Queen of Hearts (The Risen King)

by Samantha Warren

  “Arthur?” Tristan's voice came from the doorway. “The others have returned. They are waiting in the council room for you.”

  “Thank you, Tristan. We'll be down momentarily.” Arthur gave his friend a nod and the scraggly-haired man disappeared. “I guess it's time to choose a new king and queen,” he said as he turned back to the others.

  Kane and Zela pushed themselves to their feet. They each kissed their mother on the forehead.

  “Arthur, a moment please.” Titania fixed the king with a smile. He hung back as the others left. Aiofe stayed in bed beside the queen.

  “Yes, your highness?”

  “Take Aiofe with you, please. I need some peace and quiet, if you don't mind.” Her face still held the smile, but the small visible slits of her eyes held something more. She had a plan, but Arthur couldn't quite figure out what it was.

  “As you wish.” He held out his hand to Aiofe and she scrambled out of the bed to join him. “Sleep well, your majesty.”

  As they left, Titania whispered behind him, “I'm just Titania now, my boy. Just Titania.”

  *~*~*

  TWENTY-FIVE

  *~*~*

  “Over my dead body.” Kane stood up and slammed his hands onto the table so hard that the massive piece of wood vibrated.

  “That can be arranged.” Deklen sat across from him with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

  Isobel growled. “Enough. You will not be King of the South, Deklen. You are heir to the North. Be happy with that or take nothing. And before anyone else mentions it, there will be no candidates who are not descendents of the South in some way. We have our rules in place for a reason and we will not break them simply because of a small crisis.”

  “Small?” Oonagh chimed in from the corner. “It seems a bit bigger than 'small' to me, don't you think?” She pushed herself to her feet and glared at Isobel. “My son is dead. This is not 'a small crisis'.”

  “Please,” Arthur said, also standing. “Queen Oonagh, I understand your pain, and I don't think Queen Isobel meant to belittle it at all. She was simply stating that, while the land may be in turmoil right now, we can overcome it, as we have overcome everything before now. We just need to stick together. The land of Faery is strong. It will not fall to a tyrant like Leanansidhe. Not while I live, and surely not while any of you live.”

  The shouts faded to grumbles and several of the generals around the table nodded.

  “Now,” Arthur continued. “Back to the task at hand. I am unfamiliar with the rules, but what I understand so far is that there must be a king and queen, a partnership. At least one of the pair must be a descendant of a family of the South. And they must pledge their lives to the land for the entire length of their existence until such time as one or both cannot rule. Anything else?”

  “They must be a pure-blood faery. No pixies or imps or anything like that.” Deklen picked at a hangnail as he spoke.

  “That's not technically true. They don't have to be pure-blood.”

  The dark-haired faery narrowed his eyes and shot a glance at the woman who sat beside him. “What do you mean, Mother?”

  Mab straightened her shoulders. For the last hour, she had sat silently, listening to the argument rage. Now she sat forward and fixed her son with a hard look. “There is no rule that says the king and queen must be pure-blood. The precise rule is that they cannot be of the lower ilk. As you said, no pixies, imps, et cetera. There is nothing at all in the rules about them being pure-blood.”

  “It's basically the same thing. If a pure-blood breeds with any other faery, they are tainted. They cannot rule.”

  Zela brightened and the corners of her lips pulled up as she looked across the table at Mab. “It says nothing about breeding with humans.”

  Mab's eyes sparkled and she tilted her head in Zela's direction and she leaned back into her chair. “Precisely.”

  A strange silence settled over the room as all eyes turned to Aiofe.

  Deklen's jaw clenched and his fist pounded the table. “I will not have the bastard child of a traitor ruling my land.”

  Aiofe sat up to protest.

