Chapter 27
BELENUS
I searched for my adopted sister when I returned to camp and gestured with a jerk of my chin for her to follow me. Once I found a decent space away from male eyes, I created a warm patch of summer to settle Hekla on. “Clean her dress for me, Emer,” I requested with a stone-faced expression. She helped me undress Hekla, and I got to work cleaning the blood off my female’s skin.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered after several minutes.
“It’s not me you have to apologize to. You bloody well know that.”
She stared miserably down at Hekla’s crimsoned dress. “I know.”
“I’ve spent our entire youth bailing you out of trouble, but you really need to open your eyes to your situation,” I lectured, scrubbing at a particularly sticky spot on Hekla’s collarbone. “When I take the throne, we’re going to inherit hefty responsibilities. There is going to be a lot to clean up, Emer, and I’m going to need your help .
“That being said,” I warned with a stern look, “before you decide to take on any of those responsibilities, you have a hard decision to make.”
“With him?” she asked meekly and I nodded.
“Now, I don’t mind if you move to the Realm of the Humans if you want to. I don’t mind if he stays at the castle with us. What I do mind, however, is you stringing him along.”
“Ah,” she whispered, half-heartedly rinsing blood from cloth with warm, melted snow.
“Those people have survived centuries of torture. I don’t want you to make any rushed decisions or make up your mind when you’re emotional, but Nofre’s a good male. He deserves an answer at some point, and I’m asking you not to tease him until then.” I frowned and adjusted my unconscious mate’s position to wash her stomach and hips. “I know how you are, Emer, but things have become dead serious, and you’ve got to grow up. Your actions matter more than ever in this situation because you’re fated to a male from an endangered species. If you really don’t want him, let him go so he can find happiness elsewhere. Perhaps he’ll get a second chance mate.”
“I don’t want to see him with anoth—” she snapped angrily but bit her tongue before she finished her sentence. “I just didn’t think I’d ever find or want a mate. Mother an—I mean, the queen and our father didn’t exactly make it look like a walk in the park,” she explained bitterly. “I didn’t know about the mistresses until I was much older.”
“I don’t foresee Nofre cheating on you,” I replied flatly. “Besides, our parents weren’t fated. They were poorly matched.”
“I don’t see him doing that either,” Emer confessed, staring at nothing now. Her eyes had glazed over, vapid, and I couldn’t read her at all.
“To be honest, he’s probably going to worship your unworthy feet. He looked like you stabbed him in the heart when you ran off earlier. ”
“My feet are quite unworthy.” She heaved a sigh, and her gaze finally returned to the wet dress and undergarments on her lap. Steam curled out in long ribbons from between her fingers as her summer reserves drove out the damp. “These will still be slightly stained, but it’s the best I can do without soap. At least it’ll be comfortable and dry.”
I frowned and shook my head in frustration, mentally backing up. “I didn’t mean what I said. You’re worthy, Emer. You just need to take responsibility now. It’s as much about your happiness as it is about his. They both matter, but he’s been through enough pain.”
She nodded and remained silent until I prompted her to help dress Hekla. I needed to impart one last thought to her. “If you want to know what it’s like, Emer, finding Hekla was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve realized—and take this quite seriously—that she’s worth waging war for, and I’d give her anything if she asked for it.” I gazed sadly down at my mate’s sleeping face as I gathered her into my arms. “She’s changed me for the better. She still does, and there’s nothing akin to the sense of love, devotion, and completion I get from her. I hope you don’t choose to miss out on all that, but you need to do what’s right for you.”
Then, reluctantly, I bound my mate’s hands and feet before walking back to the camp with my silent sister in stride. She turned thoughtful as I settled with Hekla in a dedicated and affectionate embrace. Emer left to find her own space, and I glanced over to find Nofre resting by a fire under the shelter of a tree, watching her from a distance. The poor male looked absolutely heartsick.
