AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Pleasure." Aunt Nessie's voice dripped with sarcasm. If it had been one of her men being that way, then Macey would have told them off for being so rude. But when it came to Aunt Nessie, she was a little more hesitant. The woman was formidable, and in the Loch, she technically outranked her still. While the kelpies had a monarchy, there was some preference given towards power. One that meant Macey was well aware of the faction that wanted her on the throne over her brothers. She chose to ignore them. Causing dissent within the royal family was never the answer.
"I'll go get your men now," Fedelm said, floating nervously from side to side.
"Thank you," Macey replied, pushing herself away from the comfort of her Aunt's embrace. The emotion of the moment had been too much for her. But if she was going to lead the Wardens in their quest to save the world, then she needed to be strong. Which meant acting like the Princess she wanted to be, not the scared woman she really was at that moment.
"Men?" Aunt Nessie raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you need to tell me, Macey?" There was a slight accusation in her tone, as if Macey should have spilled the beans about her love life the moment her Aunt had entered the room.
Her cheeks heated and she wrung her hands together. She didn't really want to have this conversation. But it wasn't looking like there were many ways for her to avoid it.
"Yes, Auntie. Men. Three to be precise. Well, four. But one of them is Amber's."
"And the rest are yours?" Aunt Nessie asked, speaking over Amber's weak protest.
Macey didn't understand why the beithir was still denying what was between her and the Ice Warden. Even without seeing them together, she could tell just how enamored they were with one another. Thankfully, there was nothing like constant danger to bring people together. She'd be very surprised if the two of them weren't together by the end of their mission.
If they survived that was.
"Yes. Unless Cat-Man is still with them. Though I doubt he'll have stayed around for months while they searched for us."
"I'll take that as my cue to leave," Fedelm announced, before disappearing into a puff of mist. Macey shuddered. She was really beginning to hate the mists.
"Cat-Man?" It was Amber questioning this time, though she sounded at least intrigued rather than like she was looking down on anyone.
"A cat-sìth who was travelling with us. His sister died saving Izban."
"What?" the beithir demanded, her green eyes almost glowing in the dim light. "Izban nearly died?" Amber's tail swished back and forth violently.
Macey wanted to remind her to calm down, and that if she wasn't careful, her tail would break something. But the last thing she wanted was for the beithir to shift completely and end up destroying the whole pub.
"You have three men?" Luch asked, drawing the attention of the other three women.
She was leaning back over a chair, an amused smile on her face.
"Yes," Macey answered simply.
"Sounds fun," Luch responded. "But Amber, your man isn't dead. He was just in danger. And I should point out, we're all currently in danger anyway. It's not like you didn't nearly die a couple of times yourself."
Amber deflated, the mouse's words sinking in and making sense to her.
"I suppose." She pouted, clearly not happy.
"Izban was fine when I saw him, which was after the cu-sìth died," Macey said, hoping it offered some comfort to the other woman.
"That was months ago though."
"I know." Macey sighed. "I'm worried about them too."
"Nothing bad can have happened to them, right?" She sounded on the edge of tears. Not that Macey could blame her given the earlier sobs.
"I don't know," she admitted honestly. Maybe that wasn't the best choice this time, but she couldn't bring herself to lie.
“Sweetheart, why are hanging out with three men?” Aunt Nessie picked up the earlier thread of conversation again, making Macey increasingly uncomfortable. Her aunt using modern language like ‘hanging out’ was never a good sign.
“Have you ever heard of the prophecy of the Wardens?” she asked tentatively and her aunt nodded.
“Of course, hasn’t everybody?”
“So, you know how there are seven Wardens who have to save the world… well, it turns out that I’m one of them. Amber is another.”
