Iron Made: Book Two of the Forged by Magic Trilogy

I would like to thank a few folks for their help. Not just with this book but with life too. As always, I thank my husband for his support in everything I do. Same goes for my three children. No one can make you feel more like a superhero than your kids.

Next, I would like to thank my beta reader Mary Smyly for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my book and point out the bajillion errors I didn’t catch the first three read-throughs.

I would also like to thank my brothers and sister. Your guidance and torture throughout the years has molded me into the person I am today. Yes, I know that I am nowhere close to perfect and I’m glad I have y’all to point out the defects. Sorry Dawn for not telling you I was a writer.

One

Never say consort

I knew I was dreaming. I was just too comfortable and secure not to be. I was lying on an extremely soft bed covered by an even softer cover and there was a warm arm wrapped around me. Yes, I had to be dreaming. Then the hand that was attached to said arm started to slowly rub circles on my stomach and I could feel the arms owner softly breathing next to my ear. He continued to rub circles while slowly moving his hand toward my breast. Then he was rubbing those circles around my nipple and my breath hitched. He moved his face into my neck and started kissing it softly at first, then more insistently as his hand released my breast and started moving down my stomach. He kissed up my neck to my earlobe then sucked it into his mouth.

Raynon, I said.

Ah love the way ye say ma name Petal, he said then returned to kissing my lobe.

Well, since he liked it so much I would say it again.

Raynon?

Hmm.

Get off of me.

He paused with his hand on my lower stomach and his lips just below my ear for a moment.

Then he rolled away from me and said, As ye wish, ma lady.

I could be mistaken but it sounded like he was smiling when he said it. It’s a damned good thing that I had been stabbed twice last night and felt like I could pull a Rip Van Winkle. Nothing kills the mood like internal damage. And getting stabbed makes me cranky. Now that I don’t have him waking me up I can get back to my dreams.

**********

I awoke still feeling extremely comfortable. I was alone in an enormous bed and sitting up told me that I was in an enormous bedroom. Perhaps I got picked up by a Giant. Nah. I couldn’t be so lucky. The room was completely masculine with blue walls, dark colored furniture and rich but comfortable furnishings. I slowly got out of the bed and realized I was wearing a man’s white button-up shirt and nothing else. A door to the right showed a master bath that matched the bedroom in both size as well as color. A look in the mirror showed that my glamour wasn’t working anymore and that I looked near death. Oh wait, I was. Last night. Was that last night? I’m not sure how long I have been asleep actually. But, judging by the bags under my eyes, it wasn’t long enough. I wonder if my glamour isn’t working because I almost died or someone removed it?

I took a quick shower then pulled some underclothes, a pair of jeans, black t-shirt and my second pair of cowboy boots out of the vail and got dressed. Brushing my hair and teeth I saw that my color was starting to come back a little. Now all I need is a meal and I’ll be good as new. Then I noticed a small tattoo of a dragon on the inside of my wrist. I can’t say I wasn’t really expecting it but it sucks just the same. It was a geis. I’m sure the curse was set up to prevent me from leaving the castle just as I’m sure Rayn is the one that put it there. He is the only Fey strong enough to place a geis on me that I wouldn’t be able to break. I’ll just have to convince him to remove it. Yeah, that’s going to happen. It doesn’t hurt to try though.

I went back into the bedroom and exited through the door across the room from the bathroom. It lead into a sitting room with leather seating settled around a huge fireplace. There was no one in this room either so I opened a door to the left and it led to a hallway. There was a servant dusting a statue of a bust on a table to the side of the corridor and as I left the room she jumped.

I’m sorry to have startled you, I said.

She was a Human probably in her mid-forties with a plump figure and brown hair who was currently holding her hand to her heart. She smiled at me.

‘Twas not yer fault, ma lady. Ah just was not expecting ye tae be awake yet. Ah had heard that ye were gravely injured last night. The Prince said that ye would be out for the rest of the day and no one was tae enter the room.

So I had only slept one night.

And where might I find the Prince currently? I asked.

Oh, he is down in the dining hall with his consort and the rest of the men, she replied.

Did I hear her correctly?

I’m sorry. Did you say ‘consort’?

Yes madam. She always has her dinner with the men.

And how long has the Prince had a consort exactly?

Och. It has got tae have been at least fifty years or better. Ah doona know the time exact. Ma mum used tae work here before Ah started and they had married sometime during her employ, she said.

I was going to kill him. He was making out with me just a couple of days ago (not to mention last night). To think that I had felt bad for hurting him when I tried to steal the knife and that two timing bastard was married the whole F-ing time.

Could you tell me where I can find this dining hall the men are in? I have a Prince to exact revenge on.

