Blood of the Exiled (Witch Fairy Book 10) (2 page)

A small, satisfied smile touches Dagda’s lips.
 
“You are taking your status as Princess to heart.”
 
Not exactly what I meant, but sure, let’s go with that.
 

Steepling his fingers, he considers me long and hard.
 
Finally, he says, “I do not believe the general population is ready for the realms to be opened at this time.
 
Too many ill feelings have been fostered over the years.”
 
How self-aware of him.
 
He puts a hand up before I can say anything.
 
“I know the fault of that lies heavily on me.
 
I do, however, believe having Alita with you is wise, despite my desire to keep her close.
 
Kegan will also serve as a good backup in case things go awry.”

Awry?
 
Maybe I’ll bring back a current thesaurus from my realm.
 
“So, yes to them and no to the visa idea?”
 
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
  
Am I relieved or irritated that he’s shooting down my idea?
 
My emotions are always a mess when I’m around my biological father.

“For the time being, yes,” Dagda says.
 
“However, I would like to pursue the idea with Isla and several high ranking members of Fairy society.
 
Perhaps a suitable system could be put in place over time.
 
I would also like you to discuss this with the Witches.
 
The matter should be considered by both sides.”

I’m not so sure about that.
 
Modern Witches have been taught to hate Fairies even though they’ve never met any.
 
I was planning to keep the Witches in the dark about the whole idea.
 
Let the Fairies slide in under their radar and what the Witches don’t know won’t hurt them.
 
But Dagda’s right.
 
It would be better to open a line of communication.
 
If the Witches found out about the Fairies and declared war, a lot of Humans could get hurt.

Standing up, I say, “I need to get home.
 
There’s still a lot to do for Alita and Kegan’s hand-fasting.”

Turning to walk to the door, Dagda stops me by saying my name.
 
I turn back to him.
 
“Thank you for coming to me with this idea.
 
It shows a great deal of maturity on your part that you did not simply do as you pleased and consequences
be
damned.”

Did I just get insulted or praised?
 
“You know, backhanded compliments are not really compliments.”

Dagda chuckles.
 
“I will see you at the hand-fasting.”

Giving him a sour look, I open the door and leave.
 
His continued chuckling is not very mature at all.

I immediately regret coming in the kitchen door instead of walking around the house to the terrace.
 
The kitchen is complete chaos.
 
Tabitha is in the middle of it all, barking orders to the Fairies she hired to help cater the hand-fasting tomorrow.
 
I think she’s putting them through a dry run.
 
If so, it’s not going well.

I know for a fact Isla had intended to hire a catering company so Tabitha could enjoy the festivities, but the older Fairy took offense.
 
She claimed the food from the caterer’s is ‘nothing but Taz droppings covered in sauce’.
 
Taz was insulted.
 
It’s a good thing I’m the only one who understands him.

A Fairy carrying a large pot from the sink to the stove bumps into me and half the water spills on me and the rest splashes to the floor.
 
Being as graceful as I am, I immediately join the water as my foot slides forward and my butt hits the floor hard.
 
Wow, that hurts.
 
I guess I didn’t really need my tail bone but there were probably less painful ways to get rid of it.
 

The entire kitchen quiets.
 
The Fairy holding the pot is horrified, and apparently struck dumb because her lips are moving but no sound is coming out of them.
 
I’d feel badly for her if my butt didn’t hurt.
 
Good thing I can heal myself, which I do.

“Oh, for pity’s sake,” Tabitha says drawing magic and drying the floor around me.
 
“It’s not the first time her bottom has hit the floor, and it won’t be the last.
 
Get back to work, the lot of you.”
 
Her compassion overwhelms me.
 
It seems Tabitha’s patience has worn as thin as the wing of a gnat.
 
I need to make a hasty escape before things get worse.

“B-but,” the Fairy who spilled the water stutters.
 
“She is the
Princess
.”

I roll my eyes as I stand up, wishing for the millionth time that I could do simple magic.
 
I am in serious need of dry pants.
 
“
It’s
fine,” I assure her.

“Are you sure your brain didn’t get scrambled?” an annoying voice says from the doorway.

I glare at him.
 
“Shut it, Taz.”
 
Of course, the uncomfortable ‘look away from the crazy Princess’ feeling spreads around the room.
 
The Fairy population is having trouble believing Taz is my familiar.
 
The ones who do tend to focus on the fact that he was created with dark magic.
 
Not my dark magic, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
 
Either way, it doesn’t look good for my mental health.

Tabitha points a wooden spoon at him.
 
“Unless you want to be on the menu, you had better get out of my kitchen while I’m cooking.”

“Geez, someone has a bee in her bum,” Taz mumbles, but he turns and walks out of the kitchen.
 
Tabitha is the one Fairy he seems to respect.
 
Probably because she sneaks him treats when no one else is looking.

“You scoot, too,” Tabitha tells me.
 
“We do not need you getting in the way.”

Geez, she does have a bee in her bum.
 
“Fine,” I grumble and make my way to the door, weaving between the Fairies who have gone back to work but are careful to steer clear of me.

The rest of the house is quiet as I move down the hall.
 
I wonder where everyone is.
 
I walk through the large living room and out to the terrace.
 
This is where I find everyone.

Kegan, Kallen, Alita and Isla are on the beach getting ready for the hand-fasting tomorrow.
 
Decorations are being put up, some with magic, some without.
 
A makeshift aisle has been laid out on the sand and chairs are appearing on either side of it.
 
The magic is coming from a small group of workers who Isla hired.
 
They will have to hold that magic inside of them until after the ceremony.
 
That takes a lot of concentration.
 
Fortunately, there are Fairies who rent themselves, or technically their magic, out for special occasions like this.
 

