Dream Five, Chapter Thirty-Three

(Anything in asterisks is meant to be italicized.)

I'd had to fabricate most of Kenna's baby clothes myself. Not many people knew I was pregnant so no one had really been able to throw me a baby shower, though Kat had offered. It didn't surprise me too much to learn the beautiful and matronly *sidhe*-seer knew how to knit when she dropped off hats, booties, and even a blanket for Kenna a few weeks before she was born. She was wearing a matching rainbow set on her eighth day of life, along with a very cute magenta onesie I had fabricated that read "Little Princess" in flourishing gold cursive script and a magenta tool skirt. A light pink baby blanket that Dani had managed to procure was wrapped around her.

However, much to my amusement, Kenna had finally thrown up on her father that morning. He was not pleased. I immediately restored their clothes but he insisted on changing again, claiming he could still smell it, which was why we were late.

Barrons was wearing one of his usual crisp suits while I had opted for a show of strength, meaning I had on skintight leather pants and my spear strapped to my thigh, a black t-shirt that was a little loose, a black leather jacket, and black boots that had a one-inch heel. I'd missed dressing for battle, though I wasn't expecting one, and black happens to be the most forgiving color when it comes to clothes. There were also various knives hidden on my person. Can't be too safe.

I sifted us into a chamber behind the throne room of the Seelie Queen's palace, diaper bag in tow. Barrons and I exchanged a look as we immediately heard arguing coming from the other side of the door. I left the diaper bag there and passed Kenna to him before quietly entering.

Masdann, the Prince of Dreams, was standing at the foot of the dais that housed my throne. The black feathers of his wings rustled ever so slightly, signaling an acknowledgement to my presence. He was the only one who noticed.

Severina, the Princess of Summer, was lazily lounging on a sofa and absorbing the light of the sun shining down through the stained-glass ceiling, looking thoroughly bored. Azar, the Prince of Autumn, was leaning against a white pillar nearby and watching what was happening with interest. But it was the Elsa lookalike facing down Masdann who had immediately caught my attention: Ixcythe, the Princess of Winter.

Before the remaining Light Court's rebirth, she had kidnapped my father and fed him a poison that had no known antidote. The Song of Making had slowly begun turning them mortal but only the queen had the Elixir of Life the Fae had long ago stolen from another civilization. The only way to save him was to find the elixir and give it to him, or so we thought. Rae's gift of fixing had cured my father and saved his life, thereby saving the remaining Fae from my wrath.

Ixcythe was threatening and berating Masdann, a circle of ice slowly creeping out from beneath her gown of icicles. I lingered near a curtain by the door I had just exited and listened.

"Our Queen's presence has been sporadic at best since shortly after the unification of the Light and Dark Courts," she stated loudly, her hands curled into fists and a snarl on her face, "but she at least held court—oh, what was the human phrase she used?"

"A week," her lover Azar supplied. I liked them together. They weren't quite opposites, but they were still each other's antithesis.

"Yes, a week!" Ixcythe declared as Masdann slid his gaze to Azar and assessed him before returning to the angry Princess (who had once expressed interest in my own consort) in front of him. "She at least held court once a week! But that was several of these 'weeks' ago and we've had no sign of her! Only Death, Famine, the Inspector, and you!"

"And we have all been holding court in her place on her orders," Masdann reminded her calmly.

"How do we know that?" she demanded. "She did not alert anyone of her impending disappearance, save one member of the Light Court and three of the Dark Court: you and two of your brothers."

"They're more my uncles, technically," he corrected and I smiled a little. Staring her down was not an easy thing to do. "Their essences were made by the former Unseelie King, making them the brothers of—"

"Who cares?" she shouted as she threw her hands up in the air. "How do we know the four of you haven't conspired to rule in her stead and hidden her away from us?"

"Are you admitting you need the queen?" he said with a small smile.

"Of course we need her," Ixcythe gritted as she crossed her arms. "She is the sole possessor of the True Magic and her palace is going to begin falling to shambles without her presence to maintain it! We've managed to keep our courts at bay but they are beginning to grow suspicious. We will not be able to continue holding them if her palace begins to show signs of neglect and if she does not show her face! Now tell us where she is!"

"I'm right here, Ixcythe," I said as I emerged and walked to stand next to my throne.

"My queen," Masdann said with a smile and a bow. Azar immediately straightened and bowed before hissing to Severina—who had not been paying any attention—to do the same. She looked up and nearly fell off the sofa in surprise before quickly righting herself and curtsying. Ixcythe's eyes widened and she stared at me icily before curtsying herself.

