Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy Page 21

  “Dude! You better not. Your prince charming might be there! Or, better yet, maybe I’ll meet a prince charming,” Abbey teased.

  Lourdie rolled her eyes as they exited their suites.

  “Presenting Miss Abigail Thorne and Miss Lourdes Reese of the King’s Court, New York,” the announcer said talking over the crowd below.

  Stars twinkled brightly under the expansive glass domed ceiling. The entire space reminded Lourdie of being in a giant terrarium.

  The two descended one side of the curving stone staircases, admiring the ballroom’s transformation. The gigantic living trees that lined the perimeter of the space had been draped with hundreds of sparkling white lights. Large clear glass globes hung from the trees as well, and within each globe was a small purple light, slowing fading on and off. Lourdie thought it might possibly be an artist’s whimsical interpretation of hunter orbs. Round tables were positioned underneath the trees so that each table had a clear view of the circular white marble dance floor in the center of the room. At the very center of the ballroom and dance floor was a massive four tiered fountain of water and fire. Water flowed gracefully down the tiers as amethyst fire erupted and danced seductively from atop the center column. Guardians danced joyfully around the fountain as music and the scent of lavender welcomed them down to join in the celebration.

  Lourdie noticed Louie moving swiftly toward them through hundreds of guardians. He suddenly stopped. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Abbey as the girls neared the bottom of the stairs. The young man had his hair trimmed just for the occasion and was sporting a sleek, albeit one size too large, black tuxedo. Lourdie was charmed as she watched him gather the courage to move his feet again.

  Louie finally emerged from the dancing crowd and joined Temple, who was already standing at the base of the stairs. Lourdie was watching a love-struck Louie so intently, she hadn’t noticed Temple just below her. Now that she saw him she couldn’t believe how she had ever missed him. Hands in his pants’ pockets, he was leaning casually against the railing.

  More often than not, she could tell when a man was uncomfortable and unaccustomed to wearing a suit. Most would say the suit wears such a man, almost drowning them in awkward fabric. This was so not the case with Temple. He was as comfortable barefoot in denim jeans and tee shirt as he was in a custom tailored Armani tuxedo. This man definitely wore the suit. The cut was impeccable and was fitted to every line and muscle. The only thing he wore better than a handmade suit was the damn sexy smirk he was giving Lourdie.

  Lourdie started to get nervous as her emotions threatened to emerge. Not knowing what to expect she furrowed her brow.

  “Relax, you’re too exquisite for such a frown. I’m merely your host escorting you to your table. Nothing more,” Temple offered Lourdie his arm.

  “Right, of course,” Lourdie played off her uneasiness and took his arm.

  “I would, however, enjoy the honor of a dance later, if I may?” Temple put his other hand atop hers as they neared the table.

  “Just one?” she teased.

  “I dare not push my luck. Yes, Ms. Reese, just one.” Temple took her hand and glided her effortlessly into her seat.

  “Fiddle-dee-dee, I think I can handle that, Mr. Templeton.” Lourdie channeled her best Scarlett O’Hara southern accent.

  He guffawed. “Frankly, my dear,” TempIe lowered his chin and arched his brow, “I look forward to it. Good evening, ladies.” He walked away to resume his hosting duties.

  Abbey leaned over and whispered, “Would it be so bad if it actually was more?”

  Lourdie gave her a warning look.

  “I know, I know. Subject, dropping,” Abbey pantomimed plucking something out of the air and dropping it to the ground.

  “You look ravishing, my dear. And, Abigail I didn’t know you could be any more lovely,” Bishop said as he and the other men took their seats again.

  Lourdie looked around, taking in all the wonderful sights, smells, and sounds. The source of the sweet lavender scent was all around them. Each crisp white table linen had been sprinkled with the tiny buds, as had the dance floor. With every step, dancers released more of the floral bouquet into the air. Crowning each table, tall clear glass cylinder vases were overflowing with orchids and lilacs in every shade of purple imaginable. Jaw breaker sized amethyst glass orbs filled each vase to the brim. Lourdie delighted in the elegant hunter theme for this king-sized celebration in honor of the more than eighty hunters who had visited the Cloak over the last few weeks. Most had returned specifically for the celebration and not since the days of the original Court had the castle seen so many hunters in one place.

