Deidre's Faerie Tale Ch. 05

I fell to my knees beside him, but he turned away.

"What's wrong?" I asked trapping my hands between my knees to keep from reaching out to touch him.

He shook his head. "My credibility is ruined."

I frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm supposed to carry out a job, not take advantage of my charge."

"You didn't take advantage of me," I snapped. "I'm a grown woman!"

He rolled his eyes and waved my words away. "I can't do this any longer."

"Do what?!" I couldn't keep the panic from my voice.

"This," he said motioning toward the water we'd just vacated.

I grabbed my dress and pulled it back over my head. "You don't make any damned sense! Most men would be happy as hell right now, but not you! Oh no! Only you would think what happened...what almost happened was the worst thing in the world!"

Tolem chuckled dryly. "I must get you home. He reached for his clothes and I pulled on my sandals roughly.

"You know what?" I said standing up. "I'll see myself back to the castle."

I walked quickly toward the wall of trees that enclosed us, but just before I reached the brush an arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back into the clearing.

Let me go!" I screamed clawing at Tolem's impossibly strong forearm. It was entirely ineffective since I had short nails. He dumped me into the grass and I glared up at him. "Don't you ever fucking touch me again!"

He pitched his hands through his hair and growled. "I didn't even want to get in the bloody water!" he screamed at the sky. He was answered by multiple birds fleeing the trees around us.

I got to my feet and turned back to the path I'd just taken.

"Don't you dare!" Tolem snarled.

"Fuck off!" I screamed, too angry to be intimidated.

"I cannot allow you to get lost in the forest. Now, let me get dressed and lead you!"

I bit my lip to keep from screaming in frustration. He was right. There was no way I'd find my way out of the woods without him.

"I really didn't think you'd be like this," I said as he pulled on his shirt and began buttoning up. "You get some play and now you don't want anything to do with me."

I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes against the tears that were building.

I didn't see Tolem walk to me, I didn't hear his footfalls. I just felt his hands on my shoulders. "I do want you!"

My eyes flew open but I ignored the tears that ran down my cheeks.

"I've wanted you since I saw you attempting to pull that mammoth suitcase from the trolley."

"Really?" I blinked up at him trying to think of something else to say...anything else.

"God, yes," he sighed.

"I thought I drove you crazy."

He used his rough thumbs to rub away the tracks of my tears. "You do. You have a smart mouth, a beautiful face, and an amazing body. All of that...plus the fact that any romantic interest I have in you is wholly unprofessional...drives me bloody mad!"

"So you're saying that as long as you work for me, it would be wrong for us to be together?"

He frowned. "Exactly."

"Well, then...you're fired."

He laughed. It was the first time I'd ever seen him genuinely laugh. "You can't fire me."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not yet queen." He pushed my hair away from my face and leaned down to kiss me, gently this time.

"Well, the coronation is tomorrow afternoon and after that...you are so unemployed!"

"You will risk being without security just so we can be together?" The question seemed serious, but there was a smile in his voice.

"Sure," I shrugged, "why not?"

"I cannot in good conscience leave my post without knowing someone equally qualified will have my place."

"So you want someone else to guard my body?" I teased.

"Yes...but if he were to ever touch you..."

"You mean the way you just touched me?"

He blushed a nice shade of crimson. "If anyone were to—."

"Okay, okay," I said interrupting whatever threat he was about to make. "I will hire a whole team of body guards...I mean security detail...as long as we can sneak around in the mean time."

"Your highness, if we don't sneak around I might just say sod it all and fucking quit!"

"I don't think you're supposed to speak to a queen in such lude terms," I retorted.

"You are yet to be crowned," he said with a grin.

"So if I were your queen, you couldn't speak to me like that?"

Tolem nodded, his eyes roaming over my face, as if trying to memorize every detail.

"No matter how maddening I am?"

He nodded again.

"Well," I said pushing my wet hair behind my shoulders, "humbling you may be reason enough to accept the crown."

He nodded, but caught the uncertainty in my voice.

"What's the matter?" he questioned when I didn't check myself in time.

"Uh—nothing." I shook my head and turned back to face the river.

"You're a terrible liar," he muttered pulling me back around to face him. I looked up into his eyes and sighed. He wasn't going to let this go.

