The Fae King's Ruin

The King, The Princess, and Apologies

In his royal apartment, the King of the Seelie Fae watched the moon fade with the night sky as dawn brought upon a new day. He hadn’t slept; was physically unable to since Catteline had finally left after he had talked to her.

It was the hardest conversation he ever had to have in his life.

Even if he’d made Catteline his heir until he bore one or two of his own, Avery had never intended his cousin to do anything in the name of the crown. Up until the war where there was a real chance of him dying, he had only meant for Catteline to fill the position for the sake of naming someone in his will and in official royal papers. 

He’d chosen Catt because she was capable and intelligent and had no real ambition for power. The fact that she was his closest cousin was only secondary but still bore great sway in his decision. And even then, the two cousins fought for months until Catt finally caved and agreed to assume the crown should something ever happen to him.

But the day she agreed, Avery promised her that he would never call her into service unless it was needed. With the agreement of his late father, they let her keep her title of ‘Lady’ instead of being styled as a princess of the realm, had allowed her to stay in Montfoltier instead of keeping her in the palace and be a constant presence in court. 

Of course, she and her family were invited to any celebration in the palace. Until she had started her profession in healing, Catt vacationed frequently in Alfheim. But those stays were never mandated. She was never required to attend state luncheons and banquets. Never asked to learn any of the things Avery had needed several tutors for just to prepare him for his own ascension.

That was how determined Avery was that he would never have a need for Catteline in any official capacity. His father used to tell him that he was too optimistic for his own good and that while he hoped that his niece would never have to bear the weight that he would eventually pass on to his son, Avery should learn to rely on her support until he found a wife.

But that said future wife has now backed Avery into a spot where he needed his cousin to finally step into her role as his heir, the very thing that he promised Catt he would never ask her to do.

Honestly, he did not disagree with Aislin’s proposal. His father was right about his optimism. Aislin’s idea was something that they should have thought of sooner and it was only because of his sense of security that Avery failed to do so. He was so desperate to believe that the end of the war truly marked the end of a time when anyone would want to do something as wicked as to threaten his or Aislin’s life.

No, the proposal wasn’t what truly wounded him. It was Aislin.

He didn’t understand why Aislin did not consult him about her plans. She obviously didn’t trust him in the same way that he did her after all of the times they’ve spent together. Avery guessed he was just disappointed. He was so ready to give Aislin all of himself as soon as he thought that she could return even just a fraction of it. 

Recently, he felt as if they were getting to that point. Aislin was warmer towards him and seemed as willing to try as he was. She was more open, more carefree, and most days Avery could delude himself into thinking that she actually liked him.

He was hurt and he wanted to be mad at what she did, but how could he? Aislin had trust issues. He knew that from the very beginning, was often made curious by it until she slowly started opening up about her life. Until his private lessons with her cousin had painted a vague picture of what it was like to grow up without any agency over most important decisions. Her very own magic had been suppressed because none of the people in her life was courageous enough to brave something that could benefit her.

How could he get angry at what clearly had been a trauma response?

He ran his fingers through his hair— something he realized he’d been doing constantly for the past ten hours— and sighed as he watched the sky change colors. The stars, which had been his companion all throughout the night, blinked goodbye one at a time until the rose-colored morning had become too bright to see them anymore.

Everything was happening much too fast and he was starting to feel like he couldn’t catch up. They were chasing days and milestones in a labyrinth with no light. Their engagement party was to be held in only under a week, and from there, it was only going to become more hectic. They had to plan a wedding and a coronation and a few more parties before so he and Aislin could formally meet nobles from both their courts. He hadn’t told her yet, but he’d already arranged for them to go to Mhoryga in three weeks’ time as both a gift and a way for her to be able to introduce him to the other people in her life.

Just thinking about it made him feel like he was near the point of drowning. And now he also had to think about how he could make things better for his cousin who would also have to endure a marriage that was being forced on her.

Before Catt left, she had been going on about who and what the General was like. Surprisingly, it was the only concern she had after he told her of what was most likely going to happen soon after he marries Aislin. She didn’t care about signing an indefinite portion of her life away, didn’t have the same qualms as he had when he learned that the only way to bind the Treaty would require tying himself to Aislin. Catt only wanted to know what Aelthrys looked like.

It confused him for a second when she asked. Avery had never known Catteline to be vain or shallow. She was pretty, yes. Perhaps even almost a carbon-copy of himself, but never shallow. He thought that maybe she had asked due to the shock she was feeling, except Catt said that she had heard of enough arranged marriages where couples only saw each other for the first time at the altar and she didn’t want that.

He understood. He would have probably done the same thing if he hadn’t already seen or knew Aislin, but Catt left before he could tell her that he’d introduce the General to her the next day, effectively leaving him to his own sad thoughts. Consumed by a burning need for answers.

And so when Aislin had knocked on his door at the exact same time when they would usually have their breakfast, he did not turn her away.

Her wide, childlike eyes were puffy and she looked tired as if she had tossed and turned all night, waiting for sleep to claim her but to no avail. Although everything else about her was impeccable. Her hair had been braided into a coronet. Her dress, in the color of a robin’s egg, was bright and hopeful and contrasted against the snowy white that capped the entire city. She looked like spring in the middle of winter, and the apologetic look she wore along with it gave him the tiniest bit of hope.

“Come in,” he croaked, his voice breaking from misuse, and then cleared his throat as he opened his door wider for her.

Her midnight blue eyes flickered with unease. “I don’t have to stay. I only need to say my piece and then I’ll go leave you to enjoy your day.”

