The Fae King's Ruin

Mission

Catteline sat on the chair set sitting outside on Aislin's balcony. The cold air was blocked around them by her magic, almost acting like a heater in a separate room instead of being out in the open air. Her three maids were setting up the table with food and drink while Aislin penned a short note to Avery. 

She was curious as to why the Princess would choose to have breakfast with her rather than the King, and that little fact scared her just a bit. Somehow, Catt felt a difficult conversation in their immediate futures. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable.

Letting her set the pace, she fixed herself a cup of coffee, groaning quietly every time she had to lift her arms. Catt thought that sore muscles from exercise usually made itself felt at least a day after the workout. Her arms now, however, were like beat-up jelly. She looked up to scowl at Aislin, only to find that she already had a private grin that she hid behind the rim of her cup.

"Oh, come on," Catt groused, pouting. "You do not get to enjoy my pain after the hell you put me through."

She raised a pale brow at her. "Are you saying that I did this to you? As if I am the one who begged to be trained?"

"Whatever," she replied dismissively. “I'm starting to think I'm hopeless at it anyway."

“I told you that you just need to build up stamina for cardio and endurance. Today was great; please do not make me drag you out of bed again tomorrow.”

“Great,” Catt muttered. “I can’t wait to sleep this… exhaustion off.”

Aislin blinked a few times in quick succession, a red blush lightly staining her cheeks. “Then I shall get straight to the point. I wanted to talk to you. About last night.”

She sighed. “I figured as much.” Setting her cup down, Catt picked up a piece of toast and began slowly slathering butter on top of it. “Go, shoot.”

With a little frown on her lips, the space between her brows frowning a shallow v indent, Aislin said, “All right, then. I want to start off by apologizing for my outburst last night. It was completely uncouth of me and I know that perhaps I might have frazzled our families’ cordial ties with my actions. If your brothers and sister-in-law would have me, please let them know that I want to apologize to them in person as well.”

The Princess has spoken so swiftly, brought on by her anxiety, that if Catteline had not been paying attention, she would not have caught her sentence in its entirety. She wondered how long Aislin had been stewing over her words, mincing them in her head before saying them out loud to her face. It spoke of how greatly last night’s events bothered her too, but not exactly for all the right reasons.

Well, all the right reasons according to Catteline, that is.

“You shouldn’t bother with it,” she told Aislin seriously. “I mean, really. Even I am not sure what had gotten into Elena to speak the way she did to you. They had no right.”

She shook her head. “No, I understand why. They love you and so naturally their first instinct would be to protect you.”

“If they loved me, they wouldn’t be undermining me, would they?” Catt rolled her eyes. “They won’t admit it, but the only reason they worry about me is that they have always thought that I cannot handle anything that came my way. Did Avery tell you that I used to be sickly as a child?”

She stared angrily at her toast now, reliving how her entire family made her walk eggshells around normal activities for children due to the fear that she’d fall dead any time.

“I was diagnosed with a rare disease for Fae children,” she continued, brushing crumbs off her hands. “As a result, I was weaker than the typical Fae child. It took me until I was five years old before I showed signs that I was ready to walk. But it was not until I was fifteen that all of the disease’s symptoms had begun to decline, giving me more mobility. And so for fifteen years, my family— primarily my brothers— had to take care of me. Defend me when I was literally too weak to defend myself. But I survived the sting of my sickness. I got better; they did not.”

After saying the words, an immense amount of relief flooded over her. Catteline was stunned by the heady feeling, not realizing that she had never had anyone to simply talk to candidly about her family’s treatment of her. As Lady of Montfoltier and her status within the kingdom, Catt had always been conscious of what personal things she revealed to most people since she never knew if they would use that information against her.

And badmouthing her family, separating herself from the united front they usually showed themselves as, was a bad image to have as part of the ruling family in their land. It would be a c***k in the armor that they so desperately showed their world.

But with Aislin, there was no need for pretense.

“Oh,” she breathed in a heavy exhale, a verbal unmooring of half the weight resting on her shoulders. Catteline sagged against her chair, ignoring the worried look that crossed Aislin’s face. 

“What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing,” she whispered, chuckling once. “I just hadn’t had the opportunity to say those words aloud to anyone else.” Catt glanced at the Princess’ dark eyes that filled with understanding. “It feels liberating.”

