Page 41 of Beyond Her Sight

“That might be best,” Claire said. “To wait for dinner. Then we can tell it together.” She still wasn’t sure if they should share the fact that she was the new Queen of the Elves. And because she wasn’t sure, she was going to trust her instincts.

She tried sending her first full sentence down her bonds.We’ll talk about the Elven Forest at dinner.

The bond thrummed and then Desmond’s cooler blue thread sent back aYes. Claire tried to contain her smile. Communicating in their heads was getting easier and easier and that was certainly going to come in handy in the coming days. She would have to talk to them about practicing it more intentionally.

“So as you might have guessed, this is our meeting hall,” Mara gestured with the hand not holding Claire’s at the great room. “We take our meals here together too. Dragons eat dinner together to encourage a strong sense of clan and loyalty.”

Claire nodded. She remembered that the dragons prized loyalty above all things. Which was a bit odd now that she thought about it because she had remembered in her reading for Professor Storm’s history class that the Fae and Dragons had held a long alliance before the Great War.

“Each hallway,” Mara gestured to tunnels on all four sides of the room. “Lead to a wing of sleeping quarters and family rooms. Our wing which includes your rooms is down this one.” She gestured towards the tunnel off to the left side of the room.

They started walking that way when Everina asked her next question. “So how did you meet the boys then? Was there any grand wooing? Everett was surprisingly tight-lipped.”

Claire thought it was funny that they still called her men ‘the boys’ but supposed to their mothers they would always be the boys that probably ran rampant down these very tunnels.

“I actually didn’t believe them at first,” Claire admitted with a wry grin. “There might have been some running away on my end.”

Mara and Everina thought that was hysterical as they broke down in laughter. “I’ll bet that shocked them,” Mara said, wiping tears away from under her eyes. “But good for you. They should have worked for it.”

“Why did you run though?” Everina asked.

Claire shrugged. “I believed I was a low-level witch and they were a powerful Triad who needed a powerful Fourth. I had been told my entire life not to hope for anything out of my future. I was just thrilled to be attending the Academy and didn’t want to jeopardize that. So when three gorgeous…”

She stopped and winced. She had just called their sons gorgeous.

Everina let out a peal of tinkling laughter. “Don’t worry. We know we raised pretty boys who have turned into fine young men.”

Claire still winced a bit as heat bloomed in her cheeks. “So when three gorgeous men tell me that not only am I supposed to be their Fourth but also their Soul Flame, Treasure, and Mate? I might have panicked a bit and run.”

“They didn’t rush you did they?” Mara looked stern and fierce as she asked that, like an overprotective mother and Claire’s heart clenched a bit. Would Winona have looked like that if she had been alive when Claire had found her Triad? Would she have given them the third degree or welcomed them with open arms?

“No. They were patient and perfect.” Claire let out a little smile at their attempts to give her space and their gentle ‘wooing.’

Everina squealed again and when Mara threw her an exasperated look, Everina rolled her eyes. “What? She’s perfect for them and you can just tell from looking at all of them that they are desperately in love and it’s just all so perfect!”

Claire’s cheeks heated more and she looked for a subject change. Her smile widened and her eyes lit up as she thought of the perfect one. “So now that I have you both, I would love to hear any childhood stories you have of the three of them.”

Mara and Everina exchanged devious smiles before Mara turned back to her. “There was this one time after they first met…”

* * *

By the timethey had finished the tour, Claire was in stitches from their stories and Everina and Mara practically had to hold her up as they reentered the great meeting hall. To be fair, she was having to hold them up as well as all three of them were practically falling apart in laughter from the latest story Everina had proudly shared about the boys attempting to prank Roderick and Brantley. Roderick and Brantley had been pranksters back in their day as well so the tables had been turned but then both pranks had backfired completely leaving all five of them soaking wet and pantless due to a charm gone wrong from Desmond.

“And what is going on here?” Brantley asked as the men regarded the trio of women with looks ranging from bemusement to wariness.

Claire looked at Mara and Everina and the women collapsed into laughter again.

Malcolm frowned, his expression one of wary concern although a small smile played on his lips at the sound of Claire’s continued laughter. “I’m not sure I like you all getting along so well.”

Roderick frowned next to him. “You’re right, son. This could be dangerous.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mara said, straightening and wiping the tears from under her eyes. “Everina and I were simply getting to know our new daughter.”

Roderick stole her into his arms and Claire could see where Malcolm got his affectionate tendencies from. “With the three of you powerhouses together, is my mountain going to survive?”

Everina patted Everett’s chest as she went to her own mate. “What did you all expect when you brought her home? You all brought this upon yourself.”

“Let’s take a seat and talk,” Roderick guided Mara over to a long table. “We have an hour before dinner so you can fill us in as much as you can before then.”

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