The Chaotic Kingdom - Chapter 4

<-Chapter 3

The first week of October finally went by, and the galaxy felt quiet. It wasn't calm because of the tension in the air, but it was quiet. Tension lingered on three fronts: around Starlight as they waited for the next attack, around Tasia as she waited for her father to appear again, and around Chance as—like a cornered rabbit—he tried his best to avoid LeAnn entirely.

Only the last was amusing, Shanae thought as she sat at her window and stared out over the gardens below. She could see Delphinium thanks to it being between twenty-one and twenty-two hours, and the gardens glowed softly in the other world's light. She smiled as she thought about her daughter. LeAnn seemed quite cheerful about how things were progressing and had let him avoid her for the last week. She had looked so smug and pleased with herself when she had returned from the picnic that Shanae had almost doubled with laughter.

It felt a little surreal and uplifting alike that in perhaps less than a year, she would pass on the crown of High Queen. She had worn it for ten thousand years, sometimes invisibly but always felt. Even before the kingdoms had been resurrected at the beginning of the Era, she had worn it and felt its weight on her head. She had no regrets. Protea and Blossom Field alike would be safe in LeAnn's hands, and Chance's as well. He would make a fine High King.

She glanced down into the gardens and spotted a flash of familiar silver hair. Someone looked like they needed an ear to listen, so she left the window and got dressed as quietly as she could. She didn't want to wake Robert where he was still sleeping in their bed. Then again . . . little woke him up at all. He had literally slept through an attack once. She would never forget the hilarity of watching Sabin haul him half-dressed down the hall.

As she reached for the doorknob, she heard him murmur, "Tash."

The sound of their secret name made her look back, and her heart flipped up and over itself as she saw him propped up in their bed with the sheets around his waist and his bare chest gloriously shown. He had bucked the plumpness of his Delphinian magical heritage by training hard and long across all his lives to be her Caretaker, but he still retained wonderful softness to his body. Sexy. The man was so ridiculously sexy and sultry, and LeAnn had inherited it. Proof of their ancestral connection to the Guardian of Desire, perhaps. She walked over and leaned down to tease his lips with hers. "You make me tempted to take advantage of you," she told him huskily.

He just smiled and tangled his fingers in her long hair. The fine black mass hung straight as a pin to her ankles. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised. He watched her hips swing lightly beneath the denims she wore and felt his blood rate pick up rhythm. Across two lives and ten thousand years, he had never stopped wanting her. Never stopped loving her. She burned immortally inside him as he burned inside her, and he would have it no other way. He had become addicted to the sunlight of her Nature Flower Element as wholly as he had the comfort of her Dark Flower Element. LeAnn did not have Dark—in all of existence, only Tasia had it other than Shanae—but she did have Nature, and Robert looked forward to seeing Chance finally realize the sun could be as comforting as his shadows.

Shanae walked into the gardens and found Starlight's path. She held up her hand and a black protea appeared in her grip. All Ruler Cultivators—Activated or Deactivated—could call to hand the flower of their world. Some flowers had special effects all their own, such as Aria's black poppy inducing rest, that not only presented itself in a called flower but often in the Ruler's own personal scent. Rodi had gotten used to the Cultivators of his generation falling asleep on his shoulder, thankfully. He didn't mind. They affectionately called him a Gardener since he ran herd on the entire team as much as he was a Caretaker to Tasia.

Shanae stepped up behind where Starlight was seated on a bench and leaned forward to hold the protea out. "Change for your thoughts?"

Starlight jumped slightly and whirled in surprise. She hadn't even sensed Shanae's approach, let alone heard her. She smiled shakily and took the flower. "You scared me half to death," she said on a little laugh. "You move so quietly."

"Old habits." Shanae sat down on the bench next to her and braced her hands around her hips. "What brought you out into the gardens? Needed some thinking time?"

"Mmm. It's so lovely and peaceful here that I couldn't resist. Your gardens are incredible, Shanae." Starlight looked at the older woman with a smile. "Proof of your Nature Flower Element specifically and Protea's possession of it as a whole, I think. Even among others of Nature, you and Protea feel very different." She laughed. "Though I suppose I'm not one to really talk, as your sun is so different from ours, so your nature looks odd to me. I think I'm adjusting though."

"Yeah, Rodi had some nature-shock for a bit coming from Aria—which you still share a sun with—but he also adjusted fast. But, even among same-type sun Nature worlds, we're still different." She laughed. "That's why the flowers here bloom all year, even when they shouldn't. We can't make them not grow. We've actually tried. It didn't work. The plants got snippy at us and took over the greenhouse."

Starlight studied her in the light of the lamps and tried to put her finger on what was so very different about this other Dual Cultivator. Starlight had heard that Shanae had not worn her Mask in several decades—she faced the same future herself someday—but she did not think Shanae had ever stopped being a Defender, really. As calming and comforting and regal as her presence felt, something in her eyes felt equally daring and courageous. Something that even deeper lurked as if to say she had been through literal hell. She had eyes not unlike Tasia's, and thinking it, Starlight's own eyes widened in understanding. "You . . ." she said slowly, "are like a Lead Defender."

"Strictly and literally speaking, I actually am one." Shanae smiled. "Veronica is Lead for our generation, but by nature of my being the strongest—and some events requiring me to have those special skills—I am technically a Lead. She and I banged heads for millennia over it, but we never regretted it. As frustrating as we were to each other, we understood each other. Neither of us has had to evacuate a team member to safety in a very long time now, thankfully." She shook her head. "As we had told you when you arrived, I am the Apex of Dark. I am the embodiment of all that is physical in existence, and I control the arcane force of the Dark Flower Element. Tasia uses it in her arcanistry, as she does Light, but she does not control either. She has no need."

"So you are, truly, a born and natural warrior," Starlight said on a smile.

"I'm just an extreme example. Proteans are always born and natural warriors." She heard a sound and looked over with a smile as she saw LeAnn peeking at them from around a tree. "And speaking of! There's one who's not any better thanks to her father."

Starlight looked in surprise and blinked as she realized she hadn't sensed LeAnn either. "Oh. Hello there, LeAnn. What are you doing out here?"

LeAnn walked forward and held out her hand where a black protea appeared in her fingers. She offered it on a smile. "I heard you." She sat down on Starlight's other side. "You're in my garden."

"Yours?"

She grinned a bit. "I've been tending it since I was fourteen. I was bickering with the landscapers so much over design and upkeep that Mom and Dad just decided to put me in charge." She quirked a brow. "You're surrounded now, so you might as well tell us what is weighing on your mind."

Starlight twirled the flowers between her fingers as she looked at mother and daughter. They were such a dangerous combination! Both wore casual denims and tank tops, but LeAnn's didn't cover her stomach and allowed her low riding denims to reveal the small belly button hoop she wore. Both had black hair and pink eyes and golden skin . . . and both may have been royal, but they were deadly. In the nighttime, whatever sunlight they had absorbed before now came out of their bodies as a soft echo of pure darkness. It was more potent in Shanae of course, who actually exuded darkness all day alongside sunlight, but LeAnn ran her fairly decent competition. The anchor of Light inside her kept her from being closer. Such a curious individual the High Princess was. It was hard to tell what parts she had gotten from her mother and which had come from her father. If ever there had been a better example of opposites meeting, attracting, and producing offspring, Starlight hadn't yet heard of it.

They were waiting patiently, and she closed her eyes with a smile. "To be honest, I was remembering my first kiss."

