Fae- Crowned

by Eva Blackwing

  Shaking his head, Max said, “I knew mine would be. They’re awful people. Although I’d hope my sister Amara may have broken free from them, eventually.”

  “She was with them,” Adair said quietly.

  “So, lots of forced conscripts. Have they told you Atreyu was taken?”

  Adair sat up straighter and looked over at Mor, “Yes, they told me.”

  “How can we get him out?”

  “I don’t think we can. There are just too many of them. Even though they are not all there by choice, they’ll do whatever it takes to protect whoever it is that Boris is hanging over them.”

  “So we can’t get him back,” Mor’s voice caught in her throat.

  “Not without defeating his army.”

  Tristan shook his head, “Even then, there is a high chance they will execute him if we try to attack. It’s what I would do. Threaten the execution if you don’t surrender or withdraw.”

  “Wait, you’ve done that?” Max looked stunned.

  “Well, no. But if I was dishonorable, it is the path I would take. What do you think you will really do if you are standing at the wall and they have Atreyu on top of it with a knife to his throat? Will you allow him to be killed, as should be? Or would you sacrifice your kingdom for the supposed safety of one Fae?”

  “I - I - ” Mor stared at him, eyes wide with horror. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I could…”

  Arthur reached over and grabbed Mor’s hand. “Ruling a country…sometimes there is no good choice. Only bad and less bad.”

  “We have to get Atreyu back before we attack.” Sebastian stood. “Adair, go over the guard details, the change times, where prisoners are held. Everything. Everything you can think of.”

  Mor settled in for a long night as Adair started speaking. Sebastian’s dad Ethan was taking notes, and everyone was focused. They needed to get him back. She wasn’t sure she could let him die, even if the kingdom depended on it.

  Chapter 4

  Atreyu

  Groaning, Atreyu sat up with a hand to his head. He was in a strange room that was decorated in - pink? What the hell. He looked around, trying to remember what happened. They had taken the circle back to Fae. Mor had finally not gotten sick. Adair was waiting for him. Oh fuck. Adair hadn’t been Adair. It had been…

  “Hello, lover.” A silky smooth hand glided across his arm. Atreyu growled and jumped out of bed, falling into a fighting stance. Selina laid in the bed, smiling wickedly at him. She was clearly not dressed. The sheet fell to her waist as she sat up. “Like what you see?” She ran a hand up her side and cupped her breast. “I remember how much you used to enjoy playing with these.”

  Not bothering to hide his gag, Atreyu said, “If I never touch you again, it will be too soon.”

  “Nice to see you’ve been keeping yourself in shape, lover.”

  Atreyu glanced down. Fuck. He looked around and saw clothes - pants anyway - lying across a chair. Keeping one eye on Selina, Atreyu grabbed the pants and pulled them on. “Why am I here, Selina?”

  Selina pouted. It made Atreyu want to punch her. Several times. “Lover, don’t you want to be here with me?”

  “No.”

  “Fine. You are here because I kidnapped you for Boris.”

  “Why?”

  “Leverage over your precious queen. The dumb bitch who stole my crown!”

  Atreyu forced himself to laugh, knowing it was driving her crazy. She hated to be laughed at. “That was never your crown. I was never your mate. Arthur was never your mate. I’m guessing you don’t have one. Someone would have to actually like you.”

  “Fuck you, Atreyu.” She stood, her face deepening to a shade of red.

  “No, thank you. Been there, done that, not that good.”

  She screamed in rage, “You are going to regret every word! Boris is going to kill you after Mor surrenders.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. You are the bargaining chip to get Mor. But then, surprise surprise, you die and Mor gets used. Over and over and over.” Her grin was vile as she stalked toward him. “And believe me when I tell you, I’ll make sure you suffer while she watches.”

  Atreyu yawned, “I’m sorry, are you done with your speech? Because I’m done with it. Go on. Shoo.” He waved his hands at her.

