Skirts & Swords (Female-Led Epic Fantasy Box Set for Charity) Read online

  When I turned twenty-one four years ago I had my Guardian Ceremony. I expected to see Kalen there, but he didn’t show up. He had come to the palace one day long before the ceremony asking if he could see me, but I strongly declined. Why he came to see me again, I don’t know. Ever since that day at the gardens, I wanted to avoid him at all cost. King Madoc and Queen Mab came, so I guess there was no need for Kalen to attend. It’s definitely a good thing he didn’t come, because now if he says anything cruel to me, I will gladly show him how I’m not weak anymore. Training and eating more has filled my body out with curves and muscle. I had to get a whole new set of clothes to fit my newly formed body. My old frame was frail and breakable and thinking back to how I used to be disgusts me. How could I have been so weak? Nothing and no one is going to hurt me now. I have never felt more confident than I do in this moment. It’ll definitely shock Kalen when he sees me tomorrow.

  The Winter Solstice Ball is tomorrow night and we are headed to the Winter Court in the morning which happens to only be a few short hours away. Once the sun peeks over the horizon I will be packing and loading up to head out with my family, my Guardian, Elissa, and Finn. I have asked Naida, my servant, to stay behind so she could spend some time with her family while I was gone. We are scheduled to stay for two days and I can already feel deep within my gut that it’s going to be a visit from hell. I will be staying in one of the guest houses with Ariella and Elissa during the visit.

  My eyes feel heavy and they burn like someone has thrown a handful of salt in them. I rub them to help clear the feeling, but I know it is from the lack of sleep. My body feels tired and it’s beginning to wear down on my sanity. I need to be in top shape when we leave to go to the Winter Court. I turn over on my side toward Finn’s back and I drape my arm across his stomach as I move closer to his warm body. The golden band wrapped around his upper arm feels cold against my chest. It was given to him as a gift a couple years ago from the Dwarf Kingdom when my special arrows were delivered. I found it odd they would give him such a fine gift, but I was told from the messenger that Durin, the Dwarf leader, had made it for him in honor of me. I haven’t seen Durin in years, but he’ll be at the Solstice Ball. I will have plenty of chances to catch up with him. Finn moves his body back against mine and lets out a contented moan in his sleep. I breathe him in deeply, and the smell of a summer breeze fills my lungs along with his heady scent of being pure male. I close my eyes and slowly drift off into a much needed dreamless sleep.

  “Are you excited about the ball tonight?” Breena asks.

  Not really, I think to myself, but unfortunately I have to be. I’m already out of bed and picking out clothes to wear to meet my parents. I look over at Breena lying in my bed, and she gives me a seductive smile. She sits up slowly and lets the sheet fall from her perfectly sculpted breasts to below her waist. The way she’s biting her lip lets me know she is ready for round two, but right now I can’t think of anything else other than the auburn-haired beauty with the amethyst-colored eyes. Her face has haunted my dreams for years, and last night happened to be one of those nights. I turn my head away from Breena and walk over to my closet. The woman sure knows what she’s doing. Breena is a beautiful Winter fae woman with long, straight brown hair that is the color of cinnamon. Her round, hazel-colored eyes stand out from her creamy white complexion, but the more I look at her the more I know I do not love her.

  Tonight is the Winter Solstice Ball, and it’s also the night we celebrate our engagement. With my back turned, she can’t see the lie in my eyes when I reply, “Yes, Breena, I am ready for the ball tonight.”

  I don’t know how I ever let things get this far. I was distraught over finding out about how close Meliantha and Finn were getting, so I ran to the first girl I could find. Breena has always been interested in me, so it wasn’t hard to get her into my bed. What makes things harder is that she’s a councilman’s daughter which practically makes her royalty. Our union will be looked upon as greatness, but if anyone finds out about my distaste for her, it will cause turmoil within the court.

  My parents are happy with my arrangement to marry Breena, but they have also had reservations about it. They can obviously see the torment in my eyes, but it’s my decision and I am going to uphold it. The meeting with my parents will begin in thirty minutes, so I grab a pair of jeans from my closet and I pull them on. I got the jeans from the mortal realm, because everyone was wearing them when I visited not too long ago. So many things have changed in the mortal realm from the last time I visited. I grab a red t-shirt from the closet, and I slip it over my head. It hugs my muscles which seem to be what the ladies go for now these days. I run my hands through my long black hair, and I grab the thistleburch chord that I always use to tie my hair back in. The tie comes from the thistleburch trees here in the Winter Court and is known for its strengthening powers. Most of the warriors here have some part of the thistleburch tree on their body to give them strength and luck when in battle. It looks like a thin piece of brown leather, and it always feels cold resting up against my skin.

  I silently groan in annoyance when I hear Breena getting out of bed and walking toward me. The woman surely doesn’t have any issues with being naked. She wraps her arms around me and squeezes. I can feel her breasts pushing up against my back, but it does nothing for me in this moment. The thought of Meliantha takes all my focus, and to know I’ll be seeing her for the first time in five years has me a little on edge.

