14

I went to give him a kiss, thinking about going again when there was a huge commotion outside his door. We blinked at each other and then he somehow shoved us off the bed in an impressive move that I could not have made in my current state.

He gave a half shrug as he balanced us against the wall and tried to use the curtain to cover us. "My legs aren't—"

"Good point," I muttered, helping him just as the door burst open and we weren't alone.

We both shouted for whoever it was to get the fuck out as people were shouting and it was complete chaos.

"Shut up!" Taeral roared, keeping his back to us and blocking everyone else from coming in. I used my magic to silence everyone else. "Are you both okay? That's all we need to know for right now."

I felt my dad's energy pounding against my magic and released him.

"And do not put your wings away," Lageos said firmly. " Detangle , but both of you keep your wings out. Now that we know what happened , please come downstairs with your wings out and we can all calmly discuss this."

"Meaning you can't kill him, Lageos," Taeral growled.

"As long as she was willing," he grumbled.

"This is my worst nightmare," I groaned. "Yeah, I was willing, Dad."

"Fine, he's safe. Keep your wings out."

"This is so your fault," Neldor sighed.

"You're the one who demanded we do it with our wings out ," I reminded him. "I'm not getting blamed for shit."

"Please confirm you heard us and can function," Taeral cut in.

"Yes!" we both yelled.

"Thank you," he replied before pushing others and leaving the room, somehow managing to get the door closed. I took my magic off of everyone then, figuring they had a lot to discuss about… Whatever was going on.

"The demigod will kill me. Awesome. At least I got to have you first," Neldor grumbled.

"Seriously?" I snapped as I pulled off of him. "We need to work on your pillow talk."

"I get a damn pass, Tams," he threw right back.

Yeah, fair enough.

I headed for his bathroom, but he snagged me around the waist and snuck a quick kiss before helping me clean up. I grabbed something of his I could use for clothes, throwing up my hair which was a complete disaster. We left our wings out but… Yeah, we were totally busted.

Whatever. I wanted to know what was going on now.

"Can I use runes so I can hold up my damn boobs?" I yelled down after I walked out of his room, rolling my eyes when he snorted. I smacked him in the chest. "Shut up, stupid. I don't have the right—having big breasts is fucking annoying sometimes and my wings get in the way!"

"Yes, Your Highness," Stefanie and Shael called up to me.

Awesome. I used the rune for that and headed downstairs trying to act like we hadn't gotten caught having sex and ignored everything else.

Yeah right. I couldn't even look at my dad. Shael and Stefanie seemed to be the safest bet.

I waved for them to go ahead. "Facts only. No freaking out."

"You caused an earthquake," Shael drawled. She smirked at me when my mouth fell open. "Yes, so we're valid this time."

I went to lean against the wall and flinched when my wing bumped against it. "Well, fuck." I rubbed my head and glanced at Neldor. "And you're sure it was us?"

"Yes. Very. There was no chance it just happened and there was a huge magical explosion," Shael answered. "I felt it in Faerie , Your Highness. It rattled the portals. I knew something happened on this planet and to get here. I immediately came through and felt the tail end. Every supe in this world will have felt something ."

"The humans are already reporting the earthquake," someone else confirmed.

"I want to make a joke that I literally rocked your world," I mumbled.

"After. Later. Not when the demigod is staring at me with my death in his eyes, baby doll," Neldor bit out.

"Dad, quit it. Focus. Need answers," I snapped. "If you don't behave, I'll have all five of them start calling you ‘Father' like Julian." I wasn't the only one who snickered when that broke him and he cussed up a storm.

"Especially since we're going to need some specifics, Lag," Iolas warned.

Then he really lost it.

I had a few choice cuss words as well. "Seriously, I'm such a fucking freak that I can't even have sex without it being a state issue, and—this is fucking humiliating."

"It could be my fault," Neldor mumbled.

" No one here believes that," I drawled.

He shrugged. "It's the first time I've had sex since I've had my wings. You've had sex since you've had your wings. You've had sex with your wings out before. This is on both of us, baby doll."

That stopped me in my tracks. "Oh, I like that. It really is both our fault for once." I beamed at him. "I'm not the only freak for once!"

