Arthur straightened in his chair. “Very well, Galahad - you have your assignment. Tristan, begin gathering the supplies we’ll need for a long campaign and set up a plan for continuous resupply. Lancelot, get the troops ready. Guinevere, please look into what kind of bonus the crown can afford to give on top of a regular salary for soldiers that come out of retirement. Morgana - “
“I’m going to look into Boris Thornheart. We need more information about what he is capable of. And what he’s been up to for all these years.”
“Well, we can account for the last three hundred or so years.” Sebastian spoke up. “We know he started hunting the Fae royal house at that time, causing the queen, her mates, and their extended families to go into hiding.”
“And when he caught them…” Mor looked sick. “He told me he drained them of their power and took it for himself.”
Arthur couldn’t help himself, pulling her into him. “Oh, my rose, I won’t let that happen to you.”
“He wasn’t going to do that to Mor,” Atreyu scowled. “He was going to bind her magic and use her as a brood mare.”
Arthur’s growl filled the room, making everyone except for Morgana and Mor flinch away from him. “He was going to do what?” His voice was deadly in the resounding silence filling the room.
“He planned to breed me. He wanted children, but I’m not certain why. He’s certainly not the fatherly type.”
“No, but if he had children from a Fae then they would be tied to his world and this one,” Morgana said, her voice tight. “I need to go research. Trying to breed a child from two planes? That’s only ever ended in heartbreak and war.”
“What do you mean?” Mor’s innocent question remind Arthur just how young his mate was, despite her courage and innate wisdom.
“Helen of Troy? Alexander the Great? Cleopatra? Napoleon? Hitler? They were all children of mixed birth.”
Mor recoiled from Arthur. “Is that what would happen if we had a child?” Her voice was panicked as she tried to get away from him.
“No, my rose, no. When Morgana says ‘mixed birth’ she means between the realms. Human and Magic. We are both from the realm of magic. There will be no problem.” He held her face between her hands, willing her to see the truth.
“But how do you know? How do you know they will be fine? You said there has never been a Fae and dragon pairing, and Morgana said there was one but the Fae was killed!”
Arthur looked at Morgana, not wanting to tell the story without her permission. At her nod, he heaved a sigh and turned back to Mor. “I know it will be fine because Morgana is the product of a Fae and dragon pairing. It’s why she has so much magic.” Mor’s mouth dropped open and Arthur resisted the urge to smile or kiss her or tap her under the chin to close it because this was a serious conversation. “Our mother was raped by a Fae man before she was saved by our father.” He tilted his head toward Morgana. “She was the product of that. Our father raised her as his own, loved her as his own. But we know the pairing works. She is dragon with many of the same powers as the Fae.”
“Oh fuck.” Mor looked over at Morgana, “I’m so sorry that happened.” She tried to stand to go to her, but Arthur recaptured her attention and kissed her softly. His mate was the most wonderful woman, immediately forgetting her concerns and going to care for another.
Now Morgana did smile. “Do not worry about that, Mor. I was raised by two wonderful parents and had a little brother to pick on. Now. We all have business to attend to.” She raised her eyebrow at Arthur.
“You all have your assignments. Fae, you will be with me and our mate. We will train you in fighting dragons and other shifters.” Arthur stood, pulling Mor with him. Soon she would be used to standing with him, to leading with him like the queen she was. “Dismissed.” There were many things they needed to get done - and so very little time in which to do them.
Chapter 17
Mor
The next few days passed in a blur. Her mates and the dragons on the Council spent their days working to gather the army, strategizing, and trying to find out how deep Selina’s conspiracy went. Morgana spent her days holed up in the library trying to find every piece of lore she could on Boris and where he came from. Mor felt somewhat at a loss. She had never served in an army, much less led one. She didn’t know how to lead a country.
