29. Kols
“Your ascensions area lot more exciting than ours,” Cyrus murmured as he sipped from a glass of fiery lemonade. His water magic kept cooling the liquid before it reached his tongue, thereby defeating the entire purpose of the spell. But I wasn’t about to correct the Water Fae King.
“You turn former kings into trees, nearly burn down a forest with a bunch of flickering wands, and then throw one hell of a party,” he continued. “I mean, seriously, I’m impressed, and a little miffed that this only happens once every thousand years.”
I snorted. “I assure you, they are not all like this.” At least, none that I knew about, which was arguably only one.
And actually, that’d been a rather deadly ascension considering the Quandary Blood extermination that had followed.
I frowned.
Maybe Cyrus had a point.
“I know a way to make this all even more exciting,” a deep voice said behind me, the tone reminding me of grating rocks.
I shivered as the giant boulder of an Earth Fae placed his palm on my shoulder and gave it a good, not-so-tender squeeze.
“Kolstov,” he said.
“Sol,” I replied. Shade? I might need you to shadow me in a moment.
His amusement came back through the bond. And miss watching that Earth Fae knock you in the face with his fist? Nah, I’m good right here.
I narrowed my gaze at him. Shall I tell him how you bit Aflora against her will? Then insist upon an introduction afterward?
“Cyrus,” Zeph’s voice interjected, his presence at my side reassuring and protective as he looked at the hand on my shoulder and followed it up to the owner. “Sol.”
“Zephyrus,” the Earth Fae replied coolly.
“Well, this ought to be fun,” someone said from behind us, causing Cyrus to roll his eyes.
“You just want to watch them fight,” the Water Fae King said.
“Correction”—Titus, who I assumed was the one to speak previously, joined our little circle and bumped shoulders with Zeph—“I want to see this one fight.”
My Guardian snorted. “You couldn’t handle me in a fight.”
“Is that a threat?” Sol demanded.
I sighed. Aflora?
She shadowed over to us in a blink, her blue eyes blazing with power. The second she appeared, Sol released me and engulfed her much smaller frame in a hug that had Zeph growling beside me. She squealed as the larger Earth Fae picked her up and whirled her around, then she laughed as he set her down, their friendship clearly born of brotherly and sisterly love.
But I also knew she used to harbor a crush on the brute.
So that soured some of my amusement.
As did the look he gave me as he put his arm around her.
Protectivedidn’t even begin to describe that look. It was more of an expression that said, If you hurt her again, I will rip you apart and enjoy it.
Claire joined us then, her indulgent gaze going to Cyrus and Titus before Sol. “No, you can’t turn them into rocks. Aflora wouldn’t approve.”
He grunted. “Soiling my fun.”
Soil, I thought, snorting. Earth Fae puns?
I suddenly see where Aflora’s vocabulary comes from,Zeph returned.
“Stop being such a boulder, Sol,” Aflora murmured, kissing him on the cheek and earning another low growl from Zeph.
“I think you need more lemonade,” I suggested lightly, glancing up at my Guardian.
He didn’t move.
“Right,” I murmured. “Well. Thank you all for coming.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I kept to the formalities of thanking the royals for attending the ascension. I’d learned from Cyrus that Constantine had reached out to the other realms to tell them about Aflora and had requested assistance. Claire had been the only one to respond, the other fae kingdoms telling him to handle his own mess.
I suspected the Hell Fae King had something to do with those refusals. I couldn’t say why; it was more of an instinct that I’d inherited from Shade.
Keep rummaging in my head and you’ll lose yourself, he warned now, picking up on my thoughts.
Shouldn’t have mated me, then,I tossed back.
Wouldn’t change it for the world, he admitted, flashing me a quick grin before refocusing on Tadmir. He’d been in the middle of providing an update on Ajax, something about him taking a new position with Zen. I hadn’t quite followed but intended to ask about it after the ceremony.
Especially since whatever Tadmir was saying about Ajax seemed to have Kyros’s full interest as well, something I gathered might not be common for the Paradox Fae.
Aflora stepped out of Sol’s embrace and squeezed in between me and Zeph, her arm going around his waist as her head rested on my shoulder.
Where’s Zakkai?I asked her.
With Zen and Laki, she replied on a sigh. They’re talking with your dad about how to move forward.
Is that where you were? I wondered, feeling bad for interrupting such an important discussion.
Yes.
Do you need to go back?
No, I’m tired of discussing politics,she replied. I would much rather act as a barrier between you and Sol’s fist.
I snorted. I can handle myself.
You can. But I want to be the only one who draws blood from you.She shifted to kiss my jaw while the Earth Fae watched.
