Witchful Thinking (31 page)

I didn’t answer, just started down the stairs with Mercedes at my side. “What the hell is going on?”

“Apparently your subjects have come to insist that you take a partner in marriage,” she answered.

I paused at the base of the steps and studied her. “Am I supposed to believe you had nothing to do with this?”

Mercedes frowned and secured a tendril of her dark hair behind her ear as her green eyes sparkled out at me in apparent irritation. “I had nothing to do with it at all.”

I eyed her as if I didn’t believe her, but there was nothing in her countenance that hinted of dishonesty. “Why do I have to put up with this crap?”

“Because you are the monarch,” Mercedes answered, ushering me down the hallway. “I have ordered your visitors to await you in the library, my Queen.”

I nodded and then stopped walking, facing her squarely. “And what do you think about my marrying? Do you think it’s a good idea?”

She cocked her head to the side and silently considered my question. “I do not believe it is a bad idea. It would be a vehicle to unite all of the creatures in your kingdom if you were open to marrying outside your species.”

And there was the nail in the coffin for Rand, just like he’d guessed. I couldn’t help but wonder if Rand would make a case for himself; at the same time, I hoped he would. But no use in worrying about that now.

I faced Mercedes. At her inquisitive expression I just sighed and opened the door to my library, surprised to find ten people waiting for us. Mercedes walked in front of me to show that she would take the lead in chairing the meeting, which was fine by me.

“Please sit down,” she said and it was like playing musical chairs as everyone scrambled for an available seat. I glanced around the room, recognizing some faces but not all of them. There was Odran and Doolan and some other fae man I didn’t recognize, Trent and his wolf escort, Varick and Klaasje, she in her usual shadow form. Before I could switch my attention to the others in the room, Sinjin casually sauntered in and stood beside Klaasje. I offered him a hesitant smile before facing the remaining three men in the room. They stood in the far corner; I didn’t recognize any of them.

“Would you like a chair?” Varick asked me.

I shook my head and leaned against the mantel of the fireplace that dominated the middle of the library. I glanced around, surprised that Mercedes had managed to fill the shelves along each wall with so many books.
Maybe they weren’t books at all but just a mirage. But that was a mystery for another day.

“We understand that—”

Before Mercedes could finish her statement, the door opened and in walked Rand. And suddenly the darkness inside me gave way. The birds of my soul started singing while insects chirped from nearby rosebushes and a smiling sunshine did a happy dance between puffy white clouds while “Hallelujah” played in the background.

Rand had come to save me. He’d realized I might end up with one of the buffoons in this room and he wouldn’t allow it. Yes, he was missing his white steed and some shiny armor but he was my knight, all the same.

His eyes seemed to dart around the room until he noticed me and nodded in salutation, offering me a slight smile. I returned it, even adding a little wink, like I was in on his plan. He raised his eyebrows in what appeared to be surprise before heading to the back of the room, playing the role of silent observer as he leaned against the wall.

Suddenly the unhappy thought occurred to me that Rand might not ask for my hand because he really wanted to marry me but just to save me from having to marry someone else. Of course, I was the Queen, and as far as I was concerned, there was no way in hell I was going to marry Odran, Trent, Varick, or one of the strangers in the room. And surely Rand had to know that?

Mercedes glanced at Rand and frowned, as if she wasn’t happy to see him. Then she picked up where she’d left off. “It is our understanding that each of you is here either to represent your own wishes or the wishes of your master—in asking for the hand of our Queen in marriage.”

I felt myself flush with anger at the thought that no one, aside from Rand, had warned me about this ahead
of time. No one had come to me and asked how I felt about it before they arrived at Kinloch and demanded to be heard. Well, they would be heard all right, and then
I
would be heard.

I gulped down my anger and glanced at Rand, who stared back at me with a slight smile on his lips that said,
I told you so
. I just frowned and muttered something under my breath, turning back to the spectacle that was my life lately.

“Each of you will have no more than ten minutes to make your intentions known,” Mercedes continued. She seemed so prepared for this impromptu meeting, I had to wonder whether she hadn’t known this was coming.

