The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and the Morning After

The next day found Aislin trying her damned hardest to stay awake in a chair as Periwinkle, Ola, and Willow got her ready for General Xaero and Safiya’s wedding. 

She had gotten to her room at past three in the morning after attending the mass in the chapel on the main floor of the palace, and her maids had already let her sleep for as long as they could. Half of her wanted to skip the wedding altogether, but she didn’t want Avery to be disappointed. These were his friends that were getting married and she understood why he would want her there with him. 

And really, despite Xaero’s awful attitude towards her, Aislin liked his pregnant bride enough to attend and wish her a much-needed ‘good luck’ for the life she had ahead of her. But she was just feeling so sleepy, not even a cup of black coffee could wake her up fully.

So, while the rest of the palace’s inhabitants seemed to still be all sleeping from exhaustion during last night’s festivities, Aislin kept pinching the inside of her elbow to keep herself from dozing off.

While her eyes were closed as Willow applied eyeshadow on her eyelids, they heard knocking from outside the room. Ola went to go open the door and see who it was, only to return with the King, looking unfairly fresh-faced, already dressed in a silver suit that was entirely designed by mortals. 

“Oh, great, you look miserable, too.” Avery tossed her a vial of purple potion. “That should wake you right up. Mix it in with the coffee.”

Without asking, Aislin hurriedly followed his advice and dumped the entire contents of the vial in her cup. “What are you doing here so early?” she groused. “Are we already late?”

The wedding was going to be held in mortal lands, at the ancestral home of the Wysterras that, she had been told, was renovated for this sole purpose so she was not that familiar with which customs they were actually going to follow. Avery had informed her that glamorous would be placed on the venue so that all magical races would seem human to any mortal who might see them. The only thing they needed to do was show up in attires as close to mortal fashion as possible.

Avery shook his head. “No, not in the least. I just thought that coming here was better than looking at my bed when I’ve already taken the tonic. It just pains me.”

She smirked just as her maids giggled. Her eyes dropped to his hand, smiling a little when she saw the silver ring casually resting on his finger. Last night, when she gave the ring to him, Aislin was so sure that she would be able to say the words ‘I love you’ to him once he slipped them on. When he gave her his own signet ring, however, she all but forgot about it.

Aislin still could not believe that he was able to give her the ring he inherited from his father just like that. Ilyn knew that she had suffered a week of sleepless nights deliberating whether she was making the right choice in giving him the ring. Giving the kind of heirloom they exchanged were not decisions that were supposed to be made lightly, and yet Avery had given it no second thought to tossing her his ring.

It was probably why Aislin kept glancing at the hand on which it rested throughout the entire remainder of the party and the whole of the mass, making sure that the ring stayed on her finger after it magically resized to fit her. The ring was an embodiment of his trust in her to rule in the service of his people as the kings and queens who once wore the ring she now did. And after having exchanged those rings, Aislin felt that a proclamation of love would pale in comparison.

She sipped quietly on her buffed-up coffee, feeling the effects of the tonic instantaneously take effect. Aislin blinked several times, shaking her head as the cloudy feeling of sleepiness disappeared and her limbs began to feel lighter.

“Wow,” she muttered, eyeing her coffee.

Avery smirked. “Works like a charm, right? Now, we can have a proper late brunch.”

On cue, her stomach began to rumble despite almost sleeping on a full stomach. Avery chuckled but said nothing as Periwinkle excused herself to bring up an assortment of food that would fuel them until the reception instead of just the pot of coffee Aislin requested earlier. He reclined on a chair, putting both hands behind his head as he watched Ola and Willow put makeup on her and apply lotion on her body.

They were quiet for a while. Aislin could feel Avery’s gaze on her as little prickles of heat she felt coasting along her body. She cracked open an eye and found him shifting his eyes to a spot on the carpet with suspicious interest.

“Stop staring,” she muttered, shifting in her seat self-consciously.

Those golden eyes flew up to stare at her with an innocence that was so obviously fake. “What makes you think I’m staring at you?”

Aislin raised a brow. “You really want to convince me that you find my carpet interesting?”

“But it is! You just don’t have the appreciation necessary for textile and weaving as a whole. Not in the way I do, that is.”

“Uhuh, keep saying that to yourself,” Aislin said, settling back in her chair. “Just don’t stare.”

Another beat of silence descended upon them, yet she could still feel his hot gaze. “Avery!” she hissed.

Chuckling, he said, “All right, all right. I’ll stop. But it seems a bit unfair to me that I can’t appreciate your beauty without you looking. Why can’t I look at you?” Then, with a teasing smirk apparent in his voice, he asked, “Am I making you nervous?”

“Yes, actually,” Aislin replied without missing a beat, despite the hotness on her cheeks. “You do make me nervous.”

“Do I make your heart flutter?”

Willow yelped when she opened her eyes suddenly. “What kind of a question is that?”

Avery shrugged, his smirk growing to a devilish grin. “Just a simple question that you must answer, Princess, or else I am left to think and assume the very worst.”

“A-And what is t-that?”

He leaned closer to Aislin, leaning on his elbows for support. His blond curls fell to his forehead, his locks long enough to fall just below his eyebrows as that heart-stopping curl of his lips were suddenly all she could look at. Her head swam, probably for holding her breath when she was already lacking in oxygen, but he only seemed to grow ever closer to her.

“I’ll think,” he murmured silkily to her, “that you are so in love with me that the very thought of me makes your heart race, your palms sweat, and your stomach to twist into knots.”

Her mouth popped open slightly, hypnotized by his molten gold eyes and the way his cologne wafted up to invade her senses. For a moment, she forgot that they were not the only people in the room, and if it wasn’t for Ola clearing her throat, she probably would have pounced on him to kiss him.

Her maid smirked at her. “Should we give you some privacy, Your Majesties?”

“Yes,” Avery said, just as Aislin shouted, “No!”

Periwinkle arrived and rolled a cart in before she started serving them food, oblivious to her co-workers’ hidden giggles, Aislin’s face that was on fire from embarrassment, and Avery’s satisfied smirk. He kept smiling at her that way even as he poured himself tea and brought the cup to his lips. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

Aislin hissed, “Stop being coy! It doesn’t suit you.”

“And I am sure you know what does,” he drawled, “because you’re that in love with me.”

She glared at him. “Just eat your little finger sandwiches,” she snapped. “Is my makeup done?”

Willow and Ola nodded. “Do you want to get dressed now, miss?” the former asked.

“Yes,” she replied, tightening her robe around her, casting a scathing look at Avery who only smiled sweetly at her. “And quickly, before the King decides he wants to leer at me some more.”

“Hey!” Avery protested with a laugh.

She smirked at him as she turned for her bedroom, making sure to sashay just a little and playfully grin at him just before she disappeared at the door. 

Once alone with her three maids, she leaned on her door and breathed a sigh of relief. 

“How did I do?” she whispered to them, asking.

Ola ginned, making an ‘ok’ sign with her hand. “Really good, miss. Now you just have to follow through,” she said, just as Willow held a garment bag against her body.

The four of them laughed while Aislin got dressed, realizing that she liked this new kind of bantering with Avery and was looking forward for more.