The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and the Aftermath

“Slept well?”

Aislin’s narrowed eyes slowly slid over the King’s Hand, Res’ smirking face barely donning the look of innocence that belied his words. Avery, sitting next to her, barely even glanced at Res but visibly stiffened as he lifted his fork to his mouth.

“Watch it,” Aelthrys warned, his mood surlier than ever.

He has been this way since he caught Aislin and Avery sneaking back onto their wing of the palace, which was quite unfortunate because up until an hour ago, Aislin’s cousin was not even aware that she was not where she was supposed to be last night. He only got the idea once he saw yesterday’s clothes on their backs and their rumpled appearance, and almost instantly Aelthrys was dragging the both of them to Aislin’s suite.

While Periwinkle and the others hastened to serve brunch, Avery called for Res. He said they might as well get a meeting out of Aelthrys’ presence so they could tell them together about what happened with Aislin’s first training session.

For some reason, Aislin thought that that particular conversation would be her primary source of concern. But that was before she had woken up this morning with Avery’s face inches away from her own and their arms clinging to each other’s torsos. Not that she would willingly divulge that information.

And truly, there wasn’t anything wrong with it! It wasn’t as if they did anything inappropriate. As a matter of fact, just about every inappropriate thing that they have done was done right here in Alfheim. So, really, they have been on good behavior.

Aislin turned to her cousin. “And you. Stop looking at me like you want to burn me at the stake. Nothing happened between the King and me that you should know about.”

“Did you sleep in the cabin?” Res asked out of the blue.

“Res,” Avery hissed.

Not quite understanding, she frowned. “Yes,” was her hesitant reply.

The Hand of the King grinned at the General of the Unseelie Fae. “That cabin only has room for one, queen-sized bed,” he told him. “Very cozy.”

“Res!” Aislin and Avery shouted in unison.

Cerulean eyes winked at them, his mischievous grin an obvious sign of obliviousness to the angry vein throbbing on Aelthrys’ temple. Avery sighed, turning to her cousin with all seriousness on his face. 

“I would never do anything to compromise your cousin’s reputation,” he vowed. “That does not speak of my character.”

“And yet you kiss her so publicly,” Aelthrys drawled. “Tell me, King Avery, what does that say of you?”

“That is quite enough,” Aislin snapped. 

Silence descended on the room like a cold blanket. Res’ smirk fell from his lips and Aelthrys’ angry glare shifted from the King to his curled fists over the table. She rubbed her forehead, a headache completely blindsiding her; an indisputable omen that today was not going to be an easy day.

“Choices were made,” she began to say. “But they weren’t without consent. My energy was spent due to the hellstorm-like release of my powers so instead of making the travel back to Alfheim while I am looking worse for wear, the King thought it best we stay in the village. We made the best out of the situation, yes, which included a single bed but— not that it is any of your business— nothing happened between us.” She huffed out a breath of irritation. “And as for that kiss, I’m glad it happened in public. So people wouldn’t be shocked because the moment we marry, I fully intend to kiss my husband any damn time I want!”

Aislin glared at all of them as she ended the tirade that had brought her to a near-scream. Her face was red and splotchy but at least her eyes had stayed dry. Usually, when she got angry enough to get into a screaming match, tears were not that far behind. Not this time, however. She only felt fire in her blood— a readiness to defend herself and Avery from anyone.

The heat was so palpable Aislin thought she really was on fire. Looking down on her hands, she checked if her bracelets were still intact. In an almost answer, the diamonds winked at her. She hadn’t noticed everyone else followed her gaze until her cousin spoke up.

“Where are your irons?” he asked, a slight panic in his voice. “Aislin, you can’t—”

“Relax,” Avery said. “They merely replaced it with something more… palatable.”

“Who’s they?”

“The Council,” Aislin answered with a roll of her eyes. “Laurie soldered off the old ones so they could see how my powers would manifest unrestrained. I actually got to control it for a while before he put these on." She showed them the diamond-adorned iron bracelets. "These have a locking mechanism so that they don't have to keep making the iron bands for me."

She had never thought much about her manacles, other than the fact that she had great insecurities about wearing the blasted things early on. The only things she could do was rely on other people’s glamours or wear dresses with sleeves long enough to cover them. And when she outgrew the manacles, they simply replaced it with new ones without any innovation. Her magic was a sore subject of sorts since it incited fear amongst people. As a result, no one bothered to actually look for a more pleasant solution for it. 

Judging by the shame that crossed Aelthrys’ face, he thought much of the same thing. Aislin swallowed, wishing that she did not have to see her cousin’s reaction.

“Wait.” Confused, Res stared at her. “You mean to tell me Locke Village still stands after you used your powers?”

“Yes, it still stands, but no, I did not use my powers,” she clarified. “It’s like… the magic inside me had been building up all these years, itching for a release as soon as the iron suppressors were off. The Mistress contained the explosion with her own magic and held it long enough until I snapped out of—”

She paused, catching her tongue at the very last moment. It wasn’t because Aislin did not trust them that she could not freely say what exactly she was experiencing before Avery pulled her out of her trance, but because she wasn’t sure if they would even understand her. Heck, she couldn’t even understand what she saw in the first place and it was still an enigma she would like to solve for herself first.

But there was already an odd emotion on Avery’s face that she could not put a finger on. It was gone so quickly that she didn’t even have time to decipher it. Aislin shook her head and took a deep breath.

“—out of whatever stupor it was,” she mumbled. “But after Avery snapped me out of it, she gave me enough time in the bubble to get my powers under control before I was given the bracelets.”

Res slumped back in his seat, pensively rubbing his chin with a long finger. Aelthrys was still focused on his closed fists, and Avery… well, Aislin couldn’t get a read on him, which might mean that he was confused as well. She just didn’t get why.

The clock chimed ten, and as if on cue, both Aislin and Avery yawned widely despite waking up rather late. Eyeing the two, Aelthrys stood.

“We’ll talk about this some more once you’ve rested. I think, however, that it is best that any issue on Aislin’s power stay between us first.”

“Agreed,” Avery nodded, rubbing at his bleary eyes. He stood as well, and Res practically had to drag him out of Aislin’s suite. But not before he planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you later, Princess.”

“Later,” she whispered, trying to ignore the look of pure condemnation in her cousin’s eyes.

She watched them go, with the sole exception of Aelthrys who stood like a rock beside her. Periwinkle shut the door behind the King and his Hand.

“Aislin—”

She held up a hand. “Please come back and talk to me when you’re done being backward about my relationship with my fiancé. In the meantime, I need a warm bath and a long, uninterrupted sleep.”

As her maids quickly left to set up the bath, Aelthrys scowled at her, but the glare in his eyes had softened now. It was just a fraction less but Aislin knew every small change counted when it came to her cousin.

“I’ll go,” he said. “But I need to make sure you’re okay. Are you?”

She swallowed again. “I don’t know,” she responded honestly. “But I was not harmed in any way. Everyone cared for me. Protected me. Especially the King.”

He gave her a nod and she knew that was enough for him. “All right. I’ll come by later and you can tell me everything.”

Aislin nodded and watched her cousin go, ultimately relieved when she was finally alone. She sat back down on her chair and let herself breathe, ignoring the sense of deja vu that everything was about to change for her all over again.