Fourteen
Calypso
Azulin turned his surprised gaze on me, his eyes darkening. “Are you actually listening to the pooka?”
“Why not?” I lifted my chin. “It’s the same advice given to us by the elves. We are already bound. The pooka says it is irreversible. Why shouldn’t we finish what was started?”
Rubbing a palm over his forehead, Azulin groaned. “Because you will be trapped with me.”
“In what way will that be a bad thing?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I happen to like you.”
He reared back as though I had slapped him. “You don’t know me.”
“Not well, but I admire everything I have seen so far. You are hardworking, dutiful, kind, considerate, a bit too self-sacrificing, and occasionally quite grumpy. I am attributing the incidents when you almost attacked someone for touching me to the bond. Those will settle down, I hope.” I glanced at the pooka, who shrugged noncommittally.
“We would be married.” His tone was somber.
“I have heard marriage can be a joyful estate.”
Ghost snorted.
I looked to the pooka for support, but he just held up his hands. “I have no experience with said bliss, so I can’t speak to the matter.”
“What about the elves? They seemed pleased with their marriages,” I argued. Casimir had dropped by briefly the day before with a missive from Illeron, which included a whole newsy paragraph about his wife and children.
“Are your sister and brother-by-law happy?” Azulin countered.
“There are no guarantees of happiness,” I admitted.
“So, they aren’t.”
I shrugged. “Choices have risks.”
He rubbed his forehead. Pain pulled his mouth tight.
“Other than the fact we are stuck with each other, what are the disadvantages?” I asked. My vine throbbed in time with what I suspected was his headache.
“Your life won’t be your own.” He grimaced.
“When has it ever been mine?” Unwilling to let him suffer, I pressed onward. “With you, I am fed, clothed, and provided for.”
“In exchange, you have to live in a fishbowl.” He peered at me from beneath his lowered brows. “Tethered to a grumpy, cold, twisty fae. You told me you didn’t like fae.”
I almost laughed. “I have little affection for the Unseelie who threw me in that labyrinth. You, however, I’ve grown attached to.”
“My court will hate this. If they accept our marriage, they will try to manipulate the situation to their advantage. You will live every day at significant risk.”
“Before my abduction, my life was dedicated to the defense of my community. They expected me to die for them.” I narrowed my gaze. “Do you find me offensive?”
“Quite the opposite.” Azulin groaned and covered his face, but not before I glimpsed a strong emotion I couldn’t name. His mouth quirked. “You will have to provide me with an heir.”
“Only one?” I asked. “I would want more.”
Ghost snorted, but I ignored him. The vine on my arm tightened painfully. Azulin’s shoulders hunched, and he grunted.
“The curse is fighting this,” the pooka observed.
“All the more reason to follow through, then.” I reached for Azulin. “What do we need to do to complete the bond?”
“I just need to sleep for a bit.” Azulin batted my hand away.
“Idiot,” the pooka muttered from behind me. “Look, do you want to be free of this curse?” he demanded.
My vine burned and Azulin’s eyes flew open as agony contorted his face. He sent a murderous glare at the pooka before bending forward with his arms wrapped around his middle. Uttering a great groan, he nodded.
“Then you have to do this.” The pooka turned to me. “If the standard fae traditions apply, we can do this right now. An exchange of vows and a sealing kiss is all that is needed.”
“In the traditional language,” Ghost added.
The pooka and I both stared at him.
“I did some research too.” Ghost frowned at us. “Traditional language, true names, vows, and two required witnesses. Your marriage will be legally and magically binding. No need for a kiss.”
“Acceptable but disappointing.” The pooka turned to eye me. “Are you willing?”
I shot an exasperated glare at the pooka. “Of course I am. He’s in pain.”
“Take his hand.” The pooka moved to the side so I could kneel next to Azulin. “Secure the door, dragon. We don’t want to be disturbed.” He ordered Ghost in a commanding voice so different from his usual jocular demeanor that I stared at him in surprise. He frowned at me. “His hand?”
