The HeartStone Path

The HeartStone Path cont.

CHAPTER 28

I woke in the morning to the sound of Kai snoring by the fire.  The Prince still slept behind me, his arm draped over me.  I was warm and safe, but I didn’t care.  I had to figure out how to draw out Gemadine and her father out so that the king could have the proof he needed.  Maybe the Master would have some answers for me.

He woke up behind me and stretched.  “What a wonderful way to wake up,” he said, yawning.

I somehow plastered a smile on my face in answer.

“Are you okay, Mor?”

“As good as I can be,” I answered.

“We need to get to a council meeting,” he said. 

I nodded and pulled myself out of bed.  He straightened himself up in my bathroom while I got dressed.  When he was finished, he helped tighten the stays on my dress and helped me with my hair.  It was a comfortable silence and I thought about what I was about to tell him the night before.  I couldn’t possibly tell him any of that now.

We finished getting ready and made our way to the council chamber.  My sisters were waiting for me, still not sure what to say to me.  The Queen arrived a moment later with the King and Cleo.  Inside, the council chamber was filling up.  Lady Gemadine and her father were sitting with Tristan on one side of the table.  He looked uninterested and bored.

Prince Aerron led me to a seat and settled in the seat next to me after pushing my chair in.  The King and Queen were seated at the head of the table and were waiting for everyone else to take their seats.  Cleo was waiting next to the Queen, her hands full of papers and folios.  She was going to tell the council.

“Last night’s events made her decide to tell them,” Prince Aerron whispered to me.  “We didn’t come and get you because we thought you needed time.  Rhiannon said to leave you alone.”

I nodded.  Rhiannon was right.  I had wanted to be left alone.  I didn’t want to be in the council chamber, either.  I wanted to find the Master, learn how to destroy Lady Gemadine and Hel and go the f**k home.  Wherever home was.  Damn.  I didn’t even know that anymore.

The Queen stood and cleared her throat.  Under the table, Prince Aerron took hold of my hand and squeezed.  Cleo handed the stack of papers and folios to the Queen, then sat next to her.  Queen Arianna took a deep breath, then started explaining the past few months to her council.  She passed out the papers to the council as she talked.  They were copies of the information we had found.  She knew better than to give anyone the originals.

The council chamber buzzed with conversation as the Queen explained what we had found, the messages that had been sent back and forth with the other kingdoms and the promises of aide if it was needed.  She apologized for not telling the council sooner, but she explained that she had wanted to avoid panic.  Now that an attack was sure to come, the people needed to be told and protected.

I watched the Lady Gemadine and her father carefully.  They didn’t so much as glance at the papers that were being passed around.  They were watching the Queen, instead.  Then I noticed that the Queen was being incredibly vague with the information.  She was giving her council bare minimum information.  So, the King must have told her his suspicions before the meeting and she must have shared with him what we had learned.  At least she was playing it smart.

When she was finished, the council peppered her with questions.  Interestingly enough, she never mentioned who was killing the demons and no one asked.  They all just assumed that the Queen had been sending out the Yova.  Lord Roman would be pleased that that part of the plan had worked.  His Tribe had been killing demons.  Rather publicly.  Just out in the villages away from the city.

The King and Queen answered every question patiently.  My sisters and I watched the room as everyone were not so patiently waiting their turn to talk and be heard.  The majority of the council were genuinely concerned and were asking helpful questions.  Some began working out the problem of potentially evacuating villages into the main city.  A few, to include the Mineralages, were sitting quietly and not offering any advice or resources.  I made a mental note of those people.

After the questions were finished, the Queen moved on to the more mundane topics that needed to be discussed by the council.  No matter what, though, the topic kept being turned back to the demons and when they would attack.  The Queen’s hand repeatedly hovered over her lower belly before she noticed and moved her hand away.

I leaned over to the Prince, hiding my mouth behind my hand, “The Queen is with child.”

“I know,” he said against my ear.  “She has not told the King yet.”

I made sure I blushed prettily at his response, making people think we were talking about something else.  “How can you tell?”

“Her scent has changed,” he said simply.

I should have guessed.  Damn Fae senses.  “Why wait?”

“Most wait to make sure the pregnancy is viable,” he explained.

“But why?”, I pushed.

“Some women are prone to losing their babies early in pregnancy,” he said sadly.

I frowned.  “Surely the other Races,” I suggested.

“Oh, they do.  Just not with such frequency,” he said.

“So, she is being cautious,” I whispered.

He nodded.  “And rightly so.  With her reign still fragile, the loss of a potential heir would be devastating.”

We waited out the rest of the council meeting.  It was a long one.  The council members only gave in when the Queen’s stomach complained loud enough to be heard around the room.  Rather than have so much food brought in to the chamber, everyone agreed to continue the following morning.

The Queen summoned my sisters and me to follow her and Cleo to her rooms, along with her other ladies.  We waited patiently for food to arrive.  Aine apparently couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out something she must have been holding in for days.

“When are you going to tell the King,” she asked quickly, before Rhiannon could shush her.

“How,” the Queen asked.  “Never mind.  I suppose I am not so good at hiding it.”

Rhiannon looked at her sympathetically.  “I’m sorry, your majesty.  We just thought you would have told your husband at the very least.”

“I don’t want him to get his hopes up,” the Queen sighed.

“But, your majesty,” Aine said, “I have everything with me to make sure you and the baby stay safe.”

“You can do that?”, the Queen whispered.

“Of course, I can,” Aine said.  “It’s not difficult.  I don’t know how some of the Races managed to lose the necessary knowledge.”

