Chapter 34
HEKLA
No one moved for what felt like an eternity. The queen had expired on the spot after Belenus had signed his acceptance of the retaliation.
“It wasn’t any of us,” I whispered, too stunned to even know how I felt about it. I looked up at my mate with wide eyes, unable to even sort out what he was feeling over the bond. All I could detect was the muffled buzzing of numbness and shock. Neither of us felt relief, joy, anger, or sadness.
We didn’t have enough answers to be feeling anything at all.
I cut my gaze to the spring princess, who’d finally dropped her performance. She sighed in aggravation and leaned back in the chair to cross her arms. It was as if she’d merely lost some game, and in my opinion, she was far too comfortable with that. Eislyn had to learn that this was now wolf territory.
Before she could go anywhere, I marched over, snatched one of her delicate hands, and pinned it to the table with my claws, not breaking skin yet. If she wanted to leave, she’d better use her magic because I knew for a fact my body was stronger than hers .
“What is the Spring Court’s interest in the Summer Court?” I asked through my bared canines, bristling.
The princess sighed and made an attempt to ignore me. She leaned forward and said, “It’s too bad you won’t see your father again, Belenus.”
“Look at me!” I snapped. “Do not look at him. Do not talk to him. You are not worthy.” Belenus, I believed, was in too much shock, so I continued for him. He needed answers. I demanded them.
Eislyn’s nose wrinkled in irritation, and after she failed to get a response out of him, she finally glanced up at me.
I pressed down until my claws finally pierced her skin. “Answer me.”
Though uncomfortable, Eislyn reacted poorly to my assertion of dominance and decided to ignore me again, to make it clear she thought me beneath her. When her eyes focused on Belenus again and her lips parted to speak once more, I decided I wasn’t having it. I leaned into her hand and dug my claws in until they hit bone. She jolted, tilted her head back, and released a short scream. I still didn’t really feel anything. I needed answers to feel something.
The princess caught her breath and glared at me, her cheeks flushing pink in anger. “This is just a small setback,” she spat, reaching for my wrist to pull me off of her. Ferrer, appearing out of nowhere, snatched her free hand away and held her wrist behind her back, showing no mercy for her discomfort.
“What is the Spring Court’s interest in the Summer Court?” I repeated louder, leaning into her hand. She kept her mouth shut and glared at me in silence. Her pulse beat clearly in her hand. I could get information if I could just get her to fucking answer anything!
“Are spring and autumn in league with the rot-witches?” I asked quickly, switching out the question. Her face subtly flinched, and her body told me I’d hit something sensitive. “I killed one of them, you know,” I told her. “Found her controlling the soldiers from the barracks. You brought her, didn’t you?”
She gritted her teeth and fought to stay impassive, but I could see it in her face and feel it in her body’s response. I had the urge to ask other questions, personal ones, just to get a response out of her mouth, but those were too cruel. Even in my numb state, I couldn’t bring myself to be that abusive.
Sky Gods, give me strength.
I also ignored the temptation to use iron against her. The dagger in my recovering hand felt particularly heavy. And yet the eyes on my back were more so.
What would Hekla do? Me? I must be a good example to my soldiers and shifters. They are watching me for my lead. I cannot become like the wretched court fae, I reminded myself.
That was when I started to feel something again. I was angry. After all this, I still had to follow rules that didn’t allow me to rip her into pieces. This time, they were self-inflicted. Was this what it meant to be an alpha? Was it this constant struggle to maintain the balance of violence and order?
“Eislyn, creature of spring,” I stated calmly, “you are not only a traitor to this court—who invited you here in good faith—but to your kind. You have a small chance at redemption right now. If you answer these two questions, I will negotiate to get your sentence reduced. Where is Belenus’s father, and what are the rot-witches after?”
If only she was a shifter, Eventide sighed, lamenting our inability to use our alpha command on her.
If only...