Not wanting to get in the way again, I lean against the door jamb and watch.
 
Feeling my eyes on him, Kallen looks up at me.
 
A grin spreads across his lips and he stops talking, much to the chagrin of Isla.
 
Taking the terrace steps two at a time, he grabs me around the waist and swings me up so our lips can meet.
 
God, I love him.

Hacking sounds bring our kiss to an end.
 
“Must you do that in front of me?” Taz asks.
 
“Now I may not be able to eat again today.”
 
Kallen’s foot snakes out and Taz has to move out of the way to avoid getting kicked.
 
Kallen may not understand him when he speaks, but he can usually figure out the gist of what Taz says by my reaction to it.

Setting me down on the terrace, Kallen asks, “How did it go with Dagda?”

I shrug.
 
“Okay, I guess.
 
He’s going to think about the visa thing, but he’s okay with Alita and Kegan coming with us.
 
If they still want to, anyway.”
 
I turn to look at the two of them.
 
Kegan has his arm loosely around Alita’s shoulder and his eyes are dopey with love and anticipation.
 
I’ve never seen Alita look so alive and happy.
 
Is it fair of me to ask them to spend their honeymoon with us in the Human realm?
 
They say they want to go, but that may change after the ceremony.
 
Privacy will be high on their priority list and I’m not sure how much privacy they will get if they come with Kallen and me.
 
I don’t know how much Kallen and I will get, either.
 
I can’t wait for this trip to be over.

The biggest problem is that I haven’t met a Witch who I liked besides my mother.
 
My grandma doesn’t count because she’s actually an Angel.
 
My only knowledge of the Witches is that they wanted me dead and they tried really hard to achieve that goal.
 
Granted, I took magic away from the most dangerous members of my grandfather’s Witan, but my guess is, he has replaced them with Witches who are equally as bad.
 
He’s such a weenie.
 
I still have no idea what made my grandmother
Fall
for him.
 
Literally.
 
Her last seventeen years as a Fallen Angel were hell for her as his mind was taken over by the evil Witches he surrounded himself with.
 
They basically lived separate lives after my mother ran away when they tried to force her to abort me.
 
Yeah, I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy about seeing good ole Grandpa again.

“Are you two
planning
to help or just stand there gawking at each other?” Kegan asks dryly.

“Hey,” I exclaim, “We’ve been helping.”
 
I spent the early part of the morning working on ribbons and flowers with Alita.
 
She wanted to use the flowers from her mother’s garden so we had to arrange them ourselves.
 
She showed me how to gather the plants and make bouquets.
 
My thumb is more brown than green when it comes to gardening and flowers, so I’m glad she didn’t ask me to do it alone, and that the bouquets were simple in design.
 
“Besides, you seem to spend an awful lot of your time gawking at your intended.”
 
Alita’s cheeks burn bright red.
 

“Yes, but we are supposed to be enamored of each other.
 
You two were hand-fasted ages ago; you should be tiring of each other by now.”
 

Before Kallen or I can come back with a witty retort, Alita elbows him in the ribs and narrows her eyes.
 
“Is that how you see happiness within hand-fasting?
 
It has a shelf life?”

With an overly pained look on his face, Kegan rubs at his side.
 
“I did not say
we
would tire of each other,” he backpedals.

“You’re lucky you found someone as tolerant as Alita.
 
No one else would put up with your crap,” I tease.

“He is lucky indeed,” a deep voice says from behind us.
 
I turn to find Alita’s dad coming out on the terrace.
 
He is all smiles.
 

Alita’s dad is rather short for a Fairy.
 
He’s not much taller than me.
 
Alita got her tall, lithe figure from her mother who towers over her father by a good five inches.
 
Neither of them seems to care about the height difference, though.
 
Their love for each other is legendary.
 
Alita’s father is the only Fairy who brought his Human love into the Fairy realm with him when the passages were closed the first time.
 

Their love may be legendary, but it’s not widely accepted.
 
The whole family has taken a lot of grief due to Fairy society prejudices against Humans.
 
Her parents don’t seem to care about that, either.
 
It’s been harder on Alita than them.

Kegan smiles self-consciously at his soon to be father-in-law.
 
“Yes, sir, I am very lucky.”
 
His face is redder than I’ve ever seen it.
 
If any more blood goes to his face, he’ll need a towel to wipe off the excess seeping out his pores.

Taking pity on him, Alita’s father moves the conversation in a different direction.
 
“I see everything is coming together nicely.
 
What can I help with?”

Still at a loss, Kegan looks to Isla for an answer.
 
She takes her cue, even though I know for a fact she has everything taken care of already, and says, “There are several things that still need to be done.
 
It would be a pleasure to have your help completing them.”
 
Wow, who is this woman with the pleasant smile on her face and warm personality?
 
I may need to postpone the trip to search for the real Isla.

Having just joined us on the terrace, Garren gives Alita’s father a friendly slap on the back.
  
“Flynn, good to see you!
 
It has been ages.”

I feel Kallen stiffen a little as Garren speaks.
 
He still hasn’t warmed up to the Fairy.
 
I, on the other hand, believe he has everything to do with Isla’s more pleasant demeanor of late so I’m a fan.
 
Kegan and I think he’s making midnight visits to Isla’s room.
 
Kallen shudders at the thought so we bring it up
often
, ignoring the fact that if it’s true, it makes her a major hypocrite about the whole ‘wait until you’re married’ thing.
 
Maybe the same rules don’t apply for widows with old boyfriends?
 
Whatever.
 
I like her happy.

“Garren, have you left the Dragon realm for good?” Flynn asks.

With a glance in Isla’s direction, Garren says, “I have.
 
I do miss it, though.
 
The Dragons are going through a metamorphosis in regards to Goblins and that would be something worth studying.”