Phantom Fae (23 page)

When they reached the landing, Muriel hurried to greet them, wringing her hands. She whispered, "He's in the parlor, pacing. He's really agitated, but oh my, he looks so much like an older version of Brett. They've got to be related. Cook gave him some tea and sweet cakes, but he's not eating or drinking."

"Thank you," Ena said to Muriel. "We'll see to him."

When they reached the parlor, Brett followed Ena into the room decorated in fine tapestries of scenes of lakes and rivers, each also depicting a flying dragon that was one of her ancestors. A small reading library sat in one corner, and velvet covered couches offered enough seating for twelve fae, though the dragon shifter wasn't sitting.

The man quit pacing and turned to face them. His eyes were as blue as Brett's and his hair the same rich brown as his. Then he turned to Ena and studied her for a moment, bowed his head in respectful greeting, and turned his attention again to Brett.

"You are Brett, son of Angelina, my daughter, and Baldwin, the phantom fae mage who captured her heart."

Brett took a deep breath and exhaled it, then extended his hand to him.

"I am Sol, the sun dragon, your grandsire." Instead of shaking Brett's hand, he took his hand and pulled him into a warm embrace. "Cato's administrator was wrong in telling you that I wouldn't wish to see you. I didn't know my daughter had a child before she died. She must have hidden you in the human world from Queen Everlee…and from me."

Brett hugged him back and Ena was fighting tears.

"Will you visit me? You have uncles, aunts, and cousins."

Brett was nodding. "Oh, yeah."

"I'll make arrangements then." Sol looked at Ena then and said, "And your…friend?"

"Lady Ena." Brett wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "My mate to be."

"Your grandson has also been honored with the title of duke." Ena slipped her arm around Brett's waist.

Sol smiled at the two of them. "I will enjoy getting to know the lady also. I bow to your title, though I am a prince, and you are also, Brett."

Ena was more than astounded.

Brett smiled down at her, and raised his brows in a cocky way.

"Don't let it go to your head," she said, laughing.

"You do know that I'm a mage also?" Brett sounded worried that his grandfather wouldn't like the news.

"I assumed it because your father and grandfather, Van, were master mages."

"And he can speak with real dragons." Ena wanted Sol to know how truly special Brett was.

"A family talent only a few of us have. I'm glad to hear the ability passed down to you, Brett."

"Will you stay with us and eat?" Ena asked.

"I would be honored," Sol said.

Ena couldn't believe how famously Brett got along with his grandfather, and yet as good-natured as he was, she shouldn't have been surprised. She enjoyed watching them as Sol shared about their family and Brett explained what he'd been doing in the human world.
She had appreciated that despite the sharing of information between the two family members, Brett had constantly made mention of Ena and how special she was to him. Sol had included her in the conversation also. She was most surprised to learn that Alton was a distant cousin to Brett.

"I still want to fly as a dragon near my old school, just for fun." Brett glanced at Sol, as though he needed approval from his grandfather.

"Will Ena go with you?" Sol asked.

Brett reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "Yeah. It wouldn't be any fun if she didn't come with me."

After finishing the meal and saying farewells, and well wishes, and setting a date to meet the rest of the family, Sol gave both Brett and Ena a heartfelt hug and Ena again was fighting tears. She was glad that Brett had family now.

After they saw Sol off, Brett turned to Ena. "I think he approves of me."

That set Ena off emotionally again. "Oh, Brett." She wiped away tears. She was a dragon shifter with a heart of iron, and this just wasn't like her. "He adored you. He couldn't have been more proud of you."

"Even though I'm part phantom fae and a mage?"

"It didn't matter to him. He loves you. You have even more family than that. It's truly a joyous time for you." But now that they knew for certain his family line wasn't related to her family line, she said, "Let's look for the woman's missing ring."

"What? I thought we needed to rest."

"It's the lady's wedding ring, and though I'm sure no one would come upon it in the woods unless he or she was a dragon. We can smell out treasures unlike any other shifter…well, I don't want to wait."