"Hopefully it is worth remembering," Shanae said gravely. She sighed gustily. "Mine is."

"Do tell," her daughter said dryly.

Shanae snorted. "I thought you knew this story."

"Depends on which life we're discussing."

"First one."

"Nope, don't know it."

"Shame on me for not telling sooner." Shanae grinned. "In case that confused Starlight, to clarify, I've lived two lives, so I'm lucky enough to have two memories. The most memorable has to be the first. The night of my twenty-fifth birthday—arguably the morning after—Robert tricked his way into my room and fed me a bullshit line about why he should be my first kiss."

"He did not!" LeAnn laughed.

"Yes he did!" Shanae had to laugh, and so did Starlight. "I'm afraid you get that 'damn the cannons' tendency from him, honey." She grinned. "And I would think that probably ties in to your first kiss tale. Dish, Leslie Ann. I've been waiting to hear what happened on that picnic."

LeAnn held up a finger. "Confirmed for first kiss, which he probably doesn't realize was my first kiss because I've had suitors for long enough now. I'm saving that information for leverage later." She sighed contentedly. "It goes on the Worth Remembering list. He's really good at it for a guy who has never done much practicing in his long life."

Shanae leaned over and told her in a sotto voice, "Much? Kid, that was his first kiss too. You didn't hear it from me though. Blame your Uncle Diego if you blab that you know." She sat back again and grinned at Starlight. "Your turn. What's your, hopefully, torrid tale?"

Starlight had to laugh. Surrounded by their easy companionship and their shared memories, she was able to look into her own past with wistfulness instead of heart-wrenching pain. "Mine was on the night of my twenty-first birthday."

"She beats us," LeAnn told her mother.

"Agreed." Shanae nudged Starlight with her elbow and got a smile in return. "Details, woman."

"Well, of course, I am the Ruler Cultivator of Aluria, which means I am of the biggest kingdom which controls the world as a whole. Aluria is, hmm, I want to say about thrice the size of Protea? I was looking at your maps. I think our size helped lend to how we got into the other dimension, as well as why we have so many elements and Defenders. Anyway, across our world are smaller kingdoms. Sort of like your overseeing cities on landmasses, but much more official and formal. One of those smaller kingdoms was known as Rosewood. It had a prince."

LeAnn fluttered her lashes. "A handsome prince?"

"Hmm, no, not really. He is appealing, to be sure, but a little too rough to be handsome. He always reminded me of a gemstone in the raw. Beauty hidden inside a perhaps deceptive exterior. He is five years elder than I and my sisters, but he was always spending time with us. We never thought of it as odd that the four of us were inseparable." She looked down with a smile. "My sister, Sunlight, had taken a big clue that I hadn't, so on our twenty-first birthday, she sent Raven out to find me in the gardens."

"Our?" Shanae lifted a brow.

"Oh, sorry. I and my sisters are triplets. I'm eldest, then Moonlight, then Sunlight. Our parents," she added dryly, "had a peculiar sense of humor. Anyway, she sent Raven to find me." She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "I was standing near a fountain and trying to figure out why Moonlight had asked me to meet her there. When Raven showed up, we got to talking like we always did, and then he said something about how I was as beautiful as my namesake and then he kissed me."

"I give it an eight," LeAnn decided.

"No, that's every bit a nine," her mother argued. "A ten would be with an edelweiss to tuck behind her ear. An eight would be a meaningful silence and no fancy words."

"Ah. I stand corrected."

"I sit correcting. Go ahead, Starlight."

"You two are horrible." Starlight was still smiling. "I think . . . that was when I fell in love with him. As the next years passed, and I just wanted him more and more . . . I knew for sure even before I turned twenty-five and became an adult that he had to be my soul mate. We made such a sound match, politically as well. We began making wedding plans. Then . . . things turned sour." Her hands clenched in her lap. "King Cashlin made a formal offer for the hand of one of us princesses, and we refused. In retaliation, knowing that the Rosewood Kingdom would stand by us, he sent his brother, Minstrel, in to get rid of Raven. They'd been rivals forever, and this lit the match.

"He did terrible things and got Raven to be labeled a traitor and disowned by the kingdom. I didn't care; I still would have married him, but he didn't want me to endure that sort of stigma. He left on the vow to clear his name." Tears slid down her cheeks slowly. "Five years ago, he and Minstrel fought bitterly. It was almost too late when I and my sisters arrived. We barely got him to Jeo, our healer of the Defenders, before it was too late. Only that emergency healing saved Raven's life, but he's been in a magical sleep ever since. And Minstrel . . . well, he escaped only because we were busy saving Raven. Sunlight wasn't able to kill him. She tried."

"So you're almost thirty-two now, and you were twenty-six then?" LeAnn asked curiously. "Has he aged at all while in the sleep?"

"Well, yes. The coffin he's in doesn't stop time for him; it just keeps him from dying. He has matured at the same rate as the rest of us. Nearly finished doing so, I may add, as he is closer to forty than not." Her eyes softened. "I hadn't seen him since the accident because it was too painful, but I went to look in on him before the battle. It surprised me how much had changed and yet had not. Still has black hair, though it is longer, and his eyes would still be black. Brown skin. Only a little taller than Shanae. Normally very powerful, but a little weaker now."

Shanae grinned. "If we can get him here, Stormy and Juli will be happy to fatten him up. Those of Gladiolus show love and nurture others by feeding them. A fact that none of their friends or family have ever complained about! Especially those who lack cooking skill." She suddenly broke off and looked up sharply.

LeAnn had the same look on her face, and Starlight felt a chill. "What?" she whispered.

"Someone rippled the wards," Shanae said low. "An intruder has breached our wall. How very gutsy of them. And proof that we have done well to block knowledge of Defender/Ruler crossover. They would not dare if they knew more than Rulers slept in this castle." She got to her feet and stepped in front of Starlight defensively even as LeAnn stepped behind her. The two Protea Defenders listened intently to the night around them. Even as two soldiers sprang out of the surrounding foliage and attacked, Shanae rushed forward to engage her enemy, and her body moved with the sort of natural grace that came from years of battle.

LeAnn lithely stepped to the side and brought her knee up into her attacker's stomach. She had been training since she was a child. She was not as skilled as her mother or twin—no one was—but she could give them a good workout. That sort of skill made her more than a match for any enemy, with or without armor.

The man staggered to his feet again and seemed to realize she was dangerous. He turned and ran. She gave immediate chase, but he had a head start and exited the protea garden first. She heard the sound of fists and realized there was someone else in the area. Not certain if it was an enemy or not, she braced for battle as she exited the garden near the hedges circling the area. A hard hand closed over her mouth as another went around her waist. She went on full attack, and her hands and feet struck backward to do as much damage as possible.

"Damn it," came Chance's familiar growl in her ear, "settle down, you wildcat!" When she went limp with relief, he put her down swiftly. He swung her around, and his face looked livid with anger. "What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night, and why the hell are you chasing an intruder?"

"He attacked me, and therefore he's mine to deal with!" was her hot retort. She felt just as pissed. How dare he get in her way and scare her half to death? "I didn't ask for your help, so kindly get out of my way!"

He opened his mouth but saw the fallen warrior lurch to his feet and lunge toward her unprotected back with a dagger. Instinct kicked in. He grabbed her wrist on a snarl and jerked her up against his chest as he called for his sword with his other hand. She grabbed his shirt for balance and turned her head just as he felled the attacker more permanently. "I'm not a helpless Ruler in need of rescue!" she snarled. "You've never seemed to understand that!"