  She screamed again, as the red crept down her neck streaked with black. That wasn’t right. Spittle formed on her lips as she screamed again before storming out of the room. She had always been power hungry, but now she was clearly sick. That black that had shown up…not normal. She’d looked sick when they’d fought her in Arthur’s castle, too, but it was clearly worse.

  “Fuck.” With a sigh, he started to search the room. There was nothing interesting, nothing helpful. The window was sealed with magic. The door was sealed with magic, too. There was a bathroom, but it held one towel and soap, nothing else. Guess he would be getting scruffy. In the room there was just the bed and one chair. No desk. No books. No nothing. This was going to be the most boring confinement ever.

  Pulling the chair over to the window, he sat down, figuring he might as well try to see something. That way when he figured out a way to escape, he’d be able to bring back some information. But his view was boring. It was a garden. A small garden. He was going to die of boredom before they could ever torture him to death. Small blessings, he guessed?

  Atreyu sat at the window, then sat on the bed and counted spots on the ceiling. Then he laid on the floor and counted squares on the wall. Then he walked around in the room and ended up back in the chair. “Fuck!” He leaned back in the chair, balancing on two legs.

  The door opened and Atreyu fell back with a crash. “Ouch! Fuck!”

  “Why’d you do that?”

  Atreyu gasped and struggled upright. “Amara? Is that you? What are you doing here?”

  “Hey Atreyu. My family…” She set down the tray she was holding.

  “Oh. Yeah.”

  “How’s Max? I was hoping I could join you all, but then…”

  “What happened, Amara? I know they were pretty bad, but this is bad even for them.”

  “Power. What else? Boris promised them endless power if only they would bow to him. And then he gave them the power to conscript all the Fae of fighting age and took their families hostage. Now he keeps them in a hidden prison with threats to kill them if anyone steps out of line.”

  “Damn.” Atreyu flopped down on the bed. “I need to find out where that prison is. And I need to get out of here. Fuck.”

  “I may be able to help with that. But it’ll take a few days. They trust me, think I’m one of them.” She pointed to the tray sitting on the floor. “I brought you a couple books. I know Selina made sure to clean everything out so you’d have nothing. She’s quite angry with you.”

  “Yeah, well, she tried to seduce my brother when I refused to try to take his inheritance. Then tried to destroy my mate because one of her other mates is King Arthur Pendragon and she wanted the crown.”

  “Wow. She’s a piece of work. This does seem mild in comparison.” Amara glanced back at the door, “I have to go. They’ll get suspicious if I’m in here too long. I’ll be back tomorrow.” She hurried out.

  Atreyu sighed as the door clicked behind her. It was going to be a long few days.

  * * *

  The next several days passed with the exact same routine. He woke up, showered, read one of the books that Amara would bring him every day, and stared out the window. Read, stared, read, stared. Everything was blurring together. The longer he was away from Mor, the more he physically hurt. It was as if his body was fighting for him to get back to her, but since he couldn’t, it was fighting itself. He needed to get out of here and back to Mor. He didn’t want to risk her giving herself up. Amara hadn’t been by yet and it was already getting dark. Atreyu’s stomach rumbled since he hadn’t eaten all day. Amara was the only one who ever brought him food or anything else.

  By the time night had full
y fallen, Atreyu had fully gotten into hangry mode. He stared out the window, because he really had nothing to do. He’d already finished the last two books Amara had brought him. Suddenly, the door burst open and Amara hurried in. She tossed some clothes at him.

  “Put these on. We’re getting out of here. We just have a moment before the new guards show up.”

  Atreyu hurried to pull on the clothes, including the black mask. “What did you do to the other guards?”

  “They’re sleeping,” she said shortly. Amara was at the window, her hand hovering over the latch. It clicked and she opened the window. “We need to go out this way.” She tied a rope to the bed and threw it out the window. “Hurry, we have to go now!’ Amara gripped the rope and swung herself over the side.

  Atreyu followed as soon as she had cleared the window. They were only on the second story, so it wasn’t that far.

