Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (5 page)

All of a sudden
, I became aware of how disgusting I felt. I was covered in blood and who knows what else. I wanted nothing more than to be clean and sinking into a freshly made bed, asleep. “Where the hell do I get new bedding? This castle has to have a linen closet somewhere.”

A kn
ock on the door startled me. A compact, sturdy woman stood before me. She was only about four feet tall. She looked up and her smile lit up her very pretty, although not entirely human-looking, face. She had small pointed ears on either side of her head. Her chocolate brown eyes matched the color of her short-cropped hair. She was the size of a child, but no child carried itself with the air of confidence that this woman did.

“I’m sorry it has taken me so long to come, but I was waiting for your gentleman friend to leave.”

“I think I can forgive you, considering I didn’t know you were coming or why.”

“Of course,
where are my manners? You are human… correct?”

“Yes.”

“I’m a brownie. My family traditionally serves the queen, although we haven’t done so in a very long time. Queen Mab was evil and perverted in every sense of that word. My mother would tumble in her grave if I had served her. Queen Oona, while not as outwardly evil, she let her power corrupt her over the years. It broke my mother’s heart when she had to fade from Oona’s employ, but after she imprisoned the dark fae, we feared she might turn to us next. Brownies may not be as powerful or as beautiful as the fae and we may not be as numerous and strong as the goblins, but we have free will. We serve who we like.”

That was a whole lot of information to take in and I realized
I hadn’t even invited her inside. I stepped aside so she could enter. Her plain green dress was pressed and every pleat was crisp and clean.

“Excuse me
, Your Majesty; it’s just that I’m so excited to be serving my first queen. My name is Ruby. Well, my real name would be unpronounceable by your tongue, so you may call me Ruby.” Her words came fast and furious. I had to concentrate to catch them all. 

“Ni
ce to meet you, Ruby. I’m Cass.”

“I hope you understand
, Your Majesty, but I can’t call you Cass. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Okay,
whatever makes you feel comfortable. I guess I have to get used to people calling me Your Majesty.”

“I’m here to make your life as easy as possible.
There will be other brownies all over the castle who will help run the day-to-day things that need to be done, but think of me as the supervisor and your personal assistant. So, what is it you need the most right now?”

I wasn’t used to having someone do things for me, but Ruby had such an air about her that it didn’t seem right to refuse.
“I need to have my bed changed and for someone to find my friend Lucius and put him in a room where he can spend the night. A nice one. Also if it’s not too much trouble, I really need a bath, so I need soap and towels.”

“It would be my pleasure.
” Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together, like I told her some incredible news.

“I really appreciate it. I was feeling overwhelmed.
I’m a queen in a castle where I don’t know anyone and I don’t know how things run. I didn’t even know where my throne room was until a few minutes ago.”

“I’ll pop into your bathroom and start your bath and lay you out a robe and clean towels.
While you are getting clean, I’ll change your bed and make sure Mr. Lucius gets a nice room.”

“
Thank you, Ruby. Is there any way I could get something to wear?”

“Of course, I’ll put some
fine selections in your closet and, as soon as you’re ready, there will be someone to take your measurements to make you exactly what you want.”

I felt a tiny amount of anxiety let go and I was breathing a little easier.
“Ruby, you are a life saver. Last time I was in this room, I was a prisoner. I really don’t know the first thing about this place or how anything works or runs.”

“You are the
queen; it’s the least we can do. I’m here to make sure that everything you need is taken care of. That way, you can take care of the important matters at hand, like making sure the light and dark fae don’t kill each other.”

Part of me felt very uncomfortable being waited on hand and foot and the other part was doing a fist pump and trying not to grin like an
idiot. If I was going to embrace all the responsibilities of being the fae queen, I might as well embrace the perks too.

Rub
y did her thing in my bathroom and then left me so she could go take care of Lucius. I had a relaxing bath. The soaps and oils smelled amazing. The towels were softer than anything I’d ever had touch my body. Mab must have been keeping the good stuff for herself. Feeling clean and relaxed, I sank into my freshly made bed. The new linens smelled like lavender and felt clean and crisp.

All the adrenaline was gone and exhaustion had taken its place.
I pulled the covers around me and snuggled into the bed. My mind tried to run through all the things that weighed on it, but I was much too tired. In no time, I was drifting off into a deep sleep.

A loud noise poked at my brain until I couldn’t ignore it any longer. It sounded like an angry mob trying to barge their way into my room. I lay there for a few minutes until the realization of what I was hearing finally made it through my fogged mind. I could hear Ruby screaming at them to get back. The panic in her voice spurred me from my bed. I threw on my robe and went to the sitting room to find my little assistant in the doorway. She stood with a wide stance and arms folded, refusing to budge an inch as several fae towered over her, trying to nudge their way into the room. Despite the threat, I had to smile; she was one tough lady.

“I need you all to be quiet. The
queen needs her sleep and you are being extremely rude.”

“It
’s okay, Ruby. What’s going on?” At the sound of my voice, the mob outside got even louder.

“Oh
, I’m so sorry, Your Majesty. I tried to get them to quiet down,” Ruby shouted as loud as her little voice allowed.

“
I needed to get up anyway. I can see you did your best. What can I do for everyone?”

A moment of silence and then t
hey all started to yell at once and as a group move towards the door. Ruby and I took a step back. “That’s enough. Shut up and move back from the door.” I couldn’t believe it worked. As a group, they all backed up and stopped talking.

