Page 26 of Of Pixies and Promises
“You’re confused,” Queen Juniper said softly as she placed her palm on her daughter’s head and stroked. “If only your fathers were here. They’d know what to say.”
“It was humans like her mate who destroyed them,” Nyra’s Uncle Robin pointed out.
Nyra glared at him before returning to her mother. “Why do you think the Guardians are all mating with humans? The Well is trying to repair this relationship between our races. It wants us whole.”
Understanding flickered in her mother’s eyes, and then she glanced at Colt.
“Cousin, you are a respected Councillor of the Order. You are in the midst of it all. What do you think?”
Colt frowned at Nyra before answering. “I think trying to understand what the Well wants is like trying to catch air in your fingers.”
Nyra slumped.
“But, Nyra may have a point.” Deep in thought, Colt tapped the glowing teardrop on her lower lip as she paced the length of the empty crescent seat. It was empty because it was where the queen’s consorts usually sat. Where Nyra’s fathers used to sit.
“It wasn’t Sid who killed my fathers.”
But even as the excuse fled her lips, she knew it was weak. He could have. She’d never asked. He promised to never lie to her, but there was nothing stopping him. What if she started blaming him for it? They would never repair their relationship. They would never make the gully whole and nurtured in peace.
But the point remained. She believed the Well brought Sid to her for a reason.
Colt hovered her finger before her lips. She stared at the glowing refractions the blue Mage mark left as she spoke. “The humans mated to the Guardians are not of this time and were gifted with an unending supply of mana during their frozen sleep cradled in the Well’s embrace. Nyra’s human is of this time, and as such, has no mana. I don’t see how this could work.” Her gaze landed on Nyra. “I want it to, but logistically, it’s impossible.”
Nyra remembered something. “He knows Silver. Isn’t she one of the Twelve’s mate?”
Colt nodded wearily, then rubbed her forehead.
“Well,” Nyra continued, “if she could switch sides, how is Sid’s change of heart not good enough for you?”
Colt slid her gaze to Juniper and shrugged. “If it were only a matter of hearts, she has a point.”
Nyra whispered, “If I have him only for a brief few years, it will still be a gift. It will be better than being lumped with a harem that can’t truly share everything with me. That can’t help me give you an heir. You told me I needed to pick my dicks, Colt, before they were picked for me. Sid is mine, I stand by it.”
Queen Juniper sighed. “The wings dust who they want to dust. We cannot stand in the way of that. It is natural. It isunbidden. Perhaps this human of yours is only the first of an unconventional harem.”
“Or the only one,” Nyra added, sensing her mother coming to her side. “If it’s just him, then I’m okay with that. We’ve managed to keep this gully safe with your low supply of mana. Who’s to say we can’t continue to do this for a few more decades.”
Her last words caused a lump in her throat because that’s all a human life span would afford her. Decades. Maybe less.
“I suppose if he makes you happy…”
“He does.” Nyra shot to her feet, unable to hide the hope in her eyes.
“Juniper,” Robin chided. “Reconsider.”
But the queen’s gaze landed on her daughter fondly. “I remember her look, Robin. It was echoed back at me when I looked at my mates. It is undeniable. If this human?—”
“His name is Sid,” Nyra said.
“If Sid is Nyra’s true mate, then we cannot tear them apart. The pain of that loss will be worse than death. And I will not suffer my only child the same agony I’ve endured.”
“But the tithe,” Robin pointed out, wide eyes shifting to Colt for backup, but she gave him no support.
This was the queen’s decision. “Times are changing, Robin. Perhaps we need to change too if we want to strengthen the gully again.”
Nyra launched into her mother’s arms and embraced her tightly.
“Thank you,” she whispered for her mother’s ears only, knowing that a debt could now be claimed according to the fae rules of the Well.
