The Celestial King

by L Ward

  Will grabbed his arm and dragged him into the King’s private room and shoved him on the sofa he so vividly remembered being mounted on. He thrust a sapphire-tipped staff in the air and a brilliant turquoise light coated the doorway. Even if they were seen nobody would be able to hear them.

  “Why do you always stick your nose where it don’t belong?” Will choked the words out, striding over to the paned window and peering anxiously over the rainy gardens.

  “Maybe fate thinks it does belong here,” Evan said nervously.

  Will was shaking all over, his breathing ragged and his heart a tandem of war drums. He glanced out the window again, possibly to hide the panic brimming on his dark lashes.

  “Will?”

  “I heard you and Nath fucking in the tent.”

  He sighed his furious exasperation. “You’ve no right listening in on us!”

  “And Gerard broke my ribs,” said Will.

  Evan stopped like a hare in the headlights. Every fiber of his body froze for those seconds where Will’s lips moved but he couldn’t understand the words.

  “Oi!”

  His stupor snapped, foot to twig, and everything flooded back. Will was trembling, eyes a burning shade of sunset carrying the promise of hotness to come, his fists were balled tightly, knuckles gleaming white and glittering with embers. “Why didn’t you tell Nath?” he asked shakily.

  “As long as I avoided men he was fine,” Will said through gritted teeth.

  The temperature was climbing. Evan’s magic tingled and he became acutely aware Will’s burning wasn’t anger, it was fear. That same fear on the dragon’s back, a deep rooted psychological trauma and that trauma was his father. “But now you’ve got Dante…” Evan didn’t need to finish the sentence, Will nodded plainly.

  “I’ve got Dante now,” his lips twitched and the wetness in his eyes turned to a gemlike glimmer. “But Gerard is forcing me to wed one of those princesses abroad so he can put his fingers in a new state of power,” he glanced to the door, “because he can’t get to the throne in this country, regardless of what happens, he needs another standing ground to establish power.”

  It was the rant from the other day but this time it had a whole new meaning. “What exactly has he said to you, Will?”

  “I either make a claim to a new throne or I’m disinherited and he’ll ruin me. Gerard is capable of a lot more than people give him credit for, and if he can’t infiltrate the system for his own empire, he don’t care about it,” said Will. The smell of hot kindling filled his nostrils and Will shook out his hands, dispelling the magical embers and hints of smoke. “Nath’s not Elijah and he’s not easily controlled, and now you’re here there’s no way he can get his hands on the throne.”

  “I don’t get why he’d want it so badly.”

  “He wants power and he tried to use me to get it,” Will’s eyes widened seriously. “He knows things are changing at Court and his only influences are investments the palace doesn’t need. I’ve seen the figures before and after, Nath generates a lot more income than Elijah, even though he’s a werewolf. He’s adored and his trade is amazing.”

  Evan had seen them too and he nearly fainted to see his own princely account fill with more gold than he’d ever seen. The suffocating realisation of his newfound wealth had rendered him silent the first time Nath showed him the books. He’d refused to accept the wage, insisted he couldn’t accept figures that well exceeded his family’s entire income for a year. “He’s the greatest king we could ever ask for.”

  Will nodded slowly. “And Gerard hates that. That’s why he told me to lay claim on Nath. Elijah had practically sold him to us under the table, he just hadn’t told him.”

  A flood of realisation swept Evan, chilling him to the bone. “He told you to attack him?”

  Will flew at him, palms slamming to the sofa either side of his head, faces inches apart. He pushed Evan back into the sofa but he wasn’t remotely scared this time. If anyone was frightened here, it was Will.

  “I’m not a rapist and he forced me to do it! You’ve no idea what he’s like!”

  “I’ve a pretty solid picture,” he said sardonically. “Why the hell haven’t you said anything before?”

  Will hesitated but didn’t move. Evan was pinned, he didn’t like it, but he couldn’t sense danger. “I stood to lose an empire, a fortune and my family name and now my losses are even worse. I could lose my career, my home and the right to me own life. You’re a lucky little bastard who can marry whoever the fuck you want without question. I can’t so much as look at someone without me family tearing me apart.”

