The Captive Fae King

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Winter Court, Unseelie Kingdom

Daire Thorn, Alpha Shadow Fae King

Death stalks my royal fae House of Thorn, and its name is dragon.

My parents, King Branna and Queen Aine, pretend that the illness, which has swept the Winter Court leaving weeping and echoing silence in its wake, is natural.

The elder Druids have whispered to me in secret, however, that it is iron poisoning caused by our enemy’s uncle, Maximinus.

And this morning, underneath the warm spring sunshine, I’m about to lose the person who I admire the most in the entire realms. Because on the celebration for my thirteenth birthday, when I will be officially proclaimed crown prince, my da is dying from the poison.

I swallow, struggling to smile, rather than allow tears to tremble on my dark lashes.

I wrap my iridescent raven wings around myself.

I follow Da through the ring fort past large wooden round houses with thatched roofs that blossom with herbs and moss. Doorways are framed with antlers and climbing roses. Bees drift lazily between the flowers.

Thorn-vines, which are as thick as tree trunks, twist around ancient earthworks.

A shimmering emerald dome glows over the entire Winter Court. Da drains himself of his magic to keep this protective barrier up, which at least holds back the dragons who are trying to ambush us.

My conspiracy of ravens flies after me through the blue sky.

I glance over my shoulder at my ravens and whistle.

They swoop lower, cawing.

My smile becomes less shaky, as the merry harp music and singing drift from the Mound.

My Crowning Celebration has begun.

I breathe in deeply the delicious scent of roast beef, pork, and wild boar.

Did my friends join the hunt this morning?

“It’s a bloody waste,” I complained at dawn, squirming in my seat as Ma fussed with my hair. “May the Shadow Devils blind the dragons. They have been starving us, as well as poisoning us. You don’t need to hide these things from me. Unseelie don’t lie. The elders have beaten that into me.”

“Don’t cuss. And we don’t lie, but we don’t need to be honest either.

Being able to trick with the truth is our talent.

It’s why we hold power in our deals. Haven’t I taught you this, my son?

No matter how desperate a situation may seem, a fae always retains the control.

It is an honor to have a royal fae accept a deal.

Also, the people need something to celebrate.

” Ma’s voice was gentle like her soothing Omega pheromones.

She pushed my hair out of my lavender eyes.

“On the sacred ash, there are so few of us left and…I want this memory. Your da needs it. Joy is never a waste. Remember that, my little Thorn. You deserve all the happiness in the kingdoms. So do our people. We are free. Fae will fight and die but they will always be free. Let us dance and sing and eat to that.”

Now, Da smiles, although his breathing is ragged.

He wears a tall bronze and emerald crown of intricate feathers. His silver curls are much longer than mine, reaching all the way to sweep along the floor.

He is a famous Alpha beauty.

They say that if anyone who isn’t a fae looks upon him, they will be driven mad.

Isn’t that a curse?

Is this war happening because the other kings want to possess him? Want to possess all of us?

And if they can’t, then they will exterminate us.

Like me, Da has powerful raven wings. His own raven who follows him everywhere, Morrigan, rides on his shoulder.

I wink at Morrigan, who haughtily ruffles her feathers at me.

Da’s skin is waxy; I can tell that he is struggling to hide his pain as we weave toward the Mound, which is the open-air center of the court — its sacred heart.

The King and Queen’s thrones stand proudly on the Mound.

I can’t look away from them.

Will I live to sit on them?

They look too large. I’m too small.

I’m not ready.

Da’s eyes crinkle softly at the sides, as he glances over his shoulder at me. “By the holy fae, you look smart. You haven’t even torn a hole in your robe yet or stained it with berries.”

I smooth my hand down the emerald silk robes, which match Da’s for the first time. “I’d better not escape to the Thorn Wilds and climb any trees with Ciara then?”

Ciara is my best friend.

And escaping to the Thorn Wilds with Ciara was exactly what I was planning to do, as soon as everyone was distracted by the feast.

“You mean like you did last week when you were meant to be studying in Rune Forest with the elders?” Da arches his brow. “Of course, also making yourself vulnerable to attack from our enemies since we’re at war.”

I swallow.

Does Da have some kind of magical ability to know every time that I play truant? Or do the Druids snitch on me?

Then I grin, mischievously. “Aye, just like that.”

“You’re reckless…like me.” Da’s eyes twinkle. “Don’t tell your Ma, but I did the same thing at the feast, which announced me as crown prince. I spent most of it at the Sacred Blossom Tree, insisting that I didn’t want to be a daft king.”

I let out a startled laugh. “You never.”

