“Don't thank me yet,” I warned. “I'll need your help in proving your innocence. I need to find out who really is guilty and to do that, I'll need you to stay in Fairy for awhile.”
“What?” Rayetayah cocked his head at me. “You want us to leave the Human Realm?”
“For now,” I nodded. “I want all of you to go to the Twilight Court, where you will stay until I can find the impostor. With you under the watchful eyes of my father, you will have an alibi, a royal alibi. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I see your logic,” he nodded. “So be it, Princess. We will go to court and submit to observation. But how will we help you find the culprit if we're in another realm?”
“Youare going to stay here with me,” I said to him and he began to smile; slow and sensuous. Just like his father. I nearly rolled my eyes. “Not that kind of stay with me,” I snapped and his smile faded. “You'll stay here, in the Council House, with me and my guards. You'll be under our supervision while you help us find whomever is behind this.”
“Alright, Princess Seren,” he sighed and looked to his people. “But first, I will see my family safely to Fairy.”
“I'll help with that too,” I agreed. “I have fairies waiting for me at one of the raths in Twilight. We'll take your people there and I will escort them through with you. Then my fairies will lead the raven mockers to Twilight Castle. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes,” he nodded and scooped me up, launching us into the air.
“What the hell?” I snapped.
“I'm taking you back to the Council House,” he glanced down at me with a little smile. “I'll leave you there and return tomorrow evening. My family and I need a night to gather our things and prepare to leave.”
“Oh, okay,” I settled in against him. “I guess that works.”
“It will have to,” his low voice slid over me and I thought again of his father.
Raza had told me that he was one of the last of his kind and that his race would eventually go extinct. Rayetayah was proof of that. The dragon blood wouldn't continue past Raza, instead, it had helped to create a new line entirely. Which I guess, was Nature's way. One race ends and another begins.
Chapter Eight
I called Tiernan from the air, to let him know I was alright and to tell everyone to stand down; I was unharmed and on my way back. He was angry but relieved enough that it didn't matter. I made a mental note to thank my Uncle Dylan for the cell phones. Without them, Tiernan and the rest of my Guard would have been wandering around Tulsa, searching for me all night.
As it was, we returned to find the Council House all lit up, floodlights illuminating the entire yard, and were instantly surrounded by fairy knights and extinguishers when we landed. Rayetayah gave me a smirk as he let me go.
“They're still scared of me,” he chuckled.
“They're afraid that you'll hurt me,” I corrected. “But that brings up a good question,” I waved everyone back as I turned to look up at him. “Why have you been attacking the Council House if you're innocent?”
“We never attacked them,” he shook his head. “We heard about what went on with the shaman and knew we'd be blamed. So instead of just waiting for them to hunt us, I thought it would be better to try and simply scare them off. No one gets hurt that way,” he shrugged.
“Except that it made you look guilty as hell,” I sighed. “Alright, go do what you need to do and meet me back here tomorrow evening.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” he took my hand and bowed, kissing the back of it. Then he launched himself straight up into the sky.
“I know,” I said to everyone as I walked towards the house. “I have a lot of explaining to do. Let's go inside first, it's cold out here.”
“Ambassador, are you all right?” Councilman Teagan stood on the porch, waiting for me.
“I'm perfectly fine,” I assured him. “The raven mocker leader was concerned for the safety of his people, so he flew me to a neutral location for us to speak.”
“Hewas concerned,” Councilman Murdock huffed.
“Let's talk in the living room,” Teagan ignored Murdock and waved me inside. “I think everyone has a right to hear what you have to say.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed and followed him in to take a seat on an overstuffed beige couch beside him.
Tiernan sat beside me, taking my hand to give it a relieved squeeze before letting it go. Cat laid across my feet and my Star's Guard spread themselves around the room, keeping a watchful eye on everything as they listened. The extinguishers made like my Guard; standing around the room, several near windows so they could keep a watch over the perimeter of the house. The council members though, just came in and took seats.
“Now that we're all settled,” Teagan nodded. “Please tell us what you've learned, Ambassador Seren.”
“I believe the raven mockers are innocent,” I said and the room erupted into surprised shouting; mostly from the council members.
