Royal blooded, p.25
Royal Blooded, page 25
part #1 of Royal Blooded Series
Eli lowered his hands as Naz put away her knife. Aria smiled, holding out her hand to shake Astraea’s. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I think the Chancellor is expecting us?”
“Indeed Princess Hightower. We will take you the rest of the way to Coldwater. I hope you brought warmer clothing though – it may be almost August, but you are in the north now and the winds blow cold.”
“They came prepared, don’t worry.” Freya said, grinning.
“Very well.” Astraea responded. Without warning, the four women each began to transform. Their arms lengthened into wings, sprouting feathers as their legs turned into talons. Not to be outdone, Freya began to transform as well, and it was only moments later before five coldheart phoenixes stood in front of them. Freya was the largest of them.
Freya moved beside Eli, nuzzling his face with hers. She carefully clutched his suitcase in one talon and hers in the other before turning around and looking at him expectantly. It took a few seconds before what she wanted clicked in his mind.
“Crap. You want to fly us there, don’t you?” He said.
Freya bobbed her head and let out a throaty caw. If birds could grin, she almost certainly would be. Shaking his head and bracing himself, he slowly climbed onto her back as the other women did the same to the other phoenixes. “Okay, give me some warning this time before you-Woah!” He shouted, interrupted by Freya’s wings abruptly starting to flap.
With a quick hop, they were all in the air and gaining altitude. Night had truly fallen now, and the twinkling lights from the small town quickly faded as they flew higher and higher. Trying not to look down, Eli leaned in close to Freya for several minutes, unable to see much except for her wings pumping up and down.
Finally, Freya’s wings stopped flapping and just spread out to either side. Sitting back up slightly Eli could see the other phoenixes and their riders level off around them, forming a V-shape with Astraea in the middle breaking the wind. He looked up to see a cloudless sky covered with stars and the soft shapes of the northern lights dancing above him. Risking a look down he saw they were quickly leaving the shoreline behind them, flying far out over James Bay and towards the Arctic Ocean.
Despite his fear of flying on the back of a phoenix, he started grinning. He leaned forward towards Freya’s head and started speaking loud enough for only her to hear. “Okay, I’ll admit it. This is amazing.”
Freya looked backwards to one side, giving him a one-eyed glance before bobbing her head and staring forward again. Bracing himself with only his legs, he reached his hands up to the sky and felt the air rush through his fingers. Belatedly, he realized he knew the air was cold, but he didn’t feel cold in the slightest. “This enchantment is great.” He thought to himself. “Better remember to thank Aurora when we get back.”
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After several hours of flying he saw Astraea start to angle her wings downward and descend in front of him. He barely had time to lean forward and grab hold of Freya again before she mimicked the motion, diving downwards towards the ocean. He frantically scanned the inky black waters, seeing nothing around for miles. “Where are we going?” He shouted through the wind.
As if in response, white light emanated from her. Covering his eyes for a moment to block the sudden light, he reopened them to see a large iceberg in front of him. It was roughly square, and Eli guessed it must have been about three square miles large. Jutting out all over the iceberg were tall buildings which would have looked at home in any large city on Earth, except that they were entirely white. There were lights glowing from some of the windows, and as they got closer he could just make out some silhouettes of people moving around.
They angled towards a large open space roughly in the middle of the iceberg. Eli braced himself as Freya dove steeply, the ground rising to meet them faster and faster. Again, at the last second she outstretched her wings and plopped down onto the ice field, dropping the bags gently as she did. Eli hopped off again as she began transforming back into her human form.
“Do you have to make every landing that terrifying?” He asked, noting that the other phoenixes landed much more gently.
“No. But where would be the fun in that?” She responded as she finished transforming, a grin on her face.
Shaking his head, he collected their bags and they met up with the rest of the group. Astraea led them to a tall building on the side of the ice field. “This is where you’ll be staying.” She said. “The entire thirtieth floor is for you and your party. We’ll come by at 8:00 AM sharp to collect you and take you to the capitol building. There, you’ll meet our leaders and you may begin negotiations.”
Aria began working out details with Astraea, but Eli tuned their conversation out. He was distracted by the building itself, and how stark white it was. Walking closer to it, he placed a hand on one of the exterior walls before Freya spoke up behind him. “It’s ice. All the buildings are made of ice.”
“Holy shit!” He said, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is amazing!”
“I’m glad you think so. Just don’t do what everyone else does the first time they come and quote that dumb animated movie with the ice princess and the stupid song.”
Grinning, he turned to Freya. “I was going to make a joke, but I guess I’ll just have to ‘let it go’ then?”
“I hate you.” She said, punching him playfully.
Apparently Aria had finished her conversation as her, Lilly, and Naz rejoined them. Lilly grinned. “He made the joke, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“I knew it! You owe me ten gold pieces.”
Aria rolled her eyes as she interlaced her fingers with Eli, kissing him. “Come on.” She said, ushering him into the building.
Eli would have never known he was standing inside a building made of ice. The lobby was completely unremarkable except that was staffed by all manner of magical races. A snow elf stood behind the concierge desk, and helped check them into their room. A werewolf stacked their bags onto a cart before wheeling it into an elevator. Eli tried not to gawk at the entire scene, but he couldn’t help but grin as he took it all in.
