The Fae King's Ruin

Wined Dresses

There were only three luxuries in life that Catteline allowed herself to indulge in without feeling guilty about it: a good bath, excellent food, and great clothes.

For her, these were all things that a person needed to have in order to function in a world that slowly ate away at anyone’s sanity. A good bath with scented oils and utter silence was considered as nourishment for the soul, and an act that she did not let anything or anyone interrupt for her. Good food was the same. It satisfied the needs of the mind and body. This was why even in Fae healing programs, food was an integral part of any process. 

Good clothes, however, were for the self; a way for your natural creativity to flow through you. Clothes that fit well and matched your style make one less prone to be messed with due to the confidence that would change even the tiniest markers of shyness and insecurity in your posture. One would find that they carry themselves differently when wearing clothes that looked good and made them feel nice, and as part of the nobility in the land, that was important for Catteline.

So, she was taking it as a sign that today was not going to be a good day for her when: a) for some reason, the hot water was not working in her bathroom; b) she was served breakfast that was not exactly her cup of tea, but ate so anyway since it would be a waste; and, c) some twit she bumped into in the courtyard accidentally spilled red wine all over the front of her frost white dress.

It was ridiculous. Who carried wine while strolling the palace and did not pay attention to where they were going? The lady who bumped into her profusely (and loudly) apologized over and over again, drawing more unnecessary attention to the pair so that by the time she had held up a hand to stop her, half the court of Alfheim were already looking on with blatant interest.

Catteline closed her eyes, wiping the wine from her lashes with her fingers and shaking them off like a wet dog. Painful pricks behind her lids told her that hot tears were starting to form, but she held them in with absolute refusal. She never allowed anyone the satisfaction to see her cry aside from her family and she was not about to do that now.

Counting down from ten in her head, Catt took several steadying breaths to calm herself. She knew that if she did not, she would inevitably end up mincing the careless lady bare in front of everybody else. And, with the day she had been having, she knew that once she started with her, she would never be able to hold back.

A large, warm hand grabbed her upper arm and began hauling Catteline away with urgent firmness. Her eyes fluttered open as she gasped, her feet racing to match quick, long strides. She jerked her arm back in reflex when she saw silver hair cropped short to the sides, a sharp-cut jaw, pinched lips, and a black military uniform over an incredible physique by her side. There was only one person in this entire castle who had that same hair and that menacing black eyes with a silver core around the pupils that was nothing short of unsettling.

General Aelthrys.

Catt did not breathe from the moment she was led away from the courtyard until the realization dawned on her that her unexpected savior was none other than the male she was as good as betrothed to. He was scowling, which wasn’t at all unusual for the grumpy general, except for the uncontrolled ticking of a muscle in his jaw. He was, at best, annoyed. And Catteline had a pretty freaking good idea on who he was annoyed at.

She jerked her arm away from him again but his fingers clamped around her arm did not budge.

“What are you doing?” she snapped, sounding winded even to her own ears. “Where are you taking me?”

Even staring up at him with a height disadvantage, she knew he was rolling his eyes at her when he drawled in reply, “Relax. I’m just removing you from a situation that was obviously against you.”

“Against me?” she echoed, not quite understanding.

He peered down at her— No, ‘sneered’ more like. “You didn’t see her spill her wine all over you on purpose?”

Catt frowned at him. No, all she saw was that the lady had been too engrossed in her conversation with a gentleman that had been obviously courting her, walking arm in arm as they headed straight on for her. Come to think of it, she tried to dodge the both of them… But why would anyone throw wine all over her? Was there something she was not aware of?

“You don’t know the reason.” It was not a question. Merely a statement of fact. She sighed irritably.

“Why does it matter if I don’t? It still happened. Nothing is going to change that.”

General Aelthrys shook his head as he finally let go of her. They were in the garden behind the Silver Hall, the simpering dahlias and the snapping snapdragons visible over his shoulder as he took a step towards Catteline that had him towering over her.

“It is always important for one to know why one is being targeted,” he said as if teaching a lesson to one of his soldiers. “Knowledge is your greatest ally, preparedness your greatest weapon.”

She crossed her arms over her wine-stained chest with a challenging glare. “Fine, if you are so observant, why did that lady spill her wine all over me?”

“Simple,” Aelthrys drawled without missing a beat. “As soon as you entered the courtyard, her date could not stop staring at you. After all, what is some lowly, daughter of some low ranking noble or the other when there’s you? The current heir to the Seelie throne, a princess in her own right, and flawless like snow compared to the one on his arm?”

With a blank look on her face, Catteline tried not to let his words get to her and stated, “You think she got jealous.”

In a rare show of emotion, the General smirked, leaning just a little closer. “Jealousy is a very powerful motivator of behavior. One ought not to underestimate it for usually, it is the reason behind crimes of passion.”

