“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 pare
nts 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.”
~ Two ~
The Dark Prince Pestale
“DAMN, HOT DAMN, I like this Earth, and these humans make excellent subjects,” the Dark Prince said out loud before glancing at the pretty human in his bed. He stood naked next to the window overlooking the busy street below.
He smiled to himself and walked back to the bed, bent, and fondled the young woman’s full breasts. “I wish that my brothers were here with me to share you … lovely thing …”
“Oh yes … oh call them … tell them to join us …” she said on a husky note.
He laughed. “I only wish it were that easy.” A hard look took over his dark features. “Soon—it will be soon.”
“Are they as handsome as you?” she said, crawling on her knees to touch his cock and lick its length.
“Yes … each in his own way.” He held her head and pushed himself into her mouth, worked her hard and fast, and then even as she choked on his largeness he went off to the sound of his pleasure. He removed it from her mouth and allowed his seed to drip over her breasts. “Rub it on your nipples …”
She was already his, ruined for all else but sex. She would never recover from the Lianhan sexual addition. She did exactly what he asked and smiled for him.
He moved away from her and went back to the window. The Queen of the Seelie Fae had vowed to find him and return him to the Dark Realm. He sneered to himself. Let her try …
He wasn’t about to allow the Seelie Trackers to capture him and return him there to a dead world, not now, not when all of the Human Realm lay before him, ready to devour.