He dropped his sword and gave her a shake. "If I hadn't grabbed you," he shouted, "then that dagger might have pierced your stubborn hide!" A frustrating blend of fury, fear, and uncontrollable desire cracked his control, and he dragged her onto her toes for a fierce kiss that carried the force of his need. He needed her to make him feel alive.

Her temper flashed into greedy hunger and joy as she threw her arms around his neck and pressed as close as she could. She barely managed a protesting moan as he broke the kiss, yet he did not release her entirely. His mouth moved hotly to the curve of her neck and she let her head fall back. She felt drunk on his power. That magic inside him that made him perfect as a Caretaker. That Dark Shadow Flower Element that made him perfect as her Caretaker.

He suddenly jerked his head up and stared at her with unsteady blue eyes. "What the hell am I doing?" he asked roughly.

"I don't know, but don't stop." She found her arms yanked from around his neck and held firmly against her sides. "Damn you, Rubeo," she managed to say. From her soul to her body to her heart, she wanted him with a power that made everything hurt. "Who are you trying to protect? Me, or you? You're nothing but a coward!"

He released her sharply and grabbed his sword from where it had fallen between them. He sent it away to where he carried it in magic and then turned his back toward her. If he kept looking at her, he would touch her again and he wasn't certain he had the control to stop a second time. Who would have thought that little ring she wore on her stomach would tempt him to put his lips there? "This is your last warning, Leslie Ann. Find someone else to play games with. I'm not interested."

"The hell you're not," was her retort. "I'm not that naïve, Captain. And who said I was playing games?" she added to herself as he stalked away from the scene. She wrapped her arms around herself as she slowly sank down to the grass. Tears burned her eyes. "I'm serious. I'm so serious it hurts."

"Are you alright?" came Shanae's soft voice behind her. When LeAnn looked at her with the heartbreak on her face, Shanae just sighed and knelt down to gather her close and rock gently. Some lessons, she thought as her eyes met Starlight's sympathetic ones, had to be learned on their own. Those were usually the most painful ones, unfortunately.

 

* * * * *

 

Glacia kneeled before Cashlin's throne with a look of disgust on his face. It galled him to realize that the High Queen and High Princess of the Protea Kingdom almost did not need Defenders at all because of their own deadly skill. He had sent his two best warriors and one had been killed by the Captain and the princess, and the queen had single-handedly wiped out the other. "My soldiers failed. We encountered . . . unexpected resistance."

"What kind?" Cashlin frowned thoughtfully.

"It would seem that Queen Shanae and Princess LeAnn are equally powerful warriors. When I lived there before, people talked about how Protean Rulers tended to be the most natural of combatants in the universe, but I never really credited it." He sighed. "I'm crediting it now."

"Rise, Glacia. You did not fail me. We'll just consider this a learning experience." Cashlin drummed his fingers on the armrest of the throne. "We'll just have to be more careful in our pursuit of Starlight. I received word that it's possible one of Starlight's personal Defenders has found a way to follow her."

Glacia grimaced. "Please tell me it wasn't Phoenix."

"It's not certain, but likely." Cashlin waved a hand dismissively. "Thank you for the report. Return to Protea now, Glacia."

Glacia bowed lightly and turned on his heel to leave the throne room. The last thing he wanted was Phoenix hanging around Starlight, but if he was then Glacia would handle it. Phoenix was Starlight's own twin soul, and the bond between them was of course fierce. Glacia rubbed his forehead lightly as he walked down the hall. Defender Cultivators just seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. He had thought he remembered that the Elder generation of Lower Rulers were in fact Duals, but when he had done some research to confirm it, he had discovered he must surely remember wrong because Blossom had never had Duals before. He had instead decided to ask around Protea City, and he had smacked into a solid wall of resistance. If anyone knew the identities of the Blossom Defenders across both generations, they would not share. He had apparently alienated the entire galaxy and not just his family.

"Maybe I should go instead of you," a mocking male voice asked behind him.

His skin crawled. "Maybe you should get eaten by piranhas," he suggested evenly. The cool and measured tone would have done his daughter credit, he thought to himself in amusement. She had more of him than Olivia than she would probably like to admit. "Leave me be, Minstrel. I have Resurrection Defenders to kill."

Minstrel watched him walk off down the hall and then whistled a cheerful tune to himself as he went down the hall the other way. "I know something you don't know," he sang softly. "I know something you don't know. How sad, so bad, don't know whatcha got until it's gone, Glacia."

 

* * * * *

 

It was always a spectator sport to watch Tasia and Rodi spar. Certainly, watching them made one of LeAnn's favorite pastimes. She was more than happy to sit to the side of her twin's combat school and bounce Daelan on her lap while she watched. Anna was lying on the floor and cheerfully drawing a picture with Raine's help, and the other Resurrection Cultivators had scattered around the room.

Beth and Theo went over the financial accounts behind the counter. Ryan and Emily trained with Reagan and took turns beating on a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Storm worked on restacking a pile of equipment, and Racine patiently taught Percival and Relisha different kicks. The studio was as full as if it was open to the public, but it had very specifically closed just for the team.

LeAnn's eyes pulled back to the fight as she watched Tasia flip Rodi over her head and sit on him to keep him down. "YAY!" she cheered, and she clapped Daelan's hands to make him giggle.

Tasia looked up from her grumbling husband and laughed as she saw the applause. "You act like it's that hard to take him to the floor."

"In sparring or elsewhere?" Theo wiggled his brows.

"Either," Rodi retorted dryly and made everyone break down in giggles and snickers. He twisted and flipped to dislodge Tasia, but he caught her safely in his arms before she hit the ground. "I'd like to say it's just as easy to take her down, but not only do I only manage it when she lets me, she likes to make me work for it either way."

She grinned up at him. "You'd be bored with me if I didn't."

She got to her feet nimbly and held out a hand to help him up as well. Both were sweating profusely, and they stripped off their shirts. She was left in a gray workout bra, and he was left shirtless. Every Cultivator promptly started whistling and catcalling at him. He just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Why," he asked no one in particular, "did I have to get pulled into this crazy garden of weirdness?"

"Because Tasia made it entirely worthwhile since you get to be hands on in multiple means with a sorceress?" Beth asked politely, but grinning.

He grinned wickedly. "Probably." As if to prove it, he snatched his wife into his arms and kissed her hotly. The room broke into applause and cheers. "Yep," he decided when he lifted his head. "That's probably it." Her grin was tempting so he started to kiss her again when the bell over the door chimed as someone entered. He glanced up automatically and then his eyes narrowed sharply. He straightened and held Tasia closer protectively. "Well. Look what the cat dragged in."

Beth looked over sharply as well when she realized that she could sense hostility in Rodi and a blend of anger and pain inside Tasia. "We're closed," she started to say, but the words died as she realized he looked damned familiar. She and Tasia had been friends since barely over a year in age. "Holy crap," she managed.

Anna frowned as she looked at the man and then got to her feet and ran over to hide behind her mother and father. She didn't like the man's presence, and she didn't like how upset he made her parents. Tasia didn't say anything to her, but her hand settled gently on her head and smoothed her hair.