·
King Nechtan woke me, preventing my battered mind from oversleeping. I was bloody tired, sore from so much walking, and beyond sick of winter’s bone-deep freeze. It relieved me the bat-shifters ended up being hardy enough to survive the conditions of a long march and a frigid season. They had to hunt more often, though, and I had to accept their frequent coming and going during the night’s trek. Thankfully, Ferrer, Luzia, and several other volunteers were on top of the head count and promised to let me know if anyone went missing.
Several hours after returning to our march, I caught Hekla’s eyes opening. “Hekla?” I asked softly as my heart rose into my throat, threatening to choke me with anticipation, and her glassy gaze finally drifted to mine.
Eventide? Escort called out.
I’m here. I’m back, Eventide announced. Hekla is in shock, though. Something nasty surprised us in our sleep and gave her… really, really, really bad nightmares. Belenus, it was bad.
A mix of relief and anger gripped my chest. Yes, I think I know enough about it. We… don’t need to discuss it. The point is, there’s a rot-witch around who’s responsible. I just don’t know how they got close enough to…
I claim the right to kill her, Escort proclaimed hatefully. His sizzling rage reminded me to check in with Hekla’s emotions. Reaching across our bond, I sensed a flat buzz of numbness, but occasionally, a hint of sadness, jealousy, or shame would trickle across.
“Can you speak to me, my dear?” I asked Hekla, but she replied only with a slow blink, so I turned my inquiry to her wolf. Can she even understand me, Eventide?
She’s not responding to me either, but I believe so if you’re noticing her emotions change. It’s not like she’s in a coma.
“Right…” I fumbled for the right words as I stared down at my mate’s lovely face, her brown cheeks and nose flushed from the cold no matter how I bundled her. “Hekla, you know me. You know I’d rather cut off my cock than even look at that wretch.” I fought for some idea to help—any idea. “Whenever those planted images surface, I want you to replace that image of me with something else because that was never me.” I chuckled a little and added, “Replace my image in that nightmare with a rot-witch. I guarantee you’ll never think of that scene in the same way again.”
When Hekla closed her eyes, my cheeks fell alongside my departing smile. I clenched my jaw around a sob and held her tighter as my boots parted the snow. That rot-witch had better hope I never found her. I’d already sentenced her to death.
King Nechtan fell back with his horse to join me. “How close are we to the next hidden door?”
“Should be there around sunrise.”
“And what after that?”
I caressed Hekla’s shoulders and replied, “If we get to the summer castle in time, I’ll need to work on organizing my soldiers and quietly evacuating those closest to me. They’ll likely be targeted if they’re within reach of the queen’s influence.”
“And if you don’t get there in time?”
I gestured ahead of us. “Then I’ll have to send someone in to do it. I can’t risk getting close until I find a way out of that contract. I need to know if the team I’d dedicated to that project came up with any solutions. I had higher hopes for someone who’d reached out to some witches in the Realm of the Humans.” I held up my other hand to allay any sudden fears. “The Lunar Coven is benign, worry not. They do not worship the rot.”
He nodded grimly. “Speaking of witches, we still haven’t found the rot-witch, but we’ll keep looking.”
“Understood,” I replied. After that, I updated him on Hekla’s slow recovery and gave him some additional details on my plans for the takeover before releasing him to rejoin his warriors.
There were approximately several hours before dawn when we finally neared the door to the Summer Court. I needed to scout the exit point first to see if there was any coverage for the bat-shifters on the other side; I couldn’t tell just by looking at the godling’s map. Of all the courts they were destined to have to wait in, it was unfortunate it had to be the Summer Court; they would not fare well under our blazing sun, and we’d likely have to make concessions along the way for their well- being.
I called for a halt, transferred Hekla’s care to Nofre, and jogged ahead to investigate the door. Luckily, the Winter Court was heavily forested, so the shifters would be able to rest on this side of the door tonight if the other side was too exposed to the sky and thus the lashings of the Sun God.
The uneven blanket of snow continued to be a nuisance, rising to my shins as if thoroughly happy to slow my march. However, as I approached my destination, what had my scowl deepening the most was a subtle change in the air and magic layer.
