Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series) (27 page)

I was quiet as I walked with Daire and Cole to the throne room. I pulled my ring off as we entered and set it on the table closest to the door. Auberon was sitting on his throne reading the latest
Laurell
K.
Hamilton,
Merry
Gentry
series
book which he quickly hid as we walked up and Daire and Cole dropped to their knees. I simply bowed my head allowing my now long hair crowned in ivy to fall forward around my face. “Auberon.”

“Why did you call the warriors to the park?”

I looked back up at him to gauge his mood. “An Unseelie messenger arrived, the Queen of Air and Darkness is not all that happy with me it seems.”

“The Queen of Air and Darkness is never happy, Max. Why should we care?”

“Pretty much what I said. Though she did inform me that Póg Tocsaineach would no longer be picking up Seelie half breed children left at the Never Never door. Seems killing her guard left the Queen a little on the vengeful, pissy side.”

“No matter. But why bring the message to you and not me?”

“Oh the Queen is under the impression that by giving me Veritas and Aequitas it makes me your heir,” I grinned.

“And you went along with her assumption because?”

“Well the longer she believes I am your heir, the longer she will leave my sister alone…”

“And how long do you plan to keep up the rouse Max?” Auberon asked with a calculated look.

I thought about it for a few more moments. It was something I had been considering for a while. I was going to have Unseelie after me anyway, just for the mere fact that I was a strong Fae, what would it hurt if I allowed certain people to believe I was to be the heir to the throne, at least until my sister grew up enough to learn to take care of herself. “As long as I’m needed,” I replied, knowing it was the right answer.

Auberon nodded in understanding. “So for all intents and purposes you will act the heir, come when I have need of you, if you are able? Until a more suitable heir gains her age and full power?”

“Yes, but understand, once Anna and I take over the council of Elders, I will have obligations. I will not be at your beck and call twenty four hours a day. However I see no reason why I shouldn’t be able to put in an appearance at important events or back you in important meetings so long as I have notice of them.”

“I like these terms,” Auberon replied with a smile. “It will be as you say. Tatiana will be pleased. It means she will get more time with your Consort. She has quite taken to her I believe.”

“Perhaps it is the wedding planning.”

“Tatiana is quite excited about it.” Auberon agreed. “I believe she is with your Consort now, looking at fabric.”

“Ah, well. If you wouldn’t mind I would like to take myself to bed. I’m exhausted.”

“Of course.”

I started to pick up my ring, but then thought better of it. If I was going to be Auberon’s heir, I needed to be seen as Fae while in Faerie, not human. “Daire, could you have my ring delivered to my room?” I asked glancing over my shoulder at him.

“Of course my Prince.”

“Thank you,” I replied as I continued out of the door and down the hall to my chamber.

I stopped short when I noticed the tiny Fae woman guarding the door. “Is there a reason you are guarding my Consort? Is she in some sort of trouble?” I asked raising an eyebrow at the dark haired pixie.

“No my Prince! I… I mean yes my Prince, I mean… yes I am guarding the door of your Consort at Queen Tatiana’s strictest orders not to let you in, my Prince,” the pixie stuttered and finally spit out in a high tinny voice.

I frowned. “Are you telling me I am banned from my own room? We shall see about that!” I said getting pissed off. I was about to flash myself into the room when the pixie spoke again.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you my Prince! Queen Tatiana charmed the room!”

I stopped and stared at the pixie. “What is your name?”

“Moxie, my Prince.”

“Moxie, what exactly is going on that I’m banned from my room?”

“The Queen has your Consort trying on wedding dresses and you being the groom, my Prince, cannot, absolutely cannot, see her before the wedding in her wedding dress. If she chooses one of the dresses the Queen has brought in for her to try on.”

“I see, and how long exactly did the Queen think this dress trying would take?” I asked intrigued.

“Oh she said it could take anywhere from five minutes to five hours. It just depended on what your Consort liked.”

“I see,” I said with a nod. “And have you checked to see how it was going?”

“Oh no my Prince! I couldn’t leave my post! Queen Tatiana would have become furious with me if I had.”

“Of course, how silly of me to ask,” I said with a nod. “Right. Well, I shall just have to see how the process is going.”

“Don’t do it my Prince! Don’t flash in there, I don’t know what will happen, but it’s sure to be bad!”

“Don’t worry Moxie, I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m just going to ask Anna via a little telepathy…”

“Oh… well, in that case… that should be all right… you can’t see her or nothing right?”

“No, I can’t see her, unless she wants me to see through her eyes what is going on.”

“Okay, go on then, talk to her.”

It was a little disconcerting having Moxie stare at me as I reached out to Anna, but I was so tired I didn’t care.
Anna?

Oui, mon amour?

How long is it going to take to find the perfect wedding dress?

Sometimes
it
can
take
weeks,
mon
amour
…
I heard Anna’s laughter in my head as she teased me.
Do
not
worry
mon
amour,
I
have
found
a
beautiful
dress.
Queen
Tatiana
has
been
a
great
help.
We
were
just
going
over
the
bridesmaid
dresses.
Queen
Tatiana
will
call
Moxie
off
momentarily.

Thank goddess! I’m exhausted.

I know you are. I will tell Queen Tatiana we will finish in the morning. She really wanted to get the wedding dress chosen and that we got done right away.

You are gorgeous no matter what you wear.

Thank you mon amour.

Now let me in the room before I have to banish this pixie to Iceland and break down the door.

Anna laughed again and the door opened.

“Moxie, you may let the young Prince in now.”

“Yes my Queen,” Moxie said with a curtsey.

“That game you played today was quite… interesting, Max. Is it always so violent?”

“No, not usually, Queen Tatiana.”

