The missing prince

Claire

Todd was cranky for the first week of November. He would hiss at Mina, wherever she would appear and many times he had called me and Jericho ‘traitors’ for letting Elfas do unthinkable things to him. The only thing I would admit? Lots and lots of glue, pop corn and paint were involved.

It was Tuesday when Todd announced: “This is boring.”

I stopped with my fork midair, close to my mouth. Jericho’s pasta for lunch was to die for. “And what makes you say that Tobias?” Mina said and she popped another cherry from her Martini to her mouth. How she could drink at this time was beyond me.

“First, stop calling me with my old name. The new is much cooler.”

“But there is also a hottie by that name too! He has a number for name and I would lick his abs all night long!”

I groaned.

“We are eating here!” Jericho said. Thank you Jericho. “So don’t mention licks and bites and numbers and whatever sick and scary you have in your spider webbed minds.”  Hepointed at both Mina and Todd.

Mina scowled and Todd’s eyes flashed purple-red. “We are not ancient!” they said with a voice.

“No, I am older than all of you.” Elfas spoke suddenly and he got up, excusing himself. He was strangely quiet today.

We had been so engrossed with searching on the old scripts, I hadn’t noticed that the Fae hadn’t even said anything crazy. Jericho’s poke made me turn to him. We had grown…closer after the pass of the full moon. The wolf’s appearance and the fact that he hadn’t killed me, thank God, had given to Jericho the chance to revalue his relationship with his inner animal.

He had also started to make me sweets. Who the heck could cook like that?

Apparently werewolves did and there were enough comments from Mina, who liked to tease Jericho in a maddening way.

“Elfas. He didn’t drink his tea.”

Ok, that was serious.

Mina gulped the last bit of her Martini and turned to us. “It’s the anniversary.” She said simply as if she expected us to know.

“Care to elaborate?” I asked after eating the last bit of my pasta.

She pointed at the kitchen’s window. “Lethinia. It’s the anniversary of her transformation.”

“Oh.” Todd spoke softly and got up. “Now I understand why this time of the year he acts as if he has ovaries.”

“Hey!” Mina and I spat at him and Jericho almost drowned with his Corona.

“Of course with all due respect to the ladies, I think I’ll go and brighten his mood.” And he was gone in the blink of an eye.

“This got boring. I hoped for blood and gore.” Mina sighed and puffed in a tuft of smoke.

I turned to Jericho. “Please don’t tell me that you can disappear too.” I begged and he laughed, getting up.

“Sorry to disappoint you but werewolves don’t go ‘puff’.” He popped the word.

I smiled and together we gathered the dishes. I washed and he dried them. It was such a simple thing to do, it almost scared me.

“By the way, why aren’t you participating on the weekly matches Elfas and Todd have?”

“Two reasons.” Jericho placed the glasses in the cupboard. “One, I am young, a pup in front of the ancients.”

“You? Young? But you are what?” I made the adding in my mind “120?”

“121, to be exact. What can I say? I am in good shape.”

I smiled. “That you are.” And I slapped his lower back with the wet towel, making him yelp, sounding something between a cry and a bark.

His eyes turned black in an instant, the wolf coming to the surface. Before I could bolt out from the kitchen he had me grabbed from my feet. “Ahh!” I screamed, laughing, “put me down!”

“Oh no. You don’t get easily away from this Claire.” His paws roamed my body making me burst from laughing. His tickling made tears appear to my eyes and he didn’t stop, even when my throat hurt from my giggles.

In that instant I felt happy.

“Do you surrender?” he asked as I doubled on the couch, still trying to find my breathing. He hovered above me, blue eyes glowing from a mix of laughter and… something more.

“Never.” I flashed him a smile, before getting up.

Jericho stopped laughing and cocked his head upwards. His nostrils flared and began growling. “What’s wrong?” I immediately stopped when I saw the way he looked upstairs.

Suddenly he grabbed me and he raced at the stairs before I could even protest. “Use Elfas’s key!” he shouted and quickly I lifted the key string from my belt. Elfas’s door burst open and Jericho ushered me inside before turning around and shouting at me that he was going to get the rest upstairs.

And that’s when I saw Elfas on the balcony.

Ready to jump.

