Aurelio was older, probably around the age of thirty or so, with a lithe body. He also looked quite a bit like Bianca. He had the same color skin and smooth brown eyes. However, his hair matched the color of his eyes. Just as handsome as Bianca. “Gen, Luke… this is Aurelio the Huntsman. My cousin. Aurelio, Gen and Luke.”

“I don’t like the insinuation that you thought we wouldn’t show up,” Luke told him. An absolute fantastic first words out of his mouth if you asked me. Way to make an impression.

“Hello, nice to meet you. Lovely house you have here. How can you achieve all of this on the Queen’s annual stipend?” Aurelio crossed his arms over his chest and slouched as he talked. His eyes never left Luke’s He sounded like a dead ringer for Luke’s surly tone. I had to press my hand over my mouth to keep myself from laughing too much. I wasn’t very successful.

“It’s not funny Gen.” Luke’s face turned an incredible shade of red. I didn’t realize that he could blush that deeply.

“Serves you right,” I shot right back. “I told you to be nice.”

“I can see who the pleasant one in the family is.” Aurelio nodded to me. He dropped the mimicry and descended the rest of the stairs. I was ready this time when he leaned over to press a kiss to each cheek so I managed to not look completely caught off guard by it. “Pleased to meet you Genevieve. I’m glad to see you’re not scarred for eternity from your ordeal last night.”

“Thank you sir…”

“Aurelio please. There’s no need to stand on any sort of ceremony here. We’re a long way from Iztaccihuatl or any other principality in Ederlind.”

His words meant next to nothing to me but I still nodded like I understood. Aurelio turned away from me and held his hand out to Luke. I had a sudden, very strong surge of fear that Luke would continue to be a jerk and refuse it. Luke, however, took the hand nearly as quickly as it was offered. I had to wonder if Aurelio thoroughly embarrassing him had anything to do with it. “Strong handshake, good grip. Sign of a good man or a talented swordsmen?”

“Both,” Luke mumbled. “I’m fair with a sword but Dad was big on handshakes. Said a trustworthy person need a firm handshake. You should’ve felt his.”

“I’m sorry I never had the chance. I heard tell he was a good man. Her Majesty told me he was a man of his word.”

“And yet you doubted I would come.”

“A hasty decision. I’m sure you’ve made some in the past. Like the one on Broad Street a couple weeks ago.”

Luke grimaced. I stared at him. Two weeks ago, Luke had come home covered in what he’d sworn was garbage stink. It hadn’t smelled like any garbage I’d ever come across which is what made it so memorable. “What happened on Broad Street two weeks ago?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Luke said. Bianca giggled behind us. Note to self, figure out what magical beastie it was that made people smell like sewage. Aurelio smirked but patted him on the shoulder.

A loud sound tumbled over our heads. Every last one of us looked straight up at the ceiling. Tracing the path of the sound was quite easy with the way who ever it was thundered down the stairs. “Ah! It looks like the brave and bold Knight finally realized you two are here,” commented Aurelio as he gingerly pulled Luke away from the stair’s mouth.

Colin nearly tripped down the stairs, landing in the spot that Luke had previously occupied. Had Aurelio not pulled him out of the way then Colin would’ve ended up barreling over him. Lucky for Luke. “You’re here!” Colin managed to get out between labored huffing and puffing.

“I thought it would be better to come meet the Queensmen sooner rather than later,” I said.

Colin pulled himself together. He threw his arms out wide and hugged me. It kind of made me jolt, especially when his arms wrapped tightly around my back. His grip was strong. I didn’t want to be rude though so I returned it. Aurelio coughed pointedly. Colin let me go and stepped away. Aurelio continued, “Well now that we’ve all had a chance to reunite maybe we can get to the reason we’re all actually here this morning?”

Last night Luke told me that I knew Colin. In what capacity I still had no idea. Luke hadn’t really gone into details. Not that he hadn’t had a lot to discuss with me. I’m sure it had slipped his mind. Maybe Colin was a close friend? If I judged by his overly familiar behavior towards that seemed like a good guess. Some feeling in the back of my mind made me feel like I was missing something still. Later on, I’d have to ask Luke for some clarification.

Aurelio coughed loudly, pulling everyone’s attention back to him. Colin dropped his arms from me and kind of glowered at him like he’d been interrupted. “Now that we’re all here, maybe we can get to the root of why we’re all here.”

That’s when Bianca cleared her throat and jerked her head to the side. Aurelio rolled his eyes. “Obviously not right here in the front hall. We are more civilized than that. Bianca, lead the way to the living room if you please.”

“Certainly,” Bianca said. She gave a little bow and a grin before leading the way down the hall. The room she lead us to was cozy with comfy looking couches. That impression was confirmed when I sat down on one of them. Luke took a spot beside me while Colin hovered close by over my shoulder. I shifted, angling myself sideways and tried to alleviate the boxed in feeling that had suddenly engulfed me. To make matters worse there was a kind of prickling at the back of my mind that seemed to translate somehow to the scars on my torso. They suddenly itched to the point where it was almost impossible to ignore.

“You okay?” whispered Luke.

“Yeah, fine…”

It was a lie and Luke caught on to it right away. I highly doubted that he knew exactly what it was about. However, he still reached forward subtly to squeeze my hand in reassurance. It made me feel just a hair better.

Aurelio sighed and pointed at an empty seat across from Luke and I. “Colin take a seat. Hovering is rude.”

