The Faerie King

Chapter 33

I wake with a gasp, my heavy breaths filling the room. Last night, after all the demons left, I went to sleep early under the false assumption that when I woke up, things would suddenly feel better.

They don’t.

Dae followed the demons out, probably sorting out the courtyard and hunting down whoever Dad hired to plant the bomb down there.

I try to sort through my thoughts, through everything I know.

First, I have about a month and a half before Mum dies, but every day, she gets sicker, as I was supposed to—weakened so that I wouldn’t weaken Ellyllon by having the cheek to be alive.

I still don’t know how I feel about that. I get why Dad put a curse on me. If the choice is between me and an entire world, I guess I’d make the same choice. But if the choice was between my child and a world, I don’t know that I’d be so quick to agree. I think I’d fight until my dying breath to put a stop to it. And I would certainly offer myself before my child. The hag even gave him a second chance to give himself instead, and he rejected it.

With the curse gone, if Father catches me, he’ll stab me in the chest, claw out my heart, and chuck it into the core of a planet. Or at least, that’s how Dae describes the sacrifice going, but he’s never witnessed it.

Concealing a shiver, I move on. It might be over a month before Mum dies, but Hell storms Ellyllon in about a week.

I can save Mum by waiting and letting the demons attack my father’s home, a home I’ve never really seen but still can’t help but feel some old, stupid tug of loyalty to. Or I can sell my soul to Dorian and spend eternity in Hell. Or there’s escape and hoping I can fix this some other way.

But, what does ’fix this’ even mean? I go back to how things were a few weeks ago? With me on death’s door? Once, that didn’t sound so bad. But it’s beginning to sound terrible. All this time, I’ve been worrying about Mum, but what happens when I die? Who is there to worry about her then? She’d be devastated.

And besides, I want to live.

And Dad… I still don’t know how I feel about him. Part of me hates him—a big part. And the part that understands grows smaller and smaller every time I remember the bodies strewn on the floor, broken and bleeding.

To kill me is one thing, to kill anyone in the way is entirely separate.

And Obi. I still need to find out what happened to Obi.

I may not know what to do, but I think I now know what happens next. Dae only needs me quiet, so I’m betting he’ll try to distract me, keep me busy for the next week, until it’s too late for me to make any moves.

I guess, at the very least, I don’t have to worry about Mum as much now. She’ll be safe either way. But I have under a week to figure out how to save an entire world. Maybe?—

Strolling footsteps meander down the hallway outside our room, and my breath hitches as a key turns in the lock, smooth and controlled. I didn’t even notice that our room locks.

Dae enters, wearing a respectable suit if not for the ivy leaves and lavender petals spiralling across it. The small golden band he usually wears between his horns has been replaced with a crown of Azalea flowers. He looks—fantastic.

He says, “The demons went home. They’ll be back in a week.” ’To storm your father’s home,’ are the words he doesn’t say. I guess I really shouldn’t care, but I do, nonetheless. I’m about to open my mouth, but he beats me to it, saying, “I want to take you on a date.” From behind his back, Dae pulls out a shimmering bouquet made of irises, water lilies, and lilacs.

I almost laugh. Almost. Instead, I pull my lips into a tight line and search Dae’s spirited eyes for any sign of the serious leader from last night.

“No,” I say. It’s absurd, really. I bet there’s still blood downstairs that hasn’t finished drying. Although, the Coblynau have probably cleaned it up by now. Not that they’ll ever be able to replace the lost human lives, lives that now mark my soul.

“Oh, come on.” He moves fluidly, with control. “It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.”

“Whose fault is that?” I ask, pulling the sheets up over my head. I can’t let him distract me; I need to figure out what I want to do.

He grabs the sheets, yanking them off the bed with a laugh. Calm—he is calm again, controlled. It’s hard to picture this being the same faerie who pummelled a man to death the other day, or threw himself in front of a bomb for me.

“Are you going to keep singing the same sad song forever?” I’ve always loved him when he’s like this—like the silly co-conspirator I grew up with. “I’m Elly,” he mimics, “and I’ve been kidnapped, and everything is dire and terrible.”

