Chapter 34 - I Don't Take No for An Answer: Part I

8:20pm - Trick's Den

"So what is it that you want to talk about with me?" Trick asked after he let Tamsin into his den and closed the door. He could tell that the younger Fae had something serious to say to him. "Did something happen to Bo? Is she okay?" he asked, knowing that it had to be related to his granddaughter.

"Relax, gramps," Tamsin replied. "She's fine. Just wonder if you know any good jewelers in town. Like...really good ones, reasonable pricing, decent collection, all that kinda stuff."

"Jewelers?" Trick asked in surprise. He stared at the Valkyrie as he wondered why suddenly she would ask for a jeweler. A few seconds later, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and gasped when he realized something. "Are you going to…are you gonna go buy a...are you gonna ask Bo to…." he stuttered, unable to get a complete sentence out of his mouth.

"Yes, I am going to propose, and I need a ring for that. Those two words are not cursed, and you can say them out loud, Trick."

"Whoa..." Trick murmured, his eyes still wide open. For a moment he just froze there, not sure what to do or say next. Eventually he let out a deep breath and gave Tamsin a big smile. He stepped forward, wanting to give the blonde a hug, but right after he reached his arms out, he remembered that Valkyries were not sentimental at all. He awkwardly stopped there, with his arms stretching out in the air. Eventually he decided to lightly tap the Valkyrie's arms. "This is...huge news, I mean, great news," he said. "I am so happy for you two."

Tamsin smiled back, even though she found it very uncomfortable having such a soft moment with someone she rarely talked to besides seeking help on cases or asking for booze. "So, jewelers?" she asked.

"Ah yes, jeweler. I do have a couple of good old friends that are in this business. Do you have an idea about what kind of ring you are looking for?"

"I have no idea," Tamsin grunted. "Something special, like her, I guess."

"Something special huh?" Trick murmured. He paused there for a while, before he went to the side of his bed and dragged a small chest out from under it. He caressed the chest with his palm as he said, "I know people are so into diamonds and platinum now, but in the old days-" he said as he opened the chest and took out a pouch that was made from Wyvern hide. "-it was all silver, gold, colorful gemstones...and the best among them all, the starlight crystals."

"Yeah, the legendary starlight crystals. I heard that the mines went exhausted like thousands of years ago and the price just went skyrocket," Tamsin grunted. "There's no way in hell I can afford one with the public service pay stub I get. God I wish I had foreseen this day and saved those bounties I got in the past instead of spending them on booze and-"

Trick didn't make a comment. He poured a ring out from the pouch, and showed it to Tamsin. "It belonged to Bo's grandmother," he said. "I gave it to her when I proposed."

The moment Tamsin laid her eyes on that ring, she unconsciously held her breath. It was the finest jewellery piece she had ever seen. The silver colored metal-which she thought was silver at first, but when she touched it she realized it was too hard to be pure silver-was carefully filigreed into half a dozen flowers on vines, fully bloomed or buds, some half occluded by leaves. In the middle there was this blue starlight crystal, with the color of the tropical ocean and the soft glow like the stars in the night sky. She turned the ring a little, and the sparkling stone shined like it had light hidden inside. "Holy shit that's like the most beautiful starlight crystal I've ever seen! I bet you can buy an island with this!" Tamsin exclaimed as she examined the ring. "What metal is this?"

"The majority is silver, and the goldsmith I hired added something in it so it can hold its shape a lot better than silver."

"The stone though..." Tamsin muttered, still awing at the beauty of the gemstone.

"Yeah, you get access to rare stuff when you were the Bloodking," Trick replied. "It took me quite a while to find the right stone for her. Not just the power it holds, but the color too."

"This one has power that augments Succubi's power?" Tamsin asked, a little surprised. "I know that starlight crystals are Fae power boosters, and I've seen a few that amplifies willpower or strength, but I've never heard of one that can work on one type of Fae specifically. "

"Yeah, it's very rare."

"So how does it boost Succubi's power?"

"It helps them to utilize Chi better," Trick answered. Then he looked at the ring for a while in silence, like he was thinking about the old days. "My wife...She had always wanted Aife to wear it, but...Aife says that it should belong to someone who is ready to take a partner for life and she's never gonna be that lame." Trick laughed, then went quiet again.

"You want Bo to have it?" Tamsin asked.

"Her grandmother would be so happy if she can have it," Trick replied. "but it's just too old fashioned. I'm sure you kids prefer a two carat princess cut diamond or something."