Princess Eislyn looked furtively around the room, searching for help, but her guards were gone, and she had no friends here. She wasn’t going to find a thing. She scowled up at me in red-faced fury and released a hissing scream of frustration through her teeth, like a teapot’s wail. “I hate you, mutt!”
Without batting an eye, I replied, “That was one. I’ll give you two more tries to answer before I go to my courtiers and establish the day of your execution.” Another emotion came to me then, but I hadn’t created it. No, it was Belenus’s emotion. Somewhere in his numbness, I felt a spark of pride. My male was proud of me.
“This isn’t your court!” she screamed, spraying the table with spit while she fought to free her hands.
“Yes, it is,” Belenus growled quietly from behind me. Ferrer jerked her back to him and tightened his grip.
“That was two,” I said, allowing resignation to color my tone.
She licked her lips and rubbed her cheek against her shoulder to get the saliva off her face. “Perhaps if King Aillil hadn’t spread my mother’s legs, stolen their daughter, and returned for more, he wouldn’t have ended up trapped in the Spring Court.” Her face broke into a sneer, like she was recalling something particularly revolting. “Pray tell me... is my half-sister here? I’d so love to talk to her now that she’s exposed for what she is.”
Half-sister?
Belenus’s grip found my shoulder, and his anxiety spilled over the bond. That meant Emer was actually related to him. Whether she was adopted or his half-sister, I’d still protect her. Gods, she must now be learning of this too.
I knew Emer was near, but I didn’t turn to look for her, not wanting to give away her presence in the room full of soldiers and shifters. Those around her stayed loyal as well, keeping quiet and still. The summer princess’s silence, wherever she was in the crowd, made it pretty clear that she wanted nothing to do with the spring princess.
“No?” Eislyn asked the room, looking genuinely disappointed. “That’s too bad.”
“The rot-witches,” I reminded her, pressing into her hand again. I needed her to stop thinking about Emer. She didn’t deserve to look at her either.
“Best keep a tight grip on your door to the Realm of the Gods,” she drawled, then narrowed her eyes at me .
Hekla, she’s— Eventide’s interjection reminded me that Eislyn wasn’t actually disarmed. Arse had told us…
The seeds!
“Ferrer, step ba—” I shouted and jumped away, but an explosion of vines erupted from around the princess and sent the bat-shifter flying into a marble column. He collapsed into a heap and went still. I snarled and clawed at the vines to cut them away, but each time I severed one, the end split and sprouted two thinner, barbed vines.
The room erupted into chaos with soldiers and shifters converging on the overwhelming brambles, ones that shielded the princess’s escape as she struggled to reach the stained-glass window at the end of the garden. I screamed angrily as I clawed through the new vines that ripped at my exposed skin and snagged at my leathers. The smell of my blood joined others as the tangle thickened and thrashed. I released my iron dagger, tossed the sheath, and reached for a swaying vine to see if the metal would make any difference whatsoever.
I sawed through a thick vine, and the end of the plant cauterized, preventing new growth from occurring. Magic plants must hate iron as much as the fae. Emboldened by the favorable edge, I tore recklessly through the bramble in an effort to catch up to the fleeing traitor. Slashing with my left hand, I used my recovering hand to shield my face from the whipping arms she’d left in her wake. Through the din, I could barely hear Belenus calling out to me, but I couldn’t slow down.
I wish we knew how many seeds she has! Eventide cried out as I got hit particularly hard on the back of the head. I grunted in pain, stumbled, then paled at the sound of glass shattering. She’s out! She got out!
I snarled, furious at her progress, and redoubled my efforts to shear past the thrashing plants. I wiped blood away from my eyes when I reached the windowsill and leaned over it, ignoring the small shards of colorful glass that bit into my skin. Belenus’s fear hit me now, his eyes on my back from across the room .
Hekla! Don’t! We’ll try to catch her from outside! he cried out to me, his voice soaked with terror and desperation.
I’ll be right back! I’m so close! She’s right here! We can’t risk her getting to a horse! I answered and climbed over the edge to grab the clinging vines she’d anchored for her escape.
