Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Kane
In a normal marriage, I would have been waking up beside my new bride, marveling about the previous night. Instead, I sat playing a game with the human king, avoiding the mess I’d made at the palace.
King Henry stared at the board between us, thinking about his next move.
We had been at this for almost an hour. It was more than just a game, rather a show of wits, and we had yet to discuss the real reason for me being here—the origins of the dead human found in one of my settlements that looked eerily like my new bride.
“I think I have you this time.” King Henry picked up the knight and moved it closer to my dryad.
I leaned back, glancing at his servants and guards that hovered nearby. We were outside, near a perfectly manicured lawn. I never quite understood why humans needed to cut their grass and kill all the wildflowers.
Another sign of their need to control.
“Yes, well, if we had discussed important matters first, maybe I wouldn’t let you win a round.”
“Perhaps it’s time we have this discussion. Let us walk.” He stood and motioned for me to walk toward the pond, away from his guards and servants, clasping his hands behind his back in a relaxed posture.
He was dressed more casually today, not in his fancy brocade vest he normally wore. There were shadows under his eyes, though his icy-blue gaze was as sharp as ever.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he said.
“Yes. The ceremony was last night.”
“I’m hurt I wasn’t invited.” The wind ruffled his golden hair. The shade was too similar to Gideon’s.
“Humans are still not allowed at the castle.”
“Even though one of our kind is now the Queen of the Fae?”
I groaned and dragged a hand across my face. Why was I even wasting my time with this human?
Yet, I could not deny the vulnerability she’d showed in my chambers.
I wasn’t foolish to believe that sparing her from consummating our union would seal the rift between us, but I wondered if it was a start.
Would she be able to see past the fae who killed her husband, or would she blame me for her suffering until her death?
“We're not here to talk about my bride or my marriage. We're here to discuss the dead human in my settlement. The one who looks like my queen. Care to explain?”
“A decoy,” he said, stopping by the edge of the pond where two golden swans glided across the water.
“You see, while you don't believe in the prophecy and what it can bring, there are those of us who do and believed that Deirdre’s location should have been kept secret. When we learned of her disappearance, we planted a decoy in our castle.”
“How did I not know about this?”
“The decoy wasn't for you. When we learned the child of prophecy had been born, we searched other settlements to find a similar baby, then used a little magic to create this.” He tapped a finger over his eye, marking Deirdre’s birthmark.
“We had her hidden in one of our estates in case the need ever arrived to use her to keep the belief going, if something happened to the true child of prophecy. Our people need hope.”
“And yet the real one slipped away through your fingers.”
He frowned. “We had been searching for Queen Deirdre and the treasonous human who had taken her with him. Unfortunately, her grandfather refused to speak and then fell ill before we could question him further. The trail vanished.”
“I understand the need for a decoy, but why was she in my village and why were the twisted there? The Lich King’s minions are never this far north.”
“I have been asking myself that very question. The decoy was kept under careful watch, but we believe she may have slipped out.”
“But why?”
“There have been skirmishes around our areas in the market. Fae and human fighting each other, blaming one another for the unrest. We believe she went to show peace.”
One of the swans swam toward the bank and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of grain for her.
“That's the problem with lies. When you live one long enough, you believe it as truth.
She truly thought she was the child of prophecy, and I'm sure whatever she was doing in that fae settlement was probably a way to get you to notice her.”
“Your Majesty!”
Both of us turned around at the guard running forward. A moment later, a loud horn blew in the distance.
“What is that?” I asked.
The king tossed the grain to the swan, then unsheathed his sword. He ran his hand along the blade, lighting it in a white flame. Light bearers had always been on the human throne just like moon fae had always been on our throne.
“That's outside the castle,” he said. “We're under attack.”
We ran, meeting the guard on the way.
“Undead,” he gasped. “Dozens of them. The town of White Plains is being overrun.”
“Where is that?” I asked.
“Less than a day's travel from here, along the river. Once we pass the barrier around my castle, my men and I can teleport there.”
“I’ll meet you there.” Shifting into dragon form, I pushed off the ground and into the sky.
King Henry looked at me, stunned, before one of his guards called his attention, and then they were all running.
