12

We did go back to bed after I crushed it and Julian won some good "pocket money" from the bets. Most flaked, but enough people actually went through with it that it made up for all the shit-talking I guess.

When we got back up, he brought me to another place that was a "cake" challenge in Sweden, so apparently we were doing some hopping around for our honeymoon. It was forty eggs and like two pounds of bacon drenched in lingenberries.

Weird combo to Americans, but it worked and was yummy in my tummy.

And it was just us without forty people. Yes, I had my security eating discretely, but we just had a bit of fun for us. It was cute.

But then we had our actual wedding breakfast at my castle just before lunch so really like brunch. Katrina and Irma handled everything exactly how Julian would have wanted it and it was great. It was sit-down with a bunch of tables in the ballroom but smaller than our reception and… It was brunch.

A nice brunch that was to celebrate that our wedding went well and just enjoy the company of the ones we loved now that the worry had passed.

Except it got out that we had gotten married, and it was all over supe news that he was now a prince of Faerie.

Balls.

I told Shael to give everyone the press release we were going to put out Monday basically saying we were married and that the Craftsman family would not be getting any sort of royal perks from that, not now or going forward. Also, that Mary was no longer a part of the Craftsman family.

Now that she was healed by my magic, she would spend the rest of her sentence on house arrest and blah, blah, blah. But the main point being that she would have no association with Faerie, the heir of Faerie, our future children—all of it. Making it very clear and public that we were cutting all ties with her and she was not in good standing with Faerie.

Or her own community even.

When the event was over, I received word that every inch of Earth had been scoured with the compasses I'd made. Twice.

Three unicorns were found and the people punished who had illegally had them and were doing bad things.

Over four dozen fae dogs were found. All loners or young ones who got separated from their parents because of various reasons. They were all safely in Faerie now and getting the care and love they needed.

And not one hobgoblin. None had fallen through the cracks when we'd done everything to locate them all and get them out of the situations they'd been in. We hadn't messed that up and had not missed one.

That was maybe the best wedding present ever, Julian saying the same.

Just to be sure, fairies were still going to check now and again. Randomly. Nothing scheduled or planned sweeps for people to know about or try and duck. We were going to keep checking and make sure we got everyone.

We should maybe make sure about fairies as well given I was lost and now my "uncle" was locked out. But that was something I could worry about later when I was bored.

If that day ever came.

My dad seemed to know something was off with me and came back to the house with me. I asked for him to help me with the diamonds and we worked on it for a few hours. I learned how to do different colors—for quality color and also colored diamonds. Clarity as well.

I could make one that was ten carats, but I was tired after. Not much, and it wasn't anything crazy, but I felt it.

Or I could make one-carat ones like nothing and it was as easy as breathing. Sure, it took magic, and I would need to refuel, but I didn't even feel it.

And apparently, that was the smarter play since Katrina had gotten involved and now one of her cousins was selling the diamonds even if they weren't magic. It was just a hookup, and she wasn't asking questions when it was a way for more customers to come to her store that was smaller and neglected.

We could make more money then and that branch would just take their cut like normal. I didn't really care how it was handled as long as someone else handled it and money was made for Faerie and all we were doing.

But already the word was that people wanted one carat in different cuts as close to flawless as possible. Cool.

So my dad worked with me a bit longer on that while I handled paperwork. I got lost in my head a few times and he had to snap me out of it, giving me a look like he had a hard time not laughing.

"There's lots of magic that shouldn't be done solo," he comforted when I got frustrated. "Whoever is working with you on sorting paperwork or whatever—it's not a big deal, Tamsin. You're so powerful that the small stuff gets lost to you."

"Sure, sure, making diamonds is small pissant stuff," Lucca mumbled as he helped collect them.

I bit back a smile, but my dad ignored him.

"I'm the same way all of the time when I do basic magic. Your mother was the same. It happens. Now you know and will work with a partner like when you cleanse."

I was glad that was settled at least.

But what I wasn't happy about?

That people were treating my fucking honeymoon like their vacation and time off as well. The house was always full with "guests," and I didn't mean my guys or even like Izzy.

Not just my security either.

Oh no, Taeral and Katrina used my hot tub for their fucking date. Shael and Talila went snowboarding and came over for lunch.

By the third day of that shit, I'd had it.

Like had it .

I woke Thursday morning and Julian wasn't in bed, the activity in the house waking him again… Which was part of my annoyance. They weren't just intruding, but they were disturbing us.

I threw on a robe and found him outside in a robe as well, sipping his coffee and shooting a shit look at a few of the commanders talking to several captains… Who were eating food brought in for us.

Yup, I was so fucking done.

I walked out onto the deck and took his coffee from his hand and set it on the table next to him so there weren't any accidents. Then I lost my robe and knelt between his legs. I opened his robe and blew him right there ignoring whoever else was around.

Fine, I made sure my dad wasn't there first.

Not Iolas either.

When I finished, I climbed up on his lap and rode him with all I had, smirking at him as I did. I knew how into this he was. Onas, Dalyor, and several others who wanted to fuck me were there and watching him have me.

