by J. B. Miller
“Blayre must be told,” she whispered defiantly. “It is his father of whom we speak.”
I nodded solemnly. “I agree, sweet girl, but he no longer speaks with me. Nor will he take what I have to say to heart. If you still speak to him then you may inform him that his father…” My tongue stuck on the next words, as they were not technically truth. Thankfully, my wiley wolf knew when to jump in.
“What my mate is struggling to find the words for is “the king fades,” Kale said flatly.
“Oh no…no…no…,” Moss wailed. “That cannot be. Oberon is eternal. He cannot fade,” Moss broke down and slipped to her knees, rocking back and forth while her body wracked itself with heartrending tears.
“We all fade eventually,” I whispered.
Her sobs intensified and I knelt down and pulled her against me. “Hush, child, you will make yourself ill.”
“What are we to do? The king…” she broke off with a shuddering breath.
I tilted her head up to look at me. “We will endure as we always have. Listen to me, Moss, time grows short and we must make plans. Would you like to see Oberon before you go and find your mother?”
Her eyes widened more than I thought possible and she nodded her head. Her hands shook as she lifted them to dry her face on a corner of her hem.
“Please, my Lord. If I may, I would like to see him.”
Pulling her to her feet, we walked to the doors to my chambers. Before opening them, I warned her, “He will not know you are there, Moss, he is not aware.”
The realization of just how serious the situation was began to dawn on her. With a wave of my hand, the doors slid open and Moss hesitantly stepped into the room.
Oberon lay pale but breathing in my bed. He still looked like the king he was. Black silk covered pillows propped up his head and matching sheets covered him to just below his chest. His hands lay clasped over his waist. If it were not for the steady rise and fall of his chest one would think he lay in state ready for burial.
Poor Moss put a fist to her lips to hold back the shocked cry and flew to the bedside. Gently, she ran a finger over the king’s cheek and whispered a choked, “My Lord.”
The king made no movement and after a moment the girl I had watched fondly grow from an infant, put her head on the mighty Oberon’s chest and wept silent tears.
The warmth of Kale’s body told me that he was now by my side. His eyes were troubled as I glanced at him. It was easy to tell he was not happy with the deceit that we laid.
“Is this necessary?” he quietly asked.
A nod of my head was the only answer I was willing to give him at the moment. I did not like my job but I would do it. My wolf was seeing a side of the Puck that he had not seen before. The side that would mentally torture and trick those that needed to be in the protection of the king.
I sighed, “It is what it is, Kale, and I am what I must be.” I did not like it but I had a duty to fulfil.
We gave Moss an hour with the king before gently pulling her away. Her tears were gone, she had cried until there was none left.
Kale and I watched while she slowly made her way down the hallway to contact her mother and Blayre.
“Do you want to follow her,” Kale asked.
“No,” I shook my head. “There is no need. She will do what needs to be done and the message sent. We will hear from Blayre before the day is out I would imagine.”
“Well, what do we do in the mean time?”
I raised an eyebrow at the snarky question. My wolf was very testy it seemed when worried.
“We will wake the king, feed him and ourselves, and go over our plans while we wait. That is all we can do, puppy.”
"I just want to go on record with saying, I don’t like this plan,” he growled.
“Duly noted,” I said dryly before leaning in to kiss his chin. “Come, we have work to do. Once all this is done and behind us, I will want to have you to myself for a while.”
Kale just rolled his eyes but followed me back into the bedchambers to wake Oberon.
Chapter Fifteen
Blayre…
So much fucking darkness. How did I come to this point in my life? My head hung down and my fingers raked through my hair. All I ever wanted was to belong and have my Moss.
Those bastards at court denied me even that. My sweet Moss, she was the only light left in my black shriveled heart.
I honestly could not give a damn about anyone else. Father, Puck, Mother…even Isbeth mattered next to nothing.
In fact I tried to get rid of one thorn in my side already this week but it failed. I had heard that Oberon was weak from the sex magic he performed for his precious Puck. I sent several Unseelie with cold iron to kill the bastard. That would have solved so many of my problems.
While they were able to take down the guards easily enough, the wards that Puck had constructed were too strong so they failed me in their duty. I made sure they would not fail me again.
The only time any joy filled me was when I saw her smiling sprite like face and heard that tinkling laughter. She loved me and that kept me from destroying everything in my power.
The majority of the time hate filled me. It was a burning rage so hot that I struck out killing and brutalizing everything in my path. Deep down I knew I had my mother’s madness but when the thought arose, I pushed it deep down.
The cold-hearted bitch did have a few decent ideas though and where I was now, was one of them. My head lifted and I looked around my playroom.
The room itself was cold stone. We were underground; the trolls had carved this room for me. It was the only thing that kept them safe from it. They still had a use to me.
A narrow window high up in the far right corner let in the only light. What fresh air could find its way down here came from there. I also liked that passer-byers might hear the screams when I played.
In this place of darkness, agonized screams would not raise a call for help. It would only bring a sick curiosity or fear that they may be next. My gaze took in the room and that of my toys.
