The Fae King's Ruin

Reunited

When Avery first stepped foot in Mhoryga, it had been under less than favorable circumstances. He had snuck in with a company that included Xaero to rescue Ella from her two-week-long captivity. Naturally, under high-stress situations, he had not been able to take stock of what the terrain or even the castle looked like. All he could remember was walking underneath it and traveling through its sewer system while trying not to gag.

But now, actually seeing the Capital above ground, he found himself in awe.

Mhoryga— or at least the little part of what he could see now— was breathtaking. The sky was serenely blue and the realm’s planets were near enough to see even during the day. Taking the high road, one would clearly see the vast sea in the east and the forest that hugged the west and north. it reminded him, in fact, of Earth when it was not yet overrun by skyscrapers and buildings that jutted out of the ground everywhere you looked. The Capital held the same peace that an English countryside did and he found himself thinking back to a time wherein Alfheim was not the only place his people had been confined to. The castle itself was twice the size of his own home, with turrets higher than the hills that surrounded them. It was made of gray stone that looked brilliantly white in the light of the realm’s sun, with the highest tower bearing a great black flag with silver stitching.

He recognized the insignia on it. After all, he had a ring that bore the exact same one.

“Aislin owns all of this?” Catteline whispered in awe, also peering through the carriage window beside him. “She’s richer than you!”

Avery smiled. “A lot of people probably are, cousin.” He sat back down, tired of poking his head through the window, and looked at Res instead. “What in Ilyn’s name are you doing?”

Res was holding up a hand-held mirror and inspecting a loose thread detailing on his robe. “I told you: first impressions matter. Are we there yet?”

“Probably a few minutes more,” he replied, wiping his sweaty palms on the thighs of his trousers. “It’s a bit hot, is it not?”

He nodded. “It seems as if we forgot to ask after Mhoryga’s climate and weather.”

Catt plopped back down on her seat, too. “What do you mean ‘forgot’?” she asked, aggressively fanning herself. “Is that not the first damn thing you find out about someplace when you are going there the first time?”

“Why didn’t you?” Res shot back.

Her jaw dropped in affront. “I was not the one who planned this whole thing.”

Blue and green eyes swiveled to him. Avery smiled uneasily. “I did get a little bit sidetracked, did I not?” He sighed as their glare only got stronger. “Look, if you are feeling so hot, why do you keep complaining to me about it instead of fixing it yourselves?”

Avery closed his eyes as he inhaled, drawing power from the nature surrounding him. Feeling the cool sea depths as he reached out, he slowly breathed out and opened his palms.

Catt and Res watched as he cast a cooling charm around them by drawing it from the waters that were nearby. Avery saw them visibly relax and the cool air enveloping them dulled their hot tempers. Res twisted his mouth to the side.

“At least we know we can use our powers in this realm. Ilyn knows I didn’t get to last I was here.”

In a few minutes, their convoy of carriages was passing through the castle gates that would get them through to the courtyard. Avery looked around, noting that the walls that held the gate had been repaired and the ground underneath them bore no more of the ill signs of the war. In fact, the renovations had been so expertly done and he could barely even imagine a war took place here.

Trumpets sounded from atop the balcony behind them as he saw their carriages snake around to the front. For some inexplicable reason, his heart started beating fast.

Avery kept his eyes in front of them with bated breath, watching the stone walls and shrubbery pass by before his eyes until he saw two figures standing at the very top of the castle stairs.

One wore black from head to foot with a uniform that he had always worn even in Alfheim. As the General came in view, he thought he heard Catteline’s own breath hitch in her throat, but once he saw the slight figure wearing a gauzy, green gown with an embroidered, golden bodice— Alfheim’s colors, he realized— every other errant thought flew out of his mind.

His memory of her did not do Aislin justice. Half of her platinum hair fell down her back in starlight waves while half of it had been braided atop her head like a crown. She was smiling, the one that he’d always thought made her seem like she was keeping a secret from him. Her midnight-blue eyes were not looking at him, but rather at the carriages that passed her, seeming as though she might have been looking for something.

When their carriage stopped directly below the Princess, that was the only time her eyes shifted to him. She blinked in surprise, and as if in slow motion, her smile began to grow wider.

Avery did not wait for a footman, he had his own two damn hands, thank you very much.

He reached over and undid the clasp holding the carriage door in place himself and exited as gracefully as he could. Not once did he break his stare at Aislin and nor did she; and when he broke into a run up the stairs, she was right there along with him.

Avery did not care if there were a hundred people staring at them. He did not care that he was under the scrutiny of her infamous general cousin, or that his own staff was staring after him. The moment that he had Aislin’s soft and supple frame around his arms, the only thing he could think of was that he was home, and that the moment their lips touched, he was complete.

She tasted of pomegranates, oddly enough, and she smelled of fresh wind and her usual jasmine perfume. Having her this near after being apart for days almost brought Avery to his knees. He broke their kiss and simply held her, with absolutely no intention of letting go anytime soon, and memorized the way her body felt pressed up against him.

Her eyes, sparkling like the night sky, bore into his very soul as she breathed, “You’re here.”

