Their End

Chapter 3 | A Royal Visit

REMI

Sammy and I sat in my office, each with a different book in our laps. Fifi lay curled up on the couch, small puffs of smoke leaving her parted lips on her exhales. Grayson laid in the small playpen, also napping his afternoon away.

“Are you finding anything that even comes close to describing her?” Sammy sighed, closing her book.

“No,” I shook my head, setting mine on my desk. We both slumped back in our chairs.

“Not a single book in the entire library has any accurate information on the dragonborn,” she pointed out. “How is that possible?”

“Because this is all from legends,” I said, sweeping an arm over the multiple volumes littering my desk. “It reads like conjecture, not fact. Plus, we’re comparing it to what Fifi tells us.”

We both looked over at our sleeping friend. Luckily, the first thing we learned about Fifi was that when she slept, it was for a long time. That gave us all a break when she did sleep. It seemed her energy was near-boundless when she was awake.

The smoke still coming from her mouth was also concerning.

“There has to be something, somewhere, about them,” Sammy groaned.

“Maybe we should have Calder and Cullen reach out to the Winter Fae?” I suggested. All our attempts at finding anything about Fifi’s race were coming up short. With the Elder Council growing more hostile by the day, we were desperate to learn what we could. Fifi was far more interested in discovering things about our realm than telling us anything about hers.

“Couldn’t hurt,” she agreed, standing to her feet and beginning to collect all the volumes we took from the library. “She certainly doesn’t fit the image that was put in my head as a witchling.”

I looked over at Fifi again. Gentry’s mom was a whiz with a sewing machine. She helped us modify a whole wardrobe for Fifi to accommodate her tail and wings. At least without her very distinct armor, she almost passed as something normal for our realm.

My office door swung open, and Gentry appeared in the doorway. “Uh, Cinderella? You might want to get downstairs.”

“What’s going on?” Sammy and I were both immediately on our feet. Her attention went to her sleeping son.

“We have visitors,” Gentry said.

“Who? Where are Calder and Cullen?” Ryker appeared in the doorway behind Gentry. His appearance told me not only were we not expecting these visitors, but my mates were apprehensive about what they could be visiting us for.

“Calder and Cullen are downstairs,” Gentry said. “It’s the prince and princess of the Summer Fae.”

“Oh,” I said as I looked back at Sammy. She swallowed, staring back at me with wide eyes.

“Remi?” Gentry said.

“Gentry, I need you to do something,” I said, giving him my attention again. I hastily started wrapping my hair into a bun, hoping to dress up my casual appearance. At least my shirt didn’t have any baby puke on it. “I need you to stay up here with Fifi. Sammy needs to come with me.”

“What?” he exclaimed. “No! You aren’t taking her down there without me!”

“Gen,” Sammy started.

“We need someone to stay with Fifi. They are here for the ember, and it currently resides in our dragonborn’s stomach,” I argued. “Your mate can help explain things, but do you really think it’s a good idea to parade her before the Summer Fae royalty before we’ve even figured out what we’ll do about her or the ember?”

Gentry worked his jaw back and forth but I could see that he begrudgingly agreed with me. I turned back to Sammy, who just nodded at me.

“Luna?” Ryker said.

“Let’s go,” I nodded. Gentry stepped aside to let us out of the office. He grabbed Sammy on our way out. I continued with Ryker at my heels to give them a moment.

I could feel the tension as I descended the stairs and made it to the first floor. “Library, Luna,” Ryker guided me to where my mates must have taken our guests.

I quietly pushed the door to the library open and popped my head in. Prince Aedreal turned to me with a smile. “Ah, there is your lovely mate.”

“Prince Aedreal,” I greeted him. I moved toward Calder and Cullen, the latter holding an arm out for me. “It’s been too long.”

“Can we move past the pleasantries?” the princess snipped. “As much as I enjoy being my brother’s errand boy, I’d like to return to my life.”

Princess Aebellae looked different on this side of the veil. She was still tall and thin, but her features were far sharper. Her appearance was enough to send fear down my spine, unlike the easy demeanor held by her older brother.

“We apologize that you felt you had to come all the way here, Princess,” Calder tried to pacify her.

“I assured my brother there was a simple explanation for the ember to have not been returned when rumors reached him of the warlock’s demise,” Prince Aedreal said.

“And I told him he was a fool for handing it out so quickly,” Princess Aebellae sneered. The last time we saw the princess, she had seemed to like me. Whatever goodwill we had with her previously was clearly gone. Ryker teetered nervously behind Cullen and me.

Sammy finally reached the library, trying and failing to sneak in discreetly. “And this must be your witch,” Prince Aedreal smiled. “We have not had the pleasure.”

“Why don’t we all sit, and then we can talk about the ember,” I offered.

“Or you could hand it over,” Princess Aebellae suggested. “As no fire ravages the realm, I suspect it was never ignited. Wherever it is, bring it here so it can be returned to its hold.”

I looked at Calder and then Cullen. The silent question passed between us. So far, a handful of people knew about Fifi and the ember. Telling others, even allies, could cause a domino effect with an uncertain outcome.

“We had every intent of returning the ember,” I told them.

