Falling fast, p.7
Bound to the Queen: A Fantasy Romance (Our Fae Queen Book 3), page 7
Lauren jutted her chin at me. “So, our first priority is to safely escort Una and the Nixie Guard to the Duwende hideout?”
I gave her a curt nod in return. “I will never lead another soul close enough to find my people on their own, but I will tell them of Una’s need. Then any who wish to be considered for consort can approach her.”
I didn’t mention that they could also approach Gloriana. She was set on her plan to give her queenly powers to Una. She might be the Elven heir and I might be a member of the Elven Guard, but we both had very different plans from the rest of our little group. Still, Gloriana and I both wished the best for the rest of the Seelie and would do nothing to hinder them or the heir who would replenish their lost magic.
I felt a kinship with Gloriana, distinct from the heir’s pull. Like me, she wasn’t willing to settle for the narrative others foisted upon her. I had begun to believe she might one day become a strong queen, but that was immaterial now that it was so obvious she wished to unburden herself of the responsibility.
Lyall gave me a smile of encouragement, believing I still intended to woo Gloriana. Why else would I hesitate when Una asked to make me her consort? Though Lyall had kept the Guard going when all else fell apart, he wasn’t the most perceptive. He failed to understand Gloriana’s drive to escape the responsibility of queenhood, just as he failed to understand my drive to translate the scrolls — not to return us all to what once was but to find a new path that would protect my kind from the rest of the Fae. From Lyall’s perspective, we all marched in lockstep, a part of his original design.
Erynn sat close to Gloriana and lifted a hand as if to place it on her knee. Instead, she balled up her hands in her lap. “So we get Una her consort, and that’s it? Gloriana gives up her magic to Una and the Elven Guard is disbanded?”
Before Gloriana could reply, Lyall spoke. “It is Gloriana’s wish that Una ascend, but if anything happens to Una before she becomes queen…” He trailed off, his voice somber. “It remains our duty to protect the Elven heir.”
“Don’t give up so soon, Glori,” Erynn said in a low voice.
Gloriana’s lips pursed in a frown as she avoided Erynn’s gaze.
“Una’s strategy is a good one.” Rorik’s eyes flicked to Gloriana. “If you wish to give up your queenhood, I support that decision.”
Ever the passionate Veela, Rorik’s minimal faith in Gloriana had been destroyed during our trip back to the human realm. He would never condone Gloriana’s past actions. The Veela heir was dead, and so Gloriana had probably seemed like their only chance. I might have felt similarly betrayed if my people’s heir were dead, too.
Rorik didn’t leave it at that. He drove his point home. “After all, Una is clearly more experienced and better equipped to become queen.”
I expected Gloriana’s shoulders to droop as they had in the past when Rorik condescended to her. Instead, she squared them and met him head-on.
“What you’ve said is true. But it is our duty to protect Una, the future queen of the Fae, by pretending that I am still an equally valid heir.”
Gloriana could still surprise us, it seemed. Rorik’s expression was difficult to read, but his winds remained calm. Something in his expression revealed his discontent, however.
It didn’t matter to me whether Una or Gloriana became queen. I intended to ensure my own race’s future, independent of Seelie and Unseelie alike. I would do anything in my power to protect Maeve, future queen of the Duwende.
Chapter 7
Rorik
When Gloriana returned with Lyall, Nolan, and Erynn escorting her, her majestic emerald eyes briefly met mine. Even over the distance of the common room, my world lurched as though we were tethered, and she’d just yanked my chain. My breath grew short, but she quickly passed her gaze over the others gathered there — Jovanka and Thressa near me and Lauren coming down the ladder to join us.
“Lyall,” Gloriana said, “will you catch them up on Una’s plan?”
Like most things about Gloriana, her human manner of speaking irritated me. For all her time in the Encante, as little as that was in the context of her life, she’d yet to make much effort to assimilate into Fae culture. Instead, with her childish refusal to accept her fate, she’d forced us to escort her back to the human realm, risking the lives of the Guard and nearly getting abducted by the Unseelie once again.
