22. Three-on-Three

Three-on-Three

F iguring out how to set up my family for life was a lot easier than I'd anticipated. The quartermaster listened to me with quiet attention, his ears cocked forward and expression serene, then settled me in his office and went to go acquire the person in charge of procurement from the mortal world.

It was a nice office, the sort of place that reminded me of lawyer offices in TV shows. The monumental wooden desk boasted a leather-covered top and a series of neat bins for papers, the walls were dominated by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and the leather couch he left me on had brass tacks and smelled faintly smoky. He had a few pieces of art on the wall; vivid paintings of flowers, mostly. They might have been out-of-place, except that the man himself was so shockingly beautiful, an elf right out of Lord of the Rings wearing a set of necklaces that would have been at home on some decadent Egyptian king.

I didn't do well being bored, but Killie clearly wasn't wasting time, and showed back up within ten minutes, two other fae in tow. They bowed, I nodded gravely, and we got to work ironing out the details.

It wasn't that hard, in the end. The fae didn't exactly have business fronts back on Earth, but they did enough "procurement" that they had ways to acquire resources, and those who walked mortal soil were familiar with how the world worked. They could get – or make – cashier's checks, set up regular mail, and with glamor and geas-magic they could play the part of government mooks to seal the deal.

There was a fine line to walk between "enough money for a good life" and "money Quyen could plausibly have," but I came up with a number eventually, complete with college funds for the boys and cost-of-living increases, and I came up with a cover story. Witness protection made people vanish all the time in the real world, and paid good money for it. Telling them that I'd been kidnapped by evil men, seen their crimes, and was doing my best to make it right was true—and it was a story they could tell themselves when they missed me, to warm themselves on the dark nights .

So many people didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. To not only have that final farewell, but to be able to give them the sort of life we would never have had together, was an unimaginable gift from the universe.

I'd only get to send one letter, so I made it count, telling each of them all the things I loved about them, with a separate sheet each for Bà, Auntie, Tuan, and Cadeo. I didn't cry. I wouldn't cry in front of these self-possessed fae. They were people I needed to respect me, and so I wrote my final goodbyes with dry eyes and a calm expression.

I told Cadeo to finally get a new skateboard, and to put a holographic gemstone sticker on there for me. For Bà to take the watercolor class she'd always wanted to take so when I looked up at the sky I could think of her painting the clouds. Promised Auntie that I would remember to meditate as long as she took a vacation every year. Told Tuan where to find the fancy SLR camera I'd picked up at the pawnshop for his Christmas present, and asked him to include a photo of an iris in his first art show.

To my whole family, I closed with,

Please know that I'm safe and well taken care of. I hope I'm making you proud. I never wanted to be parted from you, but I know this is the best thing for the world, and for us. I will love and remember you forever.

I couldn't write any more than that. If I did, I would weep and never stop. It was so hard to imagine my life permanently without them.

Without Cass in front of me, an anchor for the future I was choosing, there was no balm to the agony. It was like cutting off my own hand, knowing I could stop at any time and yet making myself rake the saw through my flesh over and over again.

The thought of him drew my attention to him and away from the pain. For a moment, I lost track of my sorrows in the strength of his body. His steady heart, the warmth of his skin, the balance of his wings…

Cass leaned back with a relaxed sigh, his eyes closing. His right fingertip ran against the bare skin of his left forearm, tracing shapes, one after another: I-F-E-E-L-Y-O-U-?

My blush hit me like a freight train. I went absolutely crimson, my cheeks so hot my skin felt tight. I caught the sensation of his grin before I yanked my consciousness away from my soulmate. He'd signed off with a fucking heart?! Fuck, he was a cheeky bastard. It did make my mouth tilt up in a reckless grin, though, getting a wary look from one of the fae working on my demands. I liked getting played with. If Cass thought he'd teach me not to look by being cute about it, he'd be sorely disappointed.

Once we finished, I made my way back to the monarchal suite via magic door, startling my assistant, who jumped in a way more akin to a cat accidentally popping a balloon than a human woman suddenly having unexpected company.

"Oh, Kat, I, uh, didn't mean to startle you?" I said, not sure how to apologize in a world where apologies were an automatic admission of guilt and debt. "Shit. Uh, can I call you Kat? Do you like nicknames?"

She swept her hands over her hair, settling it back into place. "Your majesty may call me whatever your majesty likes," she said, with only the slightest quaver in her voice.

"I'll take that as a no," I said drily. "Do you prefer Katerina? Or, like, miss or ma'am? Ms. Your-Last-Name?"

Her eyes widened. "I… Kat would do?" she said in a bewildered tone. "It's a family nickname, but…"

"Well, you could call me Quyen instead of all the majesty stuff, then. Seems fair." I shrugged and started stripping out of my morning clothes in preparation for whatever I was getting put into for fancy lunch.

The door opened as I was yanking off my shirt, clad only in panties and a bra. I freed my head to find Cass standing in the doorway with a look on his face like a deer in the headlights. Smirking, I wiggled my fingers at him in a hello.

He turned around and walked back out the door without a single word. A moment later, I heard him rustling around in the body-servant's room, having apparently taken a palace-made door instead of the normal one. If the tension in my shoulders was anything to go off of, Cass was somewhat troubled by the sight of me in my underwear. Given that he'd admitted to being a visual guy, I found that quite satisfying. Point to Quyen.

Kat got me dolled up, and by the time Vad came wandering into the monarchal suite to do Cass' hair, I was fully clad and getting my makeup done.

I was going to have to have a conversation with someone about bedroom access if people kept waltzing in here while I was living in it. If Cass walked in on me naked or masturbating or whatever, it would be delicious ammunition, but Vaduin ? He was hot, sure, but he was so taken—and, besides, I had my own soulmate to figure out. No need to shoot my shot for someone who was literally unattainable, especially when I had a sexy fae King as my roommate.

