In My Mother's Footsteps

In My Mother’s Footsteps part 7
By Entervixen

I sat there for a few moments and gaped at Liam. I must have looked like an idiot, staring with my mouth wide open and the expression of blank surprihat hat had to accompany it. I looked to Mother, to see her reaction, to see if I could find any comfort in her. Her look was one of puzzled surprise as her gaze drifted from Mourn, then to Liam, and then to me. From Mourn’s expression I could tell, and, I’m sure Mother could as well, that he wouldn’t say anything on this. He was too closed off, to the point where I couldn’t even feel his essence.
“I am assuming that this woman is Fey, but why… why…”
Liam turned to Mother, holding up one hand. “Not just yet, Angela. All shall be explained in due time, I promise, but right now that is not what is required.” Liam’s eyes then slid to me, as did everyone else’s. I suddenly became aware of Michael’s presence, the warm feel of his body next to me and the weight of his arm around my shoulders. I almost wanted to shrug him off of me, but I was still feeling out of it, and we hadn’t done anything. “Judith, my dear, how are you feeling right now?”
“Fuzzy, and weak, and not to mention confused as all hell, but otherwise fine. Why do you ask?”
Mother sat down by me as I answered Liam. She gently took me from Michael’s grasp, holding me against her. “What can we do right now, Liam?” Mother asked calmly. I wasn’t sure how she managed to sound so calm, especially considering how volatile her temper normally was.
“Right now, Judith needs rest.” Liam looked at me, assessing me, I was sure, before he went on. “To sober up, for one,” the way his mouth twitched at one corner told me he had seen the bottles in the front, “and also to help recover from the events of the past couple days.”
“If she’s the Queen of Dreams and the Ruler of Nightmares in the same breath, how am I going to be able to rest with her breathing down my neck?” I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I wanted to bitch, I wanted to rant and rave and hopefully inspire that same rage in Mother, but I was too tired to do that.
Liam sighed. “We can set up temporary shields, throw her off track, a few things that will buy us a little bit of time. Granted, only a few days’ worth, but that will give us time to try and figure out what’s going on.”
Michael nodded at that. “I will see what can be done, Liam. I don’t know how effective it will be against her, but there are things I, and perhaps a few others as well, can do to make it harder for her to get to the princess.”
“Thank you, Michael.” Liam nodded at him. “As for what we can do right this minute, we can, and should, I might add, move you to new quarters.” Liam assessed the guards Mother had assigned me for a few moments before turning back to me. “While both Damon and Eadoin are superb fighters, worthy of their station in life at the very least, at this moment the danger is not wholly physical. So a change of guards might be in order as well.” Liam looked to Michael on that one.
Michael looked thoughtful for a moment. “There are a few here that I can ask to help guard the princess, but if you want the best, I have to send away to call some here.”
Liam nodded. “For now whoever you want to call that are already here are fine. You should go ahead and send for the others, though, just in case we will need them at the last minute.”
Something dawned on me as I sat there and listened to them plan my safety. “Wait,” I interjected. “Is this really a safe place to be talking about this, especially since that woman has come after me twice now, both times while here?”
Liam and Mourn were the only ones to smile at me on that. I couldn’t see Mother’s face, so I didn’t know if she was smiling or not as they were, but she gave me a reassuring squeeze. “Her power is over dreams only. There is nothing else she can do. Also, Aislin has earned her place; there is no one who will argue that point. However, in order to achieve her standing she had to alienate a lot of people. And the phrase ‘Absolute power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ is the best way to put it after she gained her titles. Not even the rulers of the court like her or respect her. They fear her, but they are wary to take her out because of the nature of her gifts, and with how utterly sadistic she is it makes it all the harder. ”
I scowled at that. “Great. So I’ve got the most feared person in the Fey courts, and with the double title I am assuming both, coming after me.”
“Yes and no,” Liam replied, holding up one hand to still the comment that he knew I was about to make. “It is difficult to sum it up shortly, and you do deserve the full story, but now is not the time.”
Oh, how I wanted to bitch about that, argue and carry on and just create havoc all around. I guess it was a sign I was feeling better and more myself, but I held back. I had already bitched at Liam once about this today and I still felt slightly guilty about that.
“So what do we do right now?” I asked Liam.
“First we have to find you new rooms to stay in for the time being. It would be best to have Eadoin and Damon escort you there. Though it may not be needed it’s better to err on the safe side. If you, Michael, could round up a few of the dragons best suited to this kind of work, it would be welcome and appreciated.”
