The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and Her Maids

Aislin half-ran back to her room, dodging both her uncle and cousin and dismissing her maids while asking the guards stationed outside her door not to let anyone else in for at least an hour.

She needed quiet, and she would allow herself to be selfish in this regard just this one time.

Taking her leatherbound journal, a well of ink, and a pen, she began putting her thoughts to paper. Her wildly thumping heart, her swimming head, and the adrenaline coursing like fire through her veins enabled her to ignore the way her hand cramped as she wrote in an all-consuming frenzy, detailing her first experience with the Great Council. The urge to write was so intense that even with her iron manacles on, she could feel her otherworldly powers wake and writhe just beneath her skin. Despite that, she shrugged off the shiver that went down her spine and continued on, exhausting almost every minute detail that had gone on behind those silver doors.

It confused her why she felt so compelled to write everything down; the entire interaction was hardly confusing, and just minutes ago she had felt so confident, staring the King down and everything, that she was doing something right— more than right, she was doing something better than him at that moment.

But, she was second-guessing. She should not have been overconfident, especially in his presence, and acted haughty as she did. What if it gave the wrong impression? What if she would have been better off being underestimated?

One thing was for sure, if she showed the slightest bit of the confidence she had earlier in her brother’s old court, she would be covered in lashings by the end of the day.

Having been reminded of that, every scuffle outside her door made her tense as she wrote, but once hours passed and the sun had set without anyone trying to arrest her for insubordination, she relaxed.

And then she felt shame.

She kept thinking the worst of the people within this palace but no treatment she had received thus far was worse than her original imaginings. She hadn’t been tortured, everything had been provided for her, and all her meals were delivered at the same time every day and much of it were in excess. She wasn’t trying to romanticize her present situation as a prisoner, but Aislin had to admit she was having a rather easy time at it.

And although he had some faults, King Avery was on the milder end of the spectrum of good and evil, especially when compared to her brother. Aislin knew very few monarchs to compare him to anyone else, so perhaps that wasn’t wholly fair to him. She did, however, appreciate the way he did not condescend to her; how he didn’t shoot down her ideas just because she was a female or the enemy. As a matter of fact, she got the sense that the King wanted the Great Council to work— for the Treaty to work.

The reasons for that were still unknown to her, and Aislin was not willing to be trusting of him just yet. After all, it wasn’t clear to her yet what the Seelie Court stood to gain by allying themselves with her Court. Loathe as she was to admit it, her people were beggared by the war her brother waged, not in riches, but in numbers. It would make no one think to mend bridges with the losing side.

King Avery obviously didn’t believe that, not when he presented himself as an example of how to talk to her, an Unseelie Fae, in a room dominated by Fae from the Seelie Court. Aislin was willing to bet none of the others would have known what to do with her when she spoke up the way she did.

But King Avery did. And he was kind.

Aislin ceased her writing as she stomped down her suspicions about the King’s motive. She reminded herself that she wasn’t in the Unseelie Court anymore.

Sighing, she set her pen down and closed her journal before slipping it back behind the painting of golden daffodils above her headboard. She scrubbed her hands raw with soap and water in the adjoining bathroom, trying to get rid of the ink that stained her fingers as best as she could before calling in help to rid her of her gown.

Her maid, a Seelie fae with tied-back dusky, blue hair, sharp ears that were characteristic of the Fae race, and very plain facial features, entered the room and started undoing the laces of her burgundy gown. It took time, undoing each one until Aislin could breathe better. She glanced at her in the mirror.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” Aislin murmured, feeling more than a bit ridiculous that she had been here for so many days and she had never asked. “My name is Aislin.”

The maid paused, her long fingers hovering over the laces as she looked up and blinked at Aislin with round, brown eyes. Aislin tried for a smile. The girl’s cheeks tinged with golden, Seelie blood.

“My name’s Periwinkle, Your Highness,” she said, holding her skirts as she curtsied. “I, er, am in charge of taking care of your needs.”

Aislin gave her a small smirk. “I kind of noticed that. Thank you, Periwinkle.”

The girl smiled at her before taking a step back, already done with her laces. “Will you be requiring a bath?” she asked meekly.

She nodded, taking off her gown before reaching for her robe. Periwinkle exited the room quickly, returning just as fast with two other maids in tow. One had gold hair the color of corn while the other had such bright green eyes that reminded Aislin of jade stones.

Periwinkle pointed to the one with the jade eyes. “This is Ola, Your Highness, and she’s Willow.”

“Hello,” Aislin greeted pleasantly as the girls curtsied. “I’m Aislin.”

The girls smiled politely. Aislin sat in front of her vanity and they immediately came behind her to help undo all the pins in her hair. Willow went to the bathroom to prepare her bath, and soon she could smell the rose perfume they had a habit of putting in her evening baths.

Aislin looked at the two who attended her through the mirror. “Have you worked here for a long time?”

Ola gave her a dainty shrug. “I have worked for the King’s household for ten years now, Miss.”

“And I have worked here for at least twice that,” Periwinkle murmured, a proud smile on her lips. “It is a very high honor for us.”

