Homelands Pt. 11 Ch. 02

"This fortunate family," he said, "is receiving a small gift from the queen."

"Have they been loyal then?"

"If they hadn't, they wouldn't be alive," he said. Which only made sense. "Our mother likes her subjects to fear her, and she's found that true terror comes from not knowing when her wrath might strike. Yes, they all know for a certainty that if they transgress, they will pay the price. But even if they don't, they must sometimes pay tribute. On the other hand, if they knew that every knock at their door spelled death-"

"They wouldn't answer," Yvette said, nodding.

"No, they would," Lance corrected. "Better to sacrifice one member of the household than the entire family. But they wouldn't panic. Our mother describes the brief interval between when they hear the knock and when they see whether we're bearing flowers as the finest of delicacies."

"She feeds off it? Like sex?"

"No, no," he said, shaking his head disdainfully. Was it such a stupid question? "That only works with mortals. This is just for her amusement."

"But she can feel their reaction from all the way up in the palace?"

The grin Lance gave her made her blood curdle. "Our mother is everywhere." Before she could ask if he meant that literally, which would only have surprised her so much, he said, "Well, not really. But near enough that you'd do well to assume she is." Jerking his head towards the squat cottage behind him, he added, "As they all do."

So they delivered the flowers to a woman who was at first frightened then so relieved that she wept right there in front of them. As did three of the next four recipients. The man who didn't had nonetheless been so choked up that he could barely stammer out a thank you.

After the third stop, Lance sped things up, teleporting them from one humble abode to the next. He also informed her that this was his usual means of transportation. He'd only made them do things the hard way the first few times for her sake. He didn't use the term "hazing" but Yvette recognized it for what it was. And wondered if her brother had been a frat boy back before leaving the Lodge. However long ago that might have been.

Yvette was surprised to see that all of her mother's subjects had skin as pale as hers and the same piercing blue eyes, but none had dark hair. Every last one was blonde, though there was perhaps some variation in the precise shade thereof. Apparently in Winter, black hair meant something it didn't mean back in the Lodge. That pleased her. She'd always liked her hair, even if people had assumed it was dyed to make her look more Goth. In that world, it marked her as a freak. A social misfit. Here, it was a sign of royalty.

Finally, Lance wolfed out again.

He didn't need to tell her at that point to have her knives at the ready. She understood that the next family wouldn't be getting flowers. And the man who answered the door after she rapped on it with the pommel of one knife knew it too. Even before he saw the great white wolf waiting in the snow behind Yvette. The twin black blades she held didn't register right away either. All it took to make him wet himself was the absence of a vase.

That pleased her.

She wished it didn't. Just a few hours ago, she'd convinced herself that she was no monster, and wouldn't allow herself to become one. But when the smell of urine hit her nostrils and the man fell to his knees, pleading mercy for his brothers and sisters and all their kids, she very nearly climaxed. And there was no "nearly" about it when she sank one blade into his gut and the other his throat.

#

"So we're really doing this?" Eric asked.

How had it gone from being a bad idea to good one just like that? Because Captain Wonderful had finally fucking showed up? How did that help them get around the fact that any woman who they had to coerce into sleeping with them would have nothing to offer, even if they could have lived with themselves? And what about...about....

He pulled and pulled at the thread, but there was nothing to unravel. Inside his mind, there was a big blank spot. And he suddenly knew who'd put it there.

His brother eyed him warily. Did he know that Eric had figured it out?

Fuck, what else had Nick done to him?

"Any reason why we shouldn't?" Frank replied.

A shudder ran down his spine, though whether because of the things he wasn't quite sure he remembered doing with his brother or the cold challenger in the stranger eyes, he couldn't have said. The one seemed more like a bad dream than anything, but the latter shouldn't have intimidated him in the least. The guy was even shorter than Nick, if not by much. Sure, he was more muscular. More so even than Eric, perhaps. But still. Should the need ever arise, Eric did not doubt that he could cut the man down before he had a chance to react. And at any rate, they were on the same side. It was Daphne they had to worry about, her and her winter wolves, polar bears, and snow leopards, not each other.

