So, his parents decided to be together for the sake of the royal line. Nearly 800 years passed until they conceived Kalan. With their duty of producing an heir fulfilled, his parents began to live more independent lives of each other. If rumors were to be believed, his mother even took a lover only five years after his birth. Kalan saw no evidence of this, however, and the relationship between his parents seemed cordial enough. Unless his father felt his mother stepped out of line–like just now.
“I apologize, Kheelen,” his mother offered softly. “You know how I worry about our son.”
The king nodded, accepting her apology. “I respect how much you care about him and am pleased that you do. However, you cannot let it become unreasonable. The Summer Court would be inviting the vengeance of all Winter Court should they harm Kalan. They would not be so foolish, even if they do believe us to be responsible for the fate of their princess.”
Kalan nodded in agreement with his father’s words. While the war between the courts was definitely occurring, the violence between the two was not as prevalent in recent years as might be expected. Neither court went out of their way to initiate battles and killings. The war was more based on ceasing interactions and trade, defending court boundaries, fighting over disputed territory, and the lack of cooperation by the two courts in balancing the seasons in the Human Realm.
As a result of the fae power struggle, the last twenty three years in the Human Realm was characterized by many weather and climate changes which significantly impacted the lives of its residents. Kalan thought it unfortunate that humans had to suffer the consequences for something they had no part in. The mortals did not even know the nature of their world was guided by Fae.
“I am planning on visiting the Human Realm again,” Kalan admitted, taking the opportunity of his father’s presence to limit his mother’s objections. “It is an interesting place, and I would like to become familiar with it.” He held his breath, awaiting his parent’s reactions.
The king appeared uninterested in the statement, simply nodding and releasing a grunt of acceptance. His mother withheld her disapproval vocally, but her eyes revealed it all. Letting out a sigh and giving his mother an apologetic smile, Kalan informed his parents of his desire to have time alone to prepare for the day ahead.
The king and queen left, leaving the prince’s mind to wander to the beautiful Winter Fae from the Human Realm. Thoughts of Gwen kept him up the majority of the night, numerous questions forming in his mind as he tossed and turned. The main one being: how in Fate was he going to manage to bring her to Court?
After some time, Kalan shook himself out of his thoughts, knowing he had tasks that needed to be accomplished before he could even think of going back to the Human Realm. The reward of seeing Gwen again gave the prince the boost of energy he needed to tackle the day.
Straightening his midnight blue tunic, Kalan stepped out into the wide hallway that led to the stairway to the courtyard below. He could reach the Throne Room by traveling through the intricate walkways connecting the four main buildings of the palace, but found himself wanting to take in fresh, cool air before being locked indoors for his meetings. The prince’s first appointment of the day was with Lady Suisan. They were to discuss the work efforts on rebuilding common fae’s homes on her father’s land.
While the Fae Realm was a land of magic, and what humans would consider a fantasy, the operations and running of the court and its citizens were comparable to the human kingdoms of the past. Royals and nobles of Winter Court were in charge of utilizing their abilities for maintaining the seasonal balance in the Human Realm. Lesser nobles–those not responsible for the Human Realm–ran their various estates spread throughout the Winter lands and looked over the common fae. Common fae performed various jobs that are required of any society: trainers, healers, cooks, etc.
The one marked difference between Fae and human kingdoms, however, would be the treatment of the common citizens. Within the Winter Court, there was no mistreatment or derogatory thoughts surrounding the fae with limited winter magic–those fae who could not use their powers to protect the Human Realm. Fae were of a peaceful nature; their society ran harmoniously inside Winter borders. Every Winter Fae, no matter their station, led a comfortable and happy immortal life.
Kalan often wondered why such peaceful and passive notions could not be transferred to Winter Court dealings with Summer Court. He never found a reason he believed sufficient and assumed voicing such a question would be swiftly chastised by his father.
Kalan walked into the Throne Room. It was about fifty yards in length and approximately half as wide. Freshly polished pale blue tile covered the floor, navy tapestries hung on walls throughout the space. At the end of the room was a raised dais with three finely decorated chairs; the Court’s emblem of the white, snow-covered oak carved at their heads. He and his parents only used the thrones during ceremonial occasions. Otherwise, all meetings in the room took place at a long wood table that was set up when needed.
Suisan was sitting at one of the table’s heavy chairs when he entered. Kalan swiftly moved to greet her as she rose from her seat in the middle of the long room.
“Lady Suisan,” he smiled genuinely. “What a pleasure to see you.”
She returned the smile with a bright one of her own. “Your Highness, the pleasure is all mine.”
“I trust you have been well?” Kalan gestured for her to sit, pushing in the chair for her before taking his own beside her.
Suisan was the daughter of one of the lesser Winter Nobles and spent much of her time away from Court helping to run her family’s estate. When she was at Court, however, Kalan found that he greatly enjoyed her company. She was a female of intellect and ambition, and gave him a friendship that was about more than her trying to win his affections–unlike many other Winter females. Kalan suspected it was her advanced age which made their friendship more platonic than romantic; Suisan was more than four hundred years his senior.