“No!” I screamed and bolted towards the open balcony doors, just in time to catch him from the back of his shirt and pull him back. I heard him swearing in an ancient language but instead of answering, I pulled his armpits and brought Elfas back inside.

“ARE YOU NUTS?” I knew that if he touched the ground of the house’s perimeter, he would die.

But when I looked his eyes…every last need to complain stopped.

He was crying, silver jewels falling from his same silver eyes. The tears were becoming solid before falling to his jeans. Elfas lowered his head and hid his face sobbing. “I can’t take this anymore!” he screamed and I flinched.

Gently, I touched his shoulder and patted his back. “It’s ok. You can cry. It’s ok.” I muttered again and again, until he stopped crying, until his shoulders were not shaking from the sobs. I’d never seen a man crying before and Elfas had placed every male actor in the bottom place of the title for crying your brains out.

He looked up at me. “I miss her. I miss her voice, her smile. The taste of her lips and skin. I can’t do it anymore Claire.”

His green short hair looked darker. His usually glowing marble skin was also in a sickly ashen state. I turned and looked at the door. Jericho, Todd and Mina looked at us, quietly. I motioned for them to go and Jericho closed the door softly behind us.

“Come on.” I pulled him and we passed the rows and rows of plant pots and exotic, cavernous plants and led him to his room. Luckily the three floors had the same layout.

The bed was green and on the four edges vines and rosewood were towering it, creating a perfect square above the bed. To the point the four edges were curled, creating a small dome, more flowers had come together creating a soft blanket of green and multicolored petals.

Elfas fell with his face down to the bed, not bothering to pull his shoes off. I did it for him and pulled the green comforted down. He grunted and covered himself to the top of his head, leaving only his nose and mouth visible under all these covers. I almost laughed but held myself.

“Do you need anything Elfas? I would even make some poop tea, if you ask nicely.”

He left a sad laugh. “No Claire, maybe some other day.” He lifted a single finger from under the blanket and pointed to the nightstand to my right. “Please open the first draw.”

I did and found and dark brown leather bound tome. From the three sides, papers and folded notes were spilling and carefully I tried to hold it together. The book was old and my former respect for books grew even more. With golden letters, something was written at the front cover. “What does it say?” I asked as I took a seat on the bed, with Elfas lying to me left side.

“Lethinia, the Shennachie of Fae.” Elfas said with a slow deep accented voice.

“Shennachie?” I frowned.

“It means ‘storyteller’ in old Irish and Scottish.”

“She is Scottish?”

Elfas pulled down the blanket, revealing his face. He smiled, his eyes hooded as if searching old memories. “Aye.”

I opened the book. Scribbled neatly were words of languages old, some looked like English while others looked like runes. Thank God I liked ‘Thor’. And under every description, there were drawings in charcoal, showing landscapes. The valleys and the steep hills, how the rivers curled and open as also the vivid forests. They were beautiful. I was so lost at the drawings, I almost didn’t notice the portrait.

The woman’s hair was dark and some strands fell to her face. She had angular features with delicate fingers which held bouquets of flowers. The only color of the drawing was on the woman’s eyes. They were blue.

Her dress was that of a peasant’s, which reminded me the one that nurse wore on a TV series, which was filmed in Scotland. I looked up at Elfas. “She is really pretty.”

“Of course she is. That was the reason I noticed her in the first place.”

Uh, sure.

“She had just become eighteen, such a delicate flower she looked, but her eyes spoke of power. She knew stories of our kind but she never feared me even when she managed to uncover my glamour.”

“She used holly water on you?”

“It burnt like Hell’s fires.” Elfas’s smiled. “She told me that even if I looked beautiful I felt cold. That was the first time I realized how detached I had become.” He looked at me. “We may like mischief as also treat humans like toys but we never show disrespect to those who love mother earth. Besides we go to the same ground when and if we die.”

Trying to change the subject, I concentrated on Lethinia’s image. “What happened? After she found out who you were.”

“I followed her everywhere; I even sneaked into her room, before warding everything with iron and holly water. One day, when she couldn’t stand me anymore, she even dared to slap me. She said that I had to find someone more beautiful to tease and almost begged me to leave her soul alone.”

