10 Zenith, 13079
"You do not have to come with me. This is a family matter," I state, hoisting my gunnysack over my shoulder.
"We are coming," Ashton states, plopping his gunnysack on the table. Its weight rattles the cups of ale Ryker, and Aleksander are drinking from. Others in the Ivory Fox look over. They expect a row.
Oh, how well they know me and Ashton. I'll fight him if it means he stays here.
"They are going, and that is final," Ryker states, his arms crossing over his chest. He leans back in his chair and stares up at me.
"Fine." I set my gunnysack beside Ashton's and plopped into a chair. Aleksander passes me an empty cup.
It's not like they can't track me or Lyall. Arin is rather good at it, and don't get me started on Nyx. The man's like a bloodhound. Fantastic for missions, but tracking me...is that how Aleksander found me two years ago? It's plausible.
"Bree doesn't...Lyall looks a little out of place?" Aleksander states, gesturing to Lyall as he stands at the bar rail.
Damn, he's right. Lyall looks royal even in his civvies. Lyall could wear a burlap sack for clothes and still look noble. It's just how he is. Even Ashton can make himself not look dignified, and he can be a handful of a royal pain in the arse.
"He could learn the spell you use," Ashton states, handing me a filled cup of wine.
Accepting the wine, I turn to my brother. I call his name and ask how advanced he is with his magic.
"Advanced," Lyall states walking over with his ale in hand.
"You don't know how advanced your brother is?" Ashton asks, pulling up a chair.
"Cut me a break. I haven't seen him in two years," I grab Lyall's mug of ale and down its contents. Oh gross. That's the sour stuff. Ew, how can Lyall like that? Yick. I down the wine Ashton gave me.
Oh, that made it worse. Now I need water.
I fill the empty mug with ice from my magic and wait.
"That was mine, sister,"
"Too late, and I didn't even like it, so that's enough payback," I purse my lips and frown. Once the flavours of the wine, ale, and water simmer down, I turn to my brother. "Let's get you humanized,"
I stand and walk into the small training room just outside the tavern portion of the Ivory Fox. I've used this room many times with Rose and Arin. It makes for good practice in a close-quarters fight. Especially when it rains. The grass gets slippery, our clothes become soaked, and our vision impaired.
It's all good fun.
"How--"
I raise my hand and tell him to shut up. "I am going to show you how I execute the spell, then I'll show you how it is done with magic," This is how I do things magic related. I have to remember how to do it,, then I can show, I just do it. I don't have to think about it. It just happens.
Wisely, Lyall keeps his mouth shut.
Good.
With little to no effort, I will body to change into a human. Hair that was previously held back by my ears, falls into my face. Damn, I'll have to braid that back.
Lyall, on the other hand, balks at my transformation.
"Your turn. I used these circles when I first began to transform," I draw circles in the air, filled with runes in ancient fae. Simple really. The complexity comes from not using circles.
Lyall nods and begins copying out the circles. Once he finishes, he tries. It sort of works. Half of his right ear becomes round. His other ear remains pointy. It looks so stupid.
Lyall reaches up and feels for round ears. His face falls when he feels the pointiness. Sucker. I popped into the human form one day and had to figure out how to get out of it. Five hours it took me five hours to return to normal.
"Try again," I prompt, failing to keep my smile at bay. My brother frowns deeper.
Lyall tries again, and his whole right ear turns round this time this time. On the other hand, his left one, or rather an ear, just manages to round a tiny bit. Not bad. He's improving.
Lyall tries twice more, and on the second attempt, he succeeds. When he finds the round ears, he jumps for joy. Then pop, and his regular pointy ears are back.
I point that out, and he does the spell for the final time.
My brother waits a moment before checking if they have reverted to their original state. When they don't, he smiles.
"You look like twins," Ashton is pushing my buttons.
A warning shot of ice shoots toward Ashton's head. Purposefully the ice misses. It hits the door frame where he's leaning. Discharge from the ice crawls up Ashton's cheek. The assassin uses his fire magic to keep the ice from burning him.
"We do not," I growl.
I do not need this now. I'm already pissy that Ryker is making them go with me and Lyall. Now I have to deal with this.
"If we look different as fae, we look different at humans." Lyall frowns. I'm glad Lyall also finds Ashton annoying. Ha, they would have been brothers if Ashton and I married two years ago.
_____
15 Zenith, 13079
"Pass the bucket,"
"Are you gonna puke?" Arin asks, lifting the metal bucket from beside her feet.
"No, I am going to throw it at my brother," I state, keeping one eye on Lyall and the other on the bucket Arin is handing me. "Were here for one night, not a week-long vacation,"
Rose shakes her head as she raises her cup to drink.
"Hello darling," A smooth voice states sliding an arm around my shoulders. Beside me, Aleksander stills.
Relax, I'm not going to murder the male. I'm not that cold.
Rose snorts. 'Somedays, you act like you are.'
