Storm Born Page 0,59

Concentrate on the now."

I gave him a faltering smile back, hoping he was right. "Thanks."

He held my eyes for a few seconds before stepping out of the room, only to return a moment later with my burnt mirror. He set it on the dresser, regarding it with displeasure. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner."

"Hey," I said, mustering some bravado, "I told you I can take care of myself."

Those dark eyes flashed. "I know. You're a dangerous woman."

I wasn't entirely sure if he referred to my fighting abilities or something else.

When he was gone, I lay back in bed with a sigh, thinking I might not move for a week. Things just got weirder and weirder around here.

Suddenly I felt a faint pressure build in the room. I sat up straight. Red eyes peered at me from a dim corner.

"Volusian? I didn't summon you."

"You gave us permission to come if we acquired information."

"Yeah. I suppose I did. I didn't really think any of you would actually listen to me. What's up?"

"I've come to tell you Otherworldly interest in you has increased."

I stared at him stupidly a moment, then pointed to the bloody athame I'd used on the Gray Man. "Gee, you think?"

He shook his head. "More than these scattered attacks. Before, others were interested in you simply because of your heritage. Now, after seeing you...some are more excited still. They find you...attractive." I could tell the concept baffled him.

"Great. Now I'm fertile and hot. So what's this mean? Should I be expecting daily attacks?"

"More like...organized attacks."

"Groups?"

"Worse."

"Worse than a group of guys trying to have sex with me? How?"

"For now, only creatures and gentry who can cross over in physical or elemental form will try. But we are weeks from Beltane, mistress. When the doors open..."

"Jesus," I breathed. "Everything with a dick is going to come looking for me."

He didn't bother with a response. But when I said nothing more, he asked, "What will you do?"

"What do you think? The same as I've been doing. I'll fight them off."

He stayed quiet, but I could feel his disapproval.

"What else do you expect me to do? Submit?"

"I expect you to not sit around and wait for the inevitable. You might as well be from one of the bride-by-capture societies. Always being on the defensive will get you nowhere; eventually someone will overpower you."

I laughed without really finding anything funny. "So, what, I go on the offensive? Head over and just start taking on random gentry and spirits?"

"No. You start claiming your heritage. They attack you because you let them, because you kick at one and then wait for the next. You make yourself a victim, yet you are Storm King's daughter. In his day, his rule stretched farther than any of the current monarchs'. His kingdom may be gone now, but his legacy makes you royalty. If you acted like it, they wouldn't attack you so brazenly."

"I doubt they'd give up wanting to father Storm King's heir just because I started calling myself a queen or a princess."

"Oh, they'd still want you, but they would go about it differently. They'd approach you with respect. They would try to woo you. Now they only treat you with disdain. They treat you like the victim - the piece of flesh - that you have let yourself become."

I didn't really like the thought of a bunch of gentry bringing me flowers and chocolate, but I liked it better than rape.

"Yeah, but joking aside, I can't just go in there and say, 'Hey, I'm Storm King's daughter, treat me with respect.'"

"Well," he said dryly, "it would be a start. However, you will drive home your connection to him most when you stop relying on those." He pointed at my weapons. "They make you human."

"I am human."

"You are half-human. If you want them to respect you as one of the gentry, you need to remind them of who you are. You need to draw on the power within you, on your father's legacy."

I thought about what Roland had said, about how he had purposely buried my power. Faint flickers of the vision came back to me, how I'd reached for power just before it ended. "No. I won't use gentry magic."

Volusian sighed. He pointed to the burnt mirror. "Mistress, why did you use that as a weapon?"

"Because a Gray Man caught me unarmed."

"Had you been in full control of your magic, you would have needed no weapons. You could have destroyed him as soon as he crossed your threshold."

I tugged