Alarms ring in my head as concern grows. Betrayal or not, she was still my cousin. She kept looking back at the men following her, pace slow and gaze…seductive?
I froze in my steps and wondered if I needed to be concerned. I saw her turn around as the men closed around her, and she undid the laces of her corset. One of the men traced her exposed collarbones and slid the dress off a shoulder, leaning down to place a kiss on it while another took to her neck. I rolled my eyes and turned away, unsurprised and unfazed. I knew she had her fair share of fun even back in the Seelie Courts, but it was something else to discover the extremities of it.
Wait, isn’t she married? I pondered, but shook my head and left the scene, finding my way out of the palace and towards the gardens. Thomas had instructed me to get him in through a certain secret opening in the hedges, and it would require a grown man’s strength. I was not sure what kind of secret entrance needed the kind of help, but I knew tonight was one of the nights he could not get in. The party meant child labourers were sent home to maintain the appropriateness. I shuddered as I remembered seeing Ravanna indulging those three men. As much as I hated her for her betrayal, I was a little relieved that she was still enjoying herself and had come to no real harm at Sylius’s hands. I would not be surprised if the party took another turn for something wilder. I was aware of the rumours about the parties at the Unseelie Courts. They were adulterous and savage, with partners often switching, or pairing up to indulge into activities with each other. God knows whose child really belongs to who at the end of the day in the Unseelie Courts.
Hurrying towards a hedge at the far end of the garden as directed, I await Thomas’s appearance. There is a slight rustle in the hedge and I call out for him in a whisper.
“Thomas, are you there?”
“Yes,” he whispered back, “You see the fence this hedge grows around? Lift up one of the iron bars right here. It’s loose.”
I stepped back and looked up. The hedge was tall enough for me to miss the fence, but the boy was right. Its spiked spires peeked from over the top ever so slightly. I reach into the hedge and feel around for the wrought iron.
“Is it this one?” I confirm as my hand meets a cold rod.
“Yes!” he squeaks, “You need to part it just enough for me to come through.”
I grunted and grabbed hold of the rod with all the brute force I had, lifting it off the ground and moving it sideways. After some rustling, the boy made it through. He was dressed a lot more formally, but I was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. Would Sylius not grow suspicious because of the nature of this party?
But then I had an idea.
“Hey, little one,” I crouched down and whispered, “I know how to make this easier for the both of us.”
“How so?” he asked, “I have an older sister who is the barmaid for tonight. She could help.”
“No, no,” I shook my head, “We can’t trust anyone else. But I know who you can give this to and be off on your way.”
“I could see my sister later, yes?”
“Of course,” I nodded, “so as long as you’re not spotted by anyone.”
“I’m good at that,” he nodded.
I remembered Sylius dragging Martha to the balcony. It was possible she was still there as she had not followed when Sylius came back in.
“The letter?” I asked, and he plucked it out of his pocket. A little crumpled, but no real harm done. It needed to be through Martha. She needed to take the hint that she was Selene, the true heir of the Unseelie Court. It would make it easier for her to accept and step into the role when the time came.
I led the boy to the back of the palace, spotting Martha sitting on the balcony’s stone railing, plucking at a flower’s petals and singing away.
“You must give this to her,” I whispered to him, “and make sure you tell him it’s for Sylius. Say nothing else and run along to your sister, all right?”
Thomas nodded and took off carefully, approaching Martha. I watched from afar, admiring her skin and the way it glinted in the moonlight, and how wonderful she looked in that dress. As much as I wanted to drag her from the balcony right now and ravage her, I could not bring myself to. Sylius would be gone soon, and it would be so easy to lure her away then and talk to her…
Could I, though?
No, I scolded myself, right now isn’t the time.
I needed to make sure the letter got to Sylius. I needed to see how he reacts and if he believes it.