“Very well. And you, Your Highness?”
“I’m sure you know this already,” Kalan began making an attempt to look forlorn, “But the queen has become… How should I say it? More persistent as of late in finding me my ‘lifemate’.”
Suisan laughed charmingly. “I do believe Queen Tanya has always been persistent in the matter, but I have heard that she has become more creative in how she arranges your meetings with the qualifying young females. Is it true that she had one pose as a weapons master to get you to speak with her?”
Kalan gave a genuine grimace at the memory. “Indeed. It was a horrifically embarrassing situation for both the female and myself. She possessed absolutely no knowledge of weaponry, but was too intimidated by my mother to refuse her idea.” Months ago, Kalan made the mistake of attempting to stand up to his mother regarding her matchmaking skills and plainly refused to attend meals or activities in which he knew she had set up a meeting with a female fae. As a result, the queen became pretty ingenious in arranging encounters in the most unorthodox ways.
“Have any of these meetings proven useful?” Suisan asked with a friend’s curiosity. “Any fae you have desired to meet again?”
It was a perfectly normal question, one that Kalan would have usually answered without delay. But, without warning, thoughts of seeing Gwen at the human bar filled his mind causing him pause.
In all his life, Kalan never felt such a strong reaction upon first laying eyes on someone. Of course he found certain females to be eye-catching, but the thoughts and feelings he had upon seeing Gwen for the first time were unlike any other.
Before meeting Gwen, Kalan would have answered Suisan’s question with a simple no. He met a few females through his mother’s matchmaking whom he found lovely, some even charming, but he never felt the need to seek them out again. Kalan continued thinking on his initial fascination with Gwen, acknowledging that his odd feelings existed before he even spoke to beauty. It was strange.
Realizing that Suisan was looking a
t him with amusement, clearly waiting for his response, Kalan gave a self-conscious cough to clear his throat. “Yes.”
The female fae smiled knowingly. “That is good to hear, Your Highness. I would hate to think that you might miss out on getting to know wonderful females just because you are bothered by how you originally meet them.”
Kalan only nodded.
“Well then,” Suisan began, graciously changing the subject. “Shall we talk about your subjects’ cottages?”
And with that, the pair began discussing the business that was the purpose of the meeting.
Following his time with Suisan, Kalan sat in on one of his father’s advisory meetings. The main topic of discussion was a potential visit from an ambassador of the Summer Court. The news caught the prince completely off-guard.
“What would possess the Summer Court to send an ambassador after all this time?” Kalan asked aloud, hoping for some insight from the older, more experienced Fae surrounding him. “Has this ever happened before?” Kalan only began participating in these meetings at the age of twenty and disliked being at a disadvantage compared to the other advisors.
“Not since before the war began,” Prince Alvin, King Kheelen’s brother and Kalan’s uncle answered. “The official letter gave no indication of the reasoning behind the proposition. It was simply an inquiry if the Winter Court would be open to such a meeting.”
Kalan was astonished, as were most of the fae in his father’s study. All of their minds were whirling with the possibilities of what such an offer might mean for them and their war with the Summer Court.
Lord Leo, the king’s secretary, addressed Kalan’s father, “Your Majesty, this has the potential to be the makings of a peace treaty between the two courts, something we have all been desiring since this war began.”
“It could also be a manipulation tactic,” Prince Alvin spoke aloud, cynicism lacing his tone. “The Summer Fae could come here seeking ridiculous demands and, when refused, fire up animosity from their court all over again. Even their subjects’ desire to remain estranged is dwindling. This could simply be their way of riling everyone back up.”
“That is a rather bold assumption,” Lord Leo stated.
“No more so than yours,” Prince Alvin retorted.
The two males looked as if they were going to continue their debate when the king cleared his throat. All eyes turned to him.
“Kalan,” King Kheelen addressed his son. “What would you recommend our course of action be? Do we accept their ambassador or no?”
Kalan answered swiftly, trying to not look surprised by his father’s direct address. “If there is the slightest indication that the ambassador might be sent to resolve our issues with Summer Court, it is a hard meeting to pass up.” Kalan chose to ignore the few grumbles of disagreement from around him.
He continued on, “the Winter Court never wanted the war with Summer Court. It was forced on us following the accusations regarding their princess. If there is a chance that the Summer Royals might be attempting to make peace, then it is our responsibility as protectors of Winter Fae to at least be willing to meet with their ambassador.”
While Kalan spoke, all of the fae turned their eyes to King Kheelen to gauge his reaction to his son’s words.
The prince held his father’s gaze during his short speech and continued to after he finished.
After a lengthy silence, King Kheelen gave a sharp nod and stood. “Leo, send an envoy to the Summer Court with a letter discussing the terms of the meeting. Inform them that we would prefer it to occur at our court, but would be open to a neutral location.” With those words, the king turned and left his own study.
Familiar with the king’s abrupt behavior, none of the room’s occupants found his words or sudden departure surprising. Kalan, however, was stunned that not only had his father asked his opinion on such an important matter, but that he seemed to agree with him.
