I land in my father’s palace to find it deserted. There are usually loads of Faeries milling about, but today I am alone. I make my way to my father’s office and I knock twice and then walk in unannounced. I come to a dead halt, with my greeting on my lips, when I see my father and Graven, my eldest half-brother, sitting at the round table with Sebastian and a very, very beautiful Light Fae woman next to him. Too close to him, in fact. She is whispering something in his ear, and he has his head bent to hear her. I clear my throat and they both look up at me as Drake says, “Aeval? What on these lands are you doing barging in here?”
“Sorry,” I mumble, feeling my face flush with the reprimand. “I need to speak to you urgently.”
Sebastian smiles at me, standing up and holds his hand out for me. I go to him and receive a very welcome hug and a chaste kiss, but I glare at him for conspiring with this woman. He chuckles as he knows my thoughts and says, “Aeval, it is my honor to introduce you to Pyleah, my mother. Mother, this is my wife, Aeval.”
My mouth hangs open unattractively as I glance at her. His mother? Sure, he had a father and brothers, but I never really thought about his mom. Probably because no one has ever mentioned her or introduced me to her before. I regain my composure, and my manners, and I extend my hand to her with a smile. I realize belatedly, as she just stares at my outstretched hand, that she probably hates me and wants to rip my arm off my body and beat me to death with it over what happened with Aelfric. I swallow loudly and I am about to drop my hand to my side, when she rises, and I resist the urge to gape. She is almost as tall as Sebastian and so very graceful, I feel like a massive klutz next to her.
She takes my hand with a small smile. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Aeval,” she says and that’s all.
“And you,” I murmur and leave it at that.
I shift uncomfortably under the hateful gaze of Graven, that must be so pronounced that even Sebastian notices and pulls me into his side a little to protect me. I don’t bother with a greeting as I won’t get one in return. I can’t say I blame him really, nor do I blame Pyleah for being reluctant. I am the source of great issues for both of them.
Drake sighs and stands up. “I guess we will resume this at another time,” he says pointedly, staring at me.
“We have some things to discuss anyway,”
Sebastian says and Pyleah nods in agreement.
“Very well,” Drake says and with a not-so-gentle shove, he escorts Graven out of the room, and then with a more gallant bow to King Kalen and the Queen Mother. I smile at Sebastian and try and ask him to stay with the look I give him. I want to see him some more before I go back home. He nods as he understands and then I turn to my father.
He embraces me and then tugs my hair gently. I push his hand away before I realize I am not as I should be. No wonder Graven looked extra distasteful of me.
I Shift as Drake says, “You should be more respectful of your mother-in-law. She is of great importance to Kalen as his chief advisor.”
I am about to say that I wasn’t being disrespectful, in fact, I was trying to respect Pyleah’s feelings over seeing me, the woman whose husband died because of–not to mention the reason why–but he shushes me. “What is so urgent?”
I do love my father, but he is all about business. Not that I am complaining, because right now I need his Dark Fae King head on. I slap my maps onto the table in front of him and he raises his eyebrow and unrolls them. He glances at them with a frown and then looks up at me and says, “What are they?”
“Supernatural blueprints,” I say. “Back door portals to almost every Realm.”
“Oh?” he asks and then his voice deepens as he repeats, “Oh?” menacingly.
“Not here,” I say quickly. “I haven’t found it.” Not for lack of trying, though, I add to myself. “I am looking for a back door into the Dragon Realms and I cannot find one on Earth or the Underworld, so we wondered if it was perhaps here, in the Fae Kingdoms.”
“We?” he asks. He is all about one syllables at the moment.
I wave my hand about to indicate the unimportance of that. “Is it?” I ask.
I have seen this look on Drake’s face before, but never directed at me. I start to quake inside. I haven’t felt this way since the first time CK looked at me with such an ominous look.
“Aeval,” he warns me, but I won’t be deterred.
“I need to know, Daddy. If I can get to the Dragon Realms from here, I need to know now,” I say.
“You can’t,” he says. “I cannot enter the Dragon Realms and your mother cannot enter here. It makes no sense,” he says determinedly.
“I can if there is a back door,” I insist. I am both Dragon and Faerie, if there is a door, I can use it.
“So, you are saying that the Dragons can use a portal as their front door to enter here?” he asks with a frown.
“No,” I say in exasperation. “It has nothing to do with them. They will have their own, if such one exists.”
He growls at me. “So, you are saying that they have one?” he roars at me.
“No!” I yell back. “Or at least not one that I have found on Earth or in the Underworld. If they have one, it would be in the Dragon Realms.”
“I don’t like this,” he states, crossing his arms.