Chapter 22

He was surprised the royal family agreed to be recorded. Firo followed Aireese into their ‘practice room’ and then stopped, still standing in the doorway, and looked around. First, this was not a room, it was too large to be called that. Second, it was nothing like anything he’d ever seen. He supposed it made sense because of the responsibility Alterealm had in the universe, but it was still shocking.

Queen Daxx walked by him. “Right. It’s like heaven.”

He watched her walk over to the wall of weapons. His idea of the human heaven was vastly different than hers.

“What do you want to tape us doing?” Princess Paisley came over to his princess.

“Amyas wants to see the female warriors and the abilities they have.” He caught the look of excitement on her face. She was just as interested in this as their elder was.

If he were being completely honest, it was going to be something to see. When they’d been at the ice cave apprehending Arwan, there had been too much happening for him to catch everything. He followed them over to the wall of weapons. That’s when he noticed most were made of wood and other non-lethal materials.

“Are you joining us?” Prince Quinton reached up and got down two of the large swords.

“You should.” Prince Rafael nodded and looked at the wall. “What’s your weapon?”

Firo glanced at Aireese, she was receiving instruction on how to record the events from a few of the princesses. He looked at the wall and didn’t see anything that was close to his weapon. Then again, how could there be? His was a fae weapon. He lowered his arm beside him and looked at his hand. His silver sword appeared in his hand.

“I want one of those,” Daxx yelled and rushed over. She looked at it with such excitement on her face and then turned and looked at her king. “Troy, I need one of these.” She held her hands beside it. “Can I touch it?”

Firo was amused with her reaction. He’d been asked a lot of things in his long life, but touching his sword was not one of them. “You may. I can’t hand it to you. It will disappear as soon as it leaves my hand.”

“Really. Troy…”

The king was walking up behind her. He looked at her with such affection that Firo was surprised. “I don’t think I can get you a sword that only Fa Terra guards have, Daxx.”

She touched the steel with one fingertip, and her eyes widened. “Why?”

“Because you’re not from FaTerra.” King Troy said with a slight smile.

Daxx straightened up and then looked at him. “That’s just dumb.”

“Crissy, go up and come down so I can show the princess how to do this,” Paisley called out.

“Okay.”

Firo looked over to see the small princess scaling a wall with great speed and accuracy. It was a sight to see.

“Now?” Crissy called down as she reached the top.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Paisley called to her.

“I’m always ready to come down.” She did something in front of her and then Firo jolted when she started coming down in a blur. It wasn’t until her feet were on the floor again that he noticed the cable attached to her waist.

“Oh. I got all of it.” Aireese said in an animated tone. “This is exciting.” She looked over at Firo and smiled. It wasn’t often something pleased her in this way. It was nice to see.

“Why are we doing this? I think I missed the start of the conversation.” Prince Leone came over and got two of the wooden swords off the wall.

“What is with you lately? You’re so distracted.” Prince Michael nudged him out of the way and got a sword and a smaller one off the wall. “Someone highjack your head again?”

Leone snarled at him. “No. If you must know, I’ve been helping Beth and a few of the others learn to work the family bond.”

“Oh?” Prince Arius was walking toward them. Rafael grabbed a long staff and tossed it at him. He caught it without missing a step.

Princess Bethany came over and hugged her mate. “Yes. We’re tired of being left out of the family hotline.” She kissed her mate’s mouth and then turned around and went over to Paisley and Aireese.

“Let’s get this done.” Princess Autumn came in, pushing a child’s stroller, he thought it was called. “I just got her to sleep and want to get a good workout in before she’s awake again.”

Firo looked at the stroller and then the woman. She’d brought her child to this place.

She smiled at him. “It’s never too early to be exposed to how to defend yourself.” She glanced over at Prince Victor. “Ready?”

He smiled and inclined his head. “Of course. I look forward to this any time you’re able.” He tossed two short batons at her. She caught them without barely a glance.

“Same. Viola and I were jogging around the palace—” She frowned. “Deck thing, earlier so I would be warmed up.”

Firo watched everyone get off the large mats and stand around the outside. He went over and stood behind his princess. She held the phone up and aimed it at the prince and princess.

When they started, he was completely taken aback. They moved so fast, a baton in each hand, and it was as if they anticipated each other’s move, which ended with blocking it with one of their own.

“I’m next. Autumn is the only one that challenges me.” Prince Rafael said with a smile.

“I’ll challenge you to get up off the mat, punk.” Prince Quinton said with a huge grin.

Rafael scoffed. “You wish, old man.” He winked at his brother.

Bethany and Paisley exchanged a look and smiled. He wasn’t sure what that was about, but he did know that an exchange like that between two females, never ended well for some male.

He turned back to watch what was happening on the mat. The constant clash of the batons was still going just as fast as it had begun.

“Remember the recording, this can’t be hours long.” King Chase called out from the door.

“Yes,” Victor said. “I will hand it off to my brother now, Autumn. Thank you.” He stepped back, lowered his arms, and bowed his head.

“One second.” Autumn tossed the batons at her mate on her way over to look into the stroller. She stopped and smiled for a second before turning around and raising her hand. Michael threw a long staff at her. She caught it and met Rafael in the center of the mats.

“Who’s ready?” Daxx called out and went onto the mat with two shorter swords.

“I’ll take you on.” Quinton went onto the mat, a big smile on his face.

