To Love a King (Court of Annwyn)
Read To Love a King (Court of Annwyn) Online
Authors: Shona Husk
Copyright © 2014 by Shona Husk
Cover and internal design © 2014 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover illustration by Don Sipley/Lott Reps
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The silvery triangle of mirror spun in the breeze. That was the one Felan wanted to gaze into, but he waited. Instead, first he examined a few others that gave him general glimpses across the veil, into the mortal world. He could pretend he was studying the damage the breaches in the veil were having. While people were watching him, he was always careful about what he did.
The Court was waiting for him to do something.
In two mortal weeks, his mother would be executed for treason. Which meant he only had two mortal weeks to get a Queen, and get her pregnant, and take over, thus restoring the magic of Annwyn and saving both worlds from unnecessary hardship. More hardship. Annwyn was sliding into winter as his father weakened. Felan closed his eyes for a moment before pushing aside the thought. Everywhere he looked there was a reminder that his father was dying.
The trees that formed castle Annwyn had once been lush and green, but now they were bare skeletons as the magic failed. The veil between Annwyn and the mortal world was tearing, and death was bleeding through. There were plagues in the mortal world. Death tolls were rising and governments were getting twitchy. They were looking for the cause in all the wrong places. No one believed in fairies anymore.
Jacqui
doesn’t believe in me.
The memories of that day still had the power to draw fresh blood from the wound. He’d lost the one person he’d ever loved in a few short moments. However, he’d only realized it was love when it was too late.
While he’d been recalled to Annwyn—a move orchestrated by his enemies, he was sure—something had happened to her. When he’d returned to her, Jacqui was no longer pregnant and she no longer wanted to see him. There’d been something in her eyes that day and an ice in her voice that he hadn’t recognized when she’d asked him to leave. He’d left because he didn’t know what else to do at the time.
He touched the mirror that was charmed to view Jacqueline Ara across the veil. What felt like months to him had been seven mortal years since he’d last seen her—in person. It had taken a long time before he could even bring himself to check on her in the mirror, and yet, eventually, he’d been unable to resist.
She’d been the one he’d wanted by his side to rule Annwyn. He’d been ready to claim the throne—almost. But all his plans for their future together had unraveled faster than he’d ever thought possible.
No Queen, no heir, no claiming the throne of Annwyn. He was partially responsible for the winter.
The mirror flickered with color and life. He held his breath as Jacqui appeared. She put on a dab of lipstick, pulled her dark hair back, and with a final glance, walked away, unaware that he was checking up on her. How could he not when she was still lodged in his heart? A faint smile formed on his lips. She looked happy. Happier than he’d seen her in a while.
She’d moved on.
He wished he could say the same.
At first, he’d let time slide past unnoticed as he’d struggled to keep his grief hidden from the Court. He’d been determined to show no weakness and give his enemies no crack to slide a blade into. Back then he hadn’t known who was trying to trip him. Now he did, and Sulia was watching him as closely as he was watching her. Who would make the first move and bring their human consort to Annwyn?
Probably Sulia, since he’d let the Court assume he had one. Not a lie, but not the truth either. He was dancing on a very fine line, being caught out would not help his cause.
He needed to find a way to take over Annwyn without repeating his father’s mistakes. He wanted more than the cold, hate-filled relationship his parents had. Two weeks wasn’t long enough, and yet it was too long. The longer he stalled, the more time Sulia would have, and the worse it would be for mortal and fairy alike. If possible he wanted to avoid a civil war like the one his father had been forced to fight.
Sulia had already bested him once. If she won this time…at least he wouldn’t be alive to see the result. He was sure she’d continue with his mother’s cruel games. He should’ve known that someone would challenge him for the throne. Fairies loved power too much to not attempt a coup.
With Jacqui he’d never had to play games. Even now he longed to go back to the way it had been with her. But not even fairies had that power. He’d screwed up everything.
Felan watched Jacqui for another heartbeat before letting the mirror go. The surface returned to silver, so no one else would be able to watch Jacqui through it. Only him—unless someone was peering over his shoulder. He checked just to be sure that no one was close, but the other fairies were staying well away from him, as if sensing the turn in his mood.