I gave him a heated kiss after we both finished. "What does my husband want next?"

"You." He licked his lips and ran his hand over my body. "Go bend over that table, my sexy wifey. Put that rune on you and beg me to fuck you again and again."

"Whatever my husband wants," I agreed, putting the rune on me. I gently moved off of him and glanced over at the shocked fairies. "It's my fucking honeymoon . Piss off. Seriously, get the fuck out because I want my mate to screw me on every fucking surface, and you guys are ruining it and pissing me off. This isn't your godsdamn vacation."

"Or stay and watch and she'll gouge your eyes out for seeing me naked or her father will crush you for seeing her have sex," Julian taunted.

It worked because they left… Even if a few of them had to be dragged off by the smart ones. I was rewarded with amazing sex and what seemed like never-ending breakfast because I was actually almost full when it was all gone.

And then it was time for lunch. I wasn't the only one who laughed at that.

It also worked because they didn't come back. My dad came for dinner and to work on more magic asking what I'd done because people were talking about not being allowed here anymore.

"It's best you don't know," I told him firmly. "Seriously, don't ask unless you want gray hair."

He sighed as he gave me a look of love.

But that was mostly the rest of my vacation. The Vogels didn't have a party this year. They made it clear it was because of how people behaved last year and they weren't going to subject Connor to more talk about him being their alternate or second choice when he would be the future king of the North American dragons.

Good for them.

We put out a press release stating we supported the move, and hopefully people would take the time they should to reflect on their past behavior in a lot of areas, not simply this one. All supes even—fairies included. We all could do better, and hopefully this new year could bring out better people in all of us now that there were less threats and corruption in our world.

Sure, we could blame it on that instead of too many people being horrible.

I hadn't meant it to be a backhanded comment on too many still making noise about my getting married instead of mated like I was just a human, but it killed those conversations fast. Also, that I wasn't royal enough to not have some huge event that everyone important should have been invited to.

The fact people had still been talking like that after I'd made it clear that everyone important had been invited was pathetic. People really could be so self-important and stupid at the same time. Seriously, did they not hear their own words and idiocy?

Apparently not.

But it was a great break and I was ready to get back to school… Mostly to get it over with. It hurt my heart to feel that way because it meant I would lose my dad, but I had a whole world that was ready for me to become queen and the next stage. There were only a couple million fairies left to wake and—it was time.

Which was why I wanted to spend just about every minute with him. I knew it would hurt more when I lost him, but I wanted to enjoy the time I had left.

So when Neldor told me we had plans the last Friday before I went back to school, I told him no. Especially when it was at four in the morning. So technically Friday but really Thursday.

"Tams, trust me, you want to do this," he said firmly, mischief dancing in his eyes.

Damn him. I did.

Yeah, I really did. It was some massive event in Seoul, South Korea. I wasn't sure because everything was in Korean, but then I caught an English sign and I couldn't hold in my excitement. It was one of those K-pop in public events where anyone could join in the dance of the song playing.

But this was some sort of contest? I shot Neldor a look, but he was talking to the Guardians who were holding our spots in line. We got some nasty looks at that from the other people, but Neldor promised it wasn't against the rules.

And the Prince of Darkness could be pretty intimidating, so when he gave some looks back, people chilled out.

I didn't have a chance to really ask what was all going on since the line started moving fast. He paid for our entry and we each received wristbands with our numbers that had a microchip in them even. Also, numbers that went around our necks and clipped to our pants.

So there had to be a real prize for this or something if they were taking it so seriously? Or maybe the sponsor just wanted to make sure they didn't get into shit later for hosting a bogus event?

Probably that.

Some of our security had sneaked in and clearly weren't happy how packed the event was. Seriously, there was no way the amount of people was up to fire code or whatever even if it was a huge indoor stadium or whatever. I wasn't shocked when I felt more fairies sneaking in.

The event coordinators probably realized the problem as well because it started while people were still checking in. Neldor and I shrugged it off and were just excited to dance. We'd been working for over a year with Guardians on new dances for different squads and groups. They all wanted updated songs and dances… And the distraction.

We weren't stupid. It wasn't always about wanting to dance more and the bonding but the distraction at missing twenty or more years of their life.

Which was why we always encouraged it and made sure we were around to help and join in. Plus, I just loved dancing.

The judges were very obvious which was great. They were wearing florescent shirts with "JUDGE" written in several languages.

An electronic horn noise went off and they started with a BLACKPINK song that I loved. I knew the dance and immediately went out to do it along with a ton of other women.

The hilarious part?

So did Neldor… And he was the only guy.

Nice.

He didn't give a single shit, smirking as people clearly gave him looks. We simply smiled after we were done. Like who the fuck cared?

We went to move off the dance floor when the song stopped, but we knew the next song cueing up as well, so then we just stayed and danced. During that song, I saw how the competition part would work. A judge walked over to someone and went to pull off the number around her neck.

She realized what was going on and went to duck him like a bitch instead of just admitting she'd lost with some grace. She didn't make it two steps before another judge snagged it and waved for security while holding onto her. She started to throw a fit, and I was there before I even realized what I was doing.

