To Court a Queen

by H. L. Burke

  His being hungered for life, but it wasn’t just that he wanted to live; he wanted to live with her, to stay with her. After years spent wandering, for the first time he wanted to settle with something. If he’d known the magic needed to freeze time, he would’ve happily spent forever in that moment. He treasured the weight of her nestled against his body, the softness of her hair brushing his face, the beauty of the moonlight shining on her skin.

  Dying didn’t scare him. Not really. Ripping himself away from her, fading from her life, that sent a cold, hollow ache through him.

  Bending down, he brushed his lips across her forehead.

  Her eyes opened, and she smiled. “Hey.”

  “Sev,” he whispered. “Would you promise me something?”

  Her hand caressed his cheek before she played with his ear. “Anything in my power.”

  His throat tightened, and he suddenly felt foolish. He wasn’t this sentimental, this pathetic. He’d made an art out of not caring … but now when he had hours left, he somehow cared. He had the worst timing. Still, he needed some way to tie himself to her, to hold on, even through death. If he didn’t have that to cling to, despair would overwhelm him.

  “Don’t forget me,” he murmured through the shame.

  Pain rippled across her face. “Oh, Devin, never. I could never—” She stopped and placed her arms about his neck. They drew closer.

  Their lips touched. He tightened his arms around her waist and upper back, clinging to her for dear life, memorizing the taste of her, every perfect sensation of her body pressed against his.

  Of all the ways he could’ve spent his last night, in her arms was what he would’ve chosen. At least God had granted him that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Devin’s eyes fluttered open. Sevaine still slept, curled up in the blankets beside him, her hair across her cheek. He brushed it away from her face, causing her mouth to twitch. He smiled and traced the fuzzy tips of her fur-tufted ears.

  Pink streaked the sky outside the cottage, heralding a beautiful day. He had no doubt, however, that Agalea would be there soon to ruin all that. He stroked Sevaine’s cheek. What would happen to her once he was gone? Would she keep fighting the trials? Trying to get other men through them? Men who wouldn’t even listen to her advice to save their own lives. She deserved so much better.

  His hand strayed to his neck, where his mother’s necklace still hung. With a deep breath and a quick prayer, he slipped it over his head and held it tight.

  “Sev,” he whispered. “Wake up.”

  She opened her eyes, smiled at him, then started and jerked up. “Oh! Is Agalea coming? She can’t catch me here!” She started to rise, but he rested his hand on her shoulder.

  “No. We have a little more time.” He drew a deep breath. “Sevaine, you made me promise to try to survive, and I’m going to do my best, but in return, I need something from you.”

  Her brow furrowed. “What?”

  “Whatever happens today, whether I make it or not, you need to leave here. Get on Telvido, ride out of this forsaken kingdom, and don’t look back.”

  She swallowed. “Devin, I can’t do that.”

  “Yes, you can. I need to know you’re safe, and you aren’t safe here. Agalea has to suspect someone was helping me. I was simply too prepared for her not to. Even with the safety aside, this isn’t where you belong.”

  “I don’t have anywhere I belong, though,” she protested. “I don’t remember what it was like among the felys. I don’t even know where they are or how to find them. I have nowhere to go, no family—”

  “You have somewhere to go.” He pressed the necklace into her hand. “Take this. A day’s ride east of the forest, along the main road, you’ll come to a small town surrounding an estate. The owner of that estate is a widow with a single disappointing son who ran off years ago to go adventuring.” His throat grew sore. Somehow, he managed to continue. “Show her this cross. Tell her I asked you to care for her, and her for you, and that I’m sorry I didn’t make it back. If she knows you’re important to me, she’ll make a place for you. I don’t deserve that, perhaps, but she’ll do it because—well, because she’s my mother.”

  “I can’t take that!” She pushed his hand away. “It’s iron. It might protect you, and you need every advantage you can get.”

  “No, what I need is for the woman I love to be safe.” He frowned.