“I would be forever grateful,” the Queen said, her hand resting on her belly.

Aine smiled brilliantly at her.  After that, the others flooded the Queen with questions. Did she want a boy or a girl, had she thought of names, did twins run in her family, would she raise her child in the old ways, and on and on. 

I did my best to appear interested while they all talked.  I was shamefully somewhere else entirely when I heard someone say Lady Gemadine’s name.  That brought me right back to the Queen’s rooms and the conversation.  They were talking about how Lady Gemadine tried to place herself above the Queen every chance she got.  The Mineralage family had built a massive manor on the side of one of their mountains.  It was also rumored that they had their own court, which we had found out was indeed true, men and women who lived on their lands and were nearly as wealthy as they were.  There were also rumors that Lord Mineralage had secret trade deals with different kingdoms outside of the Queen’s own treaties, again, something else we had confirmed.  It was enough to be treason, if it could be proven without letting people know they had been spied on. 

We stayed with the Queen all afternoon.  I think it was more for her benefit than anyone else’s.  The pregnancy was clearly making her more tired than usual.  I truly hoped that Aine would be able to help her.  A little after our evening meal, the Queen wanted to lie down for the evening and didn’t want to be disturbed. Aine promised to bring her a tea and show her how to make the right tea she would need while she carried the baby.

I welcomed the silence when I returned to my rooms.  Kai greeted me by winding around my ankles and demanding attention, so I picked her up and carried her in to my bedroom with me.  I set her down on the bed so I could take my dress off and put on my shirt and pants.  It wasn’t my watch that night, but I figured I should be ready just in case.  There was zero chance of sleep, so I decided to see what the Master was up to in the chamber below the castle.

The door was standing open like the Master had been expecting me.  He probably was.  Helian was at the back of the chamber, pouring over a large tome he had spread out in front of him on a table.  The Master was at a table closer to the door and was flipping through a book that looked like it was as old as the Elf in the back of the room.

“I have been waiting for you,” the Master said without looking up.

“I figured,” I sighed.

“What is troubling you,” he asked, looking up from his book.

“I thought you would know better than I did,” I said sadly.

“If I know you, I would say you are worried about things you can’t control,” he said thoughtfully.

Across the chamber, Helian grumbled his agreement.

“Just tell me how I can stop Hel,” I said, sitting next to the Master at the table.

“I can only give you the right weapons to use, child.  You must defeat her on your own,” he said.

“And that is just oh so helpful,” I mumbled.

“Since when has anyone succeeded when someone fed them the answers,” he countered.

“Fine,” I said, “different question.  What can I do about the Mineralage family?”

“You already know the answer to that, too,” he answered calmly.

I glared at him but took the book he was offering me.  Maybe it would distract me from what was bothering me.  I nearly threw the book back at him.  It was a journal written by a long dead Elf from around the time just before Hel was imprisoned. 

The journal turned out to be so mundane and boring, that I felt myself falling sleep.  Until I ran across an entry that was completely different.  The entry was about a few people that the author had met that seemed to be thriving too easily.  They came in to wealth and prestige and no one could figure out how.  A few entries later, those people were found to have been in league with Hel.  Her minions had been rewarding the Humans for their aide and had in fact promised them a kingdom of their own when Hel was in charge of things in the realms.

I jumped out of the chair.  That had to be it.  That had to be why the Mineralage family had somehow come in to their wealth.  It matched everything we had found.  I flipped through the journal faster, skimming while I was searching for how they knew that the Humans were helping Hel.  It was towards the end of the journal when I found it.  I had been about to give up. 

The entry said that Hel was actually said to be speaking to the Humans.  In their minds.  It had to work the same for other races.  She guided them to riches, guided their decisions and how to contact others in different areas that also served her.  Humans weren’t the only naturally greedy race. 

They had called her out.  She was too prideful to resist.

How could I taunt Hel out of them?  I sat back down and tried to remember everything that I had been taught about Hel and what I had read.  If she knew I could cause her any harm, then I would be the one to draw her out.  But then wouldn’t that bring Hel to the kingdom I was in and thus closer to the Relic?  The Master was convinced I was the key to locking the goddess away again, so she would be coming for me no matter what when she found out that I existed.

It was a gamble.  One I would have to take alone and prepare for the consequences.  If anyone knew, they would stop me.  It hurt that I would have to lie to my sisters and the Queen again.  And Prince Aerron.  They would have to survive.  If the Mineralage family was in league with Hel and her followers, they needed to be kicked out of the court and kept away from the castle.  Who knows how many details they had fed already to the goddess.

Holy Gods above.  They had been present at the council meeting that morning when the Queen talked about the demon squads.  No one had talked about who had killed them, only that they had been killed and the information was found.  Thinking back, Lord Mineralage had looked disappointed.  No doubt because the King and Queen had been very vague.  They hadn’t mentioned who had promised aide, only that aide had been promised. 

I dropped the journal, hugged the Master and raced out of the chamber.  I needed to talk to Lord Roman and Cathan.  I sent the signal to them as I raced up the stairs to the garden above my room.  They were waiting for me when I burst through the door.

I explained what I had read in the book and how Hel had to be influencing the Mineralage family and could possibly even be squatting in one of their minds.  Maybe that was the corruption we were feeling?

Lord Roman shook his head sadly.  “The corruption is different.  It smells and feels different.  Lord and Lady Mineralage feel…slimy and they stink.  Like burial dirt.  The corruption in your Tuillaryn and Rhiannon…it is different.  It is older.”

