AN: 6 Sickles is approximately $3, at least according to what I could find on Google.
"Idiot." Gideon's voice came from the direction of the kitchen and Harry paused a moment feeling deja vu. Was he always going to overhear conversations while living with Laric? Shaking his head he decided to just walk in, better for them to know he was up and there than to eavesdrop again.
"He is currently my responsibility. It wouldn't be right." Laric sounded stiff, and a little ... Harry couldn't put his finger on it, regretful? That wasn't quite right...
"He told you his reaction to your touch was stronger than that of his own mate, and you shut him out, didn't you?" Gideon sounded exasperated, but Harry couldn't move. They were talking about him, how could he possibly walk into the kitchen now? He stood frozen in the middle of the living room.
"He is so young... I'm 716 years older than he is. And my home hardly looks as if I could afford to take care of him, of them." Laric's voice definitely sounded sad now, and soft, Harry could barely hear him.
A derisive snort was heard. "I highly doubt Harry cares about your age, and we both know you've been squirreling away every knut you didn't need. You must have a small fortune by now, easily enough to care for a dozen mates. Just because one potential mate rejected you, doesn't mean they all will."
"He did not reject me Gideon. He doesn't realize I exist in that way, so I never asked to Court him." There was a moment of silence before Gideon spoke again.
"You never told me that, with how strongly you seemed to feel, I assumed you had at least tried."
"There was no point, he made it quite clear that nothing would come of it. That was long ago, and while I will always have feelings for him, I made my peace with losing him in that way many years ago."
"Well, you'll have your work cut out for you if you decide to Court them now, I can't see Harry agreeing after what you did yesterday." Gideon laughed as Laric grumbled too quietly for Harry to hear, and then there was sudden silence. A long moment of silence followed by a curse from Gideon. "I have to go. Someone has tripped the wards around Lady Annalise's home."
Harry didn't know if he should continue on into the kitchen, or turn and flee back to the bedroom he shared with Fionn. The choice was taken from him however as a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind.
"Now what could Harry be doing standing in the middle of the living room?"
"I have no idea Forge, maybe he was hit with a petrificus totalus?" George poked Harry's left side, causing him to squirm and duck away from their arms.
His face a little red from the embarrassment of being caught, Harry raked a hand through his hair. "I was just thinking guys. Besides, like anything would really be able to happen to us in the home of a Warrior?" He had felt the tingly jolt through his body when Fred and George touched him, but again, it wasn't nearly as strong as when Laric had done it. He was getting so confused! He had thought that Laric wasn't interested in him at all, because of the way he had responded to accidentally touching his wings. But the conversation he had overheard seemed to mean that Laric was interested, but thought Harry would reject him. He also didn't want to do anything while Harry was dependent on him for a place to stay. But was he actually interested in Laric that way? Harry was snapped back into focus as a hand waved back and forth in front of his face.
"Harry? Harry! Time to wake up Harrykins!" Fred was standing directly in front of him, waving his hands around exaggeratedly to get his attention. He could just see George looking worried off to Fred's right, and quickly shook his head to order his thoughts.
"Sorry guys. I guess I'm not as awake as I thought yet." He put on his best sheepish expression, and allowed them to herd him into the kitchen.
Fionn hurried into the kitchen and slid into the seat to Harry's right a few moments after Harry was settled. Fred and George were across the table from them, and Laric was turning off the stove. The Warrior put plates in front of each of them, and then sat at the end closest to Harry and Fred. There was no sign of Gideon, so Harry supposed he had used Shadow to leave the kitchen and go wherever it was he had gone off to.
After they finished eating, Laric guided them into an area of the Festival devoted to games. It looked like what one might see in a Muggle fairground, except twisted to fit those who lived in the Realm. There were booths of all kinds, most with lots of people waiting in line to try their luck. The closest one had a row of 10 metal fish with poles sticking through them like a carousel horse. Water Demons were lining up, and when a bell was rung, they would shoot a stream of water at a small hole in the bottom of one of the poles and the fish would start rising to the top. One in the middle of the row got her fish to the top before the others and won a prize.
