CHAPTER 16
Dorian
SATYRS, WHILE LARGE AND strong, were not the smartest of creatures and were purely focused on mating day in and day out. Any female had to keep their guard up and their legs firmly closed.
“Pretty lady,” the satyr’s deep voice said as his large steps caused the ground to shake around us. As he approached, his hand reached between his legs to grab himself.
Narrowing my eyes, I stepped in front of Lynne. “Stop where you are.”
The satyr didn’t even pay me much mind. One would think that he would recognize his prince and bow immediately at my feet, but the UnSeelie Court was not so organized. I was lucky if half the residents knew who I was, and since I spent the majority of adult life in as many female beds as I could find, I could only blame myself.
“Did you hear me?” I snarled. The satyr paused for a moment before his hand whipped out and slammed into me. My body flew away from Lynne and to the other side of the courtyard.
My head hit the ground hard, and I saw stars. Shaking my head, I scrambled to my feet as Lynne screamed. The satyr had cornered her by one of the trees and was reaching for her. Lynne’s eyes were full of terror, and it made my insides burn.
I rushed across the courtyard and jumped onto the back of the large beast. Grabbing a hold of his horns, I growled, “Do not touch her.”
“Get off, get off.” The creature yelled shaking his head this way and that as he tried to dislodge me. I lost my grip on the fourth shake and fell to the ground with a thud.
Thankfully, I had angered the satyr enough that he moved away from Lynne and came after me. Not so lucky for me though because his hooves were sharp and slammed into my back before I could get away.
Searing pain shot through my back and I stifled a groan. The pain fueled my anger, and I struggled to my feet. If he wouldn’t listen to reason than I had no choice but to use my magic on him.
Usually, I tried to keep my magical use to a minimum. It took a lot of energy and a lot of the times it caused more damage than I intended. This time though, it was either use it or get pulverized. If I was lucky, Lynne would get away unscathed even though I wouldn’t.
I drew on the magic inside of me, making my skin come to life. I pulled it into my hands and prepared to attack the beast head on when it cried out in alarm.
My eyes jerked from my hands to the beast. Vines wrapped around its waist. They squeezed tightly causing the satyr to scream.
“Let me go!” he yelled fighting against the vines that only tightened more.
I let go of my magic letting it fall silent and then slowly moved around the large body of the satyr. What was on the other side made my brows rise.
Lynne stood by the tree with her hands on the trunk. Green strings of energy pulsated out of her and into the ground beneath her. More vines shot out of the ground and encased the screaming beast.
As I approached her, I noticed her eyes began to gleam with a bit too much enjoyment. The more the creature screamed, the tighter she coiled her vines around it. She didn’t even notice me until I was right in front of her face.
“My peach,” I said beside her and then when she didn’t answer, I touched her shoulder and shook it, “Lynne, stop. You’ll kill him.”
“Good,” she snapped, “the creature deserves it.”
I frowned at her answer. “No. He does not. Satyrs are like this by nature. They can no more resist the need to mate than we can force ourselves not to need to breathe.”
My words only made her lips curl down into a frown. “Then there is no use for them in this world. We should just get rid of them all.”
“You cannot,” I insisted my grip on her shoulder tightening, “we need the satyrs.”
“Why?” she snapped.
“If war comes who will be on the front lines if not for them? They might try to take what they like but we still need them to fight our battles for us.”
“That doesn’t make any sense at all.” She shook her head at me. “If they harm others, they should be put to death or banished. No good can come from them existing. My mother would never have let them live.”
“But this is not the Seelie Court.” I snapped. “We are UnSeelie, and we do not abide by the rules of your mother. Now, let him go.”
She shot me a look, and for a moment I thought she might kill him anyways, but then the vines loosened and sagged releasing the satyr. The beast fell to the ground his breathing ragged.
“Come.” I took hold of her elbow and led her away from the satyr and out of the courtyard.
We walked for a little while in silence until she finally spoke, “If I am to rule with you, we have to be able to agree when it comes to those situations. If I had had it my way, I’d have killed him without a thought. Nothing that vicious should be allowed to live.”
I sighed. “That is the problem. You only see him as a vicious beast, but he is much more than that. Satyrs create music and even help build homes for our citizens. They cannot help that during mating time they cannot hold back their urges. It is just in their nature.”
“Well, their nature is wrong.”
I stopped and pulled Lynne into my arms. “That is not for us to decide,” I growled and held her tight, “I was trying to make you laugh and here I made you angry.”
Lynne’s tense shoulders softened. “It’s not your fault. I should have listened to you when you tried to tell me that things are more dangerous here than at home. I guess I still have a lot to learn about your world.”
“And I’m sure there is even more to know about yours.” I cupped her face in my hands and pressed my lips to hers. “Come, let us retire. I have some wounds that need attending to, and I know just the nurse to help me with them.”
Lynne giggled as I winked at her before dragging her back toward the palace and away from the nastiness of the UnSeelie world.