My heart sank.  The Master and Helian had warned me that that might be the case.  That it might not be that easy.  “So, what do we do?”

“Flush out Hel, first,” Roman sighed.  “We know even she is serving someone.  That could be where the other corruption is coming from.  But not even the ancients know it.”

“One step at a time,” I mumbled.

“Indeed,” he sighed.

“We deal with Hel,” I said.  “Then whatever comes after.”

“I’m not so sure I want to know what comes after,” he said.

I didn’t either.  One goddess with a seriously misplaced grudge was enough and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to survive her.  At least, if I did defeat her, it would slow things down for whoever she was working with.  Maybe.

“I will let you know what we decide to do,” I said.  “For now…”

“For now, I will make sure my Tribe and the other Tribes are ready,” Lord Roman assured me.  “We trust you, Morrigan.”

I had to get the Queen to arrange a public event and everyone needed to be there.  I was out of breath when I reached my rooms and immediately felt something off.  Kai was her normal size and growling at the door to my bedroom. 

I eased the bookcase back in to place silently and crept along the wall to the door.  No one was in my rooms.  Yet.  Someone was at the front doors and was fighting with my wards.  What I wouldn’t have given to have Cleo with me in that moment.  I moved through my front room, Kai on my heels, towards my door and tried to get a feel of who was on the other side.

I stifled a gasp when I heard the same two voices that had been in my rooms before, when I was in Vahl’strael.  They were arguing over how to get in to my rooms and why the spells they were using weren’t working.  I took a step back and landed squarely against a hard body.  I spun around quickly and saw Prince Aerron standing behind me.

He pointed to the roof and the bookcase, then to the door.  I nodded and moved so he could listen better.  He gently leaned in past me and put his right ear on the door.  I watched his face fall when he realized who it was and what they were arguing about.  I didn’t have anything to say to him when he turned to face me, before his face turned hard again. 

The Prince motioned for me to stay right where I was and give him a few minutes.  I didn’t know what he was up to, but I had an idea.  I waited as he went back to the hidden stairs, to the roof and then to who knew where.  It didn’t take long before I heard him in the hallway, calling to his sworn loudly.  I cringed when I heard cold steel being drawn and doors opening.  I waited a few moments before I threw my own door open, my sword in my hands.

My sisters, their Tuillaryn, Lord Roman, Cleo and the Queen were standing in the hallway behind Prince Aerron, who had his sworn cornered in front of my doors.  With me behind them, they surrendered and put their weapons on the carpet at their feet.  I had learned from the last time they had snuck in to my rooms.  Their blood runes could not counter my own.

“What is the meaning of this,” the Queen demanded loudly.

“Exactly what I want to know,” Prince Aerron said through clenched teeth.

Neither of the Fae males standing in front of my door with their hands up had anything to say.  In actuality, they looked relieved to be caught by Prince Aerron.  They still didn’t say anything when Cam and Rafe helped Lord Roman chain their wrists and lead them toward the cells deep beneath the castle. 

My sisters rushed me, throwing questions at me that I couldn’t wrap my brain around.  I was focused on Prince Aerron, standing in the hallway talking to the King and Queen.  Tristan was nowhere to be found, which I was grateful for.  I didn’t want him to know what I was about to tell the Queen.

CHAPTER 29

The only place I could think of was my study.  It was warded more securely than my outer rooms.  I grabbed my sisters and pulled them inside and motioned for the Queen and the others to follow me.  I only hesitated a moment when I unlocked my study door and led everyone in.  Prince Aerron leaned against my desk while the others took up the chairs and couch. 

I took a deep breath and explained that this wasn’t the first time that those two had tried to get in to my rooms.  They had succeeded once before.  I didn’t wait before I told them what I had found out about the first time Hel was imprisoned.  It would involve me showing who I truly was and drawing her to me, but it was our only hope.  The other people in the room vehemently opposed my idea and tried to come up with other ideas to draw out the Mineralage family. 

Only the Prince didn’t argue with me about it.  He just leaned against my desk, his arms crossed, and listened to the others argue.  I waited as long as I could before I stopped them.

“We really don’t have another choice,” I said.

“The f**k we don’t,” Rhiannon answered quickly.

“There has to be another way,” Aine said carefully.

“One the doesn’t involve you as bait,” the Queen said.

“She is the only bait that would draw Hel out,” Prince Aerron said tiredly.

I sighed and let him pull me in to his arms.  Rhiannon raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything.  “If we are going to flush out her followers, the only way to do so is to dangle the one person who can potentially hurt her in front of their faces.”

“And how do we do that,” the Queen asked.

“I know,” Cleo said meekly.

We all spun to face her.  I had completely forgotten that she had taken a seat near the Queen.  She blushed a crimson red but stood up to explain her idea.

The Queen and King would announce the pregnancy.  This would be cause for a celebration and one that no one in the court could miss without it being very noticeable.   At the celebration, I would lose my temper with Gemadine.  She had been flaunting Tristan at me for months.  It would expose our true identities, but it would be worth it.  A war was coming, and the people needed to know that the Queen had already taken steps to protect them.  Knowing that the Order was already involved, would ease some of their fears.  If it went as planned, Hel wouldn’t be able to resist responding to me and taunting me further to make me do something stupid.

We all stared at Cleo in disbelief.  It could actually work.  The King, though, was staring at the Queen with tears in his eyes.

“When were you going to tell me,” he whispered.

The Queen winced and turned to her husband, “I wanted to be sure.  I didn’t want to tell you then lose the baby.”