I scrambled to manage my skirts, inching as close as possible to Azulin’s side as I knelt next to his chair. Reaching for the nearest of his hands, his right, I remembered his comment about placing the protection ring on my right hand.
“We need a ring.” Holding up my right hand, I asked, “Will this one work? Or will the spell on it cause issues?”
The pooka strode over and peered at the ring coiled around my finger and then grinned. “It will be perfect. The protection spell will get a boost and will probably help both of you. May I?”
I nodded and held out my right hand.
The pooka spoke a word, and the ring uncoiled, permitting me to slide it from my finger.
Azulin protested with a groan. His glare at the pooka spoke clearly of his annoyance.
“Join your marked hands.” The pooka bent over the ring for a moment. The flare of his magic washed over me in a wave of prickles. I sneezed as I took Azulin’s left hand in my right. The moment our skin touched, the vines flared with a golden glow. Warmth flooded through me, easing the anxiety in my gut and the tension in Azulin’s body.
“No sneezing during the vows,” the pooka instructed without looking up from whatever he was doing with the ring.
“Are you tampering with the spell?” Azulin demanded hoarsely, glaring at the pooka.
“Just making sure the magic of the protection spell doesn’t cause difficulties with the bonding.” The pooka shot Azulin a look of amusement. “Besides, I couldn’t harm either of you even if I wanted to. We swore a pact, remember?”
Azulin let his head fall back against his chair. Rolling it to the side, he studied my face from beneath lowered lids—his eyes pools of darkness beneath his caramel lashes.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?” I asked. “None of this is your fault.”
“For pulling you into this mess.” His strong, lean fingers tightened around my hand. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”
I frowned up at him, tracing the handsome lines of his face with my eyes. Pain still tightened his mouth and creased fine lines around his eyes, but even those were subtle. If I hadn’t spent so much time with him, I wouldn’t have been able to see the signs of emotion behind his mask. How long had he been so isolated? Hiding behind cool indifference and supporting a fa?ade of cold invulnerability, he held everyone at a distance. Somehow I had gotten past that mask.
“I am glad I can help.” I lifted my free hand and brushed my fingers across his cheek. He flinched beneath my fingertips before leaning ever so slightly into my touch. Tears welled up in my eyes. I blinked them back. He trusted me, and I trusted him. It was a beginning.
“Enough of that.” The pooka strode back to us after speaking with Ghost. “Everything is secured, and we have two witnesses.” He nodded toward Grim and his brother, who now flanked Ghost. “We best begin before someone attempts to open the barred doors.” The pooka offered the ring to Azulin. “Who would you prefer to coach her through her part of the ceremony, you or me?”
Azulin took the ring with a glare. “I will.”
∞∞∞
Azulin
The curse broke the moment the ring slipped on her finger and the last vow dropped from her lips. One moment, the curse was clawing at me, seeking any opportunity to sink in and disrupt my magic. And then it was gone.
My magic welled up and flooded through me, taking my breath with it. The sensation of power, control, and my magic’s eager willingness to be commanded brought on a relief I hadn’t experienced in years. It was as though a fresh breeze blew away a fog from my senses.
I had a heady urge to open a portal to Eldarlan and appear on Illeron’s front lawn to tell him the news. I resisted the impulse, though. I had more important things to tend to first.
“Thank you,” I whispered to my new wife. Kneeling next to me, her expression was earnest and sweetly concerned.
“Are you going to kiss your bride?” the pooka asked with a note of amusement.
I eyed him gravely. “Perhaps later…in private. But first, I have a question.”
The pooka eyed me right back, amusement lingering in his green eyes. “Might it have to do with my identity?”
“You are not just any pooka, are you?”
He grinned. “I was wondering when you would catch on.”
“On to what?” Calypso tried to unwind her fingers from mine, but I wasn’t willing to let her go yet. I drew her up with me as I stood.
