by Eve Langlais
And then he smiled.
It was just a small upturn of the corners of his lips, but the effects on an already exquisite face were breathtaking. Even in the darkness, his face seemed to radiate with light, his eyes ignite with a spark of power, with life. It was singularly the most beautiful and terrifying thing she had ever witnessed, and it left her momentarily too stunned to even think, much less react.
That’s why when Kirion reached for her hand, Miriel didn’t even have the presence of mind to draw it away. The coolness of his hand around her own slightly warmer flesh jolted her from her fascination, and her eyes shot down to their joined hands in something akin to panic. He was touching her again!
It was done. There was nothing left but to raise her eyes and face the consequences of her carelessness. Through sheer will alone, she calmed her racing heart and looked up into his face.
Chapter Four
The king’s expression was intense, but there was none of the expected anger, the accusation she had feared for the majority of her life. If anything, there was only a hint of puzzlement in his eyes for a brief moment before Miriel felt him squeeze her hand lightly. Could it be that her mother had been right all along? Had enough time passed that she no longer had to fear the discovery of her secret?
“Miriel?” he inquired, a thousand questions buried within his tone.
“I–forgive me, Your Majesty,” she said, then decided that a little truth was needed here. “I am not accustomed to the touch of others and was momentarily startled.” She tentatively squeezed his hand in what she hoped was reassurance.
His eyes grew thoughtful. “Arandur did mention that you were a sensitive soul, though I did not think he had meant it so literally. My very presence must weigh heavily on you as the strength of my soul is considerable.”
“I do not mind,” was all she could think to say.
She was digging herself more deeply into the lies she was accustomed to telling, much more than she had ever intended with this powerful being. She should not have allowed King Kirion to continue believing her dislike of being touched was due to a strong empathic ability, but…
He turned his head back to stare out at the nightscape before them before he spoke again. “You must have questions,” he said, “about why I have come to your lands.”
“It is not for me to question,” Miriel said diplomatically, though her heart sped up a little in anticipation. “As my father has not spoken of it to me, then he must not have felt it was something I needed to know. It is enough that Elion is aware.”
“Or it is simply that he has not found the opportunity.”
Miriel stiffened. What was he trying to say? Her thoughts flashed back to the conversation she’d had with her mother yesterday.
“I feared his reason for coming was to ask for your hand…”
Her eyes fell to their still–joined hands, and she swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling extremely shy. “Perhaps…” she replied.
Kirion turned to look at her again, and Miriel nearly gasped at the strength of the melancholia in his eyes. It was the last thing she expected to see.
“The whole of the Second Realm is currently on the brink of a great change,” he said. “Although the signs have been present for some time, there are few who have seen them for what they are. In fact, those very signs are the reason why I have sought solitude on the night of the winter solstice for thousands of years. You are, of course, aware that the supreme throne has no direct heir?”
She blinked at him curiously. “Yes.”
The king sighed, suddenly sounding weary. “What the Realm does not know, outside of a handful of souls, is that for the space of a mark several thousand years ago, the throne did indeed have an heir.”
Miriel’s eyes widened. But that would mean–why in the world was he telling her this momentous secret?
“You had a son,” she said softly, a wave of sadness washing through her at the flash of pain in his eyes that he could not quite hide.
He nodded. “Almost from the first moment that I was able to sense my son’s soul, the queen became deathly ill, so ill that her healer feared for not only the child’s life but the mother’s. Thus, the queen was kept in seclusion for the duration of the pregnancy, and the imminent birth was never revealed publicly in preparation for the worst. I need not tell you the stigma associated with such an ill–fated birth.”
“No,” she agreed.
“That I both gained and lost a son on the night of the winter solstice, on a day that celebrates our life–bond to our lands, it filled me with such terrible grief that it blinded me to the calamity our people will soon face until very recently.”
“And you have spoken to my father about this?” she asked.
“About my late son? No.”
Miriel was more than taken aback. “Then why–”
Kirion smiled again, and her words instantly trailed off as she became lost in his beauty for the second time that night.
“There are some things that you, alone, need to understand,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips to brush a light kiss onto the back, his eyes watching her face closely.
“My father–no, my mother–would never allow me to serve as a Royal Consort, even to the supreme king,” she said slowly, not quite able to believe that they were even having this conversation.
He released her hand and deliberately slid closer to her until their sides were almost touching. He then slowly raised his hands and gently cupped her cheeks. She sat frozen, unsure how she was supposed to react, or even how she wanted to react.
“I do not seek a Royal Consort,” he said quietly. “I have come to your lands in search of my new queen.”
Then he leaned forward and captured her lips in a firm kiss before she could even make sense of his words. Her first instinct was to gasp, opening her mouth to a slick tongue that began to sensually caress along her own before it could shy away. She shivered at this entirely new sensation and closed her eyes, surrendering herself to his tongue and lips and attempting to reciprocate as she had no personal experience.