  Mum B’s staff bustled around filling violet flutes with champagne. Others offered water and juices in the dark purple goblets.

  Lourdie’s mouth began to water as hundreds of plates of food descended upon them. A medley of roasted quail, Duck a l'Orange, and filet mignon graced the white porcelain plates trimmed in silver. The savory meats were accompanied by fire roasted miniature carrots, baby squash, and asparagus. It was all topped off with sliced purple herbed potatoes -more hunter orbs- and a smear of garlic and butter sauce that streaked across the plate like a pulse from a stun rifle. Lourdie couldn’t help but smile and enjoy every moment. It was magnificent. The smells mingled wonderfully and perfectly with the lavender buds. Mum B and her kitchen staff had outdone themselves. The feast was truly fit for a king.

  Mum B appeared through a small doorway wringing her hands on a towel, checking up on everything. Temple nodded to someone and suddenly a spotlight shone on her. “Cheers to the chef!” Applause and cheers rang out all around her. An embarrassed Irish ‘Och’ was almost audible as she waved her towel in the air and disappeared.

  Lourdie picked up her knife and fork to dig in, but stopped mid cut. She could feel eyes on her bare back before the man made his approach.

  “Oye, Lourdie. Care to eat at the adults’ table?” Quintin laughed at his own joke.

  “Good god, man!” Bishop put his silverware down louder than he probably intended. “Bloody hell, at least let the poor girl eat before you steal her away.” The archivist nearly choked on his first bite of food. “She’s not going anywhere.” His last statement was more of a declaration than an observation.

  Stubbornly, Quintin complied. “Yes... sir,” it was obvious he was angered at being denied Lourdie’s company and embarrassed. “A dance later, then.” Quintin glared at Bishop in a threatening manner.

  “Of course.” Lourdie smiled warmly trying to diffuse the situation before it became elevated. She reached out and touched the man’s hand briefly to get his attention. “I promise.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” Quintin’s smile was more of a sneer as he walked away and headed to the nearest glass of champagne.

  “I’m sorry, my dear. I usually have more tact than that, but that... boy tries my patience,” Bishop apologized.

  “Well, then you showed quite the restraint considering you called him a man before the ‘bloody hell’ ensued.” Lourdie and Bishop shared a quiet laugh with the rest of the civilized table.

  Abbey turned to Louie and talked in a hushed voice. “Too bad we’re not in the middle ages. I’d love to see someone knock the Lint off his high horse, for real.”

  Louie chuckled. “Then you must come back for the Summer Solstice Tournament. Luke is the reigning jousting champion. I’m sure he’d be happy to unhorse Sinclair a time or two.”

  “OMG, like seriously? Why is this the first I’m hearing about this tournament? That is awesome, count me in!”

  “Promise?”

  “A real live jousting tournament? A Nevra-Hsi couldn’t keep me away.”

  “Good. I’ll hold you to it, gamer girl,” Louie blushed.

  As dinner ended the celebration moved out from under the lighted trees and tables and onto the massive dance floor.

  Bishop nodded and waved to someone within the enormous crowd, “I believe a few introductions are in order.” As th
eir small group waited, Temple’s second in command explained how just an hour ago Luke and his fiancé had gotten engaged. Bishop beamed in delight as he told the story of how the couple had taken a lovely, but all be it frigid, stroll down the coastline where ‘Marry Me’ had been written in the snow and sand.

  Lourdie smiled as the nervous couple neared. They were holding hands. Luke looked dashing in his tailored tuxedo and was clean shaven as usual. His fiancé was gorgeous. Tall and lean, with warm dark chocolate skin and kind brown eyes peering out from behind stylish square black framed glasses. Chiseled good looks and a strong jawline and chin were visible through a five o’clock shadow and the purple glowing lights reflected off his sleek bald head. Damn, Lourdie thought to herself. That is one gorgeous specimen of a man! she sighed. Well, it’s official. I like my men scruffy.

  Luke took a quick breath and looked from Lourdie and Abbey in turn, “Ladies, may I present my fiancé, Alex Monroe. Lex, this is Lourdes Reese and Abigail Thorne.”

