Chapter Ten

 

 

Her father’s face was priceless when she and Eric walked toward the Axion, arms around each other’s waist.

“Elenora! You look well.”

She smiled. “I am well. Eric graciously agreed to become my mate, so after I finish my performances, I will be going home with him, with only weekly visits to the court.”

Akin blinked slowly. “You will not both be moving to court?”

“No. There is an entire world out there, and I would like to see at least a few bits of it. With Eric, I can travel and have a normal life. I really want a bit of a normal life.”

Eric pulled her in close. “I will do my best.”

“But, the others are gone. I will be alone.” Akin’s voice was plaintive.

Elly blinked. “Why don’t you find a mate?”

He frowned. “I have been trying, but they all shy away.”

Eric chipped in. “Drop your glamour. They can sense it. There is nothing that drives shifters into a rage like fey magic.”

Elly stared at her father and finally saw what her mother saw all those years ago. He looked like a teenager, but he was over a hundred years old. Even by fey standards, he looked far too young.

“Geez, Akin. Look your age; it will be a much better result.”

With Eric, she watched as her father’s glamour fell away and he aged from a nineteen-year-old into the human equivalent of thirty in the blink of an eye.

She smiled. “Better. It will take me a while to get used to, but if you become a grandfather, you should look older than I do.”

He smiled slowly. “Grandfather? That is good. I like the sound of that.”

“Or, if you find a mate here, you could be a father again and again. You could actually know your children and your mate.”

Akin walked up to her, pried her away from Eric, and gave her a hug. “I have regretted not knowing about you, and even more, not appearing when I did learn of you. I was a coward, and I am going to have to face the world with my own face.”

She gave him a hug, blinked her eyes and leaned back with a smile. “I am glad because the only women you were attracting were interested in barely legal boys. That isn’t really a demographic I want as a stepmother.”

His eyes widened. “Okay, that makes a whole lot of things clearer.”

She laughed. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know, but now, go forth and be yourself. My mom wrote in her diary that you were charming, funny and had a personality that she loved being around. Be that man again but with your own face.”

He grinned. “I will give it a try. You are here for a few more days?”

“Three more performances.”

“Excellent, but make sure to come and leave your forwarding address when it comes time. If I am to go on grandchild watch, I will need to know where you are.”

“The court will have it on record; I will need to be transported.”

His shoulders slumped, and he whispered, “I just need to make sure that you are all right.”

Eric cleared his throat. “I will make sure that you are given all the contact details and that Elenora gets a cell phone the moment we are home.”

She widened her eyes. “I get a new phone? I knew that sleeping with you had its bonuses.”

Eric grinned and hauled her back into his arms. “Just wait until the holidays.”

She relaxed against him and looked at the amused amazement in her father’s expression.

“You really chose him.”

“I really did.”

Eric got them moving toward the Axion, and her father wandered off, his head shaking and his brown and gilt hair swinging around his pointed ears.

Eric asked, “Why did you choose me again?”

She wove her fingers through his. “Because you helped me fight my dreams and you came back for more.”

“And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

She continued to walk with him, noting that when she rode him in this form, it was a lot easier to get her legs together the next day. Her mental giggles sustained her all the way to their newly combined suite, and when they were skin to skin again, the laughter stopped where the enjoyment began.

There was no magical fiery spark to their union, but the deep and satisfying heat was enough to keep them tangled until they had to eat, and then, she had to prepare for her evening performance. Obligation would interfere, and then, they could enjoy each other once again.

It was a countdown to a new life, and Elly was holding her breath until that could begin.

 

* * * *

 

She drew the bow across the strings and closed her eyes as the sound vibrated through her bones. Her fingers flexed and released in a slow rhythm, which devolved into one long note.

Elly counted three heartbeats before the applause began. She inclined her head and curtsied to the throne where the king was firmly holding court.

“Excellently done, Elenora. Your music has definitely evolved. Come here.”

She smiled and approached the throne, the crowd melted out of her way as if afraid to touch her or break her. Eric stood by, and he grinned as she waddled up the stairs.

“I see that your visits here are a burden to you.” The king smiled, but his gaze was on her belly.

“I believe I may have to beg your indulgence for the next few months. I don’t want to leave her with my sisters-in-law.”

The king raised his brows. “You know it is a daughter?”

She smiled. “Yes. The humans have lovely technology. No seers, no magic, just an image on the screen that shows she has my ears and my lack of a penis.”

Eric coughed into his glass of wine.

Elly put her instrument and bow in one hand so she could rub her abdomen. “Her sister shows the same characteristics.”

Every fey gaze in the room was now riveted onto her belly as if they could see through it.

“I thought you looked a little large, but knowing other pregnant women, it would have been worth my life to say it.” The king grinned.

“They are both large and healthy. The doctors are very pleased and delighted to have a partially fey client. I am getting excellent care.”

“Shall we retire to my personal chambers?”

“Of course.”

He raised his hand, and she, Eric and the king were now in his private study.

Elly set her violin down on the table and flopped down on the easy chair that was usually left for the king.

He looked at her with a raised brow.

“It is the only one with two arms, and I hate being stuck in furniture because my centre of balance is two feet above or below me.”

The king summoned another chair and sat in it. Eric moved behind Elly and rubbed her neck and shoulders.

“So, how are you really feeling, Elenora?”

Elly grimaced. “Fat, achy, bloated, cranky, irritable as hell, and I can’t find my feet.”

“Are you really having twins?”

