Chapter 9 THE WILD COURT'S CALL
ELARA
"We leave at dawn," Morwenna said, her voice brooking no argument. "My granddaughter comes home. Finally."
I stood in the war room, exhausted, overwhelmed, and somehow expected to make decisions that would shape everything. Around me, three impossible forces collided:
my grandmother with her Wild Court army outside, Kaelix with his shadows gathering protectively, and the ghost of a second grandmother I hadn't even processed yet.
"I haven't agreed to go anywhere," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt.
Morwenna's smile was patient. Dangerous.
"You think you have a choice?"
"She does." Kaelix's voice cut like a blade. "She always has a choice."
Their eyes locked. Power crackled between them, ancient Wild magic meeting shadow so deep it seemed to swallow light.
"How noble," Morwenna said softly. "The Shadow Lord defending my granddaughter's agency. After buying her at auction to murder her."
"I didn't..." Kaelix started.
"Didn't you? Or did you simply fail?" Morwenna stepped closer to me, and I caught my breath. She smelled like earth after rain, like growing things and forest loam. Like home, though I'd never known her. "Come with me, child. Let me teach you what you are. What you can become."
"Her mother," I whispered. My throat felt raw.
"You're Aria's mother."
Something softened in Morwenna's ancient eyes. "Yes. And she looked just like you. Same hair, same defiance in her eyes. Same stubborn need to choose the hardest path."
"Is that what going with you would be? The hard path?"
"No. That would be the smart path. The safe path." Her gaze flicked to Kaelix. "Staying with him? That's the hard path. The one that ends in death."
The bond pulsed between Kaelix and me. I felt his frustration, his fear, his absolute refusal to lose me warring with his promise to let me choose.
"If I go with you," I said slowly, "will you help us rescue my mother?"
"Of course. That's why I'm here."
"And if I stay?"
Morwenna's expression hardened. "Then I take you by force. For your own good."
The temperature in the room dropped. Kaelix's shadows rose like a living thing. "You can try."
"Oh, I won't just try, Shadow Lord. I've been alive since before your great-grandfather was born. I've seen empires rise and fall. I've killed gods." She smiled, showing too many teeth. "I will take my granddaughter home, with or without your permission."
"She's my mate."
"She's my blood."
"ENOUGH!" My magic exploded outward. Not vines this time, pure force. Green light that sent both of them staggering back. "I am not a thing you can trade or take or fight over! I am ME. And I make my own choices!"
Silence fell, heavy and shocked.
I was breathing hard, silver veins blazing under my skin. When had I stood? When had my hands started glowing?
"I'll go with you," I said to Morwenna. "But on my terms. Kaelix comes with me."
"No..." she started.
"Those are my terms. You want me to trust you? To learn from you? Then trust me enough to let me bring him. The bond won't let us separate anyway."
Morwenna studied me for a long moment. Then, surprisingly, she laughed. "Just like Aria. Stubborn to the point of stupidity." But there was fondness in her voice. "Fine. He can come. But if he causes trouble in my court, I'll kill him myself."
"He won't," I said, praying that was true.
Kaelix moved to my side. Through the bond, I felt his surprise, his gratitude, his concern. "Are you sure about this?"
"No. But we need her help. And I need..." I
looked at Morwenna. "I need to know my mother's home. Need to understand where I come from."
"Then we leave at first light," Morwenna said.
"Pack light. Where we're going, your Shadow Court finery won't serve you."
She swept out, her retinue following.
When we were alone, Kaelix turned to me.
"That was dangerous."
"Everything is dangerous."
"I meant standing up to both of us like that. Using your magic."
"I'm tired of being afraid of my own power." I looked at my hands. Still glowing faintly.
"Besides, you said it responds to emotion. I was angry enough to level the palace."
His lips twitched. Almost a smile. "I noticed."
"Will you really be okay? In the Wild Court?" I asked quietly. "She wasn't joking about them hating Shadow Fae."
"I've faced worse than hostile courts."
"Have you?"
He didn't answer. Just pulled me close, his arms coming around me. I let myself lean into him, feeling his heartbeat against my cheek. Steady. Strong. Alive.
For now.
"How long do we have?" I whispered. "Really?"
"Morwenna said three weeks before the curse kills us both."
"Is she right?"
"Probably. I can feel it spreading. Like ice in my veins."
I pulled back enough to look at him. The black veins were visible at his collar now, creeping up his neck. When had they gotten so bad?
"We'll break it," I said firmly. "We'll find the way."
"And if we don't?"
"Then we have three weeks. Let's not waste them being miserable."
He cupped my face, thumb brushing my cheek. "When did you become the optimistic one?"
