Grogoch [Bedtime Stories 2] (9 page)

“Are you mad?” the queen asked, her eyes going wide. It kind of seemed like a redundant question to me since the woman obviously was, having tried to kill the queen. “We didn’t have a child until two years into our marriage. I was pure at the time we wed.”

“Lies!” She dove for the queen, trying to shove by me but I wasn’t a pushover. I might have been small but I was powerful. I had her restrained and gagged before anyone could even blink.

“So you courted the crazy bitch and somehow she became your servant and tried to kill the queen decades later?” I surmised out loud, not sure how the pieces all fell into place.

I searched the woman’s memory and found that that she was the daughter of a nobleman who had been on the brink of losing everything. When the king didn’t pick her and save them from destitution, she and her family went to the poor house. As much as it killed her pride, the only job she could get when she was older was a servant at the castle. Years of making sure she was never seen by the royal family left her a bitter shell.

But then a few months ago she was promoted and had to interact directly with the royal family. When the king and queen never recognized her, even though it was decades later, she was insane with jealousy and rage.

“Wow, that’s a lot of drama and crazy in one package,” Finbar mumbled after I was done filling everyone in. He glanced up at me and smiled. “My self-doubt and issues don’t seem like such a big thing anymore.” He came closer and pulled me into his arms. “Can we go home now and take several breaks on the way to make love anyplace we choose?”

“How about I just pop us home and you can have me any way you want in our bed?” My mate raised an eyebrow at the change of plans. “Hey, I’m an old man and you’ve been working me pretty hard. I like the comfort of the bed.”

Everyone had a good laugh at that as Kelvin and another guard took the crazy woman away. I exchanged a look with my old friend. He blew me a kiss and I knew there were no hard feelings. He wanted me to be happy and if Finbar did that, he supported our relationship.

“Anything you want, my mate,” Finbar purred as he lifted me into his arms. I wrapped my body around him, winking to the king and queen.

“We’ll visit soon,” I said with a bright smile.
“I look forward to hearing all about magical dust that is making castle crops grow out of control,” the king replied. We hadn’t gotten around to talking about the gift we had brought.
“It’s dog droppings.” I gave them a wave as Finbar laughed and popped us out of there and to our home. Finbar lowered me to my feet, still holding my hand as we walked into our house, together as we would always be.

Joyee dreams of one day living on enough land to have a few horses, and find a couple of cowboys or pool boys of her own. A lover of men, Joyee is all about them in any form in her books; vampire, werewolf, shape-shifter, military... It’s all good! She loves to get lost in fantasy that only books can bring. Her wide interest in reading is reflected in her writings, whether short stories, romance, or mystical. Currently Joyee lives with her dog, Marius, named after a vampire from Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire series.