48. The King is Dead
Chapter 48
The King is Dead
LUCA
S omething I’ve never worried about? Being left out of the shit my brother and our queen get up to. I know my place in our foursome. Neither Law nor Caileán need my physical strength or magic or knowledge. They have plenty of their own.
They want me with them. They include me because my presence is important to them. Because they know I want to be part of every adventure, no matter how dangerous.
Including Caileán’s vengeance.
When Caileán and Law start forward, I’m right beside them. Law drops to his paws and I follow, so Caileán walks between a pair of snarling Cait warriors.
Our path to Ruadhán takes us around the Mother and through the ragged crescent of fae lords. The Mother watches, eyes gleaming in the darkness of her cowl. She says nothing, does nothing, to stop us. Wile of Baelboggan, still on his knees, shuffles to the side to get out of our way. The Holly King and Aehelwen, holding hands after their near brush with Emnyre’s arrow, fall in beside Rhodes as we pass them.
“Ruadhán,” Caileán calls. “The Mother may not judge you, but I do.”
Ruadhán takes a step back from where he’s standing a wary distance from Licyssa, only to bump into the cold metal curve of Jou’s scythe.
Ruadhán jumps and flinches away from scythe and demon.
“Don’t even think about tryin’ to go nowhere,” Jou growls at Ruadhán.
“Call off your pet,” Ruadhán snarls at Caileán. “If the Mother doesn’t judge me, you have no right.”
The Mother’s chuckle is low and musical, but ringing. “I was not called upon to judge you, Ruadhán the Red. You are not sworn to me. You carry no weapon from my hand. My name has not graced your mouth in supplication or prayer. You will be judged by your peers, just as every other creature who walks under the sun and moon.”
Ruadhán’s sharp muzzle swings right and left. Looking for allies or an escape route. Either way, he doesn’t find what he’s looking for. Even the demons are giving him side-eye.
“Lady of Bile—” Ruadhán begins.
She chortles and steps away from him. “Do not look to me for aid, trickster. My bargain was with your king. You got a great deal of use out of the poison I provided your liege. Some might say you got the better end of the deal. Don’t think that endears you to me.”
“Here is your chance?—”
Licyssa shakes her head. “The Crow Queen has not made a friend of me this day, and there will be a reckoning, but the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. You have too much of a taste for rape, Ruadhán. Rapists are not welcome in the City of Mirrors. Pity you did not call on Shaghaan. He might have found you more to his taste. I do not.”
“Lady, for you?—”
Licyssa’s laugh gurgles over the squabbling of the crows as they feed. “Spare me your lies, trickster. I said no. No means no, although I appreciate no means take by force to you. You’ll find that difficult with me, I think.”
Ruadhán’s face purses sourly. “Princess of Thirst, if your mother refuses me?—”
Mordeh looks at him like he’s a pile of dung she’s just stepped in. “I hope Queen Caileán cuts off your prick and makes you eat it.”
The Crow Queens have drawn into a circle around Ruadhán as he’s tried to bargain with the demonesses. Brangwy chortles at the demoness’ suggestion. She bares sharp teeth stained red by the piercing through her lip. “I hope she lets me eat it.”
“Ladies, ladies—” Ruadhán spins around, trying to keep too many enemies in view.
“Your race is run, Reynard,” Caileán says. “You owe me the rape of my body. You owe my consorts their lives. You owe my sisters the loss of our union, the loss of their selves. Many have a claim on your life. I cannot satisfy everyone, so I give you a choice: cat or crow. The Cait will kill you and it will not be quick. My sisters and I will kill you and it will not be painless. Choose your executioner.”
“You cannot,” Ruadhán shrieks. “I will not choose. The king?—”
“Is very dead,” the Holly King interjects. “Long live the king.” His smile is slow and cold. “I would not take the Crow Queen’s vengeance from her, but I know she is not a killer by choice. This blade was meant for someone’s heart.” He lifts his arm, a blackened blade of bone. “I’m beginning to think it’s yours.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Mother’s cowl dip.
The five Crow Queens bow their heads as well.
“I would not ask anyone to do what I would not do myself,” Caileán says. “But I would gladly step aside for the high king to dispense justice in his own court.”
