I made it back before Alys and Kiri did. I could have ventured into town to look for them, but I didn’t feel like dealing with the elders in general, and Grafton in particular.

  I was caught between two strong feelings. The childhood memory I’d experienced, and I was quite thoroughly done with complicated memories cropping up, made me feel off-balance. The fact that someone was threatening my new life made me feel so far beyond livid, I couldn’t even express myself properly.

  The two emotions had merged into a coiling storm inside my chest that I wasn’t sure how to quell or control.

  The most annoying part was the voice whispering in my mind, urging me to blanket the world in poisoned thorns. To block off what was mine and protect it viciously. This voice was strengthened by the fact that I’d recently given into those instincts, at least a little. I had just finished growing far too many manchineel trees and stinging nettles, after all.

  I needed to do something. I needed some way to express my abilities safely and productively.

  With a tired huff, I left the empty house I wished was filled with Alys’ laughter and stomped towards our garden.

  The garden, much like my half of the house, had changed during my frenzied work spree. Alys had used it as a test run for building above ground with her grandmother’s odd obsidian-like material, which meant there were actual walls around it now. I expected the gap in those walls to be the same as I’d last seen it four days ago: a simple cut in the seamless expanse of wall, allowing me entry into the garden.

  To my surprise, a lovingly crafted door stood in my path instead.

  “When did she even have time to make this?” I mumbled, running my fingers over the wood etched with intricate carvings of plants.

  The wood was of obvious high quality. Due to the sealant and treatment, I couldn’t make out its original color or source. What I could tell was that Alys must have put in considerable work to make such a large, well-crafted piece. She had also fitted it perfectly. When I pulled the door open, it slid towards me soundlessly and smoothly.

  I swept my eyes over the inside of the garden. Suddenly, my breath caught in my throat, for two separate reasons.

  First, there was a large beehive situated on a high tripod right in the middle of the space. Obviously new and impressively crafted, it gleamed under the setting rays of the sun.

  Second, bees were fluttering around our garden, apparently with not a single worry in the world. There weren’t many of them yet, or perhaps the majority had retreated into the hive as the day drew to a close. But they were there. They buzzed about freely, alighting on the crystalline flowers of the moss as they worked.

  I knew from what little exploration I’d done in the forest that the bees only settled down near sources of the moss. I also knew that there weren’t many such areas, leading me to assume that all of them were presumably occupied already. Still, I hadn’t thought a queen bee would find our little garden so quickly.

  I had transplanted a medium-sized tree into a pot and stuck it in the middle of the garden, hoping the first bees to arrive would start building a hive in it. I’d done so thinking that a proper beehive, built by Alys and fully populated, was a distant dream.

  Not only had my wonderful mate built me a hive already, but the bees had also seen fit to show up.

  My mind spun with the potential of such a thing. An easily accessible hive, not under the protection of direbears and literally in my backyard.

  Then I thought of Alys’ reaction, and all other schemes briefly vanished as a happy grin claimed my expression.

  My dragoness loved the honey. She especially loved slipping some into her daily doses of torture juice. The honey enhanced the taste, giving it a rich, sweet undertone. Honey also further amplified the taste, making it entirely impossible for me to consume the juice without diluting it first. Seeing Alys gulp it down gave me some mild trauma, I swear on the Seasons.

  Now, she would have an unlimited supply in which to indulge!

  Well, not unlimited, I chided myself. We would need to harvest carefully to avoid hurting the hive.

  Even so, a steady source was far better than what we had before. Just because we could deal with the direbears easily didn’t mean we wanted to keep doing so every time we harvested honey. Nor could we eliminate the problem by killing them. That would disrupt the local ecosystem and might even cause the wild hives to collapse, due to a lack of protection from their natural predators.

  My grin relaxed into a contented smile as my eyes rested on the hive. For the first time that day, I found myself thinking not about murder and the torment of reckless invaders, but about garden options and logistics.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Perhaps I could look into acquiring some glass? Alys could help me form it into a pyramid or a dome over the garden, which would make the space much warmer and safer for the bees. A sealed garden would prevent scent from escaping. Furthermore, the bees would probably be more productive if they could be kept comfortably warm.

  “I’m just glad I planted those herbs in advance,” I mused, looking towards the corners of our garden. The herbs there emitted specific smells which I knew could mask the scent of honey. I’d also done some experiments to find several herbs that amplified the smell of the crystalline flowers, and planted the results.

  I was fairly sure it was those herbs I could thank for our bee population’s swift arrival.

  I wandered around for a while, moving slowly and quietly so as not to disturb the bees. I had originally ventured outside with the goal of burning off some nervous energy by working in our garden, but those nerves had mostly faded at the sight of Alys’ gifts. Between admiring the hive and thinking of ways to boost honey production, I found myself sufficiently distracted.

  Finally, I left the garden and closed the door gently behind me, as if the bees might spook and vanish into the early evening. Then I took a moment to lean against that beautiful door, pressing my forehead into the cool wood.