  As soon as they were on the ground, Amara crouched down and gestured for him to come up next to her. “We need to get over there.” She pointed to the wall of bushes surrounding the garden. “I’ve got supplies on the other side. We’ll have to sneak past the guards, but that should be doable. None of them really want to be here so they don’t work that hard.”

  “Alright, let’s go.”

  Amara nodded, then ran toward the bushes, crouched over. Atreyu followed her and ducked under the bush after her. There was no one on the other side. Atreyu hesitated. This was way too easy. “Amara, this is too easy.”

  “Do you want to get out of here or not?”

  He frowned, but nodded. He did need to get out, even if it was too easy. He could figure that out once he was back with Mor and the others. Amara led him along the bushes until there was a darkened path through some tents. They crept through, not seeing anyone until they got to the palisade. There was a guard standing along the top. After a couple of minutes, he wandered off and Amara gestured for Atreyu to follow her through a gate. That was conveniently left open.

  They were definitely allowing him to escape, no matter what Amara said. As they walked through the gate, they heard a roar behind them. “Quick! That’ll be Selina!”

  Atreyu and Amara started running. As soon as they were deep under the tress, Atreyu grabbed Amara’s arm to stop her. “We need to get to a circle.”

  “Right, this way.”

  Atreyu followed her, keeping Amara in his sight at all times. She was allowed to lead him out to freedom. So that meant one of two things. One, she was really dumb and didn’t realize they let her help him. Or two, and far more likely, she was in on whatever plan there was and was being sent to infiltrate. He’d make sure they all kept an eye on her. He wouldn’t allow her to hurt Mor. Max would be okay if they had to eliminate her to protect Mor. None of them would like it, but Mor was their mate and their queen.

  As they walked, another thought occurred to him. It was possible he was still the bait. He didn’t know how long he’d been out. And God only knows what they did to him when he was out. He’d have to have Morgana check him before he went to Mor. Fuck, there were so many possibilities. He ran over scenarios in his head. As soon as they got back, he’d need to get one of his brothers to send Morgana and get them to stop Mor at the same time. That was going to go over well. His mate didn’t like being held back.

  After hiking for what was probably most of the night, they finally reached the circle. They still hadn’t been attacked. Hadn’t even seen the shadow of Selina flying above them. No sounds of hounds following them. No trackers, and he knew damn well there were some good trackers in those conscripts. They let him go.

  Atreyu stepped into the circle, Amara stepping in after him. “Turn around.”

  “What, you don’t trust me?”

  “Right now, I only trust five other people in all the realms.”

  She shrugged and turned. Atreyu whispered softly, and then the world swirled. Amara gasped and fell to her knees as they popped through the circle. That wasn’t right. A moment later he reached out to his brothers, asking them to keep Mor away and send Morgana. Hopefully they would succeed, but he wasn’t totally counting on it. Atreyu pulled Amara to her feet and spun her around to face him. “I figure there are two reasons we go through so easy. Either you’re the spy or I’m the bait.”

  “I - I - don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amara’s eyes darted everywhere. “I just saved you and you’re accusing me of spying? What the fuck, Atreyu.”

  “I know you aren’t that stupid, Amara. Unless you got hit in the head and have a brain injury, you were never this dumb when we were young.”

  “You know how close Max and I were. I’d never hurt him.”

  “I know you’d never hurt him. It’s the rest of us I’m not sure about.”

  “Atreyu!”

  “Fuck.” He turned around and saw Mor running toward him with his brothers behind her, thank the gods. He locked eyes with Mor and felt dark wash over him, “No, fuck. GET MORGA - ” The black took him over, and everything went dark.

  Chapter 5

  Mor

  Mor was lying awake in her bed, tucked in between Ben and Sebastian. She’d managed to get some sleep, but she’d woken up from a nightmare where Atreyu was running through a forest and there was roaring behind him. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming. They needed to get Atreyu back before - whatever was coming got here. She tried to roll over, but Mor was snugged in too tightly. That was usually nice, but right now she just wanted to pace.