Hekla, no! he screamed.
Below my feet, Eislyn rushed as fast as she could down the vines, descending like she’d done this hundreds of times. I moved my dagger into my weak hand and followed her route as fast as I could, glad that these vines didn’t have any thorns. Unfortunately, in a way, I’d brought thorns with me. I gritted my teeth through the prickly stinging of the glass splinters in my palms.
The rustling of my approach alerted the princess to my pursuit, and her head shot up to gape at me. She cursed loudly and braced herself against the wall, forcing roots to dig into the stone. As soon as I realized what she was about to do, the vines under my grip released, and I fell with a shriek. Every vine except for what she was holding onto had detached from the castle.
I stared down while screaming and knew my only hope was to latch onto Eislyn or the roots around her. Though Eislyn tried desperately to get out from under my fall, I landed on her and wrapped my arms around her throat and shoulders. She nearly fell off from the weight of the impact but managed to get her plants to yank her back to the wall. I braced my foot against the stone as she wrestled with me, screaming like the ban-sìths from Bidelia’s late-night stories.
When I felt a tendril wrap around my neck, I knew I had to make the call. I just wanted it to be over with so badly. The abuse, the torture, and the betrayal were too much. What she’d put both of us through was unforgiveable. She thought she was going to kill me?
I think not. Eventide prompted glacially.
It was in my weak hand, and it was shaking, but I adjusted my grip on the dagger, shoved it into her neck, and dragged it across, slitting her throat in one brutal gesture. Sounds came out of her neck that would give me nightmares for decades to come, and her grip on the vines loosened. Eislyn slipped out through my spread, braced legs, but losing my grip on her rocked me out of my purchase.
My stomach dropped in terror, and I clawed wildly at the vines, finally grabbing an anchored root to stop my fall. My vision greyed from the jolting stop that nearly dislocated my shoulder, and I gasped when the glass shards in my hand rooted deeper. The adrenaline wasn’t enough to block out the pain, which intensified the longer I stayed like this.
Dizzyingly high above sculpted shrubbery and tan flagstone, I dangled from the vine, unable to find a safe way up or down. I waited for what felt like hours—but was probably only minutes—and worried that before I could get help, the plant might lose its grip on the wall and peel away, especially now that Eislyn was dead.
Eventually, a massive commotion came from below, and I looked down to witness a crowd of soldiers, servants, and shifters running out to look for us. Once they saw Eislyn’s corpse, they looked up and began shouting in panic.
“I need wings!” I cried out but ended up mumbling toward the end in my fatigue. I hoped for a bat-shifter to find me, but there also had to be winged folk fae nearby, right? Maybe not. I paled from pain and misery, looked up at my sweaty grip on the vine, and noticed that my skin was red instead of its usual brown. My hand was covered in deep lacerations, and I laughed tiredly.
Now let’s see if we don’t die from blood loss, yeah? Eventide chuckled wearily with me.
There was movement in the air and the sound of wings flapping. I felt a couple of hands lift me away from the wall, and I was returned to the ground by three shifters who’d been the first to spot my peril. I was picked up again, and the crowd followed us back to the hospital where Doctor Elisedd came running toward me. I gave him a big smile to tell him I was feeling great, then promptly lost consciousness .
BELENUS
“She’s awake, Your Majesty,” a servant reported, interrupting my conversation with King Nechtan and King Zorian. My heart jumped straight into my throat, and I gestured to Queen Ragna who scrambled to her feet and dragged two other frantic she-wolves with her. We rushed down to the castle hospital where we were greeted by Doctor Elisedd.
“We’ll remove her bandages soon, but she’s much improved,” he said, walking us to her room.
The she-wolves fidgeted anxiously as I went in first, all three of them waiting for their turn to mob Her Majesty. They understood that I needed to be alone with Hekla first, but I knew from experience the trouble that could come from making a she-wolf wait. The love of my life sat upright in her hospital bed and blinked sleepily at me. Our bond spoke first, and through it came her relief, followed by a swell of love and joy. After that, her face fell a little, and as I sat and leaned over to embrace her, her heart sank into profound sadness.