I train my eyes on Martha’s face as she curiously opens the letter, eyes prying over the words. Her brows furrow in confusion, but a hand falls over her heart, lips bitten as if something was taunting her inside. She turns and lifts her dress lightly, running inside the castle. I immediately make my way to the window closest to the bar Sylius was sat at, drinking away his stress with his generals. I carefully pry the window slightly ajar, and their tipsy laughter follows.
“And if not dead,” Sylius cackles slyly, “what good is a leader still if handicapped?”
A general hiccups, “I say, alliance is unnecessary where the place has nothing to offer but breeding. Kill the men and take the women. Add the young to our armies, and they’re sure to win because our blood in their system.”
The men erupted in laughter and I scowled in disgust. If this is how they kept on treating their people, their numbers would dwindle massively through runaways and suicides.
“Sylius, my Lord?” came Martha’s sweet voice, and I hated how it was not my name coming out of her mouth, “You must see this…”
“Martha, my dear,” Sylius drawled, a little woozy. I almost wanted to snap his neck for the way her name rolled off his tongue with such disrespect, “what is it?”
I watched carefully as she hands Sylius the letter. His eyes squint as he reads it casually, holding it up to the light with one hand. But then they widen, and he grips the piece of papers between his paling fingers, gripping the paper tightly between them. His breathing becomes laboured by the second as his eyes repeatedly roll over the paper, and I can see his jaw ticking as his teeth grind together behind his thin lips.
It was a sight to see, but an unsettling one. I could feel the dark energy roll off of his body in waves, so much so that the bushes that separated me from the window, the vines on the castle wall, and the grass at the foot of the castle started to wilt and wither. I could see shadowy tendrils gather under his feet and around his form, eyes glowing menacingly with a shade of red bloody enough to entice a vampire.
The paper between his hand split from the middle as the edges burned away slightly from the heat of his hands. And he let out a ravaged scream that scared everyone in the ballroom out of their wits.
Martha looked frightened, and I had to do everything in my power to not jump through the window and cage her in my arms. I wanted to protect her from the madman that was before her, but it only took a moment before her fear turns to concern. Along with it came my heartbreak.
Was it possible that Sylius had managed to get through her and made her care for him? Is it possible that she was falling for him? No, it could not be. The energy that was between us when we were dancing, the heat of her body on mine, the way I knew she was responding when I felt her breasts stiffen against my chest. I knew somewhere deep down, she favoured me. Maybe more physically than emotionally, and that was understandable. But I could have never expected Sylius to make a breakthrough with Martha’s inquisitive and tough personality.
It did not look like Sylius could take any more of the inconveniences he was being handed. And this was perfect, as if the stars had aligned in the favour of the Seelie Court. First, the werewolf attack and breach of the Unseelie Realm, then Ulrich’s new reign, and now this. The revelation that Princess Selene of the Unseelie Court is alive, and the prophecy designates the rightful ruling of the Unseelie Court to her.
And what better than for this realisation to dawn onto the Dark King right before the subject of the prophecy, Princess Selene
herself.
Martha, he sighed internally, Oh, Martha, what fate awaits you.
I knew then that my purpose was far bigger than just being the King of the Seelie Court and winning the war against the Unseelie Court. I was now a catalyst in this prophecy of helping Martha regain power that was rightfully hers. No matter what the costs…
Even of our love perhaps, I thought desolately, but shook the thought away immediately, No, I’m sure there will be a way through all this.
I knew that if there was anyone who could find loopholes through the nonsensical laws of magic, it would be Martha. She had done it once before to protect her magic, she would do it again to protect our love. And I could not make the mistake of losing faith in her and doubting her again. Martha’s soul and will was pure, and even if she did not remember everything in that moment, I was sure it would pull through to help her make the right decision.
I watched as the generals tried to calm him down. Martha tried to close in, but his body was spitting dangerous dark magic everywhere. In some kind of familiarity, I watched Martha move away from the situation and towards the balcony again. Anger spread into my chest as I realised this would not be the first time that Martha may have witnessed Syllabus throw such a tantrum.