It had been foolhardy for us to go back there, but her two consorts had convinced Lyall by suggesting we might rebuild Gloriana’s trust in us by following her whims. Our absence had given the Seelie army a chance to rout the Unseelie who’d been encroaching on the palace tree, but that time was ill bought by almost losing the heir to the enemy.
Gloriana had gambled her own life to save her human friend. While I valued loyalty above nearly all else, she had jeopardized herself — and the chance to restore the Fae’s lost magic — yet again. A good queen would always put the Fae’s needs first, and her needs second. Saving the human risked everything and gained nothing. The Fae would only suffer more under the rule of a queen so immature and lacking in foresight.
As Lyall explained Una’s plan, I grudgingly had to admit it was a good one. Clearly, the Nixie heir had much more sense. Of course, she had a couple centuries’ seniority on Gloriana. We needed a strong, dedicated queen now, not later. Between our battles with the Unseelie, the decreasing life expectancy, and our dwindling birth rates, how many Fae would be left if we had to wait centuries for the Elven heir to grow into her destiny?
It suddenly struck me that we were seriously discussing the possibility of an Elven heir surrendering her queenhood to a Nixie. Our queens had always been Elves. Gloriana didn’t know our history, didn’t know how — even among the Seelie — Elves acted superior to the rest of us. She’d never once acted that way toward any of us.
Though she was far too attached to her human upbringing, I began to realize that it benefited her, and the non-Elven Fae, in some ways. She carried none of that Elven haughtiness in her posture or gestures. She possessed none of their arrogance. Quite the opposite, as her meekness and uncertainty often annoyed me.
Regardless, she was far too inexperienced to make a good queen, especially when compared with Una. Gloriana might not be worthy of being queen, but she could still play a large part in Una’s rise to power. Indeed, even after Una’s rule began, Gloriana might well serve her as an adviser. The young Elf was more than she seemed, and her youthful perspective, combined with her human sensibilities, often had a way of surprising older Fae like myself. While I rarely cared for those traits in the heir, I couldn’t deny there was some value in them. Gloriana could certainly make a better Council member than most of the other Elves currently appointed.
“Una’s strategy is a good one.” I said, glancing at Gloriana. “If you wish to give up your queenhood, I support that decision.”
But Lyall would never let that happen if he could help it. The besotted fool had gone and fallen for the perfect heir he’d imagined, not realizing Gloriana would never measure up to his fantasies. He needed to wake up and put the needs of the Fae first.
I stared straight at Lyall as I said, “After all, Una is clearly more experienced and better equipped to become queen.”
While my words had been meant for Lyall, the little heir surprised me by squaring her shoulders and facing me. “What you’ve said is true. But it is our duty to protect Una, the future queen of the Fae, by pretending that I am still an equally valid heir.”
Her emerald gaze pinned me in place. Over time, her magnetic heir’s pull seemed to be growing stronger, as though it fought against her giving up her queenhood. Attraction squeezed my chest, and I froze in place.
I pulled myself together, forcing aside the sudden urge to grovel before Gloriana and beg forgiveness for implying she was less than worthy, to plead for the chance to please her as a consort should.
“Glori, I ask you to give us the evening to consider this plan before we return to Una,” Lyall said, breaking through the insanity in my mind. “We may yet think of considerations we should bring to your attention, and hers.”
“Fine,” she said, her flippant, disrespectful way of speaking reminding me once again of her youth, her ineptitude, her inexperience. “But only until mid-morning tomorrow. Then I want to talk to Una again.”
Gloriana headed toward her rooms, leaving the rest up to Lyall.
“Very well.” He gave her a deferential nod as she disappeared into her sitting room, and then turned back to the rest of us. “Please think on the plan and the best route to take through the forest.” That last bit he directed at Nolan.
Lyall had explained that Una couldn’t take Nolan from his post on our already under-staffed Elven Heir’s Guard, but, to me, Lyall’s excuse was obviously meant to keep Nolan for Gloriana. The Duwende seemed to be acting rather secretive, as well. I understood his people’s rationale for going into hiding, but their future was at stake as much as any of ours.
