CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE SMELL OF AN ENEMY
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I groan as I get nudged on my side. "Alexia! Wake up right now!" says a very familiar voice to me. "King Alcandor was VERY specific with me about what time you need to be at the Merrow Waters for the Royal presentation." I try to roll over, but Tobias forcefully takes me out of the bed and shoves me into the arms of Dumitra. "Please bathe her so she doesn't drown herself in the shower. I wouldn't put it past her." Tobias huffs walking to the door of the new master bedroom. "She's got ten minutes to shower before we need to leave." As predicted, Dumitra practically shoves me into the shower's warm water. I grumble under my breath as she quickly washes me.
"There, there," Dumitra says while rinsing out my hair. "Just a few more minutes and we can get you coffee." At that word, I perk up while looking hopefully at Dumitra. "Iso has graciously allowed you to have it since you must be at the water's edge right past sunrise." I nod my head as I slowly fall back asleep in the comfortable water. But I startle awake as a normally delicate hand strongly smacks my ass. "No Alexia! I will not allow you to fall back asleep on my watch! Jeez, you can be just as bad as Artak in the mornings. Out you get!" Dumitra roughly moves me out of the shower and dries me off before shooing me to the new master bedroom closet. I grab the most basic jumpsuit before quickly dressing and heading downstairs to the kitchen.
I speed walk to Isobella before holding out my hands to my previous coffee. "Gimme, love!" She hands me the coffee before shaking her head and kissing my cheek. I sit down at the dining room table and quickly drink my coffee. After a few minutes, I start to become more alert. "Good morning, everyone." I chirp before smiling at Iso dropping off a small plate of food.
Tobias rushes into the dining room before motioning me to hurry up. "You've got three minutes, Alexia. Then we've got to go. King Alcandor will have my head if you are late to this." I nod and quickly scarf my food. I give everyone a good morning kiss and then leave with Tobias.
"Where are we supposed to go again, Tobias?" I ask he drags me to where we normally port from.
He stops for a second before giving me a look. "I told you this last night, but there's a small lake inside the amphitheater for the Merrow to be able to listen and see what is happening on the stage. King Alcandor will port his entire Court there as Alec is already there waiting. Now come, we can't be late for this." He takes my hand and ports me to a shadowy corner near the entrance of the Merrow Court. "Quickly change behind me and then join the King just inside the doors." He waits until I turn into Alexian and then quickly shoos me away.
I slowly swim into the entrance of the Water Court. I say hello to any Merrow that I've come across before. I swim next to my uncle, who notices that I am there and hugs me. "Good morning, Alexian. You are just in time. Your father will not be joining us today, so just stand next to Queen Killigan as we port there." I nod and stand next to Aunt Killigan.
"Good morning, Queen Killigan." I happily chirp up at them. They narrow their eyes and stare down at me, totally unamused. They boop me on my nose before giving me a small hug. Uncle Alcandor motions us all to join him before he ports us to the water portion of the amphitheater, but he shoves me to the front of the enclosure so I have a good view of the stage.
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The ground suddenly bursts into flames before a dark-haired woman steps onto the stage with her court. "Welcome everyone to this hunt! I, Crown Princess Ebony, along with the Fire Court are hosting this hunt. I would like you to welcome the next Court!" She sits down on the flame-themed throne.
Shadows begin to grow everywhere on the stage, almost like a fog. From it, come the Shadow Court. A dainty woman speaks for the court. "The Shadows welcome everyone to this hunt. As the Lady Cunningham, I would like to announce that my son Faustus Cunningham is considering splitting off from his current Tenebris unit and making his own unit this hunt. He is willing to join a bonded Gheyic Military circle. The Tenebris clan will also be courting for a healer or two. I would like to welcome the next Court!" The group nods and then stands behind the Fire and Earth thrones.
Rapidly, the floor of the stage begins to boulder up, like an earthquake has torn it apart. From the distance, four men and two teenagers proudly stroll out in front of the rest of the Earth Court. "The Earth Court welcomes everyone to this hunt! My circle has two children willing to hunt this go around." He points to the two teenagers behind him. "That is all for the Earth Court. I would like to welcome the next Court!" He shouts before the six of them wander up to the tree-themed throne. One man sits down while the other sits on his lap.
The stage gets airy as many Dragels float down from the sky with their wings. "As Crown Princess Dawne, I and the Air Court welcome you to this hunt! May your hunting be blessed! I would like to welcome the next Court!" She sits down on the cloud-themed chair.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Quickly, lightning starts striking the ground as a lone dragel ports onto the stage with purple sparks flying off in many directions. "Welcome to the hunt. Send welcomes to the next Court." The curly-haired woman quickly stands behind the Air and Water thrones.
I quickly suck in a breath before we all get ported on stage with water splashing everywhere. Alec rides Goonter on stage while I stand close to Uncle Alcandor. "Welcome to the hunt! My court sends well wishes to everyone here and for your hunt to be successful. I have five Merrow that have agreed to freely court amongst the landwalker's circles. Court them if you dare. As the last Court to be introduced, I close this hunt's Royal Introductions!" Everyone with the Water Court goes over to the wave-themed throne and waits for directions from the King to release them of their duty.