Arthur realized he was recipient of many hostile glares but didn't look at anyone except his daughter. He had done a bit of investigative work, and though there were some obvious holes in her background, he had learned quite a bit. He knew she was a world-famous authoress, had petitioned and opened her own combat training school at age twenty, and that she had turned out to be in possession of a Seed herself and therefore was a Ruler Cultivator. She stood as Crown Princess and heir to the throne of Iris, for Lower Queen Yvette Iris and her husband, Dane, had adopted her. There was something more about that position as heir that he couldn't seem to peg, unfortunately. No one would tell him. At least she wasn't a Defender Cultivator as well. He did not think he could handle that. As a Ruler, she would be safe. He had no interest in the Rulers of Blossom at all. "Can we talk alone?" he asked.

"You can speak in front of my friends as well as you can in front of me," she countered coolly.

"He's your father?" Emily asked curiously.

"No, he fathered her," Storm said quietly. "Uncle Dane is her father. And Dad is hers as well. There's a big difference." His eyes unnerved Arthur if only because the older man could see he was a pattern master. "I don't really remember you," Storm said politely, "since I was only about two years old and had only known Tasia a few months when you walked out. I'm noticing something now I hadn't known. She gets her power from you too. You carry Liena's blood." At Arthur's lifted brow, he offered, "I can feel the lineage in you after having been around Tasia and Mom so long."

Arthur inclined his head slightly. "Yes, I do. I come from the line carried by the third child of Jean Kinsley and Byron Rancul." He shifted his eyes and held his daughter's gaze. "I don't expect you to forgive me." He ignored her derisive snort. "But I do expect you to give me the benefit of the doubt."

"Benefit of the doubt?" Tasia repeated incredulously. "You've got to be kidding! You up and left us one day, not a word of apology or an explanation, and now you expect me to just jump in your arms with forgiveness? Screw you." She drew a deep breath. "Get out of here. You taint the air."

He hesitated just long enough for LeAnn and Raine to stand and take offensive positions. Others around the room shifted their weight aggressively. He had already learned not to underestimate Rulers—especially LeAnn—and the fact that all had been training at the school just underscored that. He made a slight bow. "I will eventually get you to listen to me, Tasia." He turned and walked over the door with dignity, and the bell chimed softly in his wake.

LeAnn walked over to Tasia and just held her tightly. Tasia let out a little sigh and held her back on a wry smile. "Who's defending who around here?" she asked dryly. A little shiver ran down her back suddenly, and she looked at Theo who was staring at the door. "A premonition."

"A crumbling glacier," Theo murmured. "I wonder what it means." He broke off as he felt something else entirely, and he watched Tasia tense as well. "Evil. It moves." He reached out with his divination and got a glimpse of evil moving in the port again. "Seems he likes that port. I think Glacia's back."

Ryan took a sharp breath. "Mom and Dad were there. They might be in trouble if they can't get away so Mom can put on her Mask."

"Then we're putting on Masks here and then transporting there to save time," Tasia said curtly. "Rodi, you need to stay here with the kids."

He nodded. "Be careful." He watched the team don Masks and transport out and then looked down at his daughter with a sigh. "So what were you drawing? Going to give Raine competition?" His mind was already moving quickly. He needed to have Olivia watch the kids instead so he could take care of something as well.

The battle did not seem to be going well. Ulyen had his bow and did his best to keep the monster at range—safe enough to do as he was a known Commander—but Delilah looked a little bloody from the initial attack and not being able to put on her Mask and call armor for fear of the enemy seeing her—or use her Defender magic for the same reason. She spotted the younger team arriving and let out a breath of relief.

Raine immediately ran over to Delilah to heal her, and Theo and Beth moved to put a shield around Ulyen and Delilah alike. The eerie and disturbing monster that looked like it had been made of scrap body parts did not like having its easy target removed and went lunging for the others. Ryan, a little peeved at his parents in danger, released a ridiculously large and powerful ball of Water magic that smashed into the monster's chest and hurled into the ocean. Storm looked, saw no potential collateral, and dropped a huge lightning bolt on the monster before it recovered. Thanks to the water, the monster first got electrocuted and then exploded.

Everyone hurried over to the two Elder Orchid royals and found Raine had finished mending both. "What happened?" Ryan demanded. "How did you get into the middle of that?"

"It's alright, Ry," Delilah soothed him. She stood the same height as her son so gently reached out to hug him. "You won't lose us so easily or so soon. Yes, we're at the stage where it is all too likely our generation will die," she said calmly, "but there are always certain . . . signs of such a thing coming. All generations have always been removed at the same time. Until a battle comes that needs all twenty of us, we are safe."

His shoulders slumped. He did not like any of that, but he knew it to be true. He was a historian; he knew the endless pattern of life. "I know. I just don't want to lose you because I only recently found you."

"What did happen?" Reagan asked.

"I think it was an accident," Ulyen admitted. "That monster looked as surprised to see us as we were to see it! It may have been looking for Ryan—or rather, a Defender Cultivator of Orchid. This port has usually been under Orchid's protection for as long as we've been installed at Protea Kingdom until ours is finished being rebuilt. If the enemy is working on old knowledge, he would know that Orchid is connected here but not realize the duties have been split. He has much chance of getting an Elder Defender as he does a younger."

"Sucks for them," Theo said succinctly. "Let's get back to the castle before more things go wrong!" He broke off suddenly and clenched a hand to his heart as he felt a premonition so strong it hurt. He blindly flung out a hand, and Ryan grabbed his wrist to pull the pain away. It eased, and he was able to draw a deep breath. He slowly looked at an equally pale Tasia. "Someone's going to die soon," he whispered softly. "By the Realm, someone you love is going to die, Tasi."

"I know." She ignored the rising protests and closed her eyes to focus through her gifts. She already knew who it would be, and her Pattern Mastery was all too willing to show her the reasons why. Show her the little clues she had wanted to ignore yet could not. A deeper pain welled inside her soul as she accepted that she had not killed her feelings for him after all. "Damn it," she whispered softly. "Damn it to hell and back."

 

* * * * *

 

The message had been short and to the point. Arthur not only found it incredibly fascinating to receive, but he also found great respect for the man who had written it. It was why he even bothered to show up at the listed location. He wanted to know more about this man his daughter had chosen for her apparent Caretaker. His information had mentioned that the last name of 'Aria' was no coincidence; Rodi had been the Ruler Cultivator of that world but Deactivated himself to marry Tasia. Arthur had to respect that.

Rodi was already there and leaning against a communications pole, and the clouds in the sky took turns revealing and concealing him in shadow. An interesting feat when his dark coloring made it hard for him to hide. Arthur stopped a few feet away and said calmly, "I did not expect you to ask to speak to me. You have made it clear how you feel. Are you looking to challenge me to a fight?"

Rodi straightened to face the older man, and his black eyes reflected no light in his cold expression. Only magenta shadows seethed warningly. "It was not a challenge for a fight. I would win too easily, and it would hurt Anastasia too deeply."

Arthur's brows lifted, but he didn't refute the words. "Then what did you want?"

"To tell you to leave her the hell alone," was the blunt response. "You are tearing at her soul, and she's suffered too damn much from others trying to do the same. She does not need you. I can't make it any plainer. She has Dane Iris and Tosh Peacer, and they have been fathers to her in a way you will never emulate." Rodi watched the flicker of pain in Arthur's eyes and knew that, despite it all, despite his reasons for leaving, Arthur still loved his daughter. In a way, it only pissed Rodi off more. He would never leave his children. Ever. Only death could make him leave their side. "Go near my Cultivator again and I will make you regret coming back." He held up a hand and gold majik swirled around his fingers. "I'm no average witch, old man. No one but my mate is more powerful. You would do well to remember it." He turned and walked away into the afternoon, and he disappeared into the shadows within a few steps.

