10. Elim
My Queen’s carriage left a great deal to be desired. Victor seemed to understand more than I did about the infernal collection of metal, glass, and some soft black material called rubber, but he didn’t appear to like it any more than I did. After moving some small key multiple times with loud exclamations of frustration, I knew I had to step in.
“You can ask me, betrothed. Ask me to remedy this, and I will. I can, for you. Ask carefully.”
Victor looked up sharply and I gave a soft shake of my head to prevent his protests. As monarchs of the Courts, we had access to the ancient knowledge of bargains. We both knew Melisandre could ask three things of me before being compelled to offer herself to me permanently, as my bride. And if I refused to take that payment when the time came, I’d perish with the next sunrise. Fae bargains with humans were rare and legendary for a reason: they usually came with dear costs for one side or the other.
“Oh! Like a genie thing? Cool!” She looked elated, which only made Victor’s brow crease further. We could not explain the terms to her, only offer a warning to be careful, and even that was testing our limits. The burden was on humans that enacted a bargain to understand the terms, or ask about them before agreeing. Mel had done neither of those things, and I only hoped I wouldn’t have to lay down my life for her to understand.
With Victor carefully keeping watch, I pulled on the bond for the precious magic I needed to transform the carriage with a permanent glamor. Though it temporarily exhausted me, we were on our way to Second Steep shortly after in a new, sleek carriage that seemed to fill Mel with equal measures of relief and joy. She talked happily about her new gift removing the stress of something called gas prices, and some sort of metal necromancer called a mechanic that had demanded steep prices to keep her previous carriage barely mobile. The new carriage, which she called a lehx-suhs, pleased her greatly, and her elation was infectious despite the urgency of our errand.
I did not like the carriage at first, the jolting and halting and speed felt unnatural. I eyed the metal warily, avoiding contact before Victor explained that iron here was not nearly as potent as what we called iron in our realms. There was mild discomfort, and I certainly wouldn’t want to sleep on a bed crafted from it, but it was tolerable.
The moment we stepped into the store where Mel had gotten the drink that bound us, I knew something otherworldly was present. Magic hung heavy in the air, and more alarmingly, so did the scent of Unseelie. Victor tensed at my expression, sharing a glance with me: I wished we had weapons at the ready, because something was wrong.
I gently guided Melisandre to stand behind me as some curtains parted behind the counter, a shapeshifter blinking at us as he guided a woman of his own behind him, equally protective.
“Bailey!” Mel smiled and waved from behind me, the girl giving her a confused look before hesitantly waving back.
“Mel? Who the hell are these guys?” The shapeshifter spoke, a trio of tails, one injured, sweeping out behind him as he glanced at us with deep suspicion.
“Who the fuck are you.” I bowed, eager to diffuse the situation, and Mel smacked the side of my arm with a laugh.
“Elim, My King, that doesn’t mean what you seem to think it does. Just say hello and stop being weird.” I tried valiantly to ignore the fact her use of my formal title, however joking, made my cock harder than the fifth soil.
“Ah, hello then. I am Elim Shadowcourt, first heir, and I come in the company of Victor Brightcourt, also first heir. We come to ask about your elixir of caw-fhee and passage between the realms.” I straightened to face the extremely embarrassed-looking shifter, one who struggled to meet my gaze.
“Your graces. I am called Matcha, kitsune and conveyor of this house for all things unseen. I apologize deeply for what has occurred. My new mate Bailey-” He brought the girl forward, looping a possessive arm around her side, “-wisely suggested I might use my magics elsewhere when a pair of Unseelie assassins destroyed my tea last night. I used my foxfire to roast some coffee beans this morning and while I was busy the grounds were unfortunately combined with some previously-enchanted components and given to your-erm…”
I fixed him with a glare. “My betrothed, Melisandre. Yes, I’m well aware of the error, considering we were both bound by it. Is there no way to undo what you’ve done? My Queen deserves the freedom to choose her own suitor.” To my delight, Mel rested her cheek on my shoulder with a warm familiarity as she listened. Perhaps, even unbound, the resilient, beautiful human might still consider me as an interest, though hope seemed like such a fragile thing all around now.