  “Hold your tongue, young man.” Mab's glare was so hard it caused her son to wilt in his chair. “First, this is not your land. It is my land. You are not yet the king, and if you keep on the way you are, you will never be king. I am in charge and you would do well to never forget it. Second, despite Kane's former betrayal, he is a son of the South. He is the son of the South, and if he had time to right his wrongs and redeem himself, he would likely be sitting on the throne down the road. As it is, his daughter is actually the rightful ruler of the South. Kane cannot rule. Zela has declined to rule. Everyone is speaking as if the line dies there. It does not. Not only is Aiofe the daughter of Kane, she is the offspring of Titania's chosen line of servants. Aiofe holds a valid claim to the throne.”

  Queen Mab fixed the young woman with her gaze. “And I suggest she take it.”

  Aiofe's jaw worked. She had no idea how to respond to that. A month ago, she was an orphaned young woman who just wanted to hunt faeries. Now she was being asked to lead them. “I... I don't...”

  “She has no king.” Deklen spoke up again, determined to quash his mother's suggestion. “She can't rule without a king.”

  “She has Arthur.” Mab said it so matter-of-factly that for a moment everyone just nodded and shrugged.

  Deklen would not give in. He laughed out loud. “Sorry, mother. Your plan is full of holes. You seem to have forgotten that your special boy is human.”

  Mab gave her son a tight smile. “No, he's not.”

  The silence from before was nothing compared to what it was then.

  “Excuse me?” Oonagh's fingers steepled in front of her. “Would you care to enlighten us?”

  Mab turned her tight smile on Oonagh. “No, I would not.” Her face softened and danced over to Eden, who sat beside her mother. “Your daughter might, though.”

  Oonagh stiffened in her chair. “Eden, what is she talking about?”

  The auburn-haired general's face was streaked with tears and her eyes were puffy. She had tried to beg off the meeting, to remain with the body of her brother, but she was needed to help make such an important decision.

  Arthur's fingers found Aiofe's under the table and he gripped them tightly, but his eyes remained locked on Eden. “Yes, what is she talking about?”

  Eden cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. Her eyes fell to the table in front of her for a moment before she raised them. Her gaze ignored everyone and fell on Arthur. “You're not human, Arthur. Not completely.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

  “My mother is not a fighter, and the other queens felt she would not be a good teacher in the ways of battle. Titania was my tutor for awhile and it was during that time that I met Uther. We had been called upon to help Camelot defeat some invaders and I went with Titania to help. He was a good man, one of the sweetest, kindest men I have ever met, even to this day. He made me feel... We had an affair. It lasted some time, even after he married. I was foolish and in love. I became pregnant.”

  Oonagh's strangled cry echoed out through the room, but Mab silenced her with a glare. “Continue,” the Queen of the North commanded.

  Eden nodded once. “Titania assisted in covering it up. I had the child and she passed it off as Uther and Igraine's. Arthur was raised as a human, among humans, and, much to my great pride, went on to become one of the greatest kings the human race has ever known.”

  Eden's smile beamed across the table as she looked at Arthur with a pleading hope.

  “You're my mother?” His heart pounded and his mind swam. Beneath the table, his fingers gripped Aiofe's much harder than he meant to.

  “Yes, Arthur. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. But it was for the best. I know that seems shallow, but it's true.”

  Her words hung in the air as those gathered around the table tried to process that information.

 
; “You should have told me,” Oonagh finally said. Her lips were pulled into a tight grimace. “I would have helped you.”

  Eden's eyes narrowed at her mother. “No, you would not. Despite your attempts to make everyone believe you are a loving woman, you hate humans and everything they stand for. My son would have been shunned at best, abused at worst. I couldn't let him suffer because of what I had done.”

  “Nonsense,” declared Oonagh. “I would have loved him like my own.”

  Eden's eyebrows twitched, but she said nothing else.

  “So where does that leave us?” Isobel asked.

  “With a solution.” Mab's eyes danced between Aiofe and Arthur. “Correct?”

  “I...” Aiofe ran a hand through her long, red hair. “I don't know. I'm not sure I'm ready to get married, much less be a queen. This is just too much.”

  Arthur inhaled deeply. He shoved his chair back and turned to her. “I know we haven't known each other long, but Faery needs us.” He took both of her hands in his and smiled. “I love you, Aiofe. I won't deny it. You are the bravest, fiercest woman I have ever met and I would be honored to rule by your side.”