A second wave of surprise rolled over him as he started to sweat. He knew the building was made of ice, but it was warm inside – warm enough to melt the walls. “How is it not cold in here?” He asked Freya.
“Magic.” She said, grinning.
As they piled into the elevator and it shot upwards to their floor, a dwarf slipped in with them. Muttering a few words and touching the elevator wall, it shot upwards to their floor. “Magic elevators too?” He whispered to Aria.
“Yes. You get used to them.” She said softly as they reached their floor.
The doors opened to a penthouse suite. Naz quickly busied herself with checking every room for intruders before declaring the space ‘safe’. Lilly and Freya began unpacking everyone’s clothes into each of the four bedrooms. Aria set up her laptop on a table and began typing away, attempting to get as much preparation done as possible. Wanting to make himself useful, Eli wandered to the kitchen and opened the fridge to find that it was fully stocked. He quickly put together a late-night snack plate for everyone – one that they all enjoyed together once they had finished their tasks. Finally, they each went to their separate rooms for the night.
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The next morning they travelled to the Coldwater capitol building. In the daylight, Eli could see that the city was as densely packed as Manhattan. Thousands of people rushed from their magical condominiums to their magical offices, schools, or wherever they were going. His time in Irandell had taught him that though their day-to-day lives were filled with magic, on the whole they weren’t that different from humans.
As they neared the capitol building, Eli instantly knew which one it was because it looked so different from the boxy ice skyscrapers around it. It had a tower in each corner of the building, and each tower was topped with an onion-shaped dome. In the middle there was a triangular spire with ornate designs running all the way up it. At the very top of the spire there was an ice sculpture holding a shield, but they were too far away for Eli to make out any details.
Landing in front of the building, they were quickly ushered inside by a team of snow elves. Many of them acted as security, warding off any curious passersby. Their leader was an obviously attractive female snow elf, wearing a tight red skirt, a white sweater, and black high heels. Her hair swished back and forth as she led them through the hallways.
Eli hung behind Aria as they walked, not wanting to distract from her. Leaning over to Freya, he asked softly. “Is her outfit enchanted too? I would think she’d be cold wearing that.”
Freya shook her head. “Snow elves don’t feel cold, same as coldheart phoenixes. Anyone who lives here either doesn’t feel the cold, has enchanted clothing, or can generate so much heat through magic that it just doesn’t matter.”
Eli smirked. “So you could say the cold doesn’t bother her anywa-”
Freya punched him before he could finish the sentence. Thankfully, nobody noticed except for Naz and Lilly, who had to stifle their grins as their host turned around, having reached wherever they were going. “Through these doors please.” She said.
Eli pushed open the large ice door for Aria, and she strode through. The room was dominated by a giant ice table with ten chairs – five on either side. The five chairs on one side of the table were already occupied, so it was fairly obvious where they were expected to sit.
“Ah, good. It’s a pleasure to meet you Princess Hightower.” Said a short, skinny snow elf sitting in the chair closest to the door. “I trust your journey was pleasant?”
“It was, thank you Chancellor Eldrin. And congratulations on your recent election win. We’re looking forward to a productive discussion.” Aria replied with all the grace of a practiced politician.
“Yes, let’s hope so. This is Vice-Chancellor Jacob, and my advisors Arwen, Ida, and Seraphina.” He said, gesturing vaguely to his left.
“That’s Doctor Jacob Carter to you.” The man to his immediate left corrected him. “I didn’t spend all those years in medical school to be called ‘mister’”.
Eli’s eyes lingered on the man. The others looked distinctly elven with white hair and long ears, but he looked human. He had long scraggly brown hair, brown eyes, and wore a dark business suit. He was tall and built like a professional weightlifter with all his muscle, but he wouldn’t look particularly out of place in a human boardroom.
“Yes, of course Jacob.” Eldrin said condescendingly.
If Aria found the interaction strange, she made no mention of it. She smiled, and began introductions as well. “This is Lilly, Freya, and Naz – they are my security team and staff.” She nodded to them in turn. “And this is Eli – he is my fiancé.”
“Congratulations! I had heard you were engaged, I’m glad you brought him along. Please be sure to send us an invitation to the wedding – I’m sure it will be wonderful.”
“Yes of course.” Aria said. They all sat, and they began pulling out notebooks and laptops. “Shall we get started?”
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For a discussion about magic, the next eight hours were surprisingly boring. They mostly revolved around Coldwater receiving favorable pricing on some item or service in exchange for allowing the Hightower family to maintain a system of portals to the city. Lilly and Freya dutifully took notes, and Eli just did his best to keep up with the conversation.
Throughout the negotiations, Eli noticed their counterparty’s personalities start to emerge. Eldrin was a politician all the way through, often pausing to ask his advisors how some policy or concession would affect his polling numbers. Jacob for his part was much more pragmatic, focusing his comments on how each idea would affect the people of Coldwater. Eli quickly decided that he liked Jacob, but wasn’t a huge fan of Eldrin. Still, they made good progress and by the end of the day there were only a small handful of items to figure out.
