Chapter Three

Just ten more minutes. Locryn had an agreement with his father that he would turn up no less than once a month for any social occasion his father had organized. But Locryn had his own private boundaries about how long he stayed at said event. At almost two hours in, he had already met and surpassed his limit of engaging in small talk with those his father considered polite society, or more specifically, his extended family members.

The event was being held in the ballroom of his father’s house, just as it always was. Locryn’s father was a traditionalist, which meant the décor looked the same every single time Locryn visited. Walls so white they would hurt the eyes, devoid of any art that wasn’t in highly muted shades of pinks, blues, and purples.

Tall pillars, that were only for decorative purposes, were spaced along every wall – just enough to be noticeable without overshadowing anything else in the room. At one end of the room a huge wall of glass opened out for the ultimate indoor/outdoor entertainment. Even the weather, complete with a light, warm evening breeze, was identical to every time Locryn visited, regardless of the time of year. Apparently the Fae who lived on the realm, found seasonal weather changes annoying and inconvenient, messing up their social plans. So they just didn’t allow it to happen.

The scene was just like any other ballroom event in any other mansion on the realm. Nothing ever changed. It wasn’t just the seasonal changes the Fae objected to – any means of showing personality, or anything in bright colors was also shunned. That was just one of the things Locryn hated about it.

Once, when he was a lot younger, he’d expended a lot of magic making it rain around his house. This was before he’d ever considered living on earth. He just wanted to see something different from the typical bland sunshine the Fae realm delivered every day. He wanted to watch raindrops trickle down the windows and sleep with the sound of the rain on his roof – something he’d only ever read about.

His father damn near lost his hair over it. Three leading members of Fae families in the neighborhood complained that the additional water impacted their immaculate gardens. Locryn already knew it hadn’t – he wasn’t magically inept. But with his father’s disapproval ringing in his ears, Locryn ran with his instincts and informed his father he was moving to earth. At least there, he could experience the change in seasons without anyone having a conniption about it.

Because the Fae on his home realm led such dull lives, his rainfall was still a topic of conversation two hundred years after the fact. Case in point, his cousin, Morticia sidled up to him, her wine glass firmly in hand.

“Have you been getting wet lately, cousin?”

“Just this morning as a matter of fact. Puddle jumping has become one of my favorite hobbies.” Locryn ran his hand down the long blond plait he wore draped over one shoulder – a big difference to the gray and pink hair he wore in Appleton. “How’s the mate hunt coming along? Still interviewing the sexy hunks who form your father’s guard unit?”

It was a pointed dig, and Locryn hated that being among his family brought the worst out of him, but he couldn’t help himself. Sure enough, Morticia sniffed as if she’d smelled something unpleasant.

“At least I’m socializing with the right people, instead of spending my time with riff raff, touching their hair.”

“I’m a hair stylist, darling.” Locryn wasn’t going to let his cousin disparage something he truly enjoyed doing. “It’s a highly skilled craft outside of this realm.”

“I don’t know how you can bear to work with your hands all day.” Morticia flexed her immaculate nails. “Having to touch people, serve them, cater to their needs as if they were important.” She shivered in an exaggerated fashion. “I hear they actually pay you money to cope with their unruly locks.”

“I can hardly do it for free. Everyone would think there was something wrong with me.” Locryn laughed loud enough to cause a few heads to turn. Yes, think I’m having a good time, you moldy bastards. I don’t owe you anything. “I do have expenses. That’s a thing, you know, on earth. People pay for the things they want and need.”

Morticia mock yawned, her bright red nails a stark contrast to her pale face as she gently covered her open mouth. “I would find anything like that seriously tedious. The whole idea of working for a living is such a pedestrian concept, especially when you have magic to take care of your needs.”

Locryn noticed his father heading in his direction and hurriedly placed his glass on the nearest flat surface. “Yes, well, as much as I’d love to debate the ethics behind being paid for what I do or discuss the emotional satisfaction that comes from working with my hands, I’m afraid you must excuse me. I have to…”

“Oh, but…” Morticia started to say, but Locryn’s father got in first.

Damn, that old man can move fast when he wants to.

“Locryn, I’m glad you’re here. I have an important matter to discuss with you. Morticia, if you’ll excuse us. Locryn, my office, now, if you please.”

Damn it all to hell and back. That’s what I get for being polite. Barely nodding at Morticia, Locryn followed his father down a short hallway to his father’s office.

The last time Locryn had been in that room was when he’d informed his father he was moving to the human realm and planned to live there permanently. Just like that time, his father didn’t invite him to sit down. Instead, he went around his huge marble desk and took the seat behind it.

“I believe it is time you came home.” Thankfully, in private, his father didn’t believe in small talk.

“Not happening. Was there anything else?” Locryn turned to leave.

“Locryn, I didn’t raise you to be disrespectful,” his father snapped.

Turning back to face the man who definitely hadn’t raised him at all, Locryn refused to lose his temper. “I’m an adult. I cause you no problems because I made the sensible decision to leave this realm. Let’s not change that.”

It was like looking in the mirror, except that Locryn’s father had hair as black as night. The disdainful expression was something Locryn had never truly mastered either. “Playing among the humans is hardly a fitting occupation for anyone from our prestigious family line.”

Locryn quickly covered his mouth as he yawned. The wine he’d drunk was catching up on him. “I’m not hurting anyone. I’m not breaking any laws. I already know my mate won’t be from this realm, so I’ll stick to where I am until the Fates show me the future they have planned for me.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous. People in our position do not leave our futures in the hands of beings we can’t even see.”

“And yet, I feel their hand in all I do,” Locryn said. “I’m happy. Surely it is the goal of any parent to see their offspring live fulfilling lives.”