"Masdann," I said with a nod. "Always good to see you. You as well, Azar, Severina," my eyes moved to each of them as I said their names, "Ixcythe. Though I am surprised by your collective presence."

"As are we by yours," Azar said boldly as he took a few steps forward. "We had begun to think you had abandoned us."

"We came to petition whomever you had sent as your representative today to disclose your whereabouts and the reason for your sudden and lengthy disappearance," Ixcythe told me coldly. "This one refused to tell us anything other than you would soon be returning."

"I was among the humans," I informed her, "preparing a surprise. I would have returned sooner but she arrived late."

"She?" Azar echoed as the door to the chamber opened and Barrons emerged with a little pink bundle.

"Yes," I said with a smile as I watched my husband (still weird to call him that but he had slipped on his platinum wedding ring before we'd left) and daughter near, "she. As in my daughter." I pulled her out of her blanket and sifted it back to the diaper bag in the chamber behind us, grinning down at her in my arms.

Severina floated over next to Ixcythe, her best friend and polar opposite, and asked, "Since when do you have a daughter?"

"As of eight days ago," I said as Barrons and I descended the steps of the dais.

Severina whispered to Ixcythe, "Did you know she was pregnant?" to which Ixcythe replied no with a shake of her head. Severina shrugged and very cautiously approached.

"Don't be afraid, Severina," I said with a smile. "She won't bite. And even if she did, she doesn't have any teeth yet."

Severina's caution changed to curiosity and she stepped closer. "Aw," she said with a smile. "She's cute."

"Her name is Kenna," I told her as Kenna gazed up at her with big, curious green eyes.

"Kenna isn't a Fae name," Ixcythe stated as her own curiosity got the better of her and she approached, though she still looked apprehensive. None of them could recall having ever seen a baby that wasn't one of the Spyrsidhe.

"That's because Kenna is human," I told her and she immediately looked relieved. Given Kenna's complexion, I think she had begun to fear the infant would grow to replace her best friend. Kenna's eyes moved from Severina's face to Ixcythe's when she came into view.

I'm totally biased because I'm her mother, but Kenna is the cutest baby *ever*. She has this cute little wisp of dark hair that's thickening by the day and the most adorable cheeks. She looks like the perfect combination of both of us, and her big green eyes are mesmerizing. My guess is Barrons's whole deal and the True Magic have given my little girl an upgrade. She's going to be a knockout when she grows up.

Ixcythe's expression softened when she met Kenna's gaze and she even started to smile. "She's more than cute," she said, elbowing Severina.

"You're right, she's adorable," Severina began to coo as she slipped her arm through Ixcythe's. Her heart was warming at the sight of an infant and I could tell even Ixcythe's frozen heart was starting to melt.

Azar approached and Kenna's gaze shifted to him. He looked down at her with a smile, but his gaze kept slanting to Winter curiously.

As Severina and Ixcythe began to coo and get more and more excited over Kenna, her gaze kept shifting between the four of us like she couldn't decide who to focus on. Meanwhile, Barrons and Masdann had been conversing in low voices off to the side. I eventually looked up to see that Masdann had disappeared altogether and Barrons was observing the princesses and prince as they took turns holding Kenna. I met his gaze and he confirmed that Masdann had gone in search of Cruce's additives so we could determine whether or not it was what the former Unseelie King had given me.

&&&

It went on to be a very long day. Summer, Winter, and Autumn impressed upon the importance of their subjects getting a glimpse of me. We then had to put in an appearance at every court to reassure all of my subjects that I was alive and still their queen. Barrons got more and more grumpy and brooding with each court, but Kenna seemed to enjoy it. I could tell because she didn't cry once throughout the whole thing, and she stayed asleep once she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder.

"How is she still asleep?" I whispered when I sifted us to a garden in my palace where it was always a warm, summer night. "We've sifted several times and been to two kingdoms and she's still sound asleep. I even switched shoulders and nothing." I thought for a moment before I asked, "She's still breathing, right?"

The grumpiness was replaced by momentary amusement as he inclined his head.

"Good," I said with a yawn as I slowly sat down in the soft grass. "She was only seven pounds a week ago. How is she so heavy?"

"Because you've been holding her all day," he said as he sat down next to me. "Give her to me."

"You're going to have to take her," I said as I turned towards him. "I think my arm's gone numb." He gave me a look but took her anyway, lying down on his back with her on his chest and his hands behind his head.

I knew he liked this garden because it was the only one not in the sun and he prefers the night. It also provided a decent view of my palace in one direction and of the lands of the four Dark courts in another. As I sat there and absorbed the energy nature provided me, I considered my palace.