But it sure would be nice if the fucker would blink.

"We've been trying to keep a low profile," Nick said without looking up at either of them. He'd appointed himself fire marshal, though the humble pile of logs was burning well enough already. "Her Frostiness doesn't even know we're here. We'd kinda like to keep it that way."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were on vacation," Frank replied.

Eric's jaw tightened. Just at the moment, he wasn't feeling all that protective of Nick. Heck, if their Autumnal friend took a swing at him, Eric might pretend not to notice. But it wasn't just his brother the guy was insulting. The look on his bearded face, as much as his tone of voice, told Eric that he thought him a coward.

"Fuck it, let's storm the palace. Right now," Eric said.

Nick snorted, but for a moment it looked like Frank was going to agree. With what he should have known was anything but a serious proposal. Shit. What Eric taken for brass balls might actually be a death wish.

"Look, I don't know what you've been through," he said. "But we've suffered too. That bitch is hellbent on ruining everyone's life. Tearing all our families apart-"

"She kill your kids?" Frank demanded, with a hint of righteousness. And maybe self-loathing, Eric thought. Like he blamed himself almost as much as Daphne.

Eric snapped his mouth shut. Nick finally looked up from the fire.

"Right," Frank said. "I take your point. We've all got a dog in this fight. But next time you feel like pretending you know the first fucking thing about me-"

"I was trying to say I don't know-"

"-do us both a favor and shut it."

The two of them stared at each other for a while, listening to the crackling of dry wood.

"I'm sorry," Frank said at last. "Look, we're all here for the same reason, and the three of working together can accomplish a lot more than any of us on our own. So what do you say we focus on that and get some shit done?" He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, fogging up the air in front of his face. For some reason, Eric found that reassuring. He'd not laid eyes on any of Daphne's brood but two or three times since they'd arrive, Nick being the stealthier one and all, but that alone had been enough for him to notice that their breath didn't react the same way to cold air as everyone else's did. "I'm not looking to go out in a blaze of glory, if that's what you're worried about."

That, however, was not so reassuring. The words sounded too forced.

So. Their big damn hero had a messiah complex. Fucking wonderful. Between that and Nick's willingness to manipulate his own brother, Eric had all the support he needed to face the forces of Winter. A real fucking dream team.

But Frank was right that they needed more information.

"So how do we go about this?" Eric asked. "Camp outside some commoner's house and wait for one of her children to pay a visit? Shouldn't take too long, right?"

Frank shook his head. Even before the words left his mouth, Eric knew what they'd be. "We raid her palace. Grab someone who matters. Someone who might know something."

Fuck. It actually made sense.

Nick stared an accusation at him, like he was betraying not only his brother but all of Summer by listening to the guy. Which was strange, because it wasn't too hard to imagine a similar conversation playing out between the two of them, with Nick proposing the exact same thing their newfound partner now was. Was he just that bothered by having a stranger in their midst? Had he forgotten the reason his grandmother had sent them here?

"Yeah," Eric said, pointedly avoiding Nick's gaze.

Frank gave an approving nod.

"Now who's reckless?" Nick asked Eric, to all outward appearances unaware that the two of them weren't alone. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Got a better plan?" Eric asked.

He hadn't really seduced Eric then made him forget it, had he? That would be seriously fucked up. He wasn't the same person Eric remembered, but that was a helluva line to cross.

Nick had nothing to say to that. Of course.

"So," Frank said. "Everybody ready?"

Eric drew a deep breath. If he was a little more confident that no part of the guy was hoping things would go sour, he might find himself a little impressed with Mister Orwin. He himself was not one for waffling or wasting time.

"Sure," he said, grabbing his sword.

Nick shook his head, but offered not a word of protest.

And with that, they departed, leaving the fire to burn out on its own.