The Fae King's Ruin

The King and A Circle of Allies

“Everyone’s looking a little happy today. Something dreadful must be happening soon.”

Everyone in the sizable conference room bowed as the last living Salem witch, High Priestess of the Council of Magic, and the Queen of All Magic walked in, surveying them all with a Cheshire’s grin.

From where they stood by the balcony, Ella Wysterra sauntered to her seat at the head of the table, marked by a high, wingback chair carved with runes of protection against the wood. Although she wore very modern, human clothes fit for the increasingly cold weather, the purple-eyed, black-haired witch carried with her three centuries worth of grace and commanding authority, only very thinly veiled behind a young face and the brightly shining love that glowed clear as the day between her and her mate.

Lorenzo Smith. Utterly human in every single way besides possessing immense power Avery had never heard been acquired before. A gift from the Cosmos, they all deemed it, leaving him— a human— matched with their Queen.

He supposed that they were indeed in the midst of a formidable pair and should conduct themselves more respectfully, but while they bowed, none of the Council members sitting with him offered anything more. Ella never liked exaggerated shows of formalities, favoring a relaxed atmosphere whenever they met.

So, he smiled, and noting his absence, asked, “No general today, Mistress?”

General Xaero had a seat on the Council as her primary adviser and was usually not a step away from her ever since she had been kidn*pped. The incident had traumatized them all, but most especially Avery. After all, he had been the one who was meant to be taken that night, not Ella. She had freely traded places with him and endured capture under the cruel hands of the late Unseelie King, also killed by her human mate.

A smirk played on Ella’s lips as she was helped onto her seat. “Safiya took him off my hands with the pretense of making terribly important wedding decisions right now. I wasn’t there but…” She turned to Lorenzo. “Was he as incensed as I bet he would be?”

Her mate sighed longsufferingly. “Yes, love, and I’m sure he will take out his frustrations on me later during training.” He quickly ducked and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush. “So, thank you for that.”

Avery smiled at the sight of them, silently thanking the gods of his ancestors for his friend’s happiness. Ella gave her mate one last lingering look before taking her seat at the head of the long conference table.

“Well, regardless of my cousin’s absence from today’s meeting, the proceeding shall continue as it has been set,” she said, then paused. “We are still missing a few of our illustrious members. Does anyone know why that is?”

As Avery sat down in his seat between the MerQueen Meridian and Vampire King Caeldon, he said, “I’m afraid I don’t have any news from the others.”

“So do I,” Caeldon murmured, “but I’m afraid that is only because I made no effort to know their whereabouts.”

Meridian, however, piped up, “I do, Mistress. Felix seems to be dealing with a few rogue wolves in his pack.” She sat back in her chair. “I also met Zachary last night at a pub in Glasgow, taking full advantage of the glamour you have gifted him so he could blend in public. I don’t think the Fallen handle their alcohol well so maybe he’s still nursing a hangover.”

“A pub?” Ella echoed, eyebrows raised high in disbelief. “Are you sure?

The Merqueen blinked innocently at her. “Yes, Your Majesty. I was in the area and found him with a few of his soldiers at a pub. One simply could not miss them. They were a very rowdy bunch.”

Laurie chuckled. Ella gave him a disapproving frown. “This is not a behavior you want other people seeing you are amused by,” she chastised quietly.

His gray eyes widened at her. “Oh, come on! You don’t find it hilarious that after a millennium of seclusion from society, Fallen angels are getting drunk at a Scottish pub?”

She pressed her lips together, except Avery knew she was not fooling anyone. Because she was amused. It was just her queenly upbringing preventing her from showing her amusement with the situation.

Ella sniffed. “Yes, well, if he was not tardy, then it would not have mattered,” she shot back, folding her hands above her stomach as she reclined in her seat. “We still have that paper to research about, you know?”

Caeldon raised a brow. “Human homework?”

She nodded, making a face that he took for exasperation. “This time about the Irish rebellions.” Then her face brightened as she turned to Avery. “Hey! Your father fought in those wars. Do you think he kept records of his involvement?”

Avery shrugged. “Sure, but I doubt there’s any material that you can cite in a non-magic academic paper. If you could visit Alfheim, the scholars might have a few texts to show you.”

“Speaking of Alfheim,” Laurie said. “How did the first meeting of your Great Council go?”

It was ridiculous. He had been anticipating the question ever since he left the Silver Hall, yet Avery still paused before responding. Anything he had rehearsed coming to Locke Village fled his mind, replaced instead with nothing but candor. The room held only his allies anyway.

Not that there was anything notably difficult to share. The Great Council they held was a significant success despite the hiccups along the way, but it felt so… personal for him to report. He didn’t know why he was feeling this way when he should have been proud.

But he admitted, “It went long but that only gives proof that we can talk without killing each other for more than five minutes. Princess Aislin, she—” Avery swallowed. “She had an interesting proposal. Brilliant, really, I wish I had thought of it.”

“What is it?” Meridian asked, leaning in her seat.

“She wanted every protocol concerning the Great Council scrapped,” he said. “We will now both preside over it as we decide on the finer details.”

“Hmm.” Ella steepled her fingers underneath her chin, watching him. “Unprompted?”

Avery shrugged a tad embarrassedly. “I might have done nothing to stop certain Seelie customs from going on. It must have pushed her to the point of impatience.”

