The Fae King's Ruin

Agendas

After a very late start in the day, Avery finally made his way to the courtyard where the staff informed him that lunch was being served. Underneath the shade of tall, wide-leaf trees, the air that reached them was cool and comfortable, awarding them small mercy from the hot day.

Aislin and the General were already at the table set in the middle, the latter making a move to stand that Avery quickly halted.

“No need to stand on my account.” He kissed the top of Aislin’s head, inhaling the scent of her fruit-scented shampoo. “Good morning, love.”

“It is actually the afternoon,” she replied drily, patting the hand he’d placed on her shoulder. “Ola couldn’t wake me earlier than an hour ago. I blame it on the wine.”

Avery grinned. The wine had been exquisite, but that was not his only reason for partaking in excess.

While he had not been king for long, he had been managing the kingdom in his father’s name since before his death. He had to work on his image as a reliable regent and that meant that he could not slip up when it came to his sense of responsibility. Avery had always felt it so strongly at every point in his life moving forward.

Coming here to Mhoryga, he supposed, was liberating in a way. Despite all the people looking at him, trying to glean what they could about his relationship with Aislin, he could not help but be in a celebratory mood. And why wouldn’t he be? He had just been reunited with the one he loved and he was pretty sure she was determined in starting to replace all the bad memories she’d had in this place. He was not complaining, however. Avery was right there along with her.

He looked around, frowning a bit as he sat down. “Is Catteline still asleep?”

Aislin shrugged. “I’m not sure, but we can have somebody check. Huh. Come to think of it, I don’t think I remember her leaving before us and we left the ballroom pretty late.”

Avery turned to the General, who was quietly eating beside Aislin. “How about you? Have you any idea what happened to her last night, General?”

Aelthrys also shrugged, his wide shoulders only raising an inch before dropping back down. “I turned in pretty early,” he murmured quietly.

“That’s not true,” a voice said behind him. He turned and found Res, dressed in robes with patterns that were similar to that of a peacock. Sitting on Avery’s other side, he said, “I seem to remember you carrying Lady Catteline out into the hall. She was pretty drunk.”

Avery looked at the General, just in time to see him look sharply at his friend. “Was that before or after you managed to bring a harem to bed with you?”

Utensils clattered loudly on a plate. Avery buried his face in his hand while Aislin’s mouth popped open. He did not have to look at Res to know that what General Aelthrys said was true. For one, he was not sighing and saying that ‘he wished’ what he claimed was true. In fact, Avery was a hundred and ten percent sure that he had a wide, cat-got-the-canary grin on his rakish face.

“From my court?” Aislin whispered, awe coloring her voice. “Please don’t get me wrong; you are plenty handsome, Res—”

“Why, thank you, Princess.”

“—but how, exactly, did you manage that?”

He waved a hand airily as he put a table napkin over his lap. “A gentleman never tells, I’m afraid. It is the kind of trick in the trade that one only reveals to another gentleman.” Then, he smiled. “Don’t worry; King Avery had long left his philandering days behind.”

“Nor was I a philanderer in the first place,” Avery said quickly in assurance.

Aislin smirked. “Uh-huh,” she replied, returning to her food. “Well, I hope you are ready for any kind of fallout that might come from whatever the hell it is you did last night.”

“Why, what’s the agenda for today?”

“Well, I thought it would be a good idea for us to take a tour of the palace. And then in the evening, if you are still up to it, there is a spectacular night market in the city. We could go.”

“That sounds nice,” he said, smiling. “I would love to see the sights.”

“What sights are we seeing?” Catteline asked, finally arriving, twirling a see-through, black scarf that matched the rest of her dress. She had eyeliner on and red lipstick and seemed to be a little bit more different than how she usually appeared during the day.

Thinking nothing of it, he said, “A night market in the city. Are you well enough to go?”

“Who said I wasn’t feeling well?” she asked, a bit preoccupied as she chose between a seat next to Aelthrys or Res. She eventually chose the former, even if she did angle her seat farther from him.

“You woke up later than the rest of us did,” Avery said to her with slight concern. “We thought that perhaps you needed some more time to recover from last night.”

“Speaking of last night,” Res interjected, grinning. “How were you able to find your rooms?”

Catteline’s frown turned from confusion into one of irritation. “They do have guards here, doofus. I asked one of them to bring me back.”

“Guards?” he pressed. “Or perhaps someone with a higher position?”

As the two glared at one another, Aelthrys reached for his goblet and kept resolutely mum on the matter as he stared blankly ahead. Avery half expected him to at least set the record straight, if he were truly the one who helped Catteline back to her room. For one, he wouldn’t mind. At least his cousin would have been in good hands while she was vulnerable, but there was only silence from the two.

“I hardly think that matters now,” Aislin said, giving Res a pointed look. “Why don’t we all just simply enjoy the food and be along with our tour? Cousin, will you be joining us?”

Aelthrys’ eyes turned to her. “Alas, no. I have some matters to attend to back in Cetha, but I imagine I shall be back tonight.”

And with that, he stood. Bowing to Aislin first, for she currently outranked Avery, then to the rest of them, he left the courtyard and his plate had been cleared promptly by the staff.

“Well, it’s just us then.” The Princess smiled brightly, even if the nerves did show in her eyes. “Great.”