“It’s ok,” I said quietly, her sadness making my own throat tighten. My female cried softly into my chest as I held her, mindful of the bandages shielding nearly healed skin. We clung to each other, and I rubbed her back gently, trying not to cry myself. It’d been hard waiting for her, desperately needing comfort after the period of violence and death, but her healing came first. I murmured, “You’ve only been out for a day. You needed some rest, my love. My heart.”
“How are the shifters?” she whispered, her breath warming the tears on my chest.
“They’re ok. They’re sheltering in the barracks for now. We’re taking care of them until we’re able to finish the escort. Let’s not talk about that now. I’m handling everything.” I swallowed heavily as her arms wrapped around me .
“It didn’t turn out how I’d thought,” she said hoarsely, trying to talk over a whisper now. I grabbed the cup of ice by her bed and urged her to drink. She sipped some of the water that’d melted off the ice and cleared her throat.
“It never does,” I replied and placed a kiss on the top of her head, among her lovely dark strands. I closed my eyes tight, almost as tight as my heart felt.
“Why did your… why did the queen put her name on that line, Belenus? Why did she put her life on the line for that wedding? I don’t understand. I’m so confused.” She buried herself in my shoulder and sniffed. “Why do I feel like shit about all of this? We got what we wanted, didn’t we?”
I sighed and moved a hand to stroke the back of her hair, idly brushing out tangles as I found them. “We did... just not in the way we anticipated. I feel like my opportunity to see justice through was taken from me by her. Emer never even got a chance to have her say. Maybe we both feel robbed... I don’t know. I’ve been thrown quite off-kilter.” I hadn’t quite known how to word it until that moment; it’d kept me up for hours when I’d tried resting. The queen had abandoned the throne to me, and her life, on her own terms.
My sweet mate nuzzled, and I felt her send comfort my way across the bond we shared.
I idly wrapped one of her curls around a finger and continued my update. “Emer went through the queen’s chambers to find her journals. Since she’s passed, they’re no longer locked. She and my father had a lot of problems since their wedding—which I was aware of. Some of what she’d written… I hadn’t known. She didn’t like him and only shared his room until she bore him an heir… which was me. After that, she swore she wouldn’t let him touch her again. It led him to find companionship elsewhere.”
I leaned my head on hers and stared blankly at the wall while I spoke. “She discovered that he had an affair with the queen of the Spring Court, Queen Talulla. My… the queen… I’m just going to call her by her first name, Fedelm, now. She’s no longer the queen of the Summer Court anyway,” I said with a heavier sigh.
“If it’s too painful, you don’t have t—” Hekla protested, tilting her head to look up at me, but I interrupted her.
“No. I… want to just get it all out. My head’s a mess. It’ll help me too,” I assured her, squeezing her a little before continuing. “The… person who gave birth to me, Fedelm, knew my father wanted another child, and my father admitted that Emer was his after he brought her home. Queen Talulla gave him what Fedelm refused to—another child.” I cleared my throat, somewhat uncomfortable explaining my next thought. “The Spring Court is known for fertility, and the queens usually… bear heirs easily. I don’t know if that was why her chose her or…” Unless I found my father, I might never know why he went to spring.
“Fedelm was furious,” I continued, “and her journal entries became… vicious after that. She was so humiliated that she only allowed Emer to stay on the condition that she’d be introduced to their kingdom as an adopted child that they’d so graciously taken in.” I scoffed at the idea.
“After a particularly brutal fight about Emer, my father left, saying that he was going back to Talulla in the Spring Court for a while to get some space. He was gone for a long time; I remember that quite well. Fedelm told me he’d died in an ambush returning from his diplomatic mission. Her journal said that he just never came back or sent word of any plans to return. So, she decided to announce that he’d died, rather than tell the court that their king had left. The court knew their marriage had serious problems, so rather than facing the humiliation of rumors, she made up his demise.”