  Her bottom lip quivered, and she didn’t resist as he slipped the necklace over her head. He traced the length of the chain along her neck. Her pulse throbbed against his fingers.

  He swallowed, struggling to find some hope to offer, some assurance that this might be all right. Somehow. “Look, if I do get through, maybe I should refuse Agalea—”

  “She’ll kill you!” Sevaine gasped, gripping his arm.

  “Or maybe she’ll turn me into a frog. That was on the table from the get go.” He cleared his throat. “You said every enchantment can be broken, right?”

  She nodded. “There’s always a way.”

  “So maybe … don’t leave right away. If I die, yeah, then go. Go as fast as you can and don’t look back, but if by the grace of God I make it through this trial, I might get brave enough to tempt her into enchanting me. If you are near when that happens, you could collect whatever creepy crawly she turns me into and maybe … maybe we’ll get lucky and the spell breaker will be true love’s kiss or something easy like that.” Even as he said it, the hope felt hollow. No, he didn’t believe in happy endings like that. They were only found in fairy tales for gullible children. Real life was more often a tragedy—or a comedy with a sadistic sense of humor.

  The winged hounds gave out a series of low warning barks. Devin’s heart shriveled. He wanted more time. To do what with, he wasn’t sure, but he still wanted more. Before he could so much as say a good-bye, Sevaine had slipped from on top of the bed to beneath it.

  A moment later the door opened, and Olysa entered carrying a tray.

  Devin raised his eyebrows. “You get demoted to serving girl somehow?”

  “I don’t see how you jumped to that conclusion.” Olysa scowled and put the tray upon the little table. She motioned to the armor she still wore and the sword at her side. “I’m in my uniform, after all.”

  “How stupid of me.” Devin’s tone was so dry that if there’d have been a spark, his words probably would’ve caught fire.

  “I asked if I could deliver your food because I wanted to speak with you alone before the trial.” Her eyes swept the room. “If your felys ally is in here, she can come out. I brought enough food for her as well.”

  Sevaine squirmed out from under the bed, her cheeks red. “Do you know what the queen has planned? Can you help Devin?”

  “No. I know she used her magic to create an arena of sorts. It grew up like a sapling over night.” Olysa shifted from foot to foot. “I wish I could be of more help, but none of us have any idea what she intends to do today.”

  Devin picked up a plate filled with perfectly cooked eggs, smaller than hen’s eggs, and with yolks a deeper orange than he was used to. Though he didn’t feel much like eating, he shoveled several of them into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed so fast he barely tasted them. Best not to face a fight for his life on an empty stomach.

  Sevaine sidled over to him. Her hand brushed against his before she reached for a slice of golden-crusted bread slathered in a purple-blue jelly.

  “I’ll leave the door open when I go, but I can’t call off the hounds,” Olysa continued. “Only Agalea has the power to do that. Still, even if you can’t flee, you might appreciate some more freedom during your last hours. I know I would, though, of course, being locked up isn’t natural to fae. We don’t even have prisons, as most of us would die if held captive for any length of time.”

  “We humans aren’t particularly fond of confinement either.” Devin picked up a wooden cup filled with fresh, clear water and drained it. “Thank you, for what you have done, Olysa. If more
fairies were like you, rather than Agalea, I wouldn’t mind this place so much.”

  “Our queen is a special case, even among our folk.” Olysa’s nose wrinkled.

  In spite of his situation, Devin chuckled. Olysa had just said what she thought without giving away what she felt. Maybe there was some hope that the fairies would eventually grasp the idea of sarcasm.

  Olysa slipped from the cottage. Devin pulled up one of the two chairs and forced himself to continue eating. Sevaine remained standing, nibbling aimlessly on her bread and jam.

  When he stopped, she likewise put aside her food, though she’d only managed to gnaw a corner off the slice. She glanced at the door. The winged hounds still reclined on the lawn in front of the cottage.

  “Do you want to go for a walk?” she whispered.

  “Why?” He frowned.