The King stood and faced Prince Aerron fully.  “I don’t care how we have to do it, get them out of the castle.  Tristan has been getting information for Boudicca and me, but they won’t pull him in to their full confidence without a marriage to Gemadine.  Which I adamantly refuse to allow.  Do it, Morrigan.  Draw her out, and them.  I haven’t been able to come up with a reason to pull Tristan out of their grasp.”

“Tristan has been…what?”, Rhiannon asked.

“He has been working for the King and Boudicca,” the Queen sighed.  “Curren hasn’t trusted the Mineralage family from the moment we spoke about them the night we married.  He knew Gemadine would fall for a wealthy member of his guard, if we made it enticing enough.  So, we built a lie for Tristan.  He’s been feeding us information since he got here and met them.”

Aine rushed to hug me, “I am so sorry, Mor.  I thought he had abandoned you.”

“He volunteered.  I didn’t question why.  I needed someone to get close to them, so I welcomed his offer. I didn’t know this would happen – that this would be the price,” the King said sadly.

“Tristan has a lot of explaining to do,” Rhiannon said.  “It shouldn’t have been this way.  He could have done this without breaking his oaths to his Tuillaryn.” 

“We are doing this,” the King said firmly.  “We will announce the pregnancy tomorrow.  Court etiquette dictates that all royalty and nobility must attend the celebration and gift giving.  Any absence is well noted and seen as a potential enemy within the court.  We announce it, plan the required feast and celebration.  It shouldn’t take long for Gemadine to do something to annoy Morrigan.”

I snorted a laugh.  “There is only one thing that would cause her to flaunt Tristan in front of me,” I said, holding on to the Prince’s hand.

“Oh, no,” the King said.  “Anything but that.”

“They have to think they have won,” I argued.

“Please don’t.  I can’t break it once I decree it,” he begged.

“But I can,” said the Queen.  “This is my kingdom and they are my subjects.  If we can prove their treason, I can break your decree and Tristan would be free.”

“It’s too risky,” the King argued.  “If they don’t fall for it, then Tristan will be bound to marry that ridiculous woman.”

“Not if Prince Aerron and Morrigan are fighting,” Cleo said.  “If they are at odds, visibly, then Gemadine will think that she has something over Morrigan.  Mor will no longer have a Prince on her arm and Lady Gemadine will have what she thinks is the wealthy heir that Morrigan wants.”

“Can you do it, Mor,” Aine asked.

“I don’t have a choice,” I answered.

“I know how to play it off,” Prince Aerron said, pulling me closer.

We finished the planning and making sure that there were no other ways to accomplish what we needed to happen.  It was well after midnight when everyone finally left my room.  Prince Aerron hovered by my door, unwilling to leave.

“Whatever I say tomorrow, please don’t believe it,” he said.

“I know better, Aerron,” I sighed.

“If we pull this off, Tristan will be freed from his obligations,” he said slowly.

“I know,” I said.

“What does that mean,” he asked finally.

“It means he’s free from his obligations to the King,” I shrugged.  “What else would it mean.”

“That he would be free to return to you,” he said.

“And why would he do that,” I asked.

“He’s your Tuillaryn,” he said flatly.

“And?  He didn’t trust me.  He probably has been enjoying certain parts of this,” I said, crossing my arms.

“You don’t believe that,” he said, closing my door.

“I believe that there is nothing between us.  Not anymore,” I said quietly, sitting down on my couch.

“And what about us,” he asked, sitting next to me.

“I won’t be a slave,” I whispered.

“And if I could find a way around that,” he asked.

“Then you find a way around it and we go from there,” I sighed.  “But there is no way around it.  It is Fae law.”

“You still don’t get it,” he said.

“Get what?”, I asked.

“I would shatter rules, laws, thrones and worlds and lay them at your feet,” he said.

“I don’t want that,” I whispered, pulling away from him.

“Yes, you do, Mor.  In your heart, you need someone who would destroy your enemies and lay them at your feet,” he whispered back, cupping my face in his hands.

In the darkest parts of me, I knew he was right.  I wanted someone who would wage wars with me and rule over peace.  Someone who would lay waste to my enemies and fight next to me.  It was a part of me I refused to acknowledge.  A part of me that I feared.  And the Prince had seen that part and not run away.

“How do you know that,” I whispered, refusing to look at him.

“I have known since you attacked those demons on your own.  You have so many gifts and one of them is the dance of death, the gift of war and killing.  You also have many gifts that shine through the darkest parts of you and hide your dark gifts from everyone,” he said, kissing my cheeks.

“And that doesn’t scare you,” I asked.

“Never,” he said simply.

“I’m a monster,” I whispered.

“No, my heart, you definitely are not,” he said between kisses. 

“I still will not chain myself to a throne,” I said, leaning back.

“Then I will have to find another way,” he smiled.

I gave in then and let him kiss me fully.  I had never let him kiss me before like this and, when he finally did, I couldn’t remember why.  His longer canine teeth grazed my lower lip and set some part inside of me on fire.  I clamped down on the other gift of mine that I was hiding, praying to the goddess that it wouldn’t show through.  It didn’t last long, though.  When his teeth grazed my neck, I lost that control.

I felt my ears shifting to show their soft tips that I had glamoured since I had unlocked that part of myself.  My canines stretched to be just long enough to no longer appear Human. I gasped as my senses locked in to place and I breathed in every scent in the room.  I closed my eyes tightly, hoping that the gold around the pupil didn’t show through and give me away.  I winced when he leaned away.

“What is this,” he said softly, running his hands over my ears.  “Are you Fae?”