He threw back his head and laughed, coming over and hugging me. He ignored Lageos's growl and kissed my forehead. "No, not the only freak, okay?"

"I hate to burst your bubble, but this didn't happen when your parents were intimate or we would have known," Stefanie said gently.

"Were they ever intimate on Earth?" Neldor threw back. "Or with their wings out? I'm sure this is absolutely about both royal lines being together. Yes, she's half demigod. Fine, but—everyone needs to stop treating her as a freak. I am too. So is Craftsman. Hudson is—even other dragons look at him like he is. I've seen Juan stare at him during training. Enough."

"Thanks, Nel," I whispered, kissing his chin.

"We agree, Your Grace," Stefanie said, giving a firm nod, gesturing between us. "It's clearly the combo . Hell, this was the hope of your being together and the royal bloodlines bonding. I wish your first time was in Faerie for this magic to be released but given—"

"No, not with the connection the planet has with the princess," Morgan argued. "It could have given Faerie more power over her, and that could be catastrophic."

"Yes, agreed. Full stop," Stephanie said firmly. "And we couldn't have—none of us could have thought this would happen. Hell, I had no idea they were to this point. I knew they were somewhere and…" She cleared her throat. "I apologize for speaking as if you weren't here."

"No, I understand," I sighed. "It's not like—cat's out of the bag now." I gave Neldor a look and he nodded. "We're not together— together . We…"

"Tamsin and I decided that we think the sentiment in Faerie may change in the next ten years where we could have something real without everyone assuming I would basically rule from behind her," Neldor said for me. "Until then, we don't want to risk the friendship and working relationship we have. We would get caught if we tried to date."

"So you dare not respect my daughter enough and are only bedding her?" Lageos seethed.

"Dad, it was my call too," I cut in. "For now. We agreed." I huffed when steam about came out of his ears. "We basically have dates when we have meetings and meals. Just leave it—let us find our way, Dad. Please? He's been—none of this is easy. He's watching me with four other men , okay? I promise he's not being the asshole here. I am."

"Tams!" Neldor gasped. "No, you're not!"

"Yeah, I really am," I sighed, moving so he couldn't hug me and comfort me. "I'm keeping us apart because of perception. No matter the valid points and everything else, that's what it boils down to. Yes, I'm also doing it because if we don't fix this now , whatever heir and children we have—if we don't do this now, we leave a mess for them.

"So it's not just about me and us. We have to fix this. We have to smack fairies and fair folk out of this mindset that heirs and queens are pawns and puppets and I'm useless without the ancients and elders or you to handle me. So it's valid, but at the end of the day, I'm not letting us be together because of perception. That makes me the bitch here. I know that."

"No, it's not that because that perception could get you fucking killed, Tams. That's no longer just a godsdamn perception then," he argued.

Yeah, that took the wind out of my sails pretty fast. Then he put the final nail in the coffin.

"And could get our child killed if we don't fix this. I agree. I agree with all of this. It's not just you. We are on the same page of this. This is where we are for now. However long it takes. This is where we are. I love you and will…"

I blinked at him as his eyes practically bugged out of his head.

"Oh Nel," Taeral whispered.

"You—me?" I asked, making it that much worse.

He swallowed loudly. "Could we say you heard me wrong and I say it the right way another time?"

I nodded. Yeah, I was pretty sure that was best.

Absolutely that was best.

"Thanks, baby doll."

I snorted. "I think the top of my head would pop off if we didn't do it that way right now. Everyone knows we had sex and…" I winced. "Do we have to tell them about all of it?" I winced when his face went pale.

Yeah, I was pretty sure we did.

Fuck.

People started asking us questions, but I used my magic to silence them. "Nope, no, I cannot fucking handle this. My stress is…" I focused on Calarel and let her speak. "We will tell you everything and you can decide. Seriously, I feel like—my blood pressure is through the roof and my eyes are twitching. Both ."

"Yes, that is more than fair," she hurried to agree. "Clearly, it has to do with your wings being out during intercourse. That is why both of your power levels jumped and—you have had this happen before." She waved me to be quiet. "You had the explosion of magic when you flapped your wings to take off. Your magic exploded then as your power jumped."