He got up and took the book from me. He trailed his fingers over Lehinia’s image. “How couldn’t she see? That to my eyes she was…more. More than the females of my court, more than any Fae creature I knew. At that moment it stopped being lust. It became deeper.”

“Mina said that Lethinia became Fae. How?”

“Ah, the witch knows of the gossip.” Elfas closed the book and put it back into the drawer. “After five human months, Lethinia and I became closer. I found in her the humanity I had almost lost and she found through me the beauty of nature. She knew well that her life was shorter than mine but I didn’t care. Even when she teased me that in some places she would need dusting when he would be older.”

“So I searched our knowledge. We the Fae kept everything recorded and when I found out how to turn a human into Fae, I rejoiced.”

I looked at him, waiting patiently to hear the rest of his story. I knew that it wouldn’t end well but still I wanted to know.

“I needed to make vows with her and then share a part of my body and soul. I offered some of my blood and I bonded with her in every way for both a human and Fae. Those moments had been the happiest of my eternity.” His eyes looked distant and I blushed at his words.

“What happened?”

“The court didn’t take it well. I was the next for the throne and my brother used an ancient law which had been placed in misuse, to accuse me of treason. When I found proof that I was innocent he abducted Lethinia and threatened me. It was the throne or Lethinia.”

Well, his choice was obvious.

“He was even more enraged. He called upon Mina’s mother and paid her almost half of the Fae treasures to lock us here. That’s why every day of every year, I yearn even more for her.” Elfas exhaled a shaky breath, trying to hold down the sobs.

I didn’t know how to answer. He was betrayed by his family and even worse he couldn’t even stand seeing his loved one suffering. I could relate to that. I got up and left Elfas to his mourning. Before I closed the door, I heard him muttering “Thank you Claire.”

Todd greeted me when I got down and led me into the luscious study, which rested near to the library. I remembered the first time he had brought me here, telling me about the four clans and how the world was even more mysterious than I’d ever know. He sat on the one red couch and I sat on the armchair, again. The fire cast warmth to the room and the scent of ink and books made me relax. “I know that it was a lot to take in. But he tries the same thing every damn year. We were lucky Jericho noticed. I had to deal with the witch.”

“There is no need to explain. Elfas spoke with me and I think that for a while I’ll be clear of any poop jokes.”

At his dumfounded stare, I got up. “Anyway, I am going to check upon Lethinia. Make sure not to burn the house down.”

He nodded smiling and I headed to the door, taking my boots and coat from the wardrobe. The crisp air and the small snowflakes greeted me and quickly I rolled the muffler around my neck. Fred and Jericho were using shovels, trying to clear a path towards and around the willow and I could see Lethinia’s branches moving around encouraging them. I waved at them and nodded at Jericho’s concerned look. We would talk later. Lethinia greeted me with a smile. The snow had managed to settle on her roots and I cleaned it anyway, not wanting her to feel cold. I didn’t even know if she could feel the cold.

“I hope you’re doing fine. Fred and Jericho are cleaning outside.”

She nodded and turned to the right, opening a little the curtain of her falling willow branches. Elfas’s balcony appeared. “He is good. At least that I can tell.”

She lowered her head and for a moment I thought of her as a human, cunning and strong laughing and dancing. She would look really beautiful. “Come on Lethinia. He will be alright. I made sure of that.”

Lethinia’s branches moved and caressed my cheeks as I continued looking at her. Smiling I pulled out my phone and strolled through the pictures Todd had decided to take. One by one I showed them to Lethinia and her whole tree body shook from laughter as I showed her Mina, dressed as a cowgirl, pulling Todd from the leash she had put on his neck, Jericho with fake bunny ears on his head and even me on my Red Riding Hood costume.

When I reached a pic on Elfas dressed as a marquise, I climbed on her roots and lifted the screen close to her. Tow of her branches caressed it with a longing expression. She turned to me and her wooden head tilted in a faint bow. “You’re welcome.” I said softly and walked out from her willow blanket.

Fred stood close to the pond, which had started to freeze, with a vacant expression. His bat like wings were curled, their pointy tips stretched above his head with his lion head and amber eyes casting a big shadow over the forming ice on the pond.

“Hello Miss Claire.”