Miriel could feel the power of the supreme king even in his kiss, his lips demanding though somehow tender, making her want to give him her everything even though she had spent so little time with him. Her entire body felt hot even with the chill in the air as she unconsciously fisted her own skirts in reaction.
She could feel his warm exhales on her lips as he drew away what felt like an eternity later, tickling the now swollen, sensitive flesh. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with eyes darkened with several emotions she could not readily name. It was only then that her brain caught up to the present, and she realized the enormity of what had just happened. Although the supreme king had initiated the kiss with little warning, there was no denying that after she had gotten over her initial shock, she had enjoyed the kiss immensely.
“My–my king?” Miriel stuttered, confusion, desire, and shyness warring within her being.
Kirion rested his forehead against her own and closed his eyes. “Queen Althea has abdicated her throne,” he said. “It was for the purpose of allowing another bride from the House of Vanvir to assume the title in the hopes that she may give me the heir that Althea could not. However, they do not see what I see.”
“What do you see?” Miriel breathed, her chest clenching painfully in reaction to a thousand unfamiliar emotions.
Kirion opened his eyes and pulled away to look at her solemnly. “That we are currently on the brink of another Plague of Infertility.”
This time Miriel did gasp aloud. The Plague of Infertility was something confined to the pages of their ancient history, something she had learned of but never thought would become a reality during her time.
“I thought–I thought the Sidhe of old conquered the affliction,” she said uncertainly.
“As do most,” he agreed. “However, only the symptom was addressed, and now the majority believes that what was only a temporary remedy was a cure. Alrea
dy, there are a significantly lower amount of children being born throughout the Realm, especially within the Orvir Sidhe of my former queen. I fear infertility will strike the females of the House of Vanvir completely within the next generation, and the rest of the Houses will follow within the next thousand years. It is my greatest wish to leave any future children I may have with the best chances to prolong the future of my bloodline.
“The birthrate has not yet diminished as significantly here among the Lithviri, thus I traveled here during this interim time in which a bride has not yet been chosen for me and will not be chosen until the summer solstice. My plan was to stay here among the Lithviri for the span of two seasons in order to find a suitable bride.” He flashed her a wry smile. “I did not expect the Lithviri princess to peak my interest by climbing the vines so fearlessly tonight.”
Miriel dropped her eyes, unsure how to react to his comment. “I cannot imagine how witnessing me behaving in such an undignified manner would interest one of your experience,” she said softly.
“It is that very thing that interests me,” he said earnestly, causing her to look up at his face again. He raised a hand and lightly ran his fingertips across her cheek in an affectionate caress that made her skin tingle. “In that moment, I was able to see a piece of your true essence free of the constraints of your rank. It draws me like few things have over these past few centuries.”
“But–” she began, then realized she had no idea what she really wanted to say. Her mind was currently a maelstrom of confusing emotions thanks to his sudden, utterly unexpected kiss. She had no idea how she should feel about it, about everything he had just told her.
Kirion leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “You need not answer me tonight,” he said. “As I said, I did not expect to feel such a strong interest so soon after my arrival.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Besides, it is probably long past time that we rejoin the festivities. We shall have plenty of time to speak, to spend time together, in the days to come if that is what you wish.”
Miriel couldn’t help the smile that stretched her lips. “It would be my pleasure,” she said sincerely.
However confused and uncertain she was feeling about the kiss they had shared, the one thing she was certain of was that she wanted to talk with him more. Whatever she had been expecting the supreme king to be, it was not this frank, entirely approachable person sitting next to her on the perimeter wall of all things. It was a far cry from the powerful being she had first glimpsed in the throne room that had her almost quaking in her shoes.
She wondered if he was, in fact, going out of his way to keep his power in check, if this gentler side of him was a façade or if she had actually glimpsed a bit of his true character. Well, only time would tell, and at the moment, she was more than willing to give him that. Now that another had touched her and proven her fears had been for naught, for the first time in her life, Miriel felt that the future was completely open to her at last.
“Shall I escort you back to your balcony?” Kirion asked with a hint of amusement.
Miriel hesitated. Midnight was probably still a couple of marks or so away. If she hurried, she still had time to continue on with at least some of her earlier plans. The question was whether or not she could persuade the king to leave her to it.
“If you do not mind, Your Majesty,” she said, “can you take me down into the garden instead? There is still something I wish to do before returning to the great hall.”
“Oh?” he asked with more interest than she would have liked.
She flashed him an apologetic smile. “Just as you have things you wish to remember in solitude on this night, I have a place I wish to visit in solitude as well. Rest assure that I shall be along before long.”
Kirion studied her for a long, anxious moment before he finally nodded and said, “As you wish.”
Once again, Miriel found herself wrapped in his arms and the world fading away. A breath later, she felt the ground beneath her feet.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling his arms loosen from her body as she stepped away. It was not nearly as cold here on the ground, but she found herself shivering anyway, missing his warmth and a bit discomfited about that realization.