Lingering around the door was the presence of sourness, and I hissed with instinctive aversion. It was the same rotten, damp, and mildewy aura that we’d detected on Hekla after she’d been cursed. I unsheathed my sword and gathered some summer essence into my hand while peering into the dark. Something lingered at the edge of my vision, but it didn’t remain. Slowly, the silhouette hobbled toward me, not appearing particularly dangerous, but I knew better.
Except for the fact that it was a woman, one could have mistaken her for a fear gorta by the emaciation and the rot clouding the air. This was probably the oldest-looking witch I’d ever seen. Hers was not the age that brought wisdom but the age that nurtured madness—especially with the unknown forces provoking these creatures. She stared at me with weepy, bloodshot eyes that hinted at the open door in her mind, a place where hoary, forbidden things were welcomed with hungry arms.
I only had so much magic, so I decided to defend myself against thrown curses. She was in no shape to physically overpower me. Her long, spindly fingers with nails that had warped into talons over the decades—or perhaps centuries—were locked with arthritis and aquiver.
Then, with a mouth open wide, she released a faint hissing scream, one accompanied by more than a singular voice. She giggled madly and continued her waddling towards me, struggling against the shin-deep snow. The eagerness frightened me, but I shoved that fear aside, took a step forward, and timed my lunge, making a judgment call that I believed worth the risk.
She didn’t flinch or make any attempt to dodge as I darted to catch her wrists and lock them behind her back. The creature appeared to be falling into something akin to dementia, and she started babbling nonsense as I marched her back to King Nechtan.
“Autumn is fall, spring is fall, summer will fall, seelie will fall. Lust to bawl, families stall. All in all, wrapped in pall,” she croaked deliriously, gleeful while performing her macabre poetry. “Shame you fall. So pretty but not delicious. Not enough fat.”
I shuddered and scowled, unable to shut her up on our way back to the colony and our allies. I dragged her violently before the winter king and his warriors, but I lost my hold on her right arm when it detached from her shoulder and fell to the ground. I curled my upper lip in disgust and horror, realizing her insides were rotting underneath her pallid, loose skin. Even King Nechtan’s stoic warriors released sounds of revulsion as the limb sank through the snow, parting the white with its warm fluids.
“Found,” I announced with finality and tried not to breathe too deeply. “Any questions before my—”
I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to bite that. You kill her, Escort decided hastily.
“Before I execute her?” I amended halfway through my question. “She doesn’t appear lucid, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“That’s the oldest rot-witch I’ve ever seen,” the king stated, somehow able to maintain a straight face. I glanced over at Emer, who had a hand placed over her mouth. She blanched, dry heaved, and ran off behind a tree to vomit. Nofre shifted in unease, visibly troubled by her state and torn. He held onto Hekla as I’d asked and—with a jerk of his chin—ultimately gestured for Luzia to go care for her. Many of the shifters looked a touch green at the sight, and I imagined this appeared very much like food that had spoiled.
“What’s the rot-witches’ goal?” I asked harshly, choosing to no longer handle her with excessive force. I didn’t need half the people here losing their stomachs over this interrogation, and her stench had intensified threefold since the detachment.
The rot-witch arched against me and released another quiet scream. I had no idea what it meant. It hadn’t sounded like one of pain. “No meals here, no meals,” she complained with a wet laugh.
The king scowled and his hand twitched. No doubt he wanted to torture her but knew it was pointless. She’d likely fall apart under a single compelling touch. “Answer him,” he boomed, and ice encased her up to her neck and around her skull, stilling her completely. Relieved, I released my grip on her and scooped up some snow to try to wipe the grease from my hands.
Fucking disgusting, Escort mumbled. Ask if someone has soap.
I definitely will…
The rot-witch sighed, and her cadaverous face relaxed under nostalgia. “So easy get beauty to breed. Autumn is fall, spring is fall, summer will fall, seelie will fall.” She hummed and continued, “Winter will fall, unseelie will fall. All in all, the gods will crawl.”
“How has spring fallen?” I asked, anger simmering beneath my skin as she continued to test my patience. “Why assassinate me? Is the summer queen involved?” I knew I shouldn’t ask multiple questions at once, but I felt like time was running low.