Two

I’m a poet and I didn’t know it

I followed the hall leading from Raynon’s bedroom until I came to an intersecting hallway. Taking a right led me to a large staircase. Once on the first floor, I turned left and followed that hallway until I reached a large entryway that led into the dining hall. I took a deep breath to steady myself. I wasn’t so hotheaded that I would confront Rayn with his men listening. Not to mention that I don’t really want to air our personal problems in front of the whole Fey nation. No, I think making him regret his behavior in a more subtle way is called for in this particular situation. So without further ado, I opened the door and walked into the room.

You could have heard a pin drop in the ten seconds that preceded the sound of a hundred chairs being pushed back as every male stood up. There were three extremely long tables lined vertically in the room. I couldn’t see him but I figure Rayn is at the head of one of these tables so I started to walk toward the other end of the room. It had to be a hundred feet long and every man I passed watched me like I was wearing the crown jewels. Or covered in whipped cream, it varied. As I passed the Fey who had picked me up and carried me inside last night, I stopped and curtsied.

I thank you, Douglas, for your help yesterday. If it wasn’t for your assistance, I’m sure I would not have made it.

He looked slightly embarrassed then said, Ah am sorry for threatening ye, ma lady. Ah thought ye were sent by the Prima. Had Ah known ye were injured Ah never would have said what Ah did.

I smiled remembering how he and his friend had threatened to cut me down.

Nonsense. You were doing your job and you saved my life. For that I am grateful.

The other Fey that saved me was sitting to his right so I curtsied to him as well. I didn’t have time for proper introductions but I thank you as well warrior.

He bowed back to me. Ma name is Callum and ye are most welcome, ma lady.

Aye. Most welcome, ma lady, Douglas echoed.

I smiled at them both then continued on my way to find their liege.

Rayn was standing behind the last empty chair on the left side of the table. As I approached him he actually had the audacity to smile at me. I wanted to slap that smile off his stupid...I stopped dead in my tracks. She was sitting on the opposite side of the table from the chair Rayn had pulled out. She looked so much like Sheryl that I almost reached into the vail for my remaining scimitar. I managed to continue walking again as I studied her. It’s no wonder I had first mistaken her for Sheryl. They had almost the same face and, judging by what I could see of her as she sat at the table, she had the same build as Sheryl too. There were a few subtle differences. Her hair was lighter. It was almost white where Sheryl’s was wheat colored and whereas Sheryl had light blue eyes, this woman had dark brown ones. Her lips were slightly fuller too, more pouty. She had to be Sheryl’s sister. Perhaps the King had a child with another woman as she looks more like him. Sheryl looks like her father too, only her coloring is more like her mother’s. But why would Raynon allow an Elve to be seated at his table much less at his left hand. Usually that is reserved for someone of importance. It didn’t slip my mind that the chair Rayn held for me was immediately to his right. According to what I know of Fey tradition that is where the Queen would sit.

Rayn had his brows pinched like he was trying to figure out what I was thinking. I sat in the seat he had pulled out for me without so much as acknowledging him. I have to know who this woman is. Rayn can stuff it. Then she answered my unasked question.

You must be the woman those warriors dragged in yesterday. It is a good thing you didn’t die. My Raynon was worried we had lost another woman. Oh my, forgive my manners. I am Shea an Dorn, the Prince’s consort and daughter of Leland an Dorn, King of the Elves.

I knew it. She looked just like him. Between that and the fact that she said my Raynon I was working hard not to pull my blade.

I didn’t realize Leland had two daughters, I managed to say without beheading her.

I didn’t realize you knew my father. Do you know my sister too?

Oh, yes. Me and your sister go way back. Do tell her Genivieve says hello and that I have something I would like to return to her as soon as I see her again.

Really? And what might that be, Genivieve? she asked.

The knife that was removed from my back.

She gasped and I saw Rayn’s hand on the table clench. I had been dutifully not looking him in the face.

Are you trying to suggest that my sister would stab you in the back?

She actually acted offended. Like how dare I accuse her innocent sister of wrong doing. The chick wasn’t gaining any friends that’s for damn sure.

I’m not suggesting anything, Shea. I am merely stating the truth, I said.

Why would Sheryl stab you in the back? She is such a gentle soul I could never believe such a thing.

Are we talking about the same sister? Better clear things up.

I understand Sheryl is Elizabeth’s daughter. Did your mother allow you to associate with her much growing up?

I could understand her not knowing Sheryl very well if she was raised by her Elven mother. I’m not sure who raised Sheryl after her mother passed. I had only seen her once during the whole time I was at the castle and it was for just a moment when she was in the nursery with several other children. I only knew it was her because a caretaker was calling her name as I passed.

You are obviously mistaken. Her mother was an Elve that my father had relations with after my mother died, she replied.

What?!?

So, you’re saying you are Elizabeth’s daughter? I asked.

If Sheryl wasn’t Elizabeth’s daughter why lie. No. She didn’t lie, I would have known.

Of course I am Elizabeth’s daughter. I will admit I don’t know my sister very well but I cannot believe that she would ever stab someone in the back. You must be confused, she said.

