The Fae King's Ruin

The Princess and the Stomp on the Foot

“Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Aislin whispered to Periwinkle as the latter fixed the hem of her full skirts to keep it from folding.

The blue-haired fae grinned at her reassuringly. “Of course not, Princess.”

She turned this way and that, admiring the beautiful, sparkling black gown made of tulle and satin embroidered with intricate patterns of gold. The corset with the sweetheart neckline she wore was also embroidered with gold, her neck adorned with teardrop onyxes made solely for the occasion and matching her entire ensemble. 

As she stared at herself in the mirror, it was beginning to sink in Aislin’s head that tonight would be the start of a series of chain events that would inevitably end in her marriage to Avery.

Just five months stood between then and now, and she honestly could not decide how she felt about it.

At the moment, there was nothing within Aislin but butterflies, no thought in her head except for the sheer weight of her gown distracting her from everything else. Even if she had not eaten a single thing since breakfast, her stomach flipped and threatened to toss up its contents as she fidgeted once more with her sash.

A hand smacked hers out of the way, and with a gasp, Aislin whipped her head towards Ola, who wore an exasperated expression. “You have been touching the damn thing every ten seconds, Princess. I’m sorry but it has been driving me crazy!”

She bit her lip. “Sorry,” she muttered, palms sweating. “I just… What if I trip and fall on my face?”

“Then get back up and smile!” Ola bumped her hip against Periwinkle, effectively pushing her out of the mirror behind Aislin, and reached up to fix her crown. “You’re the future queen of the Fae realms. Nobody will ever dare laugh at you.” Then she fixed Aislin a hard stare with her jade eyes. “But please don’t trip. Walk slowly and remember to kick your skirts when you do.”

“What I feel like Ola is saying very, very crudely,” Periwinkle said, glaring at the fae in question, “is that you will do great, milady. Just breathe.”

Just breathe. Aislin took a big gulp of air and forced it out through her nostrils. Easy enough, she thought.

Someone knocked on her door. Willow moved to open it as Aislin slipped on her matching black velvet shoes with the same embroidery on its block heels. Aelthrys, dressed in full military regalia, entered and smiled at Aislin through the mirror. A sword with a silver pommel hung on his hips, his freshly trimmed silver hair still short and sweeping at the front. Her cousin looked every bit of the esteemed, fearsome general that he was, except at the moment, his smile had softened all of the roughness on his face.

“You look beautiful, cousin,” he said, glancing at her maids. “Thank you for taking such good care of her.”

Her maids bowed and Aislin stepped off the low podium she’d been on. Reaching up, she fixed his skewed sash. “Feeling a bit emotional there, cousin?” she joked, but when she looked up, the look in Aelthrys’ eyes brought tears to her own.

“There is no going back from this point onwards,” he quietly told her with a slight shrug. “I think I am only beginning to accept that today,” Aelthrys said, smirking at her. “Just in time for the New Year, don’t you think?”

Aislin blinked back tears. “It’s the first one we’ll be having with just us.”

He nodded, lips pursing. Aislin held his hand and gripped it tightly. They have not really talked about his parents, especially after they died in the castle explosion back in Mhoryga when the Queen and their forces had killed most nobles towards the back of the Throne Hall. They had been near the doors despite being family and were killed almost instantly in the blast.

While her Aunt Silena and Uncle Wyles had never been the warmest of parents, they were infinitely better than most and she missed them terribly.

“Mother had never said it, but she was always grateful you ended up in the care of our family,” Aelthrys told her. “She had a chance in having a daughter with you. I think she’d be happy that despite being Seelie, you will marry better than she could have ever hoped for.”

Aislin smacked his arm and Aelthrys raised a single brow at her. “You know she and father were racist against the Seelie.”

“Yes, but you could have left that out in your little speech,” she muttered, glancing at Periwinkle and Willow who were within earshot.

“And what would I be if I didn’t?”

“Tactful,” she promptly replied.

He rolled his eyes at her. Pulling out his watch, he clicked his tongue and adjusted his sleeves. “We should go. We are already late as it is and Avery has been at the reception for fifteen minutes now, or so I’m told by Resyvlo.”

At the mention of the Hand of the King’s name, Aislin blushed. Her reaction pulled a smirk out of her cousin. “As I understand it,” he almost sang, “he’s being punished for being a little too clingy with you during yesterday’s luncheon.”

