Lottery King 2, page 9
“Ah, your majesty,” Cove greeted me as Poppy and I walked down the front steps. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Cove,” I said. “It looks like everything is ready to go.”
“Nearly,” Cove confirmed.
“Good morning, your majesty,” Firo said as he and the shadow nymphs joined us.
“Hey, Firo,” I said. “Are you coming with us, then?”
“Certainly,” the dragon-man replied. “Nyxx, Ena, and Kage will accompany us as well, and then your guard will be filled out by the local king’s guard.”
“The local king’s guard?” I asked with confusion.
“Yes, you have trained guards in every major country,” Firo explained.
“They’re sort of like army reserves in the human world,” Cove added. “They are trained and ready to serve at a moment’s notice.”
“Oh, cool,” I said.
“Yes, and they will know the area much better than we do,” Firo continued.
“Good.” I nodded. “That makes things a lot easier.”
“Yes, it does,” Firo agreed. “And they’ve all been trained by either Nyxx or myself.”
“Oh,” I gasped, and I looked at the hard-working shadow nymph. “That’s great. Do you guys travel around to train these guards?”
“No, your majesty,” Nyxx answered in her soft and wispy voice. “Anyone who applies for the job must complete a thorough boot camp here with us before they return to their homes for reserve duty.”
“Yes,” Firo confirmed. “And we hold week-long seminars every October and April as well. That way anybody who is in need of a refresher course or looking for new skills has the opportunity to learn more.”
“Wow.” I nodded with admiration at the dedication of my head of security and his second-in-command. “That’s impressive.”
“The seminars are a very impressive sight,” Poppy mused.
“I bet they are,” I chuckled, and then I turned to Cove and Rune. “Are you coming with us, too?”
“I am,” Rune answered with an excited grin.
“I will be staying behind, your majesty,” Cove said. “I will keep the household running and handle any minor issues that may arise while you are away. Your representatives will be alerted today of your departure. There is an emergency committee system in place if anything serious should arise while you are away.”
“Yeah, I remember reading about that,” I said.
During my lengthy time studying the Eternal Realm records in my office, I’d learned about the emergency committees that were set up in every major region. They were comprised of several local representatives and enacted only during emergency situations when the king was unreachable by human phone or fae magic mirror calls.
“Hopefully the emergency committee will not be needed,” Lady Helena murmured as she walked over to join our group. She looked ravishing and comfortable in a matched set of cotton lounge clothes in a lovely shade of jade green. Her long wavy hair was pulled into a messy bun at the back of her head, and her tawny wings were relaxed. “Good morning, your majesty, Lady Poppy.”
“Good morning,” I said. “Are you ready to go?”
“I am,” Helena said with a smile.
“Great,” I said, and I looked toward the garage again. “I guess we’re just waiting for the car?”
“Oh, no,” Poppy stifled a giggle. “We’ll be taking a mirror portal.”
“Oh,” I gasped, and my eyebrows popped up with surprise. “Okay. Will it take us all the way to Greece?”
Poppy laughed a bit harder, and Helena covered her wide grin with her hand.
“No, your majesty,” Rune answered in an amused tone. “Mirror portals can’t go that far.”
“We’ll take the portal to the airstrip,” Poppy explained as she got her giggles under control. “Then we’ll fly to Athens.”
“Right,” I chuckled. “So how far can mirror portals go?”
“Only a few hundred miles,” Rune said, and he raked his fingers through his golden-blond hair.
“Huh,” I huffed with interest.
I’d only traveled through a fae mirror portal once so far, and it was right after Cove had shown up at my door to tell me I’d been selected as the new king of the Eternal Realm. Which was also right after the first attempt on my life by an angry shapeshifter. So much of that first day was such a wild blur of shock and surprise that I didn’t really remember what portal travel was like, and I was excited to try it again.
“So…” I murmured as the shadow nymph guards checked our huge collection of bags. “Are we ready to go? I don’t want to miss our flight or anything.”
