Chapter 48
Ael
Ael sat in the dining room, trying to eat a late lunch, when a prickling feeling at the back of his neck made him look over at a servant with messy hair who hovered too close.
“Can I help you?” he asked with an annoyed huff.
She bit her lip, her eyes hooded, and said, “I can offer other services if you’d like, Sire.” She reached out and ran her finger up his arm.
Disgust immediately churned inside him, and he twisted away from her, narrowing his eyes.
“Never touch me like that again,” he seethed. “Leave this room now. Send in Fran. I need to speak with her.”
The woman’s face paled, and her eyes glossed over with tears. She quickly ran out of the room and closed the door behind her.
What’s happening?
This was the third woman today who tried to throw herself at him. Was he really that much of a whore before he left Umbrea for Joro? He reflected on this, recalling that he’d had a few relationships with women, but nothing like the attention he was getting now.
The large curtains to his left shifted, and he looked over, assuming it was another servant lurking for him in the unused passageways. “I do not need anything right now. Please leave.”
Luelle peered out and smiled at him. “Ael, that was very entertaining. I promise you I’m not here for that, though.” She pretended to shiver in disgust and put her index finger in her mouth, making a gagging gesture.
“Thank gods it’s you, Luelle. What’s going on?”
“I have some interesting information regarding this problem you seem to be having.” She sat in the chair next to him, grabbed a red grape from his plate, popped it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.
Her eyes sparkled as she waited for Ael to ask her for more details.
“Go on…” he said, knowing how badly she wanted him to show interest. He watched her patiently as she slowly chewed on the grape.
She smacked her lips and sighed. “Turns out Meir is behind this whole thing with these women throwing themselves at you. Apparently, when you left, he had planned that upon your return, you would select a wife to be your queen.” She rolled her eyes and continued, “Many women are trying to get your attention, like that servant just now, like my seamstress, and like the big-breasted Fae with dark curls I just saw him fucking and making sweet promises to about becoming a queen.”
She plucked another grape from his plate and took a bite, her eyebrows raised and her eyes sparkling, as she waited for his response.
“Meir did what?” Cahir erupted, leaping to his feet and pounding his hands on the table, his magic bursting from his palms. He ground his teeth together. “Why would he think I’d be picking a damn wife when I got back?”
Luelle shrugged. “Don’t know. Haven’t gotten there yet. I’ll try to find out, but if you ask him directly, I want to be there for that little showdown.” Luelle smiled deviously and popped another grape in her mouth, this time chewing it quickly.
Ael clenched his fists. He never told Meir he would choose a wife.
He didn’t want a random woman in his bed; he wanted someone he loved by his side.
His mind flashed to Seda, and he pushed the thought away.
He hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. Umbrea would have a hard time accepting a human as queen, but if she accepted him, they would just have to fucking take her.
A problem for another time.
“Where is Meir?” he asked.
“Not sure, he was in some room fucking that woman. How many guests are staying here tonight? I did not recognize the woman he was with. I assume she was some noble’s daughter.”
Someone knocked, and the door swung open. Fran, the head housekeeper, entered. “You called for me, Sire?” She bowed deeply. Flour covered her tall, curvy figure and blue dress.
“Tell your staff to stop touching me and to stop throwing themselves at me. It is unacceptable to touch anyone without permission.” Ael watched her with such intensity that she fiddled with her apron.
“Yes, Sire. It will not happen again. I will also speak directly with Suza, the servant who was just here. Is there anything else I can assist with?”
“How are things looking for tonight?” he asked.
“We’re getting close. The ballroom is almost done being set up.”
Ael dismissed her with a wave of his hand, and she quickly bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her. He looked at Luelle. “Let me know if you find anything else regarding this and Meir.”
He angrily marched to the door and left, leaving Luelle to finish his grapes.
As Ael entered the ballroom, the sound of stringed instruments suddenly ceased. The crown he hated wearing because it reminded him of his father, weighed heavily on his head. He only wore it on special occasions, and Meir had insisted he wear it again tonight, along with this stupid suit.
Ael really didn’t want to be at this fucking ball, preferring to have some alone time away from prying eyes. His mind drifted to Seda. He needed a plan for when she arrived. How would she appear with ‘mist and flame’?
It didn’t make sense.
Meir spoke from the dais and extended his hand toward Ael, “Presenting King Ael, ruler of Umbrea.”
The hundreds of Fae in the sparkling ballroom bowed deeply as Ael approached the throne at the room’s northern end.
The glittering essence drifted in and out of the open windows lining the fifty-foot ceilings, and the tall, reflective walls glowed with candles lit from a grand chandelier, adding to the magical atmosphere.