"No, actually I think she'll love it. It's perfect for her," Tamsin said. "If you'll let me use it to propose to her."

Trick put the ring back to the pouch and handed it to Tamsin. "Then it's all yours."

Tamsin nodded at the elder Fae to express her gratitude. "Hey Bloodking promise me don't tell her about the ring okay? I want it to be a surprise."

"You have my blood oath," Trick said. Then he clenched his lips, before he hesitantly asked, "not really my business, but...are you gonna do it the normal way, or the Valkyrie way?"

Tamsin bit her bottom lip. She was about to say something, but the door was slammed open and Bo rushed in. Tamsin quickly tucked the pouch into her jacket pocket before the brunette saw it. Trick used his foot to push the chest back under the bed and acted like nothing had happened.

"How was your date with the ghouls today?" Tamsin asked Bo with a smirk and pulled the brunette closer to give her a kiss.

"Gross, and exhausting, but we got the guy that was summoning the ghouls," Bo said. "And why are you down here?" she asked curiously. "They ran out of booze upstairs?"

Tamsin huffed out a chuckle. "Your grandpa is helping me on some case I'm working on," she lied.

"Oh, okay," Bo nodded. Then she turned to Trick and said, "hey, Trick, I kinda need to talk to you."

"And I'll be drinking upstairs, checking out those hot nymphs,"Tamsin said, thinking maybe Bo would want to talk about the encounter with Aife and things they learned about her brother.

"Well, pick one and bring her home," Bo teased.

"Right, 'cause you'd love that," Tamsin chuckled. She kissed Bo again before she left.

"What do you want to talk about, Bo?" Trick asked after Bo closed the door. "Is it about your brother? I heard that you two exonerated Aife from some murder case."

"Yeah, actually that's not...well I guess we can talk about that first, since you've brought that up," Bo said.

"How's Aife?"

"Oh she's fine, having fun with like two hundred hot guys in some huge, luxury mansion," Bo said.

Trick nodded. He felt a little relieved that Aife was just being herself. "And what did she tell you about your brother?" he asked.

Bo sighed. "Not much really," she said. "She told me that she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. A couple of months after we were born, she had to send me away."

"Yes, to protect you from your father. We all know that."

"No, not my father," Bo said. "She sent me away to protect me from my twin brother."

"What? Why?"

"She said that he was pure evil, like born wicked. And it was actually my father's idea to send me away, quote unquote, so I could keep my pure heart."

"What do you mean?" Trick asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "What happened before they sent you away?"

"She said that my brother killed someone on purpose," Bo said. "And I kinda stopped him from killing more, so he tried to kill me too."

"That's the craziest thing I've ever heard, Bo," Trick murmured. "How could he kill someone when he was only a couple of months old?"

"I have no idea," Bo said. "My mother didn't witness that. She was on a trip during that time. When she came back, all she knew was he killed a bunch of maids in the house on purpose while she was gone."

"But how? Faes can't use their powers until after puberty, and he was just a baby."

"Well it's kinda the curse in my father's family. Every once in a while there is someone born to use Fae power. Lauren said it might be a mutated Fae gene."

Trick nodded. "So...did she tell you where you can find him?"

"No," Bo shook her head in defeat. "After they sent me away, they sought for help for him but nothing really changed. My father ended up sending him away too, and she hadn't seen him since."

"What's his name then? She at least told you his name, didn't she?"

Bo shook her head. "She said that a monster should bear no name," she said. "She said that he was dead to her and the name she gave him died with him."

"Oh well..." Trick murmured, unable to continue. He wanted to say something to comfort Bo, but not sure what to say, so he ended up rubbing his hands together in silence.

Bo let out a deep breath and said, "anyway, that's all she told me about my brother."

"That's a dead end then?"

"I don't know," Bo said. "She said if there's one person in the world who may know more about him, it would be my father."

"She told you where to find your father?" Trick asked.

"No," Bo replied. "She just told me that she would try to arrange a meeting with him for me."

"Without telling you when or where huh?"

"Go home, be with your Valkyrie and wait," Bo said. "That was all she said."

Trick nodded and went quiet.

"We'll get him, sooner or later," Bo said, not sure if she was comforting her grandfather, or herself.

"Yeah I'm sure you will."

