“I love you too, Dragon Queen,” Arach whispered and then crowned his romance with a kiss.
Chapter Thirty-Six
March 7th: Rian and Brevyn's birthday.
The celebration started as soon as the boys woke up. Arach and I went into their bedroom with an excited Dexter, to hug the twins and wish them a happy birthday. An elaborate breakfast awaited us downstairs, and the cooks were ecstatic to hear the boys shout in delight over all of their favorite fey breakfast dishes.
A little after breakfast, the fire faeries started to arrive. Tents had been erected in the open area outside the castle; on the side of the Fire Kingdom. Guests were welcomed with refreshments and then directed to their accommodations so they could get settled. The Royals arrived around midday and were shown to private suites befitting their station.
The castle was soon full of excitement and laughter, and my sons were some of the biggest sources of both. The Fire Kingdom had the largest amount of children in Faerie. Not only did we have the phooka children, Hunter, and my boys, but there had also been five more children born. All of those children had come to celebrate with their parents, and then there was Prince Morgan, Prince Baidhen, and Princess Sinnea. Faeries of all races watched the young wistfully; these children represented the hope that the Faerie race as a whole would continue.
They were also a pain in the patootie.
The parents had given up on trying to corral their young and had let them run wild. There was simply too much going on to keep the children calm. All we could do was try and direct them toward the best options for venting their bubbling energy. I had never been so happy to have built a faerie version of a playground.
“They grow so fast,” Queen Liatris said as she watched after the children with me.
“Especially when they're dragon-sidhe,” I added. “For awhile there it felt as if they got bigger every morning.”
“At least they've finally regulated,” she noted. “I was worried that I'd have children the size of teenagers before they were five-years old. I'm not ready for teenagers.”
“No one is ever ready for teenagers,” I said cryptically.
“I fear that you're right,” Lia whispered as she watched Baidhen launch his naked sister off the highest point of the jungle gym.
Sinnea shifted as soon as she hit open air and took flight as a miniature, sleek, black dragon. She screeched as the other children cheered. Liatris only sighed and went to collect her daughter's discarded clothing.
“That's my girl!” King Rowan shouted from the other side of the playground.
Rowan and Arach were standing with the other royals; drinking faerie wine and watching their children proudly.
“Yeah; great,” Liatris mumbled. “We have a daughter who likes to get naked in front of others and fly away. Yippee.”
Not only did Liatris look like me, but she also had a bit of my personality. Lia was nearly my twin except for the true-black color of her skin, and the lavender shade of her eyes. The traits we shared had been taken from me when I had been an avatar for Faerie to transmutate the Darkness into a race of faeries. I had gotten used to being around Lia, but it had been weird at first.
Every faerie had magic that originated from their element, and so the dark fey had dark magic. With the dark-sidhe—the ruling class of the dark fey—that had translated into dark emotions. Rowan and Lia had changed a bit when they became dark dragon-sidhe, but they still had the dark magic inside them. Rowan held Lust—the lucky bastard—but Lia had got the short end of the magic stick and carried Shame. It made her a little shy and sometimes depressing. But she was a sweet woman, and she had grown on me.
“Let's leave the children to their fathers and go have a drink,” I said to Lia.
Liatris straightened from picking up Sienna's clothing and blinked. “You know what? That's a fantastic suggestion. Forget this pixie poop!” She tossed the clothes back down on the grass. “Let's try to get wasted.”
Lia had also spent some time in the Human Realm, and she could sound as human as I did.
“Arach!” I shouted. “You're it!”
“Your it too, Rowan!” Lia shouted next.
Then we ran into the castle giggling as the men stared after us in confusion. Inside, we found other mothers; who had evidently had the idea to take advantage of their husband's distraction before we did. Fionnaghal—mother of the Hidden One children—was sitting in the dining hall with Neala—mother of the phooka pups, Lorna, and a few of the fire fey mothers. Fionnaghal was getting wary looks from some of the visiting faeries, but those who lived in Aithinne seemed completely comfortable. That alone felt like a huge triumph for me.
When I had first come to Fire, the Hidden Ones were true to their name and hid in caves below the mountain-castle. Now, they walked freely among their people. The fact that the Hidden-Ones could still terrify the other fey races had become a source of pride, not only for them, but for all of the fire fey. My people loved being the most fearsome faeries in the room, and the Hidden Ones were created to instill fear. Most fire fey could now break bread with a Hidden One without batting an eye, and that made the Hidden Ones feel wanted while simultaneously making the rest of the fire fey feel a little more bad ass. As if sitting next to a Hidden One proved that you were fearless.
I suppose it did. Personally, I felt kind of kick-ass when I sat down next to Fionnaghal. Especially when her bright, dandelion eyes filled with joy, and her long, slender snout crinkled as her mouth spread in a smile filled with razor-sharp
