AFFINITY Read online

  “Yes. Yes, I did.” She gave them a look that said that the discussion wasn’t over and hiked up her skirts to bolt up the staircase. She gave the banisters a longing look as she ran and promised herself a slide down them at the first opportunity.

  The halls seemed almost endless. Dozens of rooms opened off the main hallway, and she opened them all one by one. Most were guestrooms, one was a library, another an office of sorts. The master bedroom had the marks of both men, and two enormous beds.

  They really had been together for a very long time.

  She ducked back out of the bedroom with one last look at those enticing beds. Just seeing them made her crave a nice naked nap.

  She carefully examined the portraits in the halls, looking at the variety of dress that the boys had been in while being painted. From the Middle Ages with them depicted in a tapestry, to a modern portrayal of them both back to back.

  Their bond had obviously survived the centuries and it made her shiver a little to think that it would last long after she was dust. It just wasn’t fair.

  A little depressed, she made her way down the staircase and sought out the entrance to the rear garden. She stroked the dewy petals of the roses that bloomed as she passed, lost in thought.

  What did her future hold? How long would she be trained by Boral and Orlyn? What would she do with her Affinity after they had tired of her? Was her life to be one meaningless encounter after another, searching for a man for whom she would not change? What about children? As a mule between species, was it even possible for her to get pregnant? And what if her encounters with her tutors bore fruit, would they want the child or send her away to raise it on her own?

  Her heart was heavy as she paced along and when she took a look at her surroundings she was deep in the maze.

  “Fantastic.” Talking to herself was probably not a good sign. Looking back the way she had come, she desperately searched for some sign of her passage. Nothing. Not one trace of footprints or broken leaves. She was stuck. Unless she solved the maze.

  “Not bloody likely.” Wait. She had kept her left hand trailing across the flowers and hedges. She just might be able to trace her path if she turned one hundred and eighty degrees and used her right hand to find her way out. If her memory was correct and she had kept her hand on the wall the whole time. Otherwise, she was just going to get more and more lost as she progressed.

  With her hand shaking slightly, she turned and stroked the green wall of the hedge. The guys would come for her, but in how long? They were so happy to be home that it may be hours before they came looking for her.

  She kept her hand firmly in contact with the greenery and walked at a slow and determined pace. Esmy didn’t know how long she had been out already, but it felt like hours.

  She came to several conclusions on her long hike. One was that no matter what happened to her in the future, she didn’t regret meeting Boral and Orlyn. The second was that by gaining control of her talents she had begun to feel a comfort within her own skin that she had never felt before. For the first time in her life, she was around strangers who simply accepted her for what she was. A half-breed elf. And a woman. Nothing else mattered to them. As she continued her mulling over her newly serene status she stumbled out of the maze in surprise.

  While she walked pensively back to the house, she realized that she had left her fears and panic in the maze. She had now to worry about, and that was plenty.

  Chapter Nine

  The goblins were huddled in a corner of the entrance chamber, and as she wandered in through the rear entrance they stilled and looked at her with relief on their homely faces. “Miss Hawks! We are so glad to see you. The masters had begun asking for you, and we didn’t know where you had gone.”

  She curtsied gracefully, a skill that her tutors had made her practice. “I apologize for the confusion. In the future I will try and let Treal know where I am wandering to.” The goblins looked astonished at the courtesy paid to them, and flushed an unbecoming indigo.

  “That would be most welcome, Miss. Now, dinner will be served in an hour, and you need to clean up before the guests arrive.”

  “Guests? What guests are those?” She allowed her maid to hustle her up the stairs and waited for the gossip to flow.

  “Well, Miss,” Treal’s husky voice drew quiet as they passed one of the other goblins who was running up and down the halls with pitchers and linens. “The Masters decided that you needed more exposure to others to test your growing control over your talent. They also invited your father and grandmother, I believe.”

  She straightened from her conspiratorial pose. “Here are your chambers, Miss. There is a full wardrobe on the other side of the room, a bathing chamber off through that door over there, and a dressing table with a fresh selection of cosmetics. The bed will be turned down promptly at ten whether you sleep in it or not.” With a smile and a wink out of one muddy green eye, Treal let her know that the staff was aware of her involvement with the masters and that no one cared.

  “The masters have requested that you wear the gown on your bed this evening, they wish you to be at the height of confidence when meeting the guests.”

  The gown would certainly do that. It was one of the revealing/concealing outfits that Isowyn was always trying to get her to wear. She sighed and held it up—it really was beautiful, a dark rainbow of colors in an almost toga style. She smiled and laid it back on the bed. Shower first.

  Treal was in the bathroom and Esmy was unsurprised to see that a bath had been drawn for her. She was taken aback when the maid started to tug at her clothing. “What are you doing?”

  “I am taking on my duties as your maid, Miss.”

  “I am accustomed to taking care of myself, Treal.”

  The goblin’s hands loosened her clothing in a matter of seconds and her dress slid to the floor. “Not anymore, Miss. In this house, the masters have given us orders to wait on you so that you may concentrate on your studies, and that is what we will do.”