Tiring, she grumbled and slurred out, “No, no, no. Kill the shell. Need you. Spring and fall! Want, want, want. Open and closed. So bad vessel is thin. Not enough fat. Not meal. What waste.” Her eyes rolled deliriously to the bat-shifters. “You should be in bed. It’s late. So late. Not in time.”
Deciphering her rambling now was nigh impossible. “The summer queen,” I asserted, “is she involved?”
The rot-witch laughed, which seemed to cause one cheekbone to flatten, and several teeth dribbled from her mouth. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” she whispered, but her chant grew progressively into delighted screams just as her body caved in and filled the ice with nothing but rotten flesh and silence .
The silence, like a disease, spread throughout the audience of fae and bats.
Nofre was the first to break it. “They’d sent a dying one on what would have been a lethal mission,” he observed and adjusted his hold on Hekla when her head flopped over in her sleep.
The king remarked solemnly, “It’s been reported that the dying ones are the strongest… but they expire swiftly after any exertion, physical or magical.”
I nodded to them both. I’d have to reflect on everything the rot-witch had said. Then, I turned to face the king and his warriors for one last critical inquiry.
“Does anyone have soap?”
HEKLA
The grey-and-black world where I rested, once frigid, thawed. Warmth spread up my limbs and worked its way into my torso. Stiffness melted from my joints, and with a relaxed chest, my body finally felt like it could breathe.
—eems more clearheaded now, a female’s voice announced, followed by the sloshing of water.
“Is she responding to you yet?” a soothing, handsome voice asked. That voice reminded me of something. It reminded me of both pain and pleasure, but I couldn’t identify it.
Not yet, the first voice answered.
I’ll try, my stardust. Hekla, mate, can you hear me? a third voice faded into my head. Are you coming back to us?
Did I know that voice? It was masculine, like the one who’d spoken aloud, but was wilder and held notes of feral dominance. This was the newer voice. I hadn’t known this one for very long.
“Escort?” I croaked, trying to open my eyes. Jealousy coiled around my heart, a sharp twining, but it wasn’t coming from me. How was that possible?
Don’t be upset, Belenus, the first voice said—a female. It was only a matter of time before she responded to one of our voices. Escort is you.
“I know,” I heard the male mumble. “Hekla, wake for me. Please.”
Wet fingertips brushed my hair from my face, and the water droplets helped dissolve the leaden weights attached to my eyelids. I blinked in rapid succession until they were able to stay open, and that was when I noticed I could move my arms and legs. The sluggishness told me I was neck-deep in tepid water.
When my eyes focused, I realized it wasn’t rocks cradling me but a warm, sculpted male with gold-dusted skin and worried almond-shaped eyes. The man was tired, and his scruff showed that he’d been traveling for a while. His sunflower-yellow hair had been brushed to the side, but strands fell carelessly over a drawn brow. A twig had entangled itself in his short locks; he must have been sleeping on the ground. As worn as he looked, he was as beautiful as he was warrior-like... the most beautiful male I’d ever seen in my life.
His soft lips parted as he searched my face. “My dear, Hekla? My female? Can you talk to me?” he asked gently, adjusting his cradling of my body so I could see him better. My mind slowly returned to me, and memories trickled in to fill the gaps. There’d been nightmares, then nothing. I’d lain in a sleep so deep that I thought I had been dead.
The tingles where we touched made me remember him. It came slowly to me, but when it did, my heart swelled; my mate had been the first to greet me out of sleep. “Belenus?” I croaked out slowly. I placed a hand on the contour of one of his naked pecs, sending rivulets of warm water down his torso. “How long?”
“Oh, thank the Sun God!” he whispered and embraced me, his fingers shaking as they dug into my skin. “I was so worried about you.” I welcomed his possessive clutching and listened to how boldly his heart pounded in his ribcage. “Just a little over a day, my female. King Nechtan put you into a quiet sleep so you could heal and wouldn’t hurt yourself again.”
I gingerly touched my shoulder where Belenus’s mark was, relieved to find it intact, and nearly released a sob from my stacking humiliation and guilt. “I hurt you,” I bemoaned, then searched for the gashes that I knew he’d already healed. “I hurt you again.”