As people leave, my uncle touches my forearm. After I look in his direction, he smiles at me before speaking. "You're free to go Alexian. Make sure to meet up with your uncle Alec later, as he will have a role for you to do once he has put Goonter back in the Merrow's waters." I nod at him, but before I can walk away, he nudges me to one of my other cousins. "I'll have one of your other uncles port you to a suitable area to meet Alec in." I nod and grasp onto Alakai's hand before he ports me away.
Alakai guards me as I turn back into my usual form. "Be careful, Alexia. I don't trust the shadows here." He says as he looks at the shadowed alley. "You best get to one of your bonded, and quickly." I nod at him before kissing him on the cheek. I giggle at the blush that creeps across his face before he nods and ports away.
I quickly pull on the bonds of the five that I am supposed to meet up with. Tânia quickly ports to my side before motioning me to grab onto her. She ports me to the sides of the rest of the party. I quickly go over and say hello to Vanessa, Odeta, Traudel, Gaspar, and Faidon; giving each a squeezing hug and a kiss on the lips.
After I am done, Gaspar tells us that Alec showed him where to meet him after the Royal Introductions. I sigh before grabbing onto Gaspar. He brings us to the side of Alec who is sorting out Goonter's scales. "Ah, good. I was worried that you had forgotten about me. And no! I will NOT introduce you to Harry." Alec says before putting the scales in a pouch.
I give Alec the world's saddest look before I force my eyes to water. "Please, Alec? I would love to meet your Submissive so much! He could teach me so many things about being a good Submissive!" My mouth starts to quiver as I notice him starting to give in.
"Fine! But it'll be on your Gheyo's heads if anything happens to him while you are with him." Alec grumbles as he sends a quick message to Harry. "I know where he is, thankfully he's with our Companion and some Gheyos." He ports us away once we all grab onto him.
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Once we have ported, Alec introduces us to part of his circle. "This is Harry, my Submissive. Bran, our Advisor. Idan, our Gheyo Queen. Devrim, our Gheyo Prince. And Brishen, Harry's Pheolix." He goes over and rubs something on Harry's wrist before booping him on the nose and porting back to the Merrow waters.
"It sure is nice to meet you, Alexia," Harry says while pulling Bran closer to his side. "Try not to touch Bran, as he's got touch-sensitive magic."
I nod before introducing his circle to mine. "This is my Companion, Vanessa. My two carriers, Odeta and Traudel. My Gheyic Pareya, Gaspar. My Gheyo Ace, Faidon. And my Water Pheolix Joker, Tânia." Brishen noticeably stares at Tânia before narrowing his eyes. I make a questioning churr before Harry gives a look to Brishen. "Anyway... Harry, how would you and yours like to come to the Submissive floor and hang out there for a bit with the Gheyos, Companions & Carriers?"
After Harry is done giving a look to Brishen, he nods in agreement. "Bahn, another Submissive I'll have to introduce you to, took me there my first hunt, so I guess it is only fair that I take you on yours." He leads everyone to a large building and brings us all upstairs to the Submissive floor. We are given weird looks for having so many Gheyos, but no one says a word to either of us. Devrim grunts to Brishen before doing a hand single gesture and stalking away.
Once we are there, we hang out for thirty or so minutes before Devrim comes back alert with his fur up. "Brishen, I smell Were-Hyenas whose scent reminds me of a group of known kidnappers." Brishen stares at Devrim before pulling at Hadrian's and Minh's bonds to come and join them for a quick hunt.
I go ahead and pull at Adrian's, Caspian's, and Anemone's bonds to get them to come and join us. As they make a splash on the floor, Brishen snarks at Harry about more Merrow, but thankfully Hadrian and Minh quickly join us. After hearing Brishen whine about the Merrow, Hadrian gives him a hard look before telling him to watch over Harry before all but Brishen goes and hunt for the scent.
Harry decides that the best way to get away would be to go shopping in the massive crowds. Vanessa perks up before blurting out, "Ooh! Rebecca mentioned something she wants from the Shadow Haunts for her birthday! But if we're in the shadows, you should probably pull in Armin or Evelyn to join us as they were Shadow Patrol there."
I sigh before I pull on the bonds of two more of my Gheyos. After Armin and Evelyn join us in there were forms, we head off to the Shadow Haunts for the elusive birthday present.
After spending some time in the Shadow Haunts, I spot a jewelry/tattoo/piercing shop that looked promising. After turning a corner with Vanessa, Odeta, and Truadel following me, the four of us skip happily to the store. I hear Brishen howling in the background, but before I can turn around and see what has happened, a group of men slink out of the Shadows. "Alexia!" I hear Adrian cry before the men quickly subdue us and force us away from our Gheyos. But at the last minute, I see a flash of silver hair grapple a man before I realize Adrian was joining us for the port. My last thought before we get ported away, I can only think of Papa and the last time I was kidnapped like this.