The Fae King's Ruin

The King and the Line

“A date?” the Princess echoed, a rather lost look entering her usually occluded eyes. “You want us to go on a date?”

Avery pouted a little, a blush of embarrassment creeping up his neck. “Well, when you say it like that it all sounds very ridiculous.”

Princess Aislin pursed her lips together. With a small shake of her head, she said, “I know how marriages of convenience work. I have no illusions about it. Please do not feel obligated to treat me romantically because I don’t expect you to.”

Avery blinked. “I’m not asking you on a date to be romantic,” he said, the words only being half-true in the depths of his heart. “I want to get to know you before we make our decision known to the Great Council. This might be an arranged marriage of the highest stakes but I care about the character of whoever becomes my people’s Queen.” He lifted a brow. “Do you not want the same?”

She angled her head, a thick lock of curled, silver hair escaping from its perch behind her slightly pointed ear. Avery couldn't help but follow the near-hypnotizing motion with his eyes.

"Then let's not call it a date.”

“And what, exactly, do we call it?”

She glanced at her desk and Avery spotted the small, leather-bound journal he'd given to her, wondering what kinds of things she wrote in it. 

Aislin said, "If we send out letters to the members of the Council after dinner, we can set a meeting for the afternoon and my mid-morning tea time will be free for you before I talk to my cousin. How does that sound?”

He shook his head ‘no’ immediately. “We have a lot of ground to cover between us, Princess. Fifteen minutes and a cup of tea will not be nearly enough for the kind of conversation we will be having. Join me for breakfast instead."

Aislin shifted in her seat, looking as if she was about to say no. Avery knew that tonight was already a huge imposition on her but it was important to him that despite the fact he wasn't marrying for love, he wouldn't be bound to someone he could not stomach for a potentially long time.

Not that he had that problem with Aislin, nor would it ever change his decision to marry her and ensure the merging of their courts. He just needed to know more about who she was before he said his vows.

"Fine," said Aislin, obviously through gritted teeth. “Breakfast.”

He bowed his head. “Thank you,” he murmured, wishing that those two small words conveyed just how much he truly meant them. Deciding not to torture the princess any longer than he already had, he stood. “I shall leave you to your night peacefully, then. Again, Princess Aislin, I apologize for any ill-feeling I have caused you.”

The princess stood but Avery turned and left her room before she could say anything else. His every step felt like a seal that cemented everything that had happened today; something that he could never take back or redo. And tomorrow, he had no doubts that it would feel the exact same way.

On his floor, a cluster of tense nobles had gathered. They bowed as they saw him approach from the stairs, the only one not bothering with formalities at the moment was his Hand.

Res made a beeline for him and his face told Avery that he was incredibly put out. He had a sword strapped to his waist, mirroring the unease that he knew his friend felt.

“Are we at war?” Res murmured to him quietly when he reached Avery, worry in his eyes.

“What?” Avery breathed, confused.

Res took him by the arm and took him aside. “The Princess,” he pressed. “Will they be declaring war?”

Avery shrugged off his hold. “Why in the world would Aislin declare war against us?”

A muscle in Res’s jaw ticked. “You weren’t there. After the Princess dismissed the Council, there was disorder and a lot of words exchanged. A debate broke out whether the Treaty should be pursued.”

The King paused. Aislin never said anything about something like that happening after he left. Why didn’t she?

Res continued, “And now that you’ve called all your advisers, they seem to think war is imminent as well. So, what is it?”

Avery put a hand on his shoulder. “You have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions, Res. There will be no war. Princess Aislin has agreed to marry me.”

Cerulean eyes blinked at him, all anxiety gone. “What?” he dumbly said.

He smirked at him and clapped his hand over his back before making his way to his gathered advisers and opening the door to his private conference room.

“Gentlemen,” Avery greeted. “Thank you for coming. I have an announcement.”

***

The rumors spread overnight and not before long, the King and Princess were all everybody could talk about. People whispered with each other, commoners, staff, and nobles alike, creating a buzzing murmur that seemed to make the palace’s diamond walls vibrate. Avery, having lived in court all his life, didn’t mind it one bit, but he was anxious about how the Princess would take it.

He zipped through all his morning routines and skipped reading his correspondences. He asked some of the maids to set up breakfast for him and Aislin on his balcony that overlooked the sea behind Alfheim, hoping that the beautiful scenery would start the conversation he was about to have with her on the right foot. But when a knock ensued from his door and it swung open to reveal who it was, Aislin’s unreadable poker face made him sweat a little.

“I was going to come and get you,” Avery said, hurrying over to where she stood on his threshold as he invited her in. The Princess took all of two steps into the parlor, her deep violet dress swaying with her. He cleared his throat as the staff made themselves scarce. “You look lovely.”

Pink blush spread across her cheeks. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

He smiled. “Perhaps we can call each other by our names when it’s just us?”

Her eyes narrowed a little. “You’re really determined to make things casual between us?”

“It makes things easier, doesn’t it? When you’re comfortable with the one you’re about to be betrothed to?”

“It might,” she said, eyes darting around as she surveyed the space. “So, this is the King’s suite.”

Avery shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning against the back of a couch. “Yup.” He grinned. “Though there are times when I forget and still think of it as my parents’ room.”

Bright, midnight-blue eyes looked up at him. “They slept together,” she noted softly. “A love match, then. I wonder how that must have been like.”

He nodded, feeling a pang of pain in his chest. Not for the parents which he lost, although there would always be sadness in his heart when he thinks about them, the tightness that he felt in his chest was for Aislin. For a moment, he tried to picture her as a young girl, with big, dark purple eyes, held in high esteem as the heir-apparent to the throne. But aside from her brother, Avery had a hard time imagining her parents.

