FicWad

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the following fanfiction, except for Eddy. Pretty much it's all property of Laurell K. Hamilton and I am simply entertaining my own fantasies(in the mildest sense). I also apologize for any OOC's, for I am merely an LKH fan and not LKH herself.

--------------

Chapter Two



Princess Meredith NicEssus, also known as Merry Gentry, soon to become Queen Meredith, decided she'd begin her preparations for her coronation in her bed. The last few weeks had been stressful, and finally everything had calmed down after the whole Taranis debacle. She was not yet up for letting such a crime pass, but she wasn't angry enough to sulk over it. Considering she was surrounded by beautiful men whose only release was herself, who could blame her?

Although, all that had seemed to change since the news of her pregnancy had reached her aunt, Queen Andais. She, as of now, was engaged, and had Goddess knows how long until she had to stop cavorting with the guards that were not going to be a future king. That, she thought, probably wouldn't be so hard, considering the guard she loved over all of them was one of those kings.

And now, finally, they got to have a proper celebration for such fortunate news. Or rather, they did in the last few hours. Doyle and Meredith had fallen asleep in each other's arms. Rhys had decided to join in. After all, he was fathering her children, too. He was spooning her from behind, locking her between himself and Doyle in a slumbering embrace.

That was, until they woke up.

The eyelids of Doyle and Rhys seemed to snap open in unison while Merry remained sleeping between them. They exchanged determined glances, communicating silently.

'Did you hear that noise?'

'I was hoping it was my imagination.'

Rhys decided he would get up and check out the scene, and if there was anything he suspected as dangerous, he'd call Doyle over. Doyle was in such a position with the princess that such movement would wake her, but Rhys was not, at least not as much as the former.

The white knight carefully slid is arms off of Merry and sat up at the other side of the bed. He quickly grabbed his gun from the pile of clothes on the floor, slinking to the center of the bedroom. A silent /click /sounded as he cocked his gun. His eyes shifted from one end of the room to the other. He even checked the ceiling. He let his shields go down in order to sense any unwanted presences.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. He turned suddenly, pointing the gun at an open window. He walked slowly towards it, opening his magic further, and listening for intruders. A cold wind blew in, sweeping over his naked body. It howled ominously, billowing the curtains like an angry ghost.

He waved a hand at Doyle, not taking his eyes away from the scenery outside. He kept his gun pointed towards it as his companion came to join him. Rhys felt goose bumps rising up on his skin. He cast a wary glance at Doyle, who looked stern, but with the faintest sense of confusion. They sensed nothing but emptiness, and yet they both knew that this window was not open when they went to bed.

Merry whimpered from where she lay on the bed. Doyle and Rhys both looked quickly, seeing her buried in the sheets, in the darkness of the room. It was then they realized she was not laying still, but squirming, her pale limbs fighting helplessly against a bad dream, or something more real.

A black mist engulfed her body, smoothing over her moonlight skin, swallowing her soft glow. Meanwhile, Meredith fought to scream, her voice a painful whine as if someone wrapped her thoroughly in wool. She was losing breath.

Their guns were useless as they watched the bed's sheets begin to sink with the mist pulling her under. They heard her muffled shriek as she struggled against it. The two rushed to the bed, hoping to grab her before it was too late. But when their hands plunged into the covers, there was nothing but a mattress.

Doyle threw back the blankets and spilled the pillows on the floor. Merry seemed to have vanished with the black mist, but they could still hear her faint wail. He focused magic onto the bed, imagining a rope pulling her from the depths of some other dimension. Rhys followed suit, focusing harder.

They caught something on the line. It wriggled as an imaginary hook punctured its skin. They tugged, concentrating on pulling it from the fabric of unreality, bringing it back to their time and place, where Merry belonged.

"Come on, Merry,"Rhys said. "I know you're in there."

The force buckled at the sound of his voice, giving Doyle time to bring her out. It sounded as if Merry's scream came closer and closer until she was suddenly lying on the bed, flailing her limbs as she fought the immense blackness off of her. Like primordial slime, it oozed off her perfect white arms and legs and became dormant on the floor.

A piece of it strayed towards Rhys. He skillfully dodged and blurted, "What the hell is that stuff?"

Merry panted heavily, jumping off the bed and taking a stance by Doyle. "That... was horrible," she shuddered. "I've never been stuck in something solid before."

Doyle kneeled down to collect a bit of the mist-turned-sludge onto his fingers in order for his acute sense of smell to identify it. However, before his fingertips could touch it, the substance began to shake like a very alive kind of jello. It skittered away from his hand, swimming blindly across the floor to join with its sister goo, until all the gunk that Merry had flung off became gathered in the middle of the bedroom.

It began to grow larger and larger. It seemed to stretch until it was tall enough to look Merry in the eye. It continued to grow and take on a shape, something that looked like a very slender man. It wasn't until it was finished that they realized that it wasn't a man at all, but a woman.

The woman looked lost. Fear glinted in her eyes as she turned to see Rhys and Doyle, and anot-too-happy sidhe princess. She blinked heavily, falling back towards the bed. But before her body hit the mattress, Doyle caught her.