Aislin smiled. “That is quite a long time of service to a royal household. You girls must be one of the best.”

Periwinkle’s eyebrows pushed together and shook her head. “We are considered new by the castle’s standard, Miss. The oldest member of the King’s staff has been on it since the birth of the current King’s father.”

She turned in her seat in surprise. “Really? That’s amazing!”

The girls did not seem as impressed as Aislin was. Ola eyes her curiously, blue eyes narrowing slightly. “Seelie fae do not really believe in replacing the staff whenever they feel like it. Employers value the time they have served, as well as their experience in the field. Does… well, does the Unseelie Fae do things differently?”

Periwinkle turned to her in shock. “Ola!” she cried. “You mustn’t ask such things! Oh, Miss, I apologize—”

But Aislin waved away her worries. “No, no, it’s quite all right for you to ask.” She smiled at Ola. “To answer your question, yes. I think we do most things very differently than the Seelie fae does. My people value ingenuity and progress. That is why we have so many scientists and inventors in my realm. But I’m afraid those qualities come with a short fuse for anything that is done exactly as it has been the same way for a very long time.”

Periwinkle tapped Aislin on the shoulder, a silent cue for her to follow into the bath. Behind them, Ola was frowning. Aislin smiled secretly, admiring how the girl seemed so naturally curious.

“That means servants always get replaced, then, is that it?”

“Yes and no,” she murmured, taking off her robe and undergarments. The nudity used to bother her when she was younger, but it had always been an inescapable aspect of being a royal princess. Aislin dipped into the porcelain tub and said, “Some do get replaced, especially when their employers don’t see them performing in the way they expect. But most quit quite often because they have a variety of interests they want to try out. It’s not always people getting sacked.”

The corner of Ola’s lips twitched upwards, squeezing liquid body soap onto a sponge. “That seems nice, to pursue one’s dream.”

There was silence in the enormous bathroom for a moment as Aislin was scrubbed clean of the day’s work and grime. Periwinkle applied some solution in a bottle to her ink-stained hands, magically erasing the dark smudges from her pale skin. As they worked, Aislin couldn’t help but think about how long the girls had worked in the palace. They were employed even before King Avery was crowned.

“Since you’ve worked here for quite some time,” Aislin said carefully, “you must know the King well.”

She pretended not to notice how the three girls glanced at each other. Periwinkle turned to Aislin, a certain kind of guarded expression masking her emotions.

“Yes, Princess. We have served him since he was a young prince before his father fell ill.”

Aislin frowned. “Ill? What kind of sickness?”

“The healers did not know either,” Willow murmured sadly. “I was assigned to the late king during his final year. Everyone, even the other races came to send help. The Mistress herself even came.”

“Queen Ella,” Aislin murmured, remembering how the dark-haired witch had single-handedly wiped out most of the Unseelie noble lords and ladies in one fell swoop.

Periwinkle nodded with reverence. “The late king had been like a father to her, and we all saw her heart break in desperation and sadness when she realized that nothing could be done about it but to make the late king as comfortable as we could.”

Aislin swallowed. It did not feel right prying further, but still… She wanted to know more about King Avery.

“And the prince? Well, King now.”

Periwinkle massaged shampoo into her hair. “He was a good son and an even better prince. He took care of the kingdom in his father’s stead. He even led us through the war. And then the king—”

She paused, and Aislin knew why. After all, it was their side in the war that was responsible for the deaths and destruction in Alcalia. She let the conversation fall, focusing instead on how even King Avery’s maids had not a single thing to say about him. Aislin knew for a fact that if her brother’s attendants could all talk— let alone were alive— they would have nothing to say but very bad things about him.

So, maybe she was overthinking all this. Maybe she had been too trained by her upbringing to be suspicious first before anything else. It was such a defensive way of thinking that Aislin could see it wouldn’t work well with the people in this court. She had a nagging feeling that everything here in Alfheim was all sunshine and unicorns.

She finished with her bath, and quickly, the girls dried and dressed her. Periwinkle used her magic to dry Aislin’s hair magically, letting it fall down her back in long, unruly waves.

A knock ensued from the door, giving them pause. Aislin silently reached for her robe, putting it on before she nodded to Willow. The door swung open to reveal Aelthrys, in a regular tunic and breeches, hands behind his back as he nodded to her maids.

“Good evening, ladies. I would like to speak to my very available cousin alone if it isn’t too much trouble?”

Periwinkle turned to Aislin. She appreciated the way she was making sure Aislin wanted to deal with visitors despite all the invasive questions she had asked her. Periwinkle was obviously loyal and dutiful, and any other person would probably have asked her to turn the guest away, but this was Aelthrys. He had given her enough time to herself after the meeting.

The girls exited at Aislin’s nod. They curtsied and filed out of her room. Aelthrys made sure the door was fully closed before he raised a brow.

“Are you ready to talk now?”

Aislin could not contain the smirk that fought its way to her lips. “Very well, cousin. I’m ready.”

Confusion clouded her as she felt him throw his magic around the room. Aelthrys’ expression was grave as he turned back to her.

“Good, because we have a problem.”