I grunt, my chest tightening. No wild eyes. No monster. Just…Dae.

He glances down at my now uncovered form, his eyes bulging. “What are those?”

“Socks.”

“Yes, I know what they are. But what are they doing on your feet, in bed?”

The mattress squeaks as I roll over and wrap my arms around my head, a small smile hidden beneath my hands.

He says, “You know what they say about people who sleep with socks on…psychopaths.”

I flip back over, a practiced scowl ready on my face. His eyes are no longer on my feet. My cheeks redden, and I swallow down a thick lump as I try to grasp the sheets back. They dance out of my reach, a shimmering veil between me and Dae’s slippery inspection.

“Get lost,” I spit, trying to force my lips back down. They ignore me, curving up and up and up.

“No,” he laughs. His laugh has always been contagious. “If you don’t get up and come on a date with me, I’ll sit here in your cell all night and talk about everyone I’ve ever kissed.”

Gone is the Faerie King, the trickster, the malicious, cruel bully who keeps human slaves. He looks so young in the faded pink light. My age, among people who live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Someone so young, so playful, wouldn’t kill. I mean, I know he has killed—I’ve watched him do it, but he certainly wouldn’t kill my friend. Maybe he really did send Obi home, all in one piece. Maybe there are lines that even Faerie Kings won’t cross.

“First, there was Kheriana. She was visiting with the Nightelf procession one year.”

I cover my head with the pillow. He yanks the pillow away.

“She had beautiful chestnut hair, but her breath smelt of dead cow. On account of all the meat eating. Then there was Jaskier. Oh, Jaskier, how sweet your honey-glazed lips tasted. He was a Faerie from our realm, passing through with his merchant Dad. He gave me pears, and I gave him some of my jewels. Thinking back now, he probably got the better end of the deal. He had long, flowy black hair, deep green eyes, and sugar-sweet lips.”

“And that faerie who sucked your cock the other day. How did she taste?” I ask, knowing he’s dragging me into his stupid game, but I can’t help but play along. A wide grin quickly spreads across Dae’s glimmering face, and I cringe.

“So, you are jealous. I knew it. Tell me, do you wish you were her, and that you got to play with me in front of the entire court? Or is it that you wish no one was allowed to touch me, and I’d have to suffer in loneliness as you do?”

“Neither, obviously. I just hate you and hate seeing anything that brings you happiness,” I say, and Dae’s feline smile grows. “So, who came next?”

A low hum escapes Dae’s lips. “Then came the main course.” He taps my nose, indicating that I’m the main course. As if he thinks I’m dumb enough to believe I’m the third, or even the hundredth. If it were really true, he would speak the words aloud. “If you skip forward a bit, naturally.” There it is.

He throws the sheets and pillows to the furthest corner of the room, stalks closer, and hinges at the hips, his hooked nose pressing against my cheek, lips almost touching mine. Warm ivy leaves press against my fingertips as I shove him away—fast.

“Don’t you think Faeries are the best creatures to kiss?” He straightens himself, completely unperturbed by my rejection. “Nightelves and humans taste very stern and boring. Faeries taste of sugared almonds and playful dreams. It’s a wonder you taste any good, all things considered.”

A screeching sound fills the air as I cover my blushing cheeks with my hands. “I said—Get. Out.”

“Touched a nerve?” He pinches my exposed leg.

“No, I just can’t bear the sound of your hideous voice.”

“I think you feel the opposite. I think you like the sound of my voice so much you want to get rid of me before I realise it. Well, too late. And Elysia,” he leans down again and whispers a secret in my ear… “Your lips taste better than any Faerie’s.”

I shove him hard, but he quickly catches my wrists, holding them away from my face, his eyes devouring my traitorous lips. Growing suddenly serious, he says, “Half the reason I stole you was so I could enjoy life with you. So we could be closer. I want to start enjoying our time together. We don’t have to agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun, for however long we have. Hopefully, forever.”

He’s almost irresistible… almost. “Listen. I said I’m not going, and I’m not.”

“What if we make a deal?” He lets go, and the chill creeps back into the room.

