The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and Her Allies

Aislin could say she'd had her fair share of uncomfortable dinners and was no stranger to it.

Her late brother was not a very pleasant person, to say the least, and oftentimes her nights at the Capital would end a whole lot bloodier than she intended. While she wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was already second nature to her, she definitely knew how to make herself charming and how to handle other people to make them feel smart.

Not that she needed to do that with Avery and his friend, the King’s Hand.

She didn’t know the first thing about charming a Seelie male and they would be the last people she’d attempt it on. Besides, they already seemed intelligent enough to carry a conversation as deftly as she can. She was prepared to put her best foot forward with regards to building good relations with the King.

What she did not expect, however, was how much of a bleeding heart he was.

Aelthrys should not have said a single word about their ‘pathetic’ dinner arrangement. She actually quite liked sitting alone in her room to watch Alfheim or talk to her maids as she ate her meals. But now that her cousin had shared his little sob story, King Avery obviously felt the need to do something about it.

Aislin could not help but glare at her cousin as covertly as she could as they walked down to the Grand Hall where the usual court meals were held. It was not enough that she had to have her plans foiled by him, the little pain-in-the-ass even gave up his usual post of escorting her for the King himself.

To be this close to King Avery, with her arm loosely looped through his, it was hard to process much of anything other than what was happening at the moment.

She took a small inhale of air, her heart pit-pit-pattering as she recognized notes of rosewood and a hint of jasmine emanating from the King himself. It was all around her, always just in the reach of her realm of consciousness. In fact, Aislin was having a hard time smelling anything but him, frustrating her to no end. What was it with male perfumes that seemed to smell stronger than any other force in the world?

More than that, Aislin felt as if she was the only one who was feeling the awkwardness between them. While King Avery did not speak, he absolutely did not look like someone who was bothered to have an Unseelie Fae on their arm. He had that perpetual ghost of a smile on his lips as usual, his eyes eternally never unkind, and there was something in the way he walked that Aislin could not put a finger on. Like his steps were hiding the fact that he was a great dancer. She wondered yet again if he was just better than everyone else in concealing his thoughts and emotions while misleading others with his affects.

And wasn’t that confusing?

Aislin continued to try and unravel her thoughts, becoming so preoccupied that she almost missed it entirely when he had asked her a question.

She blinked at him, blushing a little in embarrassment at her inattention. “Pardon?”

He smiled— a tiny, little curve of the corner of his lips upward that stalled her breathing. “How are you liking your stay in Alfheim so far?”

“Oh!” Aislin laughed a little, feeling more than just a bit awkward. “I haven't seen much except the view my room permits, but it all looks so lovely, Your Majesty.”

He made a face. Before she could successfully determine if he was annoyed or pissed, he said, “Alfheim is not meant to be viewed from the palace walls. It’s a relatively small city compared to the other patinas,but—” Golden eyes twinkled. “I guess it’s better you actually see it rather than simply hear me boorishly explain it. What do you say about joining me for a stroll outside tomorrow?”

Aislin froze.

She knew she was being overly paranoid, that this was not the Court of the Unseelie where everyone’s backs were being stabbed on a daily basis and innocent offerings like these usually had a sinister intent behind it. It was a struggle to keep reminding herself that this place was different.

It was not as if she could instantly unlearn years and years of what was taught to her about the Unseelie Court, nor did she ever expect that she would be living in one that was massively different from the nature of her brother’s own. Each day she was reminded that she was living in a far different world and that every day she was like a sinking boat that was only trying to stay afloat for the people she loved dearly.

Well, that was incredibly morose of her. Aislin reinforced the smile on her face and turned to the King, gesturing idly to the hall before them in deflection.

“Your home is quite unique in its structure, King Avery,” Aislin asked, admiring the receiving hall filled with art and diamond chandeliers that gave off a soft golden glow to the room. “May I ask why it was made entirely from diamonds?”

“Seems rather unsafe, isn’t it?” Avery smirked at her, not skipping a beat despite her obvious attempt to turn down his offer. “The whole palace was once made of stone like any other sane ruler would make for a home. Once my father married my mother, he gave her carte blanche on whatever she wanted to change in the castle. She had a natural affinity for precious stones and gems. It was like she had Midas’ touch, except she was not so limited to gold. One day, the whole palace woke up to find every wall and sectioning that used to be stone turned into varying shades of solid diamond.”

Behind them, Res chuckled. “King Lachlan thought he had slept through a siege that tore off the roof over their rooms because all he could see was the bright morning sky above him and not a stone ceiling. Queen Ariadna was very fond of telling that particular story at parties.”

Aislin did her best to try and not seem confused by the whole… thing. “They seemed quite in love, then,” she remarked. “How come they never had any more children?”

“Aislin,” Aelthrys muttered, his tone chiding.

Not quite realizing why, she turned confusedly to him, frowning at the severe look on his face. Avery patted her hand gently, the smile on his lips turning quite sad.

“It’s quite alright, General,” Avery said, smiling. “This is public knowledge. The truth is that, after so many miscarriages, my mother died giving birth to my still-born sister.”

She looked at him, pausing in her steps, vaguely aware that Aislin had effectively stopped their little procession to the main dining hall. But she could not help reaching out to him.

“My mother died giving birth to me,” she murmured. “I understand what that feels like on some level. I’m sorry.”

Aislin watched as he nodded, pain flickering fresh behind his eyes for only an atom of a second before there it was again: the warm, captivating light that made the gold in them glow brighter. She felt a rush of warm air come in from one of the open windows, stoking the fire she felt underneath her skin. She touched her iron manacles, and relaxed when she felt them there.

