leave immediately.   

“What on earth are you doing?” I heard Grace’s voice again like it was distant from me.

“You needed saving, or so I thought.”  I tried to bring myself down.  Douse my fear. 

“Ian, you were about to save me from the fate of a curious lady’s maid.  What saving is that?”  She smiled up at me.  Medicine in itself.

She was still in the bed.  I glanced at where the sheets covered her strategically and my imagination kicked in.  I searched the bed for her robe and found it.  When I looked to her face again, she had followed my eyes.  She had an idea of where my mind was traveling.

“Do you need saving now?” She giggled barely!

Or maybe she knew
exactly
where it went.

I took her words in careful to not say what was really on my mind. “I’m sorry I barged in.  I only wanted to…” I let the words trail off changing what the line of thought started to release.  “I’ll be going now.” 

Standing up straight again would be impossible for the rest of the day.

“Don’t go.  I so rarely ever seem to get to be alone with you.  Maybe you could just sit with me and talk.”

She didn’t know what she was saying.  “Grace, with every bone in my body I want to stay right now, but if I do, I’d not be able to just sit and talk with you. Will you join me for breakfast?” My voice cracked.  I couldn’t look again.

“Yes.”   

I left.  I turned fast when a squeal emerged from her room.  Danella was at her door attempting to bar me off.  “Master Ian, she is only trying to release the tension of having you in her room like you were.  She is in no danger.”

I nodded.  My inner caveman was happy.  The beast who wanted something else was not.
 

The entire table made noises in an undetectable direction behind me.  I was dying to see her. 

When I regarded their sighs it was like falling in love with her all over again.  It wasn’t the glued to her dress, the way her hair silked down her cheeks, tor he beauty she always held.  It was the eager way she looked for my approval, the search for me to see her, the love she showed in her eyes for me.  Me.  I smiled.  She smiled.  I looked like an idiot staring.  The audience behind us watched as I fumbled with my chair and then hers.  I moved over a bit to be able to see all of her. 

The seer bent beside her and whispered that she was beautiful.  He was gone just as fast heading to join my mother as he had been for months now.

“I should have been first to tell you that,” I whispered fiercely.

“Don’t take so long next time.”

“You don’t realize what you do to my tongue.” 
I said that aloud?

She leaned into me sending a loud whiff of perfumed hair against my face, “Sometimes I feel like the little girl in me is screaming in fear.  I want to know what to do next.” 

I said the first thing that cuffed my brain, “I assure you, you don’t look like a little girl.” Then I reassured her, “Gives them hope.  Let’s them see how amazing you are.”

“Gives them gossip is more like it,” she told me. 

“That too,” I smiled.  I was in love with those rumors.  Let them come.  The more the merrier. All the silly females that ever liked me were only after the status.  Now they were moaning all the time their jealousies.  I stood and called the room to attention enjoying their nonsense about the beauty beside me.  “Will all rise and bow to your queen.” The whole room stood and bowed. 

The topic was now—US.  

After a long, disturbingly silent breakfast, well for the two of us, my mother came up and asked to talk with me alone. 

I searched Grace’s eyes for a way out of it hoping for something, anything to avoid that woman’s scrutinizing pity or worse, to order me to do something unethical to our court.  Instead she misunderstood my need and said, “Go on.  Don’t wait for my permission to do things.  Besides, she’s your mother.  Always obey your mother,” she tsked at me.  

I knew Grace didn’t know my mother very well.  She may not be the queen, but she’ll still hand out orders.

“Son, you can’t go on like this.  Not with the current events.  You have to ask her for her hand in marriage now.  She can’t be a queen with a prince by her side.  It isn’t natural.”

“But we only just professed any love to each other less than a week ago.  And well, we’re still young.  Very young! I don’t think…”

“Young or not, you’ll not disgrace the court by announcing, Queen and
Prince
.  That’s worse than an early marriage.  And you were bound together.  You cannot break the bond. You two are obviously enamored with each other.  The idiots at that table can see it, why can’t you?   You can at least announce a wedding, even if it isn’t soon.  The Fey do not think lightly of a mischievous queen. I do not think that I’ve ever seen you like this in your hundred years, son.  I see the way you look at her.  The two of you are already married in the mental sense.  Now, either you take care of it, or I will.”

She would, I felt. 