I held onto her for security so she couldn't make it like the guy had done something wrong. She clearly didn't understand me when I told her to stop behaving badly, but she probably knew I was telling her to stop making women look bad.

We all understood when we were being yelled at no matter the language.

I nodded to the judge who dipped his head to me when some female security came to get rid of the woman and went back to my place by Neldor. He simply shook his head at me and kept dancing.

Yeah, yeah, it was ingrained in us to get involved.

Whatever.

Most people accepted it with grace when they were knocked out or were embarrassed that they were eliminated and wanted to leave. That hurt my heart because they should be proud they had the guts to come out, not be ashamed they didn't win.

Still, good on them for being graceful in defeat.

But the judges and coordinators had their act together. I saw people being tossed and others joining left and right. It was a bit dizzying if I was honest.

The songs switched up to BTS, and it was a good mix of men and women dancing. I stopped paying attention to the workings of the competition then and just got lost in the music and dancing. There was a solo artist song of one of the BTS guys, so I switched to dance the role of backup dancer with Neldor when he did the main dance.

I forgot which guy of BTS, but I loved the song and the dance was great. I felt a lot of attention on us as we did that, but really I just wanted the fun.

We didn't know the next couple of songs, so we took a break and Shael handed us water bottles. I was about to ask how she wasn't getting flak for being there, but I realized she was glamoured as Korean so she looked like she fit in and probably some magic so people didn't want to talk to her. Maybe ignore her?

Whatever. I was too focused on the fun.

I smiled at Neldor when "Butter" loaded and we headed back out to dance. We went for another twenty minutes before there was an announcement—that we didn't understand—and everyone cleared off the dance floor. A clock went up with a fifteen-minute timer on all the screens, so that was probably for a break.

That was smart after forty-five minutes.

"Next time you get grounded if you bring us to fun without food," I told him, laughing when he rolled his eyes. I had already chugged another water and glanced around to try and find where the music was playing from, but it wasn't like a DJ setup. Probably from a sound booth.

So I made my own fun during the break. I went back out to the dance floor and loaded Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" on my phone, which he knew, and we did the couples dance together. We did "Smooth Criminal" next and eight guys joined us who were all smiles and having fun as well.

Then I put on "Oops!...I Did It Again" and ten women came out to join me while the guys stepped aside. Unfortunately, one tried to trip me, so she wasn't there for fun but taking the opportunity to take out the competition.

Whatever, all I did was show that I could do a backflip easily. I smirked at her when I landed and went back to get more water before the contest started again. Shael also snuck us some bars the hobgoblins always made for us, and that made me smile even brighter as we danced some more.

I noticed there were a lot more people up in the crowd seating instead of around the dance floor at the next break. There were still some people checking in, but it seemed at the end of the line. Wow, this was really crazy. People probably came from all over Korea to participate in this.

I was really glad that Neldor dragged my ass out of bed at four in the morning for this. Even if I saw a few of the commanders or captains taking video of us that they probably were going to be giving to the media. Our media at least.

I played "Run the World (Girls)" first and then "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." Neldor wasn't really impressed so much as turned on.

Brat.

Still… He had made a big deal about how great the sex was between us and a few repeats after, so I wasn't against the idea of having that kind of fun after we were done here. Probably in the shower because I was dripping with sweat.

I laughed when a few guys danced with me for the Beyonce songs, but I did a double take when I locked gazes with one of them. I was 100% sure he was an actual K-pop idol. He winked at me and held his finger to his lips.

Fair enough.

I loved the fact that he'd snuck into a K-pop dancing competition and just wanted to have fun. Seriously, a man after my own heart.

Neldor saw what was going on, and even if he didn't understand, he didn't like my attention on another man. He grabbed my phone and loaded Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" thinking I didn't know it and he was awesome at it.

Oh, silly him. I'd learned it.

His eyes went wide when I did the dance right along with him, facing him even and didn't miss a step or beat.

We did "Bad Romance" and "Uptown Funk" the next break, and by then I saw there were maybe less than a hundred people. We also had to move several times because workers were mopping the floors, and I was glad they were because we were all drenched with sweat after dancing so long.

Seriously, I was soaked and ready to dump water over my head.

But I loved every second of it. My only complaint was I wished they played more of the songs so we could do a bit of freestyle. I understood though because they wanted to see the moves people were able to learn for how clean and well-executed they were.

Towards the end of that next round there weren't many people left, and I realized we might have a problem when a few people speaking Korean approached me… And Neldor was having the same issue.

The people didn't seem to speak English well enough to understand me, so we were at an impasse. I shot Shael a worried look and she nodded, promising she had it.

A few moments later, I felt a portal open, so someone had been called in who spoke Korean or who could appear to speak it with magic to help us?

"I know you," a man said as he joined the people wanting to talk to me.

I blinked at him. "I know you." He was a different K-pop idol. The leader of one of the groups? Yeah, I was sure of it. Not BTS, but I totally recognized him but couldn't think of his name.

He nodded. "Tamsin Vale, right?" He waited until I nodded. "You want to be a K-pop idol?"

Wait… "What?"