Nolan had refused to divulge their location, and that meant he probably wouldn’t take us to them by the most direct route. The breeze began to pick up around me as I realized that both Lyall and Nolan were putting obstacles in Una’s path. She could perform the ceremony much sooner if Nolan agreed to become her consort. Then again, the consort bond could not be forced. Some believed that the Tree of Life ceremony would accept nothing less than a true connection. Respect, admiration, appreciation, if not outright love.
It was what made it obvious to me that I could never serve as Gloriana’s consort. Not that I wanted to.
Perhaps Una felt no attraction to Nolan and didn’t foresee their affection growing quickly enough to her tastes. The quiet, scholarly Duwende didn’t exactly peacock around. Even among the Guard, he hadn’t gone out of his way to forge strong friendships. He seemed to hold himself apart, mostly interacting with Lyall.
I couldn’t fix that obstacle. What I could do was follow Lyall’s command and try to think of any holes in the plan or ways of strengthening security around the two heirs. Without Fen, we would be relying upon Una’s Kitsune to keep all of us hidden or disguised as we traveled through the forest in our search for the Duwende.
After Lyall dismissed us, I remained seated as Thressa and a few others made their way out of the room to get food, bathe, or train. Whichever would help them evaluate the plan.
Jovanka stalked toward me, hunger in her eyes, and my cock began to swell with the thought of what she might want. She grinned, dragging me by the wrist to her room, right beside the bathing chamber and opposite of the heir’s room. I didn’t look back as Jovanka led me away, but my thoughts were a little distracted.
Once inside her sitting room, Jovanka pushed me onto a couch and straddled me. Neither of us had been wearing our chainmail armor in the common room, as we hadn’t been on guard duty, leaving little between us. I leaned forward to kiss her, but she arched away, untying her clothes and revealing her breasts to me. She would take my mouth when she was good and ready. That’s how our relationship always worked, and I revelled in it.
It was foolish of me to let the heir’s pull affect me. Gloriana could never command me the way Jovanka and my other lovers over the centuries had. I needed my lovers to dominate me the way I dominated a battlefield.
Except right now, my mind wandered. Once Una gained her fifth and final consort, she would perform the ceremony, and Jovanka and I would regain all the Veela magic we’d been missing. I yearned for that day. My fellow Veela was young enough she didn’t remember a time when we used to have absolute control over our winds, when we could use them to lift ourselves and fly over the Edge. I couldn’t wait to soar with her.
“You’re still thinking about the plan, aren’t you?” Jovanka’s voice fell to that husky tone that turned me on so much.
“Yes,” I admitted, running my hands over her hips. “I’m imagining the future.”
Jovanka pulled back, leaving me disappointed. “What will you do if Gloriana disbands us?”
For the first time, it occurred to me that once I was released from my oaths to the Guard, nothing could stop me from going after the Unseelie myself. For centuries, I’d longed to enact my revenge for what they’d done to my queen and fellow guards. Joining the Elven Heir’s Guard had prevented me from going berserk in those early days after the Last Queen’s demise, giving me a path forward and a way to redeem myself for my failings.
Now, though…
“I can see you dreaming of battle.” Jovanka grinned, knowing me all too well.
“I could form a specialized Seelie unit,” I said, the idea forming as I spoke, “composed of all races of Fae. We would strike into the heart of Unseelie-controlled lands, taking Iona by surprise.”
Several emotions passed over Jovanka’s face, but none of them looked as excited as I’d hoped.
I pressed on. “We would all have our vengeance at last.”
“The Seelie High Council would have to approve such a maneuver. Or the new queen herself. Attacking the Unseelie where they’re strongest, where they’ll outnumber us…” Jovanka shook her head.
“You doubt that they would approve the offensive? I was a member of the Last Queen’s Guard. Who better to lead the charge?”
Jovanka frowned. “I’m as much a Veela as you are. I long for battle with the Unseelie as much as any of our kind. But… I don’t share your death wish.”
“Jovanka…”
She shook her head. “I’m no longer in the mood. I’m going to go for a run.”
I sighed as she left me in her own sitting room, the sexual tension between us dissipating. Once she was gone, I sank into memories of my time among the Queen’s Guard. I’d failed them all. I’d been off duty at the time, which was the only reason I’d lived. Where others had fought valiantly to save her and been captured and tortured, I’d remained oblivious and safe at the palace tree. Those of us who’d survived tried to pursue, but it had been too late.