“That is too bad. Well, good night. Sleep well my dears.”

“Good night,” I replied closing the door and locking it before diving for the bed and pulling Anna with me. “Mmm, you smell good,” I said nuzzling her neck and nipping at her earlobe.

“Max, why did you push me into Faerie?”

“There was an Unseelie stalking us. I didn’t want you harmed,” I said stroking her hair.

“Max, I know how to fight as well as you. I could have helped.”

“It doesn’t matter, we didn’t fight it,” I said snuggling even closer to her, kissing her collar bone and shoulder.

“What? Why not?”

“It was only delivering a message.”

“To you? From who?”

“The Queen of Air and Darkness. She doesn’t like me much. Oh, and she thinks I’m Auberon’s heir.”

“Well you told the messenger that you are not the heir, oui?”

“No.”

“Max!”

“Anna, the longer she thinks I am Auberon’s heir the longer she will leave others alone, others like my little sister…”

“And Auberon agreed to this?”

“Well, he saw the benefits of having me act as his heir while Abbey grows up.”

“What do you have to do as his acting heir?”

“Show up occasionally, when I can,” I said rolling onto my back and pulling her on top of me. “Anna I have thought about this. The Faerie Mound is the safest place in the world for us. Auberon has gifted us with a home close by, that is protected by Faerie. Faerie is always going to be a part of me, of us. I know we will have to defeat Frederick and go back and lead the council of Elders as Diana wants, but I am Fae also. I feel at home here. Something about this place just feels right. And the Unseelie aren’t going to leave me alone, I’ve got too much power. So the Fae fight is mine as much as theirs.”

Anna caressed my face and played with my hair as she leaned down and kissed me. “We will stand strongest together mon amour, here and with the Elders. Your fight is mine, I go where you go,” she said softly against my lips.

I frowned at the thought of her getting torn to pieces by an Unseelie. “No, not with the Unseelie,” I began.

“Oui, with them all. I stand at your side Max. Even if I have to have more sword training to do it, I will help you in this battle,” Anna said with determination as she pinned me to the bed. “I will not lose you to some stupid Unseelie now that I have found you!”

I smiled, wrapped my legs around her waist and gripped her wrists before flipping her onto her back. “You know I just want to keep you safe, but if you insist on staying at my side then you will have to join me in the training ring after we take care of Frederick.” I growled low in my throat and nuzzled her neck, keeping her wrists pinned tight. “And you know we play rough in there. Don’t think the boys are going to take it easy on you just because you are my mate.”

Anna snarled back at me, and using her incredible strength she broke my hold on her wrists. With a grin she raked her claws gently, playfully down my back. “I think I can learn to play rough, mon amour. How hard could it be?” she asked arching an eyebrow mischievously.

“I’m certain it will be harder on me than on you,” I said kissing her softly. “Now, we really should get some sleep because I have a feeling Frederick is still around and I want to see if I can find out where he is hiding out tomorrow. I’d really like to have an advantage over him.”

I moved off of Anna and the bed and went into the bath room to brush my teeth and shower. As I stepped into the shower I realized it was going to take me longer than my normal ten minutes because I couldn’t change into my human form. Daire had yet to deliver my ring to our room. Sighing I picked up the shampoo and began working it into my tangle of hair. Luckily the ivy had disappeared the minute I had stepped into the water.

By the time I had finished in the bathroom Anna was sound asleep on the bed. I climbed in next to her, pulled her close and fell asleep. For about five minutes anyway. I’m not sure what woke me, but what ever it was it woke Anna too.

“What is it?” she asked sleepily.

“I don’t know,” I said softly, “but I’m going to go find out. Stay here.”

“Non! Staying with you, fighting with you, remember?”

“Anna…” I began, but with one look I could see there would be no arguing with her. “Fine, stay close.”

I unbolted the door and slowly pulled it open enough to peek through. I could see several Fae warriors rushing toward the training area, so I pulled the door open the rest of the way and followed them with Anna at my side. As we approached the training ring I had to push my way through a crowd of warriors to see what was happening.

Thomas, in his dragon form was laid out bleeding badly from multiple wounds, some with arrows still stuck in them. I quickly rushed to his side to see if I could help Gideon aid him in anyway. “What can I do?”

“We have to get the arrows out, I don’t know how he managed to make it back here like this,” Gideon said sadly. “He can’t talk until we get the arrow out of his throat and he can heal.”

“I’ll take care of it,” I replied nodding. I moved to Thomas’ head and stroked his snout. “This is gonna hurt like a bitch, sorry,” I said as I yanked the arrow the rest of the way through his neck. I noticed another couple arrows piercing his right wing and began to work them out of his tough hide. I hated to think what would have happened to him if he hadn’t made it here before morning. Whoever did this was going to be dead very soon, I would see to it.

I turned to see Anna working on another arrow poking out of Thomas’ left shoulder. She was crying as she pushed the arrow through.
Sweetheart,
don
’
t
cry.
Thomas
will
be
fine
once
he
heals.
I tried to comfort her with my thoughts.

I know, mon amour. I’m just so angry! How could anyone be so cruel? So many arrows, so much pain! What were they thinking? If I ever get my hands on whoever did this I will rip them to shreds!

I grinned.
Not
if
I
get
there
first,
sweetheart.
And
I
am
sure
Thomas
will
have
a
few
things
to
share
with
them
as
well
when
he
is
back
to
himself.

Anna grinned back through her tears and nodded.

“Frederick…” Thomas croaked through his dragon teeth.

“Frederick did this?” I asked getting extremely pissed off.

Thomas nodded. “With his pack… Followed them… Caught me…Didn’t have…a chance…to escape… unscathed.”