Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 18: Bedtime Story (Part 1)

After spending the afternoon seeing to the details regarding everyone's safety, Scott MacRae walked back to his hut, breathing a little easier.

Skirmishes with the Kanaloans had been small and isolated in recent months, and the northern border of Kāne territory had been unexpectedly quiet. Prince Haipo, the new Kanaloan leader, seemed to be more moderate than his ailing father. Perhaps they were only a few negotiations short of a lasting peace treaty. The civil war might finally be over.

The Pyxis Problem, as he called it, also seemed like less of a problem now that his boys had found their way to him. Back east, Gretchen had disappeared, as advised, and her family was still out of the country. Most of the Jokuras were safe as well and would be moved into the Zone of Protection soon enough. The only exception was Mikala. She had to remain in the hospital. Andromeda might eventually make the connection to Hawaii, but Mikala didn't know enough to be a vulnerability and her room was now being protected by the Kāne Army. Pyxis would not be able to get to her without a fight.

When Scott returned to the hut, the smell of a home-cooked meal made his stomach grumble. There was a pot of stew simmering over the fire and a loaf of bread baking on the hearth.

They had all been busy. Cassiopeia was stirring the stew, and his sons had sectioned the hut into rooms and distinct areas they were calling the kitchen, dining area, and den. Curtains quartered off areas that would require privacy, like the bedroom and the bathroom. The bare ground was even covered with a few handwoven rugs. Scott recognized the reedy material they were made from—the long grass that grew beside the hut.

"Who made the rugs?" he asked Chris as he stepped into the dining area.

Chris flipped over the chair he was building and wriggled the posts stabilizing the back of it. When he decided it was sturdy, he pushed it underneath the table. Cassiopeia then came over and set some wooden bowls down. When she walked away, Chris's head bobbed toward her to answer the question. Then Chris gave a shrug that suggested he was just as astonished, but his beaming face suggested something else.

The fairy princess could cook a meal with only a few ingredients, make intricate rugs, pull off daring rescues, scare grown fairy-males into doing her bidding, and look flawless all the while. She was almost too good to be true. And Joe was acting like her shadow, helping her, adding a clever quip at every opportunity, and Chris couldn't even allude to her without grinning.

Scott would give her the benefit of the doubt for the moment but would never trust a Sauvageau. The ice crystals in her veins would surely trump any decency she had inherited from her father.

Since the hut was big enough for only two or three inhabitants, Scott set up a tent for himself outside. He then pulled a bottle of red wine from a storage bin beside the hut. When he returned, supper was ready to serve. They all took seats and portioned out the stew, bread, and wine.

"This wine is pretty decent," Joe said while swirling his goblet. "Did you make it?"

"Make it?" Scott chuckled. "No, I bought it in Nohea. There's a marketplace there. I would have bought more if I knew I was having company."

"There's a marketplace?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. It's a couple of hours northwest of here. You should check it out sometime."

After dinner, they cleared the plates from the table, keeping only their goblets with the last of the wine, and settled back into their seats.

Scott was the last to sit down. He knew his sons needed to hear more about fairies and their family history, but he was content listening to them chat for a while. He had a lot to learn about them, too.