by C. J. Anaya
“Your wife is not of your element, King Vargis.” Kheelan nodded to the woman standing just behind the king. “Mira is a Spring Faerie, and your rule has never been challenged. You both have reigned for centuries together and formed a stronghold within the Unseelie Court.”
“I am one minor ruler within the main Court. I rule, manage, and maintain my race and our magic. I do not have dominion over all the races of this Court. It is not the same thing. You know this. Your argument is weak.”
I swallowed hard. My emotions were just below the surface. Would Kheelan and I really not be able to be together after all was said and done? I hated the idea of having to marry someone in the Unseelie Court. An arranged marriage that held no love couldn’t be my future. Kheelan was my future. He and my father were the only people I knew, loved, and trusted even though all the information they’d kept from me seriously pissed me off.
“Our union will work, and our ability to share powers will also work,” Kheelan said.
“Impossible,” the king said, dismissing the idea with a wave of his massive hand.
“You can’t promise that, Kheelan,” my father interjected. “No matter how much you would like to, that is one issue we do need to take into consideration. King Vargis is correct on that score.”
Kheelan narrowed his eyes at my father.
“And what of this fated mate business?” the King continued. “There were whisperings that Crysta had not only been found and returned to our realm, but that she had found her fated mate, and that he was a Summer Faerie. I didn’t believe any of it, since fated mates between two different Courts is impossible, but now I’m wondering if there is some truth to this fated mate issue. If you try to marry her, Kheelan, will you be taking her from the Winter faerie destined for her? I promise you, the faeries in this realm won’t stand for that. A union of fated mates among our royals is a powerful gift from the gods.”
Kheelan gave the king a victorious smile.
“Crystiana does have a fated mate, and that fated mate is me.” He ignored the sharp gasp from Mira and the grunt of surprise from my father and turned to me. “Crysta, pull your hair back and show him the mark.”
I gave him a quizzical look.
“My birthmark?”
“It’s more than that. Just show him.”
I pulled my hair back and raised my eyebrows at the surprised gasps the two royals gave me. Kheelan pulled his hair back and showed them the same mark on the same temple. I looked at it in surprise, never remembering seeing it before today. Had it always been there?
Why had he kept it from me?
“This is wrong,” King Vargis said. He stepped forward and motioned for Kheelan to move closer to my side. The minute I felt my shoulder brush Kheelan’s arm, I let out a relieved sigh. Despite my confusion, his presence always grounded me. I held still as the king studied our marks, verifying something I still didn’t understand.
“What is so significant about my birthmark?” I said. I turned to my father to ask him to explain since I wasn’t sure what to make of Kheelan’s mark, but the anger in his eyes made me pause. His outraged look at Kheelan added yet another layer of confusion.
“Why are you keeping so many things from her?” the king asked. “She has a right to know what this mark means and why your union is even more improbable now than it was before. Your melding of core magics will be the very death of our realm. You’ll destroy it faster than King Moridan and his Dark Arts,” the king bellowed.
“Just let me explain why this will work,” Kheelan said.
“Anything you say will be a desperate attempt at keeping something any Fae would fight to the death to own. Your reason and judgment cannot be trusted in this matter. Even now, I have to wonder if King Moridan truly is the problem or if your fated mate bond is causing the land to sicken and die.” He nodded to his guards who immediately grabbed Kheelan. “You’ll have to be separated until we can figure out how to erase your marks.”
I panicked as Kheelan was roughly grabbed and pulled from my side, but he didn’t look perturbed in the slightest. He simply grinned as if he knew something we didn’t.
“This is ridiculous. They are not fated mates,” my father said, attempting to restore order to the conversation.
“We are, Rodri, and the fated mate bond will work because Crysta’s core is able to hold more than one elemental magic,” Kheelan said in a calm voice.
What?
King Vargis held up his hand, and his guards immediately released Kheelan.
“What are you talking about?”
“Crysta’s core can hold more than one elemental magic.”
“Kheelan, that’s not possible,” I said. He was the one who taught me how elemental magic worked. Had he lost his mind? Why was he doing this? Why was everything coming out of his mouth since we got here one big surprise?
“It is possible, Crysta. That amber stone you had that helped heal you…you remember it?”
I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.
“It was the Stargis king’s core magic. He bequeathed it to you on his death bed. He knew you could welcome it into your own core, and you did. Do you remember how much better you felt once the Stargis helped you?”
“Well, yes, but you told me the stone had healing properties, and I thought the amber color within my core was just…I don’t know, but not what you’re suggesting.”
“The stone did have healing properties in the sense that if you hadn’t absorbed the magic you would have died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” my father said in a strangled voice. “Why didn’t you tell me that was the reason she was sick? Do you realize what we’ve done in taking her from the palace and keeping her from Jar—”
“Rodri,” Kheelan hissed in warning.
Keeping me from what?
Kheelan stared my father down as I stood there trying to determine which question to ask first. I had no memory of the Stargis king giving me his magic. I had no idea he was dead. Fated mates, eighteen years of hiding, and core magic that hadn’t been my own? The revelations kept coming, but they failed to explain anything.