The far wall had chains embedded into them waiting for guests. A few feet from there was a pulley system hung from the ceiling where I had a whimpering female Dryad hanging.
Her hands were tied behind her back with a hook through the ropes to keep her suspended. Her ankles were tied with another rope. From there hung a chunk from the trunk of her tree. That in itself would kill her, but we would play before she left this world.
My gaze slid from her to the rack where another female lay. She was drawn tightly over the rack, her muscles straining with tension. This one was lovely. Human by the look of her, so she would not last long. The best part—she looked so much like my whore of a mother. I would make this one scream so prettily before releasing her human soul.
I skimmed over the rest of my toys before going back to the human. A smile tilted my lips and I rose from my leather bound desk and walked over to the table. Her eyes widened and she whimpered behind her gag the closer I came.
Once I stepped into the light from the torches, her body relaxed slightly. I just shook my head, why was it that humans saw beauty and thought that it was automatically good.
I had learned long ago that outer beauty often hid something much uglier. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “This is not going to be pleasant for you, sweetness. But don’t worry, you won’t live for very long. Your kind never does.” I removed the gag and she began to beg. She begged so sweetly for her life. Her pleas turned to screams when I started to cut. It was music to my ears.
We had only been playing for an hour when the door opened and my mother came in. I frowned at her at the disturbance. Looking back down at the female on the table the resemblance she had to Mab, now laid ruined under the finely cut strips of flesh I had pulled away.
“Yes, Mother? What can I do for you today? I am busy.”
"I can see that, my beautiful boy,” she purred. Her golden hair trailed down her back to curl around
her waist. The white of her gown glowed brilliantly in the dankness of my playroom. She did not wear her crown today but the iron belt lay in links around her small waist. She was a small woman but her strength was formidable. They did not call her a warrior queen for no reason. The fact she wore iron was enough to cow even the most fearsome of the Unseelie.
“However,” she glided up to me and kissed me at the corner of my mouth, “you have a visitor.”
My brows arched. She knew better than to try to seduce me. I would kill her if she tried me too much. I was curious though. Few would seek me out here.
“Who could possibly come here to visit me?” I mused.
The wicked smile she sent me did not offer comfort. “Why it’s our dear little Moss, of course. Poor thing, she does look awfully wan though. Something must be wrong for her to come all this way.” Her fingers trailed down my neck before taking in my handiwork. “I didn’t think she would like the atmosphere down here, so I left her upstairs with the Redcaps. They can keep her company until you can clean up.”
By this time, all of her concentration was on the female on the table. Mine was on getting to Moss before a Redcap stepped out of line. Of all the fucking Unseelie to leave her with. “One hair mother,” I warned. “And I will treble onto you whatever they do to her.
She just waved a hand absently at me, and asked childlike, “Are you going to finish this?”
“No, I’m done with her, just clean up your mess when you are done. I want my playroom tidy when I come back.”
“Of course, sweeting. No one likes a mess.”
I left my mother laughing delightedly as the human girl screamed in renewed fear and anguish.
The remnants of the girl’s screams rang happily in my ears while I sent a whisper of power over me to dispel any lingering blood or viscera.
Once I was sure that nothing was left, space folded around me and I went into the grey fields. The quicker I got to Moss the safer she would be.
Damn my mother again for leaving her with Redcaps. They were butchers with little restraint. By their very nature they had to kill, or they would die themselves.
Some legends are truer than others are. The Redcaps being one of them. If they did not kill and dip their hats into blood, something happened inside of their brains to cause a sort of aneurism.
It was a fascinating scientific experiment that I would love to one day explore but there was much to do before that day came.
When I folded into the room my poor Moss sat huddled on a couch. Four large Redcaps stood in varying locations around the room watching her hungrily.
They all stood over seven feet in height with leathery skin and glowing red eyes. The famous caps were thankfully freshly soaked and dripped merrily down their faces.
“Blayre!” My love exclaimed. She jumped from the seat and threw herself into my arms. Moss was trembling and her bottom lip wobbled as tears filled her eyes.
I would make who ever made my sweet mate cry suffer greatly. Anger and vengeance shined in my eyes until she looked up and the hate fell away to leave only concern.
I cupped her cheek and bent to kiss a single tear from her puffy lids. “My sweet, sweet love, what is wrong? It breaks my heart to see a single teardrop from your beautiful eyes. Much less the river that has surely poured forth recently. Come and tell me what is wrong so I may make it right.”
Moss shook her head screwing her eyes shut before shuddering. “Not even you can fix it, Blayre. It's Oberon,” she swallowed thickly. “You must return with me. He is not well.”
Taken aback, I pulled slightly away from her. “What nonsense is this, my Mossie? You speak of Oberon the King of all the Seelie Fae. He cannot be unwell. Someone is playing a cruel trick upon you.”
“No, it’s true,” she cried.
“Puck called me this morning—”
I interrupted her with a snort. “Puck, and you believed him? What words did he twist to get you to lure me to him? He only wants to draw me out so I might face his so called justice,” I scoffed.
