“My uncle, Kier, saw it happening, and tried to stop it. I think Alazander had been sick long before we caught sight of it in him. Not only did he abuse the female Gifts, he had been handing them off to others of the Horde to use at will. He did more than just use those he took from their families. He shattered many, and then they were handed off to his Elite Guard. We’re not human, and I’m not proud of my father, or of what I did at his bidding. I used those females, willingly or not, I took them. I did what he wanted, what he expected of his sons. I’ve done things that, looking back, make me sick, but I enjoyed it at the time. I was raised to be of the Horde, and that meant I was raised to be hard, fierce, merciless, and take what I wanted.”
Something in his eyes told me that he hadn’t enjoyed what he’d done. He wasn’t as much of a victim as the poor women had been, but he was still guilt ridden from what he’d assisted his father in doing.
When I refused to comment on it, he continued. “I was there when your grandfather was betrayed, and killed,” he said softly. “I was there when he killed Anise and put that idiot Dresden on the throne. I have always been at his right hand and led his campaigns. I was the one who led the Elite Guard you saw today.”
I stared at him, dumfounded. “How old are you?” I whispered.
“I have lived over a thousand of your years,” he replied steadily. I sucked in air as I was trying to wrap my mind around this. “I have always told you that I am not proud of many of the things I have done, and I have done some very bad things, Synthia. Many of my regrets were for what I stood by and allowed.”
“Kier was often at our court and he was a sore spot for my Father. We had become affected by the plague that was sweeping through the Horde, Blood, and Dark kingdoms. We had been working with Kier to find who was responsible for what was happening to Faery, and trying to find a way to stop it. Kier had also been trying to get his sister released from Alazander and back to the Dark Kingdom for years as my father’s madness had escalated. Adding to this volatile situation was Danu. She was not pleased with his excesses and abuse of the Fae people and had been relentless in the visions of what would happen if we did not intervene.”
“So, Kier and I, along with the Elite Guard, had been formulating a coup behind Alazander’s back. Not exactly an easy thing to do, considering the magnitude of his powers. It boiled over one day, when my mother put voice to her concerns during one of Kier’s visits. My Father abused her in front of an entire assembly of the Horde. Most thought nothing of it, since Alazander was known for taking his wives and concubines wherever he deemed fit. Dristan could take no more, and tried to intervene. Alazander turned his attention from my mother to my brother.”
I swallowed, slowly placing pieces together. My eyes flickered up to his, and caught him lost in the memory of his past.
“It was as if the centuries of insanity had all escalated to this moment. He’d done so much damage to everything, most of our allies had turned on us. He’d killed so many innocents. He was killing us, and even though we were the strongest of the Castes, sooner or later, fate would catch up with us. I was the only one who could kill him. Up until then, I couldn’t do it. I had faltered, right up until that day.” He exhaled a shattered breath and shook his head. “He pierced Dristan through the chest with one of his wing talons. Dristan had chosen death rather than witness more of my father’s sickness; he knew attacking the Horde King, even in defense of our mother, was suicide. We all knew what my Father would do next. I killed him then. I was unable to stop the beast inside of me from coming out when I’d seen what he had done to my mother and Dristan. But, in killing the reigning Horde King; I was fated to take his place on the throne.”
I swallowed and tried to picture the men they had been, and the ones they had become. “He was family, Ryder. You chose to save your brother, but at a price to yourself. I would have done the same thing had I been in your place.”
His mouth slashed into an angry line, and his eyes turned from amber, to complete obsidian. “I don’t think you would have. You, unlike me, would have looked for a way out of it without killing your own father.”
“He took the choice from you when he struck at them. You made the right choice.”
“For who? Dristan? My mother? For Danu? For Faery? I did not want to take the throne!!”
“But you weren’t the Horde King before tonight?” I asked carefully.
“No, there was too much that I had to accomplish, that I could not do as the Horde King and all that the title entails. Those in attendance that night were sworn to a blood oath not to reveal what had happened. To perpetuate what needed to be done to save Faery, Kier adopted me as one of his sons so that we could misdirect our enemies and find the heirs, and relics of the prophecy. It allowed me to hide in plain sight without being challenged, or lied to by those who would want to challenge or cause the Horde King issues.”
“That’s how you were able to say you were Kier’s son,” I said with a wince. “You’re not Adam’s brother; you’re his cousin.”
“I am. My mother is Kier’s only sister. He saved us, all of us. If he hadn’t been willing to help, my father or the Mages would have eventually killed us all. Ristan had already been having visions of what was needed to fix the damage my father and the Mages had wrought on this world. Part of the prophecy included atonement for the damage done by my father, but something like that has to be undertaken very carefully so the other Castes don’t sense weakness and attack. Another part of the prophecy is the recovery of the relics and the union of the Light and Dark Heirs and their offspring.
“So, why me? I don’t understand why you asked for me.”
“You are part of the last piece of the prophecy that we did not discuss with you before. The one concerning the union of the Horde, and Blood Heirs. You are an Heir, or you will be. Danu picked you,” he whispered as his hand found mine and swallowed it in his much larger hand. “We birth an Heir of both Horde and Blood, one who will help heal the lands.”