I needed to get inside. I needed to see if Martha was all right.
I ran around the castle and conveniently came across Aria who was just returning from patrol.
“I’m back to gather some food for my way before the party is over,” she smiled, now in her armour. She looked regal and I wished there could be more Fae like her in my Court, visibly determined combatants striving for justice.
“Sylius is losing his mind,” I explained and her face dropped immediately. We rushed in.
“What happened?” she demanded as we finally entered the ballroom.
“We’ll just have to se–”
“The prophecy!” someone screamed in the distance and ran through the ballroom, “The prophecy of Princess Selene! It’s true! We’re doomed!”
“Inquisitor Reyan!” Aria snapped at him sharply and marched over, grabbing him by the arm with a rough shake. The frail man almost snapped under her grip and he tried to compose himself. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Aria,” Inquisitor Reyan moaned in despair, “We’ve received news! The witches…history…it was all fabricated! All lies! We were–oof!”
Aria knocked him out with a smack to the back of his head. I wished I could laugh, but she was already marching towards the back of the ballroom where Sylius was still losing it. Screaming in rage, grabbing wine glasses and throwing them at walls, swinging the alcohol bottles at his general’s heads.
This was…embarrassing. But his true, whiny, bratty nature had now been exposed to the most important people in his Courts. There was no coming back from this social damage to his image, and I could not have been happier.
This could very well be my first blow to his reign.
Chapter Ten
Glimpse of the past
Darragh
“Sylius!” Aria snapped from a safe distance, “Get a grip on yourself!”
“DID YOU KNOW?” he demanded with the letter in his grip, marching over menacingly as the candles on the walls blew out with each step, “WERE YOU AWARE OF THEIR TREASON?”
Aria growled and held her hand up, palm out towards him. She chanted under her breath and a silver glow burst from her hand, shooting around her and I. A protective dome falls over us, transparent and glowing gold with runes embedded into the surface. Sylius’s dark, unearthly magic crashed against it like waves, gently at first until the tendrils started to repel away from the surface as if they were hurt.
“I’ll be forced to restrain you, brother,” Aria warned with deep, guttural contempt, “Either you calm down and tell me what’s going on, or I force it out of you.”
Sylius breathed deeply, shoulders heaving, staring us down with madness in his eyes as his energies grew uncontrollable and crackled like lightning in the air. I wanted nothing more than to rush to Martha and see if she was all right, but I could not risk Sylius attacking me. I felt like there was some sort of hostility now brewing between Aria and Sylius and I was not sure if it was because of the letter.
“You knew what the witches were like,” he growled at her, hands gathering dark energy between them, and I knew this would not end well. “And yet, you allowed me to believe them. You allowed me to fall into a ploy!”
“What the hell are you on about?” Aria drew her sword, and the slit at the center was embedded with crystals that glowed with deadly but protective magic. It all started to make sense now, because weapons like Aria’s didn’t just come from nowhere. This was embedded with magic that was the ways of the witches and mages. Whilst the Unseelie Court had allied with the mages recently, Aria had gone ahead and sided with the witches on a more personal level, indulged in them and their ways. Aria must’ve acted as a bridge of civility between the communities. As far as I knew from knowledge and experience, the witches dealt hands with no one and did their own bidding. Being indebted to anyone was something they were not familiar with.
“THE WITCHES!” he screamed, a vein ticking in his neck as his hair came loose from him crown, “THOSE DAMNED WITCHES PROMISED ME I WOULD RULE OVER THIS KINGDOM! AND YET PRINCESS SELENE LIVES!”
“All right, one, they never promised you anything,” Aria scoffed as she brought down the barrier dome, “Two, you did rule over the Unseelie Court. They never said it would last as long as you lived!”
“INSOLENCE!” he screamed and drew out his sword, charging at Aria, “YOU HAD THEM TRICK US ALL! TELL ME, WHO IS PRINCESS SELENE?”
