Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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Huh? Wait a minute, did I just hear what I thought I heard? The Queen of the Fae who had seemed so regal and imposing when I first saw her in the throne room was not speaking to me like she was a sweet old lady. Which made this doubly weird.

For one, she had dropped her regal attitude and started being very familiar. She was not quite as friendly as Trinity, the only other Queen I know, but still she was not acting like I expected she would. And for two, she was talking like she was so much older than me. Which I guess she was, all things considered. It was just weird because she didn\'t look that much older than me.

The Queen of the Fae just looked like she was maybe in her mid twenties. She looked like she was maybe a couple years older than Artem at the most. Though from what I had heard she was at least two thousand years old. I didn\'t know exactly how old though and I wasn\'t going to ask her to try and find out either.

"You seem nervous, Star." The Fae Queen was now smiling at me as if she was finding this all very funny. "There is nothing to be weary of. I have to reserve private conversations for my private study. I do hope you can understand that." Her words were easy to understand and her tone was soft. It was really soothing to see this right now but I was still a bit nervous.

"I..I do understand, yes. It\'s just a little unnerving right now. I am sorry to say that I do not know how to behave in front of a Queen." I could tell that my voice had squeaked a little when I answered her. Dammit, I had done so good today too, I had kept myself from sounding nervous to everyone I spoke to today, until I spoke to the one that mattered.

"Do not worry, my child. It is understandable to be nervous. This is your first time here after all. I imagine that finding out that you are not what you thought you were for your entire life was a big shock for you. You need time to adjust to the new part of you and that will take time."

I hadn\'t expected the Fae Queen to be so understanding. I swear I was still hearing nothing but the same words playing over and over inside my head. OK, maybe they weren\'t all the same but they were similar.

Huh? This is really the Queen right? Huh? She\'s so nice and calm? Huh? How can this be? Huh? Huh? Huh?

I think my brain had broken and was stuck on that last part. I mean really, how many more times was she going to shock me today?

"Come now Star, sit with me and have some lunch. I am sure your mate is hungry and would not say no to a meal either. You two can tell me all about your life. I wish to know everything about you."

Why was it that I felt like that was a subtle order to not leave anything out? I know she was being nice and all but it also sounded like she was telling me to be thorough when I spoke to her. This was going to be a bit of a scary lunch, I just knew it was.

Acacia took my hand then and squeezed it gently. I know it was to give me a little bit of comfort before we sat down. She then used that grip on my hand to pull me to the table. Artem followed behind us silently, watching over me as if he were my protector, which he was.

At the table Artem and I were seated side by side along Queen Gloriana\'s right side with me sitting closest to her. Acacia was seated across from me to the Queen\'s left. The Queen of course was seated at the head of the table so that she could see all of us.

I was in awe of the food that was sitting before me. It looked like a lot of my favorites had been prepared for me. But then, how did the Queen know they were my favorites?

"I do hope you do not mind." The Queen began to speak then, a sheepish smile on her lips. "I prepared a few of my favorite dishes today."

"Huh?" I couldn\'t help it. This time the word had to be said out loud. "Um. I\'m sorry, I just meant, um. These look like a lot of my favorite dishes as well." I was so embarrassed that I felt my face flush as the heat rose to a fiery level.

"Huh indeed." She grinned in response to me. "I see that the taste in foods is indeed an inherited quality." She was giggling now.

"Huh?" I said the word again and tilted my head which made both Acacia and Artem laugh as well.

"She is telling you that you are indeed related because you share similar tastes." Artem leaned in, a giggle still in his voice as he whispered in my ear.

"Oh." I was feeling so stupid right now. "I...I guess that makes sense." I tugged on my ear subconsciously in my embarrassment.

"Don\'t worry dear, this is all new for us all. We just need to have time to get to know each other. I do hope that you will give all of us here a chance. I personally think that the Fae are wonderful people. They\'re not perfect of course, but then again is anyone really ever perfect?" She was still smiling but it showed a lot more vulnerability than the previous smiles had.

"Yes, I understand. And I wish to get to know you all as well. I want to know more about my Fae half. I would like to meet my father as well, if that is at all possible."

"Of course it is my dear. I will make sure that Aaron comes for a meeting with you while you are here. I also want to know why we never knew anything about you until now. He has some explaining to do, in my opinion. There has to have been something that was going on and I plan to get to the bottom of it all." She looked a little stern at the moment. 

I just wonder how different my life would have been if the Fae had known about me my whole life. Would they have taken me back to live with them and raised me after my mother died? Then would I have ever met Artem? I don\'t know what would have been the right thing.

"Star, my dear, you look like you are thinking about something unpleasant. What is wrong, child?"

"I was just thinking about my life really. I don\'t know what path would have been the right one for me. All of them would have undoubtedly led to heartache for me."

"Please, tell me about your life now, my dear. Please explain to me what it is you have been through."

With the Queen\'s prompting, Artem and I worked together to tell her my entire life story. When things got too difficult for me to say he would take over until I calmed down. It took a long time to explain it all. 

I told her about moving to California with my mother before she was killed. I told her about the abuse I suffered at the hands of my family and the half demon half warlock that posed as my Uncle Howard. Artem took over to explain about my rescue and the kidnapping attempt from my cousin at the mall.

When I got to the point about me being kidnapped by Uncle Howard I broke down. I had thought I had overcome it completely but I was still scared of it. It wasn\'t as bad as it was before, Juniper\'s magic helped out a lot. I think what it truly was that was happening to me was that I was letting it all go for the last time. This could very well be the last time that I ever needed to say these words to anyone, ever.

By the time that it was all over with I could see that the Queen was visibly upset by my story. She looked to be on the verge of tears as she looked at me. Her meal was only half eaten and it looked as if she had lost all desire to finish eating.

Once the Queen figured out that there was no more to tell I watched as she pushed her plate away and she cleared her throat.

"Oh my." Her voice shook slightly. "You poor thing, you had such a hard life. I wish we would have known about you. We would have protected you and your mother. We never would have let this happen to you." I could see tears swimming in her eyes as she looked at me.

"That is what I thought you would say." I hung my head as I thought about the different paths that my life could have taken. "You see, I have thought about it, and no matter what happened to me in life I would have ended up miserable. If my mother never would have been targeted and I stayed in Colorado with her I would have had a happy childhood but I never would have found my mate. The same goes for if you would have brought me here with my mother or after my mother died. I would not have been abused by my family but I don\'t know how the other Fae would have treated me. And again, I wouldn\'t have met my mate. In both of those scenarios I might have been happier as a child but my future would have been miserable. In the way my life is now I have suffered a lot, more than anyone should have to, but at least I have a happy future to look forward to."

When I lifted my head I could see that there were three teary eyed people looking at me. They had all understood what I was saying. There was no way I could have lived a purely happy life. No way at all.

"You are right, Star." The Queen sniffled a little as she tried not to cry. "There is no road that would have led to a purely happy life for you. I applaud you for being wise enough to come to understand and accept that at such a tender age. I am also glad that you have found such a wonderful man to help you and to make you happy." She turned her head just a little to smile at Artem who sat up straighter in his seat under her gaze. "Thank you, Artemis. Thank you for taking care of my great-niece for me. She is very lucky to have you."

"I am the one that is lucky." Artem blushed as he turned to look at me. "I happened to find the most beautiful woman in the world to be my mate. What more could I have asked for? And now she is gifting me with a child of our own. She has made me the happiest man alive."