Fred hurried over and stood in front of the first fish in the row, George following and taking up the 2nd spot.
"That'll be 6 sickles each." The Water Demon in charge of the game held out his hand and Fred dropped the money into it for both himself and George.
3 other Water Demons got into line and paid, and then the bell was ringing! Fred and George each held out their right hands with fingers splayed, and water shot out from their spread fingers. The fish started rising, wobbling a little as they did so, but all 5 fish were rising at a steady rate. Fred was in third place, with George just a hairsbreadth behind him. He was determined to win something for George however, and his eyes narrowed in concentration. The water gushing from his hand became a narrower, more powerful stream and he locked his elbow to keep his arm steady. Slowly his fish moved to second place, and then was only half an inch from taking first place when the other fish hit the top of the pole, winning the game. Shoulders slumping, he closed his hand, cutting the water off in midstream.
"Bollocks!"
Harry laughed at the look on the twins' faces. "Maybe next time guys, you were awfully close Fred!"
They moved on to the next booth, this one had a large wading pool filled with little boats and a path marked by flags. Air Demons were racing the boats along the path to the finish line. The one after that was a ring toss, like the Muggles would have. Followed by a booth with balloons attached to the back with people throwing darts at them. The last one on their side was obviously meant for Fire Demons. It had more balloons, but these were attached to small baskets with a candle inside and positioned directly under the balloon. They looked like miniature hot air balloons, and the object seemed to be to get them to rise to the top of the booth without popping the balloon.
Harry approached and paid 6 sickles, along with a few other Fire Demons. When the bell rang, he concentrated on the flame in his basket, willing the fire to burn hotter but not higher than it was. The basket wobbled as it slowly rose in the air, the flame on the candle changing colors as he concentrated on it. First the normal yellow-orange flame, then it took on a greenish tinge, and slowly started turning blue. As the flame changed colors, the wax of the candle started melting faster and faster. The candle shrank quickly, but the balloon rose equally fast. One of the other Fire Demons managed to get his flame too close to the balloon and it caught fire, the basket crashing to the ground. Another was hot on Harry's heels, her flame not quite as blue as Harry's was, but her basket was catching up to him fast. Harry's eyes narrowed, and he willed his flame to grow taller to make up for the fact that his candle was rapidly shrinking. Just before the last bit of candle was consumed, his balloon brushed the ceiling, and then it plummeted to the ground below.
"Congrats! You won a prize! Pick anything off this shelf." The Fire Demon who ran the booth smiled at him, and waved her hand to the shelf behind her. It held many different stuffed toys, none larger than 8 inches tall. Harry turned to Fionn and smiled.
"Pick one Fi."
Fionn looked at the shelf, his golden eyes flicking along the row as he considered. Finally he pointed at a white teddy bear. It had a red ribbon around it's neck, tied in a bow, and the pads of each foot as well as it's nose were a matching red. The Fire Demon plucked it from the shelf and tossed it to Fionn before turning back to her customers. Fionn snuggled the bear, rubbing the soft fabric across his cheek before turning and giving Harry a quick kiss. As they wandered along, watching others play the games and occasionally playing one themselves, their stash of stuffed toys grew. Laric even took a turn at one of the dart booths, winning another bear. This one was a dark blue with a light blue ribbon and light blue paw pads. He looked at each of them a moment, and then held the bear out to Harry with a small half-smile. Harry blushed, he wasn't sure why, but took the bear dropping his eyes from the ice blue eyes of the Warrior.