  She gave up and let Treal strip her completely, then stepped into the bath. “Have they trained many people before me?”

  “No, Miss, as far as I am aware, you are the first that has ever been taken into their home.”

  The goblin scrubbed at her skin in a no-nonsense fashion, soaping and rinsing her with brisk efficiency. It was short minutes later that she was hauled out of the tub and toweled dry. It was the fastest and most thorough bath she had ever had. Her skin was glowing pink with the scrubbing and she had to ask, “What’s the hurry?”

  “I still have to dress your hair, Miss, and that will take some time. You need to be ready in half an hour—we don’t have any time to waste.” Shooing her charge in front of her, Treal bullied and poked her onto the stool in front of the mirror, and soon she was having a brush dragged through her hair with determined force.

  The midnight blue strands separated and behaved immediately, falling to her hips obediently. After they were dried in more towels, her tresses began to undergo their transformation.

  Treal’s clever fingers wove braids in the thick mass and Esmy held completely still as her head was transformed into a marvel of engineering.

  From a box on the dressing table the goblin took a variety of gemstones and pinned them into the master work she had created.

  “There. Now stand and we will get the gown on.”

  Esmy was beginning to sense that Treal was less of a maid and more of a handler. She obediently stood and let her drop the gown over her head. It snagged briefly on her coiffure and she kept herself still as the gown was settled over her. A few short tugs and the stroke of a hand settled it completely into place.

  “Back to the mirror, please.” Treal hustled her back into place and quickly and efficiently applied makeup to her hapless victim. Finally she stood back and let her prey stand and look at herself in the mirror.

  “Holy crap!” Looking at her in the mirror was a nobly born elven woman of startling beauty and impeccable fashio
n. The masters of the house were right, she had never felt more powerful or confident. She was fantastic.

  A knock at her door told her that Treal had been right to rush her. “Esmy. It’s time—the guests will be here in a moment. Are you ready?”

  She crossed over to the door and was almost spun around when Treal shoved her out of the way to open the door for her.

  Boral and Orlyn were as astonished at her appearance as she had been. “Light and lady…you look wonderful.” Boral took her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. She shivered lightly and the waves kept going as Orlyn took her other hand and laid a moist kiss on her palm. “You look as you always should look. As a woman of your beauty and grace should always be seen.”

  She was a little dazed. The looks in their eyes had her skin flushing and a small ember began to flare to life in her abdomen. Oh. This was going to be way too long a dinner party.

  They took positions to either side of her and offered her their arms. Linked through her, they progressed down the grand staircase just in time to greet the first of their guests.

  Chapter Ten

  Mitski was an elf of dryad extraction—her rich mahogany skin was framed by her wealth of emerald hair. She greeted both of her hosts warmly and then turned to her, “So, you are the new creature that has come into the council’s light? You are far more beautiful than Wyx had described you.” Mitski took both her hands and kissed her on the lips, her breath was warm and scented with honey. It was intoxicating to Esmy’s senses.

  She leaned into the kiss and it was only the sense of her magic answering Mitski’s query that caused her to draw back and firm up control of her form.

  “Pleased to meet you. But I rarely answer to creature now, my name is Esmerelda Hawks.” She politely drew her hands from those of the elf and gracefully retreated.

  Mitski looked both disappointed and pleased at the same time, but she stepped back to let the second arrival take his place in the greeting line.

  Venril as well was an exceptionally attractive elf, his entire countenance kissed by the sun. Warm and glowing, his golden eyes were lighter than his golden skin, but darker than his metallic hair. He took her into a less than formal embrace as well, her body responding more naturally to being in masculine arms, but again as she felt the tug on her senses, she broke the contact and withdrew.

  This followed with the other guests that were attending, some members of the elven council, a Warder named Eylonwy who’s very nature gave rise to the hint of great age. She wore a ring on her finger in giant fashion, the center finger with a large flat gem. Esmy made a note to ask her about it during dinner.

  Once all of the guests had had the opportunity to batter at her talent and the control that she had recently learned, they went in to dinner.

  The comments about her made her feel like a house trained pet for the first part of the dinner, until the comment, “So, what is it about her that made you petition for the honor of being her tutors? Not that Isowyn or Erak would deny any of your requests.”

  A polite row of giggles rang through the guests until Orlyn looked slyly at Elyonwy and asked her, “What elements are represented in our dear Esmerelda?”

  Eylonwy finally understood her reason for being invited. “Why, she is made of Earth and Air. As is all of her magic. A perfect compliment to your fire and Boral’s water. You have been looking for a woman like her for quite some time, have you not?”

  “Indeed. She completes what we have felt all too keenly to be missing.” Boral reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled back, but her mind was whirling.

  So that was why they had been so eager to take her on as a pupil, not to mention lover. She knew that they had elemental magic, but she had never associated her own talents with that most rare of fey skills. Elementals were drawn to complete a set. Normally, it would have been two couples or four friends, but with her odd pedigree they had circumvented convention with a single addition. How convenient for them.

  She took a sip wine and asked the question that had been burning in her mind since she noticed it. “Eylonwy, that ring you are wearing is a giant wedding ring, is it not? Where is your husband?”