She spent her days watching how Arthur led his people. He had been king for thousands of years. Literally. Thousands. The longer she watched him, the better she could understand his method. He would lay out a question, then sit back and let his people debate and research and bring him information, before he would make a decision. And there was no mistaking that he was the one making the decisions. When he made them, he didn’t waver. She noticed that now that he had dismissed the old Council, the people he surrounded himself with were all friends who were also experts in their fields. Morgana was an expert in magic and history, Lancelot was a general, Tristan was an expert in every weapon, Guinevere knew people and how they worked, and Galahad understood the souls of others.
Mor slowly started joining in the conversations. Every time she tried, Arthur made sure to help her work through each step. He was treating her as an equal, which shouldn’t surprise her since he treated everyone that way - at least until they crossed him and put someone in danger. Then, he had this kingly mask that would fall into place and he went cold and formal. When that happened, Arthur was unrelenting just as he had been with Selina. She had noticed that he was doing that more frequently - particularly when he felt Mor had been insulted. And that was a lot.
Like right now. They were siting in the throne room on their throne. Arthur had taken out his throne and installed one large enough for them to both sit on. He wanted to make sure that there was no doubt that Mor was his equal. In the past, apparently, queens had not been equal to kings. Another tradition that was causing ripples through his kingdom. The older dragons were mad firstly because he had mated a Fae and secondly because she was not deferring to him. Like this lord who was currently waxing eloquent in front of them. Mor was pretty sure his name was Lord Thomas.
He had been speaking for the last ten minutes. He hadn’t come out and said it out right, but he was basically asking when Mor would secede the Fae crown to Arthur. He felt that because of Mor’s age, but mostly her gender, she should allow Arthur to take over all governing of the Fae realm. But throughout his speech, he had made it perfectly clear that he thought all Fae were trash. Arthur had been growing stiffer next to her the longer Lord Thomas spoke. Mor spared a glance toward him and saw that his face had gone completely cold and his eyes were starting to change color. That wasn’t good. He was probably going to start getting violent with the dumbass standing in front of him.
Mor leaned forward, putting a hand on Arthur’s arm before he could speak. “Lord Thomas. Thank you for bringing your concerns before us today. Your concerns are noted, however, Arthur and I have determined that the best course is for us to continue to lead as team.”
“My lady, that has never been done before. Our lands have always been led by a king alone. The limitations of your gender - “
“I’m going to stop you before Arthur does.” Now Mor felt cold creeping over her. Limitations of her gender? Who the fuck did he think he was? “There are no limitations caused by my vagina.” She kept talking over the gasp of the court. “A vagina does not mean that I am in some way less capable than someone with a cock. You would do well to remember that.”
“My lady, I cannot abide language such as - “
“Such as what, Lord Thomas? Vagina? Cock? We all have one or the other. But - likely to your surprise - having one over the other does not make one superior. You would do well to remember that before you come before us again.”
“But, my la- “
“Queen.” Arthur leaned forward, bringing Mor’s hand to his mouth for a kiss. “You will address Mor as queen.” His eyes snapped back to Lord Thomas. “I will not allow another insult to my mate.
Do you have something further you wish to discuss?”
Lord Thomas drew back. He opened his mouth, then shut it as he thought better of it. “My king. My queen.” He bowed and then turned and left the room.
“Would anyone else like to come forward and insult their queen? So far, that’s all I’ve heard today. Complaints that you have a female, a Fae, sitting on the throne next to me instead of behind me. Please, come forward and regale us with your reasons why a woman cannot rule.” His voice rang through the room, a growl sounding through the room. When no one came forward, Arthur smiled, his grin harsh. “Excellent. I will assume that hence forth there will be no further word against your queen. Any further word against her will be considered treason.”
Mor squeezed his hand. He glanced over at her then leaned back. “I think they’ve gotten the point, Arthur.”
“Good. Are there any real concerns that need to be brought forward today? No? Excellent. The queen and I will retire because we have some actual work to do.” The last was growled out. He stood and held his hand out to Mor. After he helped her stand, he pulled Mor in front of him. “This is your queen. You will respect that or face me.” Coming to stand before her, he knelt down and kissed her hand. Gasps surrounded them again. “My queen.” His voice was soft as he gazed up at her.
