Night Fae by Meg Xuemei X.
Chapter 5
Three bartenders were busy mixing poisons behind the full bar. Somehow, they seemed familiar, but I couldn’t see their faces since they all wore chef hats and kept their heads down with their backs to me.
I might go say hello and see what the mage bar had to offer if I had a chance to do so later.
“Lady Evelina, would you like to sit next to me?” Northton asked, jerking my attention away from the bar.
I blinked at him in confusion. Why did he want me to sit beside him?
“Lady Evelina will sit between the Summer King and me,” Rydstrom said in his velvety voice, “according to the seating arrangement that my Captain of the Guards sent you earlier.”
Brigantia snapped her head toward Rydstrom, displeased with his protectiveness of me, before glaring at me with all the venom she could manage.
“As you wish,” Northton said with an amiable smile. Then I realized that he had called me because he wanted me to focus on the here and now instead of getting distracted.
Everyone took their seat at the director’s instruction, and I perched on the chair that a mage pulled out for me between Rydstrom and Baron.
A stream of mages swiftly brought us drinks, each mage serving one of us.
A mug of Irish coffee waited in front of me. Baron had Assam tea, brewed strong with a lot of cream in it. The Summer King had developed a taste for potent black tea while he trained me in the underground facilities of Rydstrom’s club. Without comment, I watched him add five spoons of sugar into his mug before he allowed the serving mage to take away the silver tray.
Black coffee was parked before Rydstrom, and Northton had the same.
It appeared that the mages had discovered our tastes beforehand.
A tall glass of blood red wine was placed on the table in front of Brigantia. The Winter King was sipping jasmine green tea in a delicate Japanese teacup. He had never liked green tea before. His taste buds must have changed along with his sparkling personality since I saw him last time.
“So, this is the peace talk?” Brigantia mocked before Director Northton could speak. “Why is a lowly member of the Winter King’s harem allowed to sit at the table with the ultimate monarchs of Elfame?” She turned to Rowan with a scathing look. “You would allow this insult to go on, too, King Rowan?”
They both sat across from us while Northton took the seat at the head of the table. The seats were arranged to prevent a direct hit from the Dawn Queen to me. As soon as she attacked, Rydstrom would go on offense and Baron would shield me