The Fae King's Ruin

The King's Hand and the Two Bees

As it turned out, there were, in fact, two bees in Res’ bonnet.

Aislin was confused at first when she saw both Catteline and Aelthrys sitting in front of his desk while the King’s Hand glowered at the two of them. The moment she entered the office, she was hit by the thick tension that radiated off of the two which was enough to make her pause by the doorway.

Avery, who was slower to catch on, barged right on in without taking stock of the atmosphere in the room.

“What is going on? Why have you—? Catt?” he said in confusion, noticing his scowling cousin for the first time. “Why are you here?”

Res stood, crossing his arms as he drawled, “I caught these two fighting beside the unconscious body of Viscount Silverthorne’s eldest son. He appeared to have been clocked out cold by General Aelthrys over here.”

“What?” Aislin hissed. Her head swiveled to her cousin, noticing the faint redness on his left fist. “You did what?”

“I punched him in the face, Aislin,” he replied slowly, not bothering to look at her. “Do keep up.”

She marched over to him and pinched his ear hard. “Why!” she exclaimed. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Aelthrys slowly turned his head, glaring at Catteline. “Ask her,” was the only thing he said.

Everyone turned to look at the Lady of Montfoltier. Catteline turned her nose up and away at Aelthrys. “How should I know what had gotten into his head? One second Treván and I were talking and the next, he’s sprawled on the ground like a rag!”

“Oh, dear,” Aislin heard Avery mutter as Aelthrys hissed, “‘Talking’? You call kissing him as ‘talking’?”

“Who*re,” Res whispered, smirking.

Avery pointed at him. “You. Not helping. You.” He turned to Aelthrys. “Punching people in the face isn’t a way to resolve conflict.” Then he narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “And you. I know I don’t have any say in any of your relationships—”

“And you still don’t, just so we’re clear.”

“—but you are about to be betrothed to him.” He nodded his head towards Aelthrys. “We had an agreement. And part of that means your marriage cannot come into question.”

“Wait. You agreed to the whole proxy thing Aislin did?” Res’ eyes grew wide.

Catteline rolled her green eyes, giving him an aren’t-you-supposed-to-be-smarter-than-that look. “Of course, I did. I would always do what is asked of me.” She turned her scathing stare at Avery. “But I’m not bound by anything yet, am I? No official document. No paper to sign. So, that means I am not bound by any agreement as of the moment and I can still do whatever the hell it is I want to do. And you, General, would do well to remember that!”

Aelthrys scoffed at her and Aislin pinched her cousin on the ear again. “I will not pledge my loyalty to a female who goes around flaunting herself with other men without any regard for propriety,” he said with such finality that even Avery looked stunned. “For the record, I don’t care whatever it is you do with other males from here on out. Just at least have the decency to do it in private. He was fu*cking molesting you in the middle of a hallway! What decent male would stand for that?”

Catteline gasped in outrage and turned to her cousin. “Will you let him keep talking to me like that?”

To Res’ further enjoyment of Catt’s misery and Aislin’s surprise, the King shrugged. “He has a point, you know. And Treván Silverthorne?” He made a moue of distaste. “He’s a douche.”

“Worse,” Res said. “The only redeeming quality about him is he’s incredibly smart and even people are put off by that.”

Aislin sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hand. “Nonetheless,” she said, “Aelthrys, you should not have punched this Treván. What happens if his father comes demanding your punishment for what you did to his son? What if he asks for your lashing? Or a trial-by-combat!”

Aelthrys tilted his head. “Do they really have trial-by-combat here in the Seelie Court?”

“Not really, but there is what we call a Gentleman’s Regard,” Avery answered.

“And what does that entail?”

“Swords. Guns,” the King supplied with a light shrug that made Aislin’s mouth pop open wide in incredulity. “One time, my uncle even used this Southeast Asian knife called a ‘bolo’ and cut his opponent’s cheek open.”

Catteline turned in her seat with a gasp. “I know that story! Papa was challenged by the Duke of Errenfast for my mother’s hand.”

“What the hell!” Aislin hissed, shutting up all three of them. “You aren’t being helpful.”

