Alliances

AURELIA

Aurelia woke up, feeling completely refreshed. Sunlight streamed through the thin curtains, and the room was filled with the earthy scent of nature.

The two castles couldn’t have been more different. The king’s castle was a grim place, home to tortured souls and ruthless warriors.

There was no hint of light, joy, or love. Nothing grew. Nothing flourished. The capital was dominated by power, iron, stone, and coal.

In contrast, the fae castle was alive with nature. Roots and branches climbed every wall, blooming into beautiful displays. The sound of rushing water from a nearby stream and the laughter of children filled the air.

The scent of rain-soaked earth lingered, and Aurelia found it wonderful.

But she found herself missing him. Missing his masculine, metallic scent.

His fierceness had once scared her, but the longer she was away from him, the harder it was to remember why she’d ever wanted to leave.

She didn’t even know him. He wouldn’t let her. How could she be mates with a man like that? How could she ever try to love him? She wanted love. She wanted more than just physical desire.

Desire was something anyone could feel for someone they found attractive. The king was her mate, but she couldn’t even bring herself to say his name.

She didn’t know how she’d come to know it, but there it was, lodged in her throat, begging to be spoken.

Why had the goddess been so cruel to her? Did she really deserve this?

“My lady,” a soft voice called out, pulling her from her thoughts. “Lunch is being served in the banquet hall. I can take you there once you’re dressed.”

The girl’s eyes met Aurelia’s before quickly looking away. “If you wish, my lady.”

“What’s your name?” Aurelia asked gently. The young girl seemed scared. Maybe she knew Aurelia was a wolf, or maybe she was just afraid of anyone she was supposed to serve.

“Lydia,” she answered quietly, her gaze darting around the room, avoiding Aurelia’s eyes.

“Lydia,” Aurelia repeated. “Why are you scared of me?” Lydia seemed surprised by Aurelia’s directness, but she quickly composed herself before answering.

“Everyone’s talking about you. They say you’re a wolf and a fae. That you can kill someone with a single bite because your wolf fangs have fae magic. That you can enchant a fae and turn them into a wolf.”

“Those are all lies. Just ridiculous rumors, I promise. I’m just a normal wolf who can cross the border. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Aurelia reassured her.

Aurelia found a dress in the closet and changed while Lydia waited. They walked through the hallways, which were decorated with shrubs and netted branches, and entered the banquet hall.

She would have been impressed if she hadn’t already dined in the king’s banquet hall many times.

Unlike most of the other rooms in the castle, it was brightly lit with three large chandeliers. Aurelia wondered who lit them for every meal, but she never asked.

In the king’s banquet hall, extravagant displays weren’t frowned upon, even though the king always looked so gloomy.

The fae banquet hall was more rustic. The back wall was a waterfall, the chairs were carved from tree trunks, and the floor was covered in pebbles with the occasional daisy popping up.

A few council members were there, and she was relieved not to see Ellathoria or Cathan.

Ellathoria expected answers from Aurelia that she couldn’t give because she didn’t know them.

Cathan was a whole other issue.

“How did you sleep, Aurelia?” Gaia asked kindly. She looked a lot like the nymphs at the stream, with roots patterned on her face like veins and her ears blending into her leafy green hair.

“Very well, thank you,” Aurelia replied, returning the small smile. “Where are the other council members?”

“Probably with their factions, busy with something. Most of us are leaders of certain groups, which is how we became council members, to represent our factions,” Axon explained.

“Most?”

“Well, I’m the only one who doesn’t have a faction. I have students who learn my trade so they can take my place if something happens to me.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m kind of a historian and prophecy seeker. Like the high priests in your kingdom, I have abilities that let me see visions through magical objects, like crystals.

“That’s how we found you,” he added.

He seemed older than the others, except for Ellathoria and Cathan. Axon’s beard and long, wispy hair were streaked with gray.

He wore dark cloaks, like Cathan and Jaromir, and a staff with a silver orb on top was propped up next to him.

“What’s the staff for?” At this, he laughed genuinely.

“Old age is catching up with me,” he replied.

“We’re not all blessed with eternal youth. Only Cathan and Ellathoria have that ability. It was given to them by the gods after our people were massacred in your kingdom.

“Maybe the gods thought they needed time to rebuild a strong kingdom and trusted them to keep it safe. For the rest of the council, and everyone else here, we age.”

“Are they immortal, too?”

Ayla started to object to Axon’s answers, but he waved her off. Ayla saw Aurelia’s curiosity as a search for weaknesses in the council so that Aurelia and her mate could later destroy them.

But Axon was a wise old man with a gift for visions and sharp instincts. The young wolf wasn’t a threat to them yet, but she could be if they weren’t careful.