“He had it coming,” she muttered. “I absolutely could not concentrate the whole time and he knew exactly who we were dealing with. I mean, you understand, right? You were there. You saw the whole damn thing!”

Aelthrys chuckled. “I know, and I understand how much he loves you, certainly.”

Aislin and her maids paused from finishing the final few touches to her look and stared at Aelthrys’ smug face. 

“What?”

He smiled, a quick quirk of his lips that was gone as fast as it had appeared. “You heard me. Now come and take my arm. We are late and your friends are running free around the palace.”

She blinked at him, unable to comprehend anything else that he had just said. Not wanting to wait for her until she got it, Aelthrys began pulling on her hand, leaving her maids in her room. Before the door closed, Aislin heard high-pitched squeals that suspiciously sounded like Willow’s and Ola’s.

Most of the halls were deserted and quiet. Only sentries remained in their usual spots and everyone else, even the waitstaff, had seemed to converge at the reception in the ballroom. From the second floor, she could already hear the murmur of conversation and the lively music, yet all she could think of was Aelthrys’ observation that Avery loved her.

She supposed she should not have been surprised. All signs led to it even if Avery had said all the words but those three definitive ones. Besides, she’d already heard the observation that Avery cared for her from other people. She could not understand why Aelthrys’ remark had gotten through to her more.

They made it all the way to the ground floor landing when she pulled Aelthrys’ to a stop beside some big vases of winter blooms in almost every available color.

“Was what you said true?” she asked in a whisper.

“What did I say?” he feigned innocence.

Making sure no one could see them, she stomped on his foot. He hissed through gritted teeth, the only sign that he felt pain. The silver in his eyes flashed in anger but she glared back.

“I simply made an observation not worth getting stepped on,” he muttered. “Seriously. You’ve got to unlearn being so violent when you are in Seelie territory. They’d think you too Unseelie.”

“But what made you think he loves me?”

“Gods, Aislin, it’s as plain as day! Get over it!”

“‘Get over it’? I need to understand and you have to help me!”

He huffed in annoyance. “No, I really don’t. You have eyes, Aislin, just like everybody else who sees the both of you together. The only thing that’s left is for you to actually open yours.” Crossing his arms, he said, “He loves you. You obviously love him. Can we go now?”

Aislin blinked at him, floored by the truth in Aelthrys’ words, so much so that she took a step back. 

How in the world did she not see it? In fact, how did she not realize it until now? Aislin did love Avery. He was kind, he was pure, and there was not a doubt in the world that he would go to great lengths to support, protect, and love her. All of those he had already proven to her— had done for her without asking for anything in return. And while the only thing left to confirm it was to hear him say the words that he loved her to her face, what she felt for him made that almost inconsequential.

Even if he didn’t love her yet at the present time, it did not— in any way— diminish how she felt. She loved him.

Her heart skipped a beat and picked up in double time. She bit her lip but the exhilarated smile on her face kept growing bigger. Aelthrys scoffed at her and shook his head yet she could not care.

Turning, she made her way to the ballroom, the open double doors flanked by footmen that saw her approach. With a loud bellow, they announced her presence but all she could focus on as she entered the large, exquisitely decorated hall was to look for him.

Like gravity pulling her towards him, she looked to her left on instinct and found his golden eyes already trained on her as he stared after her with something like awe written all over his face. Her heart raced and she suddenly felt a different kind of butterflies in her stomach. Nevertheless, Aislin felt no fear despite more than a couple of hundred people staring at the two of them.

Slowly, he walked towards her. She tried to hold in her gasp as she noticed that somehow, her maids and his tailor had matched their outfits with his jacket of black embroidered with the same gold patterns she had on her dress. The gold circlet around his head had tamed most of his curls, giving him a boyish look that Aislin found incredibly handsome on him and had her blushing like a little girl.

He offered up his slightly trembling hand that Aislin took without hesitation. She squeezed his fingers, wishing to convey as much as she felt in so few words.

But that was fine. She’d find the right moment to say the words to him soon enough. For now, she let him pull her close and lead her to the middle of the hall as the string quartet prepared the first dance song. As Aislin and Avery took up their positions in a loose embrace, he smiled.

“Hello, future wife,” he murmured close to her ear, sending a delicious shiver down her spine.

She grinned. “Hello, future husband,” she said back, just as the first few notes of a Seelie dance Res had taught her started and the love of her life began to lead her through.