“That, my grace, I fear I cannot unweave. I wouldn’t even know where to start, to be honest, as whatever bound you both wasn’t created with intention, but chance and fate. I also cannot work larger magics right now, given my wounds and the state of my teahouse both came at the hands of two Unseelie men searching for, if I’m not mistaken, you. They’d left me for dead, but my beautiful mate thankfully saved my life.” He glanced fondly at Bailey, who leaned to kiss his cheek affectionately. I frowned, inhaling the scent of Unseelie again, with the grim knowledge that my cousins wouldn’t have trusted their lackeys with such an important task as my retrieval.
“But, passage between the realms, that I may be able to assist with. I’d been working on something for some of my other clients, a way to reduce public sightings during crossovers.” Matcha waved us behind the counter, where we all shuffled through a small food preparation area and over to a large silver door. When he opened it with a flourish, a cold wind tumbled out, revealing a dark interior cluttered with boxes.
“Damn. My foxfire must have been pulling at this while I was healing, I’m afraid I didn’t realize.” The kitsune muttered to himself, squinting at something along the edge of the door as his fingertips traced a rune shape. Victor stuck his head inside the great metal box for a long moment, rocking back on his heels and crossing his arms.
“If I could get to the Bright Court and warn my sister, send riders out to find my niece, we could help Elim retake his throne before those vile pieces of offal even realize we’d mounted a defense. I suspect they had a hand in trapping me here during my last battle, although I remember very little of what happened after I fell. I awoke here, seemingly human, my magic removed or suppressed to the end I couldn’t even sense your kind, honorable conveyor. But what can we do to repair this?” He nodded at the door.
Matcha coughed, blushing deeply. “I mean no offense, my graces, but you are…aware of the sorts of magic used by my kind, yes? I used what little I currently had of my own to roast coffee intended for Bailey—not a fae prince, obviously—and it seems your unfinished bond with Melisandre has also pulled what I managed to rekindle, and likely will continue to do so until you’re both properly joined.”
I winced inwardly; my exhaustion at producing a new carriage meant the act had probably pulled all functional magic from the kitsune’s fledgling portal magic, albeit accidentally. Melisandre made a noise of concern, and we all glanced at her. “So, what, the kingdom is doomed if I don’t marry Elim? I mean, can we get like, Vegas-married? Get it annulled after? Maybe we can do this on paper if it’s that important.”
Matcha rubbed the back of his neck and traded grimaces with Victor and I. “Not…exactly, Mel. Marriage is part of it, but the only thing that’s going to recharge the seal right now is, erm, what typically occurs on the honeymoon.” He coughed, blushing uncomfortably. For a kitsune, Matcha was surprisingly reserved, and I wondered if he’d chosen this remote post to sidestep the usual vulpine debauchery his kind was rumored to enjoy.
The other woman, Bailey, rolled her eyes and shouldered past the stammering Matcha, murmuring to my betrothed. “You two gotta fuck in the walk-in, Mel. Sorry, Mat’s a little old-fashioned and I figure we’ve got enough crossed wires going on around here.”
“...O-oh. Well.” Melisandre blinked and grinned shyly up at me, sending my heart catapulting over itself, and the rest of my body following suit. “I mean, if it’s to save a kingdom and a kid, I kind of have to, right?”
I blanched. “Never, my intended. You do not have to do anything, let alone that.” I laced my hands together in front of me to keep from touching her, afraid my actions would contradict my words. “There is no denying this is a dire time, and it would certainly help us all, but I will never take what isn’t given freely. No Fae would.” Victor, seven soils bless him, nodded in enthusiastic agreement beside me.
“No, no I don’t mean- it’s-” She coughed, tossing Bailey a pleading look that caused the other woman to stifle a laugh. She took a moment to compose herself and patted my shoulder companionably.
“Mel’s very much down to save the day, don’t worry about that. C’mon Mat, why don’t we give Victor a tour of your conspicuously-out-of-earshot apartment?” She tossed Melisandre a wink as she herded a flustered Matcha and my fellow Fae out of the store through a back door.
The kitsune had chosen an excellent mate.