"My daughter." My voice was barely above a whisper, but he nodded.

"She will come here; she is one of us, after all."

"What about my mother?"

"Will she not join you also?"

"Will she be accepted? She is a human." I couldn't keep the edge out of my voice. As much as I wanted to be a great queen, was the same amount I didn't want my mother scandalized or mistreated by my subjects.

Tolem's eyes softened and he seemed to understand exactly what I was thinking. "As the mother of our queen, she will be revered."

I smiled. "She'd probably like that."

"As will you."

Suddenly, I got a flash of the Seer. Her pale face was foremost in my mind, her blue eyes round, and her incredibly white face smooth as porcelain. She was younger, not more than twenty-five, but no less beautiful...in that eerie, mystical way. Her thin pink lips barely twitched into a smile.

"Galla!" a deep voice said behind me. I swung around and was face to face with my father, exactly as he'd appeared in the picture Trilla had given me. His shoulder-length black hair was blowing across his pale face. His eyes were darker than pitch, and then he smiled. He smiled and I immediately knew why my mother, sweet Southern girl she'd been, fell so hard for him. He was beautiful. His smile lit up his face, colored it with warmth and brought a hint of mischief into those obsidian eyes.

"Oh, Dom," her breathy voice wafted behind me. I turned around again and the Seer was pulling up her skirts and going into the river water, ankle high. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Certainly not ruin your life," my father said behind me. I stepped aside so I could watch the conversation like a tennis match, instead of giving myself whiplash.

"Why shouldn't I?" the Seer said, her smile slipping. "They've ruined your life."

My father sighed. "No one ruined my life." His shoulders drooped after he said it, as if even he hadn't been able to convince himself of that lie.

The Seer's smile was completely gone now. She vacated the water and marched up to my father. Her white blonde hair joined his in the wind. "You were happy," she said, "You were happy there, with your wife and your daughter, but you haven't been content since you returned. Not truly, not the way you were there. I could feel it, Dom, I could feel the love you shared even while you were across the Atlantic. I can feel it now." She placed an almost translucent hand over his heart. "I can feel your sadness every day you wake up without them."

My father went stone still. He didn't try to contradict or deny. He just watched...or waited.

"My cousin," she said smiling again and taking back her hand. "I could never marry Prince Leonardo Augustos, move to Crete, and live happily ever after. Not while you are forced to leave your own happily ever after...for what...for some antiquated laws that no one can be bothered to amend for the sake of their own king..." She laughed dryly.

"Galla, you cannot base your decision on me. My life has nothing to do with you!"

She laughed again. "Your highness, I'm surprised at you. You are my cousin and my king, how can you possibly say that you hold no influence over me?"

He smiled again, but shook his head. "You deserve happiness."

"And I will have it. Don't forget my gift, Dom. I know for a fact that I'm not supposed to be queen of the Elves in Crete. I have a duty to perform, here...for you in fact."

"So, you are going to tell your father that you are going to pass up this marriage proposal out of protest, for me?"

"Of course not! I'm going to tell my father that I do not love the prince, I will never love him, and in fact his true wife currently resides in Turkey. Then, I'll go back to University and finish my studies."

My father frowned and opened his mouth to speak again.

"Deidre!"

I gasped as a hand on my upper arm began to shake me.

"Tolem, please, you're going to shake some marbles loose!" I pulled away from his grip and blinked against my quick return to reality.

"What happened?" he questioned, his hands suddenly on me...tilting my face upward, smoothing my hair. The intensity of his gaze was making my face burn with embarrassment.

"Nothing. I just had a vision...or something...of my father and the Seer, uh...Galla."

"She no longer uses that name," Tolem informed me.

"Okay, well my father and his cousin were in this clearing, discussing why the Seer wouldn't get married." I was consumed with an unfamiliar feeling. My insides ached every time I mentioned my father. I missed him. I slowly turned to the spot where he had been standing. Empty...I was aching with the emptiness. I'd never missed him before; my mother had never let me really feel his loss. She'd been more than enough.

"Ah, one of the unspoken mysteries," Tolem muttered.

I turned back to him. "What do you mean?"

"No one knows why she never married. She has always been beautiful and blessed with a genuine heart but she wouldn't have any man that offered."