He missed her. He almost let himself be dragged back into the darkness of those first few days after their breakup. The evil thoughts of what he could’ve done differently, the unanswered questions he had about what had happened. Back then, he hadn’t known how to voice them. Maybe if he had, he would’ve been able to let her go instead of watching her through the mirrors and wondering if she still thought of him.
He drew in a breath and released it slowly. He needed to know. With measured paces, he strode through the hall, looking as though he had somewhere to be. He always had somewhere to be, something to do. Even as he slept, his enemies worked.
If he was going to beat Sulia to the throne, he needed to move forward, and to do that, he had to face his past, even if he wasn’t sure he was ready to see Jacqui again. Maybe he would never be ready to hear what had happened to their baby and the love they’d had.
It’s gone.
He still heard the echo of those words when he slept.
Dead, before a soul had even had a chance to take hold. He’d never even had a moment with his child’s soul. His throat closed.
Maybe facing Jacqui again wasn’t a great idea, but at the moment, it was all he had. He needed to know what had gone wrong so that he wouldn’t repeat it. Most of all, he needed to know that their love was dead even though he still longed for her. She’d carved out his heart and kept it, and he’d never asked for it back.
He left the castle, the branches of the overhead canopy that served as a roof now bare of leaves. Ice crunched under his boots where the dew had frozen. Annwyn, and the mortal world may not even have two weeks. As winter settled in Annwyn, so the plagues would worsen in the mortal world. He didn’t want to drag either world through a fairy civil war. Sulia would though, and she’d laugh while she did it. A shiver traced down his back. She was so much like his mother.
Felan walked across the field toward the main doorway in and out of Annwyn. Two large trees formed the entrance that faced the castle. From here, he could go anywhere he wanted. It was the doorway he chose to use, rather than a back way, as it was harder to track his movements. And anything that masked where he was going and who he as seeing was a good thing right now.
And if he couldn’t find love and the right woman in two weeks?
That was something he didn’t want to consider.
The thought of ending up like his parents wasn’t unbearable. Stepping aside and letting Sulia rule was just as bad. Her heart was as black as his mother’s.
Felan stepped through the doorway and into Californian sunshine. Salt air touched his tongue as he walked from the cemetery toward the beach. The idea of living this close to such a large body of water was enough to make the hair on the back of his neck draw tight. But the sun and warmth was a welcome change to the cold of Annwyn that lingered in his blood.
He’d spent more time in the mortal world in the last few months than he had in seven years. He’d forgotten how much he liked it. He expended a little magic, casting a glamour so people could see him dressed like any other human, in jeans and a white shirt. Classic and simple. His elaborately embroidered knee-length waistcoat would look out of place here. He pulled a pair of sunglass out of his pocket and slipped them on. As he walked, his heart sped up, as though he’d been drinking too much coffee. The idea of seeing Jacqui in person again was making him nervous.
He stopped a passerby to ask the time and set his watch. It had been a gift from Jacqui to help him keep track of time, but it had never worked in Annwyn. There it had simply been a pretty piece of metal with a ceramic bezel and strap that had refused to even tick. But he’d kept it, unable to let go of the gift that she’d put so much thought into, knowing he wouldn’t want to wear iron-based metal against his skin. The white ceramic was cool around his wrist as he put it on. One second in the mortal world, and it had sprung to life as if it had never stopped. If only it were that easy to pick up the life he wanted.
Despite not having seen her for years, he knew where she was in the mortal world. He could sense her. He could feel her in his heart as if no time had passed. It was only the twinging of his scarred heart that reminded him to be careful. Things had changed. She was no longer the nineteen-year-old woman he’d once known.
While he’d recognize her face anywhere, he did not have as much confidence when it came to knowing the woman she’d become.
The coffee shop where she worked came into view. He paused for a moment and tried to gather his thoughts. There were seven billion people in the world. Half of them female, a good portion of them young, pretty, and smart. Even if only one percent of them were willing to leave everything they knew and come to Annwyn, that was still a lot of potential women he could make Queen. But he didn’t love them and they didn’t love him—neither had Jacqui the last time he’d seen her. Yet he was here.