“No,” I said quickly, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know.  I’m looking at your features right now,” he said.

“That’s not all of them,” I sighed, opening my eyes.

He flinched but held firm as he studied me.  I took a deep breath and let go of all of the glamours I had kept in place for years.  My hair softened and fell in perfect curls and waves past my backside.  Softly curling horns shimmered in to being on my head.  My bones lengthened and I couldn’t help but stretch when I was fully myself again.  I didn’t even try to hide the runes and symbols that moved along my skin.

“I am not fully any one race,” I said quietly.  “I don’t know what I am.  But I am not only a Kindred.”

“Do your sisters,” he started.

“They don’t know,” I said.

“Can you shift,” he asked slowly.

I nodded.  “Almost any form I wish.  I don’t like them all, though.  I prefer wings.  Or swift paws.”

“Kai,” he started.

“I can look exactly like her if I want,” I said, dropping the glamours back in to place. 

“Why didn’t you tell me,” he asked. 

“So, it could go in to a report to your father,” I asked tartly.

“No, absolutely not.  My father would not want you if he knew this,” he said.

“What?”

“He’s a purist.  It’s utterly shameful and I hate him for it, but he’s a purist.  The only reason he is willing to marry his heir to an Immortal Kindred is because of your power.  This would be too much for him,” he explained.

“Maybe I should have shown him,” I mumbled.

“No, he would have tried to keep you as a pet.  A Queen in name only,” he said quickly.

“So, still a slave,” I sighed.

“Still a slave and one with no companion,” he said sadly.

“But you,” I started.

“Would have been married to someone else,” he said slowly.  “My father would have cast off the waning Queen and married you.  Chaining your power to his kingdom with no hope of ever finding love.”

“I hate your father,” I said.

“You aren’t alone in that,” he said, pulling me back to the couch.

“Does Tristan share these traits,” he asked after he had me in his arms again.

“I honestly don’t know.  The way the Rites are supposed to work, he is supposed to take on all of my traits and I am supposed to take on his.  If he does, he’s hiding them as much as I am,” I answered.

“Have you thought about telling your sisters?” he asked.

“I have.  Aine would love it.  Rhiannon, I don’t know.  She would be scared of what would happen if people knew about it, but beyond that, she wouldn’t say anything.  She has always been more protective of Aine than me,” I explained.

“She is fierce in her own right,” he said.

“Yes, she is,” I agreed.  “And powerful.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she had the same gifts I do.  It would make sense that she was better at hiding it than I am.”

He let out a growl from deep in his chest when he kissed me again.  The result was my Fae features responding to him again.   The response from him was intoxicating.  Some part of me wondered if I should stop him and send him from my room, but that part was drowned out by the blood rushing through my veins and my Fae senses being bombarded with sounds, tastes, smells and sensations on my skin that pushed all rational thoughts from my mind.

I knew I shouldn’t be letting him kiss me.  I knew I shouldn’t have even let him in my rooms.  I knew that allowing anything between us to happen was inherently wrong on some level.  I knew all of this…and I couldn’t stop it.  My last rational thought was to slam closed the bond I had with Tristan and burn the bridge so there was no way he could tap in to my mind.

His hands slid over me like he had never felt my skin before.  My body’s response was to cover itself in delicate goose flesh when the heat of his hands moved on to a different part of me.  When his teeth grazed my throat again, the growl that escaped my throat was very animalistic.  This seemed to break whatever fragile hold he had had on his control. 

In a breath, I was up, in his arms and then on my bed.  Looking up at him, I suddenly understood how a prey animal felt when they faced Kai.  His gaze was all consuming and I couldn’t get away from it.  My eyes were locked on to his as his hands slid over my body, removing my shirt and pants slowly.  Achingly slow.  I had the brief thought of simply shredding my clothes and his to be able to get on with it.  The frustration must have shown on my face because he chuckled to himself. 

My hips arched up to meet his hands when he settled himself closer to me.  Unable to stop myself any longer, I pulled his face down to mine so I could kiss him.  I willfully pushed any thoughts of Tristan out of my mind the moment his mouth crushed against my own.  I tasted blood when he teased my mouth open with his tongue.  Our teeth had torn the delicate skin of our lips and the taste of him filled my mouth.  I tangled one on my hands in his hair and the other I settled on his shoulder, biding my time to see if he would make a move to settle between my thighs or if I was going to have to pull him closer.

I gently nipped his lower lip with my teeth and was rewarded with a deep moan and him pushing his now completely hard manhood against my hip.  Again, thoughts of Tristan appeared, unbidden, in my mind’s eye and I pushed them away.  I needed this, I told myself.  I needed to get rid of any part of me that was still attached to Tristan.  He didn’t want me.  The Fae male, naked and throbbing next to me, most certainly did.

When I arched my hips again, he abandoned all pretense and settled himself between my legs.  The weight of him on me was blissful.  I groaned against his mouth when I felt him resting just outside of my reach, where my body was on fire.  No matter how much I arched or moved my hips against him, I couldn’t convince him to move, to quell the need that was slowly burning through me.

He released my mouth and adorned my neck with slow kisses.  With one hand, he held the majority of his weight off of me and the other closed in on my left breast, his thumb grazing across the already hard n****e and drawing teasing circles around it.  I thought he was going to draw my n****e in to his mouth when I felt his lips on the tender place where my shoulders met my neck.  Something about that nudged a memory deep in my mind.  What was so important about that spot?  Why was it so vulnerable for me?

