Faery Merry Christmas
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Faery Merry Christmas
What faery fun!
A winsome sprite's barely still-ticking time clock.
Mayhem in the land of Claus.
And the man who could wave just the right magic wand obsessed with baseball.
A Christmas story to cuddle up with—and keep you really warm.
~~NYT Best-selling Author, Stella Cameron, author of Cypress Nights and Tails of Love
I sincerely hope to read future stories involving Princess Kaylee. Faeryshire and the faeries within it are as addictive as fine chocolate.
~~Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews
Table of Contents
Author’s Note
Dedication
Copyright
About the Author
Discover other titles by Jacquie Rogers
Faery Merry Christmas
Chapter One
Faeryshire, in the Human Year 1956
'Twas December twenty-first, the day of Yule. Nearly every faery in the realm attended the ceremony.
I, Cheshya of the Brown Clan, ascended to the High Temple one flight at a time with my best posture, holding the wedding bouquet of posies and butterflies, my shimmering silver gown flowing behind me. Morkito and other pixies flew around the hem and kept it from snagging anything. My goal was to land gently in front of the altar without falling flat on my face in front of all my friends and my new mate.
For this was my wedding day.
Queen Merci sat on her throne above and behind the altar. Princess Kaylee, my best friend, stood beside her. Sweet tunes twinkled and fluttered through the High Temple on the glittering faery dust, caressing the most hardened of souls. I let it flow around me and through me, the joy of song lifting my spirit. Anxiety had been my constant companion for the last week while I stewed over the course of my future.
At last, I glided to the altar, quite gracefully, in fact. If it weren’t for my uncertain future, I could’ve relaxed, but as it was, I had no idea who Kaylee had chosen for me to be my husband.
The queen held her wand and scepter, the latter shooting sparks every few seconds. She raised an eyebrow at Kaylee. Kaylee shrugged and glanced around, her palms up.
“You may approach, Cheshya,” Queen Merci said to me. I knelt in front of Her Highness. “The groom chosen for you sent his regrets.”
She sounded apologetic and even sad. I had to admit that while being jilted in front of five thousand of my closest friends and relatives wasn’t my idea of a thrill, neither was I enthusiastic over marrying a man I neither knew nor loved. But then, it was all my fault. My courting time was nearly gone so a groom had been picked for me, supposedly to best benefit all of Faeryshire.
Yes, I did love a man with all my heart, but he didn’t love me. I guess I have to say that being jilted was somewhat of a relief because I couldn’t imagine taking a partner for life (and faeries live a very long time) knowing I’d never connect with my true soul mate.
“Cheshya,” the queen said. “I’ll summon you when I’m ready to make my determination of your future, but first I must see the others are wed.”
I invoked my invisibility spell and transported myself and my tears to the cave in the woods that had been my retreat for centuries. My people are of the Brown Clan and we control the earth elements such as precious stones and metals, and we’re also in charge of the materialization powers. It comes in handy, and I’m rather good at making stones appear. Quite good at it, in fact.
The day had left me with a knot in my gut and a tear in my eye, for it was within four days of my two-thousandth birthday and I had yet to marry. According to faery tradition, marriages aren’t allowed after such an age. Instead, the queen appoints the solo faery to a Queen’s Quest. While that wasn’t an unpleasant existence, most preferred to grow old with a partner, and more importantly, children could only be conceived by a Life Mate.
The bluebells jingled signaling the queen’s summons, and with a pinch of faery dust, I transported myself to the throne room.
“Oh, Cheshya!” Princess Kaylee gave me a big bear hug.
“Watch it. You’ll wrinkle my wings.” I was deeply grateful for that hug, but it didn’t seem right to show my turmoil. I had a reputation to uphold.
“You’ve never fooled me and you can’t fool me now,” Kaylee whispered. “But I’m the little sister you never had, and I’m sticking by you. Don’t worry, Mum will come up with a pleasant Queen’s Quest, plus we’ll always be friends.”
I smiled and hugged her back. She didn’t know my heart had already been broken, for I’d never told a soul.