He shook his head in a fierce denial. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I told you that I’d take your hurt, and I meant it. I was just worried about you. I love you. Seeing your tortured face was worse than any cut or broken bone,” he confessed, his irises narrowing to amber rings in his examining.
The man’s broad chest pressed into me with every slow breath he took. It swelled again, deeply, just before he started speaking again, catching me up on events. I learned, while he comforted me with caresses, what had happened with the rot-witch he’d found. He couldn’t share how my curse had been treated, but I was just happy to know it was gone. Belenus had been good to me, despite everything that had tried to tear us apart from day one. He’d tolerated the torture of his court and the strife I’d given him for things he could hardly control.
It weighed on me more now. I really should make my confession.
Belenus’s thumb stroked my cheek. “I’m glad you’re awake, but I originally brought you here to bathe you,” he said softly, showing me a bar of soap he’d pulled from the trickling, lapping riverbank. “A winter fae field healer had several to spare.”
The naming of the season had me finally noticing its absence. “We’re in summer again,” I commented blandly, spying the dry ground and the warm glow of the setting sun. The Sun God was sinking behind a large hill, letting his last rays caress the soft moor ground. On the other side of the river was a smaller forest where the bat-shifters must be.
Belenus gently released me, lathered his hands, and began massaging my shoulders. “We’re actually at our destination, Hekla. The door took us a good distance into the Summer Court. We’re about a mile out from the castle, slightly adjacent to the city, and I cast a large glamour with Emer’s help to hide us.”
That was surprising news, and I took a moment to absorb it. A lot had happened, indeed. I bobbed on the soft pebbles of the river bottom with my toes to stay afloat, but the more he worked, the more his touch relaxed me. I sighed and went mostly limp, grabbing my mate’s waist to steady myself against the lazy pull of the river.
“We’ll have to figure out how to retrieve the willing fighters and evacuate our loved ones from the castle. We can’t allow hostages,” I mumbled, thoroughly appreciating his ministrations. The little tingles of pleasure from the mate touch sank deeper into my muscles than any massage could, and I sighed as he lathered my scalp, rubbing thoroughly and sensually.
“I love how you’re already such a queen,” he rumbled appreciatively, and I smiled, pleased by his compliment. “It’s incredibly arousing. You are a perfect match for me in every way, my dear. Don’t ever forget that.” He ran his soapy hands down each arm individually before hoisting me up and ordering, “Wrap your legs around me, my female.”
I gripped his shoulders and secured my legs around his ribs. Belenus moved closer to the bank so that I was just out of the water and continued to cover me in soap. His rough palms molded over my shoulder blades and slid down my ribs to rub my lower back. Deep aches had developed from the days and nights we’d spent walking, and I hadn’t realized how sore my muscles had grown until he dug into them.
His eyes never left mine as he cleaned me, not even when his busy hands found my breasts. He just breathed slowly and deeply, maintaining eye contact, though his cheeks and pointed fae ears flushed pink.
“So will we have to disguise the winter fae so their presence here isn’t… exposed?” I asked quietly, shivering when he rinsed the suds from my breasts. His eyes dilated on my last word .
“Hmm?” he hummed, distracted. “Oh, yes. We’ll do the best we can with glamour magic. My magic here is potent.” A hot spark sizzled into my chest. Yes, I knew he was potent in more ways than one. He continued to stare at my face while his soapy palms slid down my belly to the tops of my thighs.
I groaned softly, and he growled lowly in response. The vibration traveled down his chest and right between my spread legs. My core throbbed with need as our bodies communicated without words. I knew I was aroused, and though it was from a great many things, it was mostly from the tenderness of his treatment. A part of me felt so much guilt over attacking him that I didn’t feel worthy of his love.
It wasn’t your fault, Eventide said, finally speaking to me. I was afraid she’d felt betrayed too. After all, Belenus and Escort belonged to both of us.
I know. My emotions don’t… match the facts, I replied uneasily.
