9

The next morning there were so many people gathered for me to awaken fairies that it was honestly ridiculous. I couldn't even imagine how many. It was every available healer and Guardian not already tasked with something. It was awakened fairies from all over ready to jump in and help. We were doing a large city in the dark realm and I was pushing the gas hard.

As hard as I could without hurting myself.

We were going to reopen this city and start fixing it up next, so Neldor and I agreed it was the next one to completely clear out and wake all of the people from.

I went through the normal steps and couldn't hide my shock as I kept going and going. It was ridiculous how long I seemed to let out power before my magic told me to wrap it up.

Wow.

"Okay, as glad as I am that my magic is telling me now how not to hurt myself, I wish it could tell me when I hit like the halfway point or something," I grumbled as I plopped back on my butt. I blinked out at the chaos around me and couldn't hear anything going on, feeling a bit woozy.

I waved off my dad when he seemed concerned, telling him what was going on and waiting until I could hear again.

Once I was steady and could hear, we left it to everyone else. I had an appointment with the bakery to be completely useless.

At least they'd finally let me off on deciding the menu. It was now Katrina or one of my aides who handled it.

However , they wanted to expand. Now that there was more available in Faerie, they had more ingredients. And after expanding, they could manage more. So to start, they wanted to make quiche.

And I got to test them all.

Yummy.

Seriously, it was so fucking yummy it was ridiculous.

But quiche wasn't really a Faerie food. Not like we had on Earth. It was different, but they wanted to do more fusion foods and branch out, so this time I was suggesting combos or what I would add to what I sampled.

"I think chives," I muttered after a few bites. "Yeah, I want like chives or maybe even garlic chives with this. It's grand. That would be all I might add."

"That's a good suggestion, Your Highness," Esta muttered as she wrote it down. "You love chives, but so do lots of people. Even if you don't like chives much, they're not overpowering, so it wouldn't turn people off."

"Exactly," I agreed. "You could also have like taco quiche and offer with or without cilantro. People are so split on that."

"This is clearly what we should have utilized you for," she said with a chuckle as she kept writing.

"You have in the past," I mumbled. "I did with those pumpkin-tasting cookies and stuff. I've helped."

"You have, Your Highness," she said gently, giving me a loving look. "You always help. I'm sorry. I shouldn't tease you when it's clearly sensitive with you. It's just that I think you are adorable."

Thanks?

We went over more while I pulled up ideas on my phone. I was all for them putting tofu into the quiches for protein and healthy, plus I'd seen a trend on TikTok—via Izzy—that people added cottage cheese. It all looked ridiculously good, and it was better options for people who were lactose intolerant or had tummy issues. The tofu at least.

Then I remembered that supes didn't have things like that.

Still, always nice to have healthier options. Maybe certain shifters really liked tofu over dairy?

Lageos was getting a bit fancier wanting animals in Faerie that were comparable to duck and bison. But then I realized it was so they could charge more and be for fancy brunch more than the ducks in Faerie were his favorite. That was smart. The bakery was constantly catering brunches and having orders for that.

I'd probably eaten a whole farm's worth of eggs I'd had so many quiches when I was done.

And I couldn't be happier about it.

"Now, the first auction is coming up and we're going to work on a bit of both classes combined in a field trip," Lageos told me when we were done. He turned to Esta. "If you could do me a favor and slip Kyle Edelman one of those samples with an apology from me that I didn't submit the off-campus request thing, I would appreciate it."

"We will handle it, Prince Lageos," she promised. "And also with Dean Pillay."

More like the hobgoblins loved both of them and would love to give them some happy as well. Still, I was grateful and excited to learn what we were doing. I had to wait a bit until we were in Faerie, but then I looked at my dad expectantly when dozens of people were also gathered.

"You're going to get a bit of biology lecture in with this as well since you only had a lot of book learning and not enough field instruction or examples," he told me. "My magic can find the nearest of any species or animal I want. If I know them."

I read between the lines. "That's how you found the demons."

Pride filled his eyes. "Yes. Very good. So this is a necessary skill for you in multiple ways. The new magic is I want you to expound upon it for the purpose of events like your auction."

I stared at him when he didn't say more, understanding part of this was a test to figure out the logic and purpose. Then it hit me. "You want me to find the largest grouping, not just find the closest. So I can find the largest wild herd or something and that's safest to take from."

He held up a hand to someone he clearly sensed about to speak. "Yes, and what other applications can that magic have?"

I blew out a harsh breath. "Many. The basics of this magic could have us locate the rest of the fae dogs on Earth. I could double check that every hobgoblin is safe. I could have them all come from Faerie for an allotted day and completely comb the planet."

Lageos blinked at me a moment and swore under his breath. "Yes, we should absolutely do that, and I apologize we have not done both already. I did not think of that."

"Neither did I," Taeral grumbled. "I will get it set up. All of your packs or those friendly with you all staying put in Faerie so we can locate the remaining ones."

"As inconvenient as it would be, we would need to do off hours," I told him. "Starting on one continent at like midnight." I glanced at Lageos. "I assume there's a range on this?"