  The conversation stilled and most of the other guests looked appalled. Eylonwy simply laughed. “My husband is asleep. For at least the next hundred years. Cormor will waken, we will have twenty years together and then he will sleep again for three hundred years.”

  “That’s horrible! Is it a curse?”

  “No, it was the fey and giant council’s decision, to keep us from creating too many children.” Eylonwy smiled at Esmy. “Unlike the majority of the fey, a fairy with Warder blood can keep to an almost human reproductive cycle. It was a matter of overrunning Realm with half-giants or making the slumber part of our marriage arrangements.”

  “How many children do you have?” This was just too fascinating, even if the rest of the guests looked distressed.

  “Cormor and I have nine children to date. Our descendants are in almost every species of Realm at this time.” Eylonwy looked down the table at Mitski and winked. The other elf looked discomfited at the reminder that she was not pure blooded. “Of course, the tainted blood is an embarrassment to some, like my granddaughter Mitski here. Her mother decided to ignore her warder talents and wandered off to find a male dyrad. It took her nearly two hundred years and multiple continents, but she did it.”

  “Well, you have to admire her persistence.” Esmy pondered the situation for a moment, then got an evil grin. “Have you just considered getting your husband a vasectomy? Then he wouldn’t have to sleep and you could spend a lot more time together.”

  Eylonwy was astonished. “Why didn’t I think of that? I remember glancing at an article on it twenty years ago, but hadn’t thought about it for him. I’ll have to ask him about it the next time I visit.”

  “You can talk to him?”

  “Well, just because he is asleep doesn’t mean he can’t hear me. We have been communicating about our children and grandchildren for years. As well as the newest trends in magic and spells.” She gave Esmy a piercing look. “Your friend Isobel has had access to a number of new spells recently. The fourth member of your little group is an Archive, isn’t she?”

  Wow, that was unexpected. Eylonwy had seemed so friendly and innocuous. “Yes, she is. She is currently in the custody of her family and they are seeking protection for her.”

  A murmur of astonishment went around the table and even her tutors looked surprised.

  “What kind of new spells?”

  “Anything, from summoning a taxi to slowing an elevator. The new mirror spells at use in most of the council halls are of her design. As are a variety of anti-detection spells to make life in the human world more accessible.”

  The table was buzzing now and she spent the next three courses explaining the details of a variety of one-use spells as well as an auto reverse command for any spells cast in the last forty eight hours.

  When dessert was served she was relieve to be able to concentrate on the cheesecake stuffed with fruit and drizzled with caramel. It was odd, but tasted so good.

  It had to be a goblin touch that had them stuffing a New York styled cheesecake with wild berries—no one else would have enough hands to separate layers without shattering the original cake.

  The rest of the party went by with only polite chit chat. Apparently the elves thought that they would be able to ask her questions about the Archive at a later date. It was well after eleven when the last fey guest passed through the double doors and the goblins closed them with a sigh of relief. They didn’t seem to like the guests and Esmy could really empathize with that.

  Aside from Eylonwy, only Mitski and Venril had bothered to engage her in regular conversation over drinks in the great library adjacent to the dining room. The rest of the guests could go back to their fairy castles for all she cared.

  “Wow, that was a long night.” She stretched her arms over her head and rose up on her toe
s. The hair hadn’t interfered with her ability to think as much as she had anticipated. She had to give Treal credit, it hadn’t even shifted during the evening.

  “Yes, it was. Now we need to get you to bed.” Orlyn swept her into his arms and Boral led the way up the stairs with what Esmy could only guess was an urgent pace.

  Chapter Eleven

  Being carried around by one of the guys was not new to her but the restless energy in them was. They had something planned, she could feel it.

  Instead of turning to her room or their own they proceeded to the wall at the end of the hallway. Stopping in front of the stone wall Boral placed his hand on it, Orlyn shifted her and followed suit. “Touch the wall, Esmy.” The order from both was unmistakable.

  Her hand was shaking slightly as she ran her fingers across the cool surface. It was cool as she touched it, but the instant that contact was made she felt a warming pulse through the wall. A swirl of energy came from their combined powers and a doorway opened in front of them.

  “What the hell is that?” Her hand tried to draw back and it was stuck in the energy thrall of the vortex. The whirlpool of energy reached through the wall where a room was taking shape. It was an open archway in the hall that hadn’t been there before when she went exploring.

  “It is our rooms. Yours, mine and Oryln’s. We are the only ones able to access the room, and now that it is keyed to our combined magics, we are the only ones that will be able to open the doors.”

  The doorway had become a stable archway, they began to step through it. While Boral stepped through ahead, he halted just inside the new room. As Orlyn moved to follow, Esmy saw why. The room was being created. Out of stone and their combined magic a room was being called into reality.

  A bed large enough to land aircraft in finished forming along one wall, near one of the dozens of mirrors that dotted the walls and stands that sprouted. A vortex moved rapidly and a fantastic bathroom with a tub large enough for six and three sinks with mirrors was the result. A closed of area was obviously for the more personal of needs.