Authors Notes: Once again I would like to thank everyone for their nice comments. The good and the bad they make us work harder. A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. And once again thanks to all for reading! Take Care - Elsbeth
Chapter 14
After that little bombshell, the three of us sat in the den staring at one another. Political or arranged marriages have been around forever even up to modern times. Trust me Princess Di’s wedding didn’t you think a little political haranguing went around. I mean look at her husband’s ears. I thought that it might be in my future but in no one’s reality did I expect an arranged marriage.

Could be worse, Alex could be my brother. What to do? Accept all of being a Princess of the Summer Court but deny an arranged marriage. I cannot just select what I like and ignore the rest. If I am a Princess, I really do have to accept the idea of an arranged marriage. Am I going to be happy about it? No. For the thousandth time, I wished for my mother’s advice.

“I’m sorry I know this must come as a big shock.” Alex tried to explain. He then grinned getting a good look at Abigail. She had a death grip on my arm while shooting daggers at him with her eyes. “Abigail is…”

“My girlfriend.” I could feel Abigail’s grip relax. I leaned over and kissed her on the check.

“That’s cool, I thought about telling Kelly, but she would freak. Jack thought it was hysterical.”

“Who are they?” Abigail asked.

“Oh, the people I am currently dating.”

I thought Abigail was going to explode. “How can you date two people…and…have a fiancée? You're unfaithful to Morgan.”

I turned to Abigail, giving her an amused smile. “Sweetie, how can you be upset that he is my betrothed and at the same time be upset that he is dating multiple people?”

Alex put out his hand pointing it towards Abigail. “See, your Highness, and that’s why I didn’t tell Kelly.”

“Alex, please call me Morgan. “ I reached over and gave Abigail a hug. “You’re so cute when you’re pouting. I’m sorry Abigail; I thought this was a possibility. It comes with the whole Princess package. Are you OK?”

She nodded but still looking very unhappy. Then her eyes opened wide. “You’re dating a boy and a girl.”

“Yes.”

“I can see why you don’t find it strange that we are a couple.”

“I have been living with humans for a long time, but I keep forgetting that they can be very judgmental, especially when it comes to sex.” Alex made a face. “Abigail, don’t worry, my people really don’t care who you are in love with. Love is love no matter the gender.”

Abigail smiled then frowned again. “So what about this betrothal thing?”

I jumped in. “It’s not something we need to worry about right now, correct?” I turned to Alex. “Correct?” I thought it might be the case, I hoped it was at least.

“Oh, sure.” He gave Abigail a grin.

Aunt Eshne returned, ending the conversation. I introduced Alex as my cousin. She looked pleased until Alex insisted that he would drive me on his motorcycle. I know nothing about them, never having been on one. Alex insisted it was safe, I said I would rather walk.

Grabbing the swords out of the closet, we headed towards his bike. “You use two swords at the same time?” I knew there was a term for that style of sword fighting.

Alex shook his head and reached over to wrap one of the sword belts around my hip. “Alex, I don’t have the first clue on how to use this thing. I’ll cut my own foot off first.”

“Draw, your highness.” He smiled pulling the dangerous bronze looking sword from its sheath. Shrugging I put my sword into my hand. It was beautiful, I thought it was bronze, but I could see that other metals had also given it strength. Moving the blade around, I could feel its balance. It was a perfect weapon. When Alex moved forward, I brought the sword around to block it. He attacked again, and I managed to turn the blade counter-attacking at the same time. I step back to look at the weapon.

“Your Highness, you are the daughter of Queen Mab.”

Putting the weapon away, I decided that I would need to trust him. I hesitated before getting on the motorcycle. “What about helmets.”

“We don’t need no stinking helmets,” Alex replied in a terrible Spanish accent. Shaking my head, as I sat behind Lord Alexander, he instantly grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his chest. I had a sneaking suspicion he set this all up. As soon as the bike too off, I let out a little yelp and grabbed Alex holding on for dear life. Finding myself hugging him for all it’s worth, I concluded he did set this up. Thankfully, a couple of enchantments Alex cast before we left would keep us safe. I leaned my head on him realizing that I was actually starting to enjoy the ride.

A little magic allowed us to communicate non-verbally. “Thank you for coming to my aid, Alex. I know I didn’t say it, but I do appreciate your help.”

“You’re welcome...Morgan... enough to forgive me about the whole fiancé thing?”

“Don’t push it.”

He laughed as we made our way to the hospital.