"When I realized I had something worth living for." The words came out before I could stop them.
His eyes darkened. "Elara..."
"Don't. Don't say it if you don't mean it. Don't make promises we can't keep."
"I wasn't going to promise anything. I was going to say..." He leaned his forehead against mine. "I was going to say that you've ruined me. Completely. I've lived three hundred years alone, and now I can't imagine existing without you."
My breath caught. "That's the bond talking."
"Is it? Or is the bond just showing me what was always meant to be?"
Before I could answer, Lysander cleared his throat from the doorway. "My lord. My lady. I hate to interrupt, but we need to discuss the journey tomorrow. The Veil crossing is dangerous, and..."
"Later, Lysander," Kaelix said, not taking his eyes off me.
"But my lord..."
"Later."
Lysander sighed and retreated.
"You can't keep dismissing your advisors," I said.
"I can when they interrupt important moments."
"Is this an important moment?"
"The most important." His hand slid to the back of my neck. "Because I'm about to do something very stupid."
"What..."
He kissed me.
Not like during the ritual, brutal and desperate. This was different. Gentle. Questioning. Like he was asking permission with every movement.
I answered by kissing him back.
The bond flared between us. I felt his relief, his desire, his fear of losing me. And he felt mine, the terror and hope and desperate need tangled together.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against mine again.
"Still think it's just the bond?" he murmured.
"I don't know what it is. But I know I don't want it to stop."
"Good. Because I'm not letting you go. Not to your grandmother. Not to anyone."
"Even if staying with me kills you?"
"Especially then. At least we'll die together."
"That's not romantic. That's depressing."
"Welcome to life with the Shadow Lord."
I laughed despite everything. "You're ridiculous."
"And you're mine." He said it fiercely. Possessively. "Whatever happens in the Wild Court tomorrow, remember that. You're mine, and I'm yours, and nothing will change that."
"Promise?"
"I swear it on my shadows. On my name. On everything I am."
The oath settled between us, heavy with magic. Fae didn't make promises lightly.
"Then I guess we're doing this," I said.
"Together."
We left at dawn like Morwenna commanded.
The journey to the Veil crossing took hours.
Morwenna led the way with her Wild Court warriors, Kaelix and I followed with Lysander and a small contingent of Shadow guards. The two groups kept careful distance, eyeing each other with barely concealed hostility.
"This is going to end badly," I muttered.
"Probably," Kaelix agreed. "But we knew that going in."
The Veil itself was beautiful and terrifying. A shimmering curtain of light that separated the human world from the Fae realm. We'd crossed it once before, when I was dragged to auction. But that had been a different crossing point.
This one felt alive.
"The Wild Court crossing," Morwenna explained, noticing my stare. "It responds to our magic. To bloodline. You'll feel it recognize you."
"Feel it how?"
"You'll see."
She stepped through first. Disappeared into the light.
Her warriors followed, one by one, swallowed by the Veil.
"Ready?" Kaelix asked.
"No. But let's go anyway."
We stepped through together.
The world exploded.
Not literally. But every sense overwhelmed.
Colors I didn't have names for. Sounds that felt like they came from inside my bones. The smell of every flower that had ever bloomed.
And magic. So much magic it felt like drowning.
I gasped, stumbling. Kaelix caught me.
"Breathe. Just breathe."
But I couldn't. The Wild Court magic was calling to me. Pulling. Demanding I answer.
My silver veins blazed so bright they hurt. The ground beneath my feet trembled. And then,
Roots erupted from the earth. Massive, ancient roots that had been sleeping for millennia. They wrapped around me gently, reverently, like greeting long-lost family.
"Princess," a voice whispered. Not out loud. In my head. "Princess has come home."
The roots retreated, sinking back into the earth.
I stood there, shaking, Kaelix's arm around me.
Morwenna watched with satisfaction. "The land knows you. Welcome home, granddaughter."
The Wild Court was nothing like the Shadow Court's gothic darkness.
Everything here was alive. Growing. The palace itself was grown from trees, massive oaks twisted together into towers and halls. Flowers bloomed everywhere, night-blooming and day-blooming mixed impossibly together. The air smelled sweet and green.
And dangerous.
Because beauty here meant death. Every flower had thorns. Every vine had poison. The singing trees? They sang about blood and hunting and the joy of the kill.
Paradise with teeth.
"Stay close," Kaelix murmured. "Don't touch anything."
"I wasn't planning to."
We walked through the forest palace, Morwenna leading the way. Wild Court Fae stopped to stare. Some whispered. Others bowed.
To me.
"Why are they..." I started.
"You're the lost princess," Morwenna said. "Aria's daughter. They thought you dead. Your return is... significant."