You’ll feel better after a good mounting, she said casually. As if a hot towel had been tossed onto my head, my face immediately heated, and I looked guiltily up at Belenus. She’d not said that privately.
“Eventide,” Belenus murmured with a grin as he pulled back one of my legs to wash the rest of it. “I just got her back. Please don’t go making her faint on us.” Then, he washed my other leg, sending an attractive smirk my way.
His fingers finally slid from my hips to lather my buttocks, then slowly traced several fingers along until they found my sex. I tensed, and though his washing digits were clinical in their treatment, they did linger longer than necessary. He held my gaze as his fingers lazily traced my folds, and I bit my lip to trap a moan, entranced by the way he studied my eyes; I couldn’t bring myself to break the moment.
His motions eventually slowed, and he walked slightly farther out into the river. The currents pulled more forcefully, but Belenus held me firmly to his chest. I very nearly squirmed against him, loving the feeling of my breasts, belly, and core pressed against the hard planes of his body.
Belenus lowered me so my face was level with his, and he nuzzled my nose before tilting his head to lay a soft kiss on my lips. Then, he took in a deep breath to warn me of his next action and ducked to submerge us both under the water. His hands slid all over my skin, wiping away the clouding soap and the remnants of my time spent unconscious.
He resurfaced with me, only moving his lips away so we could take another deep breath. We fell beneath the surface again, and he ran his warm fingers through my hair, letting the river take away all the impurities. Belenus massaged his lips to mine, and I felt a rumble in his chest that I was certain was a satisfied groan. His soft lips, and the pull of the river, made me feel like a darkness was being dragged out of me. What was left from the curse—the mental scarring I worried would linger—was swallowed by the currents.
Then, I truly noticed it, the heat within him.
Belenus spread his essence into my skull and chest, letting his light do the rest of the work. Stunned, I followed the sensations that seemed so much more mature now and blindingly noble. His magic, his summer light, so much stronger than it’d been in the other courts, felt like it could pass judgment and scorch the unworthy. Different. He was different here. Like night and day. Like spring, summer, autumn, and winter…
If I didn’t trust Belenus, he would terrify me. Untethered here, he truly was a prince of the summer. I hadn’t been able to see his dominion until we were mated and in his territory. The man, though, was a force of nature—the force of an entire season. It had me gaping.
The experience threatened to bring me to tears, forcing Belenus to surface out of concern. I swallowed a sob while he waded us over to the bank, and he looked down at me with half-lidden eyes. Those amber orbs scorched as mercilessly as his essence, and my heart broke into a run .
“Don’t cry, my love,” he murmured, noticing my overwhelmed state. “Whatever happens in the next couple of days, I’ll protect you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” He brushed his lips to mine and murmured, “Touching you will be a death sentence. This I swear.”
From this moment on, I had no doubt. I’d just now seen Belenus’s true power here, but that made me even more terrified of the queen, who—by his own admission—could overpower him. All the court rules had held back this titan of a man, but as much as he was free to exercise that power now, I knew the queen wouldn’t play by the rules either. What in the name of the Moon Goddess would I be able to contribute? What good was an alpha without a pack?
What would Hekla do?
I’d told Ragna to be her own friend. I needed to do something similar, but I wasn’t sure what that was yet. I needed to truly take a step back and see everything from a wolf’s perspective. At some point, I’d stopped being the wolf in their woods, but I was back now. I was ready to sit at the strategy table. The queen was just another factor. I could handle that.
Both Ragna and the Moon Goddess had referred to me as a guiding light, and that was what I would be. I’d help lead us to victory. I had to do it for these people, for fae like Bidelia, and for the balance of the courts. It seemed colossal, yes, but that’s what Hekla would do.
Belenus’s eyes searched my distracted ones, flickering left and right, and when I didn’t respond to his promise, he said, You’re thinking too much right now. He slid one arm beneath me so his other hand could run through my hair and press my lips to his in a scalding kiss.
I knew what else Hekla would do. She’d claim her fated mate. After all, she was a spirited little minx. So, I tabled my worries and melted into Belenus’s sunlight.