Dark Knight: Fairy Tale Hot-Flash, #4

By Cherie Denis

General Damiano doesn't want a vacation, ever…until he dreams of fairies.

With rumors of hostilities with the human lands swirling around the Three Kingdoms, General Damiano is reluctant to take the vacation that the King insists he needs. But he must obey a direct order, so he, his horse, and his owl ride off into the sunset, or to the Bordertree Forest, which is closer. Bordertree protects the barrier between the Kingdom of Caul and the mysterious fairy lands, and Damiano hopes he'll be left alone in the remote province until he can return to work.

But when he begins to dream every night of erotic, taunting fairies, he realizes there might be more to these woods than other people realize. One fairy in particular, a beautiful, winged temptress strumming a golden lyre, haunts him even in the daytime. The dreams grow ever more passionate, ever more realistic, until Damiano isn't sure what is a dream and what is real.

He is a simple soldier and has never met a fairy, much less fallen in love with one. Or has he?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cherie Denis
• Release date: Aug 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386968696

Cherie Denis

Cherie was born with a book in her little hands. Just ask her mother how much she suffered giving birth. Over the years Cherie has never been far from a book or two or five - she's a firm believer in multitasking. She was a stay-at-home mom, a dental assistant, a pharmacy clerk, and seamstress. She also owned her own cake business, worked as a catering sales associate for two hotels, and was her husband’s secretary. Several years ago, her mother threw Cherie a challenge stating Cherie could write a better book than the one she’d just finished. Cherie took the challenge and ran with it. She’s on her nineteenth computer and still has a lot of stories left to write.

Book preview

DARK KNIGHT

Book 4 of the Fairy Tale Hot-Flash series

By Cherie Denis

DARK KNIGHT

By Cherie Denis

Copyright ©2018 Cheryl Gross

Formatting by Jody Wallace

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This ebook is licensed for the original buyer only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people at sharing sites, loops, discussion boards or through other means. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

About the book:

General Damiano doesn’t want a vacation, ever...until he dreams of fairies.

With rumors of hostilities with the human lands swirling around the Three Kingdoms, General Damiano is reluctant to take the vacation that the King insists he needs. But he must obey a direct order, so he, his horse, and his owl ride off into the sunset, or to the Bordertree Forest, which is closer. Bordertree protects the barrier between the Kingdom of Caul and the mysterious fairy lands, and Damiano hopes he’ll be left alone in the remote province until he can return to work.

But when he begins to dream every night of erotic, taunting fairies, he realizes there might be more to these woods than other people realize. One fairy in particular, a beautiful, winged temptress strumming a golden lyre, haunts him even in the daytime. The dreams grow ever more passionate, ever more realistic, until Damiano isn’t sure what is a dream and what is real.

He is a simple soldier and has never met a fairy, much less fallen in love with one. Or has he?

Chapter One

Once upon a time in a hidden place lived the people of the Magic Lands. Knowing that the humans of Earth would never find harmony with their kind, they had long ago separated their dimension from the Earth dimension and lived mostly apart, though some did travel to Earth for business and pleasure. The main requirement when enacting such travel was to keep the existence of the Magic Lands a secret. Plus one could not always count on a proper flow of time between the Magic Lands and the human world. You could just as easily arrive in medieval times as you could when spaceships were normal transportation.

One large and prosperous section of the kingdom was ruled by seven kind, generous rulers. One kingdom, the country of Caul, was ruled by the Dark King and his Queen Obsidian; one, the country of Califf, by the Light King and His Queen Star; and the third, the country of Mendel, by their two sons who shared the duty of king over their lands and were married to a beautiful artist, Martine, whom, it must be said, held more common sense than the two kings put together.

One beautiful day the Dark King said to his majordomo, Rupert, bring me General Damiano. The Dark King could be demanding, but he was always kind to the servants and the soldiers who protected his kingdom. And he always did as his wife bid, for it was known throughout the Magic Lands that duties and decisions shared with one’s true love were duties and decisions that succeeded.

Aye, Your Majesty, Rupert said. It will be a few minutes because he is still inspecting his troops.  

Not that there was much war in the Three Kingdoms’ section of the Magic Lands, but sometimes war did spread across the enchanted realm. Not all creatures who lived there were kind and friendly, and some, indeed, would sooner eat you as befriend you. Always, good and just rulers kept their troops at the ready, well-fed and well-trained.

Just notify him that I want to see him when he is free. He has been gone far too long. When you return be sure there are refreshments available. General Damiano will be tired and thirsty. The King knew Damiano had been working hard lately because there were hints of a threat from the human lands. King Nord, one of their allies outside the Three Kingdoms, had notified them not long ago.

Rupert bowed and backed out of the king’s library.

The Dark King and Obsidian were also known for their patience with all they ruled. Even if there were interlopers, evil or otherwise, in this part of the Magic Lands they were treated with courtesy and respect. That was not the case in all parts of the Magic Lands. When strangers were spied in the scree lights, the area between the dimensions, the Dark and Light Kings sent out their troops to gently escort the strangers out of the Magic Land before trouble could arise. Not all wanderers from the human world were a good fit for the Magic Lands.

Rupert found General Damiano just finishing up inspection of the troops. Rows and rows of warriors of all species and types as far as the eye could see were standing at attention in the vast practice field. They were kitted out in black armor and gear, earning their name of the Dark Knights.

Dismissed. General Damiano saluted his soldiers, wheeled his giant black steed around, and nearly knocked Rupert over.

Eeep! Rupert cried.

Annoyed with the majordomo, Damiano chided him. Stand back, man. Do you want to be killed? Never sneak up on a horse again. You are likely to become a pile of shit smashed into the cobblestone.

Rupert blanched and saluted. "I apologize, General. The Dark King