“What kind of deal?” I swing my legs off the mattress and onto the floor.

“You tell me something you want, and I’ll give it to you if you come on a date with me.”

“Okay, I’ll go on a date with you if you send me home.” The request is a reflex. My wants are now too confusing to be able to sort through them quickly enough when confronted with a deal.

Dae rolls his eyes. “Do you not like it here?” He clutches his chest in mock sadness.

“Obviously not. Who would enjoy being a slave for a bunch of homicidal freaks?” A pang twists my heart when I remember the faces of all the now dead humans.

He rolls his eyes. “You haven’t been a slave for weeks. Besides, you’re certainly not a slave today. Today, you’re going on a date with a king.”

“So, you’ll send me home?”

“No, but you knew that. Bargain for something else.”

“Tell me what you did to Obi.”

“Skip.”

That means something did happen. “I miss running. I want to go on a thirty-minute run every day. Alone.”

“Sorry, love. I can’t let you run through these forests. There are dangerous beings lurking in the woods. I wouldn’t want to add another one to the mix.” He winks.

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. Finally, I say, “I want fried chicken, a big tub of it, complete with gravy and chips. You’ll have to send someone to Earth to get it. I don’t want any of this proper food from Faerie.”

“Deal. Come on then. Let’s go.” He turns his back to me, giving me a chance to change without his meandering eyes trailing my body.

Ten minutes later… “Is that what you’re wearing?”

I wink, strolling out ahead of him into the corridor, the long fabric of my torn, makeshift dress swishing around my thighs. I run my hands down my hips, skin touching my fingertips.

“For someone who didn’t even want this date, you’re very quick to take the lead. Come on.” He grabs me and tugs me down the corridor, out a way I’ve never been before. We run down winding staircases, and before I know it, we’re outside. I make a mental note of the path we took to get here.

The sky is alive with orange and navy blue hues, light bouncing off honeysuckle shrubs as the smell of jasmine and blood orange fills the air. Small, cheery birds chirp as we walk and talk. The date seems to start without me even noticing—by the time we step up to a glistening lake and Dae stops walking, I realise we’ve been talking for over an hour.

Small waves lap against the twinkling, pink coral-covered bank from the lake’s almost pitch-black waters. A heavily decorated table sits on the shore directly in front of us, each inch covered in tiny gypsophila flowers.

“Well, you’ve obviously thought this through,” I say, my little finger twitching almost imperceptibly closer to him.

A large roasted marrow sits in the middle of the table, surrounded by spiced fava beans and pickled rhubarb. My stomach growls loudly as the smell of cinnamon and rosemary fills my nose. A bottle of something golden and shimmering sits beside two glasses.

“You’ve made a big mistake if you think I’d ever trust you enough to drink a bottle of suspicious liquid.”

“Don’t worry, Elly,” he clasps my twitching fingertips in his, pulling me forward along the rose petal-covered pathway, “both glasses are for me.”

He serves, feeds, and listens to me all night. I don’t drink any of the golden liquid, but I do eat every bite before me, until the skin around my stomach is tightening in rebellion. I quickly regret showing so much skin, not that Dae’s devouring eyes are put off by my bulging belly.

Dae tells me what life was like growing up in a castle. I mock him for being a spoilt little boy, and he laughs. He tells me about his Dad—Halychon, a brilliant King, with incredibly large shoes to follow. Shoes every other leader in Faerie agreed Dae was too childish to wear. So, Dae got rid of them all.

He reaches out and holds my hand as he tells me… “Then Delhi and the Jinn court joined me. She taught me everything. But she and her court also killed and maimed and tortured half the creatures within spitting distance. A few years later, when I was old enough to rule alone,” he spits the words, his fingers tightening around his glass, “I asked her to return to her hunt away from our court. Abnehor, Kaya, and some of the other Jinn stayed, but a lot left with her. Many still roam Faerie, though. They come to my court to get their needs met.”

“What does Delhi look like?”

“The moon.” I’m not sure which moon he means. If she looks like the moon back home, she must look very similar to Selene, but the two sound nothing alike.

