Dark Throne, The

by Raven Willow-Wood

  The Elder shrugged again. “I’m too old to lie. I’d die in prison, but I’ll die out of prison. The time is reliant upon Mother Mearth. But I’m here to do your bidding, to join you to your mate.” He sniffed the air. “Yes, definitely, mate.”

  Heather’s tear-streaked face popped up and he winced at the ravages her emotions had taken on her face. She wore her misery and it tore at his heart.

  He hadn’t protected her from this, he’d failed at the first step and it shamed him. But, it would never happen again. He vowed that, as in a few moments, he would vow that she was forever his and he was forever hers.

  “You can smell that?” she asked, her interest piqued despite her obvious sadness.

  “Elders can sense many things,” the man retorted and tapped his nose.

  She frowned but smiled through it. “How strange.” She tilted her head to the side. “What poison was it?”

  “It’s a strange venom reared from a serpent that rolls through the Kirden mountains. We know little about the creature. Save that once bitten, the venom surges through the blood, killing the cells that make up an Elfen’s life essence. There are several chemicals within the venom, one is inflammable and one acts as a catalyst. This instigates a fire. There is nothing of left of the creature bitten. It is quite a formidable way of attacking one’s enemies.”

  Heather swallowed. “I dipped a dagger into this pot, I didn’t think it would do that. I wasn’t at my strongest and I didn’t want the bastard to survive if my aim wasn’t true or strong enough. It was…” She sucked in a breath. “A disturbing sight.”

  The Elder’s eyes softened. “I’m sure it was, my dear. Ending someone’s life is never an easy task. Regardless of whether the end if justified. It is a messy business and of all the poisons you selected, you couldn’t have chosen a messier end for a more deserving man.” He sucked in a breath, that speech having winded him with its length. “If you’re both willing, I’ll gladly marry you.”

  Heather answered for Fade. “Yes. You can marry us.” As her mate stiffened, she tightened her hold about and whispered into his ear, “I like him. He’s kind. And I don’t care who weds us, I just want it done.” A shiver racked her frame. “I never want to be without you, not even for a day and I don’t care if that makes me a clingy bitch. I can live without you, I can even defend myself. But I don’t want to. And that’s the difference. I can fight my own battles, I don’t need you for that. I just need you. Full stop.” She studied him, her lip trembling. “I didn’t particularly like Setta, but we’d reached a truce of sorts and she was my mother. Mine. Nobody else’s and that fucking bastard took her from me, before we even had a chance to make up and to have a real relationship. Life is short, Fade. Precious. I don’t want to waste a second without you, because if you’re not at my side, it’s just that. A waste.”

  “And don’t you think I feel exactly the same way, Heather? I want to fight your battles, I want to defend you, be there when you’re weak and be your strength. That’s what love is. We’re more than mates, Heather. We’re entwined, we’re one. Where I’m lacking, you’re the opposite. Where you struggle, it’s my strength. We’re made for one another and you won’t be out of my sight or far from my side for the length of my life. This I vow.” He swallowed. “I’d die for you, my love.”

  “And I for you, Fade.” She closed her eyes and the lids turned white under the pressure she exerted upon them. “I’d kill for you. You’re mine and I’m yours. It’s simple math. One plus one doesn’t equal two in our case, it equals one.”

  “And by Mother Mearth’s powers, through which she channels a portion to this humble Elder, I verify this match. Join their hearts together, meld them even closer than they are now. Sew their souls so that not an inch separates them. This mate bond is a gift from the Mother herself, seal this union with the powers possessed only by you.”

  Fade and Heather froze as the Elder spoke. They waited, paused in silence waiting for something to hit them, something that would unite them even more, but nothing happened.

  “Those weren’t the usual vows. You did it wrong.” Fade accused, glaring at the Elder with a frown that had Heather tapping him on the shoulder.

  “Don’t be rude, Fade.”

  The Elder merely chuckled. “Elders have more than one vow they can use to tie a couple together. The most common are the ones you know. But in your case, you spoke your own and I merely affirmed it. The Mother cannot meld a heart or sew a soul together if they’re already united. You are wed in the eyes of the land and in the eyes of our Mother. Congratulations, your majesties.”

  Epilogue

  Heather was more tired than she liked to admit. Being Queen was a more difficult job than she’d ever imagined and in her case, she had two kingdoms. Two places to rule and that needed her.

