The Fae King's Ruin

The King and the Earthquake

Avery watched the two village developers leave his office, carrying yet another set of plans that he had rejected for an inclusive settlement for the Unseelie Fae that had been staying in Alfheim. None of their proposals seemed good enough to him and weren’t at all sustainable in the long run. They were the third land developers he had talked to in the past month and he was getting worried that perhaps this little surprise 0f his for Aislin wouldn’t make it in time for their wedding.

It was one of the reasons why he had not taken her yet into the village beyond the bridge. He did not want to spoil the surprise for her since it was incredibly hard to pick out a gift for someone like Aislin. Avery knew he could have been let off easy with a set of dazzling jewelry but he wanted something special to give her; a symbol that would represent their union in more ways than one.

Res entered right after the developers, grinning at Avery as if he hadn’t just made comments earlier about him and Aislin having premarital se*x in front of her cousin. A scowl unbiddenly entered his expression, telling his best friend that he still hadn’t forgotten what he did.

Blue eyes rolled at him in exasperation. “Oh, come on. Let it go, dude!”

His own eyes narrowed. “Don’t ‘dude’ me. All your earlier comments will cost you.”

“I think it already did. I just spent lunch with the Wicked Witch,” Res groused, plopping on the visitor's chair in front of his desk with a lack of grace. “She’s upset that you and Aislin are too busy to be bothered.”

Avery shrugged it off. Catteline knew how to entertain herself whenever she was in Alfheim. She knew most of the court ladies and had grown up with some of them. He had no doubt that she only joined Res for lunch because she wanted to piss him off. Too bad that it didn’t seem to bother his friend that much.

“So, did those two gentlemales finally get approval out of you?”

He sighed. “No,” he answered in a low groan. “And I don’t have a lot of time, Res. We’ve already set the date and there are not a lot of weeks for me to finish what I had in mind. Do you think I should just look for a different gift to give her altogether?”

“No!” He shook his head. “Let me make a few more calls and have them draw up some blueprints for you. They did some work on the Buckwater Edge city planning and they are very good.”

“Thanks,” he said, then added, “but you’re still not off the hook.”

“Oh, come on. Do you honestly think that Aelthrys would bust your ass for something like that? And what’s wrong about having se*x? You’re betrothed and this isn’t the Middle Ages. No one would think ill of the both of you for something like that.”

“Dear Ilyn,” Avery groaned again. “I don’t want to discuss this with you!”

“I am Hand to your throne. If you cannot talk about this with me, then who would you discuss it with?”

“No one! I don’t want to talk about this, period!”

Res gave him a pointed look but kept his mouth shut. He glared back at him stubbornly. His friend sighed in defeat.

“Fine. Don’t talk to me about these things anymore. But if you encounter any problems in the bedroom, don’t come running to me.”

“I would never.”

“Really? You won’t?”

Avery glanced at him with mild repulsion. “No! What the hell is wrong with you?”

His friend paused, as if Res was really making a mental list of all the things that were wrong with him. He would have also probably shared them aloud if it had not been for the earthquake that made the foundations of the diamond palace groan.

Avery and Res stood on high alert, looking at each other for all of just one moment. The patina never allowed anything as disastrous as an earthquake or a hurricane fall over them, only inducing weather conditions when the lands needed it. So they both knew this wasn’t natural. Something was causing the earth to quake.

He looked out to the balcony window and only caught a glimpse of the horizon flickering as a roll of pure energy passed by it. 

And he only knew one person who could be the source of that surge.

His feet moved before Avery even knew what he was doing. There were distant screams of fear from the lower levels but that wasn’t where his focus was. He got to Aislin’s suite and didn’t bother knocking. He burst into her parlor, only to find Periwinkle, Ola, and Willow all under a table, huddled together in fear.

“Your Majesty!” Periwinkle squeaked. “The princess isn’t here!”

Avery’s heart dropped to his stomach as he rushed to the three girls, scanning them over for any sign of bleeding. When he was sure they were not hurt and only scared, he asked, “Where is she?”

The three of them shook their heads. He cursed silently. 

“Stay here until the ground stops shaking. Once it does, run out of the palace. Got it?”

He didn’t wait for the girls to respond. He ran out of the room and started his trek down, the earthquake already quickly diminishing to a shudder. Still, he couldn’t stop. He needed to make sure Aislin was okay. He didn’t know why or how, but something must have caused that burst of power from her than not even her iron bracelets could stop it.

With a chill running down his spine, Avery ran through his home, praying to whoever deity that would listen to watch over his future wife.