“The warlock perished some time ago, yes?” Aedreal asked. I nodded slowly. “Then what reason do you have to keep such a thing?”

“There were some unforeseen… complications,” Calder rationalized.

Aebellae raised her brows at her brother as if to say, “I told you so.”

“As soon as we are able to return the ember safely, we will be bringing it to you,” Cullen promised. “Right now, it is not possible.”

“If it is a matter of handling the ember,” Aedreal started, looking at Sammy. I could see her unease.

“It’s more about extinguishing the fire,” I offered.

“So you were able to light it?” Aedreal asked with a hint of praise in his tone.

“Yes,” Sammy spoke up. “The ember served its purpose, but as Calder mentioned, there were some unpredictable circumstances that have prevented us from putting it out completely.”

“Where is it?” Aebellae demanded. “It needs to be removed from this realm immediately.”

“It’s safe,” I promised.

“You stupid wolves,” Aebellae growled. Cullen tightened his grip on me, and Calder shifted closer. “The flames burn magic as their fuel. They will consume this realm. Why do you think my brother moved the ember so far across the veil!”

“Sister,” Aedreal chided.

“The flame is contained,” Sammy said. “They cannot harm anyone for the moment.”

“How can you be so sure?” Aebellae scoffed. She crossed her arms over her chest and impatiently tapped a single, long black nail on her arm.

“I must be honest, friends. My confidence in you is waning,” Aedreal admitted.

“I say we tell them,” I linked my mates. “We haven’t figured out what to do with Fifi, and the flame still has to be burning inside her with all the smoke she breathes. Maybe they know how we can snuff it out, at least.”

“We expose ourselves, and others could come after the dragonborn,” Cullen reasoned. “They won’t care who stands in their way.”

“It’s only in their best interest to help us if they want the ember back,” I argued. “The princess only cares about getting the ember back through the veil and returning to her life. She will have no interest in Fifi outside of that.”

“If news were to spread and others came for Fifi, the Summer Fae lose their ember,” Calder agreed. “I agree with Remi.”

“Fine,” Cullen seethed.

“No magical object made by a witch can contain the Immortal Flames,” Aebellae said. “How are you containing them?”

Sammy looked at me for help. I swallowed and tried not to let on how nervous this made me. “During our fight with the warlock, a considerable amount of magic was wielded on both sides,” I started. “Enough so that we attracted the attention of some outside forces.”

“Outside forces?” Aedreal questioned.

“Before my mate continues,” Calder stopped me. “We need you to understand the delicate nature of the situation.”

“We meant no disrespect in failing to return the ember, but we also were not willing to put our pack at risk,” Cullen added.

“Oh, just spit it out already,” Aebellae snapped.

“A dragonborn ate the flames,” I said quickly.

Silence settled around us. Both royal Fae looked at me as if I had just spoken another language. Aebellae opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and frowned. “I’m sorry, young Luna. I had to have misheard you. Did you say ‘dragonborn?’”

“I did,” I nodded.

“As I said, unforeseen complication,” Calder said.

“So, the ember is inside a dragonborn. The mythical balance bringers in the magical realms,” Aebellae rationalized.

“We think it might still be burning inside her. She’s kind of puffing smoke still,” Sammy said. “But we are trying to work out a plan to put it out and retrieve the ember. We’ve eliminated the possibility of making it come back up.” Sammy made a vomiting motion to clarify her meaning.

“Immortal Flames are burning inside the stomach of a dragonborn somewhere in this pack?” Aedreal asked disbelievingly.

“Yes,” Calder and Cullen said at the same time.

Aedreal and Aebellae looked at each other before Aedreal burst out into laughter. It was hardly the reaction I expected. Aebellae threw her hands up in the air and stormed from the room. “Ryker,” Calder ordered. He nodded and followed after the irritated princess.

“Oh, I cannot wait to report this to my brother,” Aedreal said as he calmed.

“As you can see, we have not had any ill intent,” Cullen said.

“No, but you have a much more interesting problem,” he agreed. “Tell me, witch, what is your plan?”

“Well,” Sammy said uncertainly. “We’ve sort of ran into a wall with the flame, so we moved to finding anything we could on the dragonborn. Everything I know is based on stories told to my kind as children to scare us into always minding the balance.”

“The dragonborn have not touched this realm in a long time,” Aedreal nodded. “Even I only know of them through story.”

“But what about the flames?” I wondered. “Surely if your brother was willing to let us have the ember, knowing we intended to use it, you have some idea how to extinguish the flame.”

“I’m afraid I am no expert in this sort of thing,” Aedreal said. “My sister knows more than I, but King Aedean is the most knowledgable.”

“Do you think he might agree to help us?” I asked. “I know we’ve already asked for a lot, but we only want to return the ember to you.”

“I’m sure we can assist you in devising a way to put out the flame and safely removing it from the dragonborn,” Aedreal agreed.

“Anything you can tell us about the flame or how it was put out before,” Sammy said eagerly.

Aedreal held up his hand. “I must talk to my brother first. Much of what is known about the ember and flames is in the protected archives. Only our King can access them.”

“Thank you,” Calder said.

“Don’t thank me yet. Aedaen may let our sister return here and cut off the head of your dragonborn to extract the flames herself.”