  Breena moves around to face me and says, “I think I’m going to get dressed and head to my quarters to get ready for the ball, unless…” She rubs her naked body against mine as she continues. “You want to have a little fun first.” She raises her eyebrows in question and licks her lips. If only the eyes looking back at me were purple would I be all up for it, but I just can’t seem to get my mind focused.

  I shake my head no and regretfully reply, “Not right now, Bree. I have much to do before tonight, and I have to be at the meeting with my parents in half an hour.”

  She narrows her eyes at me and I can see her jaw tighten as I speak, but she quickly brushes it off and goes to fetch her clothes. I think she knows deep down that I don’t love her, but she hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it. I watch her pull on her clothes, and it’s hard to believe that I’ve been with her for almost three years. I love the ladies, and I never actually thought of settling down with one until I met a certain Summer faerie that I was deeply attracted to, but look how that turned out. She is now in the arms of another man every night, and the thought sends a burning anger through my chest. I grip the closet door and I don’t realize what I was doing until Breena raises her voice to get my attention.

  “Kalen! Are you OK? What are you doing? You almost broke the closet door in half,” she exclaims.

  I shake my head to clear my thoughts and I relax the tension in my face to force a smile.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was holding it so hard.” I loosen my grip on the handle and slowly drop my hand.

  She doesn’t look like she believes me, but she shrugs her shoulders and comes over fully dressed to give me a kiss on the cheek. With a concerned look she says, “You looked like you were about to kill someone. What were you thinking about?”

  I shake my head, laughing it off while I kiss her on the lips. I hold her face in my hands to assure her.

  “It was nothing. Enjoy the rest of your day, and I’ll see you soon.” I kiss her again quickly before she leaves the room.

  Now that Breena is gone I can have a few minutes of peace before I meet my parents. These past five years have been long and brutal. I am twenty-six years old, but I feel like an eighty-year-old man in mortal years. The only enjoyment I have out of life is training my warriors—since I’m now leader of the Winter Court Army—and spending time with my white wolves. I’ve kept quiet about my thoughts of Meliantha and haven’t spoken about her to anyone other than my wolves.

  I walk over to my bedroom window to look out at th
e snowy landscape beyond. I’ve seen the same land all the years of my life, but something feels like it is missing. I look at the fountain that’s frozen like always, and I use my magic to turn the ice to water. I watch it flow rhythmically throughout the fountain. My magical abilities are with water and animals. Using my magic used to make me feel free and alive, but now all I feel is hollow inside. I would give anything to be able to feel whole like I did five years ago.

  I am no longer carefree and easygoing. I am dead to the world with no sign of life. The Winter cold seems to be flowing inside my blood turning everything to ice. Meliantha was beginning to thaw me out with her warm glow, but now that she has forsaken me the ice has taken over and left me freezing inside of a cold shell. One way or another I will talk to her tonight. I have to find out what went wrong.

  - Dark Sorcerer -

  I appear in her room just as she’s changing out of her clothes to head to the shower. I can hear the water running and the steam from it is billowing into the room. It looks like I made it at exactly the right time.

  “Is this a bad time?” I ask her with humor clear in my voice.

  She jumps and holds in the gasp that was about to escape her throat by holding her hand over her mouth. She shakes her head and removes her hand to put it on her chest. I can see her chest rapidly rising and falling. Her voluptuous breasts bounce with her hard breathing and it instantly turns me on. This little vixen knows how to handle her body and it’s been a while since I’ve had a good fuck. Her eyes roam over my solid body and a wicked grin takes over her face.

  “No, this is not a bad time at all, Alasdair,” she cries wickedly.

  I have appeared to her in my true solid form. She prefers to look at me this way and it turns me on even more that she prefers my true body instead of someone else’s. It’s a shame I’m only using her for her connections to the royals. She could come in handy as my personal sex slave. I begin to walk toward her and she stares up and down my body with a ravenous look. I stand around six feet tall with long brown hair to my shoulders and grey-colored eyes. My face could pass for fae, but my ears aren’t pointed like the fae’s are.

  I could, however, pass for any of the warriors with my strong build. My well-endowed body has always come in handy with the women, especially this vixen in front of me. I didn’t bother to appear in clothes, because I knew this visit was going to be nothing but giving her the box I hold in my hands and a quick release. I do, however, have my wonderful bloodstone talisman with me which helps me siphon energy. Once I get all the power I need from the Four, I will no longer have to wear this thing all the time. The power will be permanently inside my body when the power of the Four merges into me.