"I find so, but I've found never to put a limit on you, Daughter," he said with a chuckle. "On Earth, I would assume so. Here, I wouldn't think it for animals since you are the conduit even if you never, not ever tap into Faerie, this planet is… Made for you in a way."

I nodded. "This would also be useful for finding packs and groups that are outside the system. No matter what the councils always said about it was them or the Underground, I always thought that was bullshit. There are jaguars and there's no jaguar council."

"Yes, and once you're queen and bored with Faerie being healed and perfect, you can go try to help them and find them all. Any of the groups off the map." He cleared his throat. "Even the vampires who are more monster than person. All of it." He reached out and cupped my cheek. "I need you to have all the tools possible for when I'm gone."

I swallowed loudly and mumbled a thank you. I covered his hand on my face and nodded that I was ready, feeling his magic.

He brought us to the nearest animal on the massive list for us to hunt. It was a type of elk. He froze it while others ran away and walked over with me. "I don't remember this part it's been so long. I would think you simply need to scan it and get a read for it?"

I nodded, holding out my hands and sort of petting the animal as I let my magic play. I nodded again when I had it and read my dad, feeling his magic to locate the next closest animal.

We only went about twenty feet away, but it still worked, and I understood the process.

I sort of told my magic to multiply the reaction or interaction between the sense of the animal and what my father had done. I wanted the biggest group of them as possible.

It sort of fluttered to let me know it was ready and I brought us there.

And into a massive herd of them.

"Well done, Daughter," Lageos praised. "I don't think I even managed this my first time and I did copy my brother as you did." He nodded. "Yes, I think it was this magic that I learned in this way."

I opened a cloaked portal to the hunters who were helping us with this so as to not disturb the animals. Taeral came through and glanced around before flinching. "What?"

"This is the dark realm," he told me, pointing to a castle in the distance. "That's a noble's castle in the dark realm. I've been there. Your magic could sense this large herd exceedingly far from where we started. Did you feel Faerie or it try to work with you?"

I shook my head, giving my dad a look that I was being honest. "Faerie is still in that bubble. I swear. I won't mess with that. This was totally a vibe of the area." I studied the castle. "I've seen that before. I've been near here waking fairies."

"That might be the key or trick then for it to work for long distances," Lageos surmised. "It might have to be places your magic has touched before so the nature there can communicate with your request."

That seemed way too out there for my mind to really process. It was a bit too close to magical email or something trippy like that, but then again, it wasn't remotely the weirdest thing I'd probably ever done or seen so far.

I frowned when I saw the hunters shoot bows and arrows to take down the elk. Some didn't die fast and it all seemed… Mean. I knew it was for food and I wouldn't stop being a carnivore anytime soon, but we had magic.

Wasn't there some way to do this better?

Seriously?

The first auction was tomorrow, and there was going to be a series of them over the next six weeks every Saturday. There had been talk of one big one, but this was too last-minute for people to plan, and not everyone could drop their lives on our whims. Plus, that meant too much crazy.

No, we needed to limit the crazy. I had also made the comment about butchering all the animals so fast and keeping them preserved.

Right, I should have known there was a rune for preserving animals. Of course, there was, but I wasn't wrong on how difficult it would be to get the animals slaughtered. Fast and done right didn't always go hand in hand.

Luckily, Mrs. Diaz and Katrina were working with us on this and agreed with me. Juan had handled "purchasing" where the future butcher would be that would raise more funds for Faerie and have a protected storefront, but for now was ready to handle what we needed. And it had a portal to Faerie.

No, it hadn't been a property owned by a fairy. It had been owned by a hawk.

But it had once been owned by a fairy many, many years ago. It was a horribly kept secret that they had taken possession of the property with underhanded means but had a portal.

Luckily, the family were monsters still, and I had taken them down in one raid of corruption and crimes or another.

I honestly forgot which.

So it wasn't so much that I purchased the property, but that it was turned over in damages to Faerie's government. I think legally I did pay some amount for it to keep it separate and in control of the income, but it probably wasn't the full value since part of the crimes the family had committed had been against me.

I just nodded when Geiger and Juan told me all of it.

No one was shocked with all I had to keep track of.

So for now, we were bringing all the animals through that portal to be processed and then the meat tomorrow morning to one of the Diazes' vacation properties where the auction was to be held. They had the right protection in place, and it was actually land that was used for hunts and events.

They were being compensated well for allowing it and the help.

Plus, they owed me a lot for all I'd done too.

I was glad that they remembered that.

I grabbed a copy of the list and read it over before looking at Lageos. "Okay, take me to all of these animals to scan. I want to play with this and let my magic find the way it wants to handle this." I glanced at Taeral. "How many animals total or what is the max we're thinking of doing?"

"We're not really worried about that, Your Highness," he told me. "Even if it's not all for the auction tomorrow, the rest stops need food and others in Faerie will buy it. We have an abundance of animals now. There are no longer any shortages. Some still need to mature, but they do at a rapid rate because of the magic and your supplements make them stronger."