He nodded. “Perhaps you will honor me with a dance when you return.”
Her eyes lit up. “I would enjoy that very much, Your Majesty.”
Then with one final nod, the king faded from view, leaving her to ponder the complexity of the supreme king.
Chapter Five
Miriel quietly stepped through the gate that separated her garden from the queen’s garden, her eyes darting all around her in the darkness in search of any possible guards, but the area was still. She could hear the faint sounds of laughter and music from deep within the palace, and for a moment, a surge of worry flowed through her.
By now, King Kirion had no doubt rejoined her parents at the high table, and they would be wondering where she had run off to. Unsure of whether or not the supreme king had revealed his intentions of finding a bride to her father, he would not necessarily inform them of their chance meeting, nor of her promise to return to the great hall as soon as her business was concluded.
Nevertheless–Miriel had been looking forward to this night all year, and it was a relief that she still had enough time before the solstice ended to enjoy what she had come to consider her yearly treat.
She wrapped her cloak more tightly around her body as a gust of wind cut through her. It would probably snow again tonight. Although the elven mages prevented the snow from entering all the various gardens and the courtyard, the grounds beyond the wall would no doubt be full of the beautiful drifts that she loved. Perhaps she could even invite King Kirion for a walk among them.
The thought brought her up short. What in the world was she thinking? He was their supreme ruler! She had only spent less than a mark alone with him and already he was beginning to permeate her thoughts as though she had known him all her life. How had her initial curiosity turned into this so quickly?
Now more than a little troubled, Miriel hurried through her mother’s garden to the small copse of trees in the center, eager to take her mind off her encounter with the king for the moment. Fairly innocuous at first glance, this was the royals’ doorway into the Inbetween, the plane of existence between the elven and human realms.
With one final glance around to make certain that she was alone, Miriel stepped between a specific pair of trees and the dark of night was instantaneously replaced with the gray, hazy atmosphere ever–present within the Inbetween. Thick grass tickled her ankles as she hurried across the vast grassland, allowing her sense of the thickness of the air around her as always to guide her towards the secret spot she had stumbled upon twenty years ago.
Invisible to the naked eye, it had only been her curiosity of what was causing the strange heaviness in the air one night during the winter solstice when she truly had been seeking solitude away from the laughing, dancing courtiers that only reminded her of the burden of the secret she carried that had led to this astonishing, wonderful discovery. It was only when she had reached out a hand to touch the area where the air had seemed almost as substantial as water that she had found what she had come to call “The Rift.”
Within moments, Miriel stood at the nexus of that heaviness. A surge of excitement flowed through her as she stepped forward, wondering what she would find this time. Then without warning, a hand grabbed one of her arms, jolting her to a halt halfway through The Rift as she cried out in shock. She whirled around, her heart in her throat–only to feel that same heart drop to the pit of her stomach when her eyes met the form of the supreme king.
She stood frozen, unable to form a single coherent thought as she stared up at King Kirion with wide eyes. She had been so focused on following the variances in the density of the air that she had failed to notice that she was being followed.
However, rather than a chastising look, his gaze only reflected a mild curiosity. “I
suppose that “place” you mentioned earlier is within the human realm,” he said, nodding towards her body, which was already partially within The Rift and thus hidden from sight.
“You–followed me?” As soon as the words left her lips, Miriel winced internally. She hadn’t meant for her question to sound so accusative.
His eyes bored down into her own. “Imagine my concern when your life–force abruptly vanished.”
You can sense that? she wanted to ask, but instead forced herself to nod and relax her shoulders. “My apologies for causing you such concern, Your Majesty.”
“Miriel,” he said, raising his other hand to cup her cheek. “We are not among the elven court. There is no need for you to be so formal with me when we are alone.”
She flashed him a sheepish smile, trying to ignore how soft and pleasantly warm the king’s hand felt pressed against her cheek. “I still occasionally find myself speaking formally to my father when we are alone, the habit is so ingrained, but I shall try.”
His gaze turned towards The Rift, and he frowned. “You have opened a curious type of pathway. I have never seen it done in this manner.”
Miriel shrugged nervously. “I did not create it,” she admitted, but did not elaborate.
“Arandur, then,” Kirion said thoughtfully, and Miriel didn’t correct him, hoping that he would drop the subject altogether. He turned that thoughtful gaze back to her. “Is it truly a place that you wish to visit within the human realm?” he demanded suddenly.
“It is,” Miriel said slowly, wondering at the strange undercurrents of emotion that she heard in his tone.
She paused and then turned to look at The Rift, but she couldn’t yet see what lay beyond. Did she dare reveal this particular secret to him, one that not even her mother knew?
“Would you–would you like to accompany me?” Miriel asked hesitantly, looking back in order to gauge his expression. “It is better for you to see for yourself as I could never hope to describe it as it deserves.”