"Now, let's talk about the stuff I actually want to talk to you today," Bo said as she sat down on the couch. She pulled Trick to her side and let him sit down beside her. "I want to know everything about proposing to a Valkyrie."

"What-why, why?" Trick stuttered, unable to believe that both girls came to him talking about their plans to propose to each other on the same day.

"Because I want to write a paper about it and get published on some journal," Bo replied. "Why do you think I ask about that, gramps? Of course it's because I'm gonna propose to Tamsin!"

"So you are gonna propose to Tamsin. You, are gonna, propose, to, Tamsin?"

"Yeah," Bo nodded. "You look really surprised. Why do you look so surprised, Trick? You don't think I am able to make such a big commitment?"

"Of course you are able to, Bo," Trick replied. "I know you can. I am just...too overjoyed. Oh boy, I can't tell you how overjoyed I am right now."

Bo smiled and gave her grandfather a hug. "So, how should I propose to a Valkyrie?"

"That depends," Trick answered. "Are you going to do it the normal way, or the Valkyrie way?"

"There are two ways to do that?" Bo asked, frowning.

"If you plan on proposing to a Valkyrie, yes there are two ways," Trick explained. "The normal way would be how all other people proposes. You know how it works. You've been proposed before, by that Loki-"

"Yeah, yeah I know, you pop out a ring and get down on your knees, blah blah blah," Bo said.

"Right, then there's the Valkyrie way," Trick explained. "Instead of a ring, you propose with a piece of weapon, because Valkyries are creatures of war and they prefer something to fight with over a piece of ornament. Or, if a Valkyrie shall propose to someone, she asks for a piece of weapon from that person."

"Oh, okay," Bo said. "So I need to find a weapon. Well that's easier than I thought."

"Well, yeah, the ritual itself is very simple. You present the weapon and she accepts it," Trick said. "However, for a Valkyrie, it is a huge, huge commitment to make."

"Yeah, of course it's huge," Bo said. "Valkyries don't like commitments at all, plus no divorce for the first thousand years, right?"

"Right, I mean, you are right about the divorce part," Trick said. "but it is not true that Valkyrie don't like commitments. In fact they do like and respect commitments more than anyone in the world. They just don't commit easily and there's a reason for that."

"And what might that be?"

"If a Valkyrie accepts your weapon, her life is bound to you," Trick said.

"What does that mean?" Bo frowned.

"It means if one day the relationship falls apart, her life goes with it too."

"What?!" Bo exclaimed. "How is it even possible?"

"No one knows, but that's how Valkyries are. Once they commit, they commit for life," Trick said.

"Whoa..." Bo murmured. "That's...I didn't know..."

"Yeah, that's huge for a Valkyrie, Bo," Trick said. "Once she accepts it, there's no way out for her."

Bo nodded and went quiet for a while. "You think...she'd actually say yes?" she asked in hesitation.

"I don't think that's a question to which I have an answer," Trick answered.

"I don't...I mean, I'm ready to make that commitment. I just don't know if she knows I'm ready," Bo said. "I don't want her to feel being cornered, like she has to say yes or she'll break my heart or something."

"Well, then take a step back. Propose with a ring," Trick said. "As long as you two are happily spending the rest of your lives together, it's the same."

"No it's not, Trick," Bo said. She lowered her head and took a deep breath, before she continued, "I need a fine piece of weapon."

"Are you sure?" Trick asked.

"Yeah, I am sure," Bo said. "I may need some help on finding the right weapon though."

Trick nodded, almost choking on his happy smiles. He rubbed his hands together in excitement and said, "anything you need, dear,"

"But, I still want her to have a ring too," Bo said.

"Okay, that's fine. There's no restrictions on giving a Valkyrie a ring and a piece of weapon together. Do you need my help on finding the right ring for her? Do you know what kind of ring you are looking for?"

"Actually, I know exactly which ring I'm looking for," Bo said. "Can I have grandma's engagement ring?"

Trick choked again when he heard that. "Why-why do you need her ring?" he asked in panic, his voice raised.

" 'Cause it's pretty, and it's special," Bo said. "That moonshine crystal-"

"-starlight crystal," Trick corrected her.

"Yeah, starlight, whatever," Bo said. "It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. I think she'll really love it. Can I have it?"

"Can you have it, hmmm...that's a really good question, Bo. Can you have it, hmmm...," Trick said as he stood up awkwardly. He turned away from Bo to hide his sweating face. "I'm afraid the answer is no."

"What?" Bo exclaimed in shock.