His throaty purr trickled in her ear like soft velvet stroking against her senses. Catt could not believe how her body was betraying her as her breathing and heart rate sped up despite her obvious refusal to react this way towards him— especially him.

He was so close that she could smell his distinct cologne with a hint of something that oddly smelled like sawdust, rolling off his body in a hypnotizing cocktail that Catteline reluctantly drank in. Those cynical eyes still looked down on her from his sharp, slightly crooked nose with a coldness and superiority that had her body tightening up in response. He tilted his head, looking straight into her eyes with an amused ghost of a grin at whatever he found within them, before carefully dropping to her already parted lips.

She shivered, and only that hint of motion from her had seemed to snap the General out of his stupor to take a polite step back.

“Is your family still in town?”

With how loud blood was rushing through her ears, it was a miracle she even heard the question in the first place. All the same, she looked at him suspiciously.

“Yes, they are,” she decided to answer. “I’m surprised no one told you that we are set to dine with them, including both our cousins, later this evening.”

He shrugged, clasping his hands behind his back. “I have not been in all day. I must have missed Aislin’s message.”

She angled her head to the side. “And where were you?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

She sniffed. Great. There was that obnoxious attitude of his again. Catt did not know whether to be grateful for its return or not but decided to stick to the former. Now that she had seen one of its alternatives, she decided that annoyance and irritation were the safer emotions rather than the heart-stopping, sweat-inducing, mind-hallucinating effects of the other one.

“Actually, I would.” She scanned him up and down. “Did you go back to Mhoryga?”

He scoffed. “I haven’t been back home since our… detainment.” Silver-cored eyes narrowed at her. “And if you must know, I was at the Unseelie village your King gifted my Queen, helping with the rebuilding efforts.”

Oh, so that explained the sawdust. She blinked up at him. “There are Unseelie in Alfheim?” Such a thing had not been heard of since the war and she was surprised Avery never told her such a thing as an Unseelie village existed within the patina.

“You mean other than me and my cousin? Yes.”

She scowled. “You know what I meant,” she snapped.

He shrugged his shoulders. After glancing at the loudly snapping plants behind him, he turned back to look at her. “When can I speak with your family regarding the betrothal?”

“Never,” was her instant reply. Feeling her shoulders tense, as Catteline had not considered that he would have plans of such a thing, she added, “You don’t have to since my brothers are already well-aware of the situation we are in. They know that it will only be in effect until Aislin and Avery are married with children, so if you don’t mind, we will skip the formalities of you ever being in close quarters with my family.”

He raised a brow. “Keeping me away, are we? You only mentioned your brothers. What about the duchess dowager?”

Catteline’s anger went from zero to a hundred in a split second. She took a step towards him, a finger to his face, and hissed, “Stay away from my mother. I will rain hell on you like you have never seen before if you ever step a foot in her direction.”

General Aelthrys blinked at her slowly, his eyes unabashedly analytical as he took in Catteline’s defensive form. She probably looked like an i***t, but she was not taking any chances with him. Her mother could never know that she was getting married to him, and if by some twisted reason he would like to expose that to her mother whose lucidity was tenuous and unpredictable, she wanted to let him know that it would be the worst mistake of his life.

But he shrugged again and led her once more towards a different direction of topic.

“Why did you ask my cousin to train you?” he asked, giving Catteline a whiplash that she shook her head and stomped her feet.

“No!” she shouted. “No more. I do not want to deal with any more of your stupidly inane questions! It— It’s like you cannot follow a single train of thought. Did you realize that for the entire fifteen minutes we have been together and standing here that you have led me through more than three parallel, non-intersecting directions of conversation?”

He chuckled darkly, a throaty sound that had her clenching her jaw and hands. “I apologize. I did not know you had the mental agility of a three-year-old,” he said, ignoring Catteline’s gasp of outrage at the thinly-veiled insult. “By your leave, I shall give you a moment’s rest before dinner to cope from such a strenuous conversation.” He smirked. “I would hate it if you come to the dining table bereft of your charming replies and bursts of childish anger.”

In one fluid movement, General Aelthrys turned and headed for the door that led inside the palace, leaving her gaping after him.

She could not believe it. How could just one person be so rude, and-and, so incredibly full of himself? And how could she? Where were the smart remarks that she usually had at the ready on the tip of her tongue? Gone! Completely gone!

Catteline mentally berated herself for being so caught up in whatever vileness emanated from the Unseelie General. There must have been something in his aura that had addled her brain, something that as a Seelie Fae, she was not used to. Then she realized how prejudiced her thoughts had become and blamed him for that as well. She gritted her teeth. Oh, she would her revenge at dinner. Catteline will be damned if he made a fool out of her twice. 

Stomping into the palace, she barely paid anyone any mind as she went back to her rooms. Maids and guards who passed her blinked twice at the usually pleasant Lady of Montfoltier as she swore up a storm, muttering curses aimed at the General of Cetha.