I ask about his birth mother, and he says, “They say she died in childbirth. My father never spoke about it or mourned. Instead, he paraded a stream of women through court, so I see no reason to dwell on it. But I do miss Delhi, very much. I look forward to the day she can return. Everyone will have to be really, properly, fully in line before that happens, though, or I’ll end up with a mutiny on my hands.”

For the first time, it occurs to me that Dae really does have a kingdom to rule and the game of politics to play. He can’t just dictate whatever he wants.

“Why do Faeries kidnap humans? You love animals—you don’t even eat meat. Why do you let such bad things happen to people?” I nibble the skin around my nails.

“Faeries and humans used to live side by side. The same can’t be said for the Jinn, who were once, many millennia ago, rulers of our worlds, but since losing their power, have travelled through realms. From what I’ve been taught, the Fae are naturally from your realm. We lived near lakes, rivers, and in forests, and we were at peace with the people there.

“As the years passed, the humans grew greedy. They drained our rivers and chopped down our trees. The Fae fought back, and a war began that lasted a century. One day, the humans coordinated a parlay. The humans proposed that everyone come unarmed to discuss how to divide the forests and streams. Then, they would all enjoy a feast as one.

“The Fae were a young species, and we couldn’t lie, so we weren’t really used to the concept. We hadn’t been betrayed before and so couldn’t smell a trap until it was too late.” Dae brings out sugared raspberries and chocolate-covered almonds from a small compartment and places them on the table. “They came to the meeting, looking forward to the end of a long war. Only the children, elderly, and a few caretakers were left behind.

“An agreement that left most of the forests untouched was drawn up and then they all sat down for dinner. The king of the Human Realms stood up to make a speech and everyone tucked into their food and wine. Everyone except the humans, who were forewarned that there would be poison in the food. Each faerie present at that table died. All our leaders, our kings, and queens, our fighters. Everyone.

“The ones left at the camp didn’t know what to do. They were weak or too old or too young, and they knew the humans were coming for them next, but there was nowhere to run. One of the princes of Hell came and made a deal with them. Azaloth, Dorian’s ancestor, the original Feast, had always had an insatiable hunger for human flesh. But a curse placed on him meant he couldn’t leave its depths to hunt. Plus, he liked them plump and full of the fruit of the gods, said it made them taste better. He offered the Fae a deal. He would give us a world of our own and get us out of the camp safely.

“In return, we would kidnap humans for all eternity, feed them the fruit of the Gods until they become plump and delicious, and then deliver them to him for dinner. Obviously, considering what the Fae had been through, and the hatred they had developed for the humans, they took the deal. Azaloth’s been gone a lone time, but the deal remains—there are just no demons who take the plumped up humans now, so they just keep living with us until they manage to bargain for an escape, or they die.”

“And the land he gave you was the Between?” Maybe… if the Fae haven’t always tormented humans, they can change again. Maybe they can grow and become a species humans could live alongside once more.

“No, the Nori is The Between. Calling Faerie The Between is Nightelf propaganda, I’m not actually sure why they do it, what the point is, but I know we’re not The Between—we’re part of the crossing, just like Ellyllon. And it wasn’t really his to give. The trip was what he was really bargaining for, plus Arcadia had already established Ellyllon as watchers of their side of The Between—as in, their side of the Nori, so I guess Hell wanted someone to watch their side too.” Dae reaches over and tucks a loose strand of hair back into my ponytail.

“You really can’t stop stealing and tormenting humans?”

“I’m sure there’s a way. It’s probably not even that hard to find. For all I know, we can stop right now and move on, since Azaloth is gone, anyway.” I arch a brow—he knows what I’m asking. He sighs. “Humans are traitors by nature. They can’t be trusted. If you give them a chance, they’ll betray you, and it’ll be your destruction. Besides, the Jinn need them.”

“For what?”

“The Jinn are like animals, like the hyena who laughs at its food. It’s not its fault, it exists exactly the way it is supposed to. It’s perfect and its cruelty balances out the universe. But humans, they’re something else entirely. They are traitorous, through and through. You do not know how they will betray you, or when they will betray you, or what to look for, but you can never trust them. And their betrayal will always surpass your expectations in its viciousness.”

