Disclaimer: The Character´s of the Whedonverse belong all to Joss and Mutant Enemy. The fairies are mine!

Notes: Just a short chapter, I know …have soooo much fiction to write!! So please bear with me!!! Will update again soon!

Thanks for the feedback!!!

Flame

The world had turned into a swirling, black mess. Buffy squeezed her eyes shut

violently.

Please, please just don´t let me be sic in front of all these people, she silently implored the powers that be.

" Hold on tight, don´t let go…….whatever happens!"

She could still hear Selena´s voice in her head and the rushing of wind in her ears.

Like anybody would have to tell her that! Who knew where she might end up if that happened….Alaska, Dubai, Poland?

Buffy preferred to not put that theory to the test.

She held the fairy´s  hand tight enough to almost break it, but she did not let go. She could feel Siobhan squeezing her hand just as tight as the banshee tried to hold on to her grasp. Obviously creatures of the night favoured this way of travelling about as much as the slayer herself.

What had she been thinking, the slayer chided herself. That they would go to L.A by car or plane?

Oh nooooo……that´s what normal people did!

Her royal highness travelled on the wind and night air ……Buffy didn´t even want to know how she did it, or how she managed to take all of them with her…….

The moment she had taken the fairy´s hand it had felt like being pulled out of her own skin, a sharp uncomfortable tug.

What seemed like no more than ten minutes later, Buffy felt her feet touch solid ground again. Something like a sigh went through Selena, who swayed ever so slightly next to her. In contrast to the princess everybody else pretty much tumbled to the ground in one giant, tangled heap.

" Ouch."

Slowly and carefully Buffy opened her eyes. Spike had already scrambled back to his feet, patting the dirt of his duster.

He held one hand out to her, helping her up. Buffy could have sworn she heard him mutter something like " bloody fairies" under his breath.

They were standing in front of what looked like a luxurious, modern mansion situated on a hill overlooking the city.

" You´ve got to be kidding me!" she whispered amazed.

Since when did fairy´s own magnificent mansions in the Hollywood hills?

Spike arched his eyebrows at her, shrugging.

" Don´t look at me, love. I know about as much as you…."

Liath stood a little distance off to the side, as though he had been waiting for them, talking to a tall, pale woman with red hair. At their arrival they both turned towards them as if in slow motion. Liath´s hand moved upwards as if to cradle the woman´s  cheek, but the movement stopped in mid air. His finger´s traced the outline of her jaw, hovering just above her skin, but never actually touching her.

Buffy could hear Siobhan gasp as the woman bowed curtly in Selena´s direction, her hair tumbling over her shoulders like a living thing that had a will of it´s own.

" The living flame….."

Liath whispered something to the woman, who looked at him for a second. Then she simply nodded and walked away, seemingly catching fire.

 It started with her long mass of hair that simply seemed to start burning, with every step she took more of her body was consumed by the fire,  until she was just a mass of moving flame. Then she was gone, leaving neither ash nor heat behind.

Buffy shook her head, he could feel her forehead starting to crinkle up.

" All those neat fairy tricks are seriously starting to bug me!"

Spike looked at her, trying not to snicker.

" Sian, Lady of fire, the living flame, Liath´s  second in command"

Len explained quietly.

" Will she be part of this illustrious rescue party too?" Buffy asked impatiently.

" No …." Liath answered, " …she just informs me of what´s going on at the court!"

He turned to Selena with a smile.

" Everything has been prepared, my lady. Trollock is delighted to grant you the use of this humble abode as long as you stay in Los Angeles."

" Oh. I just bet he is!" Selena chuckled so low that it almost escaped Buffy´s hearing.

As they moved up the marble steps towards the mansion´s giant entrance the high doors swung open and a very tall, burly man stepped out.

He towered above all of them, almost like a giant. When he stepped out of the shadow of the door Buffy could see that his skin had a sickly, yellowish colour like ancient parchment. But the most peculiar thing about him was that, apart from a very flat, wide nose, he also sprouted four sharp looking tusks.

Great …a demon ……a big, ugly, most likely very dangerous demon ……this kept getting better and better

" Your Highness!" The creature said in a very rough, pronounced voice.