I always liked the way Fred drawled my name. He had a hint of New Orleans accents in him and I wonder if he had been deeply involved with voodoo. “How are you Fred?”

He sighed. “Tired. Since Mina arrived the curse has taken a toll on me too. It seems that Todd also is trying to hide it but I can tell he is weakening.”

The reminder of the Winter Solstice was heavy in my chest. Despite Mina’s wicked humor, I could see and feel her becoming weaker too. Her body had become smaller and her purple hair had lost that shiny glow. Even her yellow eyes had dimmed.

Reaching out, I took his massive clawed, stone hand in mine and squeezed, knowing that he couldn’t even feel it. Comfort, while never was given to me, came natural where the residents of this home were concerned. Elfas’s story today was a proof of that. I had thought that hiding here would give me peace and safety, yet time was ticking. I would soon lose this new feeling I thought I had lost and my chest tightened at the thought of going back on the run again.

I had steeled myself and they had broken my armor anyway.

“We will find a way out of this Fred.” I spoke slowly, trying more to reassure myself than Fred.

“I hope so. Truly, I want to rest.” He said and after bowing a little to me, he stepped back and stretched his wings, taking off.

I didn’t see Jericho on my way back so I quickly got into the house and pulled off my boots. Footsteps made me look up. The werewolf stood on the hall holding a tray with mugs and a kettle. Jasmine and rose scents filled my nostrils. He motioned for me to follow and we headed to the living room.

“Where are the others?” I asked as Jericho poured tea into one of the mugs.

“Elfas is still in brooding mode. Todd and Mina are in the library. I offered to help but strangely, they shut me off.” He growled the last words and he gave me the mug. Warmth spread in my fingers and inhaled the rosy smell.

“Everyone is into depression. It’s frustrating and sad at the same time.” I groaned and Jericho sat beside me having placed a straw into his mug.

“At least, last time I checked, Mina told me that she had found a ritual which could weaken certain parts of the curse. To the point where breaking it will become…easier.”

I nodded, suddenly feeling a lump in my throat. I shouldn’t feel like that; every time I got closer to someone, they would be gone. Jericho, the werewolf with his strong arms and cooking and humor and so, so soulful blue eyes deserved better than a girl with a past dark and twisted.

“You… could come with me…” he muttered.

I gripped the mug in my hands.

“If you want.” He added finally letting his breath out as if he had been holding it.

I remained silent, feeling tension building up, feeling Jericho’s eyes burning me, waiting for an answer.

“Claire.”

“NO!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The scream made both of us jump. And suddenly Elfas stood beside us. We ran into the library and Elfas pushed the doors open. Todd had fallen to the floor, holding in his arms a sickly pale, fragile Mina. She had grown smaller, looking around a child of ten years old.

I leaned and checked her pulse, feeling her forehead. “What happened Todd?” I looked up at him. My breathing hitched. He had blood on his lips and his fangs were still showing.

Rage consumed me and I punched him, hard. Elfas was there grabbing him away from the girl and Jericho scooped her up, carefully. “Take her to my room Jericho.” He left quickly and I flexed my fingers. If Todd could be punched by me, then he was weaker than I thought.

“What were you thinking? Drinking the blood of a witch Todd? And hers in specific?”

Todd’s eyes were glowing and his rapid breathing matched the way his arms flexed. “I couldn’t stand it. I was hungry!”

“I would offer, if it came to that!” I almost shouted.

They gave me a dry look. “Jericho would have my balls made a necklace, before I could touch you Claire.” He turned to Elfas. “And the missing prince from here should probably snap out from his depression. There are too much at stake.”

Elfas snapped. “You think I don’t know it?” He grabbed Todd by his collar and brought their faces inches apart. “You think I don’t care? I would give my soul for this, for her, if I could!”

Todd closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. His fangs disappeared behind his lips and Elfas put him down. Jericho appeared on the doorway. “Claire, Mina is asking for you.”

I nodded and passed them. “Make sure not to destroy the house.” I said to Jericho and headed to my room, closing and locking the door with one of the keys, hoping the magic will hold the men out.

