Kiss of the Dragon (4 page)

I could also tell how many fairies were here, how many were blue skinned, or red or green or yellow. How many weapons were visible, who held what and then how those armed fairies could potentially act. What threat they could pose to me. It was like my normal Nosferatin skills upon walking into a room, but magnified by fifty, a hundred even, and all of this done while I was twirling at a speed that rivalled a child's spinning top.

It was mind boggling, but despite this revelation, I couldn't stop spinning. As long as the fairies chimed I was theirs. I never did take nicely to being controlled and by now several minutes had passed, and I really felt Aliath had made his point.

I got it, he's powerful and quite capable of making me jump through hoops. I had been displaying my courage, my abilities as a Nosferatin, in an attempt to trap him in my web whilst confined to my room.
He
was now shouting to the world that he was a bigger spider. A bigger threat.

I couldn't stop spinning, I was subject to that enthralling chime, but part of spin fighting is landing a blow. The dance doesn't stop when I come out of my spin. I am still dancing when I approach my target, just not in a twirling fashion anymore. Aliath wanted me to spin for him, he'd used the chimes to pull this reaction from within. I could have sung, done a tap dance, rollie-pollied my way across the marble floor - if
that
was what he wanted. But he had wanted to see me spin fighting. He had wanted to see that talent that can cause my enemies to quake in fear, displayed and
controlled
by him. The skill that I had exhibited so meticulously in my room, watched and coveted by him from the shadows. He didn't realise, though, that part of the dance was the final blow. Stake meets chest. The performance wouldn't finish until we were all coated in dust.

There'd be no dust now, but I could still land a blow. I didn't want to attack him - how would
that
help my cause? Besides, I was unarmed. My bare hands alone would not be enough to kill the Fairy King, nor did I want them to be. Despite his show of prowess right now, I still had hopes Aliath wanted me as an ally. But I could use the magic of the chimes to finish my dance, to complete my spin. It just needed focus and determination - and conveniently, a hell of a lot of courage.

I blocked out all other sensations - not an easy task - and concentrated on the execution of the next
dance
motion. The final step to my spin fighting routine. Just like the rituals I'd been repeating in my chamber for the past week, spin fighting is ingrained within me. I could practically do it in my sleep. Or when under the magical influence of a fairy chime.

I waited for a variation in the chiming; an increase in speed, a hitch to the tone. It took forever. I couldn't break my current spin without some sort of change to stimulate my actions. I was on a perpetual loop; same spin, same speed, same direction, until the chime dictated differently. I was at Aliath's mercy, I'd known this, but not as much as I knew it right now, as I waited for a shift in that blasted, yet beautiful, chime.

Finally, it took on a resonant tone, slightly lower, slightly faster, an altogether most unexpected variance than before. It was perfect, I needed increased speed to break from the spin, like the force of an object flung out of orbit from the moon. But the lower tone, the deeper echo provided the exact combination required to direct my movements towards Aliath, but also to slow down enough not to rock him off his chair. It wouldn't last long, a split second, a moment out of time, before the chiming made me spin again.

I spun out from my current trajectory and twirled through the space towards the
Dökkálfa
King. It happened so quickly, the guards didn't have time to intercept. One second I was spinning and they were all delighting in my puppet-on-a-string actions, the next I was perched on his lap with my arms around his neck. The force of my arrival making him twist slightly in the seat where we both now sat.

The chimes stopped immediately. Silence reigned. Well, silence from the fairies, I was breathing too rapidly to be silent at all. Aliath sat stunned, his eyes flashing all manner of shades of green, his hands automatically resting on my hips in an effort to stop my forward motion. There was a gentleman under that fairy guise, he hadn't wanted me to tip off the chair and land on my arse.

"Your Majesty," I said breathlessly. "That was fun!" I smiled winningly at him, still frantically trying to catch my breath and slow my heart. I hadn't realised how far my body had been pushed, spots were flashing in the corner of my eyes, accompanied by a haziness that could only mean one thing. I was about to black out from exhaustion.

Had Aliath planned to dance me until I fell at his feet? He'd almost succeeded. And now what would he do? I had interrupted his plans, I had fought back.

I took a deep breath in and held his gaze, the knowledge that I had bested the
Dökkálfa
King giving me courage. I grabbed that courage and wrapped it around me, let the feeling build inside me, swelling higher and higher, filling me up, washing over the sides of whatever shields emotions naturally have. I knew the instant Aliath felt it, the moment he could no longer ignore it. He closed his eyes, let out a breath through parted lips and pulled me closer.