“I-I’m—” Aranthann fumbles as he realizes that he is the high king. “Thank you, Queen Caileán, for reminding me of my duty. Ruadhán the Red, I find you guilty of conspiracy, rape, and the killing of kin. I sentence you to death.”
Ruadhán bares his teeth. The flame topping his head flares and lashes out at those surrounding him but is immediately contained by Flame Shields from my brother and the demons. He howls and lays about with Flame Fists booming out of his hands, slamming into the shields and knocking the demons off their feet. The oak trees framing the grove catch fire.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Teddy’s foursome edging around behind Jou. Charlie and Darwin reinforce the Flame Shields while Teddy helps Jou up. Gabe lines up on Ruadhán’s far side. The Water mage winks and for a second, I think he’s winking at me. Then I realize he’s winking at the person behind me.
Spiraling blue jets of water burst out of Gabe and Rhodes. They cut through shield and fist alike, dowsing all Flame. They ring Ruadhán, forcing his arms against his body.
He struggles. Straining, he throws his head back and howls a chant in a language I don’t recognize. As he does so, he begins sinking into the trampled, blackened grass.
“Oh, I don’t fucking think so,” Teddy snarls. She stretches out her hand. With a deep rumble, giant fingers of Earth burst up out of the ground and grip Ruadhán’s legs.
“No, you will not escape justice, Ruadhán the Red,” the Holly King says.
He strides forward, skirting the chains of water encircling the fae. Without hesitating, the Holly King thrusts the blade of his arm into Ruadhán’s chest.
The fae gasps. His eyes roll, landing on the Holly King, the Mother, Caileán. “Killing me won’t make you whole,” he gasps with his last breath.
“No, it merely rids the world of your brand of evil, Vile Ruadhán,” Caileán says. “My family makes me whole.”
The Holly King pulls his arm back, his forearm and hand emerging from Ruadhán’s chest healed and whole. The king steps back and lets Ruadhán slump into the Water and Earth holding the corpse in place. With a flick of the king’s hand, glossy green leaves sprout from Ruadhán’s skin. They spread into spiky fans with red berries clustered at the center, growing quickly into a towering bush.
“A holly in the sacred oak grove?” Aehelwen asks.
“There’s nothing sacred about this wood anymore,” the Holly King says. “Let the oaks burn.”
Faery answers. An acorn rolls out of the burning trees and stops at Aehelwen’s feet. With a rueful smile, the knight picks it up. Leaves sprout between his fingers, spreading into a circlet, shading from green to gold. When he holds up the crown, moonlight splinters into a thousand rainbows through the facets of the acorn turned into diamond.
Aehelwen looks around, taking in the mass of crows still feeding at the far end of the grove, the burning oaks, the fae who are milling around uncertainly now that the battle’s over.
“I am honored in this company,” Aehelwen says. “My king, five queens, lords of Faery, lords of Hell, princes of the Cait. And, of course, Mother of All.” He bows to her. “Might I ask someone to crown me?”
Laughter ripples through the assembled fae.
The Mother defers to the Holly King, who crowns his knight solemnly but is gleeful as he bestows the threefold kiss. The Crow Queens and former vassals line up to give the kiss of peace to the new Oak King. Law and I take our place in the line after the demons. Maybe we outrank them as fae but I’m not arguing with the Acid Queen and Uncle Jou. They’re scary.
I turn to look for Rho and find him facing the Mother. She puts a gentle hand on his chest. He bows his head. She says something to him but he’s too far away for even my ears to hear, particularly over the squabbling of the crows.
When we’ve gone through the line and greeted Faery’s newest king, I seek out Caileán and Rho who are standing with Hraena, Didrane, Teddy, her husbands, and Jou. I don’t see the other demons. Or the Mother.
I wriggle between Caileán and Rho, looping my arms around their waists. Everyone’s leaning on each other. Teddy’s resting her head on Charlie’s shoulder with her eyes closed. Even Uncle Jou looks tired.
“What did the Mother say to you?” I ask Rhodes.
My boyfriend sighs. “She told me my Work wasn’t done. That she’d given my life back for a purpose and to follow my Path. And she told me that I’ll have a chance to name my Water baby someday, but this first crowson will be Bran.”
Caileán chuckles. “Guess that means we’re having a boy.”