Once Luis and I were alone, I asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm always there when you're in trouble." His eyes traced down my form, growing red. From his expression, and the spark of lust within our link, he seemed to like me in a dress.
I crossed my arms, unwilling to let him imbalance me. "You left me before. How do I know you won't leave again?"
He walked closer until he was nose-to-nose with me, and my resolve wobbled a bit. "I have every right to be jealous. I was your first kiss, and I'll be your last," he growled.
"No. Erick was."
"No, I gave you your first kiss when you were five and I was seven. Shortly after we fell together, and you saved us both, I kissed you."
I blinked in surprise at this new information. This would mean that Dominic was actually my fourth kiss. I did not know so many had touched my lips.
I shrugged. "Irrelevant. You had four years to come clean or make a move. You didn't."
"Then, the first thing I need to do is to come clean with you."
I shrugged again. "Yeah, that would be a start."
"I grew up in the underworld, raised by the king. I escaped when I was summoned to Earth and found others like me."
"How come you never told me about them?"
He sat down on the bed, and I sat beside him. "I wanted you to stay as innocent as I could keep you. The others are not like me." He looked guilty. "If it hadn't been for me...
"If it hadn't been for you... I might not have made it my first year." I finished for him. "Why would I think less of you? You'd think you'd know me by now. My lack of experience in the relationship area doesn't mean I can't figure out what's best for me. I'm an adult, Luis. "
"My plans hinge on your safety."
He was hiding things again, and my irritation rose. "I want safety too, but we're miles away from safe. I've had three assassination attempts. Someone doesn't like me very much, don't you think? I get that you've been my big brother all these years, and you think I'm being an idiot. But, I think I need to see all this through. "
"I don't see you as a little brother, Matt. No, I see you as mine. Haven't I told you that enough times?"
"You have, but I'm done with being your doll, Luis. You can't keep me on a shelf and live my life for me. It was fine while I was still a kid, but now I need more than that."
"You need all these other guys?" He arched a brow.
"No..." I punched him in the arm. "Well, yes... but not like that."
IÂ breathed in as I considered my recent actions, exhaling slowly as I shook my head. Maybe that wasn't true.
"Okay, fine. I have to admit that I'm not immune to it. But, I have a job, so I'm trying to keep things friendly and not go too deep. There's already the whole thing with Luke and Ciaran wanting to be my royal consort."
"The royal consort. You mean the king." His tone was flat.
"That's your take-away from what I said?" I waved my hands around in frustration. "Well, yeah. The official husband, I guess. But that's not even what I started this for. I want to win so I can make sure Earth and Aleria are safe and help affect change. I want justice and equality for everyone. The king gets a boost in power to help with that. And I wanted to save you if you don't remember!"
"Then, I need to show I'm better than the rest of them and become your king."
"What? Are you even listening to me? No! That's not it at all! I need you to be my friend and help me!" I stomped my foot.
"You're mine, Matt. I intend to prove that."
"Just how do you intend to do that?"
"Kiss me and I'll tell you."
I stood up. "I will not kiss you, Luis. For one thing, I'm still mad at you. And for another thing, I'm still mad at you!"
"Then I'm leaving, but I'll prove I'm the only choice."
"What! You're leaving again?"
"I am." But before he did, he pulled me to him.
"Kiss me."
"No."
"Kiss me, or I'll tell you about all the fantasies you think I don't know about."
I swallowed. "No."
"There was the one that you dreamed about where I was in a bathtub and -"
I kissed him, furious, and he pulled me closer, deepening it. His arm snaked around me to caress my back as we stayed locked together in a battle I'd lost. My breath grew ragged, and I stepped back, collapsing onto the bed. He followed, landing heavily on me. His kisses grew savage, and it hurt both my lips and my soul, but my body zinged like the traitor it was.
Finally, I got a ghost of my senses back, and I bit him.
He pushed off the bed, panting. His eyes burned red as he wiped blood from his lip and spat out a stone.
It was as red as his burning eyes.
After showing it to me in triumph, he said, "You just see me as a friend, huh?"
"Not even that right now!" I wished I had something to throw at him. Despite the fact that my feelings were in the palm of his hand, I wouldn't give him the additional win by admitting them.
"You'll get it when you admit that there's no one else for you but me," he said, then he disappeared.
"Luis!" I yelled at the space where he'd been while wiping my mouth of the kiss.
I lay there for several minutes, collecting my bearings. He didn't come back, so I stalked towards the door.
"Pleasant chat?" Ciaran asked as he linked arms with me.
"No." I let out a shaky breath.
"What happened, my Princess?" He touched my swollen lips with a soft exclamation.
I told him what happened with Luis.
"It's not right, what he did. Poor Princess!" He kissed the top of my head. "You're so young and everything is so confusing but you'll make your choice based on your heart. I have no doubt. I hope the choice will be me."
His smile dazzled me, and I swallowed. I wanted to touch that crooked eyetooth.
No. Bad Matt.
I looked away from him. My mind said Dominic was the best choice to be king. He honestly just wanted to help and made no demands of me. Or maybe Adrian.
I recalled our sweet evening where we just talked. I loved that but I felt bad that I hadn't realized his feelings back then.
Ciaran winked at me, and I wondered if he could hear my thoughts. I hoped not, because all I was doing was reliving every questionable decision I'd been making until now, and I found I wanted to revisit some of them...
I blushed and cleared my throat.
We entered the throne room, and I met my father for the first time. The sight made all of us freeze.
