Liadán slept through dinner. Uncle Ian ate with them, but for once Ewan did not give up his chair. Culhif and Cuchulainn sat in their chairs even in animal form. Ewan's mother refused to let any Were eat off the floor. Ewan pulled Culhif's high chair right up beside him and made a show of cutting Culhif's steak. The meat was so rare that soon it was swimming in a pool a red liquid. Uncle Ian covered his mouth and looked away. "I don't know how you can stand it."

Ewan's mother tut-tutted. "I've done worse. Young Vampires need a blood milk mixture."

Uncle Ian covered his mouth again, looking anywhere but at the table. His eyes landed on the cradle and he said, "Doesn't the baby drink her milk straight?"

"That's because Liadán drinks her blood warm," Ewan said, cutting the even rarer steak on Cuchulainn's plate. Uncle Ian raised his eyebrow. Ewan lifted a finger to his mouth and pantomimed cutting it with a tooth.

Uncle Ian's jaw dropped then he covered his mouth again. "You? or just Cuchulainn?"

Ewan examined his index finger; the most recent cut was nearly healed. "She prefers my blood for some reason."

"You would do that?"

Ewan caught Uncle Ian's eyes and held his gaze. "There is very little that I wouldn't do for the ones I love."

He didn't look away until Siobhan asked if he would please pass the potatoes. Ewan could have held Uncle Ian for much longer if he's wanted to. Uncle Ian must have known it as well. He stood up quickly and excused himself, nearly running out the door.

Ewan's mother wiped her emasculate mouth with her napkin and said, "You didn't have to do that."

Ewan shook his head. "I think I did."

"What purpose did it serve?"

Araksya turned to Ewan. "I quite liked the crown."

Siobhan wrinkled her nose. "I didn't. It looked like it was made of bloody bones."

Araksya nodded. "Bloody Faie bones. That's why it was so good."

"Maybe," Ewan's mother said, "I should take a closer look at the books you've been getting from the library."

"But Mother," said Araksya with a smile, "it was from a fairy tale."

Then she and Siobhan burst into giggles.

Ewan's mother stood and picked up her plate. "So, you glamoured your uncle?"

"I glamoured myself," Ewan said. Because he'd cut everyone's steaks, he hadn't managed even a bite of his salad. "That's why the girls saw it."

"I saw it too," she said as she carried her plate to the kitchen. She had barely touched her own food. "Did you have to make it so graphic?"

"I did. I don't think a verbal threat would have been half as good. He will remember that vision next time he wants to mess with me and mine."

Uncle Ian would see the destruction of everything he worked so hard to achieve and know it meant, If you take what I love from me, I will take everything from you.

The End

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Pop Quiz — I bet you didn't see that comong.

1: If you were a Faie, what would you be? A water loving Were? An ageless Sidhe? A Cross? What kind? And why?

2: Who is your favorite Character?

3: What was your favorite part?

4: What was most confusing?

5: Would you rather live in the King's court or the Queen's? Have a job or bathe in cold water? Electricity or play the day away? Which would you chose?

6: Who would you like to see again?

7: And most important to Ewan's heart, do you think Cuculainn will manage to keep his pants up from now on?

Author's note:

Last year I took a week off for vacation. I promised myself I wouldn't write anything too long so I could spend the time with my husband who had scheduled his vacation for the same week, but as I worked my last day before the break a story formed in my head and just wouldn't let go. I made charts and graphs (what each Kind looked like, how long each of the Faie lived in comparison to each other and humans, etc.) and hoped I could keep the story at bay. The pull of the story was too strong and it didn't just turn out to be a 5-7k story that I could write in one day. It kept getting longer and longer and I was stuck in front of the computer as the word flowed from my head. My husband did manage to pull me away long enough to visit the Chinese Garden where I came up which what a vampire feels like. I just couldn't keep my mind off the story.

I don't think I've heard the end of Uncle Ian. He gave up Cuchulainn as a breeder, but once he gets Ewan's research he'll put it to use. As soon as they're of age (next year), the twins Myrddin and Mathonwy will be put to work breeding with human girls born of the People. Ewan wants to protect them and he could if they let him, but he's only their older brother. Ian is their king.

I have two stories I want to put up next month. Fairy Tale has eleven chapters and takes place early May through mid June. And Headache is seven chapters over Memorial Day weekend. I'm still trying to figure out how to put them up: two of FT and one Headache each week? Only two updates a week (Wed & Sat) for FT then seven days of Headache in a row? Three FT a week with a break for two weeks around Memorial Day? Or something else entirely? Less frequent updates would give me time to finish the eighteen stories I'm in the middle of writing.