Res glanced at Aelthrys. His silver-cored eyes already had a nasty gleam in them. “I think that isn’t true,” he mumbled.

Avery held up a hand. “All right, all right. If the old Viscount does have a problem with what Aelthrys did, I’ll handle it. But we cannot have a repeat of this. Both of you!” he added when Catt began to raise her pointer finger at Aelthrys.

She huffed and stood from her chair. “I’m out of here,” she muttered, walking away as she said the words.

When the door snapped shut behind her, Aelthrys rose from his seat as well but was in no hurry to walk out the door. Aislin raised a brow at him.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m just giving her a head start. I don’t want to bump into her doing questionable things again.” He glanced at Avery. “Your cousin is a piece of work, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Avery replied drily.

Res shook his head, chuckling to himself. “Gods, I cannot believe you two caved to this ridiculous plan!” He pointed at Avery and Aelthrys. “Are the both of you ready to be more entangled than you already are at the moment?”

Aislin wrinkled her nose. “Why do you make it sound like my cousin and fiancé are getting involved with one another?”

“Because he’s watched more adult films than any other decent male in this realm,” Avery deadpanned.

“And experienced!” Res said, raising a finger. “Don’t forget about my wide experience on the matter.”

Aelthrys made a face. “I’m going to go have lunch,” he muttered.

“Why don’t we all go?” she suggested, not wanting him to go just yet even if he acted like an ass. “We all have not had a meal since that dinner.”

Avery shrugged. “I could eat.”

Res nodded. “Me too, but I am craving for something less fancy.”

The King snorted. “Like what? A McDonald’s?”

“No,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “I heard Mama Grite brought back her lamb stew.”

“Mama Grite?” Aislin asked as Avery groaned in longing.

He took her hand. “Oh, you’ll love her and her cooking! She has this pub down at the Village and she makes food that rivals the palace cooks’ talents. C’mon and let’s get our cloaks. We’ll meet at the bottom of the staircase in ten. I’ll grab Catt. I promise she’ll be on her best behavior.”

Aislin looked hopefully at her cousin, who only shrugged at her and clasped his hands behind his back. Turning back to Avery, she nodded. “Let’s do it.”

***

Thirteen minutes later, Aislin, Avery, Aelthrys, Catteline, and Res were all cursing very loudly as they shivered underneath very thick, woolen cloaks. They trudged in the ankle-deep pile of snow around the frozen Lake of Memories as they made their way to the village over the bridge, the sound of their teeth chattering and their smoky trails of breath going up the air in short puffs.

“Why didn’t we take the fu*cking carriage?” Avery complained, tucking Catteline’s small body further against his own. “Res, this was the stupidest idea ever.”

Beside him, embraced tightly by her own cousin, Aislin giggled as they watched Res shiver all alone as he stomped ahead of them. “Yeah, yeah!” The King’s Hand mockingly said. “I blame myself too, no need to sh*it on it any further.”

“You should blame yourself,” Catt hissed through gritted teeth, clutching her cloak tighter around herself with her glove-clad hands. “No lamb stew is worth losing fingers over.”

“Oh, gods, will you please shut your trap, Catteline?” Res sighed in exasperation, his hot breath a long trail of smoke behind him. “No one likes you.”

“That is not true,” Ailsin piped up. “My maids love her. They only say good things.”

“Let’s just get over the bridge,” Avery said. “I’ll just have someone come pick us up later. Oh, and you’re paying, Res.”

He flipped him off, causing the group to chuckle. They walked for a few more minutes, reaching the bridge at a near half-run, eager to get out of the cold. The moment they were at the top of the bridge, Aislin couldn’t help but marvel at Alfheim Village.

While she had always seen it before in her old quarters up at the palace, never had she actually been to visit it. And in the winter, it was like walking into a photograph.

Huts and brick house roofs were covered in a sheet of thick snow, chimneys puffing warm smoke that warmed homes and shops alike. The cobblestone path snaking all around the village was kept dry and nonslippery by charms cast on it. There were quite a lot of people out despite the cold weather, going about their businesses even as their King walked amongst them.

