Wildfire Kiss (27 page)

He smiled and shifted off, and Royce took a long
drag of air and blew it out slowly. She entered the queen’s
chambers, and
there she was
—Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie
Fae.

The queen held her fingers pyramided, and she looked
to Royce like she was … what? Royce couldn’t tell. She tried
to see what those brilliant, iridescent eyes held—controlled fury?
No—was it disappointment
? No
… ah,
determination
. The queen had most certainly made up her mind
to handle the situation differently than she had in the past.
Uh
oh—trouble,
Royce thought as she closed and then reopened her
eyes. At least she’d remembered to change her jeans and T for a
pretty blue silk dress and had blinked her hair into a thin gold
band that held up the long strands on the top of her head in the
style she knew the queen preferred.

The queen smiled softly, patted the chair next to
her own, and said softly, “Sit, my Princess, and do not
hesitate—
explain yourself
.”

“My Queen,” Royce started to say as she sat. “First,
allow me to point out that the child wasn’t dying. Hence, it wasn’t
as though I was bringing him back to life …” The words she had
just blurted sounded absurd even to her, but it was the truth, at
least as she saw matters. She immediately observed the queen’s
reaction and stopped any other words that wanted to tumble from her
lips. Instead, she folded her hands together in her lap and tried
again, more calmly. “What I am trying to say, Queen Aaibhe is this:
I did not really infringe on the path of destiny … and even if
I did a little, it was totally necessary because he would not have
been in that awful and unacceptable situation—well, it was in
essence, our fault, wasn’t it … I mean …”

“
Our fault?”
The Queen of the Seelie Fae
raised her lovely brow and interrupted. “How so?”

“The Dark Fae escaped because we couldn’t stop them
from doing so. One of those sinister monsters chased young David,
reached for him, and the child stepped backwards into the street.
He was hit by a car and would have been paralyzed for the rest of
his life. Our fault.”

“I see,” Aaibhe said so softly Royce almost couldn’t
hear her, and then she asked, “So then, my Princess, do we make it
our business to round up any humans that survived an attack by the
Dark Fae but are in critical condition and heal them? Is that what
you are suggesting?”

“No, I know that is not possible, although I wish it
were. I know we can’t reveal ourselves to the general population,
but in this case I was right there! I saw it happen, and before I
could do anything to stop it …” She shook her head. “David and
his family are friends of mine, and I have a great affection for
them … and … I … I couldn’t …”

“You were there because you were involved with a
human family—and overly involved and attached with this child. It
put you in a precarious situation. You lent your aid without
permission, you risked exposing yourself and
us
to humans,
for what? So that you could heal the boy. I am not without
compassion, my dear. I do understand. I do see it all very clearly.
The question is
do you
?” Aaibhe said grimly.

“I am their friend—they don’t know that I am a
Fae … let alone a Fae princess. They didn’t know that David’s
injuries were serious. I healed him before they knew anything. They
simply did not realize anything untoward had occurred.”

“Let me understand your point of view. Are you
saying that when we happen to be on the spot … and
a
favored human
is injured, we may heal them without taking
precautions or worrying about the repercussions?”

“No … that is not what I am saying.” Royce
pleaded with her eyes and hoped her queen would understand. “These
were extraordinary circumstances. The Dark Fae
were
our
responsibility, and they escaped because
we didn’t
keep them
contained. They were loose … killing and maiming, and David
was there, right before my eyes, and he would have been crippled
all his little life and …”

“And as I have said, I quite understand, do not
think I don’t … but what I want to know because I am your
queen and must discern your reasoning—is did you give some thought
to what it would mean to the future if you healed him?”

“I … no, there wasn’t time.” Royce hung her
head and then raised it. “Besides, we can never be sure what is
destined and what is not. Perhaps there was a reason I just
happened to be there when this took place … perhaps I was
meant to heal him?”

“You have this all worked out then, have you?” the
queen said with a cluck of her tongue. Then with pursed lips she
took Royce’s chin in her hand and made her look into her eyes once
more.

“I … didn’t think about anything else. He is a
child, and I care for him …” Royce pleaded.

“Of course you did, and I do believe you know that
when you broke our rules, rules that were put in place after great
consideration and necessity, you walked the edge of danger with
regards to the workings of our beliefs. We Fae understand that
tampering with the fates is a serious act.” Aaibhe clucked briefly
and then added, “Your parents are concerned about your obsession
with humans, and unlike Prince Breslyn, you don’t have the maturity
and experience to deal with the intricacies of ‘breaking the
rules’.”

“My Queen …” she started. “His fate should not
have been determined by the Dark Fae.”

Aaibhe put up a hand and halted her from speaking.
“I have asked you to sit in on council meetings with Aida and Ete
as your guides … do you not care for them?”

“I adore them. They are like older, wiser
sisters … well, Ete is. Aida is just so much fun …”

“And still you do not attend the meetings,” the
queen said, clearly reproving her. “What am I going to do with you?
You need to mature, Royce. You need to take your place on the
council.”

“The council meetings are so boring, and I am not
interested in politics.” She sighed and studied a work of art
across the room.

“Duty sometimes is boring but nevertheless
necessary.” The queen waved off any answer her princess might give,
and it was clear that she was becoming impatient with her. “So,
because the Trackers and our Royal Houses are overtaxed rounding up
the stray Dark Fae in Ireland and Scotland … and even
England …”

“Yes, my brother said some have escaped to England,
and he went after them this morning …” she stuck in, hoping to
show that she was in fact concerned about the situation.