"It was a protest."

"Protest?" Tolem repeated. His blue gaze bore into mine as if he was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth.

"Yes, because my father couldn't have my mother and me, the Seer gave up her right to marriage in protest."

"Incredible," Tolem muttered. "If it was in protest, why didn't she let it be known by all? Shouldn't she have stated her cause?"

I shrugged. "Maybe those that needed to know did know...and still do."

"Let me take you back to the castle," Tolem said glancing up at the sky. "Lunch will be soon and you will need to change."

He held my hand as we made our way back through the forest. I felt childish, the way my heart thumped at the feeling of his large hands encasing my own. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling. Unfortunately, I also felt perturbed when we cleared the woods and he dropped my hand to walk a few paces ahead.

***

My hips looked amazing in the sage green skirt I was wearing. It had a low waist, leaving most of my stomach bare. I'd never been so glad for those fifty sit-ups a night I'd kept up since giving birth. The shirt, if you could call it that was a tiny, brown halter top that ended just below my breasts.

There was a dance in the city centre that evening...a celebration of the Summer Solstice. On the eve of the longest day of the year, a dance was held. Trilla had insisted that I wear the outfit she'd brought. I got the feeling that she was too nice to actually tell me that my wardrobe wasn't good enough. She'd also painted designs all over my body. There was a band of intricate swirls around my right upper arm, a vine with leaves and berries from the back of my neck, down to between my shoulder blades. There was a sun drawn around my belly button and a ying-yang on my lower back.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and tied it with a long black ribbon. The peasant skirt was so long; it grazed the floor and hid my bare feet.

"Are you—"

I spun around and smiled at Tolem. He stood in my doorway with his mouth agape.

"I take it you like the outfit."

"You look...so..."

I felt myself start to blush. I'd never actually rendered a man speechless before. "Aww, that's so sweet. You really have a way with words."

Tolem blushed clear up to his blonde hair. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

I took his arm and allowed him to lead me down the hall and to the first floor. I felt him suddenly drop my hand when we reached the bottom of the staircase.

He shrugged when I gave him a confused look.

"I am your security detail, my lady, not your date."

I frowned but nodded. "Tomorrow, I'll be your queen and I can order you to be my date!"

His cheeks burned red and I continued toward the front door. Tolem recovered and rushed ahead of me to open it. I snorted when he bowed low as I passed.

There was a steady procession walking the street toward city centre or "downtown." All the shops and storefronts were decorated with bunches of colorful wildflowers, paper machete suns, and other seasonal décor. There were street vendors who'd closed their eateries to cook in the middle of the road. In the middle of it all, was a fountain. I'd never noticed it before, but now it was lit with purple, green, and red lights coming out of the water. I got caught up in the wave of happily chatting elves that seemed to be heading toward the band. There was already a group dancing to the flutes, guitars, and lyres. I began to sway with the dancers.

I was swept up in a hug from a dark-haired woman. "Happy Solstice!" she yelled over the music. She turned to hug someone else before I got the chance to return the sentiments. I returned to dancing with no one in particular when I felt a large hand wrap around my forearm.

I bounced off Tolem's chest as he pulled me closer. Even on a muggy summer night, I managed to feel even hotter as he held me against him.

"You look beautiful," he whispered into my hair.

I leaned back to look up at him. "Thank you."

His hands encased my waist as we swayed together. Even though it was after nine, the sun was nowhere close to setting. I felt like I was under a spotlight. All the chatter, laughter, and music faded. All I could hear was the thump of Tolem's heart against my cheek. All I could feel was the white linen shirt he wore. I was consumed by the feeling of everything being right. I never got that feeling! I'm a worry-wart, I fret about absolutely everything. There have been few times in my life that everything was as it should be. Even when I'd held my daughter the first time, my mind was racing through everything that could go wrong now that I was responsible for the health and well-being of someone else.

"I could hold you this way forever," Tolem muttered, so low that I almost missed it.

My heart fluttered and my lungs contracted. It had been so long since a man had said something even remotely romantic to me. The last guy that did it, Jordan Mosely, had overwhelmed me, and then left his daughter and me in the dust. I clutched Tolem's shirt in my hands and looked into his blue eyes again. "I'd let you."