  Aiofe's nose curled. “How do you know you love me? How do I know I love you? We were under a spell. It was a trick. What if--“

  “Love has no part in this.” Isobel broke into their not-so-private conversation. “This is not a question of whether you're in love, or if you're 'meant to be'.” She said the last part with an annoyed snarl. “This is about duty, honor. This is about doing what is good and right, what needs to be done. Now that I know the truth about both of you, the prophecies make sense. You are meant to rule, the two of you together. Two half humans, saving the land of Faery from evil.”

  “This is ridiculous.” Deklen shoved his chair back. “I won't stand by and watch this farce. I refuse to be a part of this.”

  His mother looked up at him. “You are free to leave. The decision has been made, so you are no longer needed.”

  “Decision?” he spat. “There was no decision. You had this planned all along. You knew this was going to happen.”

  She smirked. “The future is unknowable, my dear son.”

  Deklen snorted. “You're incorrigible, Mother.”

  Mab gave him a small smile, but refused to respond. He glared at her a moment longer before stomping to the door and storming out.

  “I, for one, am thrilled.” Oonagh had plastered a smile across her face and beamed at Arthur and Aiofe. “I may have lost a son today, but I gained a grandson and a granddaughter.” She pushed herself onto her feet and walked over to them. She tucked her arms around them each in turn and gave them kisses on the cheeks.

  “So, when is the wedding?”

  Aiofe was still trying to comprehend what was happening. “I...”

  Isobel rose to her feet as well. “We do not have time for an affair of pomp and circumstance. It will need to be small and quick. We must have a new king and queen as soon as possible before morale starts to wane.”

  “I agree,” Mab said. “I will send out the invitations. We will have the wedding here, in the field, in two days time. The faeries see Arthur as a leader, a warrior. Raising him to King of the South will solidify their faith in him.”

  “Will they accept him as king? And her as queen?” Drakka sat on the other side of her mother. She rarely spoke, and everyone turned to listen.

  “They will, my child. Their only other choice is Leanansidhe. Arthur and Aiofe will be great rulers, and they will help free the land from Leanansidhe's grasp.”

  “What if they do not want to be freed?” Oonagh still stood beside Arthur and Aiofe. She had a hand on each of their shoulders.

  Mab and Isobel both fixed her with glares. “They will,” Isobel said. “And any who don't will die beside her.”

  Oonagh bowed her head in consent.

  Everyone else rose to their feet. The decision had been made. Now it was time for preparations. The queens and generals filed out, leaving Arthur and Aiofe to wrap their head around how quickly their lives had changed.

  *~*~*

  TWENTY-SIX

  *~*~*

  “I don't know if I want to do this, Gran.” Aiofe sat on her bed with her head in her hands. “I'm not ready.”

  Maureen Callaghan sat down beside her and stroked her copper hair. “I know, dear. It's very rushed.” She glanced over at Titania, who still lay on the other side of the bed. “Is there any way to postpone the wedding? Any way to give them more time to get to know one another?”

  Titania's face was starting to heal, but her eyes were still puffy and her lips were so chapped they looked white. “I wish we could, but if Aiofe does not stake her claim on the throne before someone else does, it could become a very dangerous situation. As far as most others know, I am still the queen, but once word spreads about my...” She waved her fingers in the air, searching for the right word. “My situation, others will start making claims and bids for the throne. It would become heated, and Leanansidhe could just sit there and watch as the South destroys itself.”

  Aiofe pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and groaned. “Why can't I just go back to killing faeries? That was fun.”

  Titania and Maureen both laughed. “You will,” Titania said. “Very soon. I have one in particular that I'd like you to slay for me.”

  She gave Aiofe a small smile of encouragement just as a knock sounded on the door.

  “Come in,” her grandmother called.

  A blond head poked around the door. “Aiofe?” Arthur asked. “Can I speak with you a moment?”