  Alex smiled brightly and shook their hands eagerly. His handshake was strong and firm. Abbey appreciated such a gesture. She tired of men treating her as if she, and perhaps females in general, were dainty objects that broke easily. No, Alex gave them true honest to goodness handshakes, it said a lot about him. Lourdie hated the dead fish handshake some people tended to give her, that said a lot about a person as well.

  “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Luke has told me so much about you, I feel like I already know you both. Bishop, always good to see you chap.”

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, too. I know between Cambridge and full time archivist duties you’re awfully busy. Glad you got to finally come down. You’re originally from the Seattle Court right?” Lourdie asked rhetorically, refreshing her memory. She had forgotten to expect an American accent. “How long have you lived in Britain?”

  “I’ve been here for almost four years now. The fam’s still in Seattle though. Luke and I are headed there for a late Christmas visit next month, but we couldn’t wait.” The excited couple looked at each other and joined hands again. “We just called my parents and told them the news,” Alex smiled lovingly at Luke, his deep brown eyes sparkled. Luke kissed Alex’s hand.

  “Yes, congratulations on your engagement,” Lourdie said.

  “Yeah, grats,” Abbey chucked Luke in the arm. “Dude! I had no idea you were going to propose tonight. Louie didn’t even tell me. All our late night practices, how could you guys keep that big a secret from me?”

  “Dude! I didn’t even know until right after it happened.” Louie dodged Abbey’s swing at his arm. “Right, brother?” he pleaded. Lourdie felt sorry for him. His poor adolescent face had broken out the morning before the Brenin Dathlu.

  “It’s true, Abbey, I didn’t tell anyone,” Luke chuckled. “But you can beat him up anytime, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Would you, brother?”

  Louie blushed and looked at his shoes.

  Alex scolded Luke softly, pushing his glasses back up. “Don’t forget, I know you know what it’s like to be a younger brother, too, my love. And is that a blemish coming in on that perfect complexion of yours?” he teased.

  Luke’s hands flew up to his face. “What? Where?” he said. His vanity surfacing where no visible acne had.

  Alex chuckled and didn’t skip a beat. He looked down at the youngest Templeton still fidgeting with his shoes. Louie was obviously just embarrassed at being an awkward pubescent teen in general, “Ladies, will you save Louie and me a dance later?”

  Louie looked up in surprise at his name.

  “Of course. I’d love that,” Lourdie said.

  “Yeah, okay... me too,” Abbey tilted her head obviously confused.

  Louie looked up and smiled at his future brother in law.

  “I’m sorry, I hate to run, but I see some of my old Seattle buddies about to leave and I haven’t seen them in years. Would you like to come with me little brother?” Alex said waving at his hunter friends through the crowd.

  “The Washington hunters? Yeah, that’d be cool! Thanks, Lex,” Louie said perking up.

  “Come find me later?” Alex said to Luke.

  “Absolutely.” Luke kissed Alex softly on the lips. “And, thank you,” he whispered.

  Lex smiled looking between Luke and Louie.

  Lourdie watched Alex walk away with Louie in tow. The ungainly pimpled teen tried mimicking the archivist’s confident lanky walk as he wove his way respectfully and gracefully through the crowd. Finally at the other end of the ballroom they were greeted with hoops and hoorays from Alex’s Seattle friends. Lourdie turned back to a still beaming Luke. “So, I’m dying to know. How did your parents take it when you first told them you were dating a...well, you know... an American?”

  A purely joyful laugh resonated from deep in Luke’s belly, “God love ya, Reese!” Luke pulled her into a bear hug. He had obviously been worried about her reaction to his Alex.

  The day Luke had apologized for pretending to be Temple he had also announced to her and Abbey that he was gay. Lourdie and Abbey had both said that they were totally okay with it. But Lourdie knew that words and actions were two different things to Luke.

  “Thanks for that,” he whispered. “I just wish all people, dociles and guardians alike, were as welcoming and open minded.”

  Lourdie hugged him back warmly, “Someday, Luke. Someday.” They pulled away and let Bishop and Abbey back into the conversation.