  Suddenly, all four of her mates sat up. Then she felt it. Atreyu. “Atreyu!” Mor jumped up and tried to run out of the door. Ben caught her around the waist. “Mor, no! He’s wanting you to wait here. He’s asking to see Morgana first.”

  “Fuck that, Ben! I’m not waiting!” She used a little push of magic to get out of his arms and take off out of the room. She ran down the stairs and out the door. She could feel him out at the ring. Ignoring the calls to stop behind her, she pushed herself to full speed. She saw him standing in the ring, holding on to the shoulders of a woman with long red hair. “Atreyu!”

  “Fuck!” Atreyu dropped the woman and she fell to the ground. “No, fuck. GET MORGA - ” He shook his head, and when he looked up his eyes were black as night, no white to be seen. “Mor. I was sent for you.”

  The earth around them trembled and Mor stumbled. Suddenly, Mor was surrounded by walls of earth towering above her. She threw her hands over her head and pushed out as they crashed down on her. She was in a bubble of earth and it was pressing down on her, trying to break through her shielding. Fuck that, Mor thought as she pushed back. Something was wrong with Atreyu. Her mates were fighting him, trying to force him to stop. With a groan, Mor pushed harder and broke through.

  Atreyu was by the ring with Arthur holding him in a neck lock. Ben had one of his arms and Sebastian had the other. Max was standing in front of him trying to force him to look at him. “What’s happening to him?” Mor ran toward them.

  “NO! Mor - stay - back!” Arthur grunted. “Get out of his sight! NOW!”

  She stumbled back a step, then turned and ran. Morgana was flying overhead and landed with a thud, blocking her from Atreyu. Mor ran back inside, slammed the door, and slid to the floor. Atreyu was back, but she couldn’t see him or hold him or…anything. Trisha came into the entryway. “Och, lass. What’s happening?”

  “Atreyu’s back. But…he tried to kill me.”

  Trisha gasped, hand over her mouth for a moment before she tugged on Mor’s hand. “Come now, lass. You cannae sit here. Let’s get ye to the kitchen, and we’ll wait over coffee.”

  Mor sniffed. “Coffee is good.” She followed Trisha into the kitchen and sat at the counter. A moment later, Trisha put a hot mug of coffee in front of her, done just the way she liked it.

  Settling in with her own cup, Trisha said, “Now we wait. Soon enough, Morgana will have Atreyu straightened out. She knows her magic and has been around for longer than any of us.”

  “Not as long as Bo
ris.”

  Trisha nodded, “Aye, that be true, lass. But Morgana is able to adapt. From what we’ve learned, Boris does the same thing over and over.”

  Mor paused, coffee mug halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean?”

  “Think on it, lass. He sneaks in, subverts, and then steals power. My guess is he subverted some Fae. Which led to yer family runnin’.”

  “Shit. Morgana said he’d tried something similar in Pendragon.” Her mind started racing. “That makes him vulnerable. If he isn’t capable of being flexible.” She looked up a Trisha, hope finally flaring in her. “We can do this. All we need to do is figure out how to send him home. The battles we can win. The portal…we’ll need Morgana to figure that out.”

  “Now yer thinking’, lass.”

  “Have I not been?”

  Trisha sputtered and laughed, “No, ye have not. Ye’ve been panicking and wallowing.”

  “I mean - I haven’t been that bad.” Trisha raised an eyebrow. “Alright, maybe I have been wallowing a little bit.” She started to say something else, but Max came into the kitchen.

  “Mor, he’s out. Morgana has him in our room and she’s working on breaking the spells on him.”

  “Did she say anything?”

  “No, she was focused on Atreyu.”

  Mor downed her coffee and stood, “I need to go to him.”

  “No, Mor, she wants you to wait.”

  “I thought you said she didn’t say anything!”

  “She didn’t say anything about him, she just told me to make you wait.”

  “FUCK!” Mor ran a hand through her hair.

  “Come on, let’s go outside. I think we should work on your meditation.”

  “Why the fuck would I do that now?” Mor felt her hair start floating and the sparks dance across her skin.