I got my answer very soon after.  His teeth and tongue danced along the tender flesh and somehow, this coaxed my thighs open even more so that he settled against me further.  I strained one more time to pull him inside of me only to moan with frustration when all I could do was settle myself over the tip of him.  A heartbeat later, his teeth sank in to that tender flesh and he thrust himself fully inside of me in one swift move.  I cried out at the pure ecstasy of it and he clamped a hand over my mouth.

The rebellious part of me nipped him with my own teeth and drew another chuckle from him.  I hadn’t broken the skin, but it had been enough to draw his attention back to my mouth.  Smiling, he settled his mouth over mine again as he started to move inside of me.  My body quickly found his rhythm and matched it move for move.  This was nothing like when I had been with Tristan.  This was primal, instinctual and dark.  There was no gentle loving and exploring of each other’s bodies.  It was raw need and staking a claim.

I ached to draw him in deeper and deeper every time he slowly withdrew only to plunge in again.  I had the distinct feeling that he was holding back for fear of hurting me or unleashing something he couldn’t control.  I had had enough of people thinking I was fragile.  I hooked a leg over his hips and rolled him beneath me before he could stop me.  A wicked grin spread across my face when I straddled him and drew the entirety of his manhood inside of me slowly.  His eyes widened, fear of hurting me there, but fading away.  He shoved a pillow over his face when I bucked against him, rocking him to his core.  The pillow muffled his growl, but barely.  When he pulled the pillow away, gone was the gentleness of a few moments before.  It had been replaced by something completely…feral.

He settled his hands on my hips, I dug my nails in to his forearms, and we held on for dear life.  I rode him through wave after wave as we coaxed each other to c****x but were nowhere near finished.  I sent up a silent prayer to the goddess for my unbreakable skin and bones when he withdrew from me, pulled me off the bed and pushed me up against the wall next to my bed, stomach and face against the wood.  My nails tore deep gouges in the wood panels when he entered me again, biting the other shoulder. 

He stopped, just as I was about to fall over the edge of the cliff again and I found myself on my bed with him between my legs again, thrusting for all he was worth.  Some part of me was vaguely aware of the sore muscles and aching insides, but it wasn’t enough to make me stop wanting him again and again.  When I toppled over the cliff that time into the abyss beyond, he fell with me, clinging to me like I was his only life line in a dark sea.

When he finally raised himself up on to his elbows to look at me, I was in that state of delicious exhaustion that hovered on sleep.  I opened my eyes to look at him and found the man I knew again instead of the beast I had reveled in moments before.  He kissed me gently that time and ran a hand down my body to where he was still settled inside of me.  He cupped my ass and pulled me playfully against him.  My hips rolled with the movement and it drew a tired moan from both of us.  Despite being sore and tired, I wanted him again.  I reached down, covering his hand with my own and pushed his fingers inside of me, next to his now somewhat soft c**k, to prove it.  My fingers mingled with his own against him brought him roaring back to life. 

This time, he carried me, my legs wrapped around his hips, to the shower.  Still moving inside of me slowly, he started the water and slowly made love to me under the hot water of the shower.  When we climaxed again, he finally released me, sliding me down the length of him as he held me close under the water.  I rested my head against his chest and focused on the feel of the water falling over us.

I pushed away the feelings of guilt that threatened to overwhelm me.  I could learn to love him, I told myself.  After Hel was gone, maybe I could learn to be okay with never leaving the Fae lands ever again.  Or maybe he would find a way to get rid of that law so that I would have my freedom.  Either way, it was something that I was going to learn to live with, I decided.  Whatever the Prince was, he was undeniably in love with me, or at least the idea of me.  After what had happened with my Tuillaryn, the fact that there was something that could marginally fill that emptiness was a miracle in and of itself.  There was the possibility that Tristan hadn’t pushed me away completely, but I wasn’t ready to face that.

Long after he fell asleep, I laid next to him wide awake.  I tried forcing myself to accept this.  I didn’t need a man to take care of me.  Any man.  But it was nice to not be alone.  Especially given the fact that I was done with the Order completely after Hel was gone. I wasn’t entirely sure when I had come to that decision, but I had.  There was no going back. 

I understood why most Rangers were bonded so tightly with their Tuillaryn.  Our existence was a lonely one.  We would be long lived, so that nixed the possibility of friends outside of certain races.  Or outside of the Order for that matter.  We traveled nearly constantly in service of the Order, so that nixed any normal friendships unless they were fine with a friend that showed up every so many years just to say hi then disappeared again.

I wouldn’t even get a chance for that, though.  From what I had read with the Master, I likely wouldn’t survive dealing with Hel.  Even if I managed to live through it and imprison her again, I would be changed, possibly completely burned out.  Or so the many scrolls and tomes claimed.  The Master had tried to reassure me that there was a strong possibility that nothing bad would happen to me, but the more I read, the more I wasn’t so sure if I was able to believe him.  I looked at the male sleeping next to me and wondered if it made me more of a monster to give in to him.  What would happen to him if I died when I faced Hel and her legions?

When I was sure he was completely asleep, I dressed and slipped out of my rooms to meet the Queen in the garden.  We had our own plans to make with Lord Roman that had nothing to do with what we had said in my office.

***

“He is sleeping?”  Lord Roman asked me.

I nodded.

“We don’t have much time,” the Queen said.  “We can’t do this like they planned.”

“I know,” I said.  “The King can’t give them that promise.”

“Are you sure you can do this, Morrigan?” the Queen asked me. 

“If you survive facing Hel,” Lord Roman said, “this means you will be marrying the Fae Prince.”