Arthur watched him leave and then smiled a little to himself. His daughter had certainly chosen a mate strong enough to walk by her side, and one who would protect her fiercely while accepting and respecting her own great strength. In another time and place, he and Rodi would have gotten along. Too bad there were many other extenuating circumstances.

There was just something about Tasia's attitude and her collection of friends that felt familiar though he could not place what or why, and he got the feeling the information might be very, very crucial to his survival. Oh well. There were other things to do in the meantime. He would give the Resurrection Cultivators some time to rest from the last fight and then he would see how they did against him personally.

 

©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.

Chapter 5->

The Chaotic Kingdom - Chapter 3

<-Chapter 2

Everyone trouped upstairs and headed for one of the closer drawing rooms. Maxim and Lower King Ulyen Orchid stood outside the doors as guards. All of the Lower Kings happened to also be Commanders within the Protea or Delphinium Royal Knights, and those of the Light planets following Delphinium protected High King Evan Delphinium while those of the Dark planets following Protea protected Robert.

Maxim glanced over at hearing them, and relief filled his silver eyes. "There you are. Good timing. Our guest is awake, but she refuses to talk to anyone except who rescued her. She acknowledged that she's safe here, but she is scared and confused alike."

"No wonder when I have her Mask still." Tasia had put it into her pocket for safety but had needed to run to the fight before getting to return it. She pushed the door open and peered into the room. Shanae and High Queen Sayena Delphinium sat together on a couch, and Starlight sat across from them. Raine and Kacey stood nearby with Robert, and the entire room had filled with tension. "Should I have brought a knife?" she asked blandly as she walked in.

"So there you are. I hope you didn't leave a mess," Shanae told her.

"No more than usual." She walked over to Starlight and held out her Mask on her hand. "Here. This is yours. I'm Anastasia Aria, but everyone calls me Tasia. As I said before, I'm the Crown Princess to Iris as well as one of its Dual Cultivators and the Lead for my generation."

Some of the tension left Starlight's shoulders as she took her Mask back and returned it to her bracelet. "Thank you," she said softly. "For saving me. I'm just . . ." She blinked in surprise as Tasia knelt and covered her hands gently. That wonderful thing of before again entered Starlight's blood, and she could see the swirl across her rescuer's chocolate eyes. "How do you do that?" she asked. "Just make me feel safe."

"It's a gift." Tasia moved to sit beside her.

Shanae snorted. "What she means is that she's a sorceress and the High Priestess of Protea as well as the Ephemeral Plane, and therefore her majik is so infused with good that she couldn't do terrible things if she tried."

"Don't make me tempted to try it on you."

Starlight suddenly smiled. "Are you two related?"

"Kindred spirits." Tasia grinned. "We'd scare people if we shared blood. Also, I'm her daughter's twin soul mate. Speaking of," she added as LeAnn entered the room and moved to sit on a chair. "So you're Starlight Aluria, right?" she asked. "Which means your world is called Aluria. You have the edelweiss flower. None of that is at all familiar to me, or to any of us, and I'm actually aware of every world in the universe that has life on it and therefore has a flower at its Core and Cultivators to support it. I don't know you at all. Do you know us?"

"I vaguely do," Starlight admitted. "And there was a time, very long ago, when Aluria existed in the same galaxy as the worlds known as Celia and Aria. I think it was near to the beginning of time. Something happened on Aluria—we have never determined what—and our world disappeared from your dimension. We have been alone, though plenty self-sufficient, in our own dimension since. We retained vague knowledge of where Aluria had originated, but long ago accepted we may never return to where we belonged."

Eyes turned to Tasia. "Well?" Raine asked politely.

"I'm processing, hold on." Tasia's eyes flickered as she sorted through what she had been told, and what she knew of Blossom Field's history as well as the history of the universe. "We've always known the possibility of other dimensions existing was plausible. Limbo is basically that, actually. The Underbelly to the Ephemeral Plane is another, I will add. What we call time-space is actually related to dimensions as well. Time-space references the ability to use time to move through space, which is how those with Memory or Time magic open portals. Well, time-space type magic could be called the glue holding dimensions together, so basically, Uncle Sabin and Aunt Claret and Racine are all but walking across dimensions when they open portals. All that said, I don't see why it isn't likely that something particularly cataclysmic near to the beginning of time may have ripped open a dimension alongside to the Tarmol galaxy where Aluria got pulled in." She looked at Shanae. "I can think of something cataclysmic that happened back then."

"Yeah," the queen agreed softly. "That was my thought as well." She looked at Starlight. "It is not much, but I will offer apologies. It may well be likely that my own ancestor trying to remove the first of all evil caused what happened."

Starlight shook her head on a smile. "We have not suffered, other than being dreadfully lonely now and then. And no doubt we may have seen our world evolve differently from yours. Aluria was unique even back then for our Core, our edelweiss, has ten Flower Elements within its magic and therefore we have usually had ten Defender Cultivators. The queen is always Dual, but the rest have fallen sporadically across the land. There have been many generations where we had none at all."

"Ten?" Robert lifted a brow. "Which ten?"

"Illusion, Nature, Time, Ice, Fire, Glass, Metal, Water, Air, and Thunder. I know, Time is rare. We knew that early on. And we have actually not always had that particular element for most generations," Starlight admitted. "I think it existed in the first generation, one somewhere in the middle, and now in my own younger sister."

Sayena smiled. "Well you must need it if you have it! I am sure the Librarian of the Hall of Records would agree." She giggled. "And her husband will be glad to not be the only Time Flower Element! Now that we know where you are from, and who you are, why don't you tell us what has been happening?" She frowned. "You were in terrible shape, Starlight. You are so very lucky Tasia found you. If you had cast even one more magic ability, you may have burned out yourself entirely and not even be capable of waking until you recovered—if you woke at all."

As Starlight had already discovered Sayena to be the Apex of Light and therefore the embodiment of all that was magical in existence, she did not feel surprised by the older woman's knowledge. "It was a risk I had to take to save my kingdom and world," she admitted. She took a long breath. "I'll tell you everything I can."

The rest of the Resurrection Cultivators came into the room to hear the story, and Starlight told them in quick sentences everything that had happened from the day she and her sisters had rebuffed Cashlin up to and including the last she remembered of the battle. The room was silent for long moments when she finished speaking, and then Ryan asked slowly, "So we're facing Cashlin and that Glacia guy, right? Anyone else we should know about? It really bites when random evil entities you know nothing about show up from nowhere."

"I like him," Starlight decided. She shook her head as everyone laughed. "No, that's pretty much it. Well, Cashlin does have a brother but I can't imagine he would be sent into battle unless Cashlin was desperate. His brother is literally insane."

"Don't be surprised if it happens," Shanae warned. "Desperate times always call for desperate measures. For now, we won't worry, but we need to at least keep him in mind." She gave a little sigh. "I suppose we have the consolation of knowing that they won't try anything else today. It's too risky to attack when we're on our guard."

"We have other things to be concerned with anyway," Tasia agreed. "I need Racine and Aunt Claret to help me put a sort of memory-neutralizing effect on Blossom Field. No one will consciously notice anything, but if they try to speak or mention the names of any Defender in Blossom, they will be unable to recall it. I think this will stymy Glacia a great deal. No matter who he asks, under any pretense, in any guise, he won't get an answer. Sure, he'll know that, say, Anastasia Aria is the younger Ruler Cultivator and heir to the throne of Iris, but he won't know she is also Iris' younger Defender as well."

