Mate of the Fae King
Delia E Castel
Copyright © 2020 by Delia E Castel.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Delia E Castel’s Books
Writing as Cordelia Castel
Chapter 1
I lay on Drayce’s smooth chest, listening to the reverberations of his heart. He had fallen asleep hours ago, but I stared into the dark, marveling at how his ribcage rose and fell with even, steady breaths.
He was alive.
He was alive after I had cast his skin into the fire and set him alight. Each cry, each blood-curdling scream still rattled through my mind until they drowned out the sounds of his breathing.
He might have forgiven me, might have needed an act of hatred to be followed by an act of love to break his curse, but what I did to him was unforgivable.
I slid my arm down his chest and stared through the leather drapes of his bed. The first traces of sunlight streamed in through the gossamer curtains that covered his bedroom’s tall windows. Drayce yawned, and the warm hand on my shoulder slid down to the small of my back.
“Did you sleep?” he murmured.
“I can’t stop thinking about last night.”
Drayce hummed his agreement. “You were incredible.”
“How could you sleep after all that?” I whispered.
“This has been my first night of freedom since Melusina destroyed my father.” He pressed a kiss on my crown. “I can finally rest now that she’s weak and diminished and can’t ever return to the palace.”
I pushed myself up and stared down at Drayce. The room was too dark to see the green in his eyes, but I met his sleepy gaze. His black hair spread across the pillow like freshly-spilled ink, and a smile spread across his beautiful face.
This was the face that used to haunt my nightmares, the handsome rider on that Samhain night, the handsome face the gancanagh wore to reflect my deepest desires. Angular brows set within a tall forehead, high cheekbones and a perfectly straight nose. His lips, soft and shaped like a bow, weakened my heart.
My gaze roved down his strong jaw, over his muscular neck, his broad shoulders, and settled on the contoured chest where I had lain. Because of Drayce, I was now a high faerie, a creature I despised. But because of Drayce, Father was a man in his prime on a ship out of Bresail and to a world without faeries. He could use our funds to start a new life as an iron monger or an apothecary. Because of Drayce, Father no longer lived in pain or fear.
Drayce had been a small child when Queen Melusina imprisoned him. Together, he and Father formed a plan to train me to unlock my faerie power, usurp my mother, and take the throne.
Drayce’s brows drew together. “Neara?”
I forced a smile. “I’m fine.”
He sat up and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
I shook my head. It was ridiculous, but I felt safer as his captive than as his mate. Now, I was the Queen of the Faeries and ruled over four cursed Courts. To secure my throne, I needed to break the curses of each Court and receive power from the princes.
“Neara.” The concern in his voice pulled me out of my musings.
My chest tightened, and I curled my lips into a bittersweet smile. “What if I told you I didn’t want to leave this room?”
He squeezed my hand. “Ailill may never have shared your heritage with you, but you were born to rule the fae.”
I dropped my gaze to silk sheets as dark as midnight. Yesterday, I had fought for my survival and for Father’s freedom. Today, I could be fighting for a throne I don’t even want.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Wait here.” Drayce swung his legs out of the bed and stalked across the room.
The muscles in his back rippled with his movements, and shadows swirled around his legs. It reminded me of when we first met and I had bargained my maidenhead. Back then, he was menacing and a creature I wanted to kill. Now, the sight of such a beautiful, powerful male sent a thrill through my insides.
Drayce fashioned his shadows into a robe and opened the door. “Yes?”
A six-inch horn pushed its way through the gap, followed by a pale-skinned male with platinum hair that curled down his shoulders. He wore a frock coat of silver velvet and a high-necked shirt with ruffles that cascaded down to his navel. His presence was bright enough to make Drayce’s shadows transparent.
“Your Majesty?” The male crossed the room, bringing with him a cloud of jasmine-scented air, and peered at me through the leather curtains. “My name is Osmos Alicorn, and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I served your grandmother as her private secretary, and I wish to offer you my services.”
My throat dried, and I secured the sheets around my chest. “How did you know—”
“When you defeated Queen Melusina, it broke the magical bonds of my prison.” He curled elegant fingers around the footboard. “Here I am, reporting for duty.”
I turned my gaze to Drayce, who shrugged with a half-smile I interpreted to mean that Osmos was harmless.
“What does a private secretary do?” I asked.
“I run your diary, handle speeches, official correspondence, and act as the gatekeeper between the queen and her court.” He counted off the duties on his fingers. “I also manage your staff. Now, would you please create a door to the queen’s bedroom, so I may prepare you for your day?”
Osmos reminded me of an aon-beannach, one of the few benevolent creatures mentioned in the Book of Brigid, which Father made me study. They were intelligent with natural healing powers, had horns in the middle of their foreheads, and the ability to detect evil.