The words seemed silly to him. Where else would he be in all of the realms but with her? Had she thought that perhaps he was going to go back on his word and not come after all? He held her tighter.

“I’m here,” he agreed. “And I have missed you so.”

Aislin blushed, biting her lip. She visibly swallowed, seeming uncertain before she asked, “Were you able to get my missive?”

Avery frowned and slowly shook his head ‘no’. “I’m afraid there still lies some problem with the communication lines between realms. I have received no message from you.”

Instead of being disappointed, a look of relief flashed across her face, completely confusing him. “Oh, good.” She smiled widely. “I cannot wait to show you around.”

Avery returned her smile, placing one last kiss on her soft lips. “And I look forward to see what you have planned for us, dear.”

He heard footsteps clicking on the stone steps. He shifted Aislin in his arms, unwilling to ever let her step foot away from him in the foreseeable future. General Aelthrys had come down the stairs, making his way to him. Avery held his hand out.

“I suppose the rebels had been dealt with, General?” he asked, wanting to make sure.

General Aelthrys gave him a rare half-smile. “Yes, Your Majesty. I have you to thank; my cousin had never worked twice as hard as she did during the sieges.”

Aislin scowled. “Oh, please do shut up, Aelthrys.”

He held her tighter as he chuckled. “Well, congratulations on a job well done, General.” Avery looked over his shoulder, seeing his own cousin rooted to her spot several paces back from Res. “If you want, I’ll keep Catt from bothering you as a reward. She seems to have gotten nastier on the way here because of Res and his provoking comments.”

He fully expected the General to bow his head and simply accept his offer. Last he remembered, the two were not on good terms. Plus, there was that awful screaming match that his courtiers reported back to him. But General Aelthrys shook his head, glancing over Avery’s shoulder.

“I appreciate it, sir, but it is not necessary. If you’ll excuse me,” he murmured, before bowing and stepping away, heading for Catteline.

Res came up to Aislin, replacing the General with a big smile on his face. “Princess! I have been missing ou so—”

Aislin gave him a quick hug, whispering, “I missed you too, Res, but please. I have to see this; this has never happened before!”

Avery chuckled at the pout on his best friend’s face, shocked by the way he had been dismissed. He did understand the appeal, however, of watching both their cousins approach each other and not act with so much hostility. Glancing sideways at Aislin, he thought that perhaps the Princess also had a hand in this.

General Aelthrys stopped right in front of Catt, who had only managed to step down from the carriage and not away from it. Gallantly, the General bowed. Catt’s eyes were wide as she responded with a low, wobbly curtsy. They were too far away to hear but she nodded hesitantly after the General seemed to have asked her a question. When he was satisfied with her answer, General Aelthrys turned and offered her his arm.

“Holy gods, am I seeing this right?” Aislin gasped.

Res snickered, forgetting his past upset and completely focusing on the two, most unlikely couple. “And here I thought that she had been dreading coming here and seeing the General once again. It looks like their respite from one another had achieved a different outcome than I would have guessed.”

When he turned to Catt, their eyes met. He wanted to ask her if she was okay and if she needed him to step in but she gave him a minute shake of her head, assuring him with a look that she was fine, and stepped down. He smiled.

Once the two of them finally made their way back to the group, he gently nudged Aislin, who jumped and sputtered before saying, “Well! Er, brunch is waiting in the topiary garden, why don’t we all nip along and— uh, eat?”

The others murmured their agreement and Aislin blushed as she tried to move him along. She glared at him as he loosed a laugh and turned it into a cough instead.

“Do not even dare,” she hissed in his ear as they passed through the double doors and into a big hall with incredibly high, vaulted ceilings.

“I would never,” he whispered back, looking up at the banners of black and silver that adorned the ceiling. “What is this room?”

Aislin took hold of his chin and gently turned it to the left. It was an altar with a wall of sparkling black adamantine ahead of them. In the middle, atop the dais, were two thrones made of the same material but accentuated with silver that had been molten and recast to bind the stones.

“The throne hall,” she murmured. Even though her voice had been quiet, it carried and echoed around them like a ghostly whisper.

Avery turned his head to her in shock, before lifting his eyes past her to the length of the hall. Indeed, it was the same room where her brother had fallen and where he had put up a giant wall of vines to stop Aislin’s powers from ripping through them all. He swallowed, doing his best to keep his face from falling. Aislin patted his hand.

“It’s okay, I had troubles as well when I returned and saw this hall once again,” she told him. “We only have to bury the bad memories with new, good ones.”

He gazed at her, searching her eyes for anything that might betray her words, wanting to make sure that this whole thing was not too had on her. But the Princess was strong and only had a soft, determined expression on her face. She held his hand.

There was only one way to fight darkness, and that was through being the light. He looked at the cavernous hall again and realized it held all of the promise in the world for the two of them. They could fill it with music and laughter once more— one that was not at the expense of the torture and pain of others. They would fill it with goodness, and even though they would not be able to replace the bad memories contained within these walls in just their lifetimes, he would make sure their legacies continued the good deeds for them.

They left the throne hall with Avery carrying that silent promise in his heart. Good deeds and good memories… Well, he would start here and right now.