14. Elim
With the pall of my uncle and cousins’ political machinations finally lifted, I shook off the sadness I’d allowed into my reign after losing my brother and took action instead. A path was cleared through the wood, a formal delegation sent with an invitation to the Bright Court. Alette came with her retinue to view the memorial I had erected to Perikar and my slain aunt, and received the joyful news that both her brother and her beloved daughter lived. We all shared stories of my brother over a long feast, and agreed to eliminate the unspoken tension between our peoples, and work to make the realm a harmonious, intermingled community.
Mat workedwith some of our stronger Fae casters from both Courts to make the walk-in portal permanent, enabling Vic and his human—and understandably incredulous—wife Mary to visit Glade and the realm on a regular basis. Glade was absolutely thrilled to gain another good uncle and an aunt that brought her cookies.
My uncle Gretvirhad planted evidence that my niece had been kidnapped and killed by Perikar as an abomination when Glade was newly born, a ruse so convincing and layered with glamor that Alette had never questioned it. Perikar had been duped in turn, believing Alette had abandoned their daughter as an unwanted abomination herself. As the stories were compared, it was obvious that Gretvir had been preparing to overthrow my rule and marry Glade for years, the extent of his long, treacherous planning truly sickening. From what we could discover, ultimately, he’d hoped to rule both courts by force. If he’d had his way, he would have eliminated the Bright Court entirely, exiled the Seelie, and transformed the entire realm into Unseelie territory.
But thanks to my spirited,unintentional Queen bargaining for me with an accidental potion of coffee, all that had changed. There were, of course, a few unpleasant surprises along the way—notably that her favorite food, placed atop another food called a pizza, resembled my manhood a little too closely for comfort.
Mel woreher shard-of-night in lieu of the traditional human wedding ring, as did I, and she came to spend a day or two every week in my realm, despite the occasional complaints about the temperatures. I, in turn, crossed the portal each night to greet her at work, and I had even learned to drive her Lekh-sus through painstaking trial, error, and a few dents in the bumpers. It had been worth it to spend long, passionate nights in her bed, our trysts far more comfortable on the velvet and satins I brought her as wedding gifts than the cold, pastry-filled boxes we’d once crushed together.
A journeythat began in a cell, waiting for my untimely end, had somehow transformed into my heart’s unknown desire. And from the moment we’d bonded, and every day after, I thanked the gods for the sweetest offering of milk and honey that Faekind had ever seen.