Deciding to break from the negotiations for the evening, they agreed to reconvene again in the morning. They milled about for a few minutes as a group, shaking hands and making small talk. Eli decided to take the opportunity to introduce himself to Jacob as the rest of the group was distracted.
“Hey Doctor Carter.” Eli said, holding out his hand. “Just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work on this. It seems like you’re really looking out for the people of Coldwater, and I can appreciate that.”
Jacob grasped his hand and shook it before beathing in through his nose deeply. His eyes went wide. “Human?” He asked in English softly.
Eli broke the handshake, his eyes narrowing. “How?” He responded in English.
Jacob broke into a wolfish grin as he pointed to his nose. “Werewolf. We’ve got pretty good noses.”
Eli shook his head in disbelief. “So when you said you went to medical school…”
“I went to a real, honest-to-god, human medical school, yes. Graduated top of my class at Harvard. Mind you, that was about eighty years ago now.”
“Eighty?” Eli asked. “You don’t look that old.”
“Thanks kid. Took in a patient about sixty years ago – turned out the patient was a werewolf who was just turning. He bit me too, and well…” He finished the statement with a shrug. “So what’s your story?”
“Complicated.” Eli said, noticing that the others were starting to filter out of the room. “Another time? Maybe tomorrow, when this is done?”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Jacob said, nodding.
Eli jogged out of the room and caught up to Aria. Kissing her on the cheek, he whispered quietly. “Jacob’s a werewolf. Figured out I’m human by smell.”
Her eyes went wide, but otherwise she did nothing to show her surprise. They reached the entrance and quickly mounted their phoenixes, flying back to the hotel. Only once they were safely back inside did Aria bring up the topic again. “So, Jacob. Will he be a problem? Coldwater has representation on the council, they might want to try to turn you in.”
“No, I don’t think so. He seemed almost sympathetic. Still, we should head straight back after the negotiations tomorrow. I don’t want to hang around.”
“Agreed.” She said, stifling a yawn.
Eli kissed her deeply before spanking her ass playfully. “Come on. You did great today, but you need sleep if you’re going to finish this off. No funny business tonight, I promise – I’ll let you sleep.”
She smiled, kissing him again. “Thank you for being understanding. I promise when we get home I’ll make it up to you.”
Naz and Lilly had already gone to bed, but Freya was in the kitchen making food for herself. Deciding he could use a snack before bed, he moved to join her. Seeing the way she was wielding a chef’s knife as she was cutting cheese though, he approached slowly and from the front so as not to be stabbed.
“What?” She said in a huff, clearly frustrated.
“You and knives, I swear.” Eli said, shaking his head. “What are you making?”
“The meat, cheese, crackers and food dish you made last night was so good. I wanted to try to make it, but every time I try to cut this the knife goes all wobbly!”
He grinned. “Okay, first of all it’s called a charcuterie board – it’s French. Secondly, do you want me to try to show you how to use a chef’s knife?”
She pouted, then nodded. “Yes please.”
Stepping behind her, Eli placed one hand on top of hers, guiding it to the right position on the blade. “Okay, now extend your index finger like that – yeah, that’s perfect. That’ll give you a lot of stability. Now, when you’re cutting you don’t want to use the point of the blade – that’s for stabbing. Instead, you want to use the heel of the blade here, like this. Now bring your other hand around here and hold the cheese, but tuck in your fingers like this so you don’t cut yourself. There, that’s perfect. Now apply some nice even pressure downwards…there, you got it!”
Freya repeated the motion several more times, getting better every time. She turned around to look at him, grinning from ear to ear. Eli couldn’t ignore how close she was to him right now. His arms were already wrapped around her, and every breath he took inhaled more of her sweet scent. Her curly blonde hair bounced when she looked up at him with wide eyes.
Eli’s hands moved off of Freya’s, instead placing them on her body. Feeling his quickly-growing hardness, she pressed herself even tighter against him while grinning. His grin matched hers, and she placed the knife down before cupping his face, bringing it closer to hers. Their noses brushed as they moved closer to each other.
“Thank you for being patient with me.” Eli said softly. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole harem thing, but…do you think you might want to-” Freya pressed her lips against his softly, cutting him off.
She broke the kiss, a look of worry on her face. The look quickly faded as he leaned in for a second kiss, tasting her lips more deeply. She broke apart for long enough to turn around and face him, then hopped backwards onto the kitchen counter. Pulling him close again, she locked her legs around his back and ran her hands up his shirt as he kissed her neck. “Fuck, I’ve been waiting for this for so long.” She said, her voice strained with need.
A gentle boom in the background caused them both to pause what they were doing. “What was that?” Eli said.
“I don’t know. Hang on a sec.” Freya said, waiting in silence while they held each other.
There was another boom – this one louder, and it sounded more like thunder. Eli backed off, letting Freya hop off the counter. Naz, Lilly, and Aria each emerged from their rooms, clearly curious about what was going on. Wordlessly, Eli shrugged and they gathered by the large window near the kitchen, looking out into the city below. The sun had begun to set already, casting the whole scene in a dull orange glow.