He had visions he didn’t dare share with the council, visions that might not happen if they guided Aurelia correctly. Making an enemy of the wolf would lead to their downfall.

The one person he was worried about was Cathan, a man so blinded by revenge that he could ruin everything by pushing Aurelia away.

“They’re not immortal.”

“Why is the Alpha King? Do you know?” she asked.

“You’re his mate and he hasn’t told you,” a voice behind Aurelia teased. Cathan sauntered in, a playful smirk on his face.

“How are you today, Aurelia? The journey must have been tiring,” he pulled out the chair next to her, his eyes locked on her.

“I’m doing well, thank you,” she responded, meeting his gaze.

“Care to take a walk with me? The gardens here are stunning. I know they don’t have anything like it where you’re from,” Cathan offered, extending his hand to her.

She glanced around the table.

Axon’s eyes were narrowed at Cathan, but she knew he couldn’t stop the silver-haired fae from doing what he wanted. A man like Cathan either got what he wanted, or he took it.

So, wisely, she took his hand and followed him out. Cathan placed his hand on the small of her back as he led them into the sprawling, mystical gardens.

“I think you’re hiding something,” he suddenly said, his silver eyes staring blankly into the distance.

“Everyone has secrets,” she replied, mirroring his distant gaze. His light chuckles echoed in the air, dark, sinister, and haunting.

“Indeed,” he murmured.

They found themselves in a clearing, surrounded by deep green hedges with only one path out—the way they came. Trees sheltered them overhead, blocking the light from reaching them.

In the center was a podium. Ash scattered all over the floor, as if it had rained fire. Yet, it was still beautiful.

“Where are we?” Aurelia whispered.

“This is my solitude sanctum. This is where I perform my solo spells,” he answered, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the podium.

Resting on top was an ancient book, the cover tattered and chewed at, with pages inside that were withering and crippled.

“You practice dark fae magic?” She wondered why she asked the question. She had known since their first meeting, even though no one had told her.

“Yes,” he said, staring at her like he had never seen another person before, his eyes locked on hers. “Tell me, what do you see?”

Her face twisted into confusion, only to be pulled toward him until her back was pressed against his chest.

His hand guided hers to the podium and flipped open to a page. He bent down to her ear, his breath against the nape of her neck.

“What do you see on the page?”

“Words,” she exhaled.

What was he trying to get her to see? And, as that thought crossed her mind, the words were sucked into a smoky black ball of energy, floating above the book.

She reached out as it beckoned to her, but a hand snatched hers away.

“What do you see, Aurelia?” he whispered.

“Darkness.”

He pulled her away from the book and spun her around in his arms. Tilting his head to the side, his eyes bore into her, once with venom, but now, with intrigue.

“You’re not just an ordinary wolf, you’re not even an ordinary fae,” he muttered.

She pushed away from him, narrowing her eyes in an accusing manner.

He was too close to her; she didn’t like it and it didn’t feel right. And he was speaking in riddles that even the gods couldn’t understand.

“But, you know that, don’t you?” He took a step toward her as she took another back. When the hard metal podium brushed against her back, she knew she was cornered.

“You’re scared of me, and yet I’m the one who should be trembling.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, Aurelia. It doesn’t suit you,” he said sharply. “Not on the future wolf queen.”

He tipped her chin up so their eyes could meet and so he could try to understand what he saw in her.

“Did you know that most fae are usually born without natural gifts? You see, they study spells and enchantments.

“They have the ability to practice magic, but it’s rare to be born with the ability to do something,” he continued.

“For example, Ellathoria could connect to the earth the moment she was born. She could sense what others couldn’t from the ground we walk on.

“Axon was plagued with visions as a child, until he learned to control it.

“And I was born with a knack for the dark arts, able to do what beginner dark fae magic could do without uttering a single spell. Now, tell me, Aurelia, what’s your gift?”

“A gift? I—”

“Lying.”

“I’m not—”

“Lying.”

“How dare—”

“Lying,” he interrupted again, quite arrogantly and proudly.

“I could keep doing this all day. But we both know that you have a gift. Just now, I saw a gift fae could only dream of. Well, certain fae, fae who believe in practicing dark magic.

“But, there’s more than just your dark magic ability. What is it?”

Aurelia studied the man with great intrigue.

He was incredibly perceptive, or perhaps she had been too obvious. She couldn’t have all the council members suspicious and learning of her “gift,” as he had put it.

It was more of a curse. A curse that had already begun battling her pure soul.

She slipped out of his trap and around the other side of the podium.

“Why do you want to know? You want to destroy me? Kill me?”

“Sweetheart, you already know what I want. I want to kill the king. And you want that too.”

Even though her original will scraped and scratched to win, ultimately, the stronger part of her was victorious.

“How do you suppose we do that, then?”