I felt him feeding on me immediately. I recognised the sensations from when he had fed on the same emotion - my courage - before. I felt weightless, drifting serenely on a cloud, floating in a buffer of wellbeing and calmness. Aliath didn't hurt when he fed, he set you free. I moulded against his chest, my body becoming compliant, relaxing further and further the more he fed from me.

I don't know how much time passed, but not enough to make me pass out or fall asleep. I became aware of movement around us, the
hyrða
guards had formed an impenetrable wall. Not to protect Aliath from me, strangely enough. But to shield him, while he fed, from the prying eyes of the rest of the
Dökkálfa
Royal
Court. I hadn't expected that. The
Ljósálfar
had been very open in their enjoyments. Sharing Light, considered an intimate and sacred thing, was done without shyness. Much of how they interacted intimately was done on display for all to see. The
Dökkálfa
obviously did not behave in the same fashion as their fairy cousins. Another point in their favour as far as I was concerned. Even if Michel had helped to lower my walls and encouraged me to participate in public shows of affection more now than ever before, I was still a very private person, when it came to things that made me blush.

And the way Aliath held me right now was making me blush. He was no longer feeding, but his sated look and steel hold around my waist, made me realise he had gained more than just a full belly from feeding off my courage. He wasn't ready to release me, which was a good and a bad thing. I would have preferred a little distance, entirely too uncomfortable for my liking right now. But, if he kept me close, then maybe he wouldn't punish me for my transgressions today. And lets face it, I had just challenged the new
Dökkálfa
King. How could he
not
use me as an example to the rest of his Court?

But what choice did I have? Spin until I passed out? I'm not that kind of girl. I'm Nosferatin. I fight back when cornered. I may have won the first round, getting Aliath to let me out of my cell. But right now, I was fairly sure I had just given up any ground I had gained. I had acted as Aliath would have expected, it may have caught him off guard, but it wasn't something I wouldn't normally have done.

Had he predicted I would make this kind of mistake? Had I just walked right into his trap?

He'd let me know he was the bigger spider, that he had the bigger web. I didn't truly believe him then. With hindsight, I was forced to change my opinion of that now.

I sat motionless on his lap, waiting for the spider to attack. But he didn't. He simply held me tightly and firmly, and leaned back in his chair with half lidded eyes.

Obviously my courage had tasted divine.

I glanced around our make-shift hollow, a private haven in the middle of a fully occupied throne room. Not that Aliath was sitting on his throne, but I was sure that's what this room was. Where he received his Court and any visitors. Everything on display with a good dollop of fairy pomp and circumstance.

I had obviously been the entertainment. I wondered what his intentions were once my performance was completed. I could hear the fairies in the room talking quietly, calmly, as if his moment of indulgence hidden behind his
Hyrða
guards was all very acceptable. No one seemed to be surprised. Not even Aliath, if his relaxed and happy demeanour was anything to go by. But I couldn't help feeling I had thrown a spanner in the works, upset his plans. Me sitting on his lap and him feeding off me had not been on the cards.

So, the longer it took for him to act, the more unsettled I became. Aliath was not one to be indecisive. I had never seen him hesitate to make his move before. But this moment, this halt to the proceedings because of something I had done, was unusual. Disconcerting even. My heart began to beat faster and my breathing was determined to keep pace.

It took everything in me not to outwardly show my fear.

Finally, after several minutes, Aliath shifted beneath me.

"You must be careful, Princess," he whispered against my ear. "I may be quite replete, but if you continue to wantonly throw your courage about, I can not be held responsible for my behaviour."

His words took me so much by surprise, I didn't temper my response.

"I am what I am, Aliath and you are more than capable of saying no."

His chest rumbled beneath my body as he quietly laughed at what I had said. I crossed my arms before me. He laughed a little more.

"We have a problem," he said, once he'd managed to get himself more or less under control.

I twisted to look at him, thinking a small glance at his face was all I'd do, but his eyes were flashing those hypnotic greens again and it was several seconds before I realised I'd lost all train of thought. He was smiling at me, watching my reaction, smirking at how easily I had fallen under his spell.

Crap. I was better than this. Way better. I flicked my glance away when he let me and looked resolutely at the floor. It was marble and patterned prettily with colourful gems here and there. Everywhere about them the
Dökkálfa
were determined to have colour and light.