She watched as Avery, Catteline, and Res said hello to a few of the people they knew, shocked at how the people seemed reverent and so comfortable interacting with them. It was as if they had done this a thousand times before and that the people had gotten used to their visits.

They reached the largest pub smack dab in the middle of the village’s shopping district. The exterior was made of red bricks with a slanted roof and two chimneys side by side popping up at the top. There was no sign or any indication that it was a pub, only foggy square windows showing the customers enjoying themselves inside and the door constantly chiming with people coming and going.

The party of five poked their heads in and almost instantly, everyone had jumped up from their seats to bow to their King. They toasted to him and several had even offered up their spots but Avery was charming and quick to have all of them settling back down.

A Seelie fae with short, red hair with gray streaks hobbled in from one of the side doors just as they all were taking off their cloaks. She had deep-set ocher eyes, high-pointed ears, a curvy body with an apron around her wide hips, and a red-stained mouth that spread widely into a smile at the sight of them.

“They told me the King was visiting,” the female drawled with a heavy accent she couldn’t place. “But I didn’t believe it. After all, it’s been years since I’ve seen you around here, Your Majesty.”

Avery grinned and went to embrace the woman. “Are you kicking me out to the cold, Mama?”

The female, whom Aislin realized was the Mama Grite, smacked him on the arm. “You better not leave here without needing to be carted back to the palace! C’mon, you and your friends can sit in the back.” Then, for the first time, those ocher eyes snagged on Aelthrys and Aislin. “My, oh, my. I haven’t seen Unseelie folk like you since I was young.”

Aelthrys bowed his head, respectfully greeting the female despite the obvious halt in the conversation inside the pub, while Avery moved to Aislin’s side. “Mama Grite, this is the Crown Princess Aislin, my soon-to-be-wife. And this is her cousin, the General Aelthrys.”

Mama Grite whistled then curtsied as best as she could. “Well, I’ll be damned! I didn’t think the papers were telling the truth about that as well. Heavens, children, you both look paler than the snow! And thin! Has no one been feeding you since you both came to Alfheim?”

Aislin and Aelthrys blinked at her, expecting a very different kind of welcoming that was unlike the one Avery received. And it seemed as if the other patrons were taking a leaf out of Mama Grite’s book of acceptance, too. Because again, they all stood and bowed.

She nodded in silent thanks as Mama Grite smirked at her. “They just needed to know who and how you were. Come, I’ve got hot food ready for all of you. Res, get your hands off my barmaid’s ass!”

Red and properly chastised, Res scurried away from behind the bar and sullenly shoved his hands in his pockets as Avery snickered at him. “What?” he hissed at him. “Tileana and I have a longstanding arrangement together.”

Catt stepped away from him. “Just in case nobody has ever said it to your face today, Resyvlo, you are disgusting. May Ilyn have mercy on you,” she said, and then walked away to follow Mama Grite in a wide booth in the back of the pub.

Res made faces behind her back before following. Avery turned to Aislin and Aelthrys. “If at any point during the meal that you wish to kick either of them on the shin, please do so.”

She laughed, the sound of it drawing looks back to them. Aislin quickly ducked embarrassedly and pulled on Avery’s hand as he chuckled at her reaction. 

“What’s so funny!”

“You,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”

Behind them, they heard Aelthrys clear his throat. “I can hear you two, you know?”

Avery waved his hand in dismissal. “Then stop eavesdropping, General.”

Aislin chuckled. They joined the two bickering faes and slid into the cushioned seats as servers promptly put out tea and coffee, piping hot dinner rolls that she promptly reached for, and small portions of butter and olive oil. Res asked her to pass him a roll, while Catteline wordlessly handed her a thick soup that smelled so good and tasted infinitely better.

And for the first time in a long while, Aislin found herself surrounded by people she could call her family, despite the obvious flaws in the new mechanism. Despite Res and Catteline getting into petty squabbles every five seconds, or the tenuous middle ground that Avery and Aelthrys had found with each other as they talked more about the Gentleman’s Regard.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was hers. And there was nothing in the world that she would trade it for.