“We need his armies,” I said with more confidence than I felt.  “We have been killing more demons than we thought possible and Shadow Elves.  Our armies can’t face them without every available ally.  That means the Forest Fae.  My bond with Tristan is unraveling.  I need him to still hold on to our bond.  What’s left of it.”

“What do you mean it’s unraveling,” the Queen asked, shocked.

“He has broken several of his vows,” Lord Roman explained.  “It was the price to be paid for finding Hel’s grip in our realm.”

“Oh, Morrigan,” the Queen reached for my hand.  “I am so sorry.”

“No one can know.  No one outside of the three of us,” I said.  “We still have to face Hel.  If I leave my room in the morning with Aerron, you will know.  We will go forward with our plan.  You will announce that you have given him my hand before the King can announce the approval of Tristan’s marriage to the Lady Gemadine.  We have to catch everyone off guard and we have to guarantee King Einal’s army.”

“The Tribe will be ready, Morrigan.  So, will the Clan” Lord Roman promised.

“I will be ready, too,” the Queen promised.  “I wish there was another way.”

“One step at a time,” I whispered.

I let the Queen hug me one more time before she let Lord Roman escort her back to her rooms.  Cathan bowed to me and then left to send his messages to the ancients.  Soon enough, the Master and Helian would know my decision.  There were no other forks in my path to take.

CHAPTER 30

It wasn’t long after I had somehow managed to go to sleep, that Prince Aerron was getting up and laying out clean clothes.  I didn’t bother to ask where he had summoned clean clothes from.  It was dawn and I knew that everyone else was getting up and getting ready for the King’s announcement.  I should be next to the Queen when she spoke to the council then the court.  I bit back a groan when I dragged myself out of bed and in to my bathroom to bathe again.  The soreness wasn’t as enjoyable as it was the night before.

I rifled through the little vials Aine kept stocked in our bathrooms and dumped a few in the bathtub as it filled up with steaming hot water.  The delicious smells of healing oils filled my nostrils when I slid in to the hot water and sank down to my chin.  I was interrupted, though, by the Prince stepping in to the bath and settling down across from me. 

“What are you doing,” I asked tiredly.

“Taking a bath,” he answered.

“You have a room,” I said.

“Yes, but you aren’t in it,” he replied.

I was too cranky to deal with it at that moment and it was too close to a conversation I had with Tristan months before.  I tried to push the memory away again and succeeded.  At least for a little while.  I had just wanted to soak and hoped that he got the hint. 

He did.  For a while.  I made a tired, angry noise when he pulled me through the water and turned me around so I was sitting in front of him.  I was about to just get out of the water when he started washing my hair.  The feel of his fingers on my scalp was soothing, so I resigned myself to letting him wash me.  At least he wasn’t trying anything else.

When we were both clean, he didn’t do me the favor of leaving my room and I didn’t make him leave.  Instead, he dressed then helped me with my own dress and stays.  I was shocked when he sat me down so he could do something with my hair again.  Never, in a million years, would I have been able to picture a Fae male doing a woman’s hair.  Ever. But here he was, dressing my hair again like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I used to help my sister,” he explained after seeing the incredulous look on my face.

“Oh,” was all I could say.

He finished quickly, his long, confident fingers made quick work of my unruly mane.  I had to admit that it was done rather prettily, but I couldn’t bring a smile to my face.  The face that looked back at me from the mirror was a monster, albeit an empty one. 

“Mor, are you okay,” he asked, brushing his knuckles against my cheek.

It was almost enough to make me crumble and tell him everything, but I couldn’t.  I had decided the night before to accept his father’s terms if that was the price for aide in the war to come.  I wasn’t likely to survive my battle with Hel, so at least maybe I could help ensure the defeat of her demons.  I forced a smile on to my face and lied for all I was worth.  Which was very little at that point.

“I’m fine, just tired,” I sighed.

“Are you sure that’s all it is,” he said, turning my face so I would look at him.

“I’m sure,” I lied again.  I reached up on my toes to kiss him firmly to distract him from his questioning.

“We need to get going,” he said between kisses.  “The others are out in the hallway.”

I bit down my fear of facing them with Prince Aerron at my side and let him lead me to the door.  Out in the hallway, Rhiannon and Aine raised their eyebrows at me, but otherwise didn’t remark on the two of us leaving my room together.  The Queen only nodded sadly at me and reached out an arm for me to join her as we walked through the castle.

“I see you made the hard decision,” the Queen whispered to me as we walked through the corridor.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Is it worth it,” she asked.

“Worth saving this realm and kingdom from Hel? Yes,” I said quietly.

“And the price was only your heart and soul,” she sighed sadly.

“A small price, your majesty,” I said.

“Are you so sure about that,” she said, squeezing my arm.

“No,” I admitted.  “No, I’m not.”

She didn’t have time to reply to me as we had reached the council chamber.  The Queen kept my arm clasped through hers as she walked to the head of the chamber next to her husband.  I didn’t pull away when she continued to hold my hand after she sat down on her throne and waited for everyone else to find their seats.  I couldn’t stop myself from searching the council chamber and I immediately regretted it.  Tristan was sitting with the Mineralage family.  Lady Gemadine had a firm hold on one of his hands and was looking directly at me.  I forced myself to look somewhere else in the room.

The King cleared his throat and stood from his throne, holding the Queen’s other hand.  I tried to pull my hand back, but she held on tightly.  There was applause and cheers when the King announced that the Queen was carrying their first child.  Someone called for wine so they could make a toast and others were already starting to plan the celebration.  The Queen squeezed my hand and pulled me down to whisper to me.