++++++

Eághan High Sorcerer of Hildaland stood in the center of a torn up living room. Walls smashed, tables overturned he had destroyed half the ground floor of the house. The remaining members of his Host stood some distance from the raging Orkneyjar sorcerer.

“No sign? She does not possess such power.” The creature turned its threatening glare towards Sile who sat towards the back of the room.

“He seems to have vanished.” Sile had done a Sending and was amazed that there was no sign of Manfred. Apparently, Morgan was proving to be a powerful ally.

“Sile, the door!” The Barrow-Wight began to move when the front door imploded sending wooden shrapnel everywhere.

Through the door walked in a massive Redcap with its ancient Pike leading the way. The beast’s name was Ashur, named for the Assyrian god of war. It was a good name, for his queen soon followed. The painfully beautiful raven-haired Countess Sianna, mistress of the Dunkelheit, marched through the door followed by a half a dozen Haugtrold or troll-kin.

“You seem to have lost something of mine, Eághan .” The Countess was a Sidhe of the Winter Court. Like the rest of her Host, she was dressed in a mixture of modern and ancient armor. Not waiting for an answer, she pulled a chair up from the floor and sat right in front of the Draugr.

“We have not heard from Manfred. He appears to be missing.” Eághan explained.

She leaned forward smiling. “Yes, so it seems. So why is he missing, Eághan ? Please tell me as I plan to take control of this little endeavor. Understand I did not care for your plan at first, but I was interested to see if Manfred was worth keeping or burying.”

Eághan remained silent.

“What is your interest in this sorcerer? I have discovered a few things on my own, you see. Quite interesting really, a Wild Hunt will be of no use to you, will it? You cannot escape even if there is a river of blood.”

“Cannot escape?” Sile asked. The Scottish Vampire had her own misgivings about this plan, but he couldn’t escape?

The Countess just smiled, but it was devoid of warmth. “She doesn’t even know does she Eághan ?” The Countess sat back. “Your master here is sealed away. You have been casting most of the enchantments, have you not Sile?”

“Imprisoned? Poland” Sile understood. The sorcerer did not escape, he was sealed away by the humans. She was a fool.

“That is correct my dear. So Eághan, you found power here didn’t you, enough to free you from your prison. Therefore, Eághan, you will tell me. All of it.”

++++++

Thunder filled my ears as I bounced around in my seat. I sat with a group of young men all wearing uniforms of another generation. Soon the command to stand up echoed throughout the packed space. I stood like the rest of the young men. I could see fear in their eyes but also a determination. They were all ready to do their job.

Hook Up was the next order given. Without a thought, I hooked myself to a line above my head then reached over and checked the equipment of the man to the front. Soon figures started to disappear into the night.

A loud roar caused me to lose my balance but we were up again, and I stepped forward into hell. Explosions filled the night sky throwing our plane upwards. Other planes, the sky was full of them, were not so lucky. Next to us, one of the aircraft took a direct hit from the fire below. Suddenly I found myself standing in my nightgown watching as men and metal fell out of the sky. No chance at all for the men trapped inside. The enormity of it all hit me hard. I began to cry.

“Be brave, Morgan.”

From behind, a man placed his hands on my shoulders, and a sense of calm came over me.

Rubbing my face, I found myself snuggled against Alex. He looked at me with some concern. “Are you all right your Highness?”

I nodded. “Just dreams.” Plagued by dreams these past few weeks, I was not looking forward to sleeping anymore. What were these dreams, did they foretell what happened or what could be. Did they even come from me? I needed my mother’s advice. I sat up startled. I was snuggling up against Alex. “Sorry for that.”

Alex laughed. “It was pleasant enough for me.”

I couldn’t move looking down I found Abigail had the same idea.

“You care for her, don’t you, your Highness.”

“I do.”

“She is a fierce one, I like her.”

Abigail finally woke up and wandered into the bathroom. A few hours later and after a bit of whining Abigail and her aunt went back home leaving me alone with Alex. I took Rebecca’s uninjured hand. “You and I, Lord Alexander need to talk to a few people before this Council meeting. There are others I wish you to meet.”

“You are quite the healer it seems.”

I was startled at that statement. I assumed that he could do better. “You cannot heal?”

He smiled. I realized that he liked to laugh whenever he could. “Not really; my magical skills lay elsewhere.”

“Like keeping us from crashing.” I giggled.

My mother stirred and to my surprised opened her eyes. She took a panicked look about the room. “Morgan?”

