In Her Dreams

got the details. I don’t think either of us wants them.
Then again, I’m not violent like Tess, who has been acting as a minor vigilante ever since she’s been an adult.
A tall, curvy, but strong blonde, she’s always been standing up for the little guy.
I’m more the type to quietly spread love. I take good care of my patients and try to give anyone suffering or struggling a little extra love beyond what my job demands of me.
I feel like I’m making a difference one little smile at a time.
But I’m not beating people. And I definitely can’t imagine using a whip.
“I have one too,” Tess says. “Want me to pull it out?”
“Can you?” Jerrek asks. “You have full control already?”
Tess frowns. “I guess not. But it’s a super cool one.”
“I bet,” Jerrek says. “For now, we better leave it to Reve. He has the best whip control. Lorien would be next.”
Joey looks at Jerrek. “You don’t? But you’re awesome at Fortnite.”
Jerrek laughs. “All dream fae have excellent reflexes. You’re good as well, Joey.”
Joey flushes in pride once again, and gratitude wells in me for these men coming into our lives.
I hadn’t realized how much a male presence was missing for Joey. I was so busy trying to protect him from a bad male presence that I forgot how positive interaction with good men could be.
Someone to show an example for him.
“Doesn’t Mom have a whip?” Joey asks. “Come on, Mom. Let’s train with it.”
I shake my head. “No, no, I have no intention of whipping anybody.”
“Aw,” Joey says, disappointed.
“But I’m going to have fun watching,” I say quickly. “And hey, if it looks easy, maybe I’ll join up later.”
Joey just shrugs. “If someone has to use a whip before you and I are ready, Reve can just kick their ass.”
“Joey! Language!” I say, shaking my head.
“I can indeed kick their…” Reve looks at me. “Butt.”
I just laugh because it is a relief to know Joey feels safe with Reve here.
Joey has never really been like other boys. Never really trusted other men after what he saw from his dad.
I tried to encourage good friends but wasn’t very successful. Instead, Joey just became withdrawn. And I tried not to attack him for it. Tried to “give him his space,” as the psychologist I saw with Joey said.
But I’m glad that these dream fae came into my life at the time they did.
Because I’m seeing a new Joey now. One that’s excited and hopeful. Not grumpy and closed off.
Reve ushers Joey and Jerrek out to the backyard, giving me a smile and motioning for me to join them.
I shake my head because I’m happy to watch from here. It’ll keep me calmer.
I do appreciate him not trying to wreck the house, though.
As they go, Lorien steps over to me and Tess, wrapping an arm around her waist and cutting off our view of the other fae.
“Are you okay with this?” Lorien asks. “I know things are moving quickly.”
“Like you could talk about that,” Tess says, grinning up at him with her green eyes sparkling.
“I know, but I learned my lesson. Don’t push people faster than they can go,” Lorien says. “And a young warrior is involved, so there isn’t time to waste. But still, his mother has first say.”
“Do I?” I ask, laughing. “Isn’t he like property of the dream fae or something?”
“Until maturity, no,” Lorien says. “His family would have say over what he does. He would already be in warrior training, though. Starting with whip basics, civic duty, battle strategy—”
“I’m sorry, what?” I shake my head. “Battle strategy?”
“Yeah,” Tess says. “I thought dream fae were all ‘trained in love and sex and romance’ and how to find the clit and all that.”
I flush at Tess’s bluntness even though I’m used to it.
“Perhaps I emphasized that because it was related to our courtship,” Lorien says. “But warriors aren’t trained in that until around fifteen, depending on maturity. Up until then, we do extensive empathy training, supported by the community. We study how to sense nightmares and those with bad intentions. Talk about the ethics of use of force and—”
“What are the girls trained on?” I ask.
Lorien rubs the back of his neck. “Ruling? I wouldn’t know. I’m not a queen. They go to more prestigious schooling on macroeconomics and governing strategy. Also, they study maps and territories and how to make their kingdom strong. They don’t have as much testosterone and don’t need nearly as much supervision as young warriors who often can’t think past their own hormones without training.”
“Sexist,” I mutter. “Still, it’s been the other way around for centuries.”
Tess grins. “I mean, women weren’t even allowed to learn to read at first. At one point, men decided women couldn’t ride trains without their uteruses falling out. I don’t like when any group makes decisions for another group, but honestly, I think the dream fae have it mostly right.”
“You’ve been to their kingdom, right?” I ask.
Tess nods. “Beautiful place. I’m still mad at them for auctioning Lorien, but he broke their rules by committing murder, and my courtship with him was unlike anything they had experienced.”
“It’s still brutal to have auctioned him,” I mutter. “I mean, his sister was there.”
“His sister didn’t have any say over the auction. It’s according to law that if a warrior commits murder, he will either be sold, if someone is willing to take him, or banished. She stayed so she could, at the very least, take him back to their kingdom if no one he liked showed up.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” I say.
Tess sighs, folding her arms. “And considering women are still sold all over our world as slaves, considering women’s genitals are still mass mutilated in many countries, that women are shot in the face for things like daring to go to school—I can’t really care about some guys being trained and held to a higher standard in the fae realm. When half the population commits eighty percent of violent crime,