"I want to get you a ring," Brett said, as the ladies began clearing the dishes.

Ena motioned to the dungeon. "Tons of beautiful rings are in that big pile of treasure in the dungeon. Find the one you wish to bestow upon me. No need to spend hard earned money on a ring."

"It wouldn't be the same."

"I'll take you to the jeweler for the perfect ring, my prince," Ryker said.

She hadn't realized he'd been listening in. Though Ryker had told her often enough that eavesdropping to learn what the mistress of the manor wanted, or eavesdropping on the rest of the staff to learn of any troubles, was part of his butler duties.

"Prince." Ena shook her head and said to Brett, "You'll be impossible to live with now."

They left the keep, but before they went in search of the ring, Brett asked, "How will we find it?"

She pulled out a cloth and let him smell it. "We're like hunting hounds. We can smell the scent of the fae on this cloth, and we can smell gold and other treasures. It's just an instinctive ability. When we smell both the woman's scent on it and the gold, we'll know it's hers."

Then they shifted and like dogs after a bone, the two of them flew through the forest. They continued to search along the path that the woman said she'd taken when she'd been gathering herbs and lost her ring. Her wanderings ended up close to the phantom fae healer's cottage and when the scent trail led them there, Ena suspected the healer must have found the ring.

They landed in her front yard, and Ena called out, "We're here looking for a ring lost in the woods. It belongs to a woman who has asked us to seek it."

The healer peered out her window, then left her cottage. "This one?" She handed the simple gold wedding band to Ena. "I knew someone would come for it eventually, so I kept it here for safekeeping." She eyed Brett. "You survived."

"Yes, thank you for your aid. When I was so badly injured, why did you say that I wasn't one of you?"

"You are part of the ancient order of dragon. Sol is your grandsire, is he not?"

"He is. We just met him," Brett said. "How did you know?"

"Freya told me how you could understand her language as a raven. Only the old ones could do that. Not the phantom fae, but the ancient dragons. And you look so much like Sol, I assumed you must be kin to him."

"But I'm still a phantom fae, and a mage."

"You are more dragon than phantom fae." The healer looked at Ena as if emphasizing that was where his loyalties remained. "But you are welcome to visit me anytime. Blessings on you both."

Ena was glad the woman offered for them to visit. Even though she knew that Brett's heart was with the dragon fae, he still had left friends behind in the phantom fae kingdom. She wanted him to feel free to visit them anytime he wished.

"Shall we return the ring to the woman?" Brett asked, thanking the healer once more.

"She'll be most pleased. You don't have to come with me, if you don't want. I'll meet you back at the keep."

Brett shook his head. "I want to see her reaction when you give the ring to her." He wondered why Ena would not want him there when this was the best part of the job.

When they arrived at the woman's cottage at the edge of the woods, Mirabelle was so excited to see them, she threw her arms around Ena and hugged her.

Brett was amused to see Ena tense a bit before she hugged her back and offered her the ring.

"Are you sure you don't wish any payment, Lady Ena?" Mirabelle asked.

"I'm sure." Ena avoided looking at Brett. He thought she appeared a little sheepish, as if she didn't want him to know that she sometimes did work for free.

Brett was astonished at her action, glad that she had returned the ring without asking for payment. But he was sure going to tease Ena later.

"Don't say anything," Ena said about the payment issue. "Are you ready to have some dragon fae fun in the human world?"

"I am." Not once had Brett returned to the human world to be fae-like in a fun way. Mostly, he wanted to show off his dragon shifter abilities.

They headed for the human world, transporting there and landing on top of Brett's high school's main building. The flat roof was perfect for a couple of perched dragons as soon as they shifted. Students were headed out to their cars in the student parking lot and loading school buses, when Ena and Brett shifted into dragons and circled high above them.

No one looked skyward, so Brett and Ena flew lower, swooping over the heads of some of the kids. They cried out and dove behind the safety of vehicles. Then Ena and Brett settled on the roof again and watched as a number of students cowered behind the cars, a few hardy souls taking pictures on their cell phones. Brett and Ena turned to each other, nuzzled each other, then flew off. Out of sight of the school, the fae transported back home.