"I mean, yes, I mean, no," Trick stuttered. "I mean…."

"Why are you stuttering?" Bo asked in a frown.

"You don't need that ring, Bo," Trick said. "It's old, and out of fashion. I mean, who would want a ring with the old, boring medieval design? Why don't you get her a big diamond? I'm sure Tamsin would appreciate a big diamond just like all the other girls do."

"No, actually she hates diamond. And she loves those finely handcrafted stuff from old times," Bo said. "She'll really love that ring."

"She can't even use it, Bo," Trick said. "That stone is a booster for Succubi's power, not for Valkyries."

"You said it would work too, if the Succubus' mate wears it," Bo said.

"Emmm…" Trick murmured, pacing back and forth. He realized that he had run out of reasons to persuade Bo not to have the ring, but he knew he had to try harder if he didn't want to tell Bo the truth about the ring.

"What's wrong, Trick?" Bo asked. "Why won't you let me have that ring? You think I will screw things up so I don't deserve it, don't you?"

"No, of course not, Bo," Trick said.

"Then why are you telling me no?" Bo asked, confused.

"Emm…because…" Trick murmured,"It's just...the reason why I said no is...I don't have it anymore."

"What?!" Bo exclaimed. "You don't have it anymore?! Where is it then?"

"It's lost...stolen, yes, stolen from me," Trick blurted. He knew it was a terrible lie but he had no time to come up with anything better. "Therefore, I don't have it anymore, and I can't give it to you."

"You lost grandma's engagement ring?!" Bo yelled in shock. "How? When did this happen? Why haven't you told me about this?"

"It happened recently, I mean, has happened for a while now," Trick replied. "I mean, I don't really know."

"You don't know when you lost it?" Bo said. "What's going on, Trick?"

"Well, I...I gave it to a friend of mine, yes, I gave it to a friend of mine to...you know, after all these years, I needed it to get cleaned and maintenanced, so I asked a friend of mine to do it. And he lost it...he lost it because his workshop got broken into and it was stolen, among a lot of other jewelries."

"And you didn't think of telling me or Tamsin or ask Dyson to take care of it?!"

"You seemed really busy doing your cases, and so was Tamsin," Trick said. "And Dyson looked into it but there was no hard evidence, so…."Trick replied, desperately hoping that Bo could just let it go.

Unfortunately, Trick underestimated how persistant his granddaughter could be when it came to something she really wanted. "You are going to tell me everything about this case, and I'm gonna solve it, Trick. And when I get grandma's ring back, I'm gonna kick some serious shit out from the thief's ass."

"Oh there's definitely no need to be hurry, Bo," Trick said. "Why don't you go upstairs and calm down for a little, maybe have a drink or two with Tamsin, or Kenzi, while I call Dyson and tell him to bring you all the case files?"

"Fine. You tell him to be quick."

9:30pm - Trick's Den

"Okay, Trick, let me get this straight," Dyson said on the other end of the phone, his voice both surprised and amused. "You want me to create a jewelry theft case for you, because both Tamsin and Bo wants to propose to each other with your late wife's engagement ring, but you gave it to Tamsin so you had to lie to Bo saying that it was stolen?"

"You gotta help me out," Trick said. "I can't tell Bo the truth. I gave my blood oath to Tamsin to keep it a secret. Look, just put something together, make it unsolvable. I'm sure she'll give up soon."

"Oh I doubt she understands what giving up is," Dyson said. He paused for a second or two, before he continued, "but anyway speaking of unsolvable case, I think I actually do have one that suits your needs well."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I have this jewelry theft case from a friend of mine from a different division. He kept hitting dead end and asked for my help but I couldn't figure it out either," Dyson said. "Basically four jewelry stores were broken into, and a large amount of jewelries were stolen. We don't have anything useful, and the case is still open."

"That sounds perfect!" Trick exclaimed. "Send her all the files of the case then! "

"There's just this one little problem, Trick," Dyson said. "If she catches the thief, she'll know that you are lying, because she won't find that ring."

"I think it'll be very unlikely for her to solve an unsolvable case, Dyson," Trick said.

Dyson cleared his throat. He wanted to warn Trick that when someone thought Bo couldn't do something, they were proven to be wrong, but somehow he figured staying quiet might be a better choice for him right now. "I'll give her the files, and tell her one of the shop owners had your ring for cleaning before it was stolen," he said.

TO BE CONTINUED...