I brought a hand up to scrub over my eyes. I was too tired and too damn weary to cry. I felt like I should, but I just couldn’t. “I still can’t wrap my mind around all this,” I murmured, sliding my hand back down to hold her again. She just stayed silent and waited for me to say more, comforting me in silence .
“She put her name on that line because if she didn’t succeed in marrying me to their daughter, they’d let everyone know that the king was alive and had left them and his wife for Queen Talulla. She put her name on that line because she wrote she’d rather die than live with that humiliation. If I had married Eislyn, they’d have returned my father to her, and she was still undecided on what to do about that. She’d written about banishing him or keeping him hidden away, but… honestly, I think it was making her lose her mind.”
“But why did they want the marriage between you and Eislyn so bad? What would spring get out of it?” she asked from my chest, her voice muffled.
I shook my head in disappointment. “It wasn’t clear. We found some documentation in Eislyn’s room that Gallcobar’s studying now, but it doesn’t look particularly enlightening. I did find out that Talulla married into the Spring Court. She was originally from the Autumn Court. If autumn’s where all these rot-witches are coming from, I can see them trying to spread into more territory through these marriages. King Nechtan says that he’s beginning to suspect the same thing considering the issues they’re facing with that court.” I laughed a little at a sudden thought. “No wonder Emer has that Autumn Court red hair. I just made that connection.”
“How is she? She must be hurting,” my she-wolf asked, then froze as something occurred to her. “Oh gods!” She looked up at me with a grimace, and conflicted emotions crept into her heart. “I killed her sister!”
I stared straight into her worried umbral eyes and said, “Half-sister. And she doesn’t care, Hekla. You can rest assured that Emer had no emotional connection to that woman. She hated her. We both did. She was cruel.” I felt her relax, and she leaned into me again.
“Emer’s hurting from the truth,” I consoled, “but she’s doing the best she can. I’m on the receiving end of a lot of teasing now that she knows we’re actually blood-related—half siblings. I swear she’s going to be a pain now. I’m praying hard to the Sun God that Nofre takes her away soon.” I laughed and kissed my mate on the forehead, trying to lighten the mood just a little, bring Hekla’s smile back. Indeed, it cheered her up, and she released a small, quiet laugh.
“Anyway,” I said, wanting to wrap up the stressful news for now. “We’re going to keep working with the Winter Court to continue the investigation into the Autumn Court and try to find out more about the rot-witches. A lot of it will be a waiting game, so we’ll have to be patient and stay alert.”
“We’re increasing the number of guards at our door to the Realm of the Gods, right? I’m assuming winter has one too?” she asked, and my heart swelled with pride and bliss. Before I could say anything, she placed a hand to her brow and voiced another thought. “Ah… we need better detection of these rot-witches. We should contact the Lunar Coven for ideas.”
I placed a finger on her lips to shush her despite how much I loved what she was saying. She needed to recover—and I wanted her to de-stress after this—but she was still focused. To have a mate who actually cared about important matters took my breath away.
“Gods, I love you so much, Hekla.” I tilted her chin up to place a soft kiss on her lips. “Such a queen.” I squeezed my eyes shut and rested my forehead against hers. “I’m so glad you’re ok. You nearly gave me a heart attack. Don’t you ever do something like that again.”
She just embraced me in return, her emotions swirling with mild guilt but mostly amusement and affection. “I love you too,” she finally whispered.
“Are you ready for your surprise now?” I asked, pulling back to regard her face. She perked up, instantly bright-eyed, and I laughed at her reaction.
You look like a puppy, mate, Escort chuckled.
“What is it?” she asked with an excited smile, and I moved to open the door, wincing as I let in three screaming she-wolves .
HEKLA
Aaah! Eventide cried in jubilation.
My sub-pack was here! My mouth dropped open in a happy gape, and I opened my arms to receive the scrambling she-wolves I’d known my whole life. My heart swelled to see the ones it had missed so dearly.