The heralds sounded the trumpets. I approached the throne and knelt.
“Cheshya, you’re a good faery. You overthink sometimes, and you guard your feelings fiercely, maybe too much, but you have a sweet disposition and have been a credit to our kind.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” But good grief, protecting my heart wasn’t bad. It would be completely broken by now had I not.
“Your two-thousandth birthday is four days hence. You aren’t required to accept a Queen’s Quest until then.”
I curtseyed. “If it’s all the same to you, Your Highness, I’m quite sure I’ll not find a soul mate by Christmas Day, so we might as well get on with it.”
I was born to Santa and Mrs. Claus, although at the time they were known as Lucius of the Green Clan and Helga of the Brown Clan. A faery child assumes the clan of his mother so I’m also of the Brown Clan. Originally, my birthday landed on Sol Invictus, which later became Christmas. Papa and Mum always threw a great party that day so my birthdays were always filled with joy. Not this year, though.
The queen drew a circle of faery dust over my head. “We’ve reflected on your personality and assets, and come to a decision. It will be up to you to find unhappy faeries who are living in Terra Humanus and bring them back home by seeing that each one’s heart’s desire is fulfilled. I know this is a difficult mission, but few have the wits to take on such a burden as you do, and you have a deep concern for the faery spirit. You’re uniquely qualified for this quest.”
“Your Highness, I have no idea where to start or how to go about such an undertaking.”
“I thought as much, so I gave Kaylee some information to get you started. And another thing, you’ve agreed to this Queen’s Quest, but I have not accepted your commitment, nor will I do so until the precise date and time of your two-thousanth birthday.” She waved her scepter and faery dust surrounded me, boosting my energy and magic. “Now, be gone!”
Chapter Two
Terra Humanus, Human Year 1956
Lobby of Heartbreak Plaza Inn
The sign on the Heartbreak Plaza Inn sported a giant blinking pink heart torn in two. Whether that was a good omen or bad, I knew not. Inside, plush pink sofas lined the perimeter of the large lobby, which also boasted a grand piano and a massive cedar front desk.
This whole Queen’s Quest business didn’t seem so inviting now that I had walked through the hotel front doors. I stopped short, and Kaylee crashed into me, bending one of my wings.
“Watch where you’re going, Cheshya!”
I was watching, and I wasn’t about to go one step farther until I knew the exact nature of my mission. “Perhaps I should study my victim, er, subject before I introduce myself.”
Kaylee grabbed my arm and urged me into the lobby. “Nonsense, it’s best to dive in head first. Get to know your project and his problem.”
“His?” I stopped again. “How do you know he’s a ‘his’?”
And then I saw him not ten paces past the lobby Christmas tree. “No.” I retreated, heart racing, but Kaylee held me steady.
“Yes. Project Number One.”
>
He sat on the edge of a green velvet couch, elbows on his knees, his head down. The very sight of him captured my love all over again. Quite a handsome fellow, he was, and braw, with broad-shoulders, muscular thighs, and auburn hair in the latest human style, a jellyroll. He wore cuffed jeans and a white T-shirt with a pack of Lucky Strikes rolled up in his left sleeve, the white jersey material reflecting the bubble lights from the Christmas tree.
I headed for the door. “Tell your mum I can’t do this.”
For Project Number One was Liam, the man who’d stolen my heart at least five centuries ago and had never given it back.
Kaylee zapped me with an immobilization enchantment. “Oh, no, you don’t!”
Another man, also well-built, approached Liam and clapped him on the shoulder. “Buddy, you’re acting like you were shot down, but hey, no one’s heard who’ll get called yet. Don’t let ‘em rattle your cage. It’s a waiting game, always is.”
“Putz was better today.”
“Putz has control issues, and he needs to get a handle on that slider of his.”
“He struck out six in a row. Six batters, six Ks, and only twenty-three pitches. Hard to get any better.”
Liam’s friend shrugged. “Hey, c’mon. Let’s hop in the rag top and fetch us a couple brews. Get your mind off your woes.”