“I don’t know!” she yelled and swung her sword before her to block his attack, slashing his blade away and countering with a blunt swipe at the knees that he jumped away from. He grunted and moved in to slice at her head but she only ducked, bringing up her sword to block another swing he aimed at her shoulder. “I have no reason to lie to you about anything, Sylius!”
“You disagree with my status at the throne,” he growled as Aria pushed him away. He regained his stance, “You have visible distaste for the proceedings of my Court. I know you’re still working with the witches despite my requests of isolating them!”
“I pledged my alliance to them for your uninterrupted ascension to the throne!” she screeched and charged at him. Sylius looked shocked as he dodged her vertical blow with a sideway stepped. To be honest, I was shocked, too. Aria did not seem like the type to side with her brother in anything. “YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE DARKNESS AND ALLOWED IT TO INFECT EVERYONE!”
“A-Aria…” his voice quavered, and he gasped as he stepped away from a deadly blow of her blade.
“I thought you’d be like me,” Aria screamed, but I could tell she was close to sobbing, “I thought you’d turn the Unseelie Court around for the better!”
Sylius mustered the courage to intercept her next swing with his blade, turning it away. Aria almost fell forward, and her sword would have gotten stuck in the palace wall had she not regained her balance.
“You hated father as much as I did, didn’t you?” she rasped, “Everyone did. We were all hurting! Then why do you choose to be like him?”
She took a defensive stance and turned to Sylius, who also had his sword up in defense. He seemed unwilling to attack, and it was obvious Aria only wished to maim him. Sylius caught onto it, too.
“You knew this would happen,” he breathed as they circled each other, “You knew Princess Selene was alive and would come back.”
“Why would you put yourself through all this just to see me lose this way?” he demanded, rage coming back to his reddened eyes as his knuckles went white from gripping the sword’s hilt.
“Because I thought she would save you,” Aria sobbed through gritted teeth and dived in to attack.
I stepped away from the scene slowly, mouth agape at the revelations being made. There was so much more happening behind
the scenes than I’d ever considered. I didn’t know how much the people of the Unseelie Court were truly hurting under Polius’s and Sylius’s rule, and I felt so selfish. And here was someone who had been trying to turn it all over for the better, alone and unassisted. This wasn’t about the throne or politics, she just did what she felt was right for the long run when it came to innocent people. I wondered if Aria was aware of how deep-rooted the issue was with the witches and the war.
But if Aria did one thing right, it was to set the course of Princess Selene’s prophecy in the right direction. Sylius’s downfall was inevitable. I needed to find a way to get Aria on my side later on to see if there was middle ground to be met with the witches once they were exposed for their horrific schemes.
Their swords clashed. Sylius was obviously still tipsy, and Aria’s moves were calculated to disarm him. It was a slow combat, and the generals moved away to usher the guests out of the castle and send them home. The party was over.
Everyone was distracted, and so was Sylius. There was not much anyone could do to stop me from seeing Martha right now. A small voice begged for me to take the leap, and hopefully she would understand that there was more to us than the sparks between us.
I backed away carefully, realising this wasn’t the first time Aria had dealt with her brother in this state. I need not be worried. I turned and fled for the balcony, opening the doors and spotting Martha sobbing against the stone railings. I froze.
I had seen Martha angry before, maybe distraught and annoyed, too. But she rarely ever broke down into tears and I had no idea what to do. I carefully closed the doors behind me, approaching her with gentle steps. Halfway towards her, she stopped crying and straightened up. I guessed she had sensed me. Her back was bare in the dress whose gems glowed softly, and her milky skin glinted in the moonlight. Red hair was gathered up in a delicate twist towards the side of her nap, some strands falling loose against her neck. Even from behind, she looked beautiful. I wanted so much to reach over and bury my neck in her shoulder. To kiss her neck and let my hands travel over her small waist and to her full breasts. To lick her jaw as she leaned back and breathed against me. All the intense moments of love and passion I had with her came rushing back, and I fought my hands from trying to take her against the balcony railings.
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