  The last few days had been a storm of emotions all on their own. But Alys’ gifts of the door and the beehive, crafted and delivered with no fanfare or reveals or expectations, quickened my heartbeat more than anything else had.

  I loved that draconian so much it hurt, both literally and metaphorically.

  My mind veered towards how I could thank her for what she’d done. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that most of my ideas tended towards getting her into our bedroom as quickly as possible. Then again, would that really count as paying her back for anything, if I would enjoy it just as much?

  I snickered to myself as I walked towards the house. My mood swing put a spring in my step which only grew when I got close enough to catch faint voices from inside.

  As soon as I opened the door, Alys cut off what she was saying to Kiri and turned towards me, a sly grin on her lips. “Finally back? We’ve been waiting for you for a while.”

  I scoffed. “I came back first, I’ll have you know. I was just checking on the garden. Speaking of…”

  I closed the distance between us, cupped her face in my hands, and bent down to kiss her thoroughly. Kiri made a faint noise of surprise and embarrassment, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

  “What was that for?” Alys demanded breathlessly when I finally pulled away.

  “The door. And the beehive. And being yourself. I love you, my dragoness, and I need to show it properly more often.”

  “I… um…” Kiri was floundering. She clearly didn’t know how to react to the intimate moment playing out between Alys and me.

  The dragoness whacked me with her tail as she turned back to the fae. “Sorry. I will keep him under control.”

  “No, it’s fine. This is your home, after all,” the Winter fae mumbled, spared an embarrassed expression entirely by the grace of her heritage.

  “I apologize too. I was overwhelmed there, for a moment.” I gave Kiri a small bow. “It will not happen again. How did your talk with the elders go?”

  Kiri was instantly steadier. “They like and appreciate your plan, even if it frustrated them that we want to keep the townsfolk out of things. Martha, in particular, had quite a few complaints. The elders decided to include her in the conversation, and we did not object, since she will be in charge of the town’s defenses eventually.”

  I winced, remembering the fierce minotaur. “Of course. Maybe we can bring her in on the plan in some capacity? Frankly, I want to keep her on our side. Perhaps it would even be prudent to give her and anyone else who is interested an opportunity to train against real opponents. Kappa do not equate to well-equipped soldiers.”

  “Maybe. At any rate, the elders and Martha understand the necessity of keeping things concealed and protecting as many of our people as we can,” Kiri told me. “Thanks to Grafton’s spell, no one even heard us discussing things. Even if the enemy tries, they won’t be able to get any information out of the regular townsfolk.”

  That did make me feel a tad better. I had no idea if the elders had some way to protect themselves from interrogation magic, but even if they didn’t, at least the spread of information would be limited.

  Alys chimed in with a smile. “They also assured us they would approach Nasha about our plan. Penelope too, most likely. The catfolk has settled in rather well by now. She and Nasha apparently make an impressive team.”

  My brow furrowed a bit. I would have preferred seeing them in action before risking their lives against the invaders. Still, I knew Nasha was a deadly combatant. If she felt inclined to take her lover into danger, then I could only assume Penelope was similarly impressive.

  Out loud, I simply said, “Good. I got the traps all set up and ready for our unwelcome visitors. I’ll make antidotes tomorrow and take them to town for Nasha and the other hunters. If this rain gets heavier, and then persists, our plan will be all the safer.”

  The sporadic patter of rain was gradually picking up. It seemed like the sky was preparing to unleash its displeasure upon the world. Not only would that guarantee decreased visibility for the invaders, but it would also give the deadlier aspects of the manchineel a chance to shine.

  There was not much someone could do against toxic runoff from a plant, especially if they didn’t know what the plant was to begin with.

  Fortunately, the existence of manchineel trees was not common knowledge. My family was the only reason I knew about these particular specimens. When I’d asked Kiri and Alys about it, both had denied ever hearing of such trees.

  Manchineel trees were native to the far southwest of our continent, in a slice of land that technically belonged to both the Summer and Spring Courts. Considering the land was a vast stretch of deadly wilderness, the fact that its ownership had never been clarified wasn’t much of a surprise. One of my family’s contacts, sent out for the explicit purpose of looking for and collecting poisonous plants, had discovered the trees and brought them back.

  A slight smile spread across my face again as I thought of my day’s work. The invaders certainly had some lovely surprises waiting for them.

  “Excellent,” Kiri declared imperiously, drawing my attention back to the present. “If all is in readiness, then we can only wait.”

  I nodded, though I confess it stung a bit. Even feeling calmer, and even with all of our preparations, I wasn’t particularly happy to sit there and wait. It was distinctly irritating to allow invaders to draw closer to my home.

  Unfortunately, this was my plan. I had crafted it precisely because I wanted to handle the whole situation as cleanly as possible. If I could guarantee a swift resolution and protect the life I was only just starting with Alys, then I would do whatever it took.

  Even exercise patience.