A Fairy-Tail Marriage

Chapter 7

Althea woke up alone the next morning, a little sore but otherwise content. She lay there for some time, thinking she needed another bath to relieve a different kind of soreness. Her giggle slipped out of her. A knock on the bedroom door startled her into full wakefulness. She pulled the covers over her body and called for the knocker to enter.

Cala poked her head. “Good morning, Queenie. It’s awfully late for you to still be in your bed.”

Althea sat up and squealed, “I had s*x!”

Cala laughed at her. “Of course you did! You’re a married woman.” She plopped down on the bed beside her best friend with a smile on her face. “I guess you liked it.”

“I sure did and can’t wait to do it again!” Althea exclaimed.

“Well, my friend, you’ll have to do it in tents or inns. We start the tour of the kingdom in less than a week,” Cala reminded her.

Althea flopped back on her pillows. “I completely forgot we were supposed to do that. But at least the weather is nice.”

“Yes, it will be a lovely trip,” Cala said. “You should talk to Braxton about occasionally allowing you to shrink him to fairy size to show his willingness to understand our lives.”

“I hadn’t thought about that either,” Althea mused, wondering if her husband would allow it. He hadn’t seemed keen on the idea the night of their wedding, but then again, she’d been expecting him to live like that permanently. She rose and walked to the closet to dig out a robe. She glanced back at Cala. “Have our things arrived?”

“Not yet, but they should be here within the hour, I think,” Cala informed her. “Are you going to be given a maid or anything like that?”

Althea shrugged. “No idea. I didn’t have a personal maid at home. Don’t really need one. Why?”

“Just wondering,” Cala commented. “Braxton doesn’t seem to have a personal manservant or anything like that. Blake told me he prefers to handle most things himself.”

“Blake told you?” Althea lifted an eyebrow. “What were you doing with Blake?”

“Well, you deserted me on my first night here!” Cala defended. “Blake asked if I wanted to eat with him, so I did.”

“You like him!” Althea gushed and rushed over to her friend. “You do, don’t you?”

Cala’s eyes drifted to the left. “Maybe a little.”

“That’s fantastic. My best friend, his best friend. Love it!”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Cala told her. “Right now we’re just friends.”

“Okay, okay.” A knock sounded on the door to her suite. “Come in!”

Jeff stuck his head in the room, his standard grin on his face. “Good morning, my Queen. Hello, Cala. How did you sleep?”

“Wonderfully, thank you, Jeff.” Althea beckoned him into the room, and he walked pushing a tray filled with breakfast foods. “Oh, wow! Thanks, Jeff.”

“Don’t thank me, thank your husband. We still haven’t received that list of foods from the two of you,” he admonished playfully as he unloaded the cart. “So I have a little bit of everything. Some fruits, eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, and bagels along with three types of jelly and butter. And you can choose from milk, juice, or coffee, or a combination,” he finished with a flourish.

“Thank you so much, Jeff,” Althea gushed. She squeezed his arm in a show of affection, a smile on her face as she sat. She gestured for Cala to sit across from her.

“You are most welcome, my Queen,” Jeff pronounced with a small bow.

“Jeff, please call me Althea,” she offered.

His eyes widened as if she’d threatened to behead him. “Oh no, my Queen, that would be disrespectful. I am a mere servant.”

“Actually, you are my first friend here,” Althea pointed out as she ladled eggs onto her plate. “So you should call me Althea. You called Cala by her first name.”

“But she is not the queen,” Jeff argued.

Althea shook her head and pointed her fork at him. “I’ll win you over yet, Jeff.”

He bowed and excused himself, grinning at her playfulness. As he opened the door, Braxton and Blake were walking in. “Ah, good morning, my King. How are you?”

“Fantastic, Jeff. How’s Chef treating you this morning?”

“Well, you know him. The delivery was late, so he’s in a mood,” Jeff told him with a wink.

“Not surprising,” Braxton murmured. “However, I’m not sure Chef has ever been in a good mood.”

“Yes, yes. He’s an angry man.” Jeff laughed with him and excused himself, closing the door behind him as he left.

Braxton walked to the table and kissed Althea soundly on the lips before taking his seat. Blake rolled his eyes at Cala, who giggled.

“Good morning, ladies. May we join you?” Braxton asked.

“Of course. Jeff brought enough food for six people,” Althea said with a shake of her head as the two men began filling plates. “I asked Jeff to call me Althea, but he refused. Is that a rule here?”

Braxton finished chewing before answering. “Not really. Chef is a slave driver, though, and does have strict rules. Jeff could if he chose to, but he doesn’t want to anger Chef.”

“I am very interested in meeting this Chef,” Althea mused. She pictured a large man with hands like a bear’s and a torso like a tree trunk, frightening in his capacity as head of the kitchens.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Blake said, a twinkle in his eye.

“Why?”

“The ladies just love Chef. He might steal you away,” Braxton told her. Althea’s curiosity was piqued; she’d head down there as soon as they’d finished breakfast. “All right, Blake and I are actually here on business.”

“What business is that?”

“We are leaving for our tour of the kingdom on Thursday. I plan to travel for about a month or so, staying in various villages, werewolf and fairy. I’ve already heard of fairies moving across the border to settle near werewolf villages, and the werewolves like it,” Braxton said, his amazement clear in his face.

“Well, you know, a relationship between the fairies and werewolves is mutually beneficial,” Cala pointed out. All eyes turned on her, so she continued. “Think about it. Werewolves can protect fairies from outside, physical harm, while fairies can use their magic to help ease some burdens from werewolves. As long as no one takes advantage, it’s a brilliant plan.”

“You’re a genius,” Althea told her, grinning at her best friend. She turned her attention to Braxton. “I’m excited to go. I’ve met only a handful of werewolves in my life, most of them in the last three days.”

Mutual laughter echoed through her room. The foursome enjoyed their breakfast together like old friends.