“Odran, King of the fae, will you please approach our Queen with your proposal,” Mercedes said.

Odran nodded and stood up. With Doolan and the other fairy guy behind him, he lumbered forward and faced me.

“Ma Queen, I humbly beseech ye ta accept ma ooffer of matrimony. I bring with meh the strongest of yer allies, the fae.” There was a humph of general discord among the others, probably a reaction to his statement that the fairies were my strongest allies, but Odran didn’t seem to notice. “Ye an’ I go back a loong way, ma Queen, and ye have always known ma true feelings fer ya.”

Yeah, those true feelings went no farther than his desire for a fun romp in the sheets. Yes, Odran was the King of the fairies and very powerful in his own right but he was also the King of man whores.

Apparently pleased with his short speech, Odran stepped back and nodded to Doolan as the smaller man stepped forward. “Mah King offers ye many gifts, mah Queen.” Then he plopped the purple velvet bag before me and we all watched as it untied its own gold brocaded draws, opening to reveal the cornucopia I’d witnessed
earlier, when Odran appeared in my entryway. There was a rustling in the bag and I leaned over to investigate further. Two white doves flew out, circled the room, and then disappeared in the air as if they’d never been.

I clapped even though I didn’t feel like it. No use in being rude. It would be rude enough when I turned everyone down and told them never to pull another stunt like this again.

Odran and his posse took their seats again. Mercedes resumed her role of auctioneer.

“Will the wolves please step forward,” she said.

Trent nodded and started to stand up, but before he could open his mouth, the rage inside me suddenly broke through the surface and I just couldn’t control myself. “You’re kidding, right, Trent?”

“Kidding?” he repeated, looking baffled, like it never occurred to him that it probably wasn’t a good idea to ask me to marry him after our previous relationship ended with him dumping me. Yeah, probably wishing you hadn’t dumped me now, huh, wolf boy?

“Sit back down. I won’t even listen to you,” I said as dispassionately as I could, which wasn’t very dispassionately.

Trent grumbled something incoherent but sat back down all the same. Next the three strangers stood up and started forward. The one in the center, a middle-aged man with dark skin and a receding hairline, separated himself from the other two by taking a few steps closer to me. His purplish eyes glittered like amethysts in his face. He had to be over six feet tall and had the physique of a swimmer. With his incredible eyes and full lips, he was handsome in an exotic way. I mean, he had nothing on Rand or Sinjin, but he was a looker all the same.

“My Queen,” he began in an accent that totally threw
me, “I know I have not made your acquaintance as of yet but I wanted to introduce myself and offer my proposal.” His English was flawless but it was the type of English you definitely learned as a second language, the Queen’s English—textbook English, not conversational.

I just smiled, not really knowing what else to say or do.

“I am Tabor, King of the demons.”

I felt my stomach rise up into my throat. King of the demons? I hadn’t even known there was a King of demons.

He took another bow and I offered my hand … um, I mean literally, not in the figurative sense. “I am very pleased to meet you, King Tabor,” I said and when he accepted my hand and kissed it, surprise stirred in my stomach. So demons could also be lady charmers. It seemed every creature in the Underworld had some sort of charisma attached to him.

“It pleases me greatly that you and your people have joined our cause,” I said, actually appreciative of the fact that I could properly address someone who controlled the demons—as I mentioned before, I really didn’t have much knowledge of them. Hopefully I could maintain a friendship with Tabor. I definitely wanted the demons on my good side.

Tabor nodded. “We support you and your monarchy wholeheartedly, and it is my wish to also support you as your lover and husband.”

At the thought of making love to a demon, I pulled my hand from his and nodded again with a slight, hesitant smile. Hopefully he wasn’t going to be too bummed out that I wasn’t prospecting for a demon lover or husband.

“A marriage between us would firmly cement the union between the witches and the demons,” Tabor continued. His eyes suddenly glowed red, then immediately returned to their amethyst purple. It sort of freaked me
out but no one else seemed to be bothered by it so I figured I shouldn’t be either.

“Thank you for the offer,” I said and watched him take his seat as Mercedes reined control of the room again.

“Is there anyone else who would like to plead his case?” she asked.