The small sign of approval continued to baffle Kalan even as he went to meet up with Ronan at the armory.
As usual, the guard was waiting for him with two swords in his hands. Upon seeing the distracted look on Kalan’s face, he placed the weapons aside and approached his friend.
“Everything alright, Kalan?” He asked with concern. “You look distracted. Do you want to skip out on training today?”
Shaking his confusion away, analyzing his father could wait, Kalan had something else more worth his time.
The prince looked at his friend with a smile. “You know what, I do. How about we go check in on our new friend in the Human Realm?”
Chapter 10
“No, no, no,” Kalan gently chastised Gwen as she attempted to once again freeze the bowl of water in front of them. “You need to focus on the entire volume of water, not just the surface. Visualize its depth and then spread the cold throughout.”
After returning to the Human Realm apartment following their first encounter, Eilian had informed Kalan of his inability to teach Gwen how to use her Winter abilities and wondered if the prince could find someone to offer assistance. Kalan elected himself, pleased to have an excuse to visit the Human Realm. He began assisting Gwen nearly every day for about two weeks.
The female proved herself to be a quick study when it came to air manipulation. She could reduce the temperature of the apartment with her elemental magic by their third session. By the fifth, she was able to create bursts of frigid wind that were strong enough to slide chairs across the floor.
However, Gwen was having trouble with reducing the temperature of physical matter–like the water. For a reason Kalan could not understand, she was unable to completely penetrate objects with her elemental power. It severely limited the extent of its impact.
Were there fae who had difficulty tapping into their elemental powers?
Sure, but Gwen was far past tapping into her power. Her struggle to control the different uses of her Winter elemental abilities stumped Kalan. The prince never heard of any fae having this particular problem with their magic.
“This is impossible,” Gwen sighed, flopping down on the chair beside the table with the troublesome water bowl on it. “I’ve tried every technique you’ve come up with and nothing works. Maybe my magic is just not powerful enough?”
Kalan opened his mouth to disagree, but was beaten to it by Ronan. “Seems unlikely,” the guard began from where he was standing next to the window, “You are clearly of noble blood, and nobles are the second most powerful fae of Winter Court. My guess is that you have a mental block.”
Gwen rubbed her eyes, dry from lack of blinking. “That just doesn’t make sense. Why would I have a mental block? I picked up air manipulation so well!”
Kalan shrugged, just as confused by the mastery of half her skills and disaster with the other half. “Let us call it a day. I will try to find out more techniques from Winter Court master trainers and we shall give those a try. Do not let yourself be bothered.”
The prince dismissed Ronan’s inquisitive glance his way. The guard knew Kalan already spoke with the master trainers and that they gave him all the information they possessed. The prince did his best to not appear impatient with Gwen’s progress, though he knew that the sooner she could control her abilities to a satisfactory degree, the sooner she could be introduced at Winter Court without raising questions.
Gwen stood as the two males moved towards the door, her face showing her sorrow with the failure. Kalan resisted the urge to console her. Following his decision to take on Gwen’s magical training, the prince vowed to resist any and every romantic inclination he felt for the female. The decision, although difficult to make given his initial draw to her, was for the best given the reality of their situation.
Over the past two weeks, the prince learned enough about Gwen to view her very favorably. Not only was Gwen beautiful, but she was also intelligent. The prince learned she was studying to become a human healer. An occupation, she assured him, which required immense hard work and dedication. He lea
rned of her affection for Eilian and her friends and, after witnessing her and the Summer Fae interact, Kalan was convinced of their sibling type of relationship.
Despite Gwen’s virtues, the prince held fast to his vow. He did not need to complicate his life with a relationship with a fae who was not a potential prophesized lifemate.
Instead, he forced himself to foster a strictly friend-based association with the female. It was actually working out quite well. Kalan found himself greatly enjoying her company and noticed that the romantic thoughts all but disappeared. Except, of course, when his desire to comfort her took over. Luckily, those longings did not occur often.
“You have not been working with your elemental magic long,” the prince reminded her kindly. “Give yourself time.”
Gwen offered a stiff nod as she held open the door for them. “I know you’re right, but I just hate being bad at things. It’s never really happened before.” She managed to offer them a self-conscious grin. “Not that I’m bragging.”
Ronan gave the girl a smile, but spoke to Kalan. “I know I’ve said this before, but she really does remind me of someone. I wish I could put my finger on it.”
Kalan barely noticed Gwen’s slight jerk at his guard’s words. It was the first time Ronan had mentioned his belief of recognizing Gwen to her, but the prince heard it multiple times since the two met the female.
“I just can’t shake the feeling that I know her,” Ronan said exasperatedly, shoving a book from him in a dramatic motion. “Or at least that I’ve seen her before.”
Kalan and his guard were in the prince’s private study, looking through various books the master trainers gave him upon request. He was hoping to find something to help Gwen master her skills after working with her for only a week. He already found himself out of innovative ideas.
“Maybe you are recognizing her through one of her family members? It is very possible that she resembles them enough to make her seem familiar.”
Will of Fate (Dual Court Kiss Book 1) Page 8