“I suspect we have been honored beyond any Seelie king in generations.”
The pooka made a great show of considering this statement. “Hmm… My father attended the marriage of your grandfather if I recall correctly. However, I would have to consult our records to know for sure.”
I didn’t break my gaze from his as I explained to Calypso. “He is the Great Pooka, leader of the pooka tribe in the Wild Woods, and the ultimate authority on magic. As such, I suspect he isn’t even technically my subject but my equal.”
The pooka held up a hand to hush me. “Don’t tell anyone. If they hear about it, I will never get a moment’s peace.”
“So you truly do live on a farm far from other pooka?” Calypso asked. “But why?”
The pooka met my gaze. “I will leave that to your husband to explain, my lady. I suspect he envies me.”
I envied him far more than I could articulate. “But we both have a duty to our people.”
“We do,” he acknowledged. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t escape for a time.” He winked at Calypso. “Don’t let him kill himself with work. Now, it’s time I leave before your disgruntled secretary figures out that he’s missing something important.” He turned to Grim. “If you would be so kind, give me a ride to the ground.”
Grim and the pooka left, and Grim’s brother returned to his post outside the windows as Ghost unbarred the door.
I turned to my wife. “Thank you.”
“You already said that.” She frowned up at me, searching my expression. Some of her curls had escaped her coif. “Is the curse gone? The pain?”
“Completely.” I caught one of her wayward curls with my finger, twisting the coil around the tip.
Her worry eased, but her brow still puckered. “Now you can speak to the elves of whatever it was you wanted me to tell them.”
“Yes, I can speak with them directly now.” But that wasn’t what was foremost in my mind. I smiled down at her. “What was that about wanting children?”
She blushed adorably. “Eventually. Not yet.”
“We have time,” I assured her. “I was just curious how many you wished to have.”
She pushed away from me, and I let her go. “More than one.” She rose to her feet and straightened her gown. “Meanwhile, I’m wondering how far apart we can move before I start feeling odd.”
“Trying to leave me already?”
Her blush deepened, but she backed away all the same. “Just curious.”
I laughed. She reached the opposite end without adverse effects. We would’ve tested farther, but Soren arrived with my next official visitor. We fell back into our roles of the past few days. By unspoken agreement, neither of us mentioned our marriage.
In some ways everything was the same. She settled on the couch with her book, and I worked at my desk. In other ways, everything was very different.
I watched her as I listened to the agricultural report. Bent over her book, her escaped curls framed a face in repose. Unlike the perfectly balanced features of the fae, Calypso’s face was full of adorable imperfections. From the fact one of her eyebrows rose slightly higher than the other, to the quirk her mouth made even when she was smiling, the idiosyncrasies of her expressions fascinated me.
Her odd mixture of boldness and timidity meant I never knew what reaction I would get when I provoked her. One moment she was arguing we should marry and end the curse, even going so far as to admit she wanted my children, the next she retreated from my teasing, clearly disquieted.
“Sire?” Soren prompted.
I blinked. The minister of agriculture and my secretary both regarded me expectantly.
I nodded as though I had been listening closely. “If you leave the report with me, I will get back to you with my comments.” Apparently, my lack of sleep was still affecting my ability to focus.
The minister bowed and approached to lay the report on my desk. Soren, meanwhile, studied Calypso and then me, his expression boding ill for my peace. I ignored him and picked up the report.
The moment the minister left, Soren spoke. “Sire, how long is that woman going to be here?”
I lifted my attention from the report. “Lady Anon?”
“Yes!” He hissed the word. “She is a human female and has no place here.”
Biting my tongue, I was pleased that the vine on my arm didn’t respond with violence as it had in the recent past. No intense instinct to climb over my desk and punch my secretary. However, in its place, irritation flooded through me, along with the slight urge to dismiss him from his position.
“She is my guest. She remains as long as she wishes.”