"You said a problem," I reminded him, ensuring no questions were asked. It was harder than it should have been. I was feeling exhausted all of a sudden and I was sure it wasn't entirely to do with the frenetic spin dance I had just done. This exhaustion was familiar though, but right then, faced with Aliath and his green eyes and his obvious agenda, I was having trouble focusing on anything other than not returning his gaze.

He shifted me again on his lap and I knew the repositioning was intentional. Aliath had never shown an attraction to me before, in fact when we first met he had been appalled to have to work alongside me at all. Somewhere along the way we had formed a type of friendship, at least we had become allies. But my proximity right now, or watching me spin fight, or maybe the memory of tasting my courage, meant he was feeling rather amorous. I couldn't miss it and it just made me suck in a breath and freeze. He ignored my reaction.

"My court will expect me to punish you. You challenged me after all."

"It wasn't a challenge." At least not intentionally. "You requested a spin fight demonstration, part of the dance of spin fighting is to land the final blow. I was merely giving you the complete performance."

He was silent for a moment, digesting that I think.

"You would have been aware how my Court would react to such a movement."

"I had hoped to please them all. To entertain." It wasn't exactly the truth, but as I wasn't
Dökkálfa,
I could get away with a little white lie or two.

"Even so, to approach me at all was taking a risk. You could have approached one of the guards and still given the Court a performance that would entertain."

This was unfortunately true. But I couldn't allow him to think I agreed. I fumbled for a moment for an excuse, for a reason why I had chosen him, but my mind seemed to be getting more and more sluggish. I blinked rapidly trying to clear my vision and sucked in a couple of deep breaths to stop the headache that had started behind my eyes. Something was definitely wrong, but I didn't have time to consider what right now, I had to get Aliath back on side.

"I was drawn to you, Your Majesty. I could no further ignore you sitting there than stop the dance on my own."

I think he liked that, he shifted my body closer to his. It confused me slightly, Aliath was better at playing Court politics than this, yet right in this instant he was reacting and not thinking his responses through. Then it dawned on me why I might be so tired, he had consumed more of my courage than ever before, wearing me out and because of that, he was now compromised too, as though drunk on it. It made some sense, but there was something in the back of my mind that led me to believe that wasn't entirely correct.

Aliath's head came down to rest on my shoulder, an intimate gesture that the Grey Lord would never have performed before. It startled me so much that I looked down at him, thankfully his eyes were closed and I didn't get bamboozled by all that gorgeous green. He was breathing deeply though, matching my own efforts to get enough oxygen into my lungs. You'd think we had both run a marathon, but whereas I had an excuse, having been pushed to my physical limit to perform the spin moves, Aliath did not.

I bit my lip and looked around at the
Hyrða
guards surrounding us. None of them were paying us attention, their backs to us to provide privacy which seemed a most ridiculous thing to do. I could have been attacking Aliath. Unless, of course, I already had his trust.

I let a slow breath out at that thought and cleared my throat.

"Aliath, you seem unwell. Maybe I should notify one of your guards." No question, I was being vigilant in the way I spoke with him. But I knew my statement would garner a response.

He stiffened and sat upright, his arms tightening their hold.

"No, Princess. I am..." He shook his head. Then shook it again. "Do you feel it?" he asked, not only surprising me with asking a question at all, but by the words he spoke.

"I feel nothing," I replied honestly.

He looked at me, I avoided his eyes, but watched out of the corner of mine as he took in the pallor of my skin. His gaze roaming over my face as though searching for an answer.

"You are tired," he stated.

"You pushed me with that spin." I wasn't afraid to admit it, I was beyond tired now and if Aliath did trust me, I needed to trust in return that he would help hide my fatigue from those who would attack. I may have been on his side, but that didn't mean all of his Court were on mine. Their Queen had just died in my realm, some of them would not be happy with that even if she had been a bitch.

"Were you this tired when the spin was completed?" Another question. Something was definitely wrong with the
Dökkálfa
King.

I shifted away from his chest, but remained on his lap. He didn't seem in a hurry to release me, but I was thinking that was more for show now, than because he wanted me nearby. Along with a feeling that something was wrong, Aliath the Grey Lord had also returned.

"Not immediately," I said slowly, trying futilely to puzzle this all out. Aliath was more switched on than me, despite any residual effects of imbibing on my courage.

"So, this tiredness," he said just as slowly, "came on afterwards. Was it sudden?"