"Good to know f—" I snapped my mouth so fast that I bit my tongue. I shot Neldor an apologetic look. "Sorry. This is—I get a pass. This is—"

He sighed, running his hands through his tangled hair before throwing it up in a messy bun which I'd never seen. "I get it. My mind is racing with snarky, crass things as well. We both get passes and forgive each other. I beg you because I will say something as well."

Fair enough. I completely agreed.

Then what Calarel said hit me. "Wait, our power jumped?" I waited until she nodded, seeing others as well, and took off my magic. "You're sure?"

"Yes, we felt it the moment we arrived, Tamsin," my dad assured us. "You will both need to have your wings out for a few weeks." He nodded when we both groaned.

People started talking and debating, and I simply sighed again.

"We hoped this would happen if they were to be together," Onas said.

"Yes, but I thought they never would be because of the princess's incest concerns," someone argued.

"Wait, time-out," I cut in loudly, wanting that handled. "That was long since handled."

"And firmly," Neldor added. "Her best friend made it—the Henry VIII argument."

I nodded. "More humans are directly related than we are because of Henry VIII and all of his wives and mistresses or whatever. Ancient Simimar was almost four thousand years old, right? And he didn't know which was the original royal family, light or dark. That means there were dozens and dozens of queens and—we're not remotely related."

"No, not remotely," Neldor agreed. "We're settled on this."

"Well, that's good," someone else muttered. "I thought we would have an issue with that later down the road."

Others seemed glad it was handled and I wanted to roll my eyes. I wasn't that big of a pain. No one seemed to really know what the fuck happened with the royal families or the legends of how the realms split or if they were even ever really one to begin with. Some of the ancients were thousands of years old and didn't know.

Yeah, that's not remotely like Neldor and I were second cousins or something gross.

People were still talking about it and I was going to interrupt them, but then I shared a look with Neldor and we both kind of shrugged. Fine, let them talk about that for a bit instead of us having sex so we had a moment to digest all of it.

They started to talk about some ring though and I shot a glance at Lageos. He raised an eyebrow at that as well, clearly thinking the same thing as I did. There was some heated discussion and back and forth, and people were getting way off focus when we had more to handle.

And I was now hungry and would get hangry soon.

Something Lageos picked up on, waving for me to handle it as he sighed and motioned for my security to come over.

I rolled my eyes when I heard Neldor jump in and yell for people to drop it about the ring and we'd never get the answers. I moved over to him and clapped my hands together for attention. "I know where my mom's damn ring is, Nel. I've always had it." I teleported it to my hand. "Why is this an issue now of all times?"

Everyone froze, like went eerily quiet.

"Well, clearly, that is more than Meira's ring and we're missing something," Lageos drawled.

"Where did you get that, Tams," Neldor whispered, finding his voice first as he moved his hand towards mine holding it.

"It was left with me," I told him. "It was one of the things in my possession that always found me again. The key and this ring. I told you about the key and said there was more." I studied him. "Lageos confirmed it was my mother's ring."

He swallowed loudly and met my gaze. "That's not just Meira's or a Vale ring. That's the royal ring from the gods given to the first queen of Faerie."

"It proves that the Vale family was the true lineage and the Donovans broke off and split the realms," Iolas whispered. "Why the hell didn't Meira tell people she had that?"

I closed my hand around it and hid it behind my back as if I could close this can of worms back up somehow. "And what would have happened if she had?" I snapped the fingers of my other hand until people focused on my face, completely understanding why my mother had done this for once. "What would have happened, people? Use your heads!"

"People would have overthrown my family," Neldor mumbled, his face completely pale. "The dark realm would have fallen into chaos."

"Yeah, probably. Or the light realm might have and someone would have taken out my mother saying it was a fake, right? Or just general chaos. The ancients trying to take it for bad things? I doubt peace and happiness. I very much doubt that would be the outcome."

People seemed to agree but then started debating what to do about it now . It got heated and pissy. I lost my temper when it turned to yelling and some shoving.

Fucking idiots. I'm going to smack them all.

My eyes went wide as they all acted like someone punched them.

"Shit," I whispered. I focused on Neldor. "I'm so sorry. I just thought it. Holy fuck. And not you. Dad?"

"Yeah, you got me too," he chuckled. "Nicely done, Daughter."

