Fae High Summer Hunt by Renee Michaels Read Free Book Online

of battle on you, my captain. Why is that?”
    “We were attacked by the satyrs, with help, I believe, from the Frost Queen, your majesty. Valen should have brought the news ahead that the numbers of female Fae inhabiting the woods are greatly diminished.”
    “Yes, he did.” Titania laughed, the sound as sweet as birdsong. She pinned Oberon with an amused glance. “Your recent peccadilloes are causing me no end of trouble. I told you it was a bad idea to invite the Frost Queen to the winter court.”
    “Yes, but her presence added so much to the décor, and the nip in the air made for some good romps between the furs, my love.” Unrepentant, Oberon smirked, dismissing any problems he might have instigated.
    “Hmmph, which you spread around too lavishly—it seems that icy bitch got a taste of you and wants more. I hope you won’t oblige her caprice. She is beginning to irritate me.” Oberon gave his Queen a careless shrug, signalling his acquiescence, which seemed to satisfy her. “If she wants to diminish my powers by preventing me from warming Mother Earth and bringing on an earlier winter, I am afraid she is going to be disappointed.”
    “My lady, if you give me leave, my men and I will ride out to call in more of your subjects. We need every Fae at the gathering,” Baylor ventured to suggest.
    “No, anyone who has not made it back to the homeplace will make their way in if they are able. You will have another task to keep you occupied since you claimed this impudent wench.” She turned to Naeme, finally acknowledging her. “You look well after your extended sojourn on the fringes, Naeme. You’ve neglected your obligations by staying away for so long. Was your pride so pricked you sulked?”
    She was a fine one to talk about pride. Naeme schooled her face into a mask of stoicism and curtsied, dropping her eyes in a show of submission. “I was unaware of the passage of time, my lady. I thought only a year had passed.”
    “Really.” Titania drew out the word and her voice dropped in timbre, which meant Titania was building up into a rage. “Someone has been toying with my subjects. Now how will I show them that we Fae are not to be played with?” A lethal smile spread across the Queen’s face. “Dart,” she snapped.
    The head of the Queen’s household scuttled up. “Yes, milady?”
    “If I were to take an accounting, will we have enough couples attending the gathering?”
    “The men outnumber our women at a ratio of three to two, ma’am.” He licked his lips nervously.
    “Not too bad, but it’s not good either.” She rose to her feet and studied the hushed throng. “In two nights hence, the moon will be at her zenith. We will congregate. Send out an invitation to all the kings and queens of the immortals. Make sure the King of the Satyrs gets one and you are to place another in the hand of the Frost Queen. I fear they must be taught some manners. ”
    “My lady, that’s dangerous considering what happened earlier,” Baylor cut in, his face tight with frustration.
    “Yes, my faithful Baylor, it is. But we will demonstrate that they are not to use my people in a quest for power. We will love and generate heat.” A malicious sneer twisted Titania’s lips. “No Fae woman will gift her loving to any male but one of our own unless I grant permission. Let them see what we have wrought—and want, yearn and crave for what we withhold.”
    Cruel, but that was Titania. She came up with the most excruciating punishments.
    The Queen looked over her statue-still minions. “Somewhere amongst this throng is a traitor. Find him or her, Baylor. Bring him to me. I will slice out his tongue for uttering treasonous words and rip out his heart for his disloyalty. Your Naeme will serve as one of my ladies-in-waiting for the next year.” With her skirts swirling around her, Titania glided from the room. Oberon shot Naeme a speculative glance before he followed in his wife’s fragrant wake.
    An entire