Rogues, Rakes & Jewels

“Aye…and for the moment, there be naught we can do…for, Shawn, I fear she went with him of her own free will.” I shook my head. “I saw her face when she met him, and I saw the way she looked at him. He didn’t compel her…but, to leave in this fashion…?”

“He must have compelled her in the end. She would not have gone with him otherwise, would she?”

I wasn’t sure at that point, and so I went with Shawn to her room. There I saw the evidence of their night of lovemaking and imagined the promises he must have made her: life eternal at Faery with him.

However, at that moment, a chambermaid came running at us, screaming for Shawn and advising us that Casey had gone into labor.

I went with him to Casey, but she told us we were devils. That all men were devils forever doing terrible things to women, and that we had better get out while we could, so we did. We ran for the safety of the study and threw down some brandy as fast as we could.

I was hurting though. I may not have been fully in love, deep or otherwise, but she was the woman of my dreams at that point, and both pride and my so-called non-existent heart were taking a beating.

I stayed with the MacCleans for another week and then returned to Faery, where I got word Gaiscioch had a human squirreled away with him at his private retreat. I shook it off. So be it. She had made her bed, so to speak.

*

Here was the kicker: Gais had taken her only to get at me. He had her at his retreat, oh yeah, and he used her in every conceivable manner. He tortured her mentally, physically, and in ways I could not bear to think about. Because of me, he took this poor human beauty and ruined her for all time.

A month after Destinee had gone off with Gais, I returned from Faery to visit with Shawn MacClean. We went to the local tavern for a couple of pints. I love engaging in human pastimes, and this ritual men have of drowning their sorrows together at a tavern is most satisfying. At any rate, Gais chose that moment to complete his coup de gras. He dumped (and there is no other word for it) my little Destinee into the tavern. He dragged her through the tavern door, shouting at her that she was a worthless whore, and he threw her across the floor to lie naked, dirty, and totally out of her mind.

We Fae can cure almost all things, but we cannot cure, either in Fae or human, madness.

I was ahead of Shawn, covering her with my long coat, picking her up in my arms, and carrying her out of the tavern, where Shawn took her from me and put her ahead of him on his horse.

“Take her home, Shawn.”

“Of course, my friend, we will see to her…”

I turned and saw Gaiscioch with a look on his face that made me lose all control. I was on him before he could shift away

.

Rage filled me as I tore into him, beating him even though he attempted to ward off my blows. I am a royal, with powers untold, power and might never to be used in such a physical fashion against a lesser Fae. It is a sacred rule, one I broke that evening.

I screamed obscenities at him, and every time he tried to land a blow my way or block my onslaught, I pounded him. He fell, and I was on top of him, hammering and beating; I had called for my Death Sword and it was in my leveled grip when suddenly my wrist was held fast.

I looked up to see my closest, most dearest friend, Danté, Prince of Lugh, holding me with back with determination. He whispered, “You may not kill a fellow Fae, Bres…”

“Get off me!” I demanded.

“No, Bres…if you kill him, you will be forever banished…or worse. He is the queen’s trusted friend.”

“Do you know what he did?”

“Yes, I ran into Shawn on my way to visit with you at MacClean…I know.”

“Aaibhe will not punish him for this.”

“She is a just, good queen and will sanction him. We will see to it. He has interfered with a human life. He will be sanctioned before all the Council.”

He pulled me off Gaiscioch, who was lying in a pool of his own blood. He was an immortal, and he would heal quickly. The Death Sword would have put an end to his miserable life, and knowing now what he would become, I often think of that day and wish I had incurred banishment rather than allow him to live.

*

Proof is a tenuous thing, and when I brought Gais up on charges before the Council, Danté stood at my side ready to support my accusations; however, the only thing he had witnessed was me beating the hell out of Gaiscioch.

The devil covered himself well. I proclaimed, “He threw her naked in the tavern.”

He answered, “She tore off her clothes just outside the tavern and threw herself down in the mud, hugging my ankles, begging me to keep her.”