The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and Lines Drawn

After Avery left to attend to his royal duties and after they had one of the best laughs of their lives, Aislin reluctantly went to work on her daily correspondence in her new office. The letters mostly consisted of reports from her many advisors, accompanied by their not-so-subtle suggestions of people that could fill certain vacant positions in her Cabinet. She penned each of their replies, all identical missives that told them she would consider their opinions on filling the seats.

But other than those, she also received a lunch invitation from Lord Elrin that Aislin immediately set off to the side.

It wasn't so much an invitation as it was a summons. Her uncle was probably already tired of being ignored and was now clearly invoking his right as family to see Aislin.

The claim was obviously bull*s**t. Lord Elrin knew that Aislin could barely stand him ever since he ate her pet rabbit and was evidently only requesting this meeting to try and push his personal agenda on her. After all, Elrin was a powerful force in Drakos' regime. It was only natural that he would seek the same favor that her brother afforded to him in her reign. Only this time, Aislin felt vindictive enough towards him that he'd be sorely disappointed in his pursuits.

But declining this meeting with him would be a bad idea if Aislin wanted her uncle to continue being useful to her court and their causes. Even snakes had to be fed so their poison could be useful when the time comes. Aelthrys would have also advised her to accept if only to see what Elrin wanted.

Keeping friends close and enemies closer and all that.

And so Aislin had Periwinkle send her acceptance letter to her uncle, along with her own terms for meeting with him. She would only have lunch with him in the Grand Hall amidst the other members of the Seelie Court. Aislin would be hitting two birds with one stone even if Avery insisted that she didn't have to exert any kind of effort with the members of his court.

Irritating her uncle was also a plus that put a wide smirk on Aislin's lips.

At ten minutes before twelve, Lord Elrin promptly knocked at her door, about as pissed-off as a disgruntled jackal. Aislin didn't bother hiding her satisfied smirk and held out her hand.

“Hello, Uncle,” she purred with malicious delight. “I’ve missed you.”

Elrin’s dry, papery lips touched her knuckles and felt him pause. He was staring at the ring on her finger, the gems winking at him as the light hit it. His back straightened, eyes still on her hand before they shifted up to her face.

“For all our sakes, I do hope that ring belonged to your betrothed,” he sneered. “I’m not sure General Aelthrys gives you enough sound advice these days.”

Her smirk sweetened. “For YOUR sake, Lord Elrin, I hope this delightful conversation of ours do not come back to him.”

He rolled his eyes and gruffly offered his arm to her which Aislin took with saccharine gladness. As they passed, Periwinkle caught her eye. With just one look, the blue-haired fae quickly hid the towelette she was holding inside her pockets and fell two steps behind them.

Thank Ilyn for highly perceptive angels like Periwinkle.

“Have you made any decisions yet with regards to the vacant Cabinet seats?” Lord Elrin asked as they took the stairs. “Will you be presenting them later at the meeting?”

“Yes, I’ve made decisions,” Aislin answered. “No, I won’t be announcing them just yet.”

“Why.” A demand. Not a question.

Aislin stopped, surprising Lord Elrin as she also pulled him to a halt beside her. With a stone-cold expression, she leveled her uncle with a look of pure hatred.

“One,” she said rather calmly, “you are not a child. You already know how to speak to someone who is your sovereign and superior. Two, you do not get to question me or my decisions ever again if you know what is good for you and your ambitions. Are we clear?”

His square jaw worked, his left eyelid twitching: all signs of impending, bunny-murdering tendencies. Aislin merely lifted a brow, daring him to make a scene. The people passing by them on the steps were starting to stare at them, deliberately slowing down in their tracks to catch a whiff of the conversation they were having.

This was why Aislin never wanted to be alone with her uncle. She could never trust his temper, nor his regard for females, and she had no magical abilities to defend herself should the need ever arise. Even Periwinkle had edged a step closer to her, no doubt sensing the same things she already knew to be true about her uncle.

Aislin let go of his arm and pasted a smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. “We are done treating each other like family now. From this point on, you shall maintain a respectful distance from me like all other non-kin males.” She took a step down the stairs and said over her shoulder, “Do hurry, Lord Elrin. I find that putting you in your place gives me such an appetite.”