Mina was placed on the bed, gently tucked to her side by Jericho. Her t-shirt with the logo “I am Too Sexy and I Know It.” Was bloody and she was breathing slowly. Her eyes were closed and carefully I undressed her and warmed some water in the bathtub, bringing a basin and a towel to the bed. I cleaned her body and I did the best I could with her hair. Her wound on her neck had started to heal and by the time I had Mina changed into one of my baggy shirts, the small holes had become pink dots.

Pulling the covers down, I helped Mina on the bed and tucked her in, just like I used to do some time, a long time ago. I heard her mumbling something but as I laid my head on the pillow, I became too tired to listen to her.

Closing my eyes, I drifted off.

--------------------

Blood falls.

She is screaming.

I am screaming.

He roars.

I scream more.

Someone laughs in the darkness. “You didn’t obey.” He says, the voice steel and frigid.

“No, not them, please!”

Something hard snaps my head back and feel copper in my mouth. “Weak. I didn’t train you that way.”

“I can’t do it!”

He smiles, dark eyes looking at me.

“Then I will release you from your weakness.”

She screams and I scream along with her too, until I realize that I am the only one left screaming.

I am alone.

------------------

“Claire.”

I opened my eyes and turned. “Mina. How are you feeling?”

She hugged me, instead of answering. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Shaking, I pulled away from her. “You… saw?”

“Witches can travel into dreamscapes. My powers have become unsteady but I heard and saw… pictures.” She sat up and pulled up the sleeves of my shirt. “Was that the time you were given these?”

I nodded. “Please don’t tell them.”

She looked at me and smirked. “You don’t want a specific canine to know. But I promise you, I won’t tell.” She turned and pulled her feet out from the bed, stepping on steady feet. I followed her and she turned to the door, grabbing her clothes.

“Wait! Are you feeling better?”

She huffed. “If I was normal, a vamp’s bite would be like aphrodisiac. Todd is growing weak. He wasn’t at fault Claire.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

She winked and closed the door behind her.

When I stepped out from my room, I realized that… mushrooms had appeared on the hallway’s floor. And… oh shit. “ELFAS!” I shouted.

Jericho came barreling down the stairs already growling, teeth ready to tear apart. When he saw the floor he yelped and climbed up a few stairs, grabbing me also by the waist. “What in the name of the Wolf King are these?”

“I think they used to be mushrooms.”

“ELFAS!” Jericho shouted.

“What?” he came down rubbing his eyes.

Jericho, still holding me with one arm, pointed to the floor. “Did you piss the floor again?”

“Hey! It was eighty years ago and Wall Street had eaten my money! That was the last time I was drunk.” He explained and I gave him a dry look.

“You grow mushrooms to the ground when you piss? What else can you do?” I cried out loud, clutching to Jericho’s arm.

“Thankfully he has no stardust; poor Tinkerbell would be ashamed of him.” Jericho said and I tried, really, truly tried not to laugh.

“My mushrooms, for your information, don’t have eyes who look at you like that!” he pointed at the at least thirty things which were dove eyeing at us. They reminded me of anime characters with their big eyes.

“Oh! They’ve grown!” Mina clapped her hands happily from the living room’s entrance to our right.

We stared at her. “You did this?” Jericho pointed to the floor.

“It’s experimental. I borrowed some of Elfas’s tea-”

“You took my-”

“-and I made a special blend which will help with the ritual I am making.” Mina finished without waiting for Elfas’s outraged voice.

I didn’t know what was worse, the tea or the mushrooms.

“I am going to be sick.”

“Me too. I need a steak.” Jericho said.

“I need coffee.” I leaned and let my head fall to his shoulder, feeling tension leaving him. I didn’t want to ponder on yesterday’s discussion and I thanked inwardly the mushrooms for that.

Mina pulled a knife and proceeded to the mushrooms. Their eyes widened in fear and began squirming. “Plus, they also make a great ingredient for omelets.” She licked her lips.

And we watched her in horror as she cut them off, mumbling to herself the “I am singing in the rain.” Song.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello beauties and lovelies everywhere! New chapter with a special pic of *ahem* Elfas and Lethinia. When I saw the pic I knew they were the ones. A sneak peek for you? Claire and Jericho will be wearing masks. :)

Please vote/ comment and if you like paranormal, my trilogy "Angels and Grim Reapers" will be there for you! :)