He was an idiot.
He was desperate.
He wanted to undo the last seven years and put everything back the way it had been.
But he’d settle for knowing the truth. This time, he was ready to listen, and he hoped she’d be ready to tell him.
***
Something fluttered in the corner of her vision. Jacqui was used to ignoring the things that no one else could see. It had taken a while, and had become easier after she had stopped taking the meds the psychiatrist had given her. She’d had lots of labels—delusional, paranoid—and had even been on suicide watch for a little while.
But she knew the truth.
There were monsters, and if they thought you could see them, they followed and tried to draw attention to themselves. They’d make trouble. Mentioning the monsters had convinced her parents that the loss of her baby had pushed her over some edge. They’d tried to use their money and connections to fix her.
She’d had to fix herself.
The little blue wren bumped against the coffee shop window again as if trying to get in. For a moment, her heart fluttered like the bird’s wings. She couldn’t help it. If she saw a fairy wren, she thought of him.
If a wren was around, it meant the monsters weren’t. It did mean that a fairy was, though, and they were far more dangerous and far more powerful. She’d learned that the hard way when she’d given her heart to one. Her fingers strayed to the crescent-shaped iron pendant that she never took off. Fairies didn’t like iron or water.
She’d done everything she could to protect herself from fairies. All those years of lying and saying they weren’t real hadn’t changed what she saw. These days, she didn’t talk about them or even look at them. It was safer that way.
“That bird is going to hurt itself.” Ashleigh put the cake back into the display.
“I can’t go and shoo it away.” There were a half dozen coffees waiting to be made. “It’s only a bird; it’s probably checking out its own reflection and thinking it’s found a mate.”
Ashleigh shook her head as she rang up the order and handed the customer her change. “Get an order ready and I’ll take it and shoo the bird away.”
Jacqui almost said no but then shrugged. How could she explain to Ash what the bird meant? “Whatever.”
Why should she even care if a fairy was nearby?
Ever since Felan had burned her life to the ground, she’d sworn to ignore all things fairy. She’d had to spend years rebuilding, but her life was back on track. She was studying part-time, working part-time, and was living on the other side of the country from her parents. Truthfully, that was what had really turned her life around and made it hers again.
They never let her forget how she’d screwed up and how they’d helped her. Help. It was their help that had made her believe she was crazy.
A man walked into the coffee shop. For a moment the sun cast him in shadow and he seemed to flicker, as if she couldn’t be sure what she was seeing. He took a few more steps, and she saw him for what he was. His purple, knee-length waistcoat swirled around his legs. Her gaze lifted slowly, taking in the rest of his odd clothing, the black pants and dark shirt. But it wasn’t just his clothing—he was too pretty to be human. Fear balled in her stomach and punched up into her chest. He was the fairy the wren had been heralding.
She looked at him for a moment too long. Something about him held her gaze. The curl of his dark brown hair against the collar of his shirt, the way he moved as if he owned the place. She glanced away sharply. Had he realized that she could see him? Was it already too late?
No one else was staring at the strangely dressed man. She held her breath as he walked closer. Then Ash walked back into the shop. Her gaze was firmly on his butt. She winked at Jacqui, and Jacqui forced a smile. At least Ash could see him, so Jacqui didn’t have to pretend she couldn’t. Sometimes it was hard to tell, but when in doubt, she ignored them, no matter how pretty they looked. She’d seen fewer of them since moving to the seaside.
The fairy man took off his sunglasses, revealing pale green eyes like the edge of a glacier.
Her heart stopped. Or time stopped. That split second hung incomplete as her brain tried to rationalize what she was seeing. It couldn’t be him. Not here. Not now. Her heart gave a beat and noise rushed back in to fill the silence she hadn’t noticed. Felan, the fairy Prince who’d ridden away with her heart and never thought to return it, was in the coffee shop. She blinked and glanced away, pretending she didn’t recognize him.