31. The Fae King
Icould hardly believe my own ears.
Out in the entryway, my human bride was defending me ferociously. She was lying for me. Even after everything that had transpired between us in the hot springs, she was still willing to protect me. Even after all my secrets, deceptions, and omissions. Somehow this tentative thing between us, hot and passionate, but so fragile wasn’t yet broken.
Unfortunately, our power dynamic had just taken a massive swing. Georgia could leverage this knowledge to get anything she wanted from me, and she was smart enough to know it.
Several minutes later, she returned and latched the door shut behind her. She placed one hand on her hip and stared down at me.
Oh, horror upon horrors. My moment of doom was upon me. Now that she knew my secret, what would she do?
With her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes, she demanded, ”Now are you finally going to tell me what in the twelve kingdoms is going on here? Why did you make me turn those men away? Why are you”—she paused and gestured at my amphibian form with disgust—”like this?”
I let out an involuntary ”ribbit.” How mortifying. ”Are they gone?” I asked.
”Yes,” she confirmed. ”I told them you would turn them into a smudge on the castle floors if they didn’t depart at once. I also told them Harry would resolve their land dispute. Hope you don’t mind.”
Of course, I had heard everything. Not only my ears were sharp. My hearing was twice as good as a human’s. I tried to keep things light, chuckling at her words. Unfortunately, it came out as another anxious ”ribbit.” ”You really said smudge?” I asked.
She jutted her chin upward. ”I did. But I think we have bigger issues at hand.”
Still, I didn’t speak. What should I say? What did she suspect?
She stared at me for a long moment, appraisingly. ”You’re stuck in this form, aren’t you?”
Slowly, I nodded.
”For how long?” she asked.
I felt my small frog body sag. ”Years,” I admitted.
”But I’ve seen you as a man.” Her cheeks flushed for a moment, and I knew she was thinking of our time in the hot springs. She had seen all of me.
”I am cursed by day. At sunfall, I return to my true form.”
She cocked her head to the side as if concentrating on a very difficult math problem. ”I’m not sure I understand. I thought shapeshifting was common among fae. Rosie takes on a rabbit form, does she not? The selkies become seals.”
I shook my head. ”It’s not the same. The changes are painful, and I can’t control them. This form is far too weak. I am a king who could be defeated by a rival’s boot. I have limited use of my magic in this form. Flying a letter to you on the breeze is about all I can do. So, I am forced to hide and make excuses. I risk offending diplomats by neglecting their visits. I scarcely ever travel outside of the island. I delegate all morning appointments, even important ones.”
She sat down on the edge of my bed and ran a finger down my back. Was she petting me? She did it once more, and I was sure. My human bride was trying to comfort me.
I felt my heart swell with emotion. This outcome had never once occurred to me. I had imagined countless scenarios over the years. If someone found out, I thought they might toss me against a wall, squash me with their book, capture me in a terrarium, or even fry me up for lunch. I thought they might use my secret to force me to relinquish my crown or wage war on neighboring courts.
Never in a thousand years had I expected someone to just sit with me in my grief and be my friend.
”That sounds difficult,” she hummed.
She had earned my trust. It was time for me to earn hers.
I took a deep breath, preparing to spill all my secrets. Then I stopped short. Shouldn’t I give her a little time first? For all I knew, she would run out of the room and tell the first person she met.
”I need to rest. Can we talk tonight just after sunfall, before the ball?”
She gave me a knowing glance. ”You promise you won’t run away from this conversation?”
”I’ll be there.”
To my astonishment, she placed a soft kiss atop my green, slimy head. ”I’ll see you tonight, Forrest.”
Just after sunfall, I washed and dressed quickly for the Full Moon Revel and then paced, waiting for Georgia’s arrival.
I had invited her to meet me in my rooms, disgusting though they were. What I needed to say was too dangerous to whisper on the terrace. It was time to tell Georgia what was really at stake here. It was time to be honest.
After all, more than one kingdom hung in the balance.
And maybe more than one heart too.
Harry had brought in some wine and food to nibble on. Though I could tell his teeth were on edge the entire time.
”What if she tells someone?” he asked.
”What if she doesn’t?” I replied. The smallest glimmer of hope had lodged itself in my chest, and I feared I would never be able to remove it.
Harry stared back at me in shock. ”I’ve never seen you like this.”
I met his gaze. ”I’ve never seen anyone like her.”
Harry clapped a hand on my shoulder. ”I can see you’ve already lost your heart. Just be careful not to lose your head. She’s only just found out, and this secret could bury us all.”
I ran a nervous hand through my still-damp hair. ”I know. I dragged you into all of this, and for that, I’ll always be regretful. How is your iron heart, Harry?” I asked.
He gave a far away, almost wistful look. ”Heavy, but it’s not your fault. It wasn’t even your bargain.”
”Still, I should have said something else. Something more.”
There was a knock on the door, and I looked pointedly at Harry.