Kaylee dragged me behind a luggage cart where we retracted our wings and enchanted our faery ears to a rounded shape like humans’ ears. Then she zapped me into a charcoal grey straight skirt and a black sweater with a very low back and a multi-strapped bra that shaped me with fashionably pointy breasts. The breeze chilled me and besides, I felt exposed, especially with no wings.
“I can’t wear this.”
“Of course you can. It’s all the rage.” She flicked some faery dust on me and I relaxed a little. “Get visible now—we’re going in.”
“No!”
“Cheshya, you’ve already made your choice. Now, let’s go.”
We dropped our invisibility, which was a relief. Staying invisible requires lots of power and is quite tiring.
The prospect of speaking with Liam wasn’t a relief, however. Yes, he’d always been polite, but no, he never gave me a second notice. I swore to end my infatuation with him decades ago, but obviously my oath didn’t work very well, for my heart was singing with joy at the very sight of him. Yet, I knew he’d see right through me, whether I was visible or not to the rest of the world.
“Speak to him,” Kaylee hissed in my ear.
I concentrated on relaxing my shoulder blades, then raised my chin and smiled sweetly. “Hello, Liam.”
Liam did a double-take and his buddy whistled. “Man-oh-man, what a couple of dolls. Buddy, you’ve been holding out on me.”
Kaylee zapped a wad of bubblegum in my mouth. I snapped my gum and posed with one hand on my hip, displaying my charms. The straight skirt and clingy sweater helped. Kaylee winked and sidled up to Liam’s friend.
“Cheshya?” Liam didn’t seem to know what to say. I’d never seen him tongue-tied before.
“Just visiting. I wanted to know what you found so interesting in this town.” I smiled at his friend. “But I see a few interesting sights already.”
Liam grabbed me and pulled me to his side. “Ladies, meet Stump . . .”
“Mike.” He offered his hand like he was a gift of the gods, but he ruined the effect by winking. “Mike Bierman, at your service, ladies.”
“. . . a teammate of mine. Stump, er, Mike, this is Cheshya and Prin . . . er, her friend, Kaylee. Cheshya and Kaylee. They’re friends of the family.”
Mike whistled low. “Whoo-baby. I hear a call for the submarine races.”
“Watch it, bub. These are ladies, not baseball annies.”
“Righto!” Mike grinned, conceding ground in the way that men do when they divide territory without talking. “I’ll be on my best behavior. Still want a brew, though.”
“We’d love to go with you,” I said, taking Liam’s arm. “What’s a rag top?”
“You’re not going.”
“Of course I’m going.”
“Of course she is.” Mike had his arm around Kaylee. He motioned to me and I stepped to his other side, then he grasped my shoulder. “What red-blooded American baseball player wouldn’t take two gorgeous babes out for a brewski?”
“The I’ll-kick-his-ass kind. Now get your hands off the women.”
Kaylee giggled and snuggled up to Mike’s chest. “Where’s the rag top?”
“Well, now, that’s the problem. Liam here holds the pink slip on the car, so we’re not going anywhere without him, or at least his keys.”
What he meant was, Liam owned the automobile. I’d never seen one, but of course all faeries have heard of them from the travelers. The last time I visited Terra Humanus was in their year 1885. They didn’t have any cars then, at least not in Henderson Flats, Idaho.
Liam grabbed my hand and shoved me behind him. “Let’s go.” His growl didn’t seem too happy. While he had never felt as strongly about me as I did him, I never thought he actually disliked me, more likely, he thought of me as a sister. Maybe even a pesky one. Ouch.
The rain poured down and drenched us in the short distance from the hotel to the car.
“Your back’s getting wet,” Liam warned.
We couldn’t zap an umbrella enchantment for two reasons. The first reason was because Mike, a human, might see it happen. The second, Liam was in a competitive career with humans so he wasn’t allowed to use faery magic of any sort to gain advantage. The pouring rain posed a serious problem because if my skin got too wet, my wings might pop out.
