The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and Wondering

The first thing Aislin noticed when she opened her eyes from a long, dreamless nap, was that the cabin’s ceiling had no cobwebs.

It might have been the oddest thing to notice first when waking up in a new place but she found herself repeatedly fixating on that silly little fact. Not even the lack of furniture bothered her. Or the way that the wooden planks made sounds as they rubbed against each other in the cold.

Nor was she willing to focus on the fact that Avery’s sleeping form was on the ratty armchair in one corner of the room, his chest rising and falling evenly, telling her that he was in a rather deep sleep.

Aislin wondered why he had chosen not to wake her up. Surely he would have preferred to rest in his bed instead of making due with the armchair that seemed lumpy at first and second glances? She debated waking him up so they could go home. But the rather old-looking wall clock at the top of the door said it was two-thirty, much too late for anyone to be traveling anywhere, not to mention that it would be quite scandalous for anyone to see Aislin and Avery together as they sneak back into the palace.

So, she and the King were stuck here to wait out the morning.

Aislin tucked her chin into the covers, feeling the odd sensation that there was no piece of metal that hindered her wrists from movement. In their place sat the gorgeous bracelets that the Queen's mate gave to her. In all honesty, she could have lived with wearing the bracelets for all of her life. Aislin was sure she can get her maids to design dresses that would always compliment her peculiar jewelry. That is if she hadn't felt what it was like to have the possibility of being able to live with her magic.

Despite the initial fear and anxiety, it was marvelous. And she was not talking about all she could do with her powers— Aislin already knew that her magic was as great as it was terrible— but the feeling of having that kind of magic under control was something she never imagined for herself. For as long as she could remember, it was either experiencing the full magnitude of her abilities or having them radio silent, or at least controlled enough that she could only feel them writhing under her skin whenever her emotions were heightened.

But what the Council had allowed her to experience yesterday that no one had the idea or abilities to give her before was a safe enough environment where Aislin wouldn't have to fear for others as she tried controlling herself. And when that fear was eliminated, Aislin's focus had significantly heightened, allowing her to just… feel.

She knew that she had a lot to learn, just as Aislin knew that her most important task would be understanding how she saw those galaxies in the first place. It could not have been her imagination because those heavenly bodies felt real. As if her magic had opened up a door so she could peer into the universe and explore it as she wished.

Her eyes fell back on her Fae fiancé again and wondered what he would think about that specific power of hers. Aislin knew it was Celestial in nature without anyone confirming it to her, but was it enough for her to defend their peoples in the situation he used to convince her once upon a time?

Aislin didn’t know, and it probably was too early to tell.

She slowly got out of bed, her muscles and joints surprisingly sore, and padded over to where Avery was. She reached out to shake his shoulder but her hand ended up brushing back a stray curl instead. As always, they were soft to the touch and found it wholly irresistible to stop once she started. They were so silky and shiny, even more than hers, really.

From his hair, her finger lightly traced down his straight nose, caressed his thick brows and cheeks, and wondered all the while what a child of theirs would look like. While Aislin had seen portraits of both his father and mother, she hadn't gotten a glimpse of the King when he was a child yet. She did hope, whether a boy or a girl, that they would get his curls and the golden, golden eyes that now stared up at her.

Wait…

Aislin froze completely as the King sleepily gave her a lopsided smirk.

“I knew you couldn’t get enough of me.”

She rolled her eyes and straightened. “I was just about to wake you. That chair doesn’t seem very comfortable.”

Avery groggily nodded, flexing his neck. Aislin winced at the horrible cracking sounds as he did it. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable and share the bed you were sleeping on without your permission. I honestly thought you’d wake in just a couple of hours so I decided to read. I must have fallen asleep.” The golden eyes she was just admiring earlier looked towards the wall clock. “I hope your cousin isn’t looking for you.”

Aislin chuckled in deep amusement, imagining her cousin imagining her doing unspeakable things with the King. Ever since she and Avery shared that very public kiss in the Grand Hall Aelthrys could barely look her or the King in the eye whenever they were together. In private audiences, Aelthrys would lecture her over and over that whatever canoodling she thinks she could do with Avery, she couldn’t. Then, he would go on a long tirade about how they should learn how to be discreet, at the very least, if Aislin was going to be a spoilt, lustful brat about it.

When Avery raised a brow in curiosity, Aislin explained very simply, “He’s going to kill me.”

“I’m sure I can forbid that from happening. Future wife and all that.” He stood, groaning as he stretched, and glanced at the bed. “But since he already thinks we’re making heirs ahead of time, can I now try and get a few winks on the bed? I promise I won’t do anything dishonorable to you, I’m just really tired. And after the day we had, I’m sure you’re still tired, too.”

Aislin blinked. “Of course, that’s not a problem.”

He gave her a small grin and proceeded to take off his jacket, laying it neatly on the chair’s arm. Aislin tried to calm her heart down as he also started taking off his boots one by one. She braced herself for more articles of clothing to be removed from his person but it thankfully stopped there. She took the left side again, gingerly lifting the covers and sitting right on the edge of the bed, and felt the bed dip as Avery took his position.

That’s when it hit her.

Avery, King of the Seelie Fae, was climbing into bed with her, the Crown Princess of the Unseelie Court, and they weren’t even bloody married yet!

Her cheeks went up in flames as she processed the whole thing without hyperventilating, which the King would definitely notice.

She tried to reason with herself that this would have happened sooner or later and that they have done far more, er, romantic things than sharing a bed for the remainder of the night shouldn’t matter much.

But it did. Not only that, sharing a bed with him would probably be the most intimate thing that they have ever done to date. And Aislin had let him touch her brea*sts!

And so she told herself that she was being ridiculous, even if as soon as Avery’s head hit the pillow, he was dead to the world. They would just be sleeping— the kind that involved Rapid Eye Movement and not something else that also required movement and could either be rapid or slow…

Aislin started breathing exercises to try and calm down. She had plenty of hours left before sunrise and she needed her energy for another day of being a princess and the next queen of two powerful kingdoms.

Plus, she was meeting with the organizers of their engagement party. She wanted to at least make sure she wasn’t going to hate the whole thing.

And so Aislin started counting sheep, reaching a hundred and seventy-two before her world turned black.

Later that very same day, Aislin and Avery both woke up at the same time to a tangle of their limbs, and almost all of their boundaries crossed.