There was always the consort's room, I supposed, but the idea of downgrading from Queen to Queen-Consort rankled. The thrones were equal because soulmates were equal. Giving up my position because Cass was cramming himself into a too-small bed felt like conceding ground, somehow.

The three of us took the long way to lunch, walking through the halls instead of taking a palace door. Cass and Vad chatted together about the shifting flying conditions as autumn started to bite down on the mountains. Both of their sets of wings shifted as they talked, as if they were reliving what it felt like to be in the skies, the outer edge of Vad's membranous wings closing and opening by fractions and Cass' feathers alternately rousing and slicking down.

I didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation, of course, but I enjoyed the cadence of their voices. The two of them were obviously old friends. I liked that Cass had someone to be comfortable around.

He paused at an ornate door with a pair of guards flanking it, his ears turning like a watchful animal. "No Dani?" he asked with a glance down the hall.

Vad shrugged one shoulder. "You've got Quyen as backup, now. It seemed churlish to go four-on-three when you're trying to play nice, and the dukes do better with me than her."

"Because you're fae?" I asked, before Cass could let us in.

The Archangel barked a laugh, baring sharp white fangs. "That, and I used to be their crown prince, once upon a time. Cass here deposed me, thank the gods."

Cass lifted his lip with a low growl. "Your thrice-be-damned father deposed you, snake-eyes. Don't put that on me." His hand wrapped around the doorknob like it was the throat of the former King, wringing its neck with a twist and shoving the door open.

Light poured through the doorway, the pale early-autumn sunlight blinding after the relative dimness of the inner palace. Sheer stone walls rose up on four sides, surrounding a large courtyard garden of maybe thirty by sixty feet. Water trickled down from the mossy maws of carved gargoyles, following a lattice of grooves that led to wall-mounted gardens of ferns and other dark green plants. A single tall evergreen speared into the sky, leaving the ground beneath covered in a thick shroud of dead needles; humped plantings surrounded a stone patio and curved along a deep pool of water covered in lily pads.

The other three dukes waited for us within. Two were standing near a set of delicate wooden tables; Ace was seated on a stone bench, his damaged leg stretched out and cane held casually. He moved to rise, but Cass waved him off, stalking over to a backless throne and taking a sprawling seat.

Vaduin and I followed at a more sedate pace. The lion of the trio, the Duke of Flies, sauntered towards me and gave me a deep bow with one hand held out to me. I set my hand in his and got a flash of white teeth before he pressed his lips to my knuckles.

Tension shot through me, my shoulders going tight and a faint trembling starting beneath my breastbone. I didn't look at Cass, even though I knew that reaction had to be his. I didn't want to bring any attention to my soulmate's obvious dislike for Talien, nor did I want to play up the soulmate possessiveness. These men were powerful. I needed to seem powerful, too—collected and serene, as if I belonged in this garden with a duke kissing my hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, your grace," I said, not taking my hand away when he didn't immediately release it. "I'll admit, I've been hoping for a chance to speak to you. I'm rather jealous of those lovely gloves you gifted my soulmate, though I prefer my opals hanging from my ears and throat."

His mouth curled up into a cat's smile of satisfaction. "A neck as lovely as yours ought to be adorned, your majesty," he purred, tracing his eyes down along the line of my throat to my cleavage. I wore only a single pearl on a chain, hanging heavily in the shadow between my breasts. Talien's eyes lingered. "As you've admitted to a fault, I'll respond in kind, and say that I was unprepared for a beautiful Queen alongside my new King. I didn't have a chance to select something that might please you."

I laughed, the bright sound practiced and light. Anyone I knew back home would have been able to pin it as the same one I used with handsy men at the bar. "I'm a greedy thing," I said playfully, flashing him another smile when his eyes flicked back up to my face. "I love glitter and sparkle. Maybe that makes me a frivolous girl, but why bother being rich and powerful if you can't drape yourself with expensive gems?"

My ribs went so tight that I glanced over at Cass, who looked like he was warring between anger and nausea. His poker face could really use some work—but at least the only thing showing his unhappiness was his face. It wasn't like the walls were bleeding.

Talien dropped another kiss onto my knuckles before releasing me and stepping back. "I would certainly like to please my Queen," he said, with a lilt on "please" that suggested he'd be perfectly happy to do that pleasing with his silver tongue. "Perhaps I can send a message to the jeweler who cut the opals I gifted your soulmate on your coronation. She may know how to acquire more."

"How thoughtful of you," I crooned back, giving him a flirtatious sidelong glance as I turned towards Cass.

My eyes snagged on Ace's along the way, a moment of contact. The tiniest of smirks flirted with his mouth. He knows I'm playing Talien , I thought, not lingering. The Sagebrush Duke is no fool .

None of them were likely to be idiots, socially or otherwise. Talien might very well know that I was playing him, too, but that was all part of the dance. It would be easy enough to play up being an ignorant mortal who liked being pretty and didn't care for politics. All of those things were true, after all. It was simply a matter of scale.

The Misted Duke hadn't wasted his time while I'd been flirting with Talien. He'd positioned himself with military precision, so that when I took my seat next to Cass, he claimed the nearest table with such clean efficiency that there was no chance for any of the other dukes to protest. It was probably meant for Vad, given that it was right by Cass, but Vad strolled over to the far side of the array and took a splayed-leg seat next to Ace, casually dragging over a table with his tail.

Cass gave me a sideways look as the Duke of Flies took the position nearest me. His ear turned towards me— no, towards Talien , I realized with some bemusement. Cass tracked the man's movement like a wary cat following a nearby dog. Whatever enmity the two had going on, it was clearly mutual.

"Well," he said, in a low rumble. "Let's eat."