Forever Fae

2. Ryder

2

RYDER

“Are you sure you don’t want to accompany me to the ceremony, Mother?” I inquired sarcastically.

My mother, Queen Mab, had graciously asked if I’d go to the Guardian Ceremony for the Princess Calista. Graciously might not be the word I’d say she used. She told me I had to go.

Lifting one of her eyebrows, she smirked to show me she knew what I was doing. I loved getting her worked up over the Summer Court queen. My mother was a beautiful lady with long, raven black hair and blue eyes. She’d been known to freeze things with a single icy glare.

“No, dear son, I will wait here for your father’s return. Your father’s the only one who can keep me from ripping Queen Tatiana’s hair out of her head. That woman drives me up the wall with her air of arrogance, and with your father not here, I find it in the best interest of both the courts if I sit this one out.”

“I think I would have to agree. We wouldn’t want to start a war now would we?” I laughed at the mental picture in my head of my mother going head to head with the Summer Court queen. It’d definitely be entertaining, and a fight I knew my mother would win. She was known throughout the Winter Court as being the true Ice Queen; never wielding or showing mercy.

Taking my mother’s hand, we strolled together to the throne room where we both took a seat by the large window overlooking our wintery palace.

Sighing, my mother muttered, “No, we wouldn’t. From everything that’s going on in and around the Black Forest, we need to make sure we stay close to the Summer Court. If something happens, we need to have them on our side and vice versa.”

Nodding, I agreed, “That’s true. I’m curious to know what the Summer Court has to say about all of this. Has any of their fae gone missing as well?”

“Several have, and that’s what worries me. The air feels as evil as it did when the war broke out over a century ago. You can taste the bitterness of it in the air.”

“Has Heylfred said anything more about the prophecy?” I asked curiously. Heylfred was our advisor and he had a way of seeing things that none of us could. He’d told me of his speculations about the prophecy, but I was curious to know what he’d told my mother.

Tilting her head to the side, she smiled and tried to hold in a chuckle. “He says he believes that you and the lovely Princess Calista will be the beginning of it all, and that your hearts are destined to be together.” Yep, it was the same as what he told me.

I groaned. “Yeah, that’s the same poetic bullshit I hear from him as well. If Calista is anything like her mother, I highly doubt I could stand to be within three feet of her.”

“You may be surprised, my son,” my mother said with a devilish smile.

Looking out the window, I saw that my army had all begun to gather and were saddling their horses. The time had come for me to leave, so I reluctantly leaned over to kiss my mother’s hand hoping she didn’t pick up on my sour mood.

“I must bid you farewell, Mother. Warren and Kalen will be accompanying me, along with several of the warriors. We’ll be back soon.”

My mother kissed me on the cheek and grinned. “Be safe and make sure to tell the Queen I said hello.”

“Yeah … right,” I scoffed while turning away to head out of the throne room. Her cackles echoed throughout the throne room, and I could even hear them as I made my way out of the palace.

Leaving the palace walls, I headed over to my own house that I have on my parent’s property. My mother and father refused to let my brothers and my sister live outside of their grounds. In order to have our own privacy, my brothers and I have our own places scattered across the expanse of the Winter Court.

I had two younger brothers, Kalen and Brayden, and a younger sister named Sorcha. Sorcha stayed in the main palace under the careful eye of my parent’s while my brothers were free to do as they pleased. One of these days, Sorcha would rebel against them, and I hoped to the heavens that I’d be around to watch it.

As I reached my house, or cabin like most mortals would call it, I saw that my travelling companions were already dressed and ready to leave. I chose to have my house built to look like a log cabin because I liked the rustic feel of it. I couldn’t care less about the amenities of the palace, and over time I grew tired of the incessant pampering.

“Ryder, you need to hurry up, jackass, or we’ll be late,” Warren yelled, catching my attention.

Warren was my best friend and one hell of a strong fighter. He was a little shorter than me, reaching about six feet, with black hair and eyes so dark they appeared black. He persisted for days on going with me to this ceremony, and I had no clue why. I found it kind of odd how adamant he was on being able to go, but I assumed he just wanted to get a glimpse of the Summer Court.

I hollered back humorously, “What’s the matter, Warren, Cinderella afraid of not being able to meet the prince before midnight?”

Warren gritted his teeth and scowled. “Shut the hell up and let’s get on the road. I’m not in the mood to hear your wise-a*s f*****g mouth.”

His aggression caught me off guard and my temper rose. I stepped into his space—nose to nose—and demanded to know what was wrong with him.

“Look, Warren, I don’t know what your problem is, but if you don’t stop this attitude, I’m going to kick your a*s all the way to the Summer Court and back. You’ve been like this for weeks now, and if you’re not going to tell me what’s wrong, I suggest you suck it up and move on. This cry baby bullshit is going to stop now!” I screamed into his face.

At this time, Kalen made his appearance and chuckled, giving me a fist bump.

“What did I miss? Are you two ladies having a lover’s quarrel or something?” He glanced over at Warren and said teasingly, “Man, Warren, you look like you need to get laid or something. Maybe you’ll get lucky with a summer chick. I hear they’re good in bed.”

No matter what kind of situation I was in, I could always count on my brother to lighten the mood.

Clapping my brother on the shoulder and laughing, I said, “Kalen, you never cease to amaze me. If anyone’s getting lucky, we know it’ll be you, but I think Warren’s over his tantrum now, right?” I looked over at him and he nodded, even though it was forced, and left the house.

Kalen smiled the whole time while watching Warren walk away. He liked to joke a lot and never took anything seriously. He looked like our mother with his raven black hair and ice blue eyes. He kept his hair shoulder length while I kept mine short. Even though our hair was different colors and lengths, we had the same shape face and eyes. Anyone could tell that we were brothers, and growing up we were often mistaken as the other, except Kalen liked to flirt with any female that walked, and was a total jokester, whereas I was more calm and collected.

Knowing we needed to be on our way, I hastily ambled into my house and packed a few items to take on the trip to the Summer Court. As I was loading up the carriage, Warren took the time to ride up beside me. I kept my eyes on what I was doing until I heard him speak.

“Look, Ryder, I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting. I don’t know what’s come over me these days,” Warren apologized.

I wish I knew, too, I thought to myself. I waved him off and said, “Just figure it out is all I can say.”

Sullenly, he rode off to the gate, and at that moment a feeling of unease swept through my body. It was a sensation I’d been getting a lot lately, and I couldn’t quite figure out where it was coming from.

Shaking off the feelings of unease, I turned to my brother and announced, “Well how about we get going then? Why don’t you round up the warriors and meet me at the front gate.”

My brother left to assemble the men while I climbed up onto my sleek, midnight colored mare. My parents had given her to me when I turned sixteen and I named her after the Greek goddess, Artemis. I’d always been fascinated with Greek mythology, and I knew my mare would be just as strong of a warrior as me. She definitely lived up to her name as Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt.

As we made our way to the Summer Court, we had to pass through the Mystical Forest first. It was the section of land that separated each of our courts, and it was also the part of the Land of the Fae where many of our creatures lived that held no allegiance to either court. They governed themselves and protected their own. Sometimes they’d come looking for help and we’d offer it, but they always went back to their home. The only other places they could go would be to the elves or the dwarves, but they’d have to go through the unclaimed territories to get there.

I could feel the land changing as we got closer to the Summer Court, and I couldn’t stop the groan that came out of my mouth. The air turned thick and the humidity could be felt across the wind bringing in the scent of flowers and grass. The heat was going to be uncomfortable, but thankfully we weren’t going to be there for long … I hope.