I glanced at Rand and noticed that his attention was on Tabor, his expression hard and his eyes narrowed as if he didn’t trust the demon. I cleared my throat, wondering if maybe Rand hadn’t heard Mercedes, hadn’t recognized his cue. He glanced at me and then at Mercedes as she repeated her statement. Still, he made no motion to do anything. I felt as if I’d been slapped right across the face.

Wasn’t he going to ask for my hand? Wasn’t he even going to try to win me away from all these creeps? Was he really going to feed me to the fairies, wolves, and demons?

“I will state my case,” Varick said and suddenly stood up.

I glanced at him and before I could say
Stake yourself
, Sinjin suddenly let out a hair-raising growl and launched himself at Varick, dragging his master down to the floor. They rolled around for a few seconds before Varick separated himself from Sinjin. In a split second he shoved his palms into Sinjin’s chest and thrust the younger vampire away from him. I could hear a groan of protest as Sinjin flew through the air. His back hit the wall so hard, the room shook. Sinjin fell forward but braced himself against the floor, on his hands and knees.

“Sinjin!” I cried out as I took a step forward to make sure he was all right. But Mercedes’ firm grip on my arm prohibited me from getting any closer.

“You gave me your word that you would not ask for
her hand,” Sinjin growled at Varick as he stood up and leaned against the wall.

“Have you lost your mind!” I screamed, trying to yank myself out of Mercedes’ vise-like grip.

But Sinjin’s eyes never strayed from his master. In their narrowed depths, I could see hatred.

I glanced at Varick and found him standing in the middle of the room, his arms crossed against his chest, austere in his apparent indifference. “You have acted outside your class.” Varick paused for two seconds. “It is none of your business whether or not I propose to our Queen.”

With another growl, Sinjin lunged at Varick again, and then I completely lost sight of them both. They were moving so quickly, their vampire speed prevented me from tracking them with my naked eye. But while I couldn’t see anything more than a few wisps of color here and there, I could hear them. The air was thick with the sounds of gnashing teeth and blows against flesh.

“Sinjin!” I screamed out again before turning to face everyone in the room. “Someone do something!”

“ ’Tis between master an’ servant,” Odran said while firmly shaking his head.

“That is bullshit,” I railed back and glanced at Klaasje, noticing she was worrying her bottom lip and gripping her arms against her chest.

“Help him!” I screamed, hoping she understood that I meant Sinjin.

“I can’t,” she answered, shaking her head. She refused to look at me. “Varick is my elder.”

I started forward but Rand’s voice in my head stopped me.

Jolie, no! They will kill you!

And as if his words weren’t enough to keep me out of the fight, I suddenly found I couldn’t move my feet. It
was like my shoes were stuck to the floor with super-glue. Rand had magicked me in place.

Before I could rebuff Rand’s magic, a sound like ripping fabric caught my attention and I blinked to find Sinjin suddenly on the ground before me. He was lying prostrate, blood covering every inch of him. I started to move toward him but my feet wouldn’t oblige me. I threw an angry expression to Rand and he nodded. Instantly I dropped to my knees beside Sinjin, afraid that Varick had killed him.

Varick took a few steps closer to us and with a thought, I erected a wall of protective energy that encapsulated us. It was a silly attempt, since my powers didn’t work against vampires, but really it had been more of an instinctual response than a logical thought.

“You stay away from him,” I screamed at Varick. As if he hadn’t heard me, Varick took another step closer and I stood up, inserting myself between him and Sinjin.

“I order you to leave him alone,” I yelled. “As your Queen, I order you to back away … now.”

“He does not know his place,” Varick said and glared at me, but he took a few steps away from us all the same.

Glancing at Sinjin’s bloody heap of a body, I was suddenly frightened for him—frightened for what would happen to him at Varick’s hands if he survived the damage that had already been inflicted on him. I glanced at Varick again and swallowed hard as I realized the truth in Varick’s eyes. Sinjin would suffer for his disobedience. But the degree to which he’d suffer was what was worrying me.

“I am hereby nullifying Sinjin’s ties to you,” I said even though I wasn’t sure if I had the power to make such a demand.