Thanks for that.
Rose chuckles and drinks her ale.
"You have three seconds to take your hands off me, or you lose them," I growl, looking around for a blade or something I can use to stab this male if it comes down to it. Then I see it right on the male's hip—a gorgeous hilt.
How ironic would it be if I stabbed him with his own sword? So poetic. I like it.
"Darling, don't be like that, I can make your dreams come true,"
"I doubt that," I doubt he can kill my father and stop Ashton's mother from killing King Alaric. I really doubt he could.
"You never know unless you try,"
"Fuck off before I do something that will make you regret talking,"
"Darling--" The male never finishes what he was going to say. I cut him off by kicking him in the balls. The male drops to the floor--groaning.
Serves him right. I gave him a chance to walk away, but did he take it? No, of course, he didn't.
"I am not your darling," I growl, leaning closer to the male's ear as I slide the male's sword out of his sheath.
"You are a nightmare wrapped in crudely soft silk," Aleksander chuckles, raising his cup to drink.
It's a beautiful blade and well-balanced. Made for a noble...how does this sod have it. He looks like he's barely out of leading strings.
"That's me," I grin, waving the beautiful sword about. Patrons duck and scream as I make my way toward the stairs.
Males and females cling to one another in fear. They give me a wide berth. Oh, how wonderful it is to wield a sword. I've missed doing this in public. Their terror is palpable.
At the top of the stairs, I walk to Ashton and Heath's room. It was decided when we went to the inn that I would share with Arin, and Rose would share with Levi. It came down to whether Ashton could refrain from killing Lyall. Aleksander made the call to bunk with my brother.
I may not like my brother most days, but I don't wish him dead...yet. This trip will test if I want him dead or not.
At Heath and Ashton's room, I don't bother knocking. Payback for all the times they've done it to me. "You'll never guess what just happened,"
Levi sputters into his glass of wine. Red liquid splatters all over his shirt. Levi swears. He places his glass down and pulls the shirt off.
Well, I was expecting Heath, but Levi is good too. I was wondering why it was taking so long to bathe.
"Let me guess you, my dear kicked some poor sod's arse," Ashton states, sipping his wine.
Levi laughs as he grabs one of Ashton's shirts from his friend's bed. Ashton, on the other hand, rolls his eyes.
"Close. I was with Morgan, Kerra and Indigo. We were minding our business when this arse came over and began harassing me. I told him to fuck off. He didn't, so I kicked him in the balls and took his sword," I state, sitting on Levi's bed, boots and all. Again, he does it all the time to me, so payback.
"Why the sword?" Levi asks, pouring himself a new glass of wine and wincing.
I shrug. "I liked it,"
Ashton reaches for the blade I carry. "Let's see," I hand him the blade. Ashton immediately looks bewildered. Almost as if he recognizes the blade.
"Why does this look familiar?"
"Where in Icarius' lordly balls is my fucking sword!" The male who I kicked asks as he bursts into the room.
Levi makes a spit-take. Wine goes everywhere. The floor, his chin and Ashton's shirt. His nice blue one. That will be hard to get out.
Ashton stands, his eyes widening at the male standing in the doorway.
"Bennet!" Levi declares, grinning. He looks looney with the wine dripping down his chin.
I glance between Levi and the male. "You know this sod?"
"This is my brother Bennet. He's a part of our Father's royal guard," Ashton states, sitting back down. Then he turns to Bennet. "What brings you to this tavern to harass Bree DeMarion?"
Bennet pales. "Bree DeMarion, as in the assassin?" He eyes me, lounging on Levi's bed.
"Yes, as in the Assassin,"
"Icarius's balls, I'm in deep shit," Bennet states.
"Yes, you are," Ashton and I say at the same time. We share a nasty look. I hate it when we have the same reaction to things. It's annoying.
"Why do you keep referring to the human deities? Why not the Spirit King?" I ask, crossing my ankles and leaning back on the headboard.
"....I've spent many years with humans,"
"You were kicked, weren't you?" Ashton asks his brother as he sips on his wine.
"Yes," Bennet hangs his head. "Yes, I was,"
Ashton asks his brother what his task is.
Bennet sighs and collapses onto a chair between his brother and Levi. "Bring you back to Oakland, to renounce your new life,"
Ashton snorts. He raises his cup of wine and smiles at his brother. "That will never happen. I love my life, and you are still heir to the throne unless you count young Clyvan,"
"He's not that young,"
How many brothers does Ashton have? "Another brother?"
"I have four,"
"You have four brothers?" Spirits.
"Bennet, Clyvan, Drystan and Evander." Ashton states with pride.
Bennet looks between us and asks what we're doing on the path to Raeviel.
For the next half hour, Ashton, Levi and I fill Bennet in on what's going down between Raeviel and Oakland. By the time we finish, Bennet looks disgusted. "I hope you have room for one more person."