  “Dante,” said Evan. “What are you gonna do? Keep lying and hope Gerard forgets? He’s planning to marry you off in a matter of weeks and you’re accusing him of pretty heinous stuff.”

  Will pursed his lips. “I think he knows something we don’t. He’s keeping secrets and I know for a fact there’s no problems with his American enterprises. I wrote me granddad and he was never ill, hasn’t heard from Gerard in weeks.”

  “Why would your mother lie?” Evan blinked, confused.

  “To protect him. She’ll do as he bids because he won’t have it any other way. He’s the head of our household and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it,” his eyes were wild, frenzied with furious fear.

  “Nath can protect you—”

  “He can’t stop the man disinheriting me and blacklisting me name!”

  “Then you’re gonna have to get on with it and marry one of the princesses or man the fuck up and tell him the truth!”

  For a split second he thought Will was going to hit him with a searing fist. Magic surfaced his skin and held his breath in expectation. The blows never fell but Will’s face certainly did and for a whisper of a moment his vulnerability showed.

  Evan swallowed the lump in his throat and said, “you might lose a fortune, your family and your status as an heir will tank, but you’ll always be welcome as part of the Privy Council, you can remain in the palace and you’ll still have Dante.”

  Will sank down beside him and slammed his head in his hands looking as though the weight of the world was crushing him to death. He sucked several deep, long breaths and ran a hand through his licorice hair. “I’ve known the guy a few weeks and you’re suggesting I give up my whole life, my future and my inheritance for him.”

  “I’m not suggesting you do it for Dante, I’m suggesting you do it for yourself,” said Evan.

  Will looked up and they stared at each other for what felt hours.

  “You won’t lose your job, your home or your friends,” he continued, “and like you said, if I can rise from nothing, you’ll have no problem when the public already like you.”

  He still seemed hesitant, dark eyes tempest with emotion he rarely showed. His head was in his hands again and he groaned. “You know as well as I do the public can turn in an instant.”

  “Like with Nath they can easily rally, and anyone who hates you for being bi is a fucking bigot that doesn’t deserve you.”

  “You’ve no idea what being bi is like.”

  “No, but I remember a group of guys throwing drinks over me when I was out with my sister once. They called me a fat fucking faggot. It only happened once; people aren’t as homophobic as you think they are.”

  Will’s full lips twitched and he rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers. “I was confused growing up. I had no words to describe how I was feeling when I started liking both. Gerard was threatening and punishing me for coming out, thought he could beat the gay out of me, but at the same time he shoved me into Nath. I loved him and I was happy, but I knew he wasn’t in love with me.” There were no outward signs of sadness but Evan felt it. He felt it like the morning sun on his skin or the whisper of cold creeping through a door crack. “I haven’t known him long, but I care about Dante and the last thing I want to do is hurt him.”

  “Your bisexuality isn’t going to go away, Will,” said Evan. “You can either hide fro
m this and pretend it’s not happening, push Dante away and do what your father says, until—”

  “He’s not my fucking father,” Will spat. “Father’s don’t break their son’s ribs because they’re bi, father’s don’t force their kids to marry strangers so they can wield the power, father’s don’t make you try to rape an innocent person, and father’s definitely don’t burst into your bedroom and try to strangle you because you question their ideas.”

  “But you won’t put an end to this. Are you going to do whatever Gerard says until the next good-looking boy comes along and he catches you again and again?”

  “No.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Will sank into the sofa and stared at the high ceiling painted with beautiful cherubs and threaded with secrets. His eyes were wet and his breathing steady. “It doesn’t look like I have much choice,” he said softly.

  “Don’t live your life as someone else’s dream,” said Evan. “I’ll talk to Nath for you if you like.”

  Will nodded and finally turned his attention back to Evan. “Sometimes I wish I'd die on one of these missions, but because of Dante I hope his plan works and we all make it out in one piece.”