Eric kept massaging her neck and moving down her back. “Triplets. It is a first for my family as well.”

The king’s mouth fell open. “That... there has never been fey triplets.”

“Well, these won’t be precisely fey. They are going to be fey-human-shifter hybrids. Three of them, actually.” She chuckled weakly. “I still have to practice controlled breathing every time I think about it.”

“What can I do for you, Elenora?”

She looked up at Eric, and he nodded. “I need a healer to be on standby. Triplets are dangerous things.”

“You will have two in the delivery room with you. I will also give you six months leave from your duties at court, beginning today.”

Elly smiled hopefully. “If I heal well, can I come back and play for you once a week? With three little ones, I think I might need the break.”

He grinned. “In a few decades, I hope to experience the urge to run away from my children.”

Elly chuckled. “I am starting that feeling right now. If I could get Eric to carry them, I would.”

“And I would take them, in a heartbeat.” Eric leaned forward to massage her lower back.

She grunted in a distinctively unladylike manner that had the king covering his mouth with his hand.

She hissed through her teeth. “Your Majesty, stop taking notes.”

He laughed out loud.

“And, Eric, stop grinning.”

The king just laughed harder.

They had tea and cookies. She ate one of them and stuck to the tea.

“I thought pregnant ladies have huge appetites.”

Eric was sitting on the edge of the couch and shuttling her teacup to and from the table. He smiled and said, “She reserves her appetite for savoury foods. She can rip through a chicken in minutes. The poultry at the farm quakes at the sight of her.”

She covered her eyes with one hand. “You are making it sound like I am devouring them whole in the farmyard.”

He gave her a long look.

The king looked between them with delight. “She uses magic on them, doesn’t she?”

Eric sighed heavily. “One minute, white and feathery, a flash of light and they are on a platter with gravy.”

She kept her eyes covered. “I carry them to the deck.”

The king laughed, hooted and slapped his thighs.

Elly had never seen him so animated, and it was a nice view. Hopefully, his upcoming bride would grow up happy and healthy so he could sweep her off her feet when the time was right.

She held on as long as she could before she looked to Eric, “Help me up, I have to pee.”

He was on his feet with his arms around her, helping her lever her considerable bulk out of the chair.

“I will send you home so you can be comfortable. Notify the court when the children arrive. You will be inundated with visitors.”

“I can’t wait. Thank you, Your Majesty.” She didn’t even try a curtsy.

 

Eric helped her into the bathroom, and he waited outside while she attended to the necessities.

Elly checked her situation and called out, “Eric, you might want to get that number for the court healers. I think that my labour just started.”

“Oh, shit. Right. I will get the plan in action; you just get yourself out of that court dress. I will be right back.”

She levered herself off the toilet, washed her hands and then went about unfastening twelve layers of fabric while fluid ran down her legs.

She was naked, and her hair was in one thick braid by the time Eric returned, and two of his sisters helped get her tucked into bed.

“Midwives are on their way, healers are on their way, clothing is ready, wraps and nappies are ready. Doctors are alerted, and the hospital is on standby and frothing at the mouth.”

She chuckled and then groaned as pain shot a fiery spike through her spine. Elly knew that this was the beginning of a very long adventure.

 

It took a total of two days, four midwives, and two tenacious healers, but when it was over, Elly was feeling tired but good and propped up in bed, the bloody sheets from her attempt to haemorrhage to death had been removed. It was an inherited trait that she hoped her daughters didn’t take on.

Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone had the darker complexion of their father and bits of glittering gold in their hair, like their mother. The slightly pointed ears would let them choose to be recognized as fey, but the tingle of magic coming out of them was unmistakable.

One of the healers was glowing with excitement. “They are beautiful. Where did you get the names?”

Elly yawned. “The furies. They beat the hell out of me from the inside, so I started thinking of strong female names. The avenging psychos rang in my mind.”

The healer stroked their cheeks and smiled. “Three little ones.”

“And I wouldn’t be around to enjoy it if it wasn’t for you.”

“Thank the king. He had me out of bed and standing here with my bag in seconds. Your husband had to explain what was going on.”

Elly looked over at Eric. He was sleeping now, but he had been awake and alert for every moment until she and their girls were safe.

She had faced her greatest challenge, and he had been there with her every moment. If there was ever proof of devotion, it had been his actions.

Elly hoped that he was still bent on being a couple because their next challenge was arriving in the front hall. She could hear them. The court was coming to see the babies and leave gifts.

It was part of being fey, and Eric was going to have to get used to it. She stroked his forehead, and he blinked and slowly rose.

“What is it? What do you need?”

“I need a hand to hold. The fey are coming, and they need to be shown the way out.”

His eyes glowed blue, and suddenly, there were three of his sisters in the doorway. He explained the situation, and they nodded, ready to do their duty to the newest members of the herd.

Through the windows, Elly could see the rest of the herd lining up, ready to defend the family while they herded the fey.

She looked down at the beautiful children that she had been gifted with, and she was glad that the nightmares were on guard. No one could escape their aunties, anyone acting up would be hounded and haunted whenever they closed their eyes.

Suddenly, a nightmare wasn’t the scariest thing in the world, but rather a comforting thought. She was at home in the dark side. Elly smiled and met the gaze of the first fey to come through the doorway.

It was going to be a very long birthday, but nothing was off limits. She would hide nothing from the fey, and they would simply gossip about it later.

It was the elven way, after all. There was always time for gossip.