He rolled his eyes. ”Goodnight.”
I opened the door, feeling nervous. I scarcely stopped myself from fiddling with my tunic sleeves like some sort of school boy. ”Georgia,” I said, gesturing for her to come inside.
I led her over to a small settee and side table with a cheese tray and two goblets of wine. I offered a glass to her.
She accepted it. ”What’s this for?”
”You may want it,” I warned.
At the solemnity of my tone, she took a large swig from her wine glass, to fortify her nerves I supposed.
”Okay, I’m ready,” she said. ”Tell me everything.”
”Don’t you want a bite to eat first?” I asked.
She bit her lip. ”Truthfully, I don’t think I could keep it down.”
”I understand. You want me to tell you everything. That’s a pretty tall order.”
Her lips quirked into a smile. ”Well, you’re a tall man. I’m sure you’ll say what matters.”
What matters. I chewed the inside of my cheek. Us. We mattered, or, at least, we should. We should have the opportunity to get to know each other as slowly as we wanted. I thought of the hot spring, or as quickly as we wanted...
Either way, it should be in our own time or not at all.
But I was a king, and she was a princess. We didn’t have the luxury of just thinking of ourselves. We each had a duty to our people. All of whom were in danger.
So, I humbled myself and got to the point. ”My crown is at stake.”
To my surprise, she didn’t gasp or look particularly taken aback by my revelation. Perhaps, it was her own royal training kicking in. Instead, she asked, ”From who? Is there a particular individual or order?”
”Right now, the island is governed by my court, the seelie. We have reigned for over a century, but it hasn’t always been that way. They unseelie have ruled before, and they wish to rule again. They are already preparing to make their move.”
She frowned. ”What do you mean?”
”Your encounter with the Unseelie Queen was no chance meeting. I’m almost certain of it. And there have been disappearances too. Servants of important council members. People who might have information. They are seeking my weakness.”
She lifted her chin in sharp defiance. ”And they won’t find it. At least, not from me.”
I hadn’t even told her that her own kingdom was in danger. This show of loyalty was for me alone. ”My fierce little sparrow. Will you peck at my enemies?” I reached out and caressed her cheek. ”I’m afraid there’s more. They won’t stop at the isle, they’ll take your kingdom too. They have no tolerance for humans. They will send storms—bigger and more terrible than any you have ever seen. They will batter your shores until there is nothing left. No homes, no crops, no survivors.”
She shuddered, and for just a moment, I imagined what she must have looked like as a little girl, sitting in her bedroom window watching the storms come over the ocean.
”Hopefully, it won’t come to that. We just have to be better–smarter, quicker, stronger.”
She stiffened her back and sat at attention. ”How can I help?”
I gazed into her round, willing eyes, and the words dripped from my lips like honey. ”Marry me.”
She frowned. ”But we’re already bound to be married.”
”Yes, you are bound. Unwillingly. I’m beginning to doubt that will be enough.”
She cocked her head to the side. ”Enough for who? And what does our marriage have to do with any of this?”
I hung my head. ”Our marriage is the only thing left that might break this curse.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned deeply. ”Why would our marriage break your curse? What aren’t you telling me?”
I paused for a moment.
There was so much I wanted to say. There was so much I couldn’t say. A single wrong word, and everything we had built could come crumbling down. There were so many secrets between us, but not all of them were my own. There was one that could destroy her. One that I could not speak. No matter how much I might wish to do so. I was bound through magic not to do so.
A part of me was thankful I couldn’t. I didn’t want to be the person to do that to her. I didn’t want to see the hurt flash across her face or the tears stream down her cheeks. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted us to be happy.
Maybe that made me selfish.
Maybe that made me a coward.
I opened my lips and said the simplest truth I could. ”I was cursed by a member of your bloodline.”
”My what?” she sputtered. ”That can’t be true. Witchcraft is forbidden throughout the twelve kingdoms.”
”Nonetheless, it’s true. When I first brought you here, I thought you were a witch too. I hoped you might simply lift the curse willingly.”
”I am not a witch!” she cried.
My heart sank. Empirically, I knew. Of course, I knew. All of the evidence had said as much—she had agreed to my bargain, allowed herself to be dragged here, nearly drowned, and nearly been enslaved by the Unseelie Queen. She was no witch. Even if her mother had been one.
I vividly remembered the day I met her mother, Queen Belinda.
I had been out on my personal terrace taking breakfast when the glass doors flew open. An angry middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair stormed through with Harry on her heels. ”How dare you!” she shrieked.
I looked up from my glass of orange juice and my morning political briefs to meet the woman’s icy glare. Her crystal blue eyes were red and swollen, rimmed with tears, and her hands shook with rage.
I didn’t move or speak right away. Human emotions were so volatile, so close to the surface, so... explosive. I had seen that in battles over the centuries. So, slowly, I set my papers down and said coldly, ”I am not the overseer of bargains. If you made a poor one, I cannot correct it for you.”