The Unseelie attack had been efficient and well planned. We’d been taken entirely by surprise. No one had ever suspected, let alone expected, such a coup. We’d known the Unseelie were a threat at that time, but not that they’d become so well organized… or that they were so numerous, hiding among our own ranks. We’d rooted out all the traitors among us in the years after, and for the first time in eons, executions had been carried out. The Fae considered life sacred, but no one wanted a lesser punishment for the oathbreakers and traitors.
But we’d failed to eliminate the Unseelie entirely, a failing I intended to remedy. If the powers that be would not allow me to gather volunteers to attack the Unseelie, I would do it myself. Most of my fellow survivors of the Queen’s Guard had died one way or another in the centuries since — many to suicide, a tragedy among our long-lived species. But that choice was an easy escape. In contrast, I’d held on, hoping to regain even a shred of my honor, and Lyall had given me a path to do so on the Elven Heir’s Guard.
Instead, Nuala had spurned our protection and gotten herself killed. Even I didn’t blame myself for that. But the Unseelie had thwarted us at every turn, keeping Nuala’s daughter hidden from us. And now that we’d recovered her from the Unseelie, Gloriana wanted nothing more than to give up her queenhood, a cosmic irony. But perhaps this was as it was meant to be. Maybe the time of the Elven queens had ended with the Last Queen.
Regardless, I would see to it that the Unseelie never rose to power. Even if I had to go it alone. It would be a glorious battle, and Veela loved battle. Some said it was our human blood that made us so bloodthirsty, as our Fae side considered life sacred. Whatever the reason, I found my heart thumping faster at the thought of shedding Unseelie blood. I would unleash my inner warrior and strike at their stronghold, where they least expected it. I would fight my way into their midst until I found the orchestrator of chaos, Iona, the one responsible for the Last Queen’s demise.
Then, I would either kill Iona and carry out my revenge at last… or I would die in battle. I would redeem my honor either way.
Chapter 8
Thressa
I hated to see how much Gloriana’s determination to give up her queenhood affected Erynn. While Lyall talked, Erynn focused completely on Gloriana. While the Elven heir held Erynn’s attention, I was equally ensnared by Erynn herself. Every movement she made was magical. She was such a pretty Elf, even though she had cut her beautiful black hair to be short and spiky.
Shaking my head, I listened closely as Lyall and Gloriana discussed how they would support Una’s own plans. I couldn’t help but melt at the dismay on Erynn’s face as Gloriana spoke of giving up her magic. Erynn believed so strongly that Gloriana should become queen and replenish magic to all Fae, no matter how unworthy the other four races were.
I tried to remind myself that Erynn was nothing more than a distraction. I needed to pay attention to the discussion, so I could report back. Erynn’s personal feelings didn’t concern me, no matter how much I wished otherwise. I wanted so badly to show her the way. To show her that Gloriana was completely unworthy of her and the rest of the Elves. Our race was the oldest and most powerful of all Fae, the only truly purebred Fae race. The other races were abominations, ancient offshoots of Elves breeding with humans, creating races that shouldn’t have existed to begin with. It was clear, though, that Erynn didn’t possess the same clarity of vision.
I’d made numerous overtures in the years since she had joined the Guard — both for personal and professional reasons — to no avail. Despite my lack of success, I couldn’t seem to put my hope behind me. I wanted her too much, with her beauty only increasing over time, current hairstyle notwithstanding. And even if I couldn’t have her in my bed, she would have been a strong ally in achieving the Unseelie’s goals, if I had been able to sway her to our cause.
Unfortunately, I had failed to achieve either of those goals, and — worse — all my scheming had yet to return Gloriana to the Unseelie’s hands so that Janneth could become queen. The Seelie’s dumb luck had thwarted all of our plans thus far. With two surviving heirs, though, I wondered if there might be another path forward. If we couldn’t recapture Gloriana, perhaps we could take Una instead. Either way, we could force the heir to give up her queenhood to Janneth, someone capable of ruling appropriately.