“Careful ladies!” Belenus cautioned, raising his palms. “Watch that table. Bandages! She’s still recovering.”
“We know, we know, Your Majesty,” Ragna said, gently hugging me. Rakel and Soley lightly dogpiled on top, careful not to add too much weight. “We’re not barbarians.”
My mate smirked at me and then strolled out, closing the door behind him.
Oh, he and Escort are so getting some when we’re better, Eventide remarked ferally.
“Can we all just please stop trying to die already?” Soley whined, pulling herself off the pile to claim a stool by the bed while Rakel and Ragna scooted a small couch closer.
“I tried, but your stupid rot-witches have it out for me.” I pointed a finger at Ragna, making her gasp in mock outrage and look about for a pillow to throw.
“They are not my witches!” she protested. “I wasn’t even the first to encounter one!”
“A likely story,” Rakel deadpanned, turning to look at Ragna. I winced at the accidental reference to Rakel’s abduction, and Ragna frowned regretfully, but our vessel of the Moon Goddess didn’t seem bothered.
Rakel just chuckled and rested her head on her palm, staring at me. “Heard you slayed a princess with the dagger Rude and I gave you. I’ve never been prouder... or more relieved. Did you name it yet?” Her tone softened at the end. As much as she put on a casual front, I knew she must have been terrified for me. There was a soft center beneath her hard shell—now more visible than ever.
I grimaced. “I tried at first, but Eventide and I were coming up with some atrociously lame ideas.”
“What about Fae Killer?” she suggested.
“I mean, that’s great and all, but I’m mated to one... so... no.”
“Spring Cleaner?” Ragna asked with a laugh.
“Weeder! Hedge Clipper! Hoe Gardener!” Soley yelled. Rakel gave her a bewildered look.
“Ok, you just started naming gardening tools, but I don’t know about that last one.” She turned to Ragna and asked quietly, “Can you recall if Soley ever hit her head?”
“Maybe the Sun God burns a little too hot...” Ragna replied in a loud whisper, pointing to her temple.
Ignoring them for what was a much more urgent subject, Soley asked, “So what’s Belenus’s cock like?” She scooted closer and gave me her full—wide-eyed—attention.
“What?” I gasped and Soley sandwiched her palms, looking questioningly at me as she slowly began to separate them.
“Oh my gods,” Rakel muttered, palming her face.
The little she-wolf frowned. “Hey, I have to live vicariously, ok?” she explained over her shoulder to Rakel. At this point, Ragna was just howling with laughter. Soley turned back to face me and pressed, “Is it gold like the rest of him?”
I fought viciously to restrain a laugh, to keep my aghast expression intact. It probably looked like the most lunatic grimace in the entire realm. I blew out the huge breath I was holding and threw up my hands. “Ok, it’s like I won a race, and I got an enormous gold trophy!” I tilted my head and added thoughtfully, “He did refer to it as his royal scepter this one time… Happy now, Soley?”
My she-wolves fell apart, and the little red-headed terror clapped while she cackled, nearly falling off the stool. “Very!” she cried as she tried to catch her breath .
“Great Moon Goddess.” Rakel chuckled and wiped tears from her eyes. “You better be next, Soley. I can’t handle your antics. Please just jump Koray already.”
“Augh!” she cried out, flopping face-first into the bed next to my legs.
I patted her ember curls in sympathy. “There, there,” I consoled with a grin. “At least Koray’s going back with you!”
“Yeah, but he’s still gonna visit here to study and train,” she moped, muffled by the mattress.
“Just come with him then. I’ll keep you company!”
“I guess…”
I looked up at Ragna and shook my head. “She can’t think of anything else, huh? Her heat is going to suck!” I then addressed the little red wolf who was melting in defeat. “Get Koray working on figuring out how to mark you. You don’t want to go through what I did. Trust me!”
“No, I don’t!” She pounded the mattress in aggravation.
I chuckled and ran my healed hand through her tossed curls. “I missed you all so much...”