The Fae King's Ruin

Another Morning

Catteline was not sure if Aislin would appear early the next morning for another one of their morning exercises, but she got up anyway without needing to be dragged from her bed and put on a pair of really comfortable and thick sweatpants and sweater before stepping out to wait for her.

She would not fault her should Aislin decide that she wanted nothing to do with her after the terrible dinner that they had last night. It had been so painful to sit through for her as well since she never dreamed that her own family would descend to so much tactlessness just so they could be able to go against what duty demanded of Catteline. She hated that they couldn’t just support and accept what she had decided on, and frankly, she was offended that her family had effectively squashed the goodwill being extended by Avery and Aislin through hosting the dinner.

Catteline might not be thrilled by marrying Aelthrys, but she did like Aislin and was looking forward to getting to know her better.

As she walked through the mostly empty halls of the Diamond Palace, Catt could not help but wonder what it would look like in the following year. Avery and Aislin would be married by then, and so would she. For some reason, trying to picture herself married while actively performing her royal duties until an heir presumptive was born proved to be quite challenging. There were no specifics yet as to what that would entail— perhaps fieldwork as a healer to smaller Fae communities— but her life would undoubtedly look incredibly different.

For one, she was having a hard time imagining living with Aelthrys. She knew absolutely nothing about the guy, not to mention she didn’t like his attitude. 

Lately, however, she was starting to realize that maybe her dislike of him had just stemmed from the abruptness of the news that she would be wed to him. Catt had observed Aelthrys could be decent if a little standoffish and cold. And weird.

She frowned, replaying their conversation in the garden in her head. Even flustered, she refused to believe his comment that she was basically mentally slow. His whiplash-inducing interrogation was sincerely unlike anything that she had ever experienced before from a normal being, giving her no insight at all into his character—

Actually, no. That was not true. If she could be sure of one trait of his, it would be that General Aelthrys was chivalrous. She saw how he was towards his cousin, to the females surrounding him, and even her. Catt felt a bit better knowing that she wouldn’t have to live in fear of being mistreated when she’s married to him.

When she reached the landing to the foyer, Catt paused at the top step in surprise. There, standing by the door and doing stretches, was Aislin. Her silver hair, much like her cousin’s, was pulled back in a sleek ponytail. She turned as soon as she heard Catt’s footsteps, and she felt even worse as she saw that there were purple circles underneath her eyes.

Nevertheless, the Princess smiled when she spotted her half-frozen form still clutching the banister.

“Thanks for getting up on your own,” she said lightly by way of greeting. The familiarity in her tone soothed her anxiety. “I thought, after that much wine last night, you would need at least the whole day in bed.”

That made her scoff. “You forget I’m a healer. I know which potions to take to make anyone feel the way I want to.”

In the corner of her eye, she saw Aislin shudder a little. Frowning at her in confusion, the princess blushed as she explained. “I would hate to be on your bad side,” she admitted. “I’m paranoid at just about everyone and knowing that you could poison me without anyone knowing it’s you makes me fear you just a little bit.”

Catt nodded thoughtfully. “Not that I would do it to you, but I see how that raises concern.” She glanced at her sideways. “If you don’t mind me asking, exactly how did you survive any poisoning attempts if there had been any?”

Aislin blinked at her, probably weirded out by her morbid curiosity. “Uh, well, there was a handful of those, but my family had assigned me food testers who would always sample my meal right before I ate it. They would drink a tonic to act as a catalyst and speed up chemical reactions within the body, so any slow-acting poisons would be caught before I took a bite.” She took a deep breath and blew it out in a harsh gust of air. “As you can guess, it was very traumatic for me and everyone else.”

“Gods, how many times has someone died because someone tried to poison you?” Catt gasped in horror.

Regret filled her eyes. “Four,” she murmured sadly. “I used to leave pebbles in their graves every month, but since coming here, I obviously had not been home to be able to do it.”

Catteline clamped her mouth shut before another word slipped past her lips. She knew that Avery still had not told Aislin that they had a trip planned to Mhoryga sometime in the next two weeks and she was not about to ruin his surprise. 

Thankfully, Aislin motioned for her to follow along and started their jog slowly as they reacclimatized to the frigid cold. She followed without complaint, making the circuit they took yesterday once more. Though there was no more snow that coated everything outside, the air still felt like ice needles pricking at her chest every time she breathed in. However, compared to yesterday, running today was much easier. 

She was looking forward to doing that yoga again, feeling that it was the only thing she was remotely good at when Aislin stopped dead at the guards’ training ground. A handful of the guards, wearing clothes that were more relaxed than their palace uniforms, were waiting for them. Aislin headed straight for them, shaking each of their hands as Catteline slowed to a walk.

“Thank you for doing this,” she said to them before her eyes focused on one that Catt realized she had seen posted multiple times by Aislin’s door.

“It is our pleasure, Your Royal Highnesses,” the male said with a curt nod. “I hope you did not mind that my unit wanted to join.”

Aislin shook her head. “Not at all, Dean. The more the merrier.”

The male, Dean, flashed both of them a smile as understanding dawned on her. “Right. Shall we begin?”

***

By the fifth push-up, Catteline’s entire body was screaming at her to stop and take a rest. 

She could not understand why Aislin felt the need to stir things up and deviate from what they did yesterday, but she hated her for it. Her arms wobbled as she tried to push herself up from the ground again, but her limbs were ignoring her from sheer exhaustion. When she looked, Aislin had barely broken a sweat and was keeping up with the five other guards that had joined them without a problem.

Catt had never been one for quitting, but she wouldn’t mind starting now.

“Just one last set, Catt!” the Princess called out. “Come on, you can do it!”

“Easy for you to say!” she shouted in reply, giving up and letting herself fall to the hard ground. Rolling onto her back, Catt whimpered pathetically while holding her sore arms closer to her chest. “This isn’t a workout! This is hazing.”

“For what?” Aislin demanded, standing over her with a hand on her hip. “It’s natural for exercise to feel like the most impossible thing ever. You just haven’t built the muscles for it yet.”

“No more,” she begged. “My body can’t take any more of your torture.”

Aislin sighed, offering a hand down to her. “All right then, we’ll pick it up tomorrow. Let’s go have breakfast, just you and me.”

All thoughts of pain fled Catt’s mind as she squinted up at the silver-haired female. “But you have breakfast with Avery every day without fail,” she mumbled. “Don’t you want to keep whatever tradition you have with him?”

But the Princess smiled. “I’ll have lunch with him instead; he will understand. Now, come on, I need to see what you’re eating as well.” With that, Aislin grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her up in one smooth motion before smirking at her. “Keep your pace even,” she reminded, before taking off on another jog.

Her mouth popped open. “What is it with you Unseelie and your hardiness?” she cried before following after her at a slower pace.

Aislin only laughed, the sound carrying in the cold air until she turned a corner and disappeared from Catteline’s line of sight.