“What—What was your family like?” he asked, glancing at her to gauge her reaction. 

A smirk curved her lips. “A far cry from yours, I suspect.”

Avery smiled and led her to the breakfast table set on his balcony. He heard Aislin gasp behind him and he turned to see her gaping at the blue skies above them and the sea sparkling ahead. The cold, morning breeze gently blew past them as he helped her to her seat and poured her tea and juice, almost glad that the view distracted her long enough to let him serve her.

“This is beautiful,” said Aislin. “And no mortal ever crosses these lands?”

Avery shrugged, getting to his seat. “Sometimes we find a straggler or two, then we discover they have a portion of fae blood in them, wipe their memories of Alfheim, and send them on their way.”

“How?”

“The Patina,” he answered. “It’s like this huge bubble that protects Alfheim, warping around reality. The way you see Alfheim now is what it looked like when my ancestors first settled here. But outside the patina? We’re on a small, coastal portion of a country called Northern Ireland, and time and erosion and mortals have pretty much changed the lands.”

She hummed, eyes curiously flitting about as she took a sip of her tea. “It sounds like a complicated bit of magic, the patina.”

He smirked. “Not as complicated as evacuating to a realm like Mhoryga, I bet. Were you born there?”

Aislin shook her head. “I was born in this realm, actually.” Then she added, “My mother died shortly after giving birth so I was raised by General Aelthrys’ family because my brother was busy being King. And even when we had the chance to relocate to Mhoryga, I stayed under the care of my cousin.”

Avery recalled the way General Aelthrys stood by the Princess during that fight in the castle at Mhoryga. His eyes dropped to the iron manacles on Aislin’s wrist, recalling how he was unafraid to put them on despite her powers being on full blast. It made him wonder exactly how many times the Princess had lost control of her powers and he had to put her manacles on.

“So you didn’t grow up in your brother’s court?”

She paused from taking a bite out of her eggs. “No. My brother thought that I was too young for court, and then when I became old enough, I was told that I would not be able to focus on my education in the capital.” Aislin gave him a graceful shrug of her shoulders. “I liked being in Cetha, anyway.”

“And is Cetha where you will be going back to once you go home?”

Another shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. There’s a lot to be done in the Capital, I think.” She angled her head in question. “I wonder how our arrangement shall be if I am to be Queen of both courts.”

Avery paused. “I don’t know as well. Maybe we could divide our time evenly between it?”

Aislin’s eyes widened at him. “You’d come with me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He frowned. “If we marry, I’ll be King of both courts as well.”

She paused from stirring another teacup of tea, setting the small spoon down on the saucer. Aislin straightened from her seat, eyes wary as she said, “I want to be equal with you with regards to ruling the Unseelie.”

Avery set his sandwich down and, with a burst of courage, reached out for Aislin’s hand. He felt a jolt of shock run through her like a current, mirroring much of what he was experiencing. He tried to mask the shiver that went along his spine, focusing instead on how her hand felt in his. She was warm to the touch, the size of his own hand dwarfing hers. When he looked up, Aislin was watching him under a curious, shocked gaze that made him blush.

He didn’t know what he was doing. Aislin probably thought he was a fool. Yet somehow he couldn’t bring himself to retract his hand. At the moment, holding her hand felt… right.

With all the sincerity he hoped she could see in his eyes, he said, “I would never presume to lead your people without your guidance, Princess. In their eyes, you still rule them, no matter who stands by your side. I only hope to offer what little wisdom and knowledge I have, as well as my help should you need it.”

Aislin visibly swallowed, blinking quickly as if there was something in her eye. He offered her a smile and began to retract his fingers but she quickly held on.

“Thank you,” she muttered thickly. “I shall be the same to you for the Seelie Court.”

Avery’s smile widened then he winked at her. “See? And to think that you were so close to saying no to me about breakfast last night.”

She laughed, a soft, breathy sound that tickled his ears. “Well, you do have a habit of encroaching on my mealtimes,” Aislin teased lightly. “But you were right. We did need to talk.”

He lifted his cup. “Any time, Princess.” He took out the pocket watch from his vest’s breast pocket and frowned. “What time will you be meeting with your cousin?”

Aislin popped a frozen berry in her mouth. “Nine,” she replied. “I’ll also be talking to the advisers that are left from my brother’s own roster so that’s going to be very fun.”

He chuckled at the sour expression on her face and turned the face of his watch to her. “I think you must either get going or reschedule with them if that is the case. It’s already nine-fifteen.”

Midnight-blue eyes widened, pink lips popping open giving him a view to a half-chewed blueberry. He tried to hold in his laughter as Aislin noisily pushed back her chair and hastily dropped her napkin on the table.

“Oh, no,” she swore. “I have to go. Um—” Aislin dropped to a curtsy, and Avery’s laughter finally gave way. She rolled her eyes at him but there was a smile on her face as she said, “Yes, laugh all you want. I’ll see you at the Council. Thank you for breakfast.”

He stood, still shaking in laughter, but bowed for the Princess. “No problem,” he said. And before he could change his mind, took her hand again and placed a chaste kiss on her knuckles.  Aislin blinked at him, her frozen smile softening. “Good luck.”

The corner of her lips quirked upwards. “Thank you.”

Without another word, she turned and left, her violet skirts softly swishing against the carpet as Aislin half-ran out his door. With a sigh, Avery sat back down on his chair and leaned back, watching the line where the sky meets the sea, and quietly enjoyed the newfound hope that bloomed in his chest.