Yes, I am extremely confused. Not about who stabbed me but about the maternal ancestry of this woman in front of me. Quick, someone call Jerry Springer we got baby momma drama. The weird thing is that she isn’t lying either. But Elizabeth only had one child. How could a dead woman have a second child? Curiouser and Curiouser.

I didn’t have time to contemplate the situation anymore because Raynon said, Ah did not know ye knew Elizabeth. When did ye meet her?

Obviously, it would have been before her death, I replied without looking at him.

Yes that was snarky but I don’t really care. He’s an asshole. I turned to Shea.

So how long have you been married to the Prince? I didn’t know the Fey were marrying Elves these days, I said.

We will have been wed fifty-one years in June and I’m half Fey.

She gave me a hard look then turned doe eyes on Raynon but he was looking at me.

Well I suppose congratulations are in order since I wasn’t invited to the wedding.

Half Fey, my aunt Fanny.

Thank you, Genivieve, she said while smiling at me like the cat that ate the canary.

She slowly slid her hand over to touch Rayn’s arm and I was about to cut her’s off when he moved his out of her reach. Maybe he was afraid to show her affection in front of me. Wouldn’t want to piss me off in the event I decide to tell her about our escapades.

Why did ye not come home sooner? We could have protected ye from the Prima, the Fey seated next to me said. I looked at him for a moment. I remember him from the other night at the Lighthouse and later at the hotel. He was one of Rayn’s elite. The head of his security detail would be my guess. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He wouldn’t be bad looking if he didn’t have such a serious look all the time.

It wasn’t the Prima that almost killed me. I would have been okay if I wasn’t stabbed in the back.

I directed that last part to Shea.

Still we would have protected ye from yer enemies, he replied.

And, if I didn’t want your protection?

He scrunched his brows together like he was having a hard time understanding.

Why would ye not want our protection? Ye are Fey and it is our job tae protect ye, he said again.

I decided to ignore him because I didn’t know him very well but he was starting to piss me off. I finally realized that the Fey woman seated next to Shea was the one that had healed me. I had been so focused on the consort that I didn’t even bother to look around at the other people seated close to me.

I would like to thank you, Amalie, for healing me last night. I know the cost was great and I truly appreciate it, I said.

You are welcome, ma lady, she replied.

If you aren’t busy later I would love to talk with you. I have only met one other Fey woman before and she didn’t know that I was Fey. Then again, I didn’t even know that I was Fey at the time, I said to her.

How could you not know you were Fey? How could she not know?

She looked completely confounded.

It’s a rather long story. If you would like, I’ll tell you about it later.

She smiled and nodded. Ah would like that, Genivieve.

Perhaps ye could accompany us tae our suites after dinner. Ma mate needs tae rest, Sean said.

Of course.

I turned to the asshole to my left.

I assume I will be given my own room as well since I’m not permitted to leave.

He looked like he was going to say one thing and then changed his mind.

Of course. Ah will show ye tae a room after dinner then we can visit Amalie and Sean in their rooms.

Like hell he would.

I’m sure you have someone else that can escort me to my room. I’m also sure I could find Amalie’s room on my own with minimal direction.

Suck on that, Asshat. I guess I am poetic.

I will have a servant escort you, Genivieve, Shea said.

I nodded to the consort. Rayn looked like he was biting his tongue. Well too bad.

A server arrived to ask what I would like to drink and eat.

Juice, please. I looked at a couple of the other guests’ meals. The fish looks good if that is available.

Aye, madam, she said then started to turn away.

I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name, I said.

There was something about her that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

She looked taken aback.

Ma name is Gillian, ma lady.

I smiled at her since she looked like she didn’t know what to do.

Thank you, Gillian. I’m Genivieve, I said.

She smiled back and said, Ye are welcome, Genivieve.

Then she turned and left the room. Rayn was looking at me pensively.

What? I said.

Nothing.

Three

The other white meat

The dinner was excellent and, luckily, conversation died down as everyone ate. The server was removing plates when Shea asked her for desert and tea. When Gillian returned, she placed the food and drink in front of her. Shea took a sip of the tea.

This is not decaffeinated. I asked for decaffeinated tea. Do you not understand English? she said.

Ah’m sorry ma lady. Ah will get you a new cup, Gillian replied and started to remove the cup.

You most certainly will not. I know what you will do. You will bring me the exact same thing. I will have you bring me an empty cup and a carafe of tea. And it had better be decaffeinated this time or I will have your ignorant self removed from this castle. Do you understand? the bitch said.

Aye, ma lady, Gillian replied.

Gods, she looked just like Leland as she was yelling at Gillian. I looked around at the other people sitting at the table and, judging by the expressions on their faces, this was a regular occurrence. Like Hell it would continue to be. As long as I’m stuck here, I will not tolerate her treating others in such a way. As Gillian reached once more for the coffee cup I slammed both fists into the table and looked Shea in the eyes. I’m sure mine were glowing by now because I was pissed.

"No, ma lady. You understand me. If you ever talk to her like that again I will remove your tongue, then