Soaring through the sky, I banked left, heading toward the great river.
Another attack.
What does this mean? Why was the Lich King attacking random villages?
So far I’d been unable to see any connection to the skirmishes other than gaining land near the southeast regions closer to the Lich King’s wasteland.
Smoke rose into the sky, murderous screams filling the afternoon with perpetual doom.
Two scores of undead knights marched on the town, which had no visible defense other than a broken wooden barrier and farmers with pitchforks and rusted swords.
This was a farming village and one who had suspected no sort of trouble.
A blast of fire shot forward, a lone human streaming fire from her hands. The fire shifted into a cyclone, spinning undead into its deadly grasp. I landed near the human and shot a blast of death toward the oncoming fray.
The red-freckled female eyed me with a questioning look before shooting a fireball into the wave. Her violet gaze and slightly pointed ears highlighted her heritage.
Half-human. Half-fae.
And extremely powerful.
Charging forward, I swatted at a group of undead knights, their bones crushing under my weight.
A large skeleton in a rusty helmet charged forward, a great sword held high. I chomped down on the undead, its weapon lodging between my teeth like a toothpick.
These undead are more of a nuisance than a problem.
Spitting out the bones, I used my claw and picked out the lodged weapon.
Another group of armored undead ran forward and I stomped on them, instantly ending their pitiful existence.
Try to resurrect now.
By the time the king and his men had shown up, all the undead knights and the remaining creatures had been trampled under my feet and obliterated to ash by the human streaming fire.
Shifting back into my fae form, I looked at the surrounding mess. This wasn’t a large show of force. What was here in this village?
“You could have saved at least one for me,” the king said, removing the light from his sword and sheathing it.
“Tend to the wounded,” he told his guards who then dispersed among the town. King Henry's gaze went to the half fae beside me. “It's good to see you, Alina.”
She bowed her head.
I wondered who she was loyal to, me or her king.
“Your Majesty,” she replied. Her gaze flicked to me for a second, those vibrant violet eyes of hers eyeing me with curiosity and dare I say a little distaste.
“No bow for me?” I asked.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, pushing her red curls back. “I don't know you. Humans aren't welcomed in your court or any of your settlements. Is that going to change now that you're married to a human?”
“How does everyone know already? The wedding was only yesterday.”
“Word spreads fast in the kingdom,” Henry said with a smile.
Apparently too fast.
The king walked and I followed.
“What happened here?” He kicked one of the bones of the dead knights.
These creatures differed from the zombie warriors the Lich King normally used. The skeletons were outfitted in rusty swords and armor, mainly used for fodder. They could be difficult to kill since there was no flesh and blood. Blunt force seemed to be the only thing that would smash them to bits.
“I'm not sure,” Alina replied.
She whistled and held out her arm. A gorgeous firehawk full of bright-orange and red feathers cawed from the sky and landed on her arm. She chirped at the bird and then bowed her head to nuzzle.
“Go eat,” she said and she pushed her arm up, letting the bird fly back into the sky.
“I haven't seen a firehawk in years,” I said, looking at the birds that had almost dwindled.
“My family breeds them.”
“Your family?”
“Oh, I see you two haven't been properly introduced,” the king said. “King Kane, meet Alina, daughter of the magistrate of Farrow’s Gate.”
It took me a minute to think back. I had distanced myself from humans, even in magical settlements. “Lord Demious?”
The girl frowned. “He died way before I was born. No. My mother and uncle are the magistrates of Farrow’s Gate.
Calvin and Rosalie Hawk. My father is a dark fae.
I’m half-elemental, half-dark fae. So, even if you allowed humans in your settlements and court, my loyalty belongs to King Henry and below to Queen Merelda. ”
I glared at even the mere mention of Queen Merelda.
Though the Queen and I had an understanding, I didn't enjoy sharing responsibility. While I handled all the fae above the surface, Queen Merelda lived in the underground full of dark fae and monsters.
Ignoring the comment, I shrugged. “If you're on the surface, your loyalty is to me. Don't worry, I don't need you to bow. I need you to tell me what the Lich King was doing here.”