Chapter 12 12
KAEL'S POV
The gateway shut behind me accompanied by a soft rush of air, and I was home. Below me stretched Elaris, impossibly beautiful, eternal twilight turning everything to gold and violet. In the distance loomed the Court of Radiance, its crystal spires jutting toward a sky that was never day, never night.
It wasn’t even yet three days since I left but in Fae politics that was an eternity. I would have been missed, asked after, taken advantage of.
I squared my shoulders, plastered the charming smile that had become my shield one more time on my face. Whatever chaos came, I would still flourish and carefully use that disaster for my own agenda.
Lady Seraphine stood outside the palace gates. She was beautiful, as ever, her silver hair catching the light; her violet eyes clear and piercing.
"My king," she said. "Welcome home. The court had been anxiously anticipating your return.”
“Eagerly,” I echoed, even through the layers beneath that word. "How diplomatic. You mean they’ve been circling like sharks.”
Her lips were just barely curved in a grin. "The nobles are very curious why you have been gone so long. Particularly given the rumors."
Of course there were rumors. "And what rumours are those?"
"That you've involved yourself with a human girl," Seraphine said. That all four of the kings have staked a claim on her. That she is stamped divine."
I kept my expression neutral. “The truth of rumors is usually diluted in fancy from imagination.
“I am not such a fool as that,” she retorted. "Especially, when my king comes back looking haunted.”
We went into the throne room, and it was amazing how crowded it was. The chivalry of the land was in attendance. The eyes transferred to me as I ascended my living crystal perched throne.
″My courtroom, I welcomed them with open arms. You look lovely, all of you. What has caused this sudden congregation?"
Lord Corvax stepped forward. "We worry for you, my king. You just left, no explanation. We want to find out what's threatening our world."
"Threatens?" I raised an eyebrow. "I can assure you Elaris is as safe as it has ever been."
"SO the human girl is not dangerous?" Lady Miri asked. "The one who is said to be the puppet master of all four territories?"
It was a well devised question, it caught me.
“The girl is a chance,” I said, weighing my words. "An opportunity to form an alliance that could be very much in Elaris' favour."
"Or she's a chink," Seraphine said suddenly. “Pardon my presumption, my king, but the court is entitled to ask if you are judging under its influence.”
There it was. The real question.
“My instincts,” I replied, voice moving like steel blades to the edges, “are as quick as they have ever been. The girl is the reincarnation of goddess Celeste. Three more kings have enough faith in her to band together in defense of her. That is enough to make her politically important.”
I rose and let my power surge through the room. "I intend to school her in Fae magic for the greater good. Sheffield's even planning to pop out and visit Elaris; all of you will treat her with respect. Those who do not will answer to me directly.”
“Yes,” murmured the court, and yet doubt was in their eyes.
The nobles started filing out, but Seraphine stayed behind. When we were alone, she was without her prior diplomat’s remove.
“You’re making a mistake,” she said, flat out. “Whatever it is you feel about this girl, it’s making you not think straight. The court sees it, and in the end it’s going to cost you everything.”
"I appreciate your concern," I replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"This isn't concern, Kael. This is a warning." She leaned closer. "I've been your man for three hundred years. I've never seen you act like this. Distracted. Vulnerable. It terrifies me."
"I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" She shook her head and left.
I went to my private gardens, the only place in which I really belonged. There were flowers that couldn't even exist, blossoming in colors for which there were no words.
I sat down on a bench and at last let my mask drop.
Seraphine was right. I was compromised. And had been since the second Aria and I caught sight of each other. Because I'd known it was she, the woman I had fallen in love with and ruined.
The memories were vivid. I remembered every moment. But I remembered more than that, the time I’d betrayed her.
It had started with whispers. Implications that she did not value me as much as those other women. I had listened when the agent of the Fifth King had come to me, bearing a solution.
The agent had promised to produce a Celeste that would really see me, really need me. All I needed to do was find the location of her Heart Stone.
I'd rationalized it. I told myself I was protecting Elaris. But the truth was simpler. I'd been jealous. Jealous of how she gazed at the others.
I had wanted to be the only one. So I’d made a decision that had condemned us all.
The agent had good the informant down, and he then used that information to play into her vulnerabilities. The counterattack almost wiped out all four realms. She had stopped it, but at a terrible cost.
And she'd known. And she’d looked up at me in those last seconds and said, "I know what you did, Kael. I forgive you, but the curse will not.”
For one thousand years, those words haunted me.
Now she was back, and I was scared. Terrified that she'd remember. Scared I’d do it accidentally again.
“You’re brooding,” Seraphine’s voice came from behind me.
I didn't turn. "I thought you left."
"I did. And then I remembered you'd be here.” She sat beside me. "Talk to me."
So I told her. Everything. The jealousy, the betrayal, the fallout.
She did not say anything when I was done. "Well," she said finally. "That's spectacularly awful."
Despite everything, I almost laughed. "I can't believe you had diplomacy skills like that."
“You did a bad thing, and you know how bad it was. But that was a millennium ago. The question isn’t if you failed her before. It’s whether you’re going to fail her now.”
"And if I do?"
"Then we all burn." She stood. "But I don't think you will. You are not that same jealous fool. So train her, protect her, and trust she has made every effort to fight living in a world that would have her believe she is not enough.”
She was gone and all I could hear were her words.
I spent the next few hours getting ready for Aria to arrive. I ordered servants to make a practice ground in the east garden. I chose books from the library, old dusty volumes on Fae magic.
Everything had to be perfect. I was obsessive as Hell!
"My king," a servant interrupted. “There’s a messenger from the records.”
I frowned. It was uncommon that they would send a messenger out themselves.
"Send them in."
The messenger who entered was young and looked terrified. "My lord," she stammered. "Master Eldrin sends urgent news. "The archives have been putraged."
Ice ran down my spine. "That should be impossible."
"Yes, my lord. Yet someone managed. Several texts are missing. Ancient ones, forbidden ones. "Some books on the Fifth King, the first curse and spell to unmake four realms.”
The world seemed to tilt. Somewhere, someone had taken my instructions for demolishing everything.
"When did this happen?"
“Somewhere in the last three days. While you were away. Master Eldrin only found that out this morning because the wardstones were done so cleverly.”
“The person must be from Elaris to possess that kind of skill.”
The messenger nodded miserably. "Master Eldrin found something else." She held out a cloth bundle.
I took it and unwrapped the paper so as not to tear it. Inside was a single white feather, broad and ethereal, the sort that belonged to high fae wings. But it was bloody.
My blood ran cold. High Fae only had wings once they achieved a certain amount of power. Fifty of such people in all Elaris maybe.
One of them was a traitor.
“Inform Master Eldrin to shut down and lock off the archives altogether,” I commanded. “And I want a roster of everyone that entered the palace during the past three days.’
"Yes, my lord." The messenger fled.
I stared at the feather. There was a traitor in my court. They had stolen forbidden knowledge and delivered it to an enemy.
The Fifth King was nine days away. Now he would have the texts to unmake the realms, and I had a traitor who might come back for more.
And in the midst of it all was Aria, relying on me to show her how to stay alive.
I balled up my hand around the feather.
Nine days to discover the traitor. Nine days to train Aria. Nine days to prepare for war.
I had betrayed her once, and I’d failed.
This time, I would die before I let anybody hurt her again.