Avery snorted and winced as the sound was much harsher than he intended. “I haven’t even officially ended yesterday,” he explained as he gestured for her to come in. “As it was, I intended to take the day off and rest after breakfast anyway.”

There was yet another flicker of wariness in those eyes. Usually, he would have kept quiet about it and let her decide for herself. This time, he wanted to insist. 

“Aislin, please.” He clasped his hands together in near supplication. “If I did not want to talk to you, I would have asked the guards to turn you away.”

She tilted her head, dubious at his claim. Even the guards outside of his room seemed to have jerked into wakefulness at his words. But that didn’t matter. Aislin stepped into his room, as hesitant as she was the first time she had been invited in, and Avery felt real fear that they might have gone back to zero.

Before he closed the door, he quietly flagged down a butler to send in some breakfast. He had not really intended to eat. Food was the last thing on his mind right now. However, Avery had long learned that meals usually made unpleasant conversations easier to swallow, even if the food did tend not to get touched much at the end of it.

“I want to beg for your forgiveness,” Aislin whispered, already sitting on the armchair Avery noticed she liked very much. “I knew what I did was wrong. I—I took advantage of you and what you felt for me and put you on the spot and, and a-and I didn’t know Catteline was your successor. I didn’t! But it needed to be done. Please, if you cannot trust me anymore after what I did, please believe me when I say it needed to be done.”

Aislin took a huge gulp of air as she finished, a hiccup rocking her chest and shoulders. He quickly got up to fetch her a glass of water and a handkerchief but she had exclaimed a very loud ‘no.’

He frowned at her, ignoring what she said. “What do you mean ‘no’? You have the hiccups. Something needs to be done about that.”

“It—” she gasped. “It will go away.”

Avery sighed and fetched the water and handkerchief anyway. He handed both items to her and crossed his arms as he stood over her. “Drink it,” he ordered. “All of it.”

She bit her lip looking as if she might argue. She listened, however, and drank the contents of the tall glass in one go, sighing softly as she finished. Avery took the glass and sat on the coffee table facing her. The sight of her forlorn face broke his heart into a million pieces.

He sighed. “I’m not going to lie to you, Aislin. What you did wasn’t okay. We had all the time in the world to discuss something as grand as a proxy safety mechanism to input into the Treaty, but you never brought it up. I know I said I won’t ask you what’s wrong— that is still true. But just because I'm not asking means I don’t care and you don’t have to tell me a thing.” 

Reaching out, he took her hand and placed it on his chest, just above the steady beating of his heart. “I care for you, Aislin. My feelings for you run deeper than any emotion I have ever felt for someone else. You… you bring me hope. You make me want to fight harder for a future that’s only possible because I have you. And I think you might feel the same.” He leaned closer to her, bringing her hand up to his lips, and whispered, “I just want you to let me in. Just a little bit. That is all I ask of you.”

Avery didn’t care that he was begging, that he was laying out all his cards on the table in one go. He wasn’t about to play games, dammit. He wanted to get real.

That was when he felt Aislin’s forehead connect with his. Her tears fell onto their hands and it took everything within Avery to keep his eyes dry himself. 

“You make me want to fight, too,” he heard her whisper faintly in the small breadth of space between them. “But not with you, Avery. I don’t like fighting with you. I won’t shut you out again. I swear.”

He cupped her cheek. His thumb swept across the side of her face, wiping away the tears that kept spilling over her eyes. 

“Thank you,” he said. His shoulders slumped as he felt himself relax for the first time since he saw her fidgeting yesterday. “And I’m not mad about your proposal. I… I guess I should have seen it earlier.”

She frowned, wiping her own tears with the handkerchief as he let her pull away. “Catteline didn’t say much last night before she got into it with Aelthrys, but is she against this plan?”

Avery shook his head. “Catt had understood what being my heir meant long before I did. I only wish I could have prepared her better.” Then he paused, only realizing the rest of Aislin’s sentence. “Wait, Catt went to you last night?”

Aislin nodded. “She was looking for Aelthrys, wanting to see what he looked like. And then she asked me if my cousin hit women.”

He groaned, burying his face in his hands as he let go of hers. “Gods, Aislin, I need to apologize to him!”

“You don’t need to, really.” She shrugged. “It was a fair question for her to ask. And she asked me. He only happened to be in the same room when she did.”

“Even so, she shouldn’t have. She was upset.”

She put a hand over his knee. “I know. And Aelthrys knew that as well. Just don’t expect him to seek her out anytime soon. Catteline made it clear that he was not to go near her.”

His eyes widened. That was preposterous! Not to mention impossible. How could they marry if she didn’t want him near? He needed to talk to his cousin. And soon.

The food came and Avery pulled Aislin to a seat much bigger than her favorite armchair. He was wrong. They didn’t need the food to talk, but he was glad anyway. Once the butlers and maids left and they’d fixed tea and coffee for themselves, Aislin put her cup down and looked at him.

“Do you think that we could come up with another plan? Another safety net so Catteline and Aelthrys wouldn’t have to go through with this?”

Avery had thought about it all night, but he really couldn’t see another solution as airtight as the one Aislin had already provided. Except he could not tell her that. At least not yet.

“We have time before the Great Council goes back into session,” he said to her. “We get through the engagement and the Wysterra wedding and the other, nitty-gritty stuff, and then we look for an alternative. I already have Res looking into it.”

She nodded. “All right. I trust you.”

He smiled at Aislin just before he kissed her, mumbling against her lips, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I do, Your Majesty,” she assured him, her tea already forgotten, as she knotted her fingers in his hair in the way he liked. “I do.”