  She thanked God – she still hadn’t grown accustomed to thanking the Mother, something time would change, Fade assured her – for Fade’s wings. It meant they could travel between royal keeps within a day, something that was vital for keeping both countries running smoothly.

  Jender wasn’t the issue. Haden was. After years of mismanagement by Fade’s father, the country was in shambles. He’d reorganized the council, reassigned and promoted as well as demoted certain members of the army and was in the process of restarting the economy, in an attempt to create more jobs for the Elfen that were out of work.

  It was peculiar how many similarities there were to Earth. Unemployment and credit crunches even occurred here, on a parallel universe.

  Mearth was, with every day that passed, becoming her home. In the sense that she was forgetting Earth and its customs. Some phrases stuck in her head and no matter how she tried, she still cursed with English swear words and popped up with new phrases that had everyone in her vicinity frowning with confusion.

  A part of her enjoyed befuddling the pompous people of her courts, it wiggled the stick in their asses and kept them on their toes. Her curses were all the rage in both Haden and Jender. Something Fade couldn’t officially approve of, but which always made him laugh. In fact, he himself had taken on a lot of her curses. Many was the time he grunted out, ‘Fuck,’ after he spilt his seed within her body. It was hardly the most romantic of phrases, but their joinings were no laughing matter. She herself muttered it at the crucial point.

  They spent their time between both kingdoms, but she preferred Jender. Not because she blamed the kingdom, but because her father was there. And it pained her to admit that he was not long for this life. Something that was evident to the entire world.

  Without her mother, he’d deflated. Abdicating the throne in favor of Fade had left him with more time to mourn, but there had been no point in attempting to change his mind. He’d refused, point blank, to take on the duties of King. The only thing or person, who brought him any relief from his laden thoughts, was Heather. She spent a lot of time with him. They didn’t necessarily talk, just sat together while she read one of the many reports she had to read every day and he stared into space. Her presence soothed him though, the pinched tightness about his mouth always eased some when she was there. And she was glad for it. Her father was a good man and his grief spoke of his love for his wife.

  Heather knew that he’d thought he’d be the one to die first, thanks to his older years. That that wasn’t the case had hit him hard. He didn’t know how to cope and was floundering.

  The whole country mourned Setta’s loss and Henrik and the nation weren’t alone. While there had been nothing but friction between the pair of them, there were days, when Heather would burst into tears, because she missed her mother and her caustic presence so much.

  It was three months to the day since Setta’s funeral and Heather knew that without Fade, she would have been inconsolable. Heather was experiencing a, “You don’t know what you had, until you lost it,” phase. And the idea of losing her mother swiftly amalgamated itself to her fear of losing Fade.

  She hated the weakness, the inherent frailty
of her nature. Hated how she clung to him, demanding to be with him, wherever he went. Even if it was viewing the palace guard or sitting at some boring meeting to discuss the economy.

  Her only consolation was that he was just as bad.

  Her ladies-in-waiting were all aflutter, when he attended her sittings with the seamstresses and when she visited local healing clinics, which were like hospitals but smaller and more reliant upon herbs and plants for their medicines, Fade was there too.

  It made more work for the pair of them, hence her exhaustion, but she refused to budge on this matter. And Fade was the same.

  In truth, the pair of them had a visual reminder of loss in Heather’s father. He was fading away by the day and she had to come to terms with the fact that she would lose both parents very shortly.

  At the thought, sadness welled in her heart and she had to force herself to smile as a child from one of Haden’s villages presented her with a posy. The little girl curtsied and Heather reached out to pat her cheek and accept the small bunch of flowers.

  The royal pair was well thought of by their mutual kingdoms. That the pair was always together, regardless of the occasion, caused mutterings about their devotion, but mostly, everyone was pleased by the dual representation of the royalty. Together they presented a strong façade and it was strong all the way to the very depths.

  There were no secrets between them.

  Heather grimaced, because there was one now and she had to share it with Fade, before she burst from containing it. She’d just needed a little time to process it. To come to terms with yet another change to her life.

  It had nothing to do with Calder or her murder of him, contrary to what Fade had believed, she felt no remorse over that. As each day passed and she saw her father’s state worsen so that his large frame was shrunken and frail, she felt ever more justified and was glad for what she’d done.

  Heather knew she’d do it again.

  In a heartbeat.