"Can you do that?" Starlight asked in surprise.

"Yes, she can," Robert told her dryly. "Will it be enough, Tasi?"

She nodded. "Well, if Aluria hasn't been in touch for millions of years, they have no way of knowing whether we have Duals or separate Defenders and Rulers; that's almost random across all other worlds, and they would definitely not know it was not until the last two generations that either Protea or Delphinium had Defenders at all, and all worlds in Blossom made Duals. A little Illusion majik before we engage him will take care of the rest so that he can't even identify our hair or eye colors. It's a terrible chore to have to go to such effort to hide what we have shamelessly admitted for ages now—what has actually never been hidden except for a tiny period of time in the Rebirth Era—but it truly is for the safety of our families that we need to do this. And if he does figure it out, we will go from there."

"I think that means we need to get some masks for the Caretakers as well," Kacey decided. "In your generation, not all Caretakers are capable of entering combat right now, which is unusual but not troublesome since one of the ones who can is Rodi, and he's proven adept at running herd on everyone. So masks for Rodi and Logan. Allister has a mask of his own as Knight of the Immortal Fields he can wear when needed, so he's covered." A little grin touched her lips. "And the other one capable has a uniform already, and by the time he gets around to realizing things, he may not need the mask anymore anyway."

"I can conjure a mask for myself," Rodi assured her, "and Logan can also make himself one. Also, this hadn't had a chance to be brought up because it was literally finished yesterday, but Ashe and Beth made me a uniform of sorts to wear in lieu of my Ruler suit as a prince of Iris, so that will aid as well."

In a mutter, Beth said, "We will move the Realm and Plane alike to get them made for the other Caretakers of our generation as well, whether they can or cannot enter battle, because we'll all feel better if they have some sort of protection! Maybe especially the squishier ones need it."

Rodi looked at Tasia. "I think we are most concerned with Glacia's majik more than anything else. If he just had evil magic, we wouldn't be so concerned because then not only would we feel the moment he made a move, but those in our families who are also witches—which is near everyone—would be safer."

"Agreed," Shanae said briskly. "Until we remove Glacia, the lockdown will remain. Tasia, Racine, go find Claret and get that done fast. Kacey, go find Talon. If dimensions are connected to time-space, then he's likely got a headache from Starlight arriving here. As for the rest of us, we're going to god damn relax the rest of today! It might be the last chance for relaxation we get for a long while!" She lifted a brow as she saw her daughter promptly get to her feet. "Do we already have plans, young lady?"

"Yup." LeAnn linked her hands behind her head. "Chance is taking me on a picnic."

"He is?" Sayena asked in surprise.

"Sure. He just doesn't know it yet," she added impishly as she headed out of the room.

Shanae started laughing as everyone looked at her. "Gods help me," she said ruefully, "I almost feel sorry for Chance! I've been on the receiving end of that sort of determination. She just had to take after her father, didn't she?"

"She wouldn't be nearly as scary as she is," Robert retorted, "if it weren't for the fact that she got your inability to comprehend the concept of defeat!"

The whole room burst into laughter as Shanae tried to look innocent but failed spectacularly. The laughter promptly died a short death as there came a sound in the doorway, and everyone turned their heads to see a familiar redhead standing there. He was so mad that his eyes literally held fire. "Holy weighted hell," Kacey breathed.

"What is so goddamned important you interrupted my honeymoon?!" Theo demanded in clear annoyance, and he included the whole room in his wrath.

"By the gods," Starlight said in bemusement. "He's just like Phoenix. You must be the resident Fire Flower Element."

Theo heaved a long-suffering sigh and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe. "Yeah. Aster Defender of the Resurrection team reporting for duty. . . . Damn it."

 

LeAnn had everything planned. She was quite good at planning, actually, to the point where her two pattern master best friends had said they respected her skill. THAT was a compliment unlike any other. She blamed her gift on her parents; her father was notorious for making plans for things to happen as he wanted, and her mother was equally infamous for the way she just shoved and pushed until she got what she wanted. Their daughter had a terrifying combination of both traits.

She set out a blanket in a grassy place under her favorite fir tree and then opened up the picnic basket she had brought. It had been packed with tasty goodies from Storm and Julianna, who had cheerfully cooked up a feast in their efforts to help 'land' the 'eternal bachelor.' The light lunch was perfect for the mild autumn weather.

Her location put her smack in the middle of Chance's afternoon walk/patrol. He was a rather predictable creature and always took the same route through the massive gardens surrounding the castle inside the palace grounds and wall. His naturally curious nature would make him stop to find out what she was doing, and then she would have to talk fast to make him join her. She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes as she listened to the wind teasing the leaves. He was close.

Chance stopped sharply on the path as he caught a scent of familiar perfume carried on a light breeze. Certain he was imagining things, he followed the wind to a sunny patch in between several trees and discovered a patchwork quilt spread over the grass. LeAnn was there and she leaned against a tree with her eyes closed.

She wore a soft black sundress with pink ribbons, and her skin looked only more rich against it. Protea Cultivators neither burned nor tanned; their golden brown skin always stayed the same for they absorbed the sun rather than react to it. It softly echoed out of her body anew like a lodestone right then. Her hair had been returned to her favored double ponytails that she had worn since childhood, but it looked anything except childish. Her lashes rested dark against her cheeks, and her breath softly sighed out between lips that begged to be kissed.

His breath stopped as he fought the sudden urge to find out if her skin was as soft as it looked. "What are you doing here?" he asked, harsher than he had intended.

Her eyes opened and she smiled at him. "Having lunch in my gardens, of course. Want to join me?" Blandly, before he could argue, she added, "I'm here all by myself, you know, and I'm not leaving until I get my picnic lunch. It's such a lovely day, isn't it? Be a shame if something happened."

Safe though the palace grounds were, there was now a war underway and there was no knowing what might happen—especially if an enemy had majik. He knew he was being manipulated, but he could only sigh and walk over to sit on the blanket across from her. "Damn it, princess," he said in frustration. "I don't know why you're suddenly set on this idea, but give it up."

"Not a chance, Chance." She deftly caught a fried roll with her utensils and stuffed it into his mouth before he could do more than glare at her for the horrible pun on his name. "Why don't you go by your first name?" she asked curiously. She nibbled on the edge of a roll of her own. "I've never known anyone to use it."

"I don't like my first name," he muttered.

"I do. It suits you. Rubeo is derived from the word ruby and that happens to be a beautiful red stone like your hair. Did you know that rubies are talismans of passion and protection, and they have connections to the sun? How fitting for someone like you." Without missing a beat, she continued, "You have no idea how frustrating it is for me to be around you and not get my hands into your hair. I'm tempted to have pockets put into my Ruler gown so that I have somewhere to hide my hands if you're near."

He kept his mouth shut. He would be damned if he admitted that his fingers burned to get in her hair and trace the line of her body. She didn't need more encouragement. She had her eye set on him for some strange reason, and she was as ruthless as her Dark core implied about getting what she wanted. The speckles of Light inside her did not temper such a thing, unfortunately. In many ways, it just made it worse.