"No, Dad!" I hissed. "Not nicely done. No hitting accidentally with a thought! " I slapped my free hand on the wall several times so people focused on me. "So fucking focus people. Clearly, we have some right now issues, and we don't have time to worry about an ancient ring, okay?"

I teleported it back to the hiding place just to be safe. Fuck.

"And you need to eat," Neldor muttered.

"I told her security to go get her food from Irma given the power jump as that would be best for her," Lageos told him.

"Good," he muttered, opening a portal though. Some others normally on his detail, including Agis and Kerym, stepped right through as he pulled out his wallet. "I apologize for bothering you, but the princess and I had power jumps and need food. Whatever is fast and Calarel thinks best."

"Protein," the healer declared after studying me. "High calorie, but protein heavy. I don't care if it's greasy crap, but protein and high calorie."

"Got it," Kerym said before looking at me. "Any preferences, Your Highness?"

I went to shake my head, but my stomach growled obnoxiously. "Burgers."

"Yesssss," Neldor hissed. "Fuck, yes, beef. Shake Shack?"

"Fuck, yes. Oh, Culvers too."

"Done. Shit and then steaks. Please, from that place Julian got—"

I reached out and grabbed him. "Julian! Someone has to check on him. We did something magical and he's tied to me."

"I will check on him," Lageos promised. "You eat. Stay here protected with your wings out."

"Fine, get him here. All of them," I grumbled.

"Darby will be brought here after classes," Stefanie told me as everyone broke off to their tasks while Neldor raided the fridge and tossed me something to start off with. "You both talk to Calarel in a barrier, please. I think it best while Lageos is gone."

Good point. We did while snacking on breakfast bars. She was sympathetic when we explained our false start but said that was nothing but normal nerves of being together our first time and the extreme stress we were both under.

"And I think you both learned not to force things," she said gently. "Listen to your partner and everything you already know. Princess, don't force yourself just because Prince Neldor sets something up. He is too kind and wouldn't want that. You know this."

"I don't, Tams," he whispered, sounding heartbroken.

"I know, but… No one likes to be turned down," I mumbled, giving a shrug. "I couldn't the first time."

"No, you should. I hope you do in the future." He cleared his throat and focused on Calarel since everyone was watching us even if we were in the barrier. "So nothing else to worry about? Eat and you will scan us?"

"For now. We need to know how many levels of power you jumped and how to handle the situation. Situations even," she confirmed, nodding behind us.

I glanced over and groaned as I saw it was food. I kissed her cheek and took down the barrier, practically ripping the bags away from Kerym with a half-assed "thanks." I fucking inhaled the first burger. "This is going to be bad."

Neldor grunted.

"What happened?" Julian asked as he appeared with Lageos.

"We fucked and apparently that makes an earthquake," I bitched with a full mouth which I'm sure nothing made sense from. I simply kept eating and turned on my telepathy… But immediately shut it back off when I accidentally started projecting what had happened.

Idiot. Right, my telepathy always went wonky when things went wrong.

Thankfully, Shael took pity on me and told him while I used my left hand to shovel in food and started writing. Neldor frowned and looked over my shoulder and then understanding filled his eyes and he grabbed a pen as well.

I shoved him away when he tried to write on my page and made him get his own. Idiot.

I finished first and handed it to Stefanie.

"‘We need a reason Neldor is out of the spotlight for the next two weeks since his wings are out. He has public meetings for the company. Get in front of that shit and don't have it be stupid. I can blame school for mine.'" Stefanie read and nodded in agreement.

While people focused on that, Lageos handed me a note.

"There is no way your mother did not warn you about that ring if it was important like that, Tamsin. You have to finally read that journal. I'm sorry to push but enough and read it."

Oh boy, he needed to stop having so much faith in Mom and that she was perfect.

I swallowed a sigh and reached over to write something back while people were distracted. "I did read it fully, Dad. Nothing was in there about the ring. It was mostly about the visions and warning about powers and protecting you! There wasn't even anything in there about the magic I found at Artemis. Mom messed up. I'm sorry, but she did."

He frowned as he read over my shoulder and hurried to reply. "Then we're missing something. Your mother wouldn't have gone through all that trouble just to not warn you. There's more to that journal then." He hurried to crumple up the note when he was sure that I'd read it.

Great, more secrets and issues.

Of course there were.