“How would you know?” his father snapped. “You have shown no inclination to form a bond with anyone suitable, and my chances of having grandchildren to dote on are slipping by with every passing day.”

Shocked, Locryn burst out laughing. “You don’t have time for kids. You didn’t want anything to do with me and my sister when we were smaller, and the only reason you have anything to do with Jessica now is because she gave birth. For some reason you feel it increases your standing in the rigidly structured life you live, by being a grandfather. Have you even held the child?”

“It is time you formed bonds and had a family of your own.” His father was nothing if not stubborn, a trait Locryn had inherited.

“If the Fates will it, then I’ll cross paths with my mate. You may have convinced Jessica to marry for political gain, and the only reason I didn’t interfere then is because she told me she was happy about your choice of husband for her. But don’t ever presume to do the same for me. I’ve already said that I’m perfectly happy with the life I’ve created for myself.”

“Those political gains are what keeps this family among the elite, something you benefit from when you are here.”

Locryn frowned. “I hardly see this constant socializing as a benefit in any way for anyone. How does my being here benefit you or me?”

“Our children are a sign the Fates have rewarded us. You know only too well how few children are born to our kind.”

This is the same Fates you wanted me to ignore just two minutes ago? “It makes no never mind to me, Father. If children are in my future, then that will happen naturally when I meet my mate. Until then…”

“Living among humans, what type of controls are you employing to ensure you’re not paired with someone unsuitable?”

Scratching his head, Locryn looked at his father in disbelief. “Since when has it ever been any business of yours who I associate with, or why?”

“Your actions reflect on my position here, even if you don’t live on the realm full time, whether you like it or not. I seriously wonder about your intelligence with your continued need to work among humans. You are Fae, from a proud and well-respected family. It is time for you to come home and make a suitable bond match that will enhance your own, and your family’s position. You owe that to me and everyone else who carries the family name.”

A family name Locryn never used. Who he was on the Fae realm had no bearing or relevance to the people he considered friends on earth. “I don’t owe you or anyone else in our family anything. Contributing to my genetics doesn’t give you the right to dictate how I live my life. I refuse to bond, marry, or create children with anyone for political convenience, not even yours.”

“I’ll disown you if you don’t come home and make a suitable match.”

That made Locryn pause. Those were not the sort of threats his father usually employed to try and make him do what he was told. “Would this disowning ban me from the realm permanently?”

“I’m serious, Locryn.”

“And my question was equally serious.” Suddenly Locryn just needed to get home to his own small house, and the friendly people who accepted what they knew about him and who didn’t make demands on him that went against who he was. “Don’t bother answering. I’ll put a request for information through to the Records Office and ask them myself if I feel the need to visit for some reason.”

“As the oldest patriarch of our family line, if I disown you, then the rest of the family will shun you, too.”

“That would indeed be a shame.” Locryn wouldn’t miss people like his cousin, but he and Jessica had fun during the infrequent times they saw each other. “However, if that is your choice, and you can believe I will be ensuring the Records Office is well aware of whose decision this is, then you will live with the consequences, as will I. I have no intention of changing my mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a busy working week, and I’m looking forward to spending the weekend with friends who actually care about me.”

“Don’t you dare leave!” His father jumped to his feet as Locryn turned away. “I’m your father, and I demand to be treated with respect.”

Locryn didn’t even bother turning back around. He wasn’t sure what was going on with his father, or why he’d decided after more than two hundred years to become so unhinged now, but that wasn’t Locryn’s concern.

“As your adult son, indeed your eldest and only son, I would expect you’d treat me with the same level of respect you demand from me. You lost your right to tell me who to marry or when the day I moved off the realm, and that hasn’t changed. You should be proud you’ve raised a son with the strong sense of values you claim to have yourself. It’s an established part of this family’s lore that you never allowed your father to dictate who you would bond with. If you’d done as your father determined, I probably wouldn’t have been born.

“However, I will offer you one piece of advice, taken from my years of living among humans. If you’re so determined to have a son who blindly follows your orders like a puppet, especially when you give no reason for your demands beyond a suggestion of your own political advancement, then I suggest you remarry and have another child of your own. You do not have a say in who I share my sperm with. Not for any reason. Good night and goodbye, sir.”

Calling on his magic, Locryn zapped himself to the privacy of his earthly home. He hadn’t lied to his father. He had been busy all week, and he had plans to meet with some of the locals, people he considered true friends, at the market in the morning.

As he prepared for bed, Locryn thought about his father’s uncharacteristic behavior. Like most Fae families, he and his father weren’t close, and no one expected they would be. When Locryn learned his father had negotiated Jessica’s marriage to her current husband – an arrangement that increased his father’s political standing on the Fae realm – he was shocked by it. Yet others on the realm weren’t.

Ultimately, Jessica was happy with the choice of husband – so much so, that she’d already given birth to a son. Given that Fae didn’t have many children due to their long lifespans, Jessica getting pregnant so quickly was seen as a fortuitous sign among the family when they learned about it.

Which should’ve been enough in itself. It’s all very confusing, Locryn thought, yawning as he got under his covers. At least if I’m disowned, I won’t have to attend Father’s function next month. They can find someone else to gossip about.

Locryn could and would ignore the dull ache in his heart at the thought of being completely forbidden to have anything to do with any of his family. He knew he’d done the right thing. After spending so much time on earth, Locryn was well aware of how happy families should behave with each other. His father had never shown any signs of caring for him, or how he lived, except in relation to how it reflected on the man’s position on the Fae realm.

It was that lack of caring, fun, and anything remotely affectionate from his family members – except Jessica - that formed Locryn’s determination not to settle for any relationship that wasn’t with his mate. And I really don’t care how unsuitable my father might think that mate might be. On that matter, Locryn trusted the Fates far more than his father.