She let out an anguished cry as if she would be ripped in half by her grief, and I winced.
”For what it is worth, I am sorry,” I told her. I cannot lie, so my words should comfort her.
”You will be,” she muttered, rifling through her knapsack.
I incline my head toward her. ”Excuse me?”
She held aloft a talisman and began to chant in a low, ominous tone.
I groaned. What more could I say? Would I have to remove this mad woman from the castle?
Then I felt the shadows creeping up from the floorboards. I felt the temperature drop in the room. This was dark, powerful magic.
I took several hurried steps backward.
But it was too late.
Something unnatural, something otherworldly wrapped its tendrils around my sternum, squeezing and bruising.
Then the air began to leave my lungs.
”Wait,” I rasped.
”Too late,” she said. ”You cannot bring back what is already gone. You will take the form you truly deserve.”
Suddenly the terrible squeezing was over, and I couldn’t breathe again. I opened my eyes, but everything was wrong. The table was the size of a house. And what was that ahead? An oversized shoe?
I followed the shoe upward to a leg.
That’s when I realized. The room was not larger. I was smaller.
I struggled to move to the nearby standing mirror. I... hopped.
In the reflection, my suspicions were confirmed. A large bullfrog stared back at me.A frantic ribbit escaped my lips. Then a stream of swear words.
The woman cackled. ”As you and all of your kind deserve. I only wish your suffering would be half my own.”
Those words lingered hauntingly on the air. It was only later I understood them and what she had lost that had driven her to this moment.
She hissed at me, ”Perhaps, one day, you will find true love. Then you will understand.”
”What did you lose? Maybe I can help.”
”More than you could ever imagine, cold-hearted king.”
I watched helplessly as she strode toward the doors to exit. Then she saw Harry standing there in shock, and she turned on him next. ”For serving a master like him and impeding my path, you must be just as terrible. Just as cruel.” She clutched at this tunic right above his heart, and the fabric turned to ash.
Harry fell to his knees in pain, and I cried out. ”No! Leave him out of this.”
”If only your people had shown me such courtesy.”
”Please,” I begged, hating the sound of my own desperation. ”Please. Don’t do this.”
She turned slowly to look down at me. ”You can break your curse, but I doubt someone like you ever will.”
And that was how she left us.
I never saw her again.
She died days later–from a fever or broken heart, I was never sure which.
I was pulled from the old memories by Georgia’s insistent voice, ”Forrest,” she snapped. ”Can’t you consult another witch?”
”I’ve consulted scores already. They say my best chance is to have someone of the bloodline lift the curse or to marry within the bloodline.”
”Then we must marry,” she said simply.
I studied her face, trying to get a read on her. Was she angry? Was she upset? I could tell she wasn’t happy. ”I’m sorry,” I said.
She was rigid, icy, and beautiful. For the first time since I had known her, she reminded me of my own people.
Finally, she said in a clipped tone, ”I always knew I would marry for my kingdom and that I would have little say in the matter.”
I reached out to grasp her hands, but she placed them in her lap.
”You will always have a say with me,” I insisted.
”How can I? My kingdom stands in the balance. We must marry.”
I had called her little sparrow since I had first met her, a joke because she had seemed so caged in the human world. I had longed to see her spread her wings and fly, to be the beautiful, wild thing I knew she was. Now, I was the one clipping her wings.
I felt sick.
After a long pause, I said, ”I’m sorry. I thought we… well, it doesn’t matter what I thought… If you do not desire me, then I ask you only to go through the motions of a formal courtship and marriage ceremony. That may be enough to end this curse once and for all.”
She bit her lip, listening to my proposal in earnest this time.
”At my full power, I can protect both of our kingdoms, and you can return home... if you wish.”
I wouldn”t mind if you stayed, I thought hopelessly.
”I will do as you ask, but only if you grant me one boon,” she said formally.
Her words stung. ”Georgia, you don’t need a bargain to ask me for a favor. I would gladly grant you nearly anything.”
She put her hands on her hips. ”And you do not need a bargain to force my hand in marriage, but here we are.”
I sighed and nodded in acknowledgment. ”And your request?”
”I want to see my sister.”
My anxiety spiked. The one thing I could not do was take her to her older sister. It would be my ruin. So, I said, ”I prefer to leave the past in the past.”
She let out a soft growl, but then schooled her features back to that icy sheet of neutral. ”I am speaking of my younger sister. Her sixteenth birthday is next weekend.”
”And if I do this, you will walk through all of the formal wedding related events and act the part?” I asked. I didn’t want to press, but I had to. This was a bargain. It was soul binding. I couldn’t take it lightly even if I wanted to pull down the moon and stars and hand them to her.
She nodded tersely. ”You have my word.”
”Then yes, I will take you to see your sister.” I engulfed her small, warm hand in my own, sealing our agreement. I felt the usual exhilarating pull of a bargain, but this time it felt strangely hollow.