Why the hell did she want him? She could do so much better! Nobility across the universe just chomped at the bit to be her suitor. She had even accepted a few onto her suitor list, and those few had been honest and hardworking sorts. Though not necessarily warriors, his brain reminded him. Which could be terrible considering she was the daughter of the Apex of Dark. She needed someone strong enough to meet her as both a partner in battle as well as a partner in stubborn personality. Ruler Cultivators needed special Caretakers, and Defenders needed ones more special. Dual Cultivators needed the most unique of all. She needed a mate with specialized qualities. Like him. He had never had trouble handling her in any of her moods.

"Shit," he muttered as he heard his own thoughts.

She hid a smile. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she had a few guesses. She scooted closer across the blanket toward him, and her skirt rode up her legs to reveal more skin. He pointedly looked at her face. "Can I call you Rubeo?" she asked softly. She moved close enough that she sat directly next to him, and one of her hands rested feather light on his leg.

"Yes. No! Damn it, Leslie Ann, quit playing with fire!" That it came out as a growl surprised him. He skirted the edge of his control where he had always before always been able to keep a firm grip on himself. But this . . . sultry, pink-eyed witch smiling at him from under her lashes, her perfume watering his mouth, and just enough skin exposed to draw his eye, made his control become threadbare at best.

She suddenly went still and her head turned sharply to look toward the city in the distance. Something both pained and angry had filled in her eyes. "LeAnn?" he asked softly in concern. "What's wrong?"

"She's hurt," she whispered. "I can feel it. Someone has dented her soul." Her eyes darkened to black with speckles of white as she added savagely, "I'll kill whoever did it." She started to get to her feet but his hand closed around her wrist and kept her on the ground. "Let go of me, Chance!"

"Hang on a second. I'll assume we're discussing Tasia since that's the only person I can think of that you're close enough connected to in your soul to feel if she has been dented or gouged. She's strong, LeAnn. She can handle it. And if she can't, her Caretaker can. Don't forget, she's supposed to protect you. She won't thank you for skipping off palace grounds unescorted." He held firm to her wrist until she subsided and sat down again. "You can find out later what happened."

He was stroking her wrist gently with his thumb. She could feel the little caress all the way to her toes and didn't dare call attention to it lest he stop. Her thoughts scattered and her heart pounded madly with a combination of lust and need and love. The only thing she could say was, "You're wrong."

"About what?" He frowned.

"I'm that strongly connected to you too," she said simply.

He cursed softly and released her wrist. She immediately slid onto his lap and wound her arms around his neck. He froze. The only way to stand up would be to dump her on the ground, and he would sooner cut off his hands than hurt her. His hands went to her shoulders, and her skin seemed to have absorbed the very sun. She felt almost too hot to hold. "LeAnn." It was all he could say as her lips softly brushed his.

"Rubeo." Her voice was little more than a breath against his lips. Her eyes resembled darkened pools of color, as mysterious as the magikry inside her. "Just kiss me."

His control collapsed in a searing wave of hunger. His hand curled around the back of her neck and dragged her closer so that he could take the kiss he had been craving for five millennia. For ten. His mouth was hard and hungry and demanded a matching response from her. She gave it willingly and fisted her hands in his hair to keep him close. She had thought maybe he might never have kissed anyone before, but if so, he had a devastating instinct. His tongue curling around hers only made her body flush more with heat and she ached to feel his hands on her skin.

He suddenly jerked back and stared down at her in shock, stunned that she had so easily made him forget himself. Looking at her didn't help his throbbing body, though. Her eyes had nearly turned black again, and her lips looked swollen. A flush rode high on her cheeks, and her lips slowly curved into a smug smile. He wanted to kiss her again. And again. And never stop. She tasted like straight summertime and chocolate melting on his tongue, and he wanted her more than he wanted air to breathe.

She found herself placed unceremoniously onto the picnic blanket and watched from under her lashes as he got sharply to his feet and backed up several steps. "So can I?" she asked him huskily, and she let her voice quiver with all of her desire.

A matching quiver went through his body at the tone of her voice. She had to be doing it deliberately. "Can you what?" he snarled.

"Call you by your name."

"Do whatever you like," was all he could say as he stalked away down the path as quickly as humanly possible.

She pressed her fingers to her lips and smiled as she felt the trembling of her body. She had been waiting to feel that way. "I intend to," she murmured. She took a breath to steady herself. "Oh, do I intend to. You'll be mine yet, Rubeo." Stage two, she decided smugly, was definitely complete.

 

* * * * *

 

Tasia sensed the visitor in her house well before she reached the door. She stopped dead in her tracks on the walkway and told herself that she had to be imagining things. Rodi was carrying Daelan and stopped beside her. He looked down at her face and felt his stomach churn even as his heart clenched. She looked . . . shattered. Her mocha skin had paled, and her caramel eyes burned with violent arcanistry. "Tasi?" he asked softly.

Haeth and Striker exchanged a look, and Haeth nodded slightly. She knew the presence too, for she had been with Tasia since the sorceress' birth. Tasia took a long breath to compose herself and then she walked up to her front door and opened it. She casually leaned in the doorway. "Isn't this trespassing?" she asked evenly. "Or is it breaking and entering?"

The tall, older, man standing in the living room turned and looked at her in surprise that she had caught him unaware. He had hair a few shades darker than her own chocolate, and his eyes looked a matching caramel though they did not change to chocolate in the shadows of the room. His skin looked on the fairer side, but then, Tasia had gotten her skin tone from her mother.

Rodi looked at him and then took a sharp breath as he understood. He instantly moved closer to Tasia's side to protect her.

Arthur Martine barely noticed the other man present. His eyes had riveted to Tasia in utter shock. "My god," he managed to say. Though he spoke Protean fluently, his voice carried the familiar twanging drawl that placed his origins in Vericity, which had had its own unique accents and language for millennia. The same accent flavored Tasia's Mystic voice; she had to exert actual effort to hide it, no matter what language she spoke, so she had stopped bothering to try. Sabin and Allister, with the same origins, were notorious for teasing her about being a cousin. "Tasia? It can't be. Has it been that long?"

"Considering I turn thirty-two in January, yeah, it can be. I had just turned six when you walked out. Let's see . . . that makes it twenty-six years soon. My, how time flies when you're not around to see your kid grow up. How did you get in here? Where's Mom?"

"You never changed the locks and I still had a key. As for your mother, I don't know. I wanted to talk to her, but she isn't home." Arthur turned to fully face his daughter and looked her over intently. Neither her anger nor her bitterness came as a surprise. The only surprise was the whole of her. He had not expected to find his daughter had become such a confident and powerful woman who literally exuded majik into the air around her, though he should have.

He knew of her lineage, of course, for it ran through both Olivia and him, and he had also known his daughter was the third and final direct descendant of Liena Vanguard from the Royal Era. He had still not realistically understood what that meant until now. Being not of the direct line himself—that had been Olivia—he had never really understood the specifics or particulars of what being the third could entail. He had known Tasia would be very powerful for she had already been that way as a child, but she had reached limits he had not expected. In fact . . . he did not think she had limits at all. "I wanted to see you," he finally said.

"You're a few years too late for that." Tasia's eyes flickered slightly as she scanned the house majikally. She immediately found her mother inside a cloaking spell that literally any witch could use regardless of skill or element. Being far stronger than her ex-husband, she would not be detected by him. Tasia pierced through it without trouble, and found another familiar presence hiding with her—when he was supposed to be at work. She very nearly smiled until she looked at her father again. Humor faded. "Get the hell out of my house."