With a slight smirk and a swish of her skirts, Aislin continued down the stairs alone with her head held up high, Periwinkle now closer behind her, and hoping that the cooks had served cake.

***

Of course, none of Aislin’s actions ever had any unpleasant consequences.

After she had gotten back from lunch with her smarmy little uncle, Aislin happily draped herself over one of the couches in her parlor room where Ola and Willow were waiting for them. Periwinkle took a brush from her room and started smoothing out Aislin’s hair while catching up with the two girls on what had happened between Aislin and Lord Elrin.

Ola was livid when Aislin told her why she hated her uncle in the first place, other than because of his charming attitude. She told them stories of him from her childhood, probably more than what she has shared with anyone since arriving at Alfheim, and hoped that they understood her just a little more.

She was in the middle of one particular story involving her uncle, her brother, and one of their earlier attempts at controlling Aislin’s powers when Aelthrys burst into the room, nostrils flaring as he descended on Aislin.

“What. Did. You. Do,” her cousin growled.

Aislin lazily got up from the couch and dismissed the girls with a nod of her head. Only once they were gone did she turn her eyes to the fuming hulk of a warrior fae standing in front of her.

“I’m assuming our dear uncle bitched about me to you?” She lifted an unimpressed brow. “What did he say?”

Aelthrys brought his hand to his face, rubbing his pale, gold-undertoned skin raw. “Pick a fight with him. Insult him to his face. Fu*ck, kill him for all I care, Aislin, but have the gods-damned foresight to not do it so publicly!” he roared. “This whole bloody court doesn’t need to know we are fighting amongst ourselves!”

She crossed her arms. “Then Elrin needs to start treating me like his queen and not his niece! I stopped treating him as family eons ago.”

“Being his niece gives you the luxury of getting him in line, Aislin!” he ran his shaking hands through his hair. “Despite not seeming like it and considering his twisted views on the matter, Elrin works for us because he treats us as his family. He gets all the other nobles in line and does the dirty work when needed. Mhoryga is staying afloat primarily because of him, Aislin—because we aren’t there and he is.”

Okay, so she might have fu*cked up monumentally. But Aislin squared her shoulders. She wasn’t going to apologize to Elrin for fear that he wouldn’t do his job anymore. Aelthrys’ silver-cored eyes screamed murder when she looked into them. He probably might just strangle her to death with the next words to come out of her mouth.

“Then go back to Mhoryga and act as regent until I can go back,” she said, ignoring the shocked look on her cousin’s face. “Besides, I know you’re bored of having nothing to do here day in and day out. Plus, I don’t trust anyone but you in making sure the people are well-cared for. You don’t need to worry about me,” she added. “I’m protected here in Alfheim.”

He lifted a brow. “You trust the males here enough for me to leave you in their care?”

She pursed her lips. “I trust Avery.” And it was the truth.

Aelthrys studied her for a very long time, searching, she knew, for any semblance of hesitation in her words. She and Aelthrys had never been apart for a long period of time. And if there was ever a need that he had to leave her, he knew she was safe in Cetha. 

But she would not be in Cetha. She would be here, in Alfheim, a place far different from their home in a whole other realm.

“I’ll think about it,” Aelthrys muttered, his anger deflating. “I’ll handle the meeting later. Elrin was so spitting mad that if he saw you again so soon, queen or not, he might rip your face off.”

Aislin rolled her eyes. “He’s over four hundred years old. He should have picked up a little self-control and respect by now.”

“Aislin,” he said admonishingly.”

She sighed, plopping back down on the couch. Staring up at her painted ceiling, Aislin remembered that she had a matter to discuss with her cousin.

“Did you know that Zachary had managed to get a seat on the Council of Magic?”

She heard him snort. “Well, that’s not exactly unsurprising,” Aelthrys muttered. “The slimy, Celestial git knows how to gamble.”

“And the merqueen has effectively recruited me into their circle of fighting members.”

“I’ve heard about that group of theirs. They are very strong warriors, Aislin, and you haven’t trained as of late.”

With a swallow, she added, “The Queen also thought they could train me. Teach me how to use my powers.”

The air in the room suddenly dropped as Aelthrys turned to her. “What?”