“Are you ready,” she whispered.

I paled when I realized what she was doing.  This was the first step in our plan.  I had told her that I refused to be a slave.  Even if I had a gilded cage.  And it had to look like I meant it.

“My lords and ladies, I have another announcement, for Lord Tristan and Lady Gemadine,” King Curren started to say, but he was cut off neatly by the Queen as she stood.

He turned to her, wide eyed.  This wasn’t what we had planned in my little study.

“My lords and ladies, I am sorry to interrupt my lord husband.  But, as this is a matter of rank, my love, I do hope you understand.  His majesty, the Crown Prince Aerron, has asked me for the hand of my lady, Morrigan,” she said turning to me.  I forced a properly furious look on to my face and glared hard at the Queen.

Prince Aerron recovered quickly and stepped up to my other side.  He hadn’t been ready for this.  The Queen placed my hand in his and turned to address the council again.

“I have accepted his offer and agreed that, after the proper traditions are upheld, he may marry my lady and take her as his Queen,” she managed to say happily.

I forced myself to look straight at Gemadine and smile.  Her face paled and she squeezed the ever living hell out of Tristan’s hand.  Tristan, though, looked like he was about to cut down every living being in this room in an attempt to reach the Prince.  Stage one of the Queen’s plan was complete and I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

A contingency plan for if it looked like we wouldn’t be able to survive without the Fae King’s army.  I would accept Prince Aerron’s hand.  That would guarantee the armies being sent.  One way or another, I wasn’t going back to the Order.  I would either die facing Hel or I would be chained to a throne I didn’t want.  To a male that I would resent.

Prince Aerron took the brunt of the congratulations and well wishes for me so I didn’t have to face it.  He held on to my hand through the rest of the council meeting.  He still didn’t let go of me when we left the council chamber and followed the King and Queen to the main hall where they made the announcements again to the whole court.  A Fae emissary that I hadn’t noticed before puffed up with pride and nodded to Prince Aerron.  No doubt a message was going to be sent to the Fae king immediately.

The court reacted exactly how the Queen predicted they would.  They demanded a celebration of the soon to be birth of their heir and the alliance with the Forest Fae kingdom.  Through it all, my sisters stood by me and tried to shield me from as much as possible.  They still didn’t like the idea of me sacrificing myself to draw Hel out, but there wasn’t much we could do about it.

“What the f**k is going on, Mor.”

“Please.  Trust me.”

“Like you trusted me?”

“Please, Tristan.”

Then he was gone from my mind.  The emptiness threatened to consume me when he withdrew from my mind.  Rhiannon’s hand on my back was all that kept me grounded while we stood among the crowd.  The Queen waited as long as she could before telling the court she had meetings to attend and a celebration to plan that would take place the following afternoon/evening.

When we could finally escape, the Queen led us to a smaller meeting chamber with her generals and the Fae emissary.  “Did you send the news to your King,” she asked him bluntly.

“I did, your majesty,” he said, bowing.  “I expect a reply shortly.”

She nodded and turned to her generals.  “General Canatol, where do we stand on preparations for evacuations?”

“If the attacks happen in the south first, like the Lady Rhiannon believes they will,” he said, nodding to my sister, “then we have just enough time to evacuate them north if we start today.”

“The announcement will guarantee the Fae king’s support,” the Queen asked the emissary.

“It will, your majesty,” he said, looking at me, Prince Aerron and our still joined arms.

“Good.  General Canatol, start the evacuation of the villages to the south.  Travel only during the day and try to use the Sky Fae roads if at all possible.  I don’t want to leave a trail of where our people have gone,” the Queen said firmly.

“Send out the fastest scouts to every passable area through the forests,” the King added.  “We don’t know exactly which direction she will come from.”

“You are certain she will come to this city,” General Canatol asked.

“I am,” the King said. 

That’s all anyone needed.  The generals and others sorted through the different routes on the map that Hel and her legions could take and who would be sent out there to watch for her.  The Fae emissary received his king’s reply and the Fae armies were added to the roster of available allies should Hel march on the city with little notice.  A Dyr’scal emissary arrived and was escorted in to our meeting where they were able to add their numbers to the map. 

The entire meeting was productive as a whole.  No one questioned how the King and Queen knew that Hel would come for their city.  For me, it only further destroyed what was left of me on the inside.  I did what I could to build up the anger I was going to need for the show the next day, but it was more difficult than I anticipated.

When then meeting was over and we were walking back to our rooms, I felt an intense pull towards the chamber deep beneath the castle.  I made my excuses and nearly ran to my rooms.  Once safely inside, I stripped out of the dress and pulled on my shirt and pants.  I was still tugging on my left boot when the book case swung open and the Master waved for me to follow him.  I grabbed my sword as I passed the wall and followed the old man down the stairs. 

The chamber hummed with energy when I got there.  “What’s going on,” I asked.

“I was going to ask you the same question,” the Master said.

“What?  Why?”

“It just started last night.  Several tomes and scrolls opened up on their own and started thrumming with energy.  What did you do,” he asked again.

“I don’t know,” I said, defeated.

“She made her choice,” Helian said, walking up to us.

“I what,” I said flatly.  I knew what he was saying, but I wanted to hear it out loud.

“She decided to face Hel,” the Elf said sadly.

“You…are you sure,” the Master asked me slowly.

I could only nod.

“Very well.  I’m guessing, then, that all of these open tomes and scrolls are for you,” he said, pointing to the nearest table.