  The Elder who had wed Fade and herself had explained in more detail about the ravages the venom wreaked upon a body, he’d done this at Heather’s bequest. Her only wish was that she’d caused him more pain but the Elder had assured her that there was no more agonizing way to die. When she’d expressed pleasure at that, Fade had declared her a Warrior Queen, for her bloodthirsty nature and her role as seeker had spread throughout the kingdoms. Rather than be repulsed by her actions, her people revered her. Cheered her on and thought of her as a just woman.

  And that was before news had come out of every single misdemeanor Calder had committed in the past.

  Foolish or not, Calder had kept detailed tallies of the crimes he’d perpetrated over the years. Fade attributed that to arrogance, and while Heather concurred to a point, she disagreed mostly. She thought he kept tallies as records of the most effective methods of death. Efficaciousness had been of some importance to the healer.

  Fade’s mother and father had fallen to Calder’s potions, and the council had explained that Calder thought himself to be the rightful king. Something they’d fought, especially Merrick, who was of an ancient lineage and a close friend to her mate. She and Fade had discussed this and had decided that Calder had taken her with a view to marrying her and becoming the king of one nation. If he couldn’t rule Haden, then Jender would do.

  The nerve of the man.

  Hatred still coursed through her veins, when she thought of him, but the healers had warned her to cease emoting so strongly. The baby she carried was likely to carry on her own traits, something they’d discovered as being a green thumb. She who had murdered many a basil plant in her time could now grow carpets of flowers if she so chose.

  Weird.

  The healer had warned her that any negative emotions would affect the baby’s growth, as such, she knew she’d have to move on and stop thinking about Calder and for the time being, stop concentrating on losing her mother. It was hardly time to move on but for the baby’s sake, she’d have to tone it down.

  How she’d managed to keep the healer’s appointment a secret, she didn’t know. Fade worried if she had so much as a cold and as sickening as it was, she was just as bad. They’d both turned into loved-up nymphs. Hell, if she’d had to watch them, she’d have vomited herself. But Christ, living with it, living with her mate, was the most incredible experience she’d ever known.

  It was why she’d pretended to nap and fled to one of the healers, when she’d started to feel nauseous on a morning. Hell, they certainly did enough of what was required for her to get pregnant and she’d only gone for confirmation. Something she now had.

  Apparently, the baby, which would appear after a gestational period of an incredible thirteen months, had started life prior to its parents’ marriage.

  Whoops.

  Grinning at the thought, she turned to Fade who was being presented with a carved flute by a small boy dressed up in a smart tunic with short trousers in an eye-popping shade of chartreuse. She didn’t think she’d ever grow accustomed to the fashions here. Everywhere she looked, a tit or an ass cheek was on view and always surrounded by the most obscure colors. Apart from that, weird ears, strange hued hair and funny colored skin and all, she was slowly but surely getting used to life here. And in many ways, it was better than her old life. Sure, there was no TV or internet, no soaps, or games or even cars or trains. But in the ways that mattered, it was her haven. Mostly because this man was here.

  As he thanked the boy, Heather reached for his hand and squeezed it. She didn’t care that the crowd saw it, their joined hands were a representation of their bond and the union between Haden and Jender. Plus their people were used to these small displays of affection, they sure as hell witnessed them often enough. The joining of the two kingdoms had been sealed today by the revealing of a statue commemorating Setta’s life.

  Life wasn’t and never would be easy. Being Queen wasn’t all about looking good and opening garden parties, at least, it wasn’t on Mearth. Every day, she and Fade made life-altering decisions, the gravity of which never failed to amaze her. But with Fade at her side, the technical writer was capable of anything.

  She leant over and kissed Fade’s cheek and heard the sucked in breath from the crowd. When Fade grinned and bussed her right back, she settled back into her throne and knew that whatever life threw at them, as long as they were together, they’d handle it.

  She’d never been stronger. Never felt worthier or more empowered.

  And that was down to the man she loved.

  She felt no shame for that. Made no apologies. She wasn’t a feminist, but she was a twenty-first century women, or at least, she’d been reared that way. She should have felt guilty for wanting her man so badly, but hell, it was a mutual thing.

  If she loved him, he loved her.

  If he empowered her, she empowered him.

  That was the way it was and how it would always be.

  And as un-feministic as it was, she didn’t care. That was the way they both wanted it. If the feminists didn’t like it, then she had one word for them.

  Tough.

  THE END