“I will.  But you let me do it my way.  Don’t you hurt her in any way! I’ll protect her from anything, including you.” I fumed but controlled the incessant anger. I’d only spoken to her this way one other time defying her orders and forcing a different course that she didn’t deem a law.  The day they tried to take Grace.  And that day Kinsler and Pike almost lost their lives.  I’d destroyed his face that day even if it healed.  The Unseelie craphead still felt the pain.

“Understood,” was all she said and left. She didn’t expect anything less.  Needless to say, her mission was accomplished.

I stayed plastered where I stood a little longer to gain control then returned to the table.  Grace was gone.

She wasn’t in the garden. The water sprites giggled, so I gave them my attention.  “What?” I dragged the word out knowing they wouldn’t let me go until they had their voices noticed.  There were two of them bobbing up and down in the water.  “Your green-eyed queen was here and gone.”  With no new knowledge attained I smiled to show appreciation and went back to the table.  I’d not stopped long enough to breath in days.  This girl seemed to befuddle my mind, “hypnotized” or not.  She’d changed me in so many ways.  I just couldn’t focus with her or without her.  I needed to clear my mind, yet I needed to be with her.  Going to the weapons range to shoot would improve my demeanor even if it took a thousand arrows.  I’d find her after that. 

I’d shot over a hundred arrows before I’d finally felt the anger melt away. I was sweating like never before aching to get the traces of Grace out of my system.  It just didn’t work.  I wiped my forehead, cursed the hair in my eyes, and settled on shooting three lucky shots more.   Then I’d find Grace.

I reached back to draw the long bow, aim, and swoosh!  It was a sound like no other.  My heart pounded faster at the sound of another arrow finding its mark.  What I wouldn’t do for a good round in the sword ring at the moment, but it was too early and too long since Pike had ventured my way for a rumble.  Grace was too much of a distraction to have time for that, and he would never offer with her here.   When I drew the next one holding my arms at the needed length, a cold hand banded my bare waist.  I recoiled bending the attacker’s arm under their rib cage angry as heck that I didn’t sense the intruder or why my guard on duty didn’t stop them. When she yelped in pain, I let go and watched her fall to the ground. 

“Damn—, I’m so sorry.  Grace, you can’t sneak up on me like that.”  I put my hand out to lift her and saw how filthy I was.  I cursed and simply stared down at her.  My sweat landed on the skirt of her gown she wore.  I cursed my stupidity.

I held my hands out anyway not wanting to seem callus and rude though I already had that branded on my forehead.  I recoiled again when my hand tried to wipe the sweat off her skirt only my brain thought it was like touching her skin the material was so thin. 

“I didn’t know I could,” she told me as her eyes drew downward to where my jeans were riding low, “You’ve always known I was coming.  I’ll remember next time when you’re drawing your bow and so focused that my presence is unknown...to warn you first.  Besides, I was enjoying the hot, sweaty, shirtless look.  It becomes you.  On second thought, I’ll sneak up more, but watch in secret.” I yanked my shirt down. 

“What are you doing here?” I couldn’t give her the smile she craved right now.

“Looking for you!  Do you think you could teach me how to do that?  I think that I might be better at defending myself with a “long range weapon” I believe it’s called, am I right?”

I told the guards to leave. 

“Of course.” I couldn’t tell her no.

Eric turned and asked Grace before exiting if he could be of any assistance.  I wondered why he made a point to ask, but let it go when she turned him away.

I toweled the sweat off my face and waited till she moved into position.  She’d done this before and I couldn’t figure her reasoning for this blatant display of power over me, but I complied trying to make her happy.  She adjusted for an extremely long time.  The enemy would have her already dead and buried.   Buried!  I buried the thought.  My neck stretched side to side to release whatever tension I could.  My slimed arms touched her delicate ones making me have second thoughts. 

“Where do I put my elbows?"

I stiffened when her skin touched mine again, but helped her move the one misguided left elbow back down closer to her waist.  

The arrow missed its target and Grace fell against me.  I stayed there, dirty or not.  “Grace,” I whispered in desperation. 

Her finger went to her lips as she turned to me, “Shh!” She left.

I didn’t understand why she came or why she left, but watched her go and didn’t stop her.  I didn’t have the foggiest idea how to talk to her right now with what was in my mind.  How does any man ask a question like that the right way?  A million things could go wrong.  And were we really ready for that yet? 

Marriage?  We, for all intents and purposes, just started,
dating
.  And we hadn’t done that yet either.  I finished putting away the weapons pack and raced in to clean up.  It was almost time for noon meal.