“You’re going to want to focus on Leone and Arius when they start.” Princess Reagan stood beside his princess. “Beth and Paisley will help their mates.”

“Help?” He watched his princess follow Autumn and Rafael for a minute and then turned to observe Quiton and Daxx. He had to admit they were all fine warriors.

“Yes. Paisley will stop Leone’s feet and Beth will try to knock Arius off his.”

“With their abilities?”

“Mhmm.” Reagan nodded.

“Do you fight?” Firo looked down at her.

“I heal those that don’t get out of the way of a swing, but yes, I have some experience fighting as well.” She glanced at the wall of weapons. “I don’t have a practice one.” She smiled. “I’ll show you in a moment.” She motioned to the corner where her mate stood, watching the stroller.

“Please do.” Aireese turned and followed Arius with the phone as he went out onto the mat. He turned around and pointed his finger at Princess Bethany and wiggled it. She laughed.

“This Amyas, she’s going to give you answers in exchange for this?” Reagan asked.

“Yes. She’s one of our elders, one of the oldest, I believe.” Aireese told her. “She can’t leave the valley, so I agreed to do this for her. She was raised on the king’s son’s numbering nine prophecy, so she wanted to see it realized.”

“Oh, here we go.” Reagan pointed to Bethany and Paisley when they walked over to the edge of the matt.

“I can take him without your help, babe,” Arius called out.

“Where’s the fun for me then?” She called back to him.

“Whatever makes you happy.” Arius ducked a swing from his brother.

Firo watched with fascination when Leone went from advancing on his brother to standing there and growling. “Paise.” He smiled but didn’t look happy.

Prince Arius used that opportunity to charge at him, and then he was sent flying back.

“Be nice,” Bethany yelled.

Catching his footing, he looked over at her. “I’m always nice.” He laughed.

Firo shook his head. This was the royal family of Alterealm, and each one of them had amazing talent.

“I’m up.” Reagan reached into a pouch she had at her side. He was shocked when she pulled out a surijin. He hadn’t seen one used in the last century.

“Watch your feet, boys, Rea is coming,” Paisley called out.

He heard laughing and looked up to see Princess Crissy sitting astride a beam above them. His princess moved the camera to catch her before going back to the mats again.

Princess Reagan moved just behind her mate as he went into the mix of siblings and mates mock fighting. She released the weapon with great accuracy and knocked King Troy off balance long enough for Quinton to swoop in and knock his feet beneath him.

“They are amazing,” Aireese whispered.

“That is a fact, my Princess.” He sighed. “I now understand why Alterealm was chosen to police all the realms. I believe they could take on any enemy without pause or worry.”

“Oh, there’s always worry.” Queen Alona came over with her mate.

“You’re not practicing today?” His princess asked while still recording the others.

“No. Doctor’s orders I’m to take it easy for a few days after that nightmare we were stuck in.”

“We’re going to go away for a few days until my beloved feels steady again.” The King Chase said.

Alona smiled at him. “Go play with your brothers, we can leave after.”

He smiled at her, leaned down, and kissed her cheek. “You are a goddess.”

Alona laughed as he ran toward the weapon wall.

“What is your weapon, Queen Alona?” Firo asked.

“Believe it or not, even with my empathic ability, nun-chucks.” She shrugged. “If I can’t evade being near anyone trying to beat on others, knocking them out works best for me.” She laughed. “Please thank your elder for her help.” She inclined her head and then went over toward the stroller.

Firo didn’t know the prophecy that Amyas was so interested in, but looking around, he knew that anyone would be very excited to see this. Aside from the two princesses using their abilities, all the rest were using the skills they had trained hard to have. It made him proud to work with the Alterealm guard again to restore the realms to the way they were meant to be.

He watched Daxx and Autumn bow out and jog over to a target at the other end. Each woman picked up knives and tossed them one after the other at the target. All of them hit it in close concession.

The one woman who had been on her phone tucked it in her pocket and started to walk toward the mat. He believed her to be Prince Emil’s mate, Kinsley. She held her hand out, and Firo watched with amazement when a sword came off the wall and went over the top of the others to her hand.

“My turn.” Princess Kara came out of a door near the target with a bow in her hand and a quiver on her back. She nocked and released an arrow so fast he had barely been able to keep up with it.

“Ready, Kara.” Crissy used her cable and repelled to the floor.

Kara nodded and reached for another arrow.

“There’s ten of them. See how fast you can hit them.” Crissy was so excited she wasn’t able to stand still.

“Got it.”

“Heads up, guys.” Daxx bellowed, and all the commotion on the mats stopped. Everyone turned and looked at Kara and then at the ceiling.

Firo looked up to see small red targets hanging from the beams.

“You’ve got this,” Rafael called out.

She smiled and released the first arrow. Firo didn’t have time to check if she’d hit anything before the next one was flying through the air. She barely moved her footing at all; just pivoted slightly and let them fly.

When everyone was clapping, he realized she’d sent ten already. He looked up at the beams to see that all of the targets spread out in the large space had an arrow through them. “Amazing.”

“I think that concludes today’s practice.” King Troy was smiling as he looked around the room. He moved over to the edge of the mat and bowed toward Aireese. Firo realized he was doing it for Amyas to see.

Aireese lowered the phone. “Thank you. That was far more than I expected.”

“You find the bad ones; we’ll deal with them.” Daxx smiled and glanced at her mate, who nodded.

“I have no doubt you will.” His princess replied.