When they were snuggled up on the couch next to the fireplace in the Great Hall early that evening, Brett said, "Now, the kids I knew in school have irrefutable evidence that dragons do exist."

Ena smiled. "Many months ago, I was ready to eliminate you for being a fae seer and taking Princess Alicia hostage. Now you are my very own dragon mate-to-be. I couldn't be happier."

"The same here. Oh, by the way, why didn't you take any payment from the woman for finding her ring?"

"She lost her husband the year before to a sickness. The ring makes her feel connected to him still."

"I felt like that with losing my tunic to the dragon baby."

Ena laughed. "I will get you another."

"Did I pass all your trials?"

"You did."

"Good. Because you passed all of mine."

She laughed. "You are too funny."

"I didn't want to kill Princess Alicia, you know."

Ena nodded. "I think some part of you sensed your fae connection."

"And you?"

"Yes, and me, too." She rested her head against Brett's shoulder and tucked her feet up under her on the couch. "Tomorrow, I have another mission, though I really thought to take the day off."

"I'm going to be busy. You'll have to go without me." Ena lifted her head to look at him, surprised he didn't want to go with her. He smiled down at her. "I'm buying you a ring."

She let out a sigh. "Great. I guess that means I'll have to get you one."

"Find one in your pile of treasures that you love the best. I will love it, too."

"Ha!" She snuggled against him. "We'll go ring shopping together."

That was just what they did. Dragon shifter missions could wait. The jeweler was delighted to serve them, though he tried to get them to purchase the most brilliant diamond rings for unheard of prices.

Though they loved sparkly jewels, as all dragons do, they found two lovely gold bands that matched, one for him and one for her. That was all they needed.

When the wedding took place, the dragon shifters in her kingdom, Ena's staff, many of the dragon fae, and their friends with the various royal houses, some of the phantom fae, Sol, and nearly all of the dragons from his region attended the ceremony to show just how much they approved. Two humans, Bryan and Mark, were also in attendance, who were still hoping they'd turn into fae someday. Though Ena hated dresses, and Brett was happy with her wearing anything her heart desired, she wore a gown fit for a princess, all in gold to celebrate marrying into the gold dragon line of the River Klein region.

Even her staff wore gold to honor Ena and Brett's marriage like family who dearly loved them, which amused her. Even Ryker, who, according to him, wouldn't wear anything that was un-butler-like, which meant all black, like her. Ena swore that he looked like a proud father, and Lila, the cook, her mother. All the ladies on her staff had tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Ena wasn't sure if it was because they were happy for the both of them, or just happy Brett was staying around. Jacob wore gold also, and she thought he intended to stay with her and not just to earn enough money to afford a family. He could still live with her and start a family with them, she supposed.

Mark and Bryan? No gold clothes for them, though both were wearing gold chains. Had they been digging around in her treasure? They better not have been.

Times change all things and maybe in the future, fae seers would learn to live with the fae visits to the human world. At least that's what Brett and Ena hoped as they returned to their castle after the marriage and day-long festivities. She never realized just how loved she was. With great satisfaction, she realized the castle was no longer just Ena's, but Brett's also.

They couldn't be happier, though strife would continue to create conflict. When did it ever end anywhere in any world?

For now, they had found each other. Queen Viviana was a good ruler, and treated the dragon shifters with respect. Already Ena and Brett had a stack of missions waiting for them to complete—when they returned from their honeymoon that Brett's own grandfather had paid for. It helped to have dragon shifter family who had lots of treasure and was willing to gift some of it to family, too.

"If you’re a prince and I'm married to you," Ena said as they took a flight to Hawaii, "Does that make me a princess?"

"
My
princess."

She smiled and snuggled against him, not in the least bit affected by titles, although she loved to show off to her brother, who was of good humor about it
anyway. She finally was a princess, but instead of marrying Prince Grotto to obtain the title, who would have used her and then killed her, she found the dragon shifter of her dreams in Brett.