  “We’ve no reason not to trust Nath’s judgement. He hasn’t failed us yet.”

  “And I trust he never will unless someone sells him down the river again.”

  “That someone being Gerard?”

  Will nodded slowly. “I wish the world could see his true colours. To them all he looks a wonderful father, a powerful business tyrant and a skilled pyromancer. He has everything but he can’t overlook one detail about me. His search for power and appearance will never end.”

  “Maybe it won’t but you’ve got to be the one to change it,” said Evan.

  Will gazed at him a small smile curling his lips. Movement behind him caught Evan’s eye and Nath stood behind the barrier gazing at them in confusion. Will snapped his fingers and the spell disintegrated in a puff of incense and glitter.

  “Private conversation?”

  “Will’s got something to tell you about Gerard,” said Evan.

  Nath’s eyes drifted curiously to Will and in a flash the barrier was back in place and he’d dropped down on the sofa, studying him with intense curiosity. “I hope you’ve not been drinking and bullying Evan again.”

  “I told you, I quit, and no, I think your Consort and I might have become friends,” Will flashed him a small smirk.

  Nath raised his eyebrows. “Do tell…”

  Chapter 39

  Two days faded to history and Evan was racked with nerves. Three days until they were leaving and only five until the moon’s rise. Power coursed the palace and Nath was a shadow of a wolf, skin pale and prickly as a desert cactus.

  “I think there is something wrong with me,” he said slowly over breakfast of bloodied steak.

  Evan looked up from his hot buttered crumpets and frowned. “You seem healthy enough to me.”

  “It’s not my health, it’s my lycanthropy,” he said slowly.

  Evan put down the food and poured himself another tea. “Want me to take a look at you?”

  Nath shook his head and subconsciously ran his fingers over his pointed ears. “I worry about this mission, not because we risk death, but I worry about what passing the border could do to me again. I’ve already suffered effects,” he pointed to said ears, “and this transformation feels like something else. It feels different this time, more powerful and I’m scared.” The look in his eyes swam with honesty and fear, glistening like the first dewdrops of winter. “But we’ve no choice, our military is training as many troops as possible and your sister has kindly supplied expert maps of the surrounding areas her charity track the unicorn migrations in. Narelia and Officer Jacobs are leading a hunting party, scouting the area and attempting to cross the border to make preparations for our arrival.”

  Evan swallowed. He knew, of course. Narelia and Officer Jacobs were tough, intelligent military personnel, but they were friends and they were valuable. He feared waking up to a letter saying they were gone, for real this time. “Then may the gods go with them.”

  Nath nodded and bit off a chunk of meat, lips shining wet with blood. He was beautiful, pale as marble with irises saturated the deepest green and blue gems. The full moon was making its appearance plainly on his face, but he wore it with honesty and a twinkle of pride. “I’ve full faith in them and I pray for their safety.”

  Evan moved around the table and sank his knuckles into the muscles stretching across Nath’s shoulders. The King groaned and leaned into the touch. He’d become accustomed to treating the transformations over the last months, but this time he was worse. He’d paced the room last last night shoeless, restless, tired and hypersensitive- which in some aspects proved to be a wonderful bonus. Evan's fingers counted each spinous process and found the tender ligaments wedged in his neck soothing them to normality. He pressed the magic deeper, mingling with Nathaniel’s strong bones sensing the impending change and softening deep within. They were laced with magic and lycanthropy but something was different.

  “I worry the exposure has worsened my condition,” Nath’s words echoed his own thoughts.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t go to Undermouth’s palace,” said Evan.

  Hesitation was never the response a person wanted to hear. “I must.”

  “At what cost to your health?”

  “None.”

  Evan relaxed a little. Nath knew more about his own condition than he did.

  “But it could cost some fragment of my sanity.”

  The words were choking and Evan’s deft fingers seized.