"Okay, then let's get a mark of the locations I bring us to, and that can be where Neldor works on his magic and overgrows locations. I want everything thriving and explosive to the point we have to cull given the importance of this."

"Yes, Your Highness," he agreed.

Good, I was glad they all seemed to feel that was the smart move.

Lageos took me all around and we went through the list… Even when it meant going in the water. The dry look I gave him when he teleported us to a lake amused him.

Fine, two could play that fun.

Once it was all done, I put in my earbuds and played Billie Eilish's "bad guy" before focusing my magic to the largest amount of the first animal on the list. It was a type of bird that was comparable to a hawk on Earth but eaten and really fucking good.

I was cloaked, standing in a massive flock and letting my magic scan how many were there in the trees as I wiggled my butt to the music. Then I let out electricity to kill about twenty but was careful to not cook them. I just wanted instant death so they didn't hurt or die painfully. I winced when they started plopping down from the trees but… Well, it was still better, right?

I did another hundred, twenty at a time, and ignored when my dad burst out laughing and opened a portal to Taeral.

"Can you confirm I didn't ruin the meat or anything else we'd use?" I asked him, smacking Lageos in the chest when he kept laughing. "I was thinking of quick deaths instead of arrows to the head or chest or whatever, but zapping them could cook the meat, right?"

Taeral opened his mouth to answer but rolled his eyes when Lageos kept laughing. "The idea has promise, but I won't know until we bring them to the butcher and confirm. I would suggest you go fishing for a bit if you're going to get more involved and play with your power. I will get you answers."

Fair enough.

I put my earbud back in and teleported my dad far out in the ocean while I kept myself at the shore near a huge school of the fish we needed. He shot me an amused look that seemed to accept that he deserved it when he rejoined me.

"Brat," he grumbled without malice.

Yeah, but clearly I'd inherited that from him .

I focused on my magic and the fish, picturing a barrier that was more like a net and wouldn't enclose the water with them. Then I held my hands out and sort of used them to focus my power and wrap it around the large school of fish.

Or as best as I could.

I was amazed at the amount I had locked in my magic as I moved the barrier along. It was so amazing sometimes how weird magic could be and the visuals or logistics played out. This was hard to do for me because everything inside was moving while I was moving the barrier.

But I could easily throw up barriers over huge areas while people attacked them like I had over the summer. And people moved all around in them and I'd drained them of their power.

Still, doing anything new or for the first time in a new way was always tiring.

"It's also how much power you used earlier," Lageos reminded me, probably knowing exactly where my mind was.

Yeah, fair enough.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye that distracted me and my barrier faltered and fish started pouring out of the hole that it now had. I sighed and let them all drop on the beach.

The look I gave Neldor and the party with him for distracting me was not a kind one.

He simply shrugged. "Take me as a training tool and now you know your barriers can falter if distracted."

"I already knew that, dipshit," I grumbled, letting out a sigh. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just brought you food," he answered as he walked over with the bag and opened a portal. "Others can have fun collecting your catch."

Lageos was on guard though and frowning which meant he was getting something off Neldor.

And I wasn't an idiot. "How many fairies did I wake up? What's the count already that you're worried and trying to refuel me?"

"Thirty thousand are already counted and registered," he told me, nodding when I couldn't hide my shock.

My typical number was almost fifty thousand, but it had taken almost a day to get everyone counted and listed for the totals. We'd been more prepared this time and people were handling groups and every volunteer knew the procedure. To have thirty thousand already meant… Wow.

Okay, time to refuel.

Taeral found me while stuffing my face and confirmed that I basically stopped the birds' hearts and nothing else. Nothing was done to the meat and they were in perfect condition.

"It does take away from the fun of hunting though, Your Highness," he commented, sounding a bit like he was whining since he had a bow with him as well.

"Yes, well, it's less mess as well," I drawled, gesturing to the blood on his clothes. "And I won't always be around to do this, so you'll still get to hunt." I felt better when Neldor snorted.

After I was done eating, I suggested having other items at the auction like blessed knives for their kitchens to never be without food and their families always have what they needed… But apparently, that was crass. I could never ever receive compensation for blessings like they were for sale.

What was the difference between that and people buying my paintings? I mean, I understood what they were saying and I agreed, but it seemed like we'd already gone over that line.

So again—what was the difference?

Apparently, there was one. Neldor and Taeral frowned as they tried to explain it, probably understanding that they were splitting hairs or it was a fine line of a difference, but basically it boiled down to optics.

Plus, the focus was supposed to be my art and the blessing of my magic was the bonus. Right, but we all knew no one cared about that so again, splitting hairs.

However, I could understand it was really the optics and protecting me, so I was fine with that. I was.

It just seemed a bit silly too.

I put in my earbuds and went back to killing animals. I thanked the gods for the bounty and helping my people. Neldor came in behind me and overgrew everything so the remaining animals had a ton of food to breed. It was a very, very strange team event we were running, and I was glad that he seemed amused about it as well.

It was laugh at the crazy or run from it, and we couldn't run from it.

So yeah, we laughed when we could.