“I’m glad you feel that you could talk to me.” Aislin shrugged. “And with what you said, it makes me understand your brothers better, too. I had Aelthrys growing up and a brother that was psychotic at best. No one knew how to tame my magic so they decided to suppress it. Until now, I keep relying on others for tasks that would be a whole lot easier if I had my magic. Aelthrys, at least, had managed to find a way so I could make use of my other strengths when my powers are not available. But in other respects, he is just as overbearing as any other brother.”

Chuckling, she added, “I think Fae males are just programmed to be that way, and they don’t change because they do not see it as a negative behavior. Except for Avery.”

At that, Catteline smiled. “What do you mean?” she asked. 

Expectedly, the Princess blushed again. “It might sound… cliché, but he is a far cry from any male I have ever met in my entire life. In the world I came from, marriage seemed to me as another way of putting shackles on me, aside from the literal ones I already have, of course,” she jokingly added, holding up the iron bracelets she wore that were laid in with diamonds. “But with Avery, I do not get that feeling or idea. He has been nothing but supportive. While I will not lie that I never would have considered marrying him if not for the Treaty, I am not deterred by the thought of it anymore. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”

Without needing further inspection, Catt knew that the Princess was speaking the truth. She did not even have to say the words out loud. Even a blind person would be able to see how deeply those two were falling for each other. And if she were being honest, she was feeling a little jealous about it.

What were the odds of actually falling in love with the person you were arranged to be married to? At most, Catteline had hoped that her cousin would at least have a cordial relationship with Aislin, but she had gotten more than she’d asked for. To see them be so open to an experience together as they were, a small flicker of hope for her own fate lit the chambers of her heart and soul alight.

Then, in the eye of her mind, a pair of dark pools ringed with silver startled her out of her thoughts.

Her expression must have betrayed her every thought as Aislin smiled sympathetically at her. She scrambled to fix what must be an awful expression on her face but stopped at the slight shake of her head.

“I don’t want to overstep, but I hope you believe me when I tell you that Aelthrys is not the worst person to have on your side,” she murmured softly. “Honestly, Ilyn only knows where I would be now if it wasn’t for him. Perhaps to make the next few years a bit more… palatable, you could say, both of you could try getting to know one another.”

“I’m not too sure of that,” Catt muttered in reply, feeling more than a little embarrassed. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, or you did not hear my cousin point out last night, but I kind of have been a bi*tch to him since we learned of the Proxy Clause.”

“And why is that?”

Catteline opened her mouth to answer the simple question except no words came out of her lips. She frowned. She had already established that she had no reason other than pettiness for her actions towards the General. Surprise and outrage were never a good combination and, in hindsight, she should not have acted like a petulant child. 

But how could she admit such a thing to Aislin, his cousin? It was humiliating!

Thankfully, Aislin didn’t force her. Nodding, she picked off imaginary lint from her lap. “Catt, there is no harm in trying. Take it from someone who had been hesitant to open herself up to the crazy proposition of the great Fae King. If anything, it would make the future a little bit clearer to you.”

She considered her words, taking Aislin’s advice more seriously than any she had received before, even from her own parents. Perhaps starting with mending whatever nonexistent bridge between them that she broke could be the start of her foggy future brightening up. It would certainly ease her worries and maybe demystify the General just a little bit. That is, of course, if he wished to meet with her in any capacity.

After how they both acted in the garden… Catteline shuddered to think how any conversation of theirs could end without bloodshed.

But she could try. What else was there to do but that?

After the food was all but licked off the small plates and the sun was fully up, Catt stood and thanked Aislin for the invite. Before leaving, she promised the Princess that regardless of her sentiments about it, she would forward her issued apology to her brothers and sister-in-law.

At the door, Aislin called her name and she turned back to look at her soft features. There was a knowing glint in her eyes as she said to Catteline, “Since you are already on your way, could you please tell my cousin I’m sorry, and that I would like to have dinner with him if he is free? Thank you.”

Her mouth popped open, astounded by the fact that Aislin had guessed exactly what she had set out to do. Her door closed with a soft, click that was slightly mocking to her ears, and she blinked in both shock and embarrassment at being caught practically in the act before she could even do anything.

For a split second, she debated whether to prove the Princess— and herself— wrong and go straight to her own suite, but she could not alter her course now. Catteline would very much prefer to receive her rejection now rather than later. Pushing her sleeves up, she continued her walk, all the while quieting the circus of butterflies in her stomach as she made her way to ask the first butler she saw to point her to where the General of Cetha was on this fine morning.