Michael nodded and rose. “I will get on that immediately.” He then turned to me. “You’ll be safe for now, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I was taken aback by his words, but managed a small smile for Michael before he turned around and left.
My room was down that hall from Mother’s, just a stones throw away. The way they led me, however, was in a different direction, towards the rooms where we practiced and harnessed our magic. It was the section where visiting dragons of great importance were housed when they came.
We stopped at a room near the end of the hall. Mourn opened the door for us and we walked in. The room was not as elaborate as mine, but it was damn close. There was a massive fireplace against one wall, all kinds of tapestries from different ages adorned the cold stone walls with fake torches lit with electricity in between.
“Swank,” I commented, a bit dryly, but settled myself on a loveseat against one wall as Adriel sat beside me. “So, am I correct to assume that we are to wait for Michael and company before anyone explains?” I was feeling better, a lot better in fact, and bitchy as well. It was a bloody miracle that I was able to be that nice.
Mother sighed and rubbed her temples. “That would be best, dear,” she said. “That way no one has to repeat what is probably going to be a long story. Especially if the Fey are involved.” Her mouth quirked up on one side as she shot a glance at both Mourn and Liam. Liam nodded while Mourn smiled wickedly at her. How she managed to be with both of them, I still didn’t know. Liam, I could see. Mourn was a pain in the ass, however.
Michael was back sooner than I expected with two other men in tow. I looked at them and smiled to myself. Michael had picked Eric and Urk, twins who both happened to be easy on the eyes. Not to mention that hey were wicked with both magic and a blade.
Urk’s hair was cut short, as always, and Eric had let his grow to the middle of his back, which he kept tied back in a ponytail. It was still the only way most could tell them apart.
The room was growing crowded by this point. Mother and I looked around us, but it was she that spoke. “I thank you all for your loyalty, but this is a case where the less some ou knu know, the better. As you have protected my daughter, so I must protect you.”
Damon and Eadoin nodded and bowed to Mother before leaving. I had to practically push Adriel out the door, but he finally went when I promised him all the details he needed. As I turned around, I saw Michael finish talking to Eric and Urk, who also walked out the door, Michael close behind them.
“Michael, wait,” Mother called out. Michael turned around, a curious expression on his face. Mother turned her gaze to me for a moment. I nodded yes to her silent question, so she continued. “Because of your standing in the court and his his situation, I think you should know, too.”
I could feel Michael’s questioning gaze on my back. But when I ed aed around to look at him, he had looked away from me. “Of course, Angela,” he said.
Michael sat down on the couch opposite me, but I ignored his presence as best I could, instead looking to Liam. “Did it start with the dream?” I nodded, suddenly nervous. “Then start there.”
This was going to be fun. Not. I took a deep breath and put on my theatre mask, ready to begin.
I managed to keep eye contact with Mother and Liam respectively through the entire thing, and frankly, I was damn proud of myself. It had been a bitch to tell Liam the dream in the first place, and now I was adding details that I had not only left out that first time, but details of what had happened after.
By the end of the story, Mother looked worried, Liam looked thoughtful, Mourn wore a puzzled expression, and Michael looked, well, shocked. I could feel myself scowling, but hey, I usually did that, especially when I wasn’t getting my way. According to others, at least.
“What was in the box when she assaulted you, Judith?” Liam asked quietly.
“I didn’t see anything. The room started spinning once it opened, so I didn’t get a look.”
Liam nodded. “If you don’t mind, Judith, I would like to see the box and what was in it, and have you identify anything that shouldn’t have been there. If there is someone you would prefer to get it…?”
Thomas, Gideon, Mother and Adriel were definitely out of the question. I wouldn’t have minded Father, but he wasn’t here; Liam and Michael would have been fine as well, but the couldn’t be spared. So that left little choice. “Either Eadoin or Damon are fine.”
Mourn smirked but said nothing, merely turned his head as his hand came up too late to hide his snicker. Mother nodded, too caught up in her worry about me to think about whom I had named, and a quick glance at Michael showed me that his eyebrow was raised. Liam nodded, obviously satisfied with my choice.
“Don’t worry about any of that now,” Mother said, looking at everyone else. “Now that we’ve done what we can to protect her for tonight, we can do all that tomorrow and let them rest.” She gave everyone in the room her ‘don’t fuck with me’ look. It was the one that managed to put me in line when everything else failed. It was a good look.