“I know you all must have questions and concerns, but I can’t do anything about that while you all yell at me at once. If you pick two representatives each from the light and dark fae
, then I’ll meet with you in my sitting room when I’m dressed and ready.”

They all started to talk again. This
was going nowhere. “STOP IT! I’m not allowing an angry group of fae into my room. Do I have to summon Kael?” I waited for that to sink in. “Now you have about five minutes to make your choice for representatives and then I’ll be back.”

I motioned for Ruby to come inside and I shut the door. “Ruby, I need some tea and whatever passes for breakfast around here. Enough for all of us, including you.”

I couldn’t hold back a smile. I had just stood up to a crowd of incredibly powerful beings. I was feeling totally
badass.

Ruby was looking at me like I was insane. “Are you okay
, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, sorry. I know it was a small victory, but it felt good to get them to listen. Will you sit in on the meeting?”

“Oh, Your Majesty, of course I will. The lesser fae never get included.”

“Lesser
fae?”

“Yes, brownies, sprites, pixies
– too many to name, really.”

“Ruby
, I have so much to learn. I don’t even know the people who I’m supposed to be governing. I’ll never catch up.”

“You will
. I’m very good at judging these things. My mom used to say I had the gift. I could see into the future. I will help you and I know many who will fall over themselves to help you too.” I was skeptical. I knew Ruby meant what she said, but I hadn’t felt very much love from the fae so far.

“Did you get Lucius settled?”

“Yes. If I may say, he is very handsome, Your Majesty, and very nice.”

“I hope he wasn’t
too mad at me.”

“I don’t think he is mad at all. He is in love with you.”

“Yes, he is. Now I need to get dressed.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. I need to get things organized.”

Rubbing her tiny hands together, she disappeared and I went to get dressed. I had hundreds of gauzy dresses in every color, filling a wardrobe beside my bed. I wouldn’t be able to eat too much in those things. When I tried one on, I was a little startled when the dress formed to my body. The fabric was light, but it worked miracles, tucking in what needed to be tucked and lifting and separating my breasts. I had mental vision of all those lithe fae with beer guts and saggy breasts when they removed their clothes. It made me giggle.

Taking a few deep breaths
, I steeled myself for what stood on the other side of the door. A thin sheen of stress sweat coated my body and my hands shook. This would pass. I repeated that several times until I felt more in control. Reaching for the doorknob, I pasted on a smile and forced my body to stop shaking.

As requested
, only four fae stood in the doorway. They entered and two of them bowed. I didn’t want people bowing to me, but it still irked me that the other two didn’t. How fucked up was that?

“Please have a seat
.”

Lochlan
was the only fae I recognized. Na’min’s brother looked totally different from the last time I had seen him. Mab had kept him shirtless and chained. At least that helped me know on which side of the room the light fae sat.

I sat in a chair halfway
in between. I bet Ruby had it set up that way. If she was getting paid, she needed a raise.

“I have met Lochlan briefly
, but under less than ideal circumstances. Maybe you could introduce yourselves and then we can talk.” I gave them my cheeriest smile and kept it even, though no one returned it.

“You’
ll clearly have a bias towards the light fae. You already know some of them. Na’min has had plenty of time to turn you against us.”

The woman who spoke was tall and lithe, like all the fae. She
scowled away her ethereal face, making herself look harsh. Long, buttery yellow tresses framed her narrow face and, despite her demeanor, her skin still had an inner glow. I had thought the dark fae had dark hair. Now that I said that in my head, it sounded extremely stupid and simplistic.

“Your name is?”

“Yseault, and this is my husband, Daman.” She motioned to the handsome man sitting beside her. “You killed our queen and we are supposed to trust that you won’t favor the light fae?”

“I killed your queen because she killed my mate and she would have killed me.
I do know and like Na’min, but he never even mentioned you before I opened the door. My first knowledge of the dark fae was Mab. She tried to kill me and my mate died saving me. I won’t hold your people responsible for that. Queen Oona had you all locked away for little or no reason. I won’t hold that against them either. So, to recap, I promise that I don’t think all dark fae are homicidal deviant sex maniacs and I don’t believe all light fae are prejudiced egomaniacs with a goddess complex. Fair enough?”

S
he made a sour face, but said no more on the subject. “I am… was a lady of the dark court. Now what? Will you undo everything our queen has done for us? We finally had our own court.” She gripped her husband’s hand. “You can imagine how greatly distressed we were by what happened yesterday.”

Poor thing was upset
. Decapitating someone upset me too, but I wasn’t complaining. Diplomacy was going to be a sharp learning curve for me. I turned to Lochlan, who was sitting beside a very thin fae. Thin even for a fae. His hair was the color of lush leaves; his eyes the same color.

“Your
Majesty, I know we have met before and I want to be the first to thank you for what you have done.” Yseault made a tsking sound. She wasn’t happy with Lochlan’s gratitude. “This is Berit. He is not a lord, but used to serve Queen Oona as an advisor.” I made a mental note not to listen to any advice Berit might give. He didn’t help Oona to make the right decisions.

Just then
, Ruby popped in and settled beside my chair. “Sorry I took so long, Your Majesty.” The table was now filled with tasty pastries and piping hot pots of tea.

“No worries
, Ruby.”

She perched herself on the side of my chair. “I will start with the
dark fae to show I have no favoritism. How can I help you?”

Yse
ault’s smug look showed how happy she was that I had let her go first. “As I’ve said, Mab made her own court and dismantled the light court. I don’t think we should have to give up all our rights. We lived for thousands of years in a prison without even committing a crime. We deserve to keep our titles.”