“Do you see any place where I am lacking, Donald the Warrior?” Don bowed before the queen, and she smiled at him. “When will you understand that I don’t need that sort of treatment from you? You have been and forever will be my friend. And now you are my family.”
“I will forever think of you as a friend as well, Melisandre, but first and foremost, you are queen of all faeries.” He smiled at her when she frowned. “How about I only pay reverence to you when we are in a public setting? Then when we’re alone, I’ll try not to show you so much.”
“If that is the best I can get from you, then I shall take it.” They both looked where laughter came from the front. It was CJ and a group of small children. “When she comes here, they are the first people she asks after. They look forward to her coming as well. She brings them things to play with, and when she’s able, CJ will sit and read to them until they go to bed.”
“She tried warning me off. I was told she’s hunted even now.” Melisandre told him the magic she’d been given would keep them both safe. “I won’t be bargaining for her life. If they have her and want you in some way, I will stop at nothing, and I do mean nothing, to keep the two of you safe.”
“Thank you for that.” She looked at him, and he could see fear there. “She is all I have in the way of family, Don. And like you, I would do anything to keep her safe. Having you as a mate, it will help her in many ways she’s not thought of. But I do fear she will be hurt before she uses what is rightfully hers.”
“The magic.” She told him that was it. “If it will help her, I’ll work with her on it. I’ll also share with her everything I have.”
“Good.” She laughed. “I don’t envy you that task. She isn’t just stubborn. I do believe when the word is looked up, it has her description there, as well as her set face when she’s upset.”
“I’m all right with that because she is stubborn, but she’s not stupid. I think if she got in over her head, she’d ask for help.” Melisandre said he was right about that. “I’ll talk to her after this meeting. I’m sure you’re about ready to begin, aren’t you?”
“Yes. You’re not going to be any happier than her when you find out what you’ve gotten. Also, I would suggest someone talk to her sister, Pfeiffer. She will get a little of this as well because she too could be used as a way to get to us.” He asked her why she was afraid of anyone getting to her. “There are people out there, in my realm as well as yours, that believe my magic is only for show. That I’m not needed anymore. With computers and the like, they believe they’ll be able to do my job in less time and with less effort. Of course, they have no idea what sorts of things would cease to be if I were to disappear. You too would perish if not for the magic I put to the earth.”
He wasn’t entirely sure what that would entail until he was seated in the large room. Looking around, he saw the faeries there and tried to equate what they did with the flowers that would affect him. Then it hit him. There would not only be no more flowers but bees would no longer be supported. Gardens that fed the people he had needed to feed from would perish, and the people would starve. There would be no more animals either. Grass would wither and die. Even trees needing to be pollinated would die as well without the magic of the faeries that were a part of the queen’s arsenal. Don didn’t know what these other people were thinking. He realized he needed to do something to get the word out. Tell people that fucking with the queen would profoundly affect them all.
Don only half-listened to what Melisandre was saying. He would tune into what was going on for a few minutes and then go back to his thoughts about the world. Things, he knew, were going to end badly if someone didn’t do something soon. Very soon. When CJ poked him in the ribs, he looked around, and everyone was staring at him. Standing up, he smiled to the group.
“I’m sorry. I was thinking about something that has come to my attention. The people we’re worried about the need to be able to understand what they’re doing by fucking with the queen and her job.” CJ told him that was what they were talking about. “Good. Then I’d like to head up a program or something that would get the word out as to what happens to the world if there is no one to start the process of pollenation. Because essentially, that is what keeps all of us alive.”
“You have it figured out yet?” He told Bancroft he was only just now thinking of the timeline of the death of the world as anyone knows it. “That’s a pretty harsh way to put it. You believe that?”
Don explained to the group what he’d been thinking about, all the way through their lives ending with the demise of the world itself. He could tell by their faces that they hadn’t thought of that either. That a simple thing like bees not being able to get to the nectar of the plants could end everything.
“I’m in. Also, you can count on anyone else you think you might need in the way of vampires. This is much more important than just a few trees dying off.” Don thanked Bancroft. Everyone said they’d help as well. Melisandre hugged him tightly, then he sat back down.
“Now that we have the