“That is fine, Angela,” Mourn interjected smoothly, “”but if I may add one last request?”
Hands resting on her stomach, Mother arched her eyebrow at him but nodded. “I think, that for the time being at least, it would be a good idea to give Adriel a break. He is young and not up for dealing with something like this. And with the guards that are here for tonight, we don’t have to rush to appoint a new bodyguard.”
I didn’t know if I wanted to strangle Mourn or hug him because I knew where he was going with this. While yes, there would be two others here besides us, high ranking dragons did not willingly sleep alone. Right now I was leaning towards the strangle option.
The three of them got up, so Michael and I rose as well. I gave Mother a hug and thanked Liam for his help so far. Mourn just had his usual cocky smile on his face, the bastard, but I made sure to thank him as well.
As they left, Mourn turned and winked at mforefore he closed the door. I was really scowling now. Mourn, while a great guy in some respects, knew how to push my buttons. Not in a sexual way, in that I-am-your-uncle–so-I’m-gonna-annoy-you way, which pissed me off even more. Which was what he wanted. Goddamn, he was aggravating.
Michael came up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders and squeezing. “Are you okay, Judith? I mean really o”
”
I yawned and sighed at the same time. I didn’t want to think about that question because I didn’t want to answer it. The silence must have stretched on too long as I tried to think of an answer, because Michael gave my shoulders another squeeze and let me go. “I’m going to talk to Eric and Urk to see what can be done for tonight. Go ahead and lie down if you want.”
That sounded great to me, so I headed into the bedroom.
As I looked around the room, I realized that I had nothing to sleep in. We had moved from one place to the next that I didn’t have time to grab any clothes. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. A survey of the room showed nothing that I could sleep in, and I sure as hell wasn’t sleeping in a gray silk dress and nylons. No, thank you. So I quickly stripped and climbed under the covers, hoping that I would fall asleep before Michael came back in.
Sleep was still a distant dream when Michael came in the room. I raised my head and looked at him as he came in, looking weary from head to toe. He smiled at me, though even that smile was tired, exhausted, before tossing me a small bag. “I had Adriel grab some of your clothing, since we left your aparapartment fast,” he said, dropping a second bundle onto his side of the bed. “You’ll be fine for tonight, but tomorrow we’ll have to set up something different.”
I nodded and reached for the bag. Inside was a change of clothing and my silk nightgown; it was cream silk with black lace edging, and while it fell to my feet anderedered everything, it was not exactly modest. Then again, it wasn’t like I cared. Michael had turned his back to change, so I stood as well to slip the gown over my head.
He was getting into bed by the time I turned around and climbed back in myself. He stretched out in bed for a moment, just to let his arms rest above his head. I filed that mental picture away (as I enjoyed watching that one act very much), then lay down myself. I shifted to my left side and curled up a bit, drawing my down to my chest and resting it on my arms. I was tired, still slightly drunk and had a bit of a hangover, but I couldn’t fall asleep for some reason. My thoughts were racing a mile a minute, reminding me of everything that had happened over the past few days. I was worried about what could happen to those close to me. Granted, I didn’t really let most people in, but there were a few that I would have traded anything for, and most of them were now in danger.
I shifted in the bed a few times, trying to get comfortable, but each time I returned to my favored sleeping position. It didn’t help, though. I sti still too restless to sleep.
Michael shifted around and slid closer to me. I closed my eyes tight, but didn’t snap, or push him away, or try to seduce him. I was no longer looking for sex, since I knew why I couldn’t fall asleep. I was worried. I was scared, and didn’t know what to do; all I knew was that I wanted comfort then, but I didn’t know how to ask.
He slid a little closer to me and touched my shoulder. When I stayed in the position I was in, he reached over and took me in his arms, gently pulling me closer to the middle of the bed. I tensed up, but he held me close to him, spooning me. One arm wrapped around my waist, the other snaking under my neck. My hands drifted up to touch his arms, to feel him, and I slowly relaxed. Neither of us said anything; me because I didn’t know what to say, what to ask for, nothing. Ar Mir Michael, I think that he knew that somewhere inside me, I didn’t want pretty words meant to comfort; I didn’t want a promise that he couldn’t truly make. I just needed someone to be there. As I lay there, in his arms, mine came up to hold him to me. My body relaxed now, my mind partly soothed, I finally drifted off to sleep, cradled by the last man I thought would be the one to comfort me.