“I’m sorry for your loss as well, Princess.” Then he gestured to the massive, opaque, yellow diamond doors ahead of them, the guards stationed outside bowing for the King. “Why don’t we drink and dine to their memories, then?”

“That would be lovely.”

Chuckling, he nodded to the males guarding the doors to the Grand Hall. Two of them grabbed hold of either handle while a trumpet resounded behind them. Like reflex, Aislin stood taller even though her height remained noticeably shorter next to the King, and readied herself for something that would no doubt change the way she has been living in the Seelie Court.

Stand for the entry of His Majesty, King Avery, and the Crown Princess Aislin of the Unseelie Fae!

The doors opened. Aislin flinched as she was hit by the sound of scraping benches and gasps inside the cavernous hall of rows and rows of tables and pillowed chairs. Her skin crawled long before she became conscious of all the scrutinizing eyes on her, marking her every breath, her every move, but most of all, on the arm she had casually looped through their King’s.

Her fingers tightened their grip on the sleeve of his arm without meaning to. Heat spread across her cheek as she felt his eyes casually slide over to her.

“They won’t bite,” she heard him quietly murmur to her. She looked up at him and was met with nothing but the warmest, most sincere golden eyes. “Nothing bad will ever happen here to you. I swear on my crown.”

Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

Well, there went the steady rhythm of her heart.

As the King led them forward to the table on the raised platform ahead of them, Aislin swallowed down the rising heat in her cheeks.

She shouldn’t be feeling this way about his— or anyone’s, really— casual chivalry. First, he didn’t do anything but the bare minimum. This was his home, his court. It was only right that he defend her innocent self should anything arise. Secondly, his easy influence over her emotions ought to set off warning bells in her mind. This might not be the Unseelie Court, but it wasn’t less dangerous.

For Ilyn’s sake, she was in enemy territory! She shouldn’t be catching butterflies.

Pulling her focus away from her inner ramblings, Aislin decided to take note of the lavish spread weighing the oak tables down, the diamond chandeliers and the beams of rainbows it threw around the chamber. It set everything in a colorful glow, making it seem like this truly was the Land of Faeries humans envisioned. The band slowly started back up again and, with a tentative breath, the assembled party took it as a cue to feign what would pass for normalcy.

Aislin noticed their dresses and suit jackets and jewelry, all made with fine craftsmanship, but seeming a little too in-your-face with stones of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds that were bigger than her fingernails.

She supposed that the Seelie knew a different kind of opulence from the one she grew up with. Her own people never had much in the first place due to their long years of nomadic existence. Even now, after being settled in Mhoryga, the Unseelie couldn’t seem to shake off their preference for the understated.

Aislin missed it, to be honest. The big production day-after-day here in the palace was getting exhausting, making her almost wish to be invisible.

Nonetheless, when they passed, everyone bowed low in deference. In the corner of her mind, Aislin knew that it was not her they were giving honor to, but she couldn’t help but gloat a little. These were people who had looked down on her, her cousin, and her people. She wondered if their prejudice against her was born from the fact that their defeat in the war meant something different entirely from what they expected it to be, or that it had granted her a favor that had surpassed many of them as she now was being personally escorted by their King to the table reserved solely for him and his favored few.

And tonight, that honor fell solely on her and Aelthrys. Every step she took was being scrutinized, every breath she took being judged and added to the mystery that no doubt cloaked her in their eyes.

“There’s a reason why I don’t dine here often,” Avery murmured to her enigmatically, his smile crooked as they stepped up on the dais.

Around them, staff scrambled to set the table, moving quickly but silently. She was gallantly helped to a seat on his left.

As soon as she was settled, Avery said to his Hand and her cousin, “Sit wherever makes you comfortable.”

That was probably meant for Aelthrys. Avery had probably noticed how her cousin was surveying the room, taking note of where the exits were just in case. He nodded thankfully, eventually sitting in front of Aislin while the King’s Hand sat in front of the King.

“May Ilyn have mercy,” the Hand sighed, a bright and sarcastic grin splitting his face. “I wonder which little schmuck would be the first to grow a pair?”

Aelthrys frowned. “Excuse me?”

The King’s Hand angled his head at him, his long hair falling to the side as he half-turned to him with a raised brow. “If you ever want to dine in peace, never eat here in the Grand Hall. The food tastes blander with the judgy little looks,” he said, waving a hand in dismissal of a bowl to wash their fingers in. “However, this is the place to make any public declarations, subtle or otherwise.”

Aislin’s eyes shifted to the King who was smirking over his glass of wine. “The best thing about being King,” he said, “is that I dictate everyone’s footing in my Court. And I happen to dislike people who hate other people nonsensically.” Golden eyes shifted to Aislin’s deep blues. “Don’t you, Princess?”

It was then that Aislin realized that for all the days she had felt so alone upon arriving in this land, King Avery had solved it all by doing something so painfully simple.

By showing up to dinner, he had effectively made her his ally whether she wanted to or not. And she would be stupid indeed if she turned that down. She was in enemy territory; she’d be a fool to turn a truce down.

She lifted up her goblet, the one that had just been filled, and raised it to him. “To allies,” she murmured, smiling.

King Avery clinked glasses with her, his own grin shifting into something more conspiratorial. When she looked to her cousin, approval was there in his silver-cored eyes. The King’s Hand tipped his glass higher in her direction, smirking.

Allies, indeed.