We'd more or less explored it but I wanted to explore it again. Mostly because I was curious to see if any former queens had hidden anything here. It was beautiful but it wasn't home. My bookstore would always be home, but I knew I should probably get used to spending more time here and probably come by more than once a week. The Fae were going to need more supervision and my four favored princes had lives of their own to live. Both Courts responded to Masdann the most because they viewed him as one of them in contrast to the three hybrid princes, but he had told me he wanted to explore the Dreaming and I wanted him to have the time to do it. Barrons wouldn't be thrilled with spending more time among the Fae, but I'd make it up to him.

"You know," I said quietly, as I laid down next to him, "we never really christened the palace."

"Meaning?" he said with closed eyes.

"We've never fucked in my palace," I said with a smirk. "And there are a lot of places to do it. We're going to have to fix that one of these days."

"Make a crib for Kenna and we can fix that right now," he said softly as he turned his head towards me and opened his eyes.

*I'm not fucking you in front of our daughter, Jericho.*

*Put her in another room, Mac.*

*Unsupervised?*

*She's asleep. She'll be fine.*

*We don't have baby monitors. I wasn't arguing with him at this point, just making sure she'd be safe.*

*Keep her close enough and I'll hear her.*

*You really want to fuck me right now, don't you?*

"I always want to fuck you, Mac," he said softly, his eyes narrowed.

*Feeling's mutual, Jericho.* I looked him up and down as I sat up. "But first, I need a picture of this. This is just too precious." Luckily, I had packed the disposable camera in the diaper bag when he wasn't looking.

"Are you bloody fucking kidding me?"

"Nope," I said as I summoned the camera. "Just pretend I'm not here. Pretend you're meditating, and put your arms back behind your head."

"Ms. Lane—"

"Do you want me or not, Jericho?"

"Christ, woman," he muttered as he did what I asked, giving me a look that said I was the only person in the entire fucking universe he'd do this for but I shouldn't get used to him posing for pictures. I had to suppress a laugh as I lined up the shot and then sifted the camera back to the diaper bag once I'd gotten it.

"Before I fashion a crib for her," I began as I laid back down, "why did you insist we return to the palace instead of going home?"

"Masdann's meeting us here once he finds the additive."

"How long do you think that will take?" I received a noncommittal shrug. "Then why don't we just wait until after I'm done queening for the day?" Kenna quickly made the choice for us as she woke up and started to cry. I moved to a nearby bench as I fed her. She was about about done when Masdann appeared.

"My queen," he said with a bow and I sighed. The formalities of being queen still weirded me out. He and Barrons exchanged a nod in greeting.

"Okay, new rule," I stated. "If there aren't other people around besides Barrons or Christian or Sean or Jayne or Ryodan or Dani, please call me Mac."

"As you wish," he said with an incline of his head.

"Were you able to find the additive?"

"Cruce hid it well, but, yes, I was able to locate and secure it," he said as he held up two large and ornately decorated canteens of sorts that looked very similar to the container for the Elixir of Life, "as well as its counterpart that would once more remove the ability to procreate."

"Which one is which?" I asked as Barrons stood.

"That I was unable to determine," he said with a regretful look. "Neither are labeled."

Cruce, it seemed, had become paranoid that his children would turn against him as he had turned against his own father. While it was true he had been more thoughtful and mindful towards his creations when making them than his father had when making the first race of Unseelie, Cruce had still kept them tightly controlled in a cage. Only letting a select few out when necessary, including the prince who stood before me. The first race of Unseelie had been able to reproduce, whereas Cruce had made that optional. Masdann was brilliant and had spent a lot of time with Cruce and was therefore able to synthesize and predict the way he thought, enabling him to find and retrieve the two additive serums. One allowed the drinker of Cruce's Elixir of Life to reproduce, the other removed this ability.

It wasn't until I finished feeding Kenna, constructed a simple cradle that rocked her, and fetched the Elixir of Life from the Queen's Aviary where I'd hidden it that Barrons began testing. His determination was that the essence of the Unseelie King had indeed somehow given me Cruce's additive, the sly fox. I then carefully stashed the Elixir and the procreation additive in the Aviary once we decided to take the second additive back with us to Dublin so I could take it. (The Queen's Aviary is a room only I can get to.) We were expecting the twenty-four hour pain and sickness that came with taking the Elixir of Life. I was glad to know there might be potential for another child someday. I had thoroughly enjoyed Barrons waiting on me hand and foot while I was pregnant.