“Surely you know they won’t leave without the king, your majesty,” Rune scoffed in a light tone, and he smirked at me.
“Good point,” I chuckled.
“Yes, your majesty,” Cove said. “We’re ready.”
“Are we going through the fountain?” I wondered.
“No, we need a mirror,” Poppy explained.
Before I could ask what mirror we were going to use, Tristan opened the front door and walked out with a six-foot-tall mirror in his large hands. The cyclops carried the sheet of reflective glass down the stairs and held it in place before my fae advisors.
“I’ll go first,” Rune said, and he stepped forward to place his palms flat on the shining glass surface.
I watched with fascination as Rune’s hands tensed slightly, and then a wave of magic rippled out like a stone dropped in a perfectly still puddle. Then Rune turned around and grinned at me before he stepped backward into the liquified glass. He disappeared in a second, and then Nyxx and Firo stepped up to the mirror.
“We will go first, your majesty,” Firo said in his deep voice. “Ena and Kage will follow right behind you, Poppy, and Lady Helena.”
“Sounds good.” I nodded once.
The seven-foot-tall dragon-man had to duck his flame-colored hair to fit through the mirror portal, and then Nyxx stepped through with the perfect posture of a proper soldier. Poppy laced her fingers through mine as Helena smiled encouragingly at me. My teal-haired lover tugged my arm, so I stepped forward with her.
The portal inside the glass pulled lightly on my skin like a friendly suckerfish, and a soft rush of warmth surrounded me as Poppy and I stepped into the mirror. The sensation of warmth spread all over my body as my eyes were blinded by the bright light inside, and then we stepped out of an entirely different mirror on the other side.
A long tarmac stretched out in front of us, and I turned back to see a pair of werewolves in simple black uniforms like mall security guards. They were holding a mirror between them, and Lady Helena stepped through as I watched.
“Huh,” I huffed as I watched the harpy come through the liquified glass.
“What?” Poppy asked.
“I guess I thought we’d come out in water like the first time,” I said as I thought back to standing in the mansion’s fountain with Cove beside me.
“You can exit through water, too,” Rune explained. “Mirrors are required for entering a portal, but most reflective surfaces will work for the exit.”
“Cool.” I nodded slowly.
Firo and Nyxx were speaking with a middle-aged man in a pilot’s uniform, but my eyes were locked on the private jet on the runway a short distance behind the werewolves.
It looked like something I’d find in Forbes Magazine about the richest people in the world, and I chuckled because I was definitely the richest person in the world now.
“Holy shit.” I smirked. “That’s mine, isn’t it?”
Chapter 6
The sleek white jet had a golden racing stripe painted down the length of it, and no markings anywhere else. I figured that was because we didn’t have to obey any human laws about air traffic, and I assumed the jet probably had enchantments to make any humans ignore the plane. Ten circular windows dotted down the length of it, and a set of fold-out stairs carpeted in a deep red extended down to a wide red carpet.
It felt a little like I was about to walk down a Hollywood red carpet, but I was just getting on a plane.
“Do you like it?” Poppy giggled as she watched my shock.
“Uh, yeah,” I chuckled. “It’s gorgeous.”
A series of maids and guards walked past at that moment with all of our luggage in hand. They piled the bags near the rear of the private jet, and a host of additional servants in flight crew uniforms immediately started stowing them away in the cargo hold. A moment later, the maids and guards from the mansion disappeared back through the mirror, and the werewolves carried it away.
“Efficient,” I murmured to myself.
“The plane is clear,” Firo announced as he walked over to me. “You may board, your majesty.”
“Great, thanks,” I said, and I figured he and Nyxx had done a security sweep on the jet.
Poppy, Helena, and I walked up the steps and into the private jet that had the light scent of citrus and a fresh cleaning inside. There were about sixteen plush white leather seats, and it looked like something out of a movie. A pair of fae flight attendants with bumblebee wings and bright orange hair stood waiting at the end of the aisle. They wore short skirts and little jackets that coordinated with the pilot’s uniform.
