The Coven
Summary: Lady Duana's quiet country retreat in Maghre, Scelt, is about to be overrun by 9 very unique and mischievous witches and warlords and two of their furry brothers. Set in Heir to the Shadows.
Beta'd by and Dedicated to Erkith. (Thanks!)
Chapter One- Scelt
"Oh this place is wonderful Khary!" Jaenelle breathed, looking around in amazement. Part of the coven, Jaenelle, Karla, Gabrielle, Morghann, Kalush, Morton, Chaosti, Khary and Aaron, are all were all staying in Lady Duana's cottage in country Maghre for two weeks. Some people (Sataen) were already busily praying the Shadow Realm would survive it.
Since arriving, they had quickly overrun the large, vine covered house, exclamations of delight and excitement issuing from all corners. The two largest rooms had been turned into dormitories with the girls sharing one and the boyos the other. The witches' room itself was extremely large and circular, with each witch having a single bed against the wall and a couch where a 6th bed would have been. Taking their time, they called in their possessions, the witches filled three wardrobes with various clothes they all shared, before settling back onto their beds contentedly to have a chat and wait for the boyos to plan some mischief.
The Warlords' room/dorm was rectangular and had two double bunk beds. Chaosti was the top of one, Morton under, and Aaron top of the other, Khary under him. Their clothes had been placed carefully (if hastily) into a separate wardrobes and then they left to find their witches. Lady Duana's cottage also had a spacious living room, bathroom and kitchen.
Piling into the witches' room, the guys sat down on the couch except for Morton, who sat by Karla seeing as he couldn't fit on the cough. Morghann took one look at the boyos and laughed- Chaosti had stolen the first seat, Khary had sat down casually then Aaron had decided he wanted to share and squished them both up. Chaosti's annoyed glare sent Gabrielle into giggles too.
"I thought Uncle Saetan would never agree to this!" Karla commented, after looking contentedly around them.
"Yeah, just think of all the- Ow Aaron do you mind?- things we can do!" Khary turned the unspoken ideas around in his head, before elbowing Aaron.
"Well what are we going to do today? It's only mid morning…" Morton reminded them.
"Oooh, can we go to the lake? Can we?" asked Morghann excitedly. Jaenelle looked at the others before smiling, which was all the agreement the others needed. They ran to get changed into bathing suits and clothes they could get wet in.
They took some of the kindred horses, all knowing how to ride from long lessons, and ignored the gasps Gabrielle and Chaosti sometimes got as they rode to the lake. The people of Scelt were now somewhat used to the Dea Al Mon Prince and Queen, but whenever there were gasps, Jaenelle's midnight gaze was turned on to the cause, and the group rode past proudly. There had been past incidents, but Jaenelle's presence was usually enough to shock the Princes from the Killing Edge. Her rage however, was something that scared them all. They all tried to deter that and none wore the Jewels when they were out for fun, like this day.
When they arrived at the lake, already there were people swimming, laughing and playing on the beach and out on brightly coloured paddle boats and canoes.
"How about going on the boats?" Kalush suggested shyly, pointing at the loudly coloured boats for hire. People sat in them and they had pedals like a bike and people could paddle lazily or race at their own speeds.
"Sounds like fun." Khary had a gleam in his eyes that immediately made everyone suspicious.
"Us Warlords will pay for the lovely ladies." Khary continued and bowed exaggeratedly to them. Kalush blushed, Karla rolled her eyes, Morghann gave Khary an approving smile, Gabrielle gave Chaosti an 'If you are planning something, you are sooo dead' smile, Chaosti winced, Khary's smile grew wider, Morton snorted, Aaron winked at Kalush and Jaenelle just gave them all an amused glance.
When they got closer to the boats, they separated, Khary taking the guys with him. They looked like they were debating about something, throwing occasional glances at the girls. Morton looked horrified, Chaosti uncomfortable, but they returned and said nothing.
"What was that all about?" Morghann asked suspiciously.
"That? Oh, you know, Chaosti was just being stingy." Khary said airily as Chaosti looked horrified and started to deny it.
"I was not!" Chaosti protested as Karla tried to muffle a laugh at the proud Dea Al Mon Prince's expense. Chaosti's eyes narrowed at her cough, but Gabrielle's were narrowed at Chaosti, promising him hell for being cheap.
"Well lets go then…" Kalush said hurriedly, averting certain disaster.
"Race you!" Khary yelled and took off, Jaenelle sighing as they all lost to Khary.
They paired up quickly, before realising there were three left, Jaenelle was the odd one out. For a fleeting moment, sadness crossed Jaenelle's face, before Karla determinedly grinned and declared "This thing will fit three!".
In the end, Khardeen went with Aaron, Morton with Chaosti, Kalush with Morghann and Gabrielle, Karla and Jaenelle shared.
"This is nice." Gabrielle murmured as Jaenelle and Karla paddled lazily, all three slumped in their seats, eyes partially closed enjoying the warm sun.
"Ahhhhh!" All three girls squealed, as ice cold water rained down on them from Khary and Aaron splashing them. At the same time, Chaosti and Morton struck Kalush and Morghann. Gabrielle sat up slowly, back rigid, posture intimidating, a look that promised retribution on her face. Jaenelle and Karla also turned to look at them.
"Uh oh." Khary mumbled.
"PADDLE!" screamed Aaron. Meanwhile Chaosti and Morton were also paddling away as fast as they could.
"AFTER THEM!" declared Morghann, all the girls giving chase like practiced predators.
"AHHHHHHH!" screamed Morton in sheer terror, realising the girls were beginning to gain on them.
"Stop screaming, its hurting my ears!" complained Chaosti before looking back and suddenly doubling the pace.
"This had to have been the dumbest idea ever!" Aaron yelled at Khary, both beginning to feel a little tired but not daring to stop.
"Shut up. It could have been worse!" Khardeen yelled back.
"Let's get them!" whispered Morghann, and Kalush turned to look at her, seeing a queer, crazed look in her eyes. Kalush looked a bit freaked out but paddled harder, wanting to get revenge on the boyos too.
"Wow, Khary and the boyos sure got Morghann riled up." Jaenelle wrinkled her nose as they continued the chase.
"Let's get them good!" Karla declared, before the planning began in earnest on the distaff thread.
The boyos seemed to realise nothing could save them, and had decided to take a stand in the middle of the lake, the boats huddled together as the warlords watched the approaching witches with much apprehension.
"If we die, I'm going to become demon dead and kill you Khary." muttered Aaron.
"Yeah, a 'great' idea, Khary." Morton complained, seeing the fire in Karla's eyes.
"Gabrielle will kill me." Chaosti murmered, eyes fixed on the Dea Al Mon witch.
"You'll be lucky for death mate." Aaron looked at him sympathetically.
Khary wisely stayed silent.
.:Ready girls:. Morghann, who seemed to be organising the second assult cried.
"They're going awfully fast aren't they?" Khardeen seemed a bit nervous, and looked behind them to see if they could back up.
.:READY:. four female voices replied.
"Do you think they're going to hit us!" Morton asked nervously.
.:GO:.
"They ARE going to hit us!" breathed Chaosti, all the boyos preparing for the hit.
To be continued...
Author's Note:
I'm excited! having just finished Deadly Politics, i wasn't planning on diving back into BJT but then i re-read Heir and realised no one has really done anything much about how the coven got along. I hope you like it, and as always drop me a line if you've got any ideas.
Erkith is my first ever beta, be on the look out for a story by her involving Surreal and Prince Rainier, the dance teacher from Dreams Made Flesh, where i get to play my hand as beta! 0o00o!
xoxo