  “Dude, he’s really nice, and you two look uber happy together,” Abbey said.

  “I concur, Abigail. They make quite the handsome couple, if I do say so myself,” Bishop stated matter-of-factly. He answered the girls’ questioning gazes. “I introduced them, of course. Four years ago,” he stated proudly.

  “Bishop, you little matchmaker you,” Lourdie said.

  “I try my best.” He feigned modesty.

  “He’s really good with Louie. And can I just say, damn! He’s gorgeous,” Lourdie sighed dramatically.

  “Easy, Reese, he’s mine,” Luke said jokingly.

  “Yeah, down girl. There’s gotta be another tall, dark, and... Oh, wait!” Abbey pantomimed dropping the subject again, this time with a bit more sarcasm. “Never mind.”

  Lourdie rolled her eyes and tried to ignore her jab. “Who would have thought, red blooded American was your flavor?” she teased.

  “Guilty as charged,” Luke beamed at Alex as they found each other’s eyes in the crowd. Turning back to Lourdie and Abbey he had an amused look on his face. “It must run in the family.”

  Lourdie’s heart threatened to do a little flip flop as she thought of Temple.

  Luke shrugged innocently, “Besides, I just adore the accent.”

  “Accent?” Abbey tilted her head and scrunched her brow. “What accent?”

  Throughout the night Lourdie couldn’t help herself as she kept sneaking glances at Temple. Damn him for being so sexy. The knight was busy being host and diplomat, talking to everyone that demanded his attention, always giving it fully and freely, and never rushing any conversation. Watching him, his duties seemed effortless, almost enjoyable. She wondered if the country boy in him ever got tired of it. All the endless responsibilities, decisions, meetings, and demands. It seemed exhausting to her, but he did it with such ease and grace, she doubted he would ever utter a single complaint. Lourdie smiled to herself. Country boy. She thought back fondly to the soft pure smile he had had as he gazed out the helicopter doorway as the men dreamed of finding ‘that girl’ they could simply enjoy a beer and a dog with.

  Temple caught her staring and gave her a devilish grin.

  She looked away and scolded herself. Stop it, Reese. You’re acting like a silly little schoolgirl with a secret crush. She had to keep her emotions in check they were too dangerous to let loose.

  Quintin steered clear of Lourdie anytime Bishop was in her company. This ended up being the majority of the evening, undoubtedly on purpose on Bishop’s part. Finally finding a
n opening, however, Quintin got his dance.

  As Quintin whisked her away Lourdie caught a glimpse of Temple. He was between Luke and Alex and they all had their arms around each other’s shoulders. He looked truly happy for the couple. Lourdie had never seen the knight smile so wide and laugh so freely before. She knew Luke looked up to Temple more as a big brother than just a cousin, so she was glad to see the knight was so open to their relationship.

  Dancing their way around the back of the fountain Lourdie smiled. Louie had finally gotten up the nerve and was dancing with Abbey just on the edge of the dance floor. They were talking up a storm, probably about their gear in The Nether and Warcraft, but Louie was still bright red. She wondered how much longer Abbey would be oblivious to Louie’s crush on her.

  Seeing Lourdie with Quintin, Abbey dropped Louie’s hand and left the dance floor in a huff.

  “You look good enough to eat, lass. I missed you at New Year's.” Quintin spun Lourdie around every corner of the dance floor like she was a trophy on display.

  “Sorry, pounding pints at a pub isn’t really my scene. Besides, the whole losing control of my faculties doesn’t seem like a very fun party.” As Quintin spun her around again, Lourdie and Temple’s eyes locked. He must have read a look of desperation on her face, because he started to walk towards the dancing couple.

  “Come with me and my mates. We’ll show you how to enjoy a good pub--,” Quintin was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. “Sod off, mate!” he shrugged his competition’s hand away not even bothering to turn around.

  “Quintin Sinclair, is it not?” Temple was steadfast. The Scotsman was simply a pesky obstacle in his way.

  Quintin stopped dancing and his smug face was replaced by one of horror as he turned.

  “Personal guests at the Cloak are expected to conduct themselves with respect and dignity, regardless of who may be tapping their shoulder. Good evening, sir,” Temple dismissed his foe.