“I knew I shouldn’t have worn a scoop-back blouse, no matter how stylish Kaylee said they were.”
He took off his Shoreline Sharks jacket and draped it around my shoulders. “She should’ve known better. Besides, this isn’t Tahiti.”
His jacket, warm from his own body heat, so very intimate, raised my doubts that I could make him happy enough to return to Faeryshire. Thus far, he hadn’t been happy with either my appearing or my appearance. We passed rows and rows of automobiles, until Liam stopped beside a cute little pink and white squarish car and fished the keys out of his pocket. Squeezing four people into this car would be interesting, although sitting by Liam, even for a short trip, would make this whole quest worthwhile.
“My chariot, ladies,” Liam said as he opened the passenger door. Kaylee and Mike crawled into the small back seat and I sat in the front. Cute as the car was, simply flying seemed much more convenient. Humans did everything the hard way.
Liam started the engine. “I just bought it this summer. It’s a 1956 Nash Metropolitan convertible with leather seats and a continental kit.” That meant nothing at all to me, but his voice brimmed with pride and he practically petted the steering wheel. Being jealous of a steering wheel was ridiculous. I clutched his jacket around me.
The motor hummed and off we went for my first car ride. Trees and buildings went by so fast, they blurred, but no wind brushed my face. How intriguing. He turned a knob and music came blaring from the dashboard. I looked for an exuberant man singing Tutti-Frutti. He must have been very tiny.
Not more than five minutes later, Liam parked under a long, low roof connected to a small building. Women wearing red and green short skirts, scoop-necked blouses, and funny little hats, glided around on shoes with wheels, and they carried trays with mugs of beverage and other items, presumably to eat.
“What is this place?” I asked. While I didn’t want to appear too naïve in front of Mike, neither did I have any idea what would be expected of me.
“Relax, I’ll order for you. This is our local hangout, the Toot ‘n Tell.” He tooted his horn, which startled me. “The car hop comes and takes our order, and when it’s cooked, she delivers it to us.” He turned a crank on the door and the window glass receded into the lower part of the door.
“You girls must be from small townsville?” Mike asked.
A girl dressed in a short red skirt, a tight, red sweater with white fur cuffs and a holly corsage, and sporting a red Santa cap rolled up to the car. “Hey, Liam.” She snapped her gum and stuck her head halfway through the window—entirely too close to him, in my opinion. “Whachya want?” When she made eye contact with me, she pouted. “I see you have company tonight.”
If I had free use of my faery dust, that girl and her ponytail and roller shoes would turn into a toad.
“This is Cheshya and the one in back is Kaylee. They’re friends of my family. Cheshya, Kaylee, this is Ruth. She’s a carhop here and she always takes good care of us.”
“Always, sugar cake.” Ruth winked. Maybe she had sand in her eye.
“We’ll have two cheeseburgers with everything, two double-cheeseburgers with everything . . .”
“Put raw onions on one of those double-cheeseburgers,” Mike said.
Ruth scribbled on her pad. “You got it, sweetie pie.”
“. . . four french fries,” Liam continued. “And four cherry fresh-lime sodas.”
After the carhop left, Kaylee leaned forward. “Let me out. I need to, uh . . .”
Liam hopped out, tipped the driver’s seat forward, and offered her his hand. After she straightened up and brushed herself off, she leaned down and said, “Cheshya, wanna go to the ladies’ room with me?”
I didn’t, but Kaylee undoubtedly had a strategy for me to employ, so I went with her.
On the way back, she said, “You go without me. Mum just summoned.”
“You’re leaving? As in abandoning me?”
“Yes, well, this is your quest. I’ll be around, but you’re the one who has to make Liam happy enough to return to Faeryshire. You’ve got his jacket so that’s a start. Besides, Mum wants me to prepare for a big ceremony on Christmas.”
“Ah, yes, and my birthday, too. I won’t be there.”
“Who knows? You have four days.” She waved with her fingers. “Toodles!”
And disappeared. What was I supposed to tell Mike?