I frowned. An aon-beannach would have warned Queen Pressyne of her daughter’s plans. Besides, they were horse-like creatures, and Osmos looked like any other faerie standing on two legs.
He might have been a puka, a shape-shifter that always retained some kind of animal form even when trying to look human. I shook off those thoughts. I no longer needed to classify and catalog the creatures to work out the best way to kill them. Because of the events of last night, I was now their ruler.
Osmos tilted his head to the side and gave me a kind smile. “Your Majesty?”
The tightness in my chest loosened with a relieved breath, and I turned my gaze to a bare patch of wall. An instant later, it morphed into a door.
Osmos crossed Drayce’s room pushed it open, revealing a bright chamber drenched in the morning sun. Cream-colored carpets spread across an oaken floor, and I caught glimpses of ivory furniture.
“What is that?” I asked.
Drayce slid an arm around my shoulders and cloaked me in shadows. “The castl
e would never allow Queen Melusina into her mother’s chamber, even after she absorbed her magic.”
Osmos dabbed the corner of his eye with a handkerchief. “It was Queen Pressyne’s last act of defiance. This suite of rooms is the seat of the monarch’s power.”
As if they were moving on their own volition, my legs swung out of bed and padded across the room. The chamber Queen Melusina had occupied was more like a dungeon with its stone walls, but this room was fit for an empress.
Drayce’s hand circled the small of my back. “Let Master Alicorn be your guide. Melusina raged about his stubborn loyalty to your grandmother. You’ll need to draw on his wisdom while we free the Living Courts.”
My mind rolled back to the four princes I saw in the pool of Ecne’s tears—my uncles. “Which do I save first?”
“Your Majesty, Queen Pressyne always felt better after a long soak.” Osmos ushered me into the room, which was illuminated by a wall of arched windows on the right that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. It was four times the size of the cottage, but unlike our home in Calafort, this room appeared to only serve two purposes.
A white, marble-topped table stood in the middle of the room on curved legs made of golden swirls. Behind it was a gilded chair with ivory upholstery that may as well have been a throne. I suppose this was where the queen wrote her private letters.
I stepped further into the room, my breaths quickening with excitement. A sofa and two armchairs sat on the left opposite the marble desk. They were made of the same ornate gold frame with ivory upholstery. Behind the desk was a matching chaise lounge I could imagine a queen using to rest after a long day of ruling.
At the far left and right of the room were two doorways and at each stood a fae female wearing dresses of the same silver fabric as Osmos.
“This is Rosalind, your companion.” Osmos swept his arm to the female on the right. She was about six feet in height with raven-black hair that flowed down her shoulders. Black-tipped wings fluttered behind her back with swirls of colors that exactly matched her pale skin tone and violet eyes.
My gaze roved down to the black belt that hung around her waist and held a sword with a violet hilt.
“Rosalind will guard your person at all times,” said Osmos.
She held her sword’s sheath and dipped into a low curtsey. “Thank you for my freedom, Your Majesty.”
When she raised her gaze, the gratitude in her eyes made my
breath catch. Right now, the only things keeping me upright were Drayce’s shadows wrapped around my body and his steady presence at my side.
Rosalind looked at me as though I came to liberate the faeries, I hadn’t even considered what they might have suffered under the reign of Queen Melusina. All I had wanted was a chance to free Father and myself.
Forcing a smile, I inclined my head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Osmos swept his arm to the faerie on the left. “And this is Destry, the Keeper of the Royal Wardrobe.”
Destry had curling hair the color of honey and the kind of flawless beauty I expected from a faerie. Her wings consisted of milk-white structures connected by transparent membranes as thin as spider webs. She smiled, curtseyed, and didn’t speak.
“Queen Melusina cut out her tongue,” Osmos murmured. “But as we all shared a cell, I’m familiar enough with her gestures to know she wants to express gratitude for her freedom.”
Destry widened her cat-green eyes and gave me an eager nod.
My heart clenched with sympathy, and I placed a hand over my chest. “How many others did she confine?”
Drayce squeezed my shoulder. “Melusina cursed, enslaved, or imprisoned everyone in the Royal Courts who didn’t ally with her. Now that you’ve left her powerless, a lot of her former enemies will unite with you to destroy her.”
“Won’t they blame me for being her daughter?” I asked.
Drayce shook his head. “Faeries have long memories. Some suffered decades under her rule, and others suffered centuries. They owe you a great debt.”
“Your Majesty?” Osmos gestured to Destry, who opened the door to a marble chamber. “The bath is ready.”
Drayce placed his lips on my temple and told me he would meet me later to escort me to my throne room. I crossed the queen’s writing room and followed Destry into a bathing chamber about the size of our entire cottage.
The marble covering the walls and floor and ceiling was white with gray streaks the color of rain clouds. Three high steps at the end of the chamber led to a tub that reminded me of a large egg, sliced lengthways. Pink wisps of steam rose from the warm water, which smelled of roses.
This would be my second time in a private bath, but the queen’s bath chamber was even finer than the one in Drayce’s room. I glanced at Destry, not quite believing it was all for me, but she smiled and nodded.
As I submerged myself in the warm water, Drayce’s shadows slid from my body and receded into the far corner of the room. The water caressed my skin and melted the tension out of my muscles. Exhaling a long breath, I tilted my head to a skylight in the ceiling with a view of the morning sun filtering its light through white clouds.
Destry mimed that she would go and get my breakfast, and Osmos stood outside the door telling me he joined the service of Queen Pressyne after she banished the Fomorians, and that he’d also been at the queen’s side when Melusina returned from the mist.
I raised my head and stared at the doorway. “You knew my father?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Osmos replied. “At first, Melusina kept him as a lover, but when he wanted to return to the other druids, he became her prisoner.”
My brows drew together. “Why didn’t anyone help him?”
Osmos exhaled a long sigh. “Things were different in those days. Faeries bargained with humans in exchange for their servitude without considering the cruelty of such trickery. I doubt that anyone who suffered long imprisonments would want to inflict such an ordeal on others.”
“We still have a castle full of ensorcelled humans.” I stepped out of the water.
As far as I knew, Father hadn’t asked Queen Melusina for anything except his freedom and the chance to die. I expect she tricked him into making a bargain that turned him into a slave.
After drying off, I let Destry into the bathroom, who held up two gowns. The first was white and changed colors as it caught the light, and the other a bright green that reminded me of sunlight shining on rapunzel leaves.
“Do you have any armor?” I asked.
Destry’s blonde brows drew together, and she glanced from one gown to the other.
“Did Queen Pressyne ever wear leather bodices and matching skirts?” I asked.
With a silent nod, she gestured at a featureless patch of wall. I took that as my cue to create an opening into the queen’s wardrobe. We walked across the marble floor into a carpeted room twice the size of the bath chamber. Garments hung from parallel rails that stretched from eye level to a height taller than any tree.
A soft gasp escaped my lips as I surveyed the sheer number of breathtaking gowns. Some were as transparent as gossamer, others seemed to be made of feathers, flowers, even quicksilver. There were enough garments to clothe every woman in Bresail with plenty to spare.
At the sound of wingbeats, I turned to find Destry flying up until she disappeared from view. I placed a hand over my mouth. How long would it take to amass such a vast wardrobe?
Minutes later, she floated down, holding two leather garments—a high-necked, black gown with a plunging neckline and long sleeves. Its skirt was closely fitted to the legs with deep splits at both sides. In her other hand was a more modest-looking gown in green leather with a high neck and a full skirt.
I pointed at the green one. Destry eased me into the second outfit with a pair of matching gloves, arranged my carrot-orange hair in a high twist and fixed a golden talisman around my neck. After getting my sword belt into place, I stared into the mirror and inhaled a sharp breath a
t my reflection.
Instead of the unsmiling girl with hair too bright for her pale skin, a vibrant faerie stared back with jewel-blue eyes and hair that shone brighter than copper. The rounded cheekbones and angled eyes I shared with Queen Melusina were still there, but they seemed more elegant, even regal.
My spine straightened, and I pulled my shoulders back. For the first time since defeating Queen Melusina, I finally felt ready to face the other faeries.
Chapter 2
I stepped into the queen’s writing room, where Osmos stood by the door with his arms clasped over his velvet shirt. Drayce lounged on the sofa, already dressed in a suit of midnight-blue velvet that matched his long hair. The morning sun streamed in through the tall windows and colored the ends of his hair indigo.
My lips parted, and I wanted to ask why he wasn’t wearing leather armor but remembered that it had been part of his curse. I clamped my lips shut and smiled. This was the first time he had been able to wear real clothes since that Samhain, and he looked as regal as a king.
Drayce stood, his gaze roving up and down my form. “Are you expecting to go into battle?”
“It will stop my iron weapons from rubbing against my skin.”
He frowned but didn’t comment. Unlike Drayce and everyone else I had met this morning, I thought it was too early to rejoice in any newfound freedom. Queen Melusina was still out there somewhere, either biding her time until she could attack again, and there was also the mist. A shudder ran down my spine. King Balor and the other Fomorians that plagued Bresail could escape if we didn’t defeat Queen Melusina.
Rosalind approached from the other side of the room with a breakfast of poached eggs, cherry tomatoes, and steamed fiddleheads—young fern leaves still curled around themselves like spirals, served with nettle tea. Drayce refused the offer of food and said he would eat later.
Mate of the Fae King (Dark Faerie Court Book 2) Page 1