Soren grimaced. “Doesn’t she have family? Won’t they wonder where she is?”
“They have been informed as to her location and assured that she is safe.” I glanced around the piles on my desk. “Isn’t there a letter from my brother somewhere here?”
“Yes, sire. He requested a visit. Shall I schedule one?”
“In a week’s time.” I glanced over at Calypso. “That will give us time to clear my workload, at least in part. Then I can leave for a few days.”
“Understood, sire.” Soren started making notes in his notebook. “Shall I speak to the stablemaster or are you traveling by dragon?” He said the last as though it would be embarrassing if I chose the latter.
I opened my mouth to say I would travel by portal but stopped myself at the last moment. The fewer people who knew that the curse had broken and why, the safer Calypso would be. Many would consider my union with a vulnerable human the perfect opportunity to get to me via her.
I didn’t know how closely the Unseelie king monitored his curses, and this could be the perfect time to discover the traitor who had handed my name over to the enemy. Yes, secrecy was best for now.
“I wish to speak to the elven spymaster at his earliest convenience. I also require the household tailor to attend me in my chambers tomorrow.”
“Do you require more clothing, my king?” Soren asked.
“No, but my companion requires appropriate attire for her role.”
Calypso’s surprise hit me like a sharp burst of emotion in the center of my chest. With my back turned to her, I couldn’t see if she physically betrayed her response, but I knew with utmost certainty that she had been surprised and that surprise was now shifting into concern.
And when I lifted my attention to my secretary, I discovered the probable cause of her emotional shift. Soren was glaring at her with naked annoyance.
“But, sire, she is adequately attired for the court. And who shall fund this expense?”
“Last I knew, I was king, Soren. I can gift things to whomever I choose.”
Ghost snorted. The scent of smoke in the room intensified.
“I meant no disrespect, sire.”
I nodded to indicate I was satisfied with his apology. “Have the minister of finance and the minister of law attend me the day after my return.”
“Sire? They are not due to present their reports until three months hence.”
I arched my brows at Soren. “I am not requesting their reports, just their persons, and hopefully their wits as well.”
Calypso made a small sound, distracting me. I glanced over to find her focusing with great intensity on her book.
Soren flipped pages. “I have openings in the schedule for the afternoon on those days.”
“What is on the schedule?” I asked, forcing myself to refocus.
Soren rattled off committee meetings for various tasks, and we discussed my schedule for a few moments. It all felt so useless. My life was a tangled, mundane mess. I grimaced. Something had to change. I needed to make time for a wife, and eventually a family.
Soren ended with a reminder. “And Grizzlemunch still wishes for an audience this afternoon.”
With a sigh, I nodded. “I will see Grizzlemunch, then I will retire early. I am weary. The curse has worn my strength thin.” ’Twas truth in essence. I was very tired. However, before I rested, Calypso and I had some details to iron out between us. Our expectations of married life for a start.
“Who is that?” Grizzlemunch demanded the moment the obligatory greetings were complete. The old sprite peered over his lifted nose at Calypso, who hadn’t moved from her couch since before he walked into my office.
“My companion.” I refrained from summoning Calypso over for introductions. Grizzlemunch would likely treat her with even less respect than my new cat. “What do you wish to discuss with me?”
“You, sire.” Grizzlemunch wrinkled his pronounced nose. “Your companion is a mortal, isn’t she?”
“What about me?” I frowned over my clasped hands as I rested my elbows on my desk. “What is your topic of choice today, Grizzlemunch? Me or my companion? Choose one.”
“I object.” He puffed up his narrow chest. “In your father’s day—”
“I am not my father,” I reminded him calmly.
“Indeed, you are not, my boy. Your father—”
“Is no longer king.”
“Sire! If you would let me finish.”
“My apologies. I will refrain from speaking for a time so you can say your piece.”
Grizzlemunch heaved a great sigh. “In your father’s day, this court was a place to be proud of. Admired by Seelie and Unseelie alike, we were the unparalleled masters of the Wild Woods and beyond.”
