She looked at him for a second, eyes wide and speechless. “But,” she said, “I don`t know any magic words! I can make plants grow and charm fruit, but you know dryads can`t do any arcane magic! You bully,” she ended on a dangerously high note, threatening to resume the hysterics.
Sensing danger, he grabbed her close for a short bear hug this time. “Hush, hush,” he soothed. “It was a joke.” Looking rather sheepish he added, “You know, the magic word ‘please.” I thought it might cheer you up,” he admitted.
“You two are so similar, it`s clear you`re brothers,” she muttered resentfully. “He sends off those nasty daemons to look for her, and you make threats to try and cheer me up,” she accused.
“Well, I`m not sure that was really a threat,” he hedged. “Besides, you don`t have to pin your hopes on those flame heads.” She looked up with hope in her eyes. “You can set out to look for her yourself, and if you might manage to find her more quickly than the official search crew. I`m sure they`ll be wildly disorganized, and if they`ve got that tracker of theirs coming along there will be a lot of fighting as well.”?
“Oh, do the other daemons dislike werewolves?” Jackie queried.
“Eh,” he asked, a little surprised by the idea. “Not at all. Everyone just hates Blutnase. He`ll kill people at the drop of a pin, and he`s incredibly obnoxious to spend any amount of time with. He`s always bragging about his prowess, its awful.” Jackie`s hand suddenly constricted tightly around Richard`s. Surprised, he looked down. Seeing her expression of terror, he quickly backtracked, added that the man loved small animals and kept a rabbit sanctuary on his property, (a story Richard assumed was a lie, but he was too smart to mention that small detail. “Sometimes,” he reasoned mentally, “It was far more important to have comfort than to worry about accuracy.”)
“But for your rescue mission,” he hastily sidetracked the conversation, “I`d be happy to provide you with some supplies, and even helpers if you`d like them.” She hung on his arm now, desperately clinging to his plan. “But,” he added, “You`ll need to do a favor for me later.” Her heart plummeted, and he added, “I just want you to return to Earth for a bit.”?
“Cilly would never go there,” she protested. “She`s terrified of humans, and most other magical beings for that matter. Heck, she`s even scared of the nymph guard!” The nymph guard, the units of mostly male nymph warriors that protected the nymph forest, and therefore the nymph`s contractees, from any possibly injuries or the evils of woodcutters. “She must have started off in the encampment. If I go there, I`m sure I`d find her perfectly fine, and, and…,” she continued confusedly. He slowly shook his head in denial. “But I`m sure,” she began again, stopping as he rested his hand gently on her shoulder.
“If I did things that way,” he said mournfully, “How would it benefit me?”? She looked at him aghast.
“I thought you wanted to help me because you care,” she said, voice cracking on the final word. “I thought you were our friend,” she emphasized. Her voice wavered with hurt feelings and the beginnings of broken dreams.
“Ah, buck up,” he cheered, slapping a hand on her back in a friendly gesture, his palm oddly warm and weighty. “I just want you to mess with Aeron the tinsiest bit,” he grinned. “You don`t like him either, especially with those difficult circumstances, correct?” She looked at him, her disappointment painfully obvious.
“Just make sure you disclose all the pertinent information to your friend Alyss, kay?” He asked with devastating debonair good charm.
She pulled some stray strands of hair behind her ear, its true mixture of chestnut and green colors showing through her now abandoned glamour. Her brow wrinkled in worry. “Why do you,” she asked hesitatingly, “Hate him?” She looked at him carefully, encouraged when she saw his bland expression. “I mean, I don`t think you two should go all twinsie on me and get super buddy buddy, but I would think you`d at least like each other.” She stopped, tapping her chin in thought. “I mean, you even used to follow him around like a lost puppy, if my memory’s correct, so I thought you must have looked up to him at some point. He is your brother, after all.” She stubbornly ignored the granite cast of his features during her speech.
“Let`s just say he has something of mine,” he icily bit out. She looked up again, and shivered at the now decidedly un-neutral expression he now had. “My inheritance, my territory, my allies.” He paused. “Everything of mine, really,” he laughed bitterly. “This is a war, make no mistake, and there isn’t room for fluffy feelings and brotherly concern when my life and future are on the line. Any more questions?” She shook her head slowly, transfixed by his deadly tone. He sighed and fluttered his fingers, that all too familiar black and white fire enveloping her. Just as quickly, she was gone, with only the scent of cinnamon and pine and brackish water remained of her presence. He breathed in deeply with a dreamy look on his face, and then quickly waved his hand to dissipate the scent.
Turning his back, he strode down the hall. His face was cold, calculating. The staff quickly scurried away to avoid notice. It was said in the palace that irritating the crown prince would earn you a glare, while irritating his brother would earn you death. Few