More than significant, apparently. By the time we reached the palace proper, a crowd had gathered. Hundreds of Fae, all staring at me with expressions ranging from awe to suspicion.
And then someone shouted: "She brought the Shadow Lord! He desecrates our home!"
The mood shifted instantly. From curious to hostile.
"Morwenna," Kaelix said quietly. Warningly.
"Peace," she commanded, her voice carrying. "The Shadow Lord is here as my granddaughter's guest. Anyone who harms him answers to me."
Grumbling. Angry mutters. But no one attacked.
Yet.
We entered the palace, and stopped.
Guards blocked the way. A dozen of them, armed with living wood weapons.
"The Shadow Lord may not enter," their captain said. "Queen's orders."
"I gave no such order," Morwenna said coldly.
"Not yours, majesty. Hers." The captain gestured behind them.
A woman emerged from the palace. Ancient. Powerful. Wild magic radiating from her in waves.
"Hello, Mother," she said to Morwenna. Her eyes fixed on me. "Hello, granddaughter. I am Queen Elysande. The true ruler of the Wild Court. And the Shadow Lord will not set foot in my palace."
Morwenna's expression went flat. "You abdicated."
"I took a break. I'm back now." Elysande smiled. Sharp. Deadly. "And we have much to discuss. Starting with why you brought the enemy into our home."
The guards raised their weapons.
Kaelix's shadows rose in response.
I stood between them, realizing with horrible clarity: we'd walked straight into a trap.
"Stop!" I shouted. "Everyone just stop!"
Elysande's gaze swung to me. "You must be Aria's daughter. You have her eyes."
"And you must be my great-grandmother." I tried to sound brave. "Nice to finally meet you. Can we not start with murder?"
"That depends. Are you truly Aria's child? Or a Shadow Court trick?"
"I'm standing right here!"
"Prove it. Prove you're Wild Court blood."
I didn't know what she wanted. Didn't know what to do.
But my magic did.
It surged out without my permission. Roots burst from the ground around me, hundreds of them, thick as trees, creating a protective barrier. Flowers bloomed in midair, impossible and beautiful. The very trees of the palace bent toward me like subjects bowing to a queen.
The display lasted maybe five seconds. Then my magic exhausted itself and I collapsed.
Kaelix caught me. "Elara!"
Through blurring vision, I saw Elysande's expression shift. From suspicion to shock to something like joy.
"She is Aria's daughter," Elysande whispered.
"The prophecy is true."
"What prophecy?" I managed.
Elysande knelt in front of me. Actually knelt. This ancient, powerful queen.
"The one that says Aria's child will either save us all or doom us. The one that says your power will eclipse even mine." She touched my face gently. "Welcome home, child. We have been waiting for you."
Then she looked at Kaelix with cold assessment. "As for you, Shadow Lord. You may enter. But know this: if you hurt my great-granddaughter, there is no shadow deep enough to hide from my wrath."
"Understood," Kaelix said tightly.
The guards lowered their weapons. Slowly. Reluctantly.
"Come," Elysande said, standing. "We have much to discuss. And little time."
"Why little time?" I asked.
She met my eyes. Her expression was grave.
"Because the True Mate bond between you and the Shadow Lord? It's not just infected by his curse. The bond itself is dying. You have less than three weeks before it kills you both."
Morwenna's face went pale. "That's not possible. True Mate bonds don't die."
"This one does. I can see it. The curse is feeding on your connection, poisoning it from the inside." Elysande looked at Kaelix. "Your ex-fiancée was more clever than anyone realized. She didn't just curse you to die. She cursed you so that loving anyone would kill them. And because you're True Mates, killing Elara kills you too."
Horror flooded through me. Through the bond, I felt Kaelix's despair matching my own.
"There must be a way to break it," I said desperately.
"There is. One way. One chance." Elysande's expression was grave. "But it requires something that has never been done. A merging of True Mate bonds with a curse-breaking ritual during the Blood Moon. Shadow and Wild magic combined perfectly. Complete trust. Perfect love."
"We can do that," I said immediately.
"Can you?" Elysande's gaze was piercing. "Because if you fail... if there's even a moment of doubt, a flicker of mistrust... the ritual will consume you both. You'll die screaming. Together."
Kaelix's hand found mine. Squeezed.
"Then we won't fail," he said quietly.
"You have three weeks to prepare. To train. To forge your bond into something unbreakable."
Elysande turned toward the palace. "Follow me. Your training begins now. And pray to whatever gods you believe in that you survive it."
We followed her into the heart of the Wild Court.
Behind us, the trees whispered among themselves. Their song had changed.
They were singing about death. About sacrifice. About the price of true love.
And I had the horrible feeling they knew something we didn't.