I pressed my lips together tightly and suppressed the urge to point out that his pronouncement was pure fabrication. We were closer to attaining that esteemed state now than we had been when my father reigned.
Father’s reign had been fraught with constant feuding, scheming, and grasping. His greed had cost him his health, his mind, and eventually his kingdom.
True, until today my hands had been partially restrained. But, even bound by the curse as I had been, the alliances I’d formed with the elves, gargoyles, and some of the woodwose tribes put us in a better political position than the Unseelies. And now that I was free from my curse, I intended to see that the Unseelies would feel every bit of that allied strength—especially once I found the traitor in my ranks.
“My father’s strategy was one of ruling by fear and might. I have a different approach.”
“And look at where it got you, boy. Cursed and unable to even access your greatest skill. By the next moon you will be completely helpless again. A change of ideals is in order. We are suffering! Your people can’t lift their heads in pride when you can barely control your magic. To be ruled by an infant.” The sprite shook his wings in disgust.
It took great effort to keep my tone neutral despite my growing irritation. “Get to your point, Grizzlemunch.”
“Marry a good fae female and produce an heir.”
My eyebrows rose before I could catch my reaction. “So you want me to do as my father did when he was cursed? Marry, produce heirs, and then hand the kingdom to them?”
“Heirs can help us get out of this mess.” Grizzlemunch huffed.
“I could break the curse.”
He grimaced his disbelief. “Please, lad, no disrespect meant, but you aren’t half the man your father was. And even he couldn’t break his curse.”
“His curse is different. I still have hope.”
I restrained my impulse to turn to glance at Calypso. The longer the old sprite forgot about her existence, the safer she would be. The old sprite was set in his ancient ways but harmless to other fae; it was time for him to step down. Retirement for him—not to mention a few others within my personal council—would be one of my first courses of action once this curse business was settled.
“I will consider your suggestions.”
“See that you do,” the old sprite responded.
I indicated the meeting was over and the doors were opened. However, Grizzlemunch didn’t turn toward them. Instead, he stomped forward to stand over Calypso.
I rose, drawing my ceremonial dagger as I reached his side.
“You don’t belong here,” he rasped as he loomed over my new wife.
Calypso lowered her book and calmly gazed up at him. Her wide silvery-gray eyes glowed in the golden afternoon light. “Was there a revolution while I was reading?”
“What are you blathering on about?” Grizzlemunch snapped.
“I didn’t realize you had become king of the Seelie, sir.” Calypso blinked up at him in wide-eyed innocence, wielding her quirky beauty to a disarming advantage.
I fought warring urges to laugh or kiss her right there. Ghost snorted and the smoke smell in the room intensified pleasantly.
“I—” Grizzlemunch puffed up like a blowfish.
Turning to the ancient sprite, I glared at him, adjusting my grip on the blade in my hand. “Farewell, Grizzlemunch.” The audience was over.
Then, offering my unmarked hand, I bowed over Calypso, blocking the sprite’s access to her.
Closing her book, she slipped her fingers across my palm without lifting her gaze to mine. I drew her to her feet.
The door closed behind Grizzlemunch with a heavy thud.
“Masterfully done,” I commented.
“I wasn’t too mean?” Calypso met my gaze then, hesitation clouding her eyes.
“No. Precisely the right amount of sass and truth to make your point.” I pressed my mouth against the back of her fingers. “You will go far in my court, my lady. And with the right protections to make sure no one can retaliate when you call their bluff, I suspect you will have the whole court dancing to your tune very soon.”
“I hardly think they’ll listen to a lowly human,” she protested.
“I do.”
She blushed prettily. “You are the anomaly, sire.”
I threaded our fingers together and pressed her hand to the center of my chest. “Not for long, I’m sure. Ghost likes you.”
The dragon snorted. “Don’t pull me into your flirting, sire.”