“Yeah, sure. Just like I was supposed to with Adam? Anyone ever consider the idea that maybe Danu ate a batch of funky brownies and decided to send Ristan some very random, very kinky dreams? Or, maybe Ristan ate the brownies? It’s plausible with that Demon.”
“I don’t think Danu eats funky brownies, as you call them.”
“Wishful thinking. I’d really like to meet this Danu, and give her a solid piece of my mind. I also want to know why all her visions about me include making babies.”
He shook his head and smiled sadly at me. “I don’t know why she had to make things as complicated as she has. I know she cannot directly help us so she sent the prophecy to try in her own way to help. I do know that her anger with my father knew no bounds and we have been trying to heal the rift with her since his death.”
“So why did you cut up my brother?” There it was, the final piece I could not reconcile him doing.
“I wish I did not have to go that route, but it is a tactic my father would have used to get his way. I couldn’t just go to your parents and tell them that I’d killed the reigning Horde King as I asked for you, not without them trying to attack us outright to test my strength, so I sent the emissaries in my father’s name. When that did not work, I used Liam. Up until that point, I had nothing to do with him and I had been trying to figure out how to let him go, as I had with many of the other prisoners that my father had collected. The tactic worked and your parents accepted my offer and Liam was released,” he said as he took another breath and continued on.
“Everything was going according to plan. We were on the trail of who was harming Faery, we had two of four Heirs identified, and then your parents did the unexpected and reneged on the deal by stealing you away and hiding you. Ristan’s vision’s never changed, so we knew through him that the Blood Heir was still out there, alive. I knew that if I had been your father, I’d have sent you to where no other Fae would. To the humans. The Guild was unexpected, though, and smart.”
“I had to pressure them to keep the contract. By sending small groups of the Horde to the borders, and attacking, I managed it with little to no bloodshed. I could have asked for Liam back, I was within my rights, but I figured enough damage had been done to him already.”
“Wait a minute. You planned on adding me to your harem?”
“If you mean the Women’s Pavilion, then yes,” he replied smoothly.
“You still have a harem…?”
“Yes, and I won’t be getting rid of it either, Synthia.”
I felt my stomach hit the floor like a ton of bricks.
“Now you know how and why I let everyone assume I was the Dark Heir. It allowed me to move around with the backing of the Dark King and find the relics, as well as you and the other Heirs that had disappeared by that time, without revealing who and what I am,” he smiled as his eyes sparkled with mischief, as if he hadn’t just said he was keeping a harem of women. “Strange how destiny works; you left Faery to escape me, and you landed in my lap, anyway.”
“You planned on keeping me, knowing you had to find the Blood Heir and get her pregnant?” I said slowly. At this, he looked mildly confused. “You asshole!”
“Doesn’t matter, Synthia. I found you, and it’s you I had to create an Heir through.”
“And you don’t see a problem with this?” I asked, sitting up to move away from him. I needed distance.
“No, I don’t. It’s worked out perfectly and so much makes sense now.”
“My ass, Fairy! I’m not having your baby just because you want me to, or because some stupid, funky brownie eating deity saw something. Obviously she has no freaking idea of what the hell she sees either, because less than forty-eight hours ago, I was supposed to be having Adam’s baby to save your world! You have a harem of women, go fuck them and leave me out of it!” I was fighting tears. He had a harem of women somewhere in this place, he was the flipping Horde King, and he’d said nothing about loving me, only the damn need to save his fucking Fairy lands!
“You’re having my child,” he growled, as he moved off of the bed and glamoured on silky blank pants. His wings seemed to expand with his slightest movement.
“No. I’m. Not!”
“Yes you are, you’re already pregnant, Synthia.”
“No I’m not!”
“The reason you became sick when you were living in your guardians home is because you were pregnant with my child. A Horde Heir, the wards sensed it. They were trying to protect you from the child we made.”
“You’re lying,” I screamed.
This wasn’t happening!
“It’s happening, whether either of us wants a child now or not. I would have preferred children later, but this seems to be how Danu wanted it all to work. I am sorry, but you will have to adjust to this quickly.”
“Me!? Me!? Take me home, Ryder. Is that even your name?” I didn’t know what to think anymore, or what to believe. He’d played with words so much that I wasn’t sure I could trust him anymore.
He laughed regretfully and shook his head as he lifted it to face me. His wings expanded, and the room sizzled with his immense power. He strode forward with purpose, but I held my ground.
“I have a few things to attend to and will be back shortly. I suggest you get prepared for an exam from Eliran while I am gone.”
I watched as he sifted out, and left me sitting in the huge elegant bedroom of the Horde King, alone. I brought my shaking hands to my stomach and felt the flat line of my abdomen. A baby? I wasn’t ready for a baby, and I wasn’t ready to be set aside in a flipping harem and forgotten about as all the other females had been. I had to get the fuck out of this place, soon.