  The young woman shot a glance between her grandmothers and stood up. “I guess.” Her steps were heavy as she plodded to the door.

  Arthur held the door open for her. Once she was through, he cocked his elbow and offered it to her. She stared at it a moment before tucking her arm into his. As she did, a small shiver of heat went through her from her head to her toes. She shook her head a bit and pushed it away.

  “Let's go to the garden,” Arthur suggested.

  Aiofe shrugged. “Whatever.” She bit her lip when she realized how much heat she put behind the word. The look of pain on his face said he heard it, too. It wasn't Arthur's fault this was happening. None of it was his fault. She forced a small smile to her face and nodded. “That sounds good.”

  He returned the smile. “Good. This way.”

  He led her down the stairs and out into the garden where they had first kissed. They wandered in silence for a few minutes until they reached the fountain of the Queens. Arthur took a seat on a bench facing Titania and patted the spot next to him. Aiofe inhaled sharply, but sat down.

  “Aiofe,” Arthur said as he turned to her and took her hands. “I know this is not what you expected. It's not what I expected, either. I had hoped to have time to get to know you, to talk to you, to find out your fears and hopes. I wanted to do things differently than I did before, to do things your way, but this world isn't going to allow that.”

  Aiofe pressed her lips together and didn't say anything. Her shoulders stiffened and she found herself looking at him with apprehension.

  He pressed on. “This land needs us, Aiofe. Without a good king and queen on the throne, the South will fall to Leanansidhe. We're it, Aiofe. This is why I was brought back. This is why you stumbled into Faery. We are meant to do this. We are meant to be together, to rule as one.”

  She turned away from him. “How do you know?”

  “Because I love you.”

  Aiofe laughed. “You don't love me. It was a spell.”

  “No, Aiofe. The spell brought us together, but it didn't make us feel the way we do.” He pushed himself off the bench and dropped to his knees in front of her. “You do care for me, too, don't you?”

  Her eyes stung and she blinked rapidly. She stared off to the side, watching a bird flit through the trees.

  “Aiofe, please. Look at me.”

  Her teeth found the edge of her tongue and she tasted bloo
d. With a great battle of willpower, she turned her head and looked Arthur dead in the eyes. She had meant to say she didn't love him, she couldn't love him so quickly, she needed more time. But as she stared into those blue pits of love, her frown began to fade. She sagged and allowed herself to smile.

  “I do,” she said. “I care for you. Very much. From the first moment I saw you.” Her face hardened again. “But I don't know if I love you.”

  He gripped her hands tightly. “I don't need you to love me,” he said. “Not yet, at least. I just need you to want to be with me, to trust me. I promise you, Aiofe Callaghan, that I will do everything, absolutely everything in my power to make sure you are the happiest woman in the land of Faery. If you consent to be my queen, I will go to the ends of both worlds to show you my love, and to make you love me.”

  Aiofe's heart danced, but her natural pessimism pushed its way through. “Is this the same speech you gave Guinevere?”

  Arthur's mouth dropped open and he sat back on his heels. “Aiofe, that wasn't--“

  She held up her hand. “No,” she said softly. “I'm sorry. That was completely unfair of me.” She reached forward and cupped his face in her hands. “You're the sweetest man I've ever met and I'm so sorry.”

  Her lips were so close to his that she could feel his breath on her face. She longed to kiss him, but fear surged through her. Whether it was fear of losing him or fear of giving into him, she wasn't sure.

  “I'm going to hurt you, Arthur,” she said. “That's just the way I am. I hurt people. I get angry, I get so mad. I say things I don't mean.”

  Arthur's lips quirked up. “You're a woman. That's your nature.”

  She scoffed and sat back. “You, Arthur Pendragon, are rude,” she chided, but her eyes danced. The heaviness that had settled over her was disappearing and she felt lighter and happier than she had in awhile.

  They smiled at each other for a few moments until he spoke again. “I need to know, Aiofe. Right here, right now.” He took her hand in his again. “Will you be my queen, my wife?”