Queen of Fate (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

The crown prince’s half-breed brother sat on a chair, entirely catatonic, as we all stood in a circle around him. The hustle of Leafton’s nightlife hummed through the windows of Jax’s private suite at The Silver Hand. Life carried on outside these walls. Yet we’d come to a standstill.

Large permanent antlers rose from Bastian’s temples, and he still wore the same dirty, homespun trousers and top that he’d been wearing in the Wood’s underground caverns. But despite being among his friends and family again since we’d rescued him, Bastian had done nothing but sit on the chair we’d placed him on.

Glazed eyes stared at nothing in particular, even when we waved a hand in front of his face, and he had absolutely no emotional response. He breathed, but that was his only sign of life.

“How are we going to get Bastian to the Solis continent like this?” Lander gestured to Jax’s despondent brother, his voice its usual monotone.

Frowning, I wondered the same thing because according to the semelees, traveling to the Solis continent and finding the creator of Bastian’s anklet was the only way to have it removed. And it was imperative that we got that jewelry off him because the semelees had also confirmed that the gem within his anklet was how someone was controlling Bastian’s mind.

I momentarily ran a finger along my collar, hoping against hope that whoever had created Bastian’s anklet had also forged the irremovable jewelry that controlled my magic. I knew it was unlikely, as I’d been told my collar could never come off, but now...

I quickly shoved that envious thought away. Right now, our focus was Bastian. Not me.

Everyone glanced at one another, and Lander’s question still hung heavily in the air.

Jax’s brow furrowed, his midnight eyebrows drawing together until a sharp groove appeared between them. “I suppose we’ll have to carry him.”

Trivan scoffed, and the lean blond placed a hand on his hip. “Carry him everywhere on the Solis continent? Won’t that look rather odd?”

“I don’t think we have a choice,” I chimed in. “The semelees said Bastian needs to be present to have his anklet removed by the Solis female who forged it, and if the only way we can move him is by carrying him, then we’ll have to.”

“What about an enchanted carpet?” Lars asked. The quiet redhead had hardly said a word since we’d retrieved Bastian over an hour ago. Phillen, Jax’s other private guard, stood beside him. “Maybe we could place him on one?”

Alec nodded, and the light caught on the dark-brown hair of the Graniteer House noble. “A carpet would certainly be the easiest way to move him, especially if we’re going to Harrivee’s floating meadows. An enchanted carpet could also help us travel while we’re there.”

Jax placed his hands on his hips, his fingers tapping rhythmically. “That would work, and like you suggested, Alec, a carpet would also help us traverse the Solis landscape. Good idea, Lars.”

The redhead dipped his chin.

I cocked my head. “Will it be easy to find an enchanted carpet?” Dealers of the magical forms of transportation could be hard to come by. Usually, they were sold out.

Jax drifted closer to me, his pine and spice clouding around me. “I know someone in the capital who can get us one.”

I smirked and said teasingly, “Of course, you do.”

His lips curved, and he set his hand on my lower back. Our mate bond hummed inside me with contentment at that simple gesture.

I still couldn’t believe that Jax and I were actually mated now and that I was mated to a crown prince . Our bond was still so newly formed that we hadn’t had a chance to even enjoy it yet.

As though recognizing where my thoughts had turned, his eyes heated, and he leaned down and kissed me on the neck.

An array of shivers blasted down my spine.

Trivan coughed, but it did little to hide his snicker in our direction.

“What about Quinn?” Lander arched an eyebrow. “We’ll need to let him know that we’ve left Leafton and are going to Harrivee’s floating meadows.”

His practical reminder pulled me back to the conversation, and I reluctantly stepped away from Jax.

Jax sighed. “I’ll send a dillemsill.”

Phillen, the brawniest of the bunch, crossed his arms, then scratched his cheek through his heavy beard. “I’ll fetch one in the morning.”

I scrunched my nose up. “Can dillemsills even find a crowfy shifter who’s currently in shadow form?”

Bowan shrugged, and his earring flashed in the fairy lights with the movement. “Some can. It depends how much magic the bird possesses. They’re all slightly different in strength.”

Jax nodded. “In fact, Phillen, make that two dillemsills. Royal protocol also requires me to send word to the Solis royals that we’re planning to visit their continent, so I’ll need to send a message to Norivun too. And as for Quinn, take more rulibs and pay the higher fee for their most magical bird.”

“Any news from Quinn?” Lars asked Jax.

Jax shook his head. “No, but I’m not surprised we haven’t heard from him. Trying to find out how the kingsfae knew about our raid in Possyrose Forest is probably going to take a bit of time.”

“Or rather, how the king knew,” I corrected. After all, it was King Paevin who directed the kingsfae to seize Jax and his raider band that night. I’d found out what the kingsfae were planning and had managed to reach Jax in time, but we all narrowly missed that arrest.

But as for how the king had been aware that Jax and his band of raider friends would be there...

None of us could answer that. But hopefully Quinn discovered something soon.

Phillen ran a hand through his auburn hair, making his biceps bulge. “Will do, my prince. I’ll get two dillemsills first thing in the morning when the shops open.”

“I’ll go too and get that carpet,” Bowan offered.

Jax nodded curtly. “It’s settled then.”

Lander nodded toward the clock. “’Tis near midnight. We should all rest. It’s been a long day.”

“Agreed.” Jax crouched by his brother’s side again. “Bastian, we’ll move you to a bedroom chambers to sleep for the night.” He waited as though hoping against hope that his brother would suddenly respond, but of course, he didn’t.

