The Fae King's Ruin

The Hill of Forced Attraction

Since the moment Catteline stepped foot on Mhorygan soil, she had been finding it quite difficult to breathe in air.

She wanted to blame it on the differences in atmospheric pressures that could be unsuitable for someone who was used to breathing air from a different realm, but that would be a most grievous lie indeed.

After all, it was not the air that restricted her breathing, nor was it her corset, but the black eyes ringed with silver that had her throat and lungs in their clutches.

It was ridiculous of her, of course, to be reacting this way after the last time they had seen each other. He had practically left her hanging with that stupid ‘I’ll think about it’ remark that he made before running off to war and gods-know-what. If anything, she should be offended by him. Greatly! Yet here she was, her arm draped over his, still stunned to her very core as they walked to wherever it is they were taking them.

Truth be told, her befuddlement was mostly brought on by the General’s suddenly amiable disposition towards her. Was he hit hard on the head when he had been out on the field fighting for this land? She had fully expected him to be his usually cold self that looked at everyone through the tip of his nose, but when he started making a beeline for her, she had not known what to do or how to act.

Again, it was ridiculous and stupid how she reacted. After all, what did he say to her that was of note?

“Lady Catteline,” he had murmured her name, sending a shiver down her spine. “May I accompany you up the stairs?”

See? There was nothing there! He obviously saw Res just walk up the steps without any gentlemanly regard for her and had taken it upon himself to be the bigger and more polite person.

But, boy, did it make her heart swoon against her will.

She was not about to be angry at her autonomic responses, but it sure did embarrass Catteline. More than that, it made her doubly curious. Did she really have feelings for General Aelthrys? Or was it merely borne out of proximity and some other related thing?

Or perhaps her reaction to him was just her mind’s way of making their futures easier to stomach. Although she had never been resistant to the plan of marrying him for the sake of the Treaty, a part of her still loathed that she had no choice in it. What others might not understand about her is that, for all her talks of doing what must be done out of duty, she was still a lady. She had dreamed of one day finding a husband that would love her and choose her to raise a family with.

Catteline still had that option in the future, of course, but she had always expected to be dealt the worst hand in life. It was a reality that Fae births were difficult, few, and far between, and it was usually for that reason that the royal crown passed on to heir presumptives most of the time. She was aware that she could very well end up Queen in all of this and by then, it would be far too late to stop acting in the interest of duty and the crown.

But maybe this was a good thing. Having an interest in the General would not be the worst thing in the world for her and it would certainly make their situation easier to swallow. While she cannot do anything about that sullen face of his, at least she felt something in the way he acted towards her.

Forced attraction was not a bad hill to die on.

“Are you okay, Catt?”

Startled, she looked up and saw Princess Aislin looking over her shoulder to check on her. She could clearly see her dark eyes bouncing over repeatedly between her and the General, whose face remained stoic and even.

“I-I am, thank you,” Catt managed to choke out. “A little tired out by the journey, I guess.”

Res snorted, and her irritation suddenly spiked once again and managed to pull her out of her other, General-related thoughts. “We were literally in that carriage for not longer than thirty minutes,” he acidly remarked. “How could that have tired you out?”

Everyone frowned at the King’s Hand.

“Shut up, Res,” the King himself muttered.

“I’m just saying. Maybe it is a different thing that is bothering the Lady.”

“Shut up, Res,” Princess Aislin now said to him, glaring at him in full force.

He mimicked zipping up his mouth, twisting the key, and throwing it over his shoulder.

“Anyway,” the Princess continued. “After brunch, you could all get some rest. Tonight, there will be a ball in honor of you and there will be tons of dancing. If you were not aware, Unseelie parties tend to finish even after the sun has come up, so you all best be prepared.”

They turned a final corner, having encountered absolutely no one in their short walk inside the castle walls, and saw the garden.

Catteline had to give it to Unseelie landscapers; these were some of the best plant sculptures she had ever seen and there were quite a lot of them done by nobles and rich folk in Montfoltier. There were some shaped like animals she had never seen before, others were spiral, some were circular, but all were at least three feet tall.

In the middle, tables set for at least fifty people had been laid out underneath a wide pergola with maids standing at the ready to serve them.

Avery turned to Aislin. “Are we dining with other people?” she heard him ask.

The Princess frowned. “No, these are all for us.” She looked behind them and waved over the soldiers, footmen, and maids who’ve accompanied them from Alfheim. “Go ahead and sit wherever you like. I’m sure it was a difficult journey for you, too.”

General Aelthrys ushered her forward but not before Catteline could get a glimpse of the gobsmacked faces of their companions and the way Avery planted a kiss on Aislin’s cheek as a silent token of gratitude. None of the Unseelie staff looked surprised by their mistress’ actions, telling her that this was an entirely natural thing to expect from the Princess.