Suppressing a smile, Mor said, “Rise, my king.” She heard Atreyu chuckle behind her. Once Arthur had stood again, Mor turned and led the way from the throne room. Once they had left the room, Mor grinned as Atreyu burst out laughing.
“Mor, I’m not sure they’re ready for you to be saying ‘vagina’ in the throne room.”
“Half the people in there have one.” She rolled her eyes. “And I know y’all love to eat that. And my guess is many of them do, too. And if they don’t, they should damn well learn.”
“How did we go from respecting you as queen to eating pussy?” Arthur smirked at her.
“Not sure, but I like this turn.” Sebastian smiled wickedly. “Perhaps we should sample the goods, darling.” He started advancing on Mor.
As soon as his arms slipped her around her waist, Morgana slammed the door open. “Now is not the time, gentlemen.” She grinned at Mor. “I heard what happened in the throne room.”
“How did you hear? It literally just happened. Like, five minutes ago.”
“She has the room magically bugged. She literally heard.”
“Oh fuck. I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Many things are possible with magic, Mor.” Morgana grinned at her. “Now, we need to talk about Boris.”
“Did you find something?” Ben was suddenly on full alert. Every spare moment Mor had, he had been working on her fighting abilities. He wasn’t taking any chances with her. She’d missed the closeness with him. With that thought, Mor walked over and wrapped an arm around his waist. Absently, he put his arm around her shoulders as she laid her head against his shoulder.
“Not enough.” Morgana frowned. “We already knew he came from another realm, but we haven’t really had a chance to, uh, talk with someone else from there, so whereever he came from, there isn’t much to go on.” She started pacing around the room. “Here’s what we know. There are mentions of him since before my birth. His power is dark, insidious. We know - both from history and experience - that he can enter the minds of others and control them or drive them mad. Apparently, he can steal the powers of others. What we don’t know is if that power lasts or is used up. Mor, he told you he wanted you to have his children? The question is did he want children of both worlds or a continuous supply of power?”
“Do we know what he wants?” Max asked from where he leaned against the side of the room.
“I think we can safely assume world domination.” Morgana’s voice was serious. “But since he has brought in humans, my guess is that he may be trying to gain both realms. If he can gain control of this one, then he’ll be able to take the human realm with minimal resistance.”
Sebastian frowned. “Does it really matter?” They all stopped and stared at him. “Really? Does it really matter what his motive is? We know he wants power. We know he needs something in the castle. You’re right that he probably wants ‘world domination’. So the only thing we need is to stop him. If we could get more information on where he’s from, that may help. But everything else is moot.”
“Sebastian is right.” Mor picked her head up from Ben’s shoulder. “We know what he wants. Power and weapons. Anything else would just be bonus information and at this point we can’t keep waiting around for it.”
Arthur had been silent until now. “I agree. Right now, we need to focus on getting the Fae kingdom back under control. So to that point, I suggest we march in two days.”
“Two days?” Mor gasped. “Can we get them going that quickly?”
“All we need is to finalize the supplies. The army is ready to go. Lancelot has the army gathered, Guinevere has called up the retired soldiers and Galahad has organized the home defenses. Guinevere and Galahad will be staying here to ensure the safety of the kingdom. Lancelot and Tristan will come with us as generals of the dragon army. I assume Ben will be leading the Fae army?”
Mor nodded. “Yes, he and Sebastian.”
Arthur grinned. “Good! Then with a bit of luck on our side we’ll get your kingdom back within a month!”
“I don’t think you should assume we can finish this quickly, Arthur.” Morgana frowned. “Please remember that the only reason that Mor and her mates defeated him so easily the first time was most likely due to surprise. He’ll know we’re coming. He’ll know that Mor’s gone for help. And my guess is that Selina will find her way to him. She knew why Mor was here.”