“Prove it,” King Vargis said. “Let’s see her work magic as an Autumn faerie.”
“My dear, we can’t ask this of her. We can’t expect her to do something that may harm her,” Mira said.
“They either prove it or we separate them, and summon the rest of the royals within our Court to discuss the problem and come up with a solution.”
“I’m not sure what kind of spells are done by Autumn faeries. I only know a few spells Winter faeries use,” I said.
King Vargis looked at my father in frustration.
“You’ve kept her history from her, you’ve hidden the truth behind the mark on her temple, and now I’m to find that you never trained her in her magic?”
“She was a changeling, Vargis. We feared for her life and sent her to the human realm. She grew up believing she was human.”
I stared at my father hard, willing him to look at me and explain, but he kept his eyes firmly fixed on the Saytr King who appeared just as confused and frustrated as me. He finally shook his head and addressed me, giving me a gentle smile I didn’t think I could trust.
“Princess, there is a simple spell that most Autumn faeries are taught in their first years of life. I can’t show you how to do it, but I can explain the process. It will be up to you to work the magic if you indeed have it.”
“She has it,” Kheelan said.
The king ignored him and continued his instructions.
“The discoloration of leaves on trees is a simple process that Autumn faeries use to imitate the change in season from Summer to Autumn. Most dwellings within the Unseelie Court can be recognized as Autumn Fae jurisdictions due to the changing colors of the leaves.” He turned and gestured toward his wife. “Mira, is a beautiful Spring faerie, a Nymph tied to nature though her abilities to change nature differs from yours. I want you to change the vibrant gr
eens of the leaves that make up her long tresses into an autumn color. If you really do have that magic, the leaves’ colors will change. If you don’t, the leaves will simply freeze.”
“I don’t want to hurt your wife,” I said.
“Nonsense, my dear,” Mira said. “It can’t hurt me. The most it will do is tingle a bit.”
“Crysta,” Kheelan said. “You need only focus on that aspect of your core with the correct color spectrum. Do you remember how I taught you to see it?”
I nodded.
“Good. Close your eyes, picture your core, pull from the rich auburn colors swirling within, and take those particular threads of magic. Visualize the change of color in Queen Mira’s leaves and repeat these words: procidat deceptionem mutationem foliorum.”
I did it exactly as he said, finding the process similar to that of changing my eye color, the nuances of the magic were different. Just as it took a different type of color, thread, and stitch to create a specific design or pattern in a quilt, weaving different threads of magic and understanding how to create a change in design would also give me an entirely different result. I repeated the words once I had a handle on the threads of magic and visualized the changes necessary.
Surprised gasps from everyone, including my father, spurred me to open my eyes. Mira’s hair had been lovely before, but now her branches were covered in layers of golden browns, auburns, reds, and oranges. It was absolutely amazing to look at.
“Mira,” the king said. He took her hand and turned her around. “This…I can’t believe it.”
Mira took the long branches in her hands and ran her fingers over the different colored leaves in awe.
“How is this possible?” she said as she looked at me.
“Now do you believe me?” Kheelan said. “Our union will work. She will be able to bond with me and share in my Summer magic. She already holds two of the elements within her core. She will be able to handle the other two.”
“I don’t understand how she can do this,” King Vargis said. “Rodri do you have an explanation for this?”
My father shook his head, still staring at me in disbelief.
“I seem to be in the dark just as much as you, Vargis. Kheelan has much to explain.”
I turned to Kheelan, feeling confused and hurt by his actions.
“Why would you keep this from me? Why didn’t you tell me what this mark meant or what happened when you took me to see the Stargis?”
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know once we’re married.” He grabbed my arms and held them tight. “I promise this is for your own good. You may be upset with me after, but I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
My father grunted, his anger surfacing.
“You can’t be serious, Kheelan. I may hold zero love for my brother, but I played along with your lies about your own brother because I thought I was saving Crysta’s life. We can’t knowingly keep her from her fated mate. It’s wrong and you know it.”
What lies? I rubbed my forehead, feeling sick, frustrated, and confused.
“I thought Kheelan and I were supposed to get married. I thought he was always meant for me.”
“This conversation makes little sense to me,” King Vargis said. “Didn’t we already establish that Kheelan is her fated mate?”
“He’s not her fated mate,” yelled a voice from beyond the doors of the room. Three figures entered with determined glints in their expressions. We were once again face-to-face with Jareth, King Roderick and…a member of the Stargis race?
I thought the Stargis were in hiding from my uncle and Jareth. Were they holding this one prisoner?
“Crysta,” the Stargis said. His tense muscles relaxed a bit. He lifted a hand in greeting. “Relieved you are alive. Lily sends greetings.”
I shook my head in confusion. Who in the world was Lily?
“Not now, Graul,” my uncle said. “We have a few things to discuss first.”