He clearly didn’t approve, but a nudge from his queen had him relaxing marginally.
Titus had taken Cyrus’s drink from him, his fascination over the flames evident as he created several of his own to dance with the embers. Meanwhile, Cyrus had lowered his focus to the neckline of Claire’s dress, which he clearly found more intriguing than the lemonade in Titus’s hand.
What an odd little circle we all made.
Exos and Vox were off talking philosophy with Chern, who Aflora stated wasn’t under a spell at all. The Sangré Blood Councilman had never outwardly displayed emotion or preference, marking him as a Midnight Fae to watch. However, I suspected he approved of Aflora’s ascension because he’d told her sincerely that it was a logical choice.
Tray and Ella were nowhere to be seen, having run into each other’s arms shortly after the wand ceremony. I had a pretty good idea of what they were up to, but didn’t want to go searching to find out. I would share a private moment with my twin later. For now, I was satisfied knowing my twin was healthy and alive.
Everyone else seemed to be tentatively conversing, several fae having not seen old friends for over a thousand years, and younger Midnight Fae softly asking Quandary Bloods questions about their paradigms and how they’d been hiding.
The sky above was bleeding with color, the sun rising to overtake the moon.
Our evening ascension was slowly coming to an end, the LethaForest preparing itself to return to its usual protective antics.
With Constantine’s tree lingering at the center of it all, the twisted black branches littered with flames.
It was a sight to behold, one I could never have imagined.
So many lives had been lost. Friends, family, innocent fae.
But as Aflora had said, where there was life, there was death.
Fortunately, my mother was not among those souls. She’d been locked up by my grandfather and now stood in the clearing near Shade’s mom.
Aswad lurked nearby, his expression one of confusion and loss. He’d been a victim of my grandfather, as had several other Councilmen, including Emelyn’s father, Lima, who had broken down into hysterics shortly after being freed from the spell. At least, that had been Tadmir’s report and explanation as to why Lima had not attended the ceremony.
I felt for the Elite Blood on some levels but blamed him on others. Lima had always craved power, hence his arranging a marriage between me and his daughter. So while he might have been more recently under my grandfather’s spell, he hadn’t always been that way.
As far as Aswad was concerned, I wasn’t sure how I felt. I could sense Shade’s disbelief surrounding his father’s sincerity and his questions around whether or not he had truly been under a spell. However, Tadmir did confirm that he’d unwound the manipulation charm himself prior to the ceremony. And he also sensed that it had been there for quite some time.
Exos had overheard our brief conversation and mentioned something about a Spirit Fae named Mortus undergoing a similar experience with Elana. Shade had asked if he trusted the Spirit Fae, and Exos had frowned, saying, “Not quite.”
A sentiment Shade and I shared not just about Aswad but about the other Councilmen and Elders as well.
We’d be watching and ready to deal with those threats as they arose, because no one would be touching our queen.
Zeph hummed in agreement in my head, our connections wide open, thanks to the Earth Fae bonds that had settled between us all.
Although, Aflora mentioned it wasn’t normal for the link to be so vast, saying that she was fairly certain Claire and her mates couldn’t speak this way. Of course, she’d never sought definitive proof of that belief because it really wasn’t anyone’s business whether or not Claire’s mates could speak to one another.
Regardless, I suspected our ability to converse was due to the mingling of dark source and earth source together, and perhaps the result of several of us sharing our own bonds with each other, too.
Aflora sighed contentedly against me, her body seeming to sway.
I think our star is ready to go home,Zakkai said to us all. The question is, which home?
I know a place,Shade replied.
Of course you do,Zeph drawled. Another paradigm?
A final secret feels like a right of passage, Shade said, ignoring the question. Shall we?
Aflora hummed, saying she needed to wish a few fae goodbye, which included Claire and all her mates. They were heading back to their kingdom rather than staying, Exos stating that the Death magic was irritating his ties to the Spirit Kingdom—a fact Shade found amusing.
Eventually, the formalities were done. I didn’t hug my father but told him we would talk. His expression said he understood, our last meeting not having been a favorable one. And if I was honest, his inability to stand up to my grandfather bothered me a bit. As the Midnight Fae King, he should have been stronger.
But that was a conversation and concern for another day.
Shade didn’t approach his own father but did hug his mother.
When I couldn’t find Tray or Ella, I decided to give them their peace and returned to my mate. They’re okay, she whispered to me, taking my hand. I can sense their content.
Thank you, I replied, reaching for Shade as he wrapped us all up in a cloak of shadows.
He grabbed my hip, pulling me toward him and stirring a growl from Zeph.
I just shook my head and smiled. Because possessive Zeph was my favorite kind.
Which meant we were in for a whole day of wicked fun.