Rogues, Rakes & Jewels

“You tortured her till she went mad!” I spat at him.

“She was insane…I didn’t know it till it was too late,” Gais responded.

He had an answer for everything I threw at him, and he was the queen’s trusted friend. They decided to believe I had been mistaken—that I had seen things through my clouded dislike of him, my jealousy that the human had gone with him instead of me. It was humiliating and defeating.

The queen came to me and said what I needed was a mission, and one in which only I could help her as her worthy prince. I knew she was trying to bolster my spirits. I knew she wanted to get me away from Gais because she saw the ‘intent to kill’ in my eyes.

Ete tells me that was a defining moment for me and that writing it all down will be important, and Ete is wise beyond her years.

All these things went into making me the Fae prince I am now, she says, and so I am putting pen to paper so to speak because I did learn a great deal from that experience.

Destinee remained with the MacCleans. She was a broken woman…off in a world of her own … and the name she called in her sleep was his, Gaiscioch, for she had been a woman in love…with him.

I visited with her often, sat with her, and now and then she would be lucid and laugh before vanishing once more into her ‘other world’, but each time before her thoughts wandered and took her to safety, she told me of Gais’s false promises and then of his endless abuse. I have often thought I should lie in wait for him and return the favor…

And then the queen came for me at MacClean and said we had a mission. A creature, a vampire-like creature, Lamia DuLaine, was about to ruin the life of a member of the queen’s favorite Druid families. Queen Aaibhe said the time had come to act, and yet, how could we prevent the inevitable if we adhered to the rules of non-interference?

My queen said we would find a way to help without breaking the rules.

Yeah, right—and at this point I think it time to hand over the pen, because this is where Legend truly begins …

One

IN THE SPRING in the year of 1814 was when DuLaine first saw him. It was as though she felt the humanity in herself all at once, all over again.

However, in reality more than a thousand years had passed, and the humanity in Lamia DuLaine had been extinguished long ago.

She watched him. He was tall, and his black waves of hair framed a chiseled, roguishly handsome face. His deep blue eyes twinkled as he conversed and laughed with his companions, unaware of her stare.

She watched and chided herself. He was a man, only a man. However, there was something magnetic in his appearance. There was something glowing in his aura. There was something that made her feel—and she never felt anything for anyone, other than Shamon.

She sensed greatness in this man and more…something she could not name. She felt suddenly alive. She could feel electricity vibrate off his body and fluctuate in a rhythm that penetrated to a place her soul had once occupied.

She couldn’t look away from him.

She felt a fire heat her forehead, burn her cheeks from deep within her body.

In that short space of time, she knew she had to have him. She had to walk beside him, lust with him, and make him her own!

It had been a glance, just a glance, but it would change her life forever!

That was how it all began to crumble. That was when it all went wrong for her.

Until then, she had reigned supreme. No one had ever touched her essence in such a manner. No one alive, no one human, knew the full secrets of her powers. Until then, until the spring of 1814, she had been mistress of her world.

Until then, no one had defied her will. Because of him her life, her needs, her force would change. Because of them, Legend began…

*

The queen and Breslyn hovered in another dimension to observe the creature DuLaine and plan their strategy. At this point, the queen advised Breslyn, his mission was to observe and report—nothing more.

His silver eyes glittered with irritation and uncertainty. “Observation isn’t going to be enough. At what point do we do something to avert disaster? For that is where the situation is headed.”

“You are too impatient, my prince,” said his queen softly.

Her behavior and explanations thus far were things he found frustrating. What he needed was action and possibly a good fight to dispel his mood.

The Queen of the Fae was amazingly beautiful—so much so that few humans could look directly at her. She had a grace of form and movement. Her light blonde hair fell in silky waves to her waist. Her eyes of many colors were full with the wisdom of her age, her experience, and her rare intelligence. She rarely took any deep interest in humans, for their lives were too short to concern her; however, these particular humans were different.