  Now that I have Calista’s power flowing through my veins I can keep my solid form for way longer than before. I can enjoy the feelings of life in my own body, but it still takes less power to take over other people’s forms. There still has to be a magic object on the person I inhabit such as a spelled ring, bracelet, necklace, or anything else I’ve put magic on to help me enter their bodies. I’ve had help from many of my minions in securing a place for these objects with certain fae. What’s great is that they have no clue their bodies are being taken over during this time. I silently laugh thinking back to all of those momentous occasions where I have fooled my victims. I’ve been patient throughout these past five years, and I have enjoyed them immensely. Also with Calista’s power, I have been given the necessary magic to penetrate through the shields of the royals. Once my magical objects are in place I’ll be able to take over a royal’s body without being detected. I could take over the king’s body and no one would know it. Now that I have infiltrated the Winter Court, I should be able to get my plan in motion tonight.

  I stand in front of the Winter vixen and she licks her lips enticingly before kneeling down on the floor in front of me. This greedy bitch was easy to sway with my charms. The promise of being my Dark Queen has poisoned her mind and she was quick to take the bait. All she is good for right now is satiating my needs with a good lay and to carry out the next stage in my plan to get Meliantha’s power. Moaning, she takes my cock in her mouth and sucks generously up and down the shaft. My knees go a little weak with her tormenting me, so I grab a hold of the bedpost with one hand while the other holds the small box. I can feel the release demanding to burst forward, but I hold it back with great fervor.

  I throw the box of secret contents on the bed while I pull the vixen up by her hair. She loves it when I get rough with her and she lets out a moan to prove it. I push her down on the bed and I point to the box.

  “You do know what I want you to do with the things in the box, right?” I ask.

  She licks her lips and tauntingly opens herself up to me. She nods her head up and down and breathlessly whispers, “Yes, I understand. I will do what you told me.”

  “Good, now turn over on your stomach. Now!” I command.

  A gleam sparkles in her eyes and she excitedly complies. She turns over on her stomach and lifts her glorious and smooth backside up in the air. I enter her hard and fast to pound away the tension that’s been building up for days. She gasps and tightens around me even more sending a flood of sensations down my shaft that has me aching to release. I clench my teeth and I hold on to her tighter leaving bruises on her ass from my grip. The release hits me hard sending shudders throughout my body and hers.

  Breathless from exertion, I lie on top of her for a moment to catch my breath. I can feel her heart beating spastically through her back while mine is pounding hard as well. It feels so good to fuck long and hard, and with a body like hers, I could do it all day and night. I pull out leaving her breathless and moaning on the bed. She obviously doesn’t get what she wants from her lover, but I think I fully make up for it.

  I stand up from the bed and move back toward the shadows on the wall.

  “It’s been a pleasure, but I must be on my way,” I announce.

  She turns her head to give me a satiated smile and answers seductively, “I promise not to fail you. I will follow through with our plan.”

  At that, I disappear from my solid form back to my spirit form, and I decide to keep to the shadows. My presence needs to remain here for the time being, at least until the ball begins, so I can carry out my plans. Calista’s power has given me such a major boost even though she weakened me there for a while. I can travel to and from any place in the Land of the Fae in a matter of minutes, and my ability to do certain spells has been magnified. My special objects of power have been placed throughout the Court to give me access to the unwilling victims. I’m drawn to the power of the objects, so it’s easier to locate my targets. I can feel the pull to one of them, so I head in that direction, and it looks like I’m heading to the front of the palace.

  This is good, I think to myself. The Summer Court should be arriving anytime, so I’ll be able to get a front row view. Excellent.

  Thinking back to when I captured Calista I can’t believe how I almost screwed myself in the ass with how greedy I became with her. I wanted her power and her body in any way possible and it almost destroyed me. Not this time, though. My plan to get her sister’s power doesn’t involve me keeping her, but just retaining her power in any means possible. If I happen to keep her in my grasp, that will be a bonus, but my bed is not short of women, so I have no need to go through extra work to keep her with me. Thankfully, she hasn’t bonded with her other half and spoiled my plans. Once the bond is complete I can no longer retain the power of the Four from that certain individual. Why? I don’t know. That’s just the irony of things. Taking the power was not meant to be easy. Thanks to my superb thinking, that bond will probably never happen from what I have been seeing. My work has been quite easy this go around. I thought I would have to work a little harder to dissuade Meliantha from Kalen, but she has surprised me and banished him from her life without my having to urge her more. It’s been extremely gratifying watching them through their torment the last five years. My objec
ts of power have come in handy and have made their way to the proper hands. Needless to say, they have no clue I have been around all this time, watching and waiting. All that’s left to do is wait for the ball tonight and hope that my plan works out accordingly; although, in the meantime, I think I might try to have a little fun.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to the Winter Court. I bet it’s going to be amazing for you to get away from here for the first time in five years,” Elissa says excitedly. She pauses to look at the clothes I’m wearing and shakes her head. “You know the king and queen are not going to approve of you wearing that. I bet they won’t let you leave the palace.”

  They’ll have no choice, I think to myself. I make my own decisions now. I shrug my shoulders and turn back to continue my packing. I can hear Elissa shift behind me, but then she starts to sing and jump around my room excitedly. Her blond curls bounce up and down as she dances, and I envy her carefree attitude. I remember when I used to be like that.