Fionn approached one of the booths and spoke softly to the white-haired Fae who ran it. After a moment of listening, she nodded and Fionn smiled brightly. Taking a few steps back to look at the booth, the golden-haired Fae raised his hands with the palms facing the booth. Seconds later, illusionary fireworks started shooting from the top of the booth in all the colors of the rainbow. A small crowd began to form, and the white-haired Fae quickly began taking their money. As she handed out what looked like ping-pong balls to the paying crowd, she also handed 3 of them to Fionn. He picked them up, and looked at the stack of cups on the platform across from him, there were 6 of them stacked in a pyramid shape. Throwing the first ball, he knocked off the cup on the top. The second ball felled 2 more, and the third only knocked one down leaving 2 left standing.
"Oh too bad! 4 still wins a prize, though a smaller one." She smiled and pointed at a few necklaces made of brightly colored plastic beads.
Fionn looked them over, and pointed at one that seemed to be made up of 2 twisted strands. One was red and the other was bright blue. Carefully untwisting them so he now held 2 necklaces, he slid the red one over Harry's head with a happy smile. The blue one he looked at a moment, and then took a shy step towards Laric and held it up to the Warrior.
Laric's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced at Harry then back at Fionn. After a moment, he bent his knees and bowed his head so the Fae could slip the necklace over his head. Fionn did so, and then turned back to Harry with a look that quite clearly said he approved.
About the time they were deciding where to go for lunch, there was a strange sound. It was almost a whistle, but not like anything Harry had ever heard. They all stopped and looked around as the whistling noise grew louder, and then Laric was standing in front of them with his wings spread as though expecting an attack. The noise grew louder yet, air rushing past them and blowing their hair and clothes around. Just when they started to stagger back from the force of it, a body was dropped about 5 feet in front of them. The person was trussed in so much rope it was hard to tell what species they were, the only visible parts were from the nose up. He or she was either dead or unconscious, they didn't move from where they had landed on the ground. And there appeared to be something branded into their forehead. Harry leaned around Laric slightly for a better look. There, in thick black ink, were the words "Incompetent Idiot".
Laric yanked Harry back behind himself, and then brought his hand forward, conjuring a message light. "Message for Gideon Reed. A body has appeared in the middle of the Festival Games. Status unknown. Assistance requested immediately." Flicking his fingers out, he sent the message light speeding away. "Stay put, don't go any nearer or wander off. We don't know what has happened or if there is anyone waiting to attack." Wings still spread wide, he stalked forward and circled the body one full circle, about 2 feet away from it.
When the circle was complete, Harry could feel the pressure of a rising storm and the soft zap! noise of lightning crackling. And then there was a perfect circle of contained lightning surrounding the area the body was in. To keep the gawkers away Harry supposed. He ran a hand down Fionn's back absently as he watched Laric pace around the circle again. He wondered if the person was still alive under all the rope, and what they had done to deserve having the words branded on their head.
It seemed like no time had gone by at all when Gideon stepped from Shadow, followed by at least 6 other Warriors. As they approached Laric, the Warrior pulled down his lightning field so they could reach the body laying on the grass. Two knelt down and started removing the rope, the other four tried to disperse the growing crowd. When the person was finally bare of rope, Harry saw it was either an Incubus or a Fae. He couldn't tell from this distance, and with the eyes closed.
"He's alive. And the magical signature matches that found at the Lady of the Air's home this morning." One of the kneeling Warriors spoke. He was a Shadow Demon, the other kneeling Warrior was an Air Demon.
"So this is the famous Shadow? I expected more somehow." The Air Demon spoke disdainfully.
"Obviously this is not the Shadow. The Shadow hides their trace much better, and I highly doubt they would allow someone to brand them the way this Incubus was." Gideon snapped. "Think with your head, not your anger at what might have been."
"Then who is this? And how did they end up in this state?" The Air Demon demanded.
"That, is what we need to find out. Let's take him to the Council, they will wish to question him." Gideon motioned to the other Warriors and once everyone was in place, with the prisoner held tightly in the middle, he invoked Shadow with a slight nod to Laric, and then they were gone.
AN: Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle. Without his suggestions, Fionn's bit would have been shorter in this chapter... *grins*
Review replies can be found in the forum, which is linked on my profile.