“I’m not hovering and I think I’d rather stand.” Colin crossed his arms over his chest.

Aurelio raised an eyebrow. It might as well have been a dare to disobey. Colin relented, taking the seat that had been offered to him. Clearly, Aurelio was the one in charge here. Interesting. I’d always thought it was Snow White who was in charge of the Queensmen here. The short clips of her on television always made her out to be the one giving orders.

I couldn’t help but notice that while Bianca and Colin had taken seats, Aurelio hadn’t. He stood in front of Luke and I with his hand folded behind his back. He gave us an appraising glance before settling his attention on Luke. The look on his face carried a weight to it that I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he’d gone through to wear it. “I won’t insult you again by rehashing the particulars of your deal with the Queen as a sort of guilt trip.”

“I appreciate that,” Luke mumbled. He dropped his head and stared at his feet. Was being a Queensman really so terrible?

“I’m also going to go out on a limb and say that since you’re here, you’re ready to honor your part of the bargain?”

“Don’t really have much of a choice do I?”

“Everyone has a choice Luke.”

“But I made mine a long time ago along with my father. He’d want me to keep my promise. I want to keep it too.”

“It isn’t so horrible you know,” Bianca broke in. Luke’s eyes still hadn’t left his feet. “You act like becoming a Queensman is the worst thing that could ever happen to a person.”

Luke only shrugged in response. “Just let me take the Oath already.”

Bianca looked up at Aurelio questioningly. However, his eyes never left Luke. “Very well,” he said after only a moment or so. “Do you swear to serve the Great Fairy Queen, protect her people, and stand against the Veil Breakers that threaten the safety of Earth and Ederlind? From now until you’re released from service?”

“I do.”

“Then it’s done. I’ll handle the stupid paperwork and make sure everyone else knows that you’re one of us now.”

I blinked. “That’s it?”

That seemed way too easy. Especially after all of Luke’s reluctance and near foot dragging. That and the fact that these were supposed to be the elite warriors of a great Fairy Queen. Anticlimatic summed the feeling up perfectly.

“Yep,” Bianca, Colin, and Aurelio said together.

“Seriously? That’s it? It seems almost too easy.”

“Like I said earlier… we’re a long way from Iztaccihuatl. I’m a simple huntsman by trade. I don’t see the need to stand on ceremony.”

Bianca raised her. “I’m a legit Princess and I agree.”

Alright then. Good to know.

“Also, lucky you!” Aurelio clapped his hands together and made Luke and I jump. “You get to chose a codename so I’d start working on that before someone, most likely me, assigns you one.”

“I’ll work on that.” Luke rolled his eyes.

“Since I’m the Knight, you should be the Page.”

That earned a loud snort from Luke. “I’m definitely the better swordsman between the two of us.”

I buried my head in my hands and groaned in exasperation. “Playing nice is not your strong suit is it?”

“It’s true!” Luke said emphatically.

“Oh please! If you really want to push it then I’d be willing to graciously admit that we were equals.” Colin flashed a grin at Luke. He turned to me and threw a wink in my direction. I honestly couldn’t remember; however, based on what I’d witnessed last night then both Luke and Colin had to be fair swordsmen. They’d both taken care of the Reapers after all.

“You two can iron the details on your own.” Aurelio showed about as much interest in the argument as a kindergarten teacher showed in two kids squabbling about crayons. He turned away from them, pointedly ignoring them. Bianca stifled another giggle between her hands. “I, on the other hand, have a much more pressing conversation to conduct with Gen. Alone.”

Luke immediately tensed up. I don’t know why. He had to have been expecting this. I had. The Queensmen pulling me aside to talk just made sense to me. Apparently a solo talk hadn’t crossed Luke’s mind. His hand fell protectively across my lap, physically putting a barrier between me and Aurelio.

Aurelio huffed in exasperation and glared at him. “Can you please not look at me like that? You have no idea what I want to talk about.”

“I can take a guess,” he said. “Anything you have to say to her, you can say in front of me.”

“Stop it.” I whispered it but everyone could clearly hear me.

“Gen? What do you say?” Bianca said. It caught me off guard. I stared to say something but closed my mouth when I saw the look on her face. All the joking was gone from her face. Instead she was dead serious. Now I could definitely see the Snow White who’d shot down a Troll and whipped out a knife to fight a Reaper.

“I’m willing to talk to Aurelio by myself,” I said. “I see no reason not to.”

“You don’t have to.” Luke’s hand was still stretched across me. I think he’d have probably sat on me if he could’ve gotten away with it. His brotherly sense of protection normally touched me. Not today. It just irritated me. I was pretty sure I was the older one and I hoped that meant that I could make my own decisions. Especially after he’d spent so much time at home impressing upon me that I had free will.

“I know but I’m going to choose to do so.”

I added the extra emphasize on the words to get my point across. Luke’s jaw snapped shut. Rather loudly actually. His hand fell limply on to my legs. “Bia… fill our new recruit in the finer details of the operation. Gen, if you’d like to follow me please.”

He motioned for me as I stood.

“Would you like me to come with you?” Colin asked me hopefully. He stood up as though he’d already made the decision to come with me.

I forced a smile on my face and shook my head. I really didn’t need or want his help either. “No, it’s fine.”

He didn’t have a chance to push further. Aurelio cut him off before he could say anything else. “Colin, what part of alone don’t you understand? Stay here and fill Luke in on everything that’s going on.”