“Fuck, I didn’t think of that.” Arthur grinned. “Well then, two months.”
Morgana rolled her eyes and Mor snorted. “Arthur, really?”
“What, my rose?” His face was innocent and his eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Well, either way, we can get going.” Sebastian smiled.
“So, two days? Yes? Good. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can get our queen settled.” Max smiled.
Mor yawned. “Sorry, it’s just been a long day.”
Her mates all smirked at her. “I guess it’s time for bed for our sweetie,” Max smiled.
“No, we need to plan.” She yawned again.
“Nope, definitely bedtime.” Ben kissed the top of her head and then scooped her up in his arms. “Come on, love, let’s get you to bed. Tomorrow is another day.”
“Beeeen. I don’t need sleep.” Mor tried to stop to get down, but Ben’s arms tightened around her. She yawned again. “Okay, maybe I do need to sleep.”
“I know.” He smirked down at her.
“What about dinner?”
“I’ll have it delivered to our room,”Arthur called from behind them. “Go get ready for bed and it’ll be up there by the time you’re done.”
Ben carried her up to their suite and set her down in the bathroom. “Are you going to get ready, or do I need to make you?”
“I can do it.” Mor rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face as he laughed at her. Sometimes they were a little bossy. Smiling to herself, because they all knew she really like it, Mor went further into the bathroom to get ready. After the craziness of the audience and then the unplanned council meeting, she was feeling beat down. Two days. In two days they would be taking an army back to the Fae lands and trying to take back her throne. She paused for a moment, staring at herself in the mirror. A throne she hadn’t even known about a few months ago. What if she fucked it up?
“Mor?” Atreyu’s voice was soft from the doorway. She hadn’t even heard him open the door.
“Yeah?” Her voice sounded rough.
Slowly, he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. “What’s wrong.”
She turned in his arms and rested her head against his chest. Her breath hitched when she tried to talk. “What if I fuck this up?”
“F
uck what up, beautiful?”
“Everything. We’re starting a war to get back a throne I didn’t even know existed until a few months ago. People will die because of it. Is that the right thing to do? I can’t ask people to die for me.”
Atreyu was silent for a few minutes, just holding her and rubbing her back in slow circles until her breathing slowed and she relaxed against him. “What would happen if Boris took over?”
After a moment, Mor whispered, “He’d be a tyrant.”
“What would happen to the people of the Fae Realm?”
“They would suffer, probably.”
“What would happen to the other realms? Including the human one?”
“He’d attack them, too.”
“I know this is a hard decision to make, beautiful, but I can promise you one thing.” He pulled back to look Mor in the eyes. “You are already a better queen than anyone could ask for. You question before making a decision. You think of others before yourself. You don’t want power, you want to keep others safe.” He kissed her forehead before continuing, “War is never an easy choice, and it’s usually the wrong one. But in this case, it’s the only choice. We have to stop him to prevent all the pain and suffering he would bring to all the realms.”
Nodding slowly, Mor leaned back into him for just a moment before pulling out of his arms. “Thank you.”
“Feel better?”
“I do. Thank you for the reminder, Atreyu.”
Smiling softly, he said, “Get ready. Dinner will be here soon and then you need to sleep. The next two days are going to be crazy.”
Mor smiled as he left and then took her time getting ready. She was so tired. And the next few months would be worse. After she had finished up, Mor went out into the main room. Dinner was already on the table and the guys were all eating and planning. As she walked up to the table, she saw that there was a plate already made up for her. She smiled as she sat down in between Atreyu and Max. They kept up the conversation as they all ate, but Mor mostly stayed silent. They were talking about contingency plans and what ifs, but she really knew nothing about war or how to plan for it. Besides that, Mor knew that they could talk until they were blue in the face and still not have a plan for every scenario. They were still talking by the time she had finished yawning her way through dinner. Smiling to herself, Mor snuck away from the table and crawled into bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Mor was asleep.
Fae- Beginnings Page 16