"Oak Mother help us..." Luke said.
"Oh, gah... poor guy!" Dominic put his fingers to his lips and shook his head in sympathy.
The Straif sat, enchained, in a throne of black rock and brambles. Despite his captivity, he was tragically beautiful, his yellow hair snarled in the vines, spread across the floor in tangles.
I finally found my likeness. The keyhole eyes in frosty mint, the sharp angles.
Where the features looked strange on me, they were enchanting on him. Cursed genetics! I could not tell his height, encased as he was, but his body had a sinewy strength, although it was thin. I recalled all the Edentrees I'd met seemed gaunt, and I wondered if there was a reason for that.
The lunantisidhe buzzed around him, some combing his tangled hair, others setting a feast before him.
He held out his hands to a table, and we all sat down. I couldn't stop staring at him. His expressions, movements, and features were all part of me.
"Madeline." His voice was a shiver of aspens against the dark rumble of a thunderstorm. "I meet you at last. I never thought I would see the day. "
My eyes swept over his prison. "What happened to you?"
"Hmmm... if you know the story of Prometheus, you will know about what happened to me."
"You gave fire to the humans?"
He chuckled. "No, I gave them magic."
"But the humans don't have magic. "
"Oh, they did, but then Gwyddion caused the battle of the trees and a curse fell upon the world as the Black Plague."
"Why did he start a battle?"
"He turned the Duir's daughter, his daughter, into an owl and put a geas on the lass."
"Aisa has a kid?"
"Aisa?" The Straif chuckled. "She fancies herself one of the fates, does she? Hilarious. Not anymore. Her daughter passed away in her curse, shot by a farmer. There was a time when the gates between the mortal world and Aleria were easily passed through in the Betwixt. Duir fell in love with Gwyddion and had a daughter. Her daughter married and was unfaithful to her husband."
"Wait. I thought that was impossible. Humans, Fae, and Edentrees can't cross-pollinate as they say."
He huffed. "I made it possible, but my work was turned against the humans. There was another who used my work to do the unspeakable. We believe Duir caused the Black Plague in the fourteenth century, killing fifty million. The Creator forbade harming humans directly, so her curse fell on the rats instead."
"Ah... but... there was harm to humans through the rats." Luke scowled. This wasn't a story he wanted to hear about his goddess.
"Correct. I intervened, disguised as a piper. I lured the rats away from the villages, easing the plague, while we burned the victims. Losing Edentree children among humans sparked the war. Many blamed Gwyddion, and the majority sided with Duir. They couldn't strip humans of magic but managed to block it. The war caught the Creator's attention. He swept us off Earth and closed the door. Winter and Spring lost. Summer and Fall won. As punishment, Duir placed a geas on me so I could never interfere with Earth again and was bound to my realm."
"With good reason," Luke sneered. "Duir had the right to decide the fate of her daughter. Your son stripped her choice and you meddled with natural law."
The Straif sighed. "You're a true acolyte, Luke. I pity you. Despit Duir despising males, her sons still adore her." He looked thoughtful, " I suppose that's my fault since Gwyddion was my son. She hates my family."
Gwyddion was his son? I thought the Straif had no counterparts. Then I remembered what Ciaran saidâanymore. The Straif didn't have a counterpart anymore. "And I'm your daughter, so she hates me too."
This was still hard to wrap my head around. The idea I had a brother. The idea that Duir hated me so much because of this long feud.
The Straif continued his story. "Duir overlooked one thingâgeases can be broken. I broke her first one by carrying a sachet of meadowsweet, broom, thorn, and oak. But the door to Earth was closed, and only those born there could open it. We were created there, not born. So I stayed in my realm.
"So, you hadn't been chained yet?" I asked.
"I was bound after I broke her curse that prevented us from having children with non-Edentrees. We dwindled to just eighteen trees, all stagnating." He shrugged, "It was necessary but of course she disagreed."
Even though I somewhat agreed with his opinion, how he'd gone about it felt... wrong. I looked down at my hands, twisting the dragon ring on my finger, wondering about all the mystical creatures that lost their home that day because of that feud. I thought of poor Eowyn, who'd been roped into that selfish war.
Then I thought of myself, the new victim in this battle between two Trees.
"How did my mother even meet you?" I asked.
"She ran from her court, much like you, and entered my lands through a portal hole in Aleria. Duir controls the portals, but she missed one," he said smugly. "Your birth on Earth made you able to open the door."
"I guess that didn't make everyone happy."
"They didn't know what happened until you were five. I was chained to this throne by then."
"Oh... and that's when they thought they killed me..."
Dominic squeezed my shoulder. "I'm glad they didn't succeed."
"Uncertain. Duir desires your gifts it seems despite her hatred of me. But, the stone has chosen you as an Elect, which hinders her plans, whatever those might be."
"That does not mean that she hasn't sent out assassins." Ciaran looked grim as he pointed that out. The path your vaadin took was unsanctioned. They tampered with your trial."
Wow. Okay.
"I guess it's over for me, huh?"
"No. you have until 11:59 this evening to get the coin to the temple. Ciaran sent a message to the Consul, and the vaadin is waiting outside to continue your journey. I have punished it for taking a side and it will behave now," my father said.
"What do you want?" I asked, knowing nothing came for free.
"Did you bring the key, daughter?" the Straif asked, his voice a low rumble.
I blinked, then remembered the key Ciaran had given me. "Yeah. I have it."
The Straif smiled and his teeth were as jagged as the lunantisidhe. "Please unlock my prison."