“But she did not make a scene, I’m assuming?”

He shook his head no. Ella smiled.

“That’s a good sign from her. It seems that you were right about whatever you saw in the Princess.” She lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “Of course, this Council can only guide you as you attempt something that is so monumental, but I want to know as much as you are willing to tell us about the Great Council’s developments.”

He bowed his head. “Thank you, Mistress. I assure you, all things considered, everything is fine.”

“That’s good.” Caeldon murmured, “And her cousin?”

“He’s on the Council too, and no, I haven’t encountered a speck of trouble from him,” he drawled. “They barely even leave their rooms, the princess not at all.”

Meridian raised a brow. “Aren’t they your prisoners still? They shouldn’t be roaming about your palace.”

“They aren’t prisoners anymore.”

But even as he said it, it suddenly dawned on him that he had never given off any other impression for them to believe otherwise. No memorandum, no official declaration. He had put them in rooms instead of cellars and had assigned only the necessary number of guards to them, yes, but were they aware of the freedom they had?

Probably not.

He cursed himself but pushed the issue aside for now. He’d have time to rectify that mistake later. Glancing at the closed conference room door, Avery took advantage of having the small group around him

“I do have a request to make. Well, not really.” He scratched his ear. “This is more of informing you of plans I wish to enact on the Unseelie realm, Mhoryga.”

He pretended not to see the way Ella and Laurie reached for each other’s hands. “What about it, Avery?” she murmured, amethyst eyes wary. Just as the rest of her was.

Avery swallowed thickly. “I want the lands, the holdings, to be returned to the Unseelie Fae, in the care of Princess Aislin.”

Ella frowned. “You don’t wish to take it for your people. I know the patinas make it seem like you have a whole land of your own, but that is nothing compared to an entire world.”

Everyone else nodded. “You’ve no plans to use it for the rest of the magical realm?” Caeldon asked Ella delicately. “I thought that was still the plan.”

“Oh, it is,” she replied, waving her hand dismissively. “Things got… shuffled around a bit, so it isn’t that high on my list at the moment.”

“It’s their home,” Avery reasoned. “And after being nomads for so long, they deserve a permanent place to stay without anyone encroaching on their territory.”

“If you’re sure… It also wouldn’t hurt to consult your advisors to see if there are any advantages.”

But he shook his head, already set. “Taking over that realm was never my intention, Mistress, and my people are well-cared for and protected where they are now.” He smiled. “Thanks to you.”

Meridian leaned forward in her seat to look at him. “Wait, not that I’m telling you how to run your own kingdom, but we have just been through a war. Why are you so eager to give your enemies back their—”

“Again, they aren’t my enemies anymore, Meridian,” Avery interrupted her quietly but his tone was as hard as steel. “The Seelie and Unseelie Court will combine, yes, but that doesn’t mean our people have to be forced together as well. Not until they are ready or they want to.”

“Combine…” Ella blinked at him. “Avery, when I asked you if you’d be willing to marry the Princess for an alliance, I wasn’t saying you choose that path for yourself.”

“I know.”

Of course, he knew.

He understood his situation quite clearly. He had been ready to exhaust all possible means to reach an agreement with the Unseelie Court by still letting them lead lives separate from theirs but there was too much enmity between their people for trust to be the only basis on which they founded their Treaty.

After centuries of being nothing but sworn enemies, trust was as flimsy a foundation as a pillar of salt. He saw that today at the meeting, and that glimpse into one of his possible futures was more a gift to Avery than anything else. Call it foresight, wisdom, whatever; it would be foolish of him to turn a blind eye.

Marriage was the only thing that would make the Treaty as binding as possible, and Avery had no delusions that he would not be part of it.

Squaring his shoulders, he smiled at the Mistress. “I appreciate your concern,” he said gently. “But I’m willing to do anything to make the alliance work, even marriage.”

And he was. Because Avery was not just anybody in the Seelie race. He was their King, and for them, he would do what was necessary.

Ella looked him in the eye hard and long before she nodded. “If you need any help, just tell me.”

He bowed his head in gratitude because really, that was all he could do at the moment as the doors opened and in filed the rest of the Council of Magic. The Keeper of the Forge, as always, hobbled in first with his long, drab robes, followed by Peia Solaris whose usually beatific face seemed disturbed today.

Behind her, however, was the obvious object of her ire.

The Fallen Commander strutted in, his wings arching over him behind his back and looking as irreverent as could be. Even now, Avery could not get over the fact that he had come to their aid, letting him and hundreds of his brothers and sisters be branded as turncloaks. Often, Avery would find himself questioning Zachary’s motives for it, but he’d berate himself for thinking such a thing. Especially when they turned the tide in their side’s favor.

Another once-enemy, now an ally.

Zachary caught his gaze, and the Fallen tipped his head in his direction too, but with a sly smile tipping the corner of his mouth upwards.

He tried not to sweat, or fear, or most importantly, remind himself that these Celestials were born with gifts most of them didn’t yet understand. The Fallen themselves were kin of the Children of Light, a Celestial race that prided itself mostly in the art of healing. And while the only stark difference he managed to see was that the Fallen were warriors, Avery couldn’t help but wonder if, like Peia Solaris and her kind, they, too, saw visions of the future.

And, if only by a long shot, the Commander was smirking at him because he knew exactly what Avery’s future looked like.