The music resumed as Ael took his seat. Meir sat in a small, wooden chair beside him. “This is a lovely event, Sire. All of Umbrea’s finest are within these walls tonight.”
Meir surveyed the crowd and waved toward a woman with dark, curly hair.
The woman wore a revealing, emerald-colored dress with a long train that flowed behind her on the floor.
The neckline dipped below her navel, and her ample breasts struggled to stay in place.
She approached the throne and bowed deeply, causing her cleavage to slightly reveal the edge of her nipple.
Ael caught Meir’s gaze and saw him watching with a hungry look as it slipped out. He remembered what Luelle had told him.
I don’t want your sloppy seconds, Meir.
The woman stood, and Meir cleared his throat and said, “Sire, please meet Neoma. Second daughter of Lord Ephron from the northern Umbrea mountains. She has traveled far to be with us tonight.”
“And where is Lord Ephron? I haven’t seen him in decades,” Ael asked in a bored tone.
“He…” Meir started.
Neoma interrupted Meir in a sing-song voice, “He was unable to make it this evening, Sire. But he sends his regards. It’s wonderful to have our king back in Umbrea. This is my first time in the castle.” Her eyes sparkled as she took in the room.
Ael looked at her and sneered at her impudence, but his expression softened slightly as guests watched the exchange. “Thank you for coming tonight, Neoma. I hope you find your stay welcoming.”
He glanced over the crowd and saw a line of women forming behind Neoma. “I need to talk to you, Meir. You have some explaining to do.”
“What about, Sire?” Meir said nervously as he looked back at Neoma and the girls lining up behind her. Neoma glanced over her shoulder and spotted the other women. She then turned back to Ael and took a confident step forward.
“I have a gift for you, Sire,” she said to him quickly. “May I?”
Ael hesitated before nodding to her. She slowly approached him and raised her leg from the slit in her dress, revealing a sparkling garter with a red ribbon.
Ael reached out to push her thigh away when, in the middle of the ballroom, a cloud of pink fog erupted into a tornado, with flames dancing around the swirling storm.
His hand clenched on Neoma’s thigh.
The wind blew fiercely in the ballroom, causing Neoma’s loose top to blow open and her breasts to spill out.
Guests gasped at the sight of the tornado and quickly backed toward the walls, trying to get as far away from the fog and flames as possible. The stringed instruments fell silent, their notes snapping suddenly, and the grand chandelier swayed like a pendulum.
Ael froze and watched as the ballroom tables caught fire and the glassware shattered onto the ground.
As the fog lifted, a deafening roar erupted from the center.
Elco appeared, cradling Seda to his chest, his massive bat-like wings spread wide, like an eclipse shielding her glow for those behind him.
Seda shimmered like moon dust around the room.
Ael’s heart skipped a beat, and he felt a surge of excitement as he caught sight of her. She was stunning, like a goddess descended from the stars.
Seda opened her eyes, and her glowing amethyst irises narrowed on Ael.
His hand was still firmly wrapped around Neoma’s thigh, and he quickly pulled it away when he noticed her watching.
Praxis and a few guards stormed in, powering up their magic and drawing their weapons as Ael shouted, “STOP!”
Everyone in the room froze, watching in eerie silence. Elco roared again and shot flames upward, making the stone ceiling turn red from the heat.
The people in the ballroom screamed in fear.
“Elco, STOP! We will not harm you or Seda!” Ael held his hands out to the guards, stopping them from advancing. Murmurs began to spread through the room as everyone looked between their king, this mystery woman, and the monster inside the castle.
Seda dropped to the floor and stood up gracefully, her shimmering, moonlight hair spreading around her, and her glowing eyes flickering between Ael and Neoma. Neoma’s breasts, still exposed from her gown, caught Seda’s eyes, and they flashed brighter as she looked at them.
Her eyes snapped back to Ael in anger, her nostrils flaring, and her purple arms began sparking with electricity.
“You lied to me!” she snapped at him as everyone murmured around her display of power. “You LIED to me!”
She was here. Ael finally had her in Umbrea after all this time, and he was never going to let her go.
He stood from his throne, and Luelle approached him. “She’s magnificent. You’ve got your hands full, Ael,” she whispered into his ear with a chuckle.
Yes… and I’m going to love every fucking moment of it.
Dark clouds gathered and churned violently against the ceiling. A flash of lightning and a deafening crash of thunder shook the chandelier, causing the candles to fall and clink against the marble floor.
Seda raised her hands as she aimed them at Ael, and lightning erupted from her fingertips.