27
Jay
We finished dinner at Alarie’s favorite restaurant in town, Atala’s, and went for a stroll along the waterfront in town to walk off some of our fullness. Alarie wore a white linen dress that showed off her ankles, paired with a pair of blocky cork heels. It looked amazing against her golden tanned skin and the beachy curl in her hair.
I was dressed significantly less formal than my usual attire, sporting a tailored blue suit with a white button-down with the first two buttons undone and no tie, a stark contrast to the tuxedoes I commonly wore at the High Court.
“How long have Cress and Oliver been with you?” she asked.
I knew Alarie had noticed how differently I acted and everyone acted around me here versus at the High Court. At the High Court, everyone acted like they were frightened to take a breath in front of me. Here, Oliver acted like my younger brother, talking shit one minute and idolizing my every move the next. And Cress, she played the role of the doting mother over the two of us. The people in town were also friendly, appreciative of the freedom I gave them to run their businesses and the town as they saw fit so long as the Azurinium production was maintained.
“Since the end of the war…” I trailed off, indicating there was more to the story.
“They… fought in the war with you?” she asked.
“No. Neither did,” I replied, stopping to stare out at the water, still holding Alarie’s hand.
She squeezed my hand, I knew, urging me to tell her more. Inhaling the salt of the ocean air, I began to tell her my story.
“Cress’s husband was a good friend of mine. We lost him in the war. And she’s been a part of my House and my family ever since. She’s done more for me than I have ever done for her, honestly. The way she runs my household at Breakpoint leaves me free to focus on things at the High Court without the slightest concern as to what’s going on at home. She helps with arranging the sales of the Azurinium as well,” I explained.
“And Oliver, I met him in the north shortly after the war was over. He was in the service of House Patton, and someone mentioned that he was a skilled swordsman and suggested I seek him out. You’ve seen us spar. He’s one of the most skilled fae I have ever crossed swords with. His potential wasn’t being maximized by House Patton. They didn’t even have him in a sword master role,” I said with a sneer.
“So, I invited him to become the master at arms for my House. The offer came with a bit of land as well. He heads up the operations for the Azurinium mining too now.”
“So, he’s a—” Alarie began in a tone of surprise.
“Lord,” I interjected.
“And what about House Patton? How did that all come about?” she probed.
We usually avoided the topic of Lady Vitruvian. She just wasn’t relevant to our day-to-day lives. She stayed at one of her family’s estates most of the time, and Alarie and I lived our lives unencumbered at the High Court. But I’d mentioned House Patton, Lady Vitruvian’s maiden House, so I guessed this time was as good as any. I dropped Alarie’s hand as I moved toward the water, resting an arm on the banister of the fence running along the waterfront path.
“There were a lot of sacrifices made in the wars. Deaths like Cress’s husband are the most obvious kind of losses, but there were others—of land, of power… of love.” I paused. “Rex’s powers are…” I paused.
“Rex?” she asked incredulously.
I gave her a wry smile, my foreboding effect dissipating for a moment.
“When you have been around as long as I have, love, even kings have first names,” I said.
“To say Rex is powerful is a gross understatement. His abilities are wholly unique, Alarie. His powers are of both light and darkness.”
“That’s not possible,” she said.
Her reaction was predictable, understandable. It was textbook magical theory that a fae’s power was either of light or darkness, but never both.
“It’s impossible,” I agreed, “unless you’re Rex.”
“There have been stories of a few others throughout history. And I’ve always been skeptical until Rex. Alarie, I have no doubt about it when it comes to his powers. They are unrivaled.”
She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
“Even still, we may have been able to defeat him. But we were suffering losses that were not acceptable,” I explained fiercely.
“Rex and the northern fae were more willing than the southern fae to pay the costs of war. In the north, absolute power reigns supreme, which allowed them to view the toll of the war in simple terms—the strong live, the weak die. But the fae in the south were ready to get back to their easy lives, and we were looking for a way out of the war. So, Grey and I and a few others came up with a way—we would erect a magical wall between the two kingdoms. Figuring out how to pull off such an unparalleled magical feat took months of planning. During that time, we relied heavily upon the loyal Houses along the northern border to stifle King Vandros’s advances. That reliance came at a price.”
“House Mouchard,” I spat the name, “was looking to extract a sizable concession from Grey in exchange for their resources along the border. When the Diamond Court broke off and created Alancia, the Ruby Court was created to take over the northern part of land that used to be part of the Diamond Court. Ever since House Mouchard was passed over for House Rein as the seat of the Ruby Court, House Mouchard has acted like there was a debt owed there. With her husband having died at the beginning of the war, Lila Tragon was looking for a new, strong suitor. She had her sights on Nik—Prince Heroux,” I clarified.
“But there was no way that House Mouchard or Tragon had anything to offer that would justify that match. So she set her sights on me.”
Alarie looked like she was holding her breath. She finally exhaled, waiting for me to continue.