Buffy figured it had to be pretty difficult to speak clearly due to the tusks.

He took a deep bow.

Selena nodded at him ceremoniously, still managing to look regal and superior even though her dainty form was dwarfed by the demon´s sheer size.

" Thank you for honouring me with your visit. All that is mine shall be yours……please accept this house as my present to you, your ladyship!"

Selena smiled, motioning him to stand up straight while her eyes roamed over the beautiful garden and the house."

" That will not be necessary, Trollock. My stay here will be short and I will not be needing your services for the time being. But I am very pleased with your hospitality. You will be rewarded!"

Buffy tried to not look surprised.

The  code of conduct apparently made no statement about not being allowed to live in an evil creatures amazing mansion ……..what a surprise!

The Demon bowed again as the princess moved by him, stepping into the marvellous entrance hall.

As the other´s moved to follow her lead, Trollock lifted his head, sniffing the air.

" Slayer!" He yelled, jumping forward to grab Buffy´s arm.

Buffy managed to slide out of his reach just in time to avoid his giant, clawed hands  squashing her wrist into a mass of bloody flesh and bone.

" Hey, keep your hands of her mate!" Spike yelled, throwing a punch at the demon´s gut.

" I will kill you both for that, vampire!"

Already in a fighting stance, Buffy could see Selena whirling around out of the corner of her eye.

" Trollock!" The fairy´s voice cut through the air like the crack of a whip.

The demon´s head snapped back towards her, teeth bared.

" You brought the slayer into my house!" he roared.

It was as though the temperature had dropped several degrees in a matter of seconds.

Buffy felt a shiver run down her arms and spine at the look on Selena´s face.

No monster, nothing she had ever seen in her live, no matter how ugly or scary could hold a candle to the pure anger in the fairy´s face.

The thunder she had heard rolling in the distance all night long suddenly broke out very loudly right above their heads.

The banshee shrunk back from her princess, instinctively stepping behind Len´s body.

She could see the change in Trollock´s face as he realized that he had yelled at the fairy princess.

" Forgive me, your Highness…I…"

Selena cut him off with an impatient gesture. Her face had become hard again, beautiful and threatening, perfect and unreal like a porcelain doll.

" The slayer is here at my request!" She said slowly, her voice calm and neutral, but with a cold, steely undercurrent that no one could miss.

" She is part of my entourage, Trollock, and that means that you will pay her the same respect and courtesy that you afford me and mine!"

She slowly moved forward with an almost impossible, unnatural liquid grace until she stood directly in front of the demon.

" I will not have you bother her with your petty hostility in any way. If anything happens to her during her stay in this city, if one of your minions gives her any kind of trouble, if anybody even so much as bends one hair on her head, I will hold you personally responsible."

Under normal circumstances Buffy would have told anyone that she was very able to take care of herself. She was the slayer, she needed no one´s protection, a lot of creatures indeed needed protecting from her.

But even without Spike´s warning hand on her shoulder, Buffy knew that mentioning this right then and there was not a very good idea.

Selena took another step towards him, her voice low enough to be nothing more than a husky whisper.

" If any other unpleasant incidents occur during my stay in this house, Trollock, whatever the occasion…..I will rip your heart out. And believe me, Trollock , I will make sure that you are still alive when I serve it to you on a silver platter! Understood?"

The demon bowed so low, that he almost doubled over.

" Whatever the princess commands!"

Selena nodded slowly before she turned from him to Buffy.

" Excuse his behaviour, Buffy. I have made sure it shall never happen again!"

The ice had melted again, if it was illusion or real, Buffy couldn´t tell, but the fairy smiled warmly at her in a reassuring way. But underneath the beauty and self- control she could detect something else …..Selena was tired.

" You may go now…." She told Trollock, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

" I will call you if I have found use for you…."

Trollock bowed again, moving away from the fairy and her companions, still he did not turn his back to the princess.

Selena had entered the hall again. Without turning around she called after the demon again.

" Trollock …."

" Yes, your highness…."

" You may have lived in the sun kissed one´s realm for a long time now, but you are a creature of darkness and that is my domain. My cousin has no power in the shadows, never forget who you owe your allegiance too."