“Welcome aboard, your majesty,” the ladies said in unison as they gestured like Vana White for us to sit.
“Uh, thanks,” I chuckled as a sense of renewed shock at how much my life had changed washed over me.
Just a few weeks ago, I would’ve had to save for a few months to afford a trip to Greece in economy class. Now I was flying to the other side of the world with less than twenty-four hours’ notice on my private jet.
The Mike Ayers from a month ago wouldn’t even recognize me now.
“Ahhh,” Helena sighed with contentment as she sank into a luxurious seat on the left-hand side of the plane.
I glanced over at the winged beauty, and as I eyed the wing of the plane outside her window, I recalled reading that harpies and faes could actually fly with their wings. I instantly imagined the Grecian harpy soaring through the sky like a damn Valkyrie, and I was tempted to ask her for a demonstration at the earliest convenience, but I quickly shook the idea away.
That hardly seemed like a professional request to make of my representative.
Poppy and I sat down across the wide aisle from the Grecian beauty, and Firo, Rune, and Nyxx settled into seats near the back of the jet. I hadn’t seen Ena and Kage since I’d stepped through the portal, but I assumed they were just in the shadows somewhere. I trusted Firo and Nyxx to do their jobs, and part of their job was to make sure the others did theirs as well.
“We’ll be taking off in five minutes, your majesty,” one of the orange-haired attendants said.
“Thanks,” I sighed as the comfortable seat seemed to cradle me like a cloud.
Exhaustion from the short night of sleep started to overcome me, and I hid a yawn behind my hand.
“We should try to sleep during the flight,” Helena suggested. “Greece is about seven hours ahead of us, so we’ll arrive early tomorrow morning.”
My head spun as I tried to make that math work, but I trusted Lady Helena’s experience on the matter.
“Honestly,” I sighed. “That sounds great.”
“I may read for a while,” Poppy murmured as she pulled a novel onto her lap.
I smiled at my fiancée and Lady Helena before I reclined the posh seat back as far as it would go.
“Your majesty,” one of the flight attendants whispered, and she leaned forward to offer me a blanket.
“Oh, yeah,” I said tiredly as I took the blanket from her. “Thanks.”
The pretty fae smiled as the jet’s engines roared to life, and I settled the blanket over myself. The rumble of the engines and the rush of the air around the jet was like the most effective lullaby, and I barely registered the movement of the plane down the tarmac as sleep pulled me into unconsciousness.
I woke up several hours later, and I felt entirely rested. The sky outside the circular windows was still dark when I opened my eyes, and Poppy was sleeping soundly beside me. Lady Helena was awake across from me, and she’d pulled her long hair down from the bun during the flight. It fell over her shoulders like a fountain of silky chocolate.
“Rrrrmmmm,” I groaned quietly as I stretched the comfort of sleep from my body.
“Good morning, your majesty,” Helena whispered. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did.” I nodded. “And I think, in private and informal situations like this, you can just call me Michael… or Mike.”
“Thank you,” Helena mused, and she paused before she tested the sound of my name. “Mike… Michael.”
She said my name with a very subtle Greek accent, and it sounded almost exotic on her lips.
“I like Michael,” Helena decided.
“How far are we from Greece?” I wondered.
“Not far,” Helena said. “We should be landing soon. I can see the lights of Athens in the distance already.”
“Yeah?” I asked with interest as I stood up and walked across the aisle to sit beside the beautiful harpy.
I stared out the window for a moment at the sprawling lights twinkling far below. The city would probably light up like a Christmas tree at night, but it was a bit darker at this very early hour of the morning.
“We will be staying at my home,” Helena murmured.
“That’s awesome,” I said, and I felt her watching me as I enjoyed the view. “I’m excited to see the city.”
“I look forward to showing you my home,” Helena said, and she leaned back in her seat.