Chapter Five
Eliran finished his exam with Ryder present; everything looked fine as far as he could tell this early in the pregnancy. It left me numb that I was actually pregnant. I was freaking pregnant! Ryder hadn’t been playing with words. Eliran had shown me the blood work and had even done the test with me standing beside him watching his every move.
I sat on the exam table numb, unable to put into words what I felt. Sheer panic was gnawing at my insides as I pictured my future here with Ryder and his entire harem of women. Where did I fit in? Ryder was the freaking Horde King, and I was a flipping concubine. No, correction, I was his pregnant concubine!
I was willing to give this a shot. I was, however, not willing to become just another female pining after his Highn-ass to visit me in said harem. Nope, was not happening. I turned to find him watching me, his eyes back to the beautiful golden color that haunted my dreams.
I wanted to throw myself in his arms and listen as he told me everything was going to be ok. But, this was real life…or, more to the point, my life and shit like that never happened. I was doomed by a destiny that had my entire life planned out for me.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked, trying to get out from inside of my mind where shit was getting deep.
“You’re having my child, period,” Ryder snapped heatedly.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t, Fairy. I asked what now, how do we make the baby strong enough that it is accepted by the land?” I asked, letting the fear I had felt about being with Adam and producing his child finally out.
Ryder’s face went from cold to worry in a flash of an eye. He hadn’t considered this? So much for thinking he could figure this one out. “It’s my child,” he replied simply, as if because the child was his, it would live.
“The children of Faery are dying; the sickness is hitting the strongest Caste first…which is Horde, right?”
“We will figure it out together, Synthia. It’s my child; do you think I’d allow anything to happen to you or my child?” He growled.
“I didn’t say that!” I said defensively. “I want to know how to ensure our child isn’t one of the many dying.”
“Eliran, get everything you need for this pregnancy. Take Ristan with you, and go find whatever it is you will need to take care of Synthia and our babe.”
My heart flipped and did a little jig as it hit the floor with my reality check…and bounced away. This was really happening. I was having Ryder’s child…correction, I was having the Horde King’s love child.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Eliran said and nodded to Ryder before he turned and sifted from the room.
There was total silence in the room now. All I could do was sit and stare at Ryder. Gone were his wings and Horde looks. He looked as he had in my world, once again. It was hard not to throw myself at him and thank whoever had gotten us here. Because here, was without Alazander, and here was better than what I could have hoped for no matter how fucked up here was, I was still with him.
“Come, I’ll take you to where you will be staying. I have things that can’t be put off any longer now that I am King of the Horde,” he said gently as he reached out a hand for me to join him.
“Ryder, tell me it’s going to be okay. Tell me you want this,” I whispered unable to fight the feeling of needing him anymore.
He walked slowly to me and pulled me from the table until he held me against himself firmly. His body was hot and hard but comforting as his heat stole the chill from my bones. He tilted my head until I was looking at him. His mouth lowered to claim mine; his kiss searching, and demanding.
One second we were in the exam room of Eliran’s small clinic, and the next I was in his arms and back in his elegant bedroom. He broke the kiss after a few moments and I had to remember how to breathe. Kissing him here in Faery, without him hiding his powers was electric.
“I want to kiss you until your lips are sore, and I want to whisper dirty words into your pretty little ears, Synthia, because it makes my cock so fucking hard, and it turns me on to know you’re hearing it and anticipating it.” He kissed my neck softly. “I am King now. I am not sure I can be what you need me to be. I am king first and foremost here,” he pulled back and looked at me smiling gently. “We will be okay now, nothing will ever harm you. Nothing will ever hurt
you again. I promise you this.”
“What if you’re what hurts me? And where am I being sent?” I asked.
“I don’t want to hurt you either, Pet. For your protection, I would prefer you stay in the Pavilion while I hold court to deal with quarrels between the Castes of the Horde. For now, I would like for you to take over a room that is part of my chambers.”
*~*~*
I was shown to a room that adjoined his and was decorated in gentle hues of blue. The bed was huge, but then again, I’d come to expect that where the Fae were concerned. The canopy had sky-blue silk drapes hanging from it. It looked like something from a time long ago.
Four women stood at the far side of the bed with their eyes lowered to the floor. They were dressed in thin sundresses, and cotton shoes covered their feet. I didn’t say anything as Ryder stood beside me, silently allowing me to take in the room.
“Hello,” I said, breaking the silence and tension in the room.
“Synthia, this is Darynda,” Ryder said as an auburn haired beauty bowed her head even lower. “She will be in charge of your care. Her father is noble, but not of the royal family, it is our equivalent of the old peer system that was used in your world. To serve the royal family is considered an honor, and I think she would do well with you.”
I turned my head in his direction and hiked up an eyebrow. Yup, these guys lived in the dark ages. “And they do this willingly?” I asked. Call me old fashioned, or even new fashioned, because slavery was just that, and I wasn’t keen on it in any form.
“Ask them,” Ryder replied, instead of answering.
Darynda lifted brilliant blue and grey eyes and gave a friendly smile. I took an instant liking to her. She was a little shorter than I was, but her eyes showed a spark that wasn’t obvious in her demeanor. I knew that spark, because I had it in spades.