Bastian continued sitting unmoving, staring docilely. It was such a strange position for a male who appeared so large and powerful.

Like Jax, Bastian was tall with broad shoulders and had a lean yet muscular build. He had fae-tipped ears and siltenite features, along with high fae limbs, feet, and hands. All of him appeared as any other siltenite would, except for the antlers. Unlike Jax, who could magically manifest his stag antlers at will and then make them disappear, Bastian’s antlers were permanent since he was a half-breed.

But their facial features were similar. Like Jax, Bastian’s eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, and his bone structure was rugged, his chest defined, his thighs muscled. His skin was a shade darker than his brother’s tanned complexion, yet Bastian’s hair was lighter than his brother’s. Whereas Jax had black hair, Bastian’s was dark blond.

Still, it was so obvious they were brothers. All one had to do was look at them, and the resemblance was apparent. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognized it initially when Jax had asked me to locate his brother in the Veiled Between all those weeks ago, but I’d never suspected such a thing was possible because, until Jax, I’d never heard of any royal siltenite in any kingdom having an illegal half-breed brother. No wonder the king of Stonewild Kingdom banished Bastian. If anyone saw him, they would likely question his lineage.

Pain puffed in my mate’s aura as Bastian continued to sit unmoving. I kneeled at my mate’s side, placing a hand on his waist. “We’ll save him, Jax. He’ll come back to you.”

Jax’s jaw ground together, and he nodded stiffly, but the movement looked forced. “I hope so. It’s hard to see him like this.”

My heart squeezed. “It is.” Even though I never met Bastian prior to our rescue tonight, the unwavering way Jax loved him and strove to protect him spoke volumes for the kind of male Bastian was.

Saramel, Phillen’s wife, had once told me that Jax and Bastian were incredibly close, that they spoke every day, and that they were fiercely loyal to each other. I couldn’t imagine having such an unbreakable bond with a sibling, especially since I had no brothers or sisters, not that I knew of at least, but the love Jax felt for Bastian was evident. It was why he’d abducted me from my guardian after all. Sheer desperation to find Bastian had made Jax seek out the only lorafin living on the Silten continent, someone who could travel to the Veiled Between and get him answers, someone who would surprisingly end up being his mate.

How much had changed since Jax and I had met.

I squeezed Jax’s hand again. “Come. It’s getting late. We should all get some sleep.”

Everyone finally stood and retreated to their individual bed chambers for the night. Once Phillen and Lars had carried Bastian to an empty room, Jax used his magic to clean his brother’s soiled skin and change him into clean clothes. The fact that Bastian was streaked in grime and dust and didn’t even react when Jax bathed him or dressed him broke my heart all over again.

Jax’s pain drifted toward me along the mate bond as he cared for his brother, and I wished I could fix all of this for him, but it was as though Bastian was no longer there, that his large body was merely a puppet for whatever puppet master was controlling him.

Nerves coiled my stomach, and my gaze shifted to the anklet that Bastian wore. Similar to my collar, a purple stone was secured at its center.

We still didn’t have full answers from the semelees. All we knew was that someone was controlling Bastian with that gem, but we had no idea who, and it was possible we would never know.

But getting that anklet off Bastian was imperative. Nothing good came from jewels that had been placed upon fae to control them. The Goddess knew I’d learned that lesson over and over.

I ran my hand along the smooth metal at my throat. At my collar’s center, the purple stone barely throbbed. At least now it was mostly dormant, since my guardian had used his adaptor to release me from its suffocating hold. But it still suppressed my magic to some extent, and it would never allow me to become a queen of the semelees. With it in place, I would always be a lorafin princess only.

“Elowen?” Jax’s quiet question had my hand dropping. The room was dark, moonlight only penetrating the windows. Jax pulled the covers over his brother, who was lying motionless and supine. Bastian remained staring straight ahead, so Jax ran a hand over his face, closing his eyelids. Pain again reverberated from Jax into me along our bond.

Heart breaking, I questioned if Bastian had even blinked since we’d saved him. I reached for Jax, and when I spoke, my voice was slightly hoarse. “Come, my love. It’s late.”

Jax clasped my hand, his palm warm and smooth. A shiver raced up my arm, and my magic naturally billowed toward his. A low hum sounded in his chest as he led me from the room.

I still couldn’t believe that just last night, Jax had laid claim to me, bonding me as his mate, and this morning I’d done the same to him.

We were still so newly mated that I couldn’t believe that it had happened. Everything with Bastian had taken centerstage since our bond had formed, yet Jax—Prince Adarian, the crown prince of Stonewild Kingdom—was my mate. The gods and goddesses had chosen him for me and me for him.

At the threshold to Bastian’s chambers, Jax gave his brother one last look, then extinguished the fairy lights, and closed the door. For a moment, he stayed there, eyeing the lock while standing in the hallway.

He took a deep breath, then muttered a spell, and a coating of magic sealed the lock and frame. Pain again engulfed Jax’s aura and billowed toward me on our bond.

“I’d like to think that my brother would never hurt me, or you, or any of us, but”—his throat rolled in a swallow—“the male in there looks like my brother, but it’s not him. I don’t know where my brother has gone, but that’s not him.”

I laid a hand on his cheek, my heart clenching at the sheer agony strumming from him. “I know, Jax, but tomorrow we’ll venture to the Solis continent, and then we’ll find that female. We’ll find a way to remove that anklet and truly save your brother once and for all. We won’t stop until we do.”