“I am honored to wear the color of your Royal House and dark blue goes well with my yellow hair.” She smiled while teasing him with her eyes.
He grinned like a boy and said, “Your eyes, my love are changing. Not Fae, not human. The aqua color like our sea, draws me in. If I look into them any longer, we will not be leaving here now...” such meaning lit in his golden eyes.
Jazz knew in that moment, that life for her would never be the same. For now, Jazmine Decker, Marine Biologist was gone. She had been replaced by Jazmine Decker Fios and Fae warrior in the making. So be it! Perhaps the future would sort itself out?
~*~
Banzar was poised as he took a stand before the long table of the Council Chamber. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Prince Breslyn’s hand was on the hilt of his Death Weapon and had a moment’s fleeting concern.
He was past the point of no return and negligently brushed his flaming red hair off his shoulders as he brought his eyes to the Queen’s exquisite, but momentarily frigid gaze.
Banzar, unlike Prince Breslyn and Prince Danté was regally and formally dressed in the gold trimmed white tunic and white silk pants which depicted his status as a Council Member.
He faced the Queen of the Seelie Fae boldly and with purpose, but he managed to maintain a respectful tone when he spoke, in spite of the wild glee he felt. He was in fact, consumed by the enormity of what he was doing. He managed to control his emotions and kept them well hidden from all. He had to maintain a position of deep thought, logic, and overall concern.
“My Queen,” he said. “The Council has held an emergency meeting earlier this morning, and we as a whole have decided that while we do not have the power to depose you…yet, we do have the power to remove your ability to have the final vote in the Council. In addition to that, we have decided that you may no longer make the decisions regarding our readiness for battle… any kind of battle.”
Breslyn stepped forward, his handsome face drawn in incredulous anger. Danté reached out and held his friend’s forearm and cast him a warning glance.
The Council Members at the table fidgeted uneasily.
Aaibhe stepped forward and asked, “Say you all?” Her chin was up as she looked at each and every one of them. “Very well, but since I called this meeting; I …not you… not any of you …” She allowed her iridescent eyes to travel over them with great contempt, and the room felt like a frigid zone as she spoke. “You will hear what has befallen the Human World. You will listen because we are in the line of fire, and regardless of whether or not you believe we are responsible for the humans; we are responsible for our World.”
Banzar tried to interrupt him and she withered him with a look. He hated her in that moment and in that moment wished his Queen dead. As soon as the thought entered his head, he attempted to get control and banish it. No, he wasn’t like that. He wasn’t a traitor…
The Queen stood regally as she told them, “You need to know that Pestale, his brothers, and Morrigu have escaped the Dark Realm with an army of Unseelie that outnumber us— all of us ; Milesians and Seelie Fae alike. What we need at this moment is unity of purpose, not this ludicrous nonsense. This is not the time for politics and I will not tolerate it.” She paused and Banzar felt the Council swaying back toward her.
“Indeed, the Unseelie have already begun to feed on humans as they make their way to the Grampian Mountains. Some of you don’t care, but when they have fed and are more powerful than ever— then what ? Think about it. Do you think Pestale will be content while we remain in control of the real power? No. He will turn his abominations towards Tir. He will use any and all means to defeat us and take our World.”
“You use scare tactics to hone us in, but this time, Aaibhe, it won’t work. We will have our unity without you and we will be