I nodded, tears forming in my eyes. “That’s right mom, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?”

She looked a little confused. “What happened?”

I explained a little about what I knew about the accident. She remembered a black van but little else. “Who is that young man?”

“My cousin Alex.”

“Your cousin?” Her eyes darted between the two of us. I realized that I had left a lot out. “You contacted your birth mother?”

“It was sort of the other way around but yes…with all that was going on …I’m sorry mom I should have told you.” I could see that the news hurt her.

“So does that mean you’re going away?” I could hear the panic in her voice. That made me start to cry again. I haven’t cried this much in all my time as the male Morgan. I would have held all of this pain in and let it consume me.

“No, you silly goose, I’m not going anyplace.” I reached over and held her in my arms. Even with all of the history behind us, she was still my mom. Rebecca said she going to work on the mother-daughter thing and I was going to hold her to that.

“Alex, you’re staying with us, right?.” She said sounding like her old self. “We can’t have family staying in some hotel.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He gave her a half bow.

“I’m a little tired.” She smiled. “I’m going to go back to sleep. OK Morgan, love you.” She was asleep again, but I could tell that it was a more regular sleep.

++++++

The group of Fae sitting around ‘Father Oak’ was not a happy bunch even after finishing off two large double mushroom pizzas. Lord Alexander found it amusing that the Dryad named Sapphira had such an unusual passion for human food. The conversation had not gone well. Her Highness had spoken already when Alex found himself unhappily explaining that she should not expect a lot more help from the Summer Court. She was frustrated, and he wished he could give her better news.

Perhaps there were others he could contact; other Sidhe who lived in the mortal world, he knew of a few. Also, what at first everyone thought would be good news, Bria reported that her sisters discovered the lair of the Unseelie. Unfortunately, they had moved again.

“We’ll call the police when we get back to the mortal realm.” The discussion was taking place on the outskirts of the Fae Realm. “We should go there first Alex to make sure that nothing was left behind.” She explained the wards and cursed items left in the last home.

Lord Alexander listened to Morgan and realized that he was infatuated with the little Princess. She cared for everyone, Fae, and mortal alike. Quick-witted with an odd sense of humor she was so different from the other Sidhe women he had encountered. There was also a hint of steel beneath that lovely exterior that excited him.

“Alex, you’re staring,” Morgan said a half smile forming on her lips.

“I was thinking that the Draugr is going to be a real big problem.”

Morgan looked surprised she didn’t think that was what he was thinking about.

“Unless you happen to have any mortal heroes standing about Morgan to force him into his grave.” They all knew that Draugr were almost impossible to kill.

“I agree, Pumpkin. He will be a formidable foe.” Sapphira sat on Morgan’s lap in child form.

“Maybe Sile can help us with it,” Morgan said. Alex was shocked by her Highness’ proclamation that she was offering the Scottish Vampire sanctuary. “I do have an idea about the Redcap if others are willing.”

Morgan looked thoughtful. Alex could see something in her eye. It was determination. “I do have an idea about the Draugr, Alex. Tomorrow we will go meet another one of my friends.”

Lord Alexander nodded. For someone who had just recently come to power, the little Princess had managed to gather a good number of allies. She was indeed her mother’s daughter.

++++++

The Council, the leaders of the Unseen, sat in the large chamber. The head of the Council Richard Kincade had called for a meeting, but for the most part, no one knew the full story. Richard knew that Morgan would need to be at her best tonight. The Unseen even at the best of times were difficult to deal with. Looking at his watch, he hoped she would not be late.

Steven Shisaa, who had just turned sixteen three months ago, approached the chamber. His first Council meeting and one of the Guardians of the Doorway, Richard, expected him to be nervous but the boy had a fright.

“Sir…she here.” The young man looked nervously over his shoulder.

Richard nodded, and the doors opened.

Before the Council stood not the small girl, that had spent time swimming at the Kincade’s pool. Dressed in a long gown of the purest white with a crown of silver stars circling her head Morgan stepped into the council chambers. Walking behind her stood a tall Sidhe dressed in a black and gold Argyll jacket with a black and gold hose. He held the pommel of a sword, and from the way he walked, he was no stranger to its use. Obviously if one wanted to harm Morgan, they would have to go through this swordsman first.

“Your Highness.” Richard greeted their guest.

“I am Morgan, Daughter of Queen Mab and Princess of the Summer Court. I have come to this chamber to request your aid.”