  “But I doubt that’ll happen after one more trip. As soon as Undermouth is defeated we can reclaim the Dead Country and revert it to its original cause. I would invest in it and try to undo the damage from the black magic that’s been festering for so long. It won’t be easy but it’s one of my life goals as king.”

  Warmth spread through his belly at the thought, the excitement and the reward of such a spectacular act. Nath was right, this would be difficult to say the least. “What about Artemis?”

  Nath raised an eyebrow and leaned into Evan’s touch, a whisper of a smile on his lips. “He’s fled to safety abroad while Undermouth deals with the dirty work. One day he'll return and when that day comes we’ll be more than ready.”

  “I have faith in you, Nath.”

  “Much of my winning has been thanks to you and, surprisingly, to Will,” Nath flashed a winning smile.

  “What do you think he’ll do about Gerard?”

  Nath closed his eyes. “I suspect he’ll end up leaving Court. His inheritance is a lot to lose and I cannot undo the damage his father will unleash upon his reputation. His choices will resort to remaining a member of Council for his entire life, joining the royal military or moving abroad and hope to make a respectable marriage to a very rich princess.”

  Evan blinked, shocked. “He could just have Dante.”

  “I suspect he fears if he rules against his father and Dante leaves him he’ll be ruined even further. Will has a hardened exterior but he's as vulnerable on the inside as any man.”

  A sharp rapping at the door snatched their attention. Nath called out and Miriam flustered into the room wearing full skirts and heavy jewels. Her green eyes were wide and catlike with news.

  “It's Mr Rakes,” she said softly, lips pinched pale as puckered moons.

  Nath was on his feet at once.

  “Briggard has come to and he would speak with you urgently.”

  “Where is he?”

  “The medical wing,” said Miriam.

  Nath threw a cloak around his shoulders and strode across the room; Evan followed.

  ∞∞∞

  “Mr Rakes?” Nathaniel entered the silver arch of the medical wing with a flourish of cloak and smoke. Latin words were inscribed in its sheen but Evan hadn’t the time to make them out.

  General Rakes was
propped in a stark-white hospital bed behind a heavy cream curtain. Evan had seen him many times since they returned from Nepal and not once had he made a lick of sense, screaming at things that weren’t there and thrashing uncontrollably for hours at a time before collapsing into a dead sleep. He looked up and inclined his head. “Your Majesties, my deepest condolences.”

  A muscle in Nath’s jaw flexed. “My mother has made a full recovery, I’m glad you have too. If there is anything you would tell us about the ambush, it may help in the impending dark days.”

  Briggard’s small eyes flooded with sympathy. “My recollection is foggy in places, yet I recall the moment we were set upon. We’d taken great measures to protect ourselves with force fields, cloaking charms and we moved in secret. The storms were rough but nothing we couldn’t handle until one of the barriers was broken. Manually.”

  Nath’s fist curled, knuckles blanched and eyes fierce. “Someone aboard?”

  Briggard shook his head, forehead crumbling like a used teabag. “Forgive me if I am wrong but I’ve strong reason to suspect someone who knew of the mission and knew what our casters entailed passed along information for the warlocks to locate us and break our protection. As soon as the barriers were down we were helpless to their assault and the storm.”

  Nath’s face was passive but Evan felt the anger rising beneath his surface like a volcano preparing to erupt.

  Briggard appeared to sense the unease, tongue darting to moisten his chapped lips. “To hand I carry no evidence but memories.”

  Nath sighed softly. “And if your suspicions are correct, who do you believe was at fault?”

  Briggard hesitated, face paling further beneath his rugged skin. He’d aged since the trip, lost much of his weight and muscle mass through the fits of sweating and thrashing that no apothecary, doctor nor Evan himself, could understand. He’d tried, god damnit, but whatever ailed him had been beyond his reach. “There was only a small pool of people who knew the plan. Myself, several soldiers and guards, the Dowager Queen, His Majesty, both Sir Starstone’s, the rest of the prior Privy Council and a man I believe to have now joined Court- Sir Alvarez.”