"Your house?" His brows shot up. "The deed was not set to transfer until you married."

"Congratulations, you're both obnoxious and oblivious. I married roughly six years or so." Give or take a month. She inclined her head at Rodi with a little smirk. "Meet my husband." Even before Daelan began to cry, she turned and scooped him out of Rodi's arms. The young witch had already started developing Empathy and had absolutely no control over it or his response to strong emotions around him. He got out only a single wail of distress before finding himself snuggled against his mother's breast. "Shh," she soothed softly as her Mystic voice echoed with tender cadence. "Don't cry, my little prince. Your sister will be home from school soon and you two can play. She always makes you smile." She flicked a glance at her now visibly shocked father. "Father, meet Rodi Aria. Rodi, meet Arthur Martine." She indicated a now calmed Daelan with a tilt of her head. "This is our son, Daelan. Our daughter, Anna, is eight years old."

Arthur felt like he had just been rammed in the stomach with an iron fist. His baby girl was not just a grown woman, but a grown woman with a husband and two children. "My god. I'm a grandfather."

"No, you're not," she retorted. "You're not my children's grandfather any more than you are my father. You forfeited the right to those things when you walked out on me when I was six! I have had two real fathers in the time since that have loved me in a way you obviously never did." She handed Daelan back to Rodi and crossed the room slowly toward Arthur. Her predatory stride looked somehow familiar. "If I find out you're harassing my mother, I'll rip you apart piece by piece until there's nothing left but bones for the vultures."

He took a deep breath as he realized that over twenty-five years had changed his sweet baby girl into a deadly witch who was ready and able to do whatever it took to protect her loved ones. Yet, he could not give up. He wanted his daughter back. He wanted a chance at the relationship they had missed out on. "Alright," he concurred. "But don't expect me to simply walk away."

"Why not?" she sniped. "It worked before."

Arthur left before he said something he regretted, and Rodi politely stepped out the way. He waited for the door to shut and then went to put Daelan into his playpen. The baby started cheerfully gnawing on the stuffed rabbit in there with him, and Rodi drew Tasia into his arms to hold her through all the trembling. "You," he said into her hair, "are magnificent. When'd you progress from sorceress to avenging goddess? Keep that up and you won't be able to continue denying you're the force of Judgment."

She gave a weak laugh as she pulled back out of his arms. "I was shaking inside. It hurt. Oh god, did that hurt." She drew a long steady breath and then turned and looked at the stairs where she had sensed someone approach. "He's gone, Mom. You can stop hiding." Her voice warmed distinctly. "And your friend can join us as well."

Olivia, blushing very distinctly, came down the stairs the rest of the way and she was belting her robe tightly. Right behind her, wearing only his jeans, was Tosh Peacer, Raine and Storm's father. He happened to be one of the ones Tasia had claimed as being more of a real father to her for he had stepped in to help raise her after Arthur had left. He cleared his throat and asked, "Am I going to be ripped apart piece by piece and left as bones for vultures?"

Tasia snorted distinctly. "Yeah, no. You two are entirely not subtle, guys. Honestly, we've been waiting for you two to just jump each other eventually. Y'all protested way too hard that you were just best friends anytime someone asked you if you were married—and I want to note I have lost count of how many people have asked you that over the years. We all—meaning all of us who are directly and indirectly your kids—have known for almost forever you two would end up in bed together."

"Anastasia!" Olivia said in exasperation.

"Please, as if I'm wrong!" She grinned. "Storm was the last one to figure it out, but he put the pieces together when he hit his last evolutionary tier. Jogged a memory he had forgotten. He put the pattern together and asked for confirmation from me and Beth, which we gave." She lifted a brow at Tosh. "Out of curiosity, when did you figure out you were in love with my mother?"

Tosh felt like a bug on a pin and looked to Rodi for help. No dice; the other man was pretending to be busy with Daelan. He could only sigh. He had known it was only a matter of time before someone noticed; he and Olivia had hidden the relationship for two months, and that was two months longer than they had expected. "Almost from the day I met her," he admitted. "And that's a painful admittance since she was married at the time, and my wife had been dead for barely over a year. I told myself I was wrong and shoved it aside, so I suppose that is why I didn't realize it for sure until a few years later."

"When Storm was sick?"

"Is that what he pegged? No surprise." He smiled wryly. "When I saw Olivia holding Storm and singing him lullabies . . . I just had this realization that we were already a family because my kids were hers and hers was mine. She smiled at me and . . ." He blew out a hard breath. "I stopped telling myself we were just best friends. There was no 'just' about it, not when I wanted her as powerfully as I did. Emi's spirit had said goodbye to me just the month before, and I felt her there again, telling me that I could not let another chance at happiness slip by." He eyed Olivia. "I tried subtlety for a few years and then outright told her I wanted to court her. She never gave me an answer either way, so I kept asking. If she had just said no I would have given up."

"Criminy!" Tasia scowled at Olivia. "And they say I'm stubborn!"

"I was afraid, damn it!" Olivia raked a hand through her hair. "I've already had one ruined relationship. I didn't want another. It hurt less to hold him away than to risk tearing apart my soul if things fell apart." She scowled back. "He stopped playing nice two months ago. I'm still not sure how I ended up in bed with him."

"I think we can guess," Tasia told her dryly. "The power of the emotion between soul mates is insanely strong. It's a miracle you two made it as long as you did." She waved a hand before Olivia could protest. "Really, you're going to deny it to me of all people? I can see where your souls have already interlocked. Do you really think you could be individuals again? After this long together, even before being lovers, you had become a single unit. At this point, just friggin' get married and be done with the last formality. It'll be less confusing for everyone when I call Tosh 'Dad' or Raine and Storm call you 'Mom'."

Olivia couldn't quite look at Tosh. It was just so terrifying to think of trusting her heart and soul to any man again, even one like Tosh. He was her best friend and her lover, and every year she had resisted had just made resisting harder. It was more terrifying to think of losing him. He had been by her side for twenty-five years, had unquestioningly become a part of her life until she couldn't imagine life without him.

Thinking it made her eyes widen. It had been twenty-five years? It had to be. Arthur had walked out only a short time after Tasia's sixth birthday. Tosh had already been a single father, and he had supported her through the transition to being a single mother. They had come together as closer friends than ever before, and that friendship had just continued to grow as their families entwined more and more to one. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized that their relationship had already lasted three times as long as her first marriage, and had even passed a quarter of a century in length.

As if he was reading her mind, he said softly, "If I haven't left you by now, Liv, do you think I ever could?" He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. "Be my wife." His lips curved. "Legally. Have a legal reason to always tell me what to do and scold me when I don't listen. A legal reason to be such an incredible mother to my children, and let me be a father to yours."

She didn't even notice when their daughter and son-in-law slipped out of the room. All she could see was the man she loved. "I reserve the right," she said softly, "to chase after you and smite you with majik if you even think of leaving me." She arched a haughty brow in a way her bloodline always had. "And I'm more powerful than you."

"In that case, I guess I better not leave."

Tasia and Rodi were shamelessly eavesdropping in the hall and they shared a soft breath of happiness. They had been hoping this would happen ever since Tasia had spotted a small hickey on her mother's neck two months before. Tosh's presence would help protect Olivia from any tumultuous moments to come. Arthur might have walked out the door again—and the locks were getting changed tomorrow—but he had not walked away permanently yet.

Things could only get worse.

 

©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.

Chapter 4->