I smiled at the beautiful harpy before I returned to my seat, and Poppy started to stir.
“We will be landing in about ten minutes, your majesty,” one of the fae flight attendants said softly.
“Thank you,” I said, and I turned to my lover. “Hey, you.”
“Mmmm,” Poppy hummed as she stretched, and her cheeks were pink from sleep. “Are we almost there?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Ten minutes.”
“Oh, good,” Poppy sighed.
We settled into our seats as the plane began its descent toward the ground, and the very first rays of dawn started to peek over the eastern horizon. I was glad to feel so rested at the beginning of the new day, and I thought I might have staved off most of my jet lag.
The wheels screeched on the landing strip a few minutes later, and we rushed down the runway until we came to a smooth stop beside a small building that I assumed was the Eternal Realm’s version of air traffic control.
The fae flight attendants came down the aisle and started picking up the little bit of trash we’d accumulated during the flight. Meanwhile, my security team stood up and stretched from the long journey.
“Ena, Kage, and I will go ahead to sweep the area,” Nyxx announced.
“Thanks,” I said.
Firo positioned himself like a guard dog at the back of the jet near the stairs, and I could tell he was going to remain by my side until we were safely inside Lady Helena’s house.
The flight attendants opened the door to extend the stairs, and Nyxx, Ena, and Kage disappeared into the darkness. That’s when I realized Rune was still snoring lightly in his seat.
“Ugh,” Poppy huffed as she walked over, and she shook his shoulder a bit roughly to wake him up. “Rune! We’ve landed.”
“Wha– uggh,” Rune grumbled and blinked his teal eyes open slowly. “What’s happening? Where am I?”
“You’re in Athens, Rune,” Poppy explained with a touch of irritation, and she turned back to me. “He’s not a morning person.”
“Uuughhh.” Rune scrubbed his hands roughly over his face and through his hair until the golden locks stood up in every direction. “I’m awake.”
“Good, let’s go.” Poppy smirked with satisfaction.
“I called my butler before we left Orlando,” Helena explained. “My car should be waiting for us.”
“Great.” I nodded.
Firo led the way down the stairs to the tarmac, and there was indeed a sleek black town car waiting for us a short distance away. A second, less expensive car was idling just behind the first, and several of the flight crew were loading our bags into the back.
“Lady Helena, welcome home.” An attractive white-haired man who looked to be about sixty bowed at the harpy.
“Thank you, James,” the harpy said with affection in her voice. “May I present King Michael. Your majesty, this is my driver, and dear family friend, James.”
“It’s an honor, your majesty,” James said as he bent in a deep bow. “Welcome to Athens.”
The man looked like a Greek version of Anderson Cooper, and he hurried over to open the car’s doors for us. I wondered what kind of paranormal creature he was, and my best guesses were either a wingless fae like Cove or maybe a witch like Isla. It was kind of hard to tell without distinctive features like wings, horns, or scales.
Firo gestured for me to climb into the town car first, and then Poppy and Helena followed me in. Rune and Firo squeezed in last, and then James closed the door tightly behind us. The man managed to race with dignity around the car to climb into the driver’s seat.
“Home, James,” Helena instructed the man.
I chuckled lightly at that, and then Helena’s driver started the engine. The car was plush and comfortable, but I could tell by the stitching in the leather seats that it wasn’t quite as top-tier as my cars back home. It was still wildly more expensive than any vehicle I would have dreamed about owning in my previous life, though.
“Mrs. Baros said everything is ready for you and our guests,” James said, and he looked at Helena in the rear-view mirror.
“I’m not surprised.” Helena smiled. “Mrs. Baros is excellent at her job.”
“Is your house in Athens?” Poppy asked.
“No,” Helena answered. “It’s a little outside the southern edge of the city near the coast.”
I watched out the tinted windows as the city grew closer, and the sky continued to lighten in the distance. A few minutes later, I realized I was getting pretty hungry, and I hadn’t eaten breakfast before we left.