Da spins elegantly like he is dancing, and his wings spread out.

He looks dangerous.

Then he leans close to me to whisper, “Only the best kings don’t want to rule. Watch out for those who are hungry for kingship because those are the tyrants.”

When he reaches to tuck a strand of my unruly silver curls behind my ear, he staggers.

For a moment, I think that he is about to collapse.

I grab him by the elbow to disguise his weakness from the fae who are dancing, singing, and celebrating at the bottom of the Mound.

“Here.” I help Da to settle onto one of the giant thrones.

The throne is decorated with bronze feathers entwined with thorns.

“You’re a good lad, Daire.” Da’s hand rests on my shoulder.

Morrigan caws her agreement.

Da’s eyes close.

I can’t look away from the dark veins, which are clawing up his throat. They are the symptoms of iron poisoning.

He’s dying.

The thought hits me.

Da has been holding on to see me crowned.

He’s been keeping himself alive for me.

I bite my lip to hold back the sob.

I’m not ready…I’ll never be ready.

I study Da’s face, trying to hold onto this moment myself because an ominous feeling in my gut tells me that soon I will lose this.

And I’ll never get it back: the scent of roasting meat and sweet blossoms on the air, the sound of harp music and singing, and the beauty of the flowers pushing between the thorns.

My Winter Court.

My people.

My childhood.

I ache at a sense of loss…and yet it’s all here, in front of me.

Then why does it feel like they’re ghosts already? Fading to nothing?

I shiver, hurriedly turning to seek out Ma like she could be missing.

Where is she?

Suddenly terrified, I stumble forward.

“Ma,” I mutter. “Where…? Please…”

Then I see her, and my shoulders slump with relief.

Ma, Queen Aine, is in the very middle of the celebrations like I should have known that she would be.

She is happiest when dancing and singing. She has been teaching me from the moment that I could walk and talk.

She is shining with joy.

Ma leans down to talk to the bard, who is playing the harp and holding a tiny baby on his knee with colorful ladybug wings.

Ma has rounded blue jay songbird wings. She suddenly darts up, weaving around the other fae, as they dance with the birds.

Her blue hair spins around her, while her lavender eyes sparkle.

Then she catches my gaze and waves.

I wave back, caught up in her joy.

“You don’t need to stay by my side,” Da says, softly. “Go enjoy your celebration with your disreputable friends.”

“Oi,” I reply in mock outrage, “I’m the bad influence.”

“Don’t worry. I know that.”

“Weren’t you the same?”

“I was worse. We’re Unseelie, of the House of Thorn. You take after me.”

I glow with pride.

I hope that he’s right. I’ve spent my life hoping that I could be like him, as both fae and king.

“Come here.” To my surprise, Da pulls me down to kiss my forehead. “You’ll be all right, Thorn. Pain can be survived. The important thing is to be alive. Everything can be survived, as long as you’re bloody alive.”

My eyes mist with tears. “But will you be alive?”

Da draws back.

His back straightens. Wearing his crown and sitting on his throne, he suddenly looks primal, ancient, the feathered god that I have been taught we are.

“You’ll survive,” Da repeats. “Life is a cycle. Spring follows the cold. Your ma insisted on this celebration because our court needs hope. You need it too. Remember that no one owns this land. It’s not property, and the dragons don’t understand that because they try to possess everything.

But the land is alive. Magic is eternal. It has a long memory.”

“But it can’t save us.”

“Can’t it?” Da fiddles with the heavy, warped bronze and emerald ring on his finger.

“The Shadow Dragon, King Tarquin, believes that he can force everyone to kneel or else he will wipe them from existence. Some idiot kingdoms choose to serve him. We’re choosing to resist, even if it means the end of our people. ”

“The end of you?” I whisper.

Da’s expression is grim. “Freedom is worth any price, including my life. Now, snatch the joy like melting snow. It’s precious.”

“Da…” I whisper, brokenly.

He shoves me in the back. “Go.”

I steel myself, shaking.

I clench my hands into fists, before I run from Da.

I run and pretend that I am not crying as I wipe at my eyes. My ravens caw, swarming around me protectively.

I stumble toward the highest point of the Mound.

The ancient Sacred Blossom Tree’s branches arc over the Mound; they have been decorated with ribbons. The tree trunk is so wide that even when I tried with the help of my two best Alpha friends, Ciara and Elatha, I couldn’t reach my arms around it.

The bark shimmers with the runes carved into it by the elders, and the flowers are the same lavender as eyes of royal fae.

Petals drift down like snow.

I grin at the sight of Elatha chasing Ciara around the trunk.