I thought back on it and decided it was, but it was also getting worse. I told him so.

He stood abruptly, the guards all coming to attention and swiftly turning to face us, their backs now to the room. I swayed in Aliath's arms, but thankfully he didn't release me.

"The Princess is under my protection," he said immediately to the head guard who stepped out of the circle to approach me. No doubt planning to take me from their King and throw me in the dungeons. He stopped as soon as Aliath spoke, no evidence of disquiet at what Aliath had decreed on his face. They were either loyal to their new King or thought him taking me under his protection made sense. Maybe because they assumed he'd wish to feed on me again?

"Gather the guards and secure the castle," Aliath demanded suddenly. That provoked a change in the
Hyrða
's
expression. Concern etched every plane.

"Is something amiss, Your Majesty?" For some reason the guard asking a question suddenly made me feel ill. I swallowed several times to avoid vomiting. A strange reaction. Sure, I'd drummed into myself the need to avoid questions when around fairies, so I was bound to baulk when someone asked one within my hearing. But to feel nauseous? That was overkill.

Aliath stroked a hand over my hip as though he knew I was deteriorating and he was trying to reassure with that simple, yet intimate act. The nausea increased and my legs weakened. A guard immediately brought a chair up beside the King and Aliath helped me to sit. He also took a seat on his own chair to the side and said a few curt words in Fey. Quietly, to just his head guard. Either because he didn't want me to know what the problem was, or because the problem was completely Fey.

I suddenly wondered if we were about to be attacked by the
Ljósálfar
. The war between the Light and Dark Courts was still waging. I was unsure how it had progressed as I had been securely locked away, but I
was
sure the entire time I spun and performed repetitive Weapon Dance moves in my room, Aliath had not been idly watching. He was now King of
Dökkálfa
, the war was now his to command.

It took all of my effort not to curl up in my comfy chair and fall asleep. I was so damn tired and all I really wanted was my bed, but if the Light Fairies were about to come charging into the castle I sure as hell wanted to be awake to see them coming.

A groan escaped my lips and I wrapped my arms around my stomach. Leaning forward slightly in the chair I open-mouth breathed through the increasing amount of bile trying to come back up my throat. I think I might have been panting.

"It won't be much longer, Princess," Aliath said softly off to my side. I couldn't answer him, I couldn't even turn to look at him. And he was no longer touching me, a distance had appeared between us, familiar, but right at this moment, unwanted.

I noticed Aliath raising his hand out of the corner of my eye, but didn't realise what the motion meant until Sora knelt at my side and brushed my hair out of my eyes. She placed a cool cloth across my forehead and started quietly whispering in my ear.

"Not long now, Princess." So similar to what Aliath had said, but it still made absolutely no sense.

"I need to go to my room. Lie down," I muttered.

"The King said it would be better if you are visible when they arrive. To avoid any confusion."

Her words meant something, but all I could do was focus on not bringing my lunch back up. Goddess, I felt awful. So exhausted, so weak, so fragile and the whole wanting to be sick thing was really not very nice. Any moment now and I was going to embarrass myself by hurling in front of the new
Dökkálfa
King. I groaned again.

And then out of desperation, pleaded with Aliath, "Please, can't you heal me?"

He held my gaze, no vivid greens there, but the intensity was too much. My lids flickered down and blocked out his stare.

"It is better if you do not owe me, Princess. We will be negotiating enough before too long."

I swore softly under my breath, sure he could still hear me, but not giving a damn. The bloody fairy could heal knife wounds and broken bones without having to be asked, but as soon as I am compromised by food poisoning - it was the only conclusion I could come up with - he not only refuses to heal me, but keeps me upright and out of bed. I had thought he might end up torturing me in his dungeon. It seemed he'd found a better method than the rack.

Time seemed to slip past and I just felt more and more wretched. Sora continued to wipe my head, saying soothing platitudes that I could no longer understand. She tried to offer me water to drink, but even a sip threatened to unleash everything I was trying my damnedest to hold inside. In the end she just fell silent - as silent as the rest of the room - and continued to wipe my forehead with the cloth.

At some stage the nausea ebbed and I sat up in my chair a little straighter. I still felt so,
so
weak. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand, but at least with the nausea passed, I could hold my head up again and look around the room. The
Dökkálfa
all wore expressions of nervousness and on some a little fear. But underlying it all was a strange sense of anticipation, almost excitement.