“I also refused to marry Lila Tragon. So, we looked for other solutions. Too many of our people were dying, so I stepped up and secured the support of House Patton and paid the price they asked—a marriage with Elizabeth. We considered a marriage between Grey’s son, Nik, and Elizabeth. They’re closer in age, after all, but an alliance with the King’s House was too high a price to pay. And, in any event, it seemed unfair to saddle the Prince with an arranged marriage at so young an age.”
“So that’s why you don’t like High Lady Tragon?” Alarie asked.
There was one last thing that I needed to tell Alarie for her to truly understand the sacrifices I’d made in my life before her.
“There’s more. A lot more. When you have been around as long as I have, you have scars on the inside that no one can see. But it would take me all night to share the full story, and we have better things to do tonight, love. So, I’ll just tell you this. I was engaged and bonded to another woman at the time I agreed to marry Elizabeth. Al—”
I didn’t want to say her name. Alanna. I banished thoughts of the chunk of my magic that was forever missing because I’d given it to Alanna.
“She was murdered.” I gritted my teeth, nostrils flaring, surprised by the emotion that still lay there even after all these years. “Stabbed in the heart with an iron blade—shortly before I turned down Lila’s last overture and agreed to marry Elizabeth.”
“Oh, Jay,” she sighed.
Alarie grabbed my hand, tenderly running the underside of her thumb across the top of my hand.
“Wh… Who? Why?” she asked quietly.
“Who? Probably Rex or someone on his side,” I replied, getting a grasp on my anger. “As to why, well, it was war between the fae. I, and everyone I had ever cared about, had a target on their back, and I wasn’t… I wasn’t there to protect her.”
I held onto Alarie a little tighter.
“Jay, you can’t blame yourself—”
I interrupted her. I wanted to get through this story and move on. “But going back to your question, if I’m being honest, my dislike for Lila Tragon these days has more to do with her role on the High Council than anything that happened back then,” I said. “She ruined the balance of the High Council, and that’s made my job as Contra a lot more challenging than it should be.”
“How so?” Alarie asked.
“Well, as you know, my role as Contra is to check the King and throw my weight behind what I believe is best for the Kingdom so that the King’s love of self or power or any number of the other vices that monarchs can fall prey to do not overtake the interests of the Kingdom. The role of the other members of the High Council is to throw their weight behind either me or the King when disagreements between us arise, again, with the best interest of the Kingdom in mind. Although we cannot overrule the King, any King who hasn’t totally abandoned all sense of duty will listen to his High Council.”
“But Lila, almost without exception, throws her vote with the King’s, which undermines the purpose of the High Council. Now, I too often find myself and Vince on one side and the King and Lila on the other. Or worse yet, Lord Rein and Lady Tragon go against me entirely. So, I’m thwarted left and right when I’m trying to do what’s best for Valencia. The situation with the lesser fae is just the latest example of this. Despite being from a northern border town, the high lady’s views regarding the lesser fae are particularly unenlightened.” I stopped, checking the anger creeping into my voice again.
“How did she make it onto the High Council to begin with?” Alarie asked, her tone matching my frustration.
“She was never supposed to be the one who fulfilled the counselor role on the High Council to begin with. It was supposed to be her husband, Lord Tragon. Grey had cut a deal with Lord Tragon—he would serve on the High Council for a span of ten years. Promising a fixed term on the High Council in itself was unheard of because, other than the heads of the Courts, counselors traditionally served at the leisure of the King. But Lord Tragon could deliver the support of House Tragon and Mouchard and the resources we needed on the northern border. Plus, Lord Tragon was a congenial lord and, overall, known to be a reasonable guy. So, the Kingdom wouldn’t suffer from his guaranteed term on the High Council.”
“Unfortunately, before Lord Tragon could deliver on his promise, he was killed in battle. This set back our negotiations with House Tragon and House Mouchard—they became one and the same. We were now dealing with Lady Tragon and her side of the family directly, instead of Lord Tragon. This is when they changed their price to marriage with Lila. When that didn’t work out, they insisted that the original deal was for House Tragon to have the seat on the High Council, not Lord Tragon specifically.
“Ultimately, against my advice, Grey relented, believing it would be little repayment for her husband’s death in the war to not give House Tragon a role on the High Council. He agreed that Lady Tragon would serve on the High Council, but her term would only be guaranteed for a period of five years.”
“She’s been on the High Council for a lot longer than five years,” Alarie noted, incredulously.
“Ah, well,” I said with a sigh. “Grey’s not without his faults. He says he likes the high lady on the High Council because it’s progressive to have a woman in a role that has traditionally been filled by men. But I think Grey has grown fond of the echo of his own views that he hears more often than from the lady’s lips. Plus, she is not without her own support at the Court.”
I made this admission with a bit of sorrow in my voice. I rarely voiced any criticism of my longest friend. Alarie stood next to me, leaning against the railing as well and staring out at the moonlight reflected on the ocean.
“Enough of that, love,” I said after a few moments, turning toward her and pulling her into an embrace.
I placed my hand under her chin, tilting her face toward mine. I kissed her, burying my past in the taste of her lips.
“It’s our last night before we have to go back to Court. Let’s make it a late one.”