I’ll say we did. My attention quickly flipped from Graul’s strangely adorable grin to Jareth’s furious expression. His bright blue eyes locked on mine and this time that anger I was so used to seeing in my nightmares blazed like fire.
“I am Crysta’s mate,” Jareth said.
Flaming hobgoblins!
Fear at the sight of him, of what he claimed to be and what that meant for me, took hold. I stared at him in dismay and waited for Kheelan to refute Jareth’s claim.
He was devastatingly silent, staring defiantly at Jareth.
“Why would you ever try to pass yourself off as Crysta’s fated mate?” he shouted, glaring at Kheelan. “How does taking advantage of her confusion benefit you in any way?”
My insides felt cold as I slowly took a step away from both brothers. Jareth must have noticed I was primed to run because he bolted forward, but the guards on either sides of the doors reacted quickly and restrained him.
“Let go of me, dammit. I have to get to Crysta.”
Graul grabbed the guard by the back of the neck, but another guard joined in the fray, doing his best to restrain the Stargis.
“What are they doing here?” my father said, though he didn’t seem all that angry. More resigned than anything else.
“King Roderick informed me of his niece’s disappearance. He sent word to all the royals to keep an eye out for her and notify him when we found her.” He rubbed his face and looked around the room at all of us, clearly not happy with what he saw. “You knew he would though, didn’t you? I imagine that’s really what the glamours were for. There’s obviously a very long, very sordid story that needs telling to clear this all up, and no one looks more confused than our Princess, which is saying something considering how lost I feel regarding this situation.”
Jareth continued to struggle against the guards. I knew they wouldn’t be able to hold him for long.
“Run, Crysta,” Kheelan urged.
The terrified feelings all my nightmares evoked rose to the surface and the compulsion to run, however ill advised, took over. It was as if someone else controlled my body and since I was more than happy to flee the situation, I didn’t fight whatever it was high-jacking my thoughts. I quickly turned and ran to the back of the room, heading for a blackened steel door, but even as I drew near it, I heard curses and the loud pounding of feet behind me. I wouldn’t make it. Despite my fog of panic, I pictured the tunnels of the Sprite Mines, pulled on my core, and disapparated the hell out of there.
Blackness descended.
Crap. A dark tunnel was not ideal for crazed running, but I kept going anyway. Fear overrode common sense, and fleeing was all I could think about. It was the only thing my body could do despite the fact that I was actually trying to stop. I’d left Kheelan and my father back there to face who knew what? I’d abandoned them.
This isn’t me. This isn’t who I am. Why can’t I stop running?
I managed to make it into the cavern where the three tunnels opened up when Jareth suddenly tackled me from behind.
He’d followed me faster than I’d anticipated.
We both went down hard. The skin on my palms rubbed raw against the stone as we slid a few feet from the force of the impact. I ignored the pain in my body as Jareth flipped me on my back and pinned my shoulders to the ground. I instinctively shot my hand up, hitting his chest and sending him sprawling backwards with a blast of magic that I hoped hurt like hell.
This guy was so going down, and I was done with running. In my dreams I always ran from him and he always caught me and killed me. No more running. This time, I was going to fight. He could claim I was his fated mate all he wanted, but I knew the truth. Kheelan had kept me from Jareth to protect me. Kheelan loved me and wouldn’t let my real fated mate hurt me any longer. I knew Jareth wanted me dead, and I was damn tired of playing his victim. Other vicious thoughts that seemed to come from nowhere flitted through my mind, fueling my rage and justifying my actions.
Unfortunately, Jareth was a million times stronger than me, and he was alrea
dy on his feet.
I stared him down, hands at my sides, ready to conjure whatever I had to in order to save myself.
To my surprise he lifted his hands in a placating gesture and relaxed his stance.
What was this? Was he trying to trick me?
“Crysta, what the hell are you doing? Why are you attacking me? Why do you keep running, for heaven’s sake?”
I snorted.
“Are you serious? Did you really think I wouldn’t defend myself this time? And where the hell is my dragon?”
His brows narrowed in confusion.
“Chuck is just fine. Although he was definitely saddened when you disappeared without him.” He paused as his confusion deepened even further. “Wait, this time? Defend yourself from what?
“Defend myself from you,” I shot back. “You tried to kill me once. I won’t let you do it again. I’ll fight you. I’ll kill you if I have to.”
He took a step forward, but I lifted my hand in warning. I would so freeze this guy’s cojones if he so much as quirked one menacing eyebrow in my direction. My hands shook as my terror rose to the surface.
I couldn’t do this. I would never survive this. He was so going to kill me.
His eyes took me in as I readied my hand for another attack. The confusion and pain that twisted his features had me hesitating, though. Why was he looking at me like I’d just caused him severe emotional pain?
“Why would you ever assume I would hurt you, Crysta? After everything we’ve been through, how could you ever fear me?”
“You tried to kill me. You were sent to kill me.”
His eyebrows rose in astonishment.
“That’s true,” he said. “I was sent to kill you when I thought you were human and a threat to the Fae realm, but that was months ago, Crysta. Now we’re engaged to be married.”