She wondered then how her late brother treated the staff and if they were relieved that Aislin was responsible for them all now.

They sat at a table a little way removed from the rest of their host where a cross breeze caught them in a perfectly pleasant way, dulling the heat of the day. The General helped her to her seat before taking one next to her, while Res, unfortunately, occupied the other.

Ice-cold juices were served, and while she did not know exactly what fruit it was made of, Catteline found herself refreshed by them.

“I have to ask,” she said to the Princess, interrupting from whatever staring competition she and Avery were having. “What sort of seasons do you have here in Mhoryga?”

The Princess smirked. “Were you confused by it when you first arrived?” She chuckled before leaning back on her chair. “Mhoryga has the same four seasons that some parts of Earth experience, only ours lasts much longer and is, more often than not, opposite in terms of when you experience it on Earth. Back in Alfheim, it’s winter, but here, summer is only at the beginning of its end. I suspect that once spring is well underway in Alfheim, only then will autumn start here in Mhoryga.”

“And do all parts of Mhoryga experience the same conditions?” Avery asked, his expression one of open curiosity. “Actually, I have never seen a map of Mhoryga in its entirety. How big is it?”

The Princess turned to the General sitting beside her. With a gruff, deep voice, Aelthrys answered, “Unlike Earth which has tropical countries and those that experience four seasons, Mhoryga experiences all four all at the same time. And to answer the question of how big it is, our scholars think this planet is three times bigger than Earth itself. Measurements are still ongoing.”

Three times bigger? Catt shook her head. “By the gods, what are we all still doing in our meager patinas then? Why not all move here?”

Avery frowned at her. “You know that is not something we can do in a snap decision. And we have to respect these lands. We are not the ones who found it.”

But Catteline was not having it. Gobsmacked and shocked, she continued, “But think about it! If we all move here, you and Aislin would never have to be far away from each other the same way you have been for the past five days. Ruling the two courts would be the easiest thing ever. Plus! We won’t even have to hide from the humans!” She unthinkingly looked up at the General. “Is that not a bad idea?”

His dark eyes turned to meet hers. He stared at her intensely. “It isn’t a bad idea in principle,” he said. “And while I do not think that Princess Aislin would disallow such an eventuality, you are missing a few things. First, the Unseelie did not merely come here without thinking about it. We had to leave the only world we have ever known. Although we were wanderers, some of the hills and forests of your realm had been our sanctuary and home for many ages. It is not easy leaving the land of your ancestors; leaving the land where you have been born and feeling the most connection to.

“Second, it will take a long and painful adjustment to be able to live as we do here. Many people died during the first few months of coming here because the animals and plants were so different from the ones you have been used to consuming on Earth. If not properly educated, an easy half of your population would also perish in the first two months and that is a loss that should be weighed carefully.”

He sat back, his lips apologetically mashing into a straight line. “Victories are often easy to see in theory. Reality is much harsher.”

Catteline stared at him with no words coming up out of her mouth in retaliation. His words had stopped her cold. There was pain hidden in those sentiments. It was as if he was reminding himself of the torture his people had to go through to finally be able to call someplace else their home.

All of a sudden, she felt like the worst person in the whole wide world for making him relive such things. It had indeed been fanciful of her to willy-nilly suggest moving here and encroaching on their place. But, she was also surprised. He had explained so calmly that she felt as if she had never really had such a conversation with him before. There was no name-calling, no screaming…

She blinked at the General as he turned his head and reached for his glass of juice instead. She watched as his throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed and felt sweat matte her back despite the cool breeze. How in the world could she feel sorry for him and be attracted to him in a blink of a second?

“You are drooling, witch,” Res whispered in her ear.

Catt quickly turned forward and glared sideways at him. “I will cut out your tongue before you can even think of saying anything,” she hissed back.

The devil’s spawned chuckled loudly, capturing the attention of everyone at the table. Avery raised a brow at him. “What is it?”

As hard as she could, she stomped on Res’ foot. The male barely winced. “Oh, nothing,” he said, going back to the green-colored bread that had been served in a basket in front of them. “I just found something that incredibly amused me. I won’t share, though.”

Aislin frowned. “Is it another one of your conquests?” She made a face. “After the last story you told me, I would really rather you spare us the horror.”

Res shrugged. “As you wish, Princess.” He smirked at Catt. “But it is most intriguing, indeed.”

As the food was served, any thoughts of finally pouncing on Res and slitting his throat had fled her mind. As she did stab some kind of meat, however, she satisfied herself with imagining it as some part of him or the other— wherever could cause the most pain, of course. When she glanced at the General, he was as unbothered as ever.

Catt sighed. What is this that she had gotten herself into?