“Indeed, and we are even working with the Milesians,
one in particular, Chancemont LeBlanc …” The queen inclined
her lovely head. “I know that you have heard something of
that
tragic story.”

“Yes, Trevor has just left me to join the Milesian
in the effort of tracking and capturing Pestale.”

“Precisely, my Princess.” The queen rose from her
seat and took a turn in place. Royce watched her with dread.
Here it comes
, she thought.

“As it happens, Princess Royce, I have decided to
make you a part of
their team
. You have specific and
extraordinary abilities that they might find useful.”

“
Me
… my punishment is to team with
Trevor?” Now this was beyond wonderful, Royce thought, almost
clasping her hands together.
Is this what she calls
punishment?

The queen’s iridescent eyes narrowed, and one
delicate brow rose. “Do not think you have gotten away with your
misbehavior. Indeed, little one, I am putting you in grave danger.
It is time you stopped playing mother to these humans and began the
business of being who you are—a Seelie Fae princess.” She waved off
Royce’s objection and silenced her with a glare. “This is a mission
that you must execute with purpose and determination. It is time
you wake up and realize your duty to your own kind. I need you to
open your lovely eyes and recognize what is important in the large
scope of things.” The queen sighed and then added, “This will not
be easy, child. Chancemont will not want you to accompany them, and
he will not welcome you. If you wish to carry out your Queen’s
orders, you will have to prove yourself to him, and I expect that
you will find a way to do so.”

Royce was so relieved that the queen was not
relegating her to the middle of a mountain without power to get
out—she had heard enough stories to worry about this— that she
almost jumped up and hugged Queen Aaibhe. However, she checked
herself and bowed her head. “Yes, my Queen … I will do as you
ask.”

Hungry Moon—Quicksilver
(unedited)

Prelude

There are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

William Shakespeare,
Hamlet

In the Highlands, Scotland, where many honored their
clans and chose to follow the old ways

1575

QUINN MACVANE HAD a great deal of weight on his
shoulders, but those shoulders were huge and certainly capable of
carrying the burden. This weight, however, was unlike any other he
had ever lifted, and he was tired of dealing with it
constantly.

He was more than six months away from turning thirty
and thinking himself safe because he was a sorcerer with supreme
powers.

Thus, he decided to go ahead and make the walk to
the local tavern for a bit of revelry in spite of the gossip.

He decided that if there were something rabid out
there … it was time to put an end to it. Besides, he could
enact his shield.

He went out and took his chances because his mother
had driven him near to insane, demanding that he marry and carry on
the line. He was not only the eldest but the only son, which she
enjoyed reminding him. She wanted to keep Valdane in a direct line.
If he didn’t have a son, the castle and the estate would go to his
father’s brother. What she didn’t realize was he didn’t care. He
loved his uncle.

So he stomped out of his medieval castle and walked
in the light of the full moon. Why not? He needed to walk off his
temper.

The villagers had been whispering about a werewolf
loose in the foothills. They hadn’t been able to contain the
problem, because if anyone knew who it was, they weren’t sharing
the information.

The first thing that assailed him was the odor.
Musky and wild…

The second was the sound of an animal, a growl, low
and throttled in mindless rage.

The third was the sure knowledge that something
sinister, something otherworldly, stalked him and that it was near,
too near to escape by running.

Quinn MacVane did the only thing he could do. He
enacted a spell that enswathed him with a shield. It should have
been enough. It should have set a circle the werewolf couldn’t
cross. Something went wrong.

Drooling saliva, standing on two, eyes wild with
madness, a were clawed the earth in the rays of the moon’s bright
light.

Quinn’s mouth dropped. He had never before seen a
werewolf, and this one had seen him! Huge, nearly seven feet in
height. This one was larger than the werewolves his clan had often
spoken about in the tales of how they had been routed out and
destroyed. Quinn studied the were, whose body was covered in what
appeared to be more hair than fur. Saliva dripped from its fangs,
and violence governed its purpose. It needed to tear and kill.
There was nothing of the human in it.

His clan had whispered amongst themselves, afraid of
the were’s bite, that the change from human into were was so
painful it enacted a temporary insanity …

This thing looked to be unmistakably insane, and yet
Quinn fancied he saw purpose in its gold-lit eyes.

Reason would not work, and as it slashed through the
barrier Quinn had enacted he knew he had but one chance for
survival: the silver-edged short sword he was never without. He
prepared himself for the were’s lunge and caught the beast directly
in the center of its beating heart …

But even as the were roared with excruciating pain,
even as it started to fall, even as death began to take it, the
were’s jaws locked down on Quinn’s shoulder and bit—bit hard, and
Quinn’s fate was sealed.

He was able to punch and beat the creature off, and
he watched as it fell to the ground, rolled over onto its back, and
began the transformation back into man.

He saw at once it was Whelan MacPoole, clan leader
of the neighboring estate. Husband to his mother’s sister. They had
never been friends throughout their family’s history. He should
have known. He should have suspected. There had been signs all
along.

Quinn bent and took out his silver-tipped sword from
the man’s heart and stood to look up at the stars as he closed his
eyes.

He had been bitten …

About Claudy Conn

Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her
husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee’s son, Rocky Man,
who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.

She loves horses and riding and raised her
ten-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born.
She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and
of course, reading, writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!

To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new
paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her
website:
http://www.claudyconn.com

To see pictures of Cherokee—and her Shepherd/wolf
son!—have a look at her Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ClaudyConn-Paranormal-Romance-Author/135826686471445

Discover this and other titles by Claudy Conn at
Smashwords.com:

Legend Series

Aaibhe—Shee Queen
–
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/110252