Her worried face looked up at me before she tugged me to the couch. “I swear to you it is true. He did not use any trickery. In fact, he was not happy that I insisted on telling you. Last week when the king cast the fertility rite for Puck's mating, he used up too much of himself, he is fading,” she choked on the last words and a giant sob heaved her thin shoulders. “I…I saw him myself. He was not even aware I was in the room with him. If it had not been for the rise and fall of his breaths, you would think he did not live. What will we do, Blayre? You have to come back. I know that a rift has come between you three, but they are your family. Mother is with the king now and Puck said that he would speak to you if you wanted. The king, he would want to see you before he…” she could not finish.
I pulled her close against my chest. It pained me that it hurt my sweet love but glee rose up within me. Finally, I had the chance to rid myself of that bastard. He who pretended to love me but always cared more for the foundling, Puck. The father that would deny me my one want in life. Well no longer. With Oberon out of the way, I would find a way to dispose of his wrathful Puck. Then nothing would stand in my way of taking the throne. Then, I would be able to get rid of that crazy whore I called mother. Once I had tidied up all the loose strings, I would crown Moss as my queen and we would rule all of the Seelie Fae, as we should. I could then turn my eye to the Unseelie courts, but that was years down the road.
For now, it was time to bid my father a fond farewell.
Smoothing back Moss’s beautiful brown hair, I gently pushed her back from me. My face had been wiped of all emotion bar concern for her.
“I agree, sweet love, it behoves me but I must return to see my father and my…brother,” the words tasted bitter in my mouth but I spat them out as if they were not nasty flavors on my tongue.
“I want you to return to the palace and speak to Puck. Tell him that I would like to see my father and make right the wrongs of the past. I will be there at sunset.”
I dragged her close to me and lowered my head to kiss her gently. “Know that I love you above all others, my Moss. Know that you will always be my light and without you, the world would only be the blackness of night. I love you, and soon I will prove it to you.” I rose and pulled her with me.
“Take the paths, they are quicker and safer for you.” A smile curled my lips. “As much as the High Fae look down at you, remember, no Brownie has ever lost their way on the grey paths.” With one last fierce kiss, I opened a portal and gently pushed her through.
Once it was closed I turned to the four waiting Redcaps. “Gather your brothers, my friends. You will be able to bathe in the blood I plan to spill tonight.”
The roar their four voices raised was enough to shake the room. It made me laugh in anticipation as I folded away to hunt down my mother.
I found her where I had left her. The once white dress now drenched in blood and gore. The human girl was long dead and the Dryad’s last pitiful breath was just leaving her body. The stump of her tree burned as the ropes twisted beneath her and intestines dangled in ropes around it.
“You make such a mess when you play, Mother, no finesse.” The complaint was true if redundant. It was always the same; at least she cleaned up after herself as she did now. With a wave of her hand both bodies disappeared and the room was once again spotless.
“What did our little Moss come to tell you, Blayre? Did she miss you so much that she braved the darkness for a few moments of your time?”
My mother truly was a bitch, but she would savor the news I was about to deliver.
“Even better, Mother, my mate has brought news of your other son. He is fading.”
Her gasp was loud in the room. “Oberon is fading, can it be true?” she whispered.
“Moss saw him with her own eyes and Puck confirmed it. The old fool used too much of his own energy with that trick last week. There will be weeping in the streets but at least he will have a whole generation to thank
him for their existence.”
I laughed at the thought. “Not only has he done me the favor of weakening himself to the point of mortality but he has given me a whole new generation to mold in my image.”
Mab jumped up and down, clapping her hands like a little girl. Her blonde hair waving about her. She would have looked angelic if not for all the blood and gore speckling her from head to foot.
“We must plan,” she exclaimed. “Gather the forces and have them ready to take over the court once you take care of Oberon and that bastard, Puck.”
“I am already on top of that, my Queen. As we speak, the Redcaps are gathering their brethren and we shall go to the palace at sunset. The trap is laid. I will go in as the prodigal son, while our troops hide behind glamour. Once I have taken out father and Puck, then they will take the palace. The rest will fall into place.”
“Perfect,” Mab nearly wrapped herself around me. “You are a much better son than the first one I bore. Moreover, you will make a much better king. The throne needs strength and will to do what needs to be done. Not a simpering fool like Oberon. He never could understand what was needed to rule a kingdom with an iron fist, too much like his father before him. You, my son, are more like me. Full of ruthless determination. I can see it in your eyes.”
I pushed her back from me none to gently. “Go bathe, Mother, you reek of death. I need to prepare to see my father before he fades to nothing. I would hate for him to die before I had the chance to kill him.”
Mab bowed her head slightly, “As you wish, my King.”
She then folded away to Danu only knew where to refresh herself. I did not know nor care. I had a patricide to plan.
Chapter Sixteen
Robin…
The king was not pleased. He did not agree with me using Moss and Isbeth in this plot to take down Blayre. I believed that Oberon still held out hope the boy we knew and loved was alive somewhere inside the monster he had become.