His smile was brief as he let me go. He leaned down to me, for a second I thought he'd kiss me and my heart began trying to escape my chest again. I gasped when he angled his head and his lips brushed against my earlobe. His hair fell over my bare shoulders and I shivered in spite of the heat. "I cannot lose my self again...not with so many witnesses about."

He pulled away and I nodded. I turned away from him, trying my best to get my body back under control. Luckily, Lady Ilyn chose that moment to glide up to me.

"Deidre, you look flushed."

I averted my eyes from her gaze. "It's hot out."

"Well, you look wonderful."

"So do you," I said honestly. She was wearing a long, white linen skirt, with at least three layers so it wasn't see-through. Her top was just like mine, a tiny halter, but hers was green. Her body paint was also much more intricate, as if she'd spent the entire day as a canvas. The most pronounced painting was a tree on her back. Its trunk was knotted, the base of which encompassed her entire lower back. The sprawling branches crept all over her back and up to her shoulders. Some branches were topped with bright red and yellow leaves. I didn't notice the painting until she turned to greet someone that stopped to bow. The thing was amazing! Her pale skin peeked through the brushstrokes of brown paint.

"Thank you," Lady Ilyn said when she turned back to me. "Please excuse me while I check on some things."

I watched her disappear into the crowd and accepted a tall glass of something that a passerby handed me. With a shrug, I took my first sip.

***

I sat up and slapped my open hand against my forehead. It hurt like hell. I'd had many drinks of many different colors the night before. I'd danced until 2am. Tolem had practically carried me up to my room...okay, so he'd literally carried me up to my room and put me in the bed.

"Oh," I groaned as I slipped out of bed. My head was pounding and pulsating by the time I crept downstairs. Tolem and Trilla were at the foot of the stairs...waiting. Why didn't they have hangovers? And why the hell were they smiling like that?

"Happy Solstice, your highness," Trilla quipped, bowing deeply.

"Don't call me that," I muttered.

Tolem bowed and I'd had enough.

"What's with y'all? Stop bowing like that!" I immediately regretted my outburst. I winced and held my head with both hands...just to keep it from exploding and painting the walls with my brain matter.

"Too much punch?" Tolem questioned.

"It sure as hell feels like I got punched," I groused. "I hope there's a mimosa and an aspirin for breakfast today."

When I sat down, there was an aspirin and a large glass of water. "I'll never get used to this," I said to myself before I took my medicine. When I put down the empty glass, Trilla started talking.

"As soon as you're done, we'll have to dress you for the ceremony."

"Ceremony?" I repeated.

"You're coronation, you're highness. The ceremony is at eleven."

"Oh, yeah," I said feeling like an idiot. "I'm sorry; I'm still a little fuzzy."

Tolem chuckled and I glared at him.

"I don't know many women that would go on a bender then night before they are to be crowned as queen," said Tolem leaning back in his chair.

"I didn't go on a bender," I said, "People kept handing me drinks. How was I supposed to know what was in them?"

"Do you make it a practice to consume things just because they're given to you?"

"No, of course not. I was just caught up in the festival." I shifted in my chair and sighed.

"The spirit of Solstice was palpable last night," Trilla said smiling at me.

I returned her smile. "See," I said to Tolem, "I was just in the spirit."

He chuckled again and I would have said something else in my defense but he was looking at me in that new way. Not annoyed, but amused. He licked his lips and I crossed my legs.

Trilla had began instructing me on the pomp and circumstance of being crowned when my breakfast arrived. I picked at the oatmeal. The gray mush was not exactly appealing in my current condition.

After my bowl was cleared away, Trilla swept me upstairs in a rush. I was bathed in a tub full of lavender-scented water. My hair was washed, dried, pressed, and curled. I was dressed in a pale gold, scoop neck gown that pooled around my feet. There were crystals embossed around the neckline but other than that I wasn't allowed any earrings or rings...something about showing that I was humble in my acceptance of the crown. After I got the crown, I would be able to sport the royal jewels.

One of the maids helping me reached up to unclasp my necklace. I stepped back and glared at her. "Absolutely not!"

The maid, a slip of a girl with black hair and black eyes set in a round, pale face, glanced at Trilla.