  “Just to keep moving. We could walk over and say hello to Telvido again, or go see some parts of the gardens you haven’t visited yet.” Her voice quavered, but she continued as if they were having a normal conversation. “The fountains near the atrium are quite beautiful, and there’s a place where a rivulet flows through the center of the garden. It has waterfalls and many bridges that cross it, and it’s so clear you can see the fish—” Her voice hitched, and she faced away from him.

  “Hey, don’t cry.” He stood and embraced her. She sobbed into his chest. He kissed her forehead.

  Again the winged hounds barked. Devin jerked away from her, but too late. A fairy rounded the corner and stared through the open door at the embracing couple. Her mouth dropped open, then she cleared her throat and approached. “The queen sent me to fetch her suitor.”

  Sevaine’s fingers clenched into fists.

  “Make yourself scarce,” Devin whispered to her. “And remember, if something happens to me, get on Telvido and run. Don’t look back.”

  “Be careful, Devin. I have a bad feeling about … about everything.” She squeezed his hand one last time before she darted out of the house.

  The fairy turned up her nose as Sevaine slipped by.

  “What was that animal doing in here?” She sniffed. “The scent of human is hard enough to bear without adding in the musk of a cat-elf.”

  Upon hearing the way the fairy said it, Devin immediately regretted ever using the term to describe Sevaine. “She’s a felys. Did you want something?”

  “I was sent to fetch you. The trial is to begin as soon as the audience has gathered, and the queen wishes to have you on site as soon as possible.”

  “Let’s go then.” He stopped and put on his boots. This time they didn’t contain smuggled tools to help him in the trial. Not that he had any idea what sort of tools would help in whatever Agalea had planned.

  No, he’d done what he could to make sure Sevaine was safe. Now all that remained was to keep his promise and do his best to survive.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As Devin followed the fairy through the lush gardens of the palace, he allowed himself to reflect on the paths that had led him there. He spent a stroll through the flowerbeds fondly remembering his trouble-making days as a youth, gave quick consideration to his training as a knight as they circled a bubbling fountain, and mused over his many misadventures during errant leave as they crossed a bridge and their small path converged with a broad, tile-lined path leading through a row of yew-hedges.

  Mostly, though, he found his thoughts returning to his time spent as a prisoner to Agalea. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there—spending large chunks of time unconscious increased the difficulty of counting days—but it wasn’t long in the grand scheme of things. Still, as short as it was, it had changed him. He felt shrewder, older, both wiser and profoundly aware of how little he actually knew about life.

  The yew path opened up onto a broad courtyard with marble floors and a forest of statues. This led up to a sweeping staircase, ascending a slope to what appeared at a distance to be a wall of trees. They passed through the statues. Devin noted that the composition of the sculptures was … odd, to say the least. While life-sized and stunningly lifelike, the expressions on the faces were universally unappealing. Grief-stricken, horrified, wide, gaping mouths, eyes pinched shut as if anticipating a death blow. The statues represented a broad variety of subjects—fairies, elves, pixies, humans, even animals—but amongst them not a single smile or laugh. The whole scene made Devin’s skin crawl.

  They finally emerged from the forest of marble figures and climbed the staircase. A murmur rose from ahead of them, the subdued sound of a crowd gathered not for a joyous occasion but to watch a likely execution. His stomach tightened. It was then that he realized that what from the other side of the courtyard had appeared to be a closely planted grove of trees was actually a wall made of interwoven branches, still living if the leaves and blossoms hanging from them were any indicator. A great archway opened up in this wall, and in the archway, wings spread to their full span, stood Agalea.

  Devin hardened himself. Maybe he had to die today, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to give that harpy the satisfaction of knowing he was afraid. One thing he’d learned in his many misadventures, fear could productively be channeled into rage with minimal effort—and rage, well, that fueled battles.

  “Well, Sir Devin, you have come to the last challenge—the first to ever do so.” Agalea fluttered her lashes like a barmaid hoping to get an extra coin in her tip—though Devin had far more sympathy for barmaids than he now felt for Agalea.

  “Yeah, lucky me.” He crossed his arms. Tilting his head to try and see around her wings proved futile—those blasted appendages worked far better than the average privacy screen—so he stood silently, hoping she’d stop with the theatrics and tell him what she expected of him.

  “I honestly hadn’t bothered to plan out this final challenge … with man after man failing on the first attempt, it seemed futile. However, when you passed the second challenge, I knew I had to craft something spectacular for your final test.” She waved her arms in a sweeping arc. “I have to admit, I’ve outdone myself.” She stepped aside. “Enter. I will be watching, as will the entire kingdom. I would not deny my subjects a chance to witness such a display—as quickly as it may be over.”

  Devin swallowed. Through the archway he could now see a circular arena with amphitheater style seating all around it. On the other side was another archway, far bigger than the human-accommodating one he was about to pass through. This second archway was blocked by a metal grate and beyond it lay darkness.

  Well, no point in drawing things out. He strode through. A metal grate crashed to the ground behind him, enclosing him within the arena. Well, that wasn’t unexpected.

  Fairies, elves, pixies, and even a group of creatures who resembled bipedal deer packed the seats of the amphitheater. A weapons rack filled with an assortment of pointy objects stood to one side of the entryway. He rushed to it as if it had been a banquet and he a starving man. Ignoring the spears, crossbows, and maces, he snatched up a sword, his weapon of choice. Realizing he had two hands and no idea what was about to come through the other door, he hefted a spear in his other hand, then considered again, put it down, and took up a shield. Finally he decided just to stand by the weapons rack until he got a look at whatever came through the other archway.

  A glowing blue orb darted over the amphitheater’s walls and hovered in the center of the arena. The crowd fell silent. Devin considered heaving a spear right at the ball, though it was at the far end of his range, and he would be apt to miss. Instead, he flattened himself against the wall, waiting.

  The orb exploded into a shower of glowing blue flower petals that evaporated when they hit the ground, releasing a heavy floral scent and wisps of azure smoke. In the orb’s place, Agalea now hovered, her iridescent wings flapping behind her.

  “My loyal subjects,” she intoned. “You have gathered to watch the brave mortal champion, Sir Devin, strive to win my treasured hand. To reach this place, he has proven his intelligence and resilience.
Now, however, he must show us his strength and prowess in battle.”

  Devin’s ears perked up. Battle? If the presence of swords and spears had given him hope, the word battle now kindled a fire of confidence within him. He was a knight. He’d spent years jousting, sparring, wrestling … if it involved blood, sweat, and muscles, he’d done it.

  The queen continued, “I contemplated deeply on what challenge would prove Sir Devin a fitting match for myself.”

  Realizing Agalea intended to prate on for a while, Devin turned to examining the various weapons. They all appeared to be well-made, far better than the practice blades he’d used during training. He found a sword belt and strapped it around his waist. He sheathed the sword he’d chosen at his side.

  “I thought at first a lion would be the appropriate choice, a representation of strength and royalty.”

  Lion, easy. Crossbow bolt through the eyes, and we’re done. Devin picked up the crossbow and made certain it had a bolt at ready.

  “But I also felt a shrewd serpent, quick and powerful, with the ability to crush using its coils and venom in its fangs, would be a fitting adversary for a brave fighter such as Sir Devin.”

  Devin hesitated. Snakes weren’t something he had a lot of experience with—at least not large ones worthy of a fairy battle. Maybe a mace—

  “Then I realized that a goat with its sharp horns and trampling hooves—”

  Devin raised his eyebrows. Goat? Had Agalea been drinking? What sort of a challenge was a goat?

  “But no, not even a sharp-horned goat would be a fitting challenge. So perhaps, a dragon—”

  Devin crossed his arms, staring at the dark doorway across the arena. A dragon made more sense. He’d fought a dragon before. It wasn’t easy. He’d escaped that venture by the skin of his teeth and with scorch marks on his backside to remind him of it. Still, he could manage a dragon.