Chapter Six
The Calm Before a Storm
We arrived at the Sithin, the faerie mounds, within twenty minutes. Ceara and Seki got out of the car on separate sides and blocked the doors. I waited until they both moved and let me out. As I climbed out of the car I heard Ceara scoff.
“Of course you get out on his side.” She pretended to be offended.
“I was closer to this side.” She frowned and stuck her tongue out at me then laughed. I just laughed and shook my head as I looked past the line of willow trees to see the Faerie mounds and mountains beyond. The trees hadn’t always been there at least they weren’t there when I left and they looked like they had been there for decades.
“Where did those trees come from?” They both looked at me but Seki spoke.
“They came the day you left.” I frowned.
“They grew?” He nodded.
“They didn’t even grow they just showed up.” My frown deepened. Why were trees just suddenly popping up in front of the mounds? I moved past the trees and got the strangest feeling. A loud noise made all of us close our eyes and put our hands over our ears. Seki grabbed on to me. Why? I’ll never know.
I opened my eyes and looked at the mounds nothing had changed and there was nothing there. I looked at them confused for a while until Ceara’s voice chimed in.
“Guys…where did the trees go?” I froze. I didn’t want to turn around to see if they had really left. Seki nudged my arm then grabbed my shoulders to turn me around to see.
My mouth dropped. The trees were completely gone. Goddess, the trees had disappeared.
“What on the Goddess’ green earth is going on?” Seki looked almost pissed as he said it. I was just shocked and Ceara…she thought it was funny. She laughed out and turned toward the mounds and us.
“Don’t you see Orianna? The mounds were sad when you left and now you’re home. They’re welcoming you home.” She spread her arms out and smiled.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t even move. The mounds were reacting to me. The last time they reacted to anyone it was my mother when she returned. All of this seemed to be history repeating itself.
I stared at the blankness where the trees had been. All I could do was wrap my arms around myself. I was suddenly so cold. It was August and abnormally warm for the season but here I was holding myself because I was cold. I reached out with my power, looking for something. As I had guessed the power that attacked me in my bathroom was there again. He was in the court and he was waiting. I felt my senses start to go dead one by one.
I called out to Seki but there was no use. He had fallen down unconscious along with Ceara. The power had not only affected me but them as well. I was overcome with hatred at that moment and that gave me strength. I pushed away the power in a wave of fury and stumbled over to Ceara. I could feel the last of the power being pushed away as I picked up Ceara’s limp body. I looked at Seki but there was nothing I could do. Ceara was about my size so I could carry her but Seki was taller than me.
I stumbled to the entrance of the mounds with Ceara in my arms and collapsed at the door. I threw my arm at the door as a pathetic excuse for a knock and the door opened. A young man opened the door but my vision was foggy so I couldn’t see him.
“Goddess, Ori, what the hell happened?” A voice I recognized rushed to my side. Galen took Ceara from me, put her somewhere then returned to me. I went totally limp in his arms but I still managed to speak.
“Seki…Seki’s still out there. Please help my Seki.” My vision had changed from blurry to gray with white spots then to black. I had gone unconscious without knowing if Seki was safe.
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I woke up in a dark room that held a familiar aura. I was pretty sure it was my old room judging by the feeling. I couldn’t see anything in the pitch black even though my eyes were made with the ability to see in the dark. I felt around the bed and came across an arm. I moved my hand back quickly not sure I wanted to know who’s it was.
“I’ve been wondering when you were going to wake up.” A familiar voice broke the silence and caused me to release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Seki moved causing me to roll toward him.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked while I moved my hand carefully toward his voice trying to find his face.
“About twenty minutes. I didn’t want to move and wake you up so I stayed.” I found his ear then traced my fingers down his jaw to his mouth. Ok so now I knew where to look when I was talking to him but what did that accomplish?
“Where are my clothes?” I used my free hand to pull up the blanket. Seki laughed at my question then answered.
“Probably in the same place mine are.” He paused then chimed back in slightly amused. “Wanna be bad?” I blinked then laughed really loud. He laughed as well but there was something else in him that made me stop.
“We need lights.”
“Ooooo, dirty.” He laughed again and I smacked his arm. I was smiling but he would never know. I felt him move then something pass over my face and I reached up to touch it. It was Seki’s chest.
“What are you doing?” He froze.
“Looking for the light.” He started moving his arm again feeling for the switch. “This is your old room so unless they moved the bed a light switch should be above your head.” The light suddenly flew on and we both knew it hadn’t been Seki who turned it on. We both looked over at the door to see Doyle standing there in his darkness with an even darker look on his face. I knew then that he hadn’t liked the view. Seki was leaning over me with his hand on the headboard and his face dangerously close to mine. I wanted so much to laugh just then but I held it back.
“Hi daddy.” I spoke playfully trying to break Doyle’s darkness but it didn’t work. He glared at Seki then to me. I had no idea what I had done but he wasn’t happy.
“Since you both are up you can get dressed and join us in the Chamber.” He stayed there for a second then headed for the door.
“Wait, Doyle…Where’s Ceara?” He turned back to me.
“She’s been up for a few hours now. Whatever attacked you did not see her as a threat and did not hurt her as much. She had been in here with you two.”
Great, so she’s ok, now for the important question. “Where are my clothes?”
He glared at Seki again then answered. “Over there.” He pointed across the room to the table that was against the farthest wall and then stormed out of the room. I looked wide-eyed at Seki.
“I get the sheet.” I stated it as a fact, which got a childish response from Seki.
“That’s not fair!” He stopped, looked around then smiled. “That sounded unbelievably childish didn’t it?” I nodded and sat up. “Rock, scissors, paper?” I shook my head.
“Hell no. I get the sheet.” He sighed.
“Come on Ori I’ve seen you naked before. Why are you being so modest now?” I smiled.
“The walls have ears and the mirrors have eyes here in the court remember? Besides I’ve never seen you naked.” I added the last with a coy laugh. I began to wrap the sheet around me, tugging on Seki’s part. “Free peep-show!”
“No way!” He laughed then attacked me pushing me down onto the bed. He started to pull the sheet away from me only causing me to laugh and scream a few dozen no’s.
“No, Seki! No!” I held onto the sheet for dear life as he tugged harder and harder. I was laughing so hard that I lost most of my strength causing him to win. He was on his hands and knees over me, holding my arms down and he was the only one covered. I was beginning to feel a little exposed.
“I win.” He stated it with a laugh then took the sheet and threw it over the side of the large bed. My eyes widened.
“What the…”
“If we can’t share then we both go nude. It’s the only fair choice.” My mouth gaped open. I couldn’t believe he was actually going to make me wander over to the table and grab my clothes. “If we both promise not to look then we’ll be ok.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I guarantee nothing. Besides how can I trust you not to look if I can’t trust myself?” His eyes widened, as did his smile. He couldn’t believe I had actually admitted that I couldn’t help but look at him but he was amused as hell too.
The fact that he was on top of me completely naked didn’t help with my self-control. I fighting ever urge to run my hands over his chest. The need was strong and it just kept growing stronger. I stared at his chest trying not to look further.
“Ori…” His voice came out breathy as if he was feeling what I was. With our link I wouldn’t doubt that he did know what I was feeling. I was also pretty damn sure he was returning the feeling. He released my arms traced fingers down my neck, lingering on my shoulders. My hands slowly came from above my head down to my ribs. I kept them down against my ribs trying to resist. My hands rose slowly toward his chest and I could barely think.
I’d been with other men before. Men I hardly cared about...why was this so different? Why was this so hard? My hands paused in mid air. Why was I resisting?
My hands finally reached his chest but when they hit, they hit hard enough to send him flying back but he was still on the bed. I leaned over the bed, grabbed the sheet, threw it at him and pushed up against the headboard with my knees at my chest. He looked at me with wide eyes. There was something else in his eyes, terror. The kind of terror you got when someone refused your body.
“Please cover up Seki before we do something we regret.”
“Am…am I that--”
“Seki, I want you.” I cut him off before he could say it. I knew he was going to ask if he was that undesirable and that just was not the problem. “I don’t trust myself around you. Every part of me is calling out to you.” He didn’t look as if he understood so I continued. “I’ve been with other men that I felt absolutely nothing for, but you are different. I don’t want to use you and I don’t want our friendship to get weird.” He looked down as if he was hurt and I kept going, trying to explain. “If we ever…” I paused looking down. “I want it to be something more than sex.” Somehow saying that made me unbelievably embarrassed. I heard Seki move toward me. He touched my face and moved it to look at him.