He says the words in someone else’s voice, as though he’s expressing someone else’s thoughts—parroting. Does Abnehor, who shows a clear and unyielding contempt for all humans other than Shiva, pour poison into the king’s ears?

“I’m still not getting it.”

“The Jinn haven’t had it easy, Elly.” My name slips off his tongue like honey. “They need to inflict pain the way humans need to eat. They can’t be blamed for their natural instincts. But the Nightelves don’t understand them. They don’t understand that the way they are isn’t their fault, so with Nightelves and Arcadia on top, they’ve always suffered.”

“Why does that mean humans should belong to the Jinn?”

“They’ve got to get their needs met somewhere, right? Would you prefer it be piskies who have to suffer? If not for humans, the Jinn’s natures would point in chaotic directions. They’d get attacked or punished, and everyone would suffer for that. Jinn’s aren’t the type to take it lying down.”

It feels pointless to mention that the Jinn’s suffering sounds like it would be a natural consequence of their own actions, or that this entire thing sounds absurd. “But Kaya’s a Jinn, and she doesn’t seem to be particularly cruel.”

“Kaya’s confused. She’s always had a rebellious streak, and when you’re a Jinn, rebelling means becoming extremely gentle. She’s gotten it in her head that she’s going to lead some sort of human revolution.”

“Well, then why is she different?”

“Kaya comes from a very rich, powerful family. Richer than most Faeries by leagues, other than me, of course. That’s given her a sense that she has to make her mark on the world, and she’s decided human liberation is that mark. Through diplomatic leverage, her family were the only Jinns who did well under the latest Nightelf King’s rule, your father’s. Her mother is even friends with Aberith, so unlike Abnehor and some of the other Jinns, she’s not bent on revenge. Instead, she’s clouded by revolution. She’ll get over it one day, when she realises what’s really important.”

“And what is important?”

“Balance. Like I said, the Jinn used to rule long ago, under their rule, everyone suffered. Now the Nightelves rule, and under theirs, the Jinn and Hell suffer. Perhaps, under Faerie rule,” a twinkle shines in Dae’s cold eyes, “all our kingdoms will flourish.”

“Except for the humans? Who will be tormented, kidnapped, and tortured, forever?” Dae reaches out and clasps my hands in his. I shake him off and say, “That’s fucked. It’s literally a hundred percent fucked, you’re fucked, the whole thing’s fucked, you know?”

“What do you want me to say, love?”

“That you have a shred of humanity in you? That I’m not absolutely mad for loving you?”

His lips curve up in a slow, sardonic smile. “So you love me?”

I give him a long look, feeling like the only grownup around. “I don’t know, Dae.”

He raises his chin. “Everyone here came of their own accord. I should deprive them of free will?”

“So they deserve to be treated like drugged up slaves? And you’re wrong. Obi was traded by his mother. That wasn’t his choice.”

Dae flinches a little. “How old was he?”

“My age.”

“Not possible. You have to agree to come. I changed the rules a decade ago. You might not always know exactly what you’re agreeing to, but you do have to agree to something. Either through greed or because you really want to leave and you’re willing to sacrifice everything to get away.”

“Well, one slipped through the cracks.”

“No. One didn’t. No one slips through the cracks.”

This isn’t going anywhere and burn out is creeping in. I stretch my lips in a false yawn and Dae stands, pulling out my chair.

After a long, silent walk, we make it to the bedroom. Pressing my back against the bedroom door, I say, “Thank you.”

He nods absently, taking another step towards me, closing the distance between us. My breath hitches. I wonder if I’ll still push him away when he tries to kiss me.

I don’t get the chance to find out. “Goodnight, Elly,” he whispers quietly into my hair, his knuckles brushing up against my lips as he takes a deep, steadying breath and walks away, leaving me cold, empty, and alone.

I don’t know when he last got a full night’s sleep, but I’m guessing he’s giving me space to process everything. Within, the entire room is covered in rose petals, and I fall asleep to the smell of deep spring.