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I heaved a sigh. "How noble of you, Lord Bach."
He chuckled at my pouting. Then the ass dared to chuck my chin as if I was a child. "Don't worry," he told me with a mischievous smile. "I have my reasons for making you wait, sweetheart."
Then he hauled his sexy ass out of the pool and strolled over to where our nearly dry clothes were spread out in the sun. I didn't look away as he pulled off his wet undershorts, letting my eyes linger on his muscular ass and the truly massive erection that he put on full display. He shook his head at me but didn't lose his smug grin as he covered up that beautiful body.
I sighed loudly to make my disappointment known, then went over to get dressed myself. I knew I wasn't built like a highborn lady. But Bach had definitely appreciated my plump curves the last time we were naked together, so I made sure to go slow and give him a show, the way he had done for me.
The moment I was fully clothed again, my wet underthings tucked under my arm, Bach crowded me up against a nearby tree trunk and kissed me breathless. "You are so beautiful," he murmured. "Soon. We will consummate our bond soon," he promised, his expression going tender as he caressed my cheek. "But for now, we have more important things to attend to. Like figuring out who needs to die for putting your life in danger."
Ah, that explained at least some of his ability to wait. I recognized Bach's protector mode. He wouldn't be satisfied or completely at ease until someone paid for what had happened that day. And I was inclined to agree with him. I knew that the royal inquisitor was looking into things. I trusted the king and queen to work in my interests. But the royals were likely to draw things out, to play games and enjoy the hunt. I was just sick of the nonsense and wanted an end to it as soon as possible. I'd had enough.
So, rather than insisting that we dally, I took the lead as we set out toward the guard station. It was possible that whoever had caused the rockslide would still be lingering around, but I wanted to talk to Ore sooner rather than later. And I had an ancient mountain spirit to deal with.
Chapter 22
Communing with the old ones could be difficult at times. Some elder spirits, like the ones in the Untamed Wood, were curious and watchful, and would sometimes deign to interact with us mortals if the whim took them. But others were made of deeper, slower energies. Elder spirits like the Old Scourge were far less concerned about the comings and goings of mortal beings who were like ants to their awareness. We were small, and busy, and largely beneath notice.
However, the Old Scourge had been communicating with the fae from the work crew. And the mountain spirit was clearly still awake and agitated after the rockslide incident. The ground still gave a warning rumble from time to time, as if daring anyone to use the pass.
After assuring Ore that his rash, last-minute magic had saved us, rather than drowning us, I got to work. Both Ore and Bach, as well as a few of the remaining work crew, stood watch while I sat down on the ground at the entrance to the mountain pass and sank into deep meditation.
I reached for the energies of the nature spirits around me, sinking into the deep, slow, resonant energy of the earth. Many lowborn fae who had human ancestry struggled with this type of connection, but thankfully for me it was one of my few truly fae talents. And it was enhanced by my connection to the territory of Larkwood and my royal assignment. As I sank into communion with the earth, I could sense the fury of the old mountain spirit. It was grating and proud, stoic and sure. And it hated me, specifically.
What have I done to anger you, great one? I thought urgently. How have I warranted the scorn of the strong, silent mountain that has long been a friend?
The answer came in images and sensations, a myriad of symbols that I had to sift through and interpret. But eventually the message became clear. The elder spirit thought that I wouldn't be content with this one concession on their part, that I would seek to destroy and reshape the entire mountain, to level it so my people could move freely. They saw me as a destructive force that would trample nature in my greed for more.
Elder nature spirits were not capable of worry and thoughts of vengeance and bitterness in the way we mortals were. Those beliefs had been planted in the elder spirit's consciousness by someone else. Someone had twisted the truth about the construction project to make it appear that Larkwood's steward didn't care about the sanctity of the natural world. The mountain had been taught, cajoled and trained by the supposed liaison, to identify me and to rain down death upon me before I could destroy the mountain and all the creatures who dwelled there.
Tears flowed unchecked down my cheeks as I floated in that place between sleep and awake, my aura reaching out for the mountain spirit, showing them my true intent, and voluntarily submitting to their inspection of my aura, my heart, and my true motives.
The elder spirit's anger only grew at how easily they had been manipulated by the fae who had posed as ambassador. But eventually, we came to an agreement. I would seek justice for the spirit of the Old Scourge, and they would return to their slumber. They had no objection to the pass or our use of it, if that's all we wanted. This bit of construction was nothing to the rise and collapse and rise again of the mountains. They simply needed to know that I didn't want more. That my intentions were pure and that I truly respected the beauty and sacred majesty of the old ones.
I came out of my meditation feeling disoriented and floaty, but the energy of the earth anchored and grounded me, bringing me back to my body with care.
"Well, that's taken care of," I said to the males who watched over me. "All we have to do is find your earth fae liaison and make sure he is punished for manipulating an elder spirit."
We all shared a tired look. I was pretty sure the male would be long gone and deep into hiding by now.
"The royal army will find him," Ore promised, his expression grim. "And I will assist in any way I can."
Bach sighed. "We'll need to make sure the guards here know not to kill him on sight. We need to know who he was working for."
I nodded as Balefire fluttered down to the earth and changed from crow to horse. Luckily, my pooka companion had a strong sense of self-preservation. He had made it out of the rockslide unscathed. "We'll talk with the head of the guards and send off a royal missive as soon as we get back home to Northbower," I told Ore with one last nod of farewell.
Then we left the work crew to clear the pass and finalize their construction. Again. As if it wasn't bad enough to have someone interfering with my life, they also had to inconvenience every other person who was trying to do their job. It was maddening.
Once we reached home and found some dry undergarments, Bach and I filled the others in on our eventful day. I spoke with Currant, who went to meet with Ore and gather details about his missing traitor of an employee. Then I sent a letter to the king and queen. That done, I gathered with my mates and a tray of tea, liquor, and pastries. Mirri had been working on the list of potential suspects, weeding out which local nobles might benefit most from my demise, and we needed to review his findings.
But a missive from the troll clan we had been trading with came before we could really get to it. Saffron left the message on a silver tray, then took his leave. I picked up the heavy roll of rough-pressed paper that had been carried to us via the mini-wyverns that the trolls used as messenger birds. I read through the letter in silence. Then read it again, a headache building behind my eyes. The third time, I read it out loud to my mates, who had been silently watching what must be a whole slew of emotions cross my face.
The trolls knew about the mage dust and start crystals, and they were accusing Larkwood of showing favoritism to Dwarfhall by secretly selling the precious commodities to them before we formally announced our new resources to the world. The roughly worded letter stated quite bluntly that if we wanted to maintain good relations with the troll clans who bartered with us, we should have offered them a chance to trade for mage dust and star crystals as well.
It sounded like they had found out about the existence of the mage dust and start crystals before our recent announcement to the citizens of Larkwood. And the troll chieftain was correct. It would be polite of us to offer trade agreements to all of our allies at once, rather than secretly engaging in the sale of rare resources to just one party. That was why we hadn’t started any trade negotiations regarding the new resources yet.
“This makes no sense,” I said tiredly. “Why would they think we’re selling mage dust to the dwarves?”
We all stared at each other in silence for a moment. “Are the trolls known for making baseless accusations? Maybe trying to start another conflict with Elfhaven?” Bach asked with a frown. “From all I have ever heard, they were happy to end the wars and retreat to safety on their side of the mountain, since they were losing so badly. But you have more personal experience with them.”