“If that day comes it will be.” The look in his eyes was so sincere. He had understood that I wasn’t rejecting him and for that I was grateful. He kissed my cheek and I smiled up at him.
“I know it will be.” I smiled then laughed. “We need to get dressed.” I moved to the edge of the bed but Seki’s arms wrapped around my shoulders hugging me.
“Nothing would ever come before my love for you, Ori.” I whispered the words onto my shoulder. The feel of his breath on my skin only made me want to touch him but I resisted. Seki let go feeling the need again. The words hadn’t been sexual and he hadn’t meant for it to be so but when he started to speak in the whisper his need took over. He had surprised even himself.
I stood up and turned toward him. He looked straight at my eyes and nodded. I touched a hand to his face then headed over to the table. He followed shortly after and got dressed with me.
Someone had chosen new clothes for me, clothes that were not my own. Where were my other ones? That was another question to ask Doyle. I ended up wearing a long white dress that was made out of a satiny fabric and a sheer white fabric overlaying it. It looked like a slip with sleeves. The dress formed to my body as if it was second skin except for the sleeves that were belled. The sleeves were made of the same fabric as the fabric over the satin. I didn’t notice any shoes so I just sat down and waited for Seki to finish dressing.
Someone had left Seki new clothes too. His were different than what he usually wore. He had put on tight black pants that looked like they had been painted on. The white shirt reminded me of something from medieval England. Tight black boots came up to a little below his knees and a belt held a sword in place. His whole really outfit made me wonder if he had a secret identity. Of course he was six hundred and four years old, the clothes were probably what he wore in that era.
Yes, it was definitely appealing and all that tight clothing…well lets just say his outfit wasn’t helping the situation. I hadn’t noticed that I was staring at him until I heard a noise that brought my attention away from him. The mirror lit up with a bright light then it faded leaving an image of Doyle.
“What is taking so long?” I moved so that he could see me through the mirror.
“We were getting dressed.” I moved my arms out emphasizing that I had clothes on. It wasn’t necessary but I was hoping to make him mad. I almost wished that we were still naked. That would piss him off even more.
Why did I want to piss him off so much? I couldn’t even think of a reason except amusement. I found his anger amusing and the fact that he was being ignorant to Seki had me wanting to piss him off more too. I wanted him to know that if I wanted Seki that I would have him whether he liked it or not.
I signaled for Seki to join me. When he got up next to me I took his arm and smiled up at him.
“Doesn’t he look handsome?” I looked back at Doyle with a defiant smile. He knew I was throwing my weight around and there was nothing he could do about it. His jaw tensed as it usually did when he was angry.
“Galen is waiting outside for you. Come to the Chamber.” With that the mirror went blank. That was an order and usually I wouldn’t obey him but the order had come from mother.
“You know it’s not a good idea to press him.” I turned to him with a stern look on my face that made him flinch.
“What did you say to Doyle that has him acting this way toward you? I want the truth.” This time Seki was forced to answer for two reasons; one his future queen had demanded so and two it was considered a great insult to lie to the fey.
“I told you that I thought they should leave you alone.” He didn’t add a “That’s it” after showing that there was more.
“Too close to a lie, that. There is more.” He looked down.
“It’s personal.” That part was true. I knew he wouldn’t tell me happily and if I forced him too he’d resent me for it.
“Because you are my friend and I love you I will not press further,” I pressed my body against his, being forceful. “But remember that you have withheld something from me and in the future expect that I will withhold something from you.” He looked up.
“Ori, it’s unimportant.” He protested then looked down again. For a few heartbeats he remained like that then turned his eyes back to me. “Fine, but when that time comes it must not be life or death information because I am not holding back anything that would save or kill anyone.” I nodded in agreement. Apparently his secret was something he really wanted to keep.
What he didn’t know was that I already had a secret that I wouldn’t tell him. This secret, though, was too shameful to share even with him.
Two weeks before I left court I was wandering around outside of the mounds. It was a cold October day and I knew even when I stepped outside of the safety of the mounds that something bad was going to happen. The secret I keep is that I was attacked on that cold October day.
There are only two people who know my secret. Myself, of course…and the man who raped me.
Chapter Seven: An Unwelcome Visitor
Copyrights: This is a fan fiction. All original characters from Laurell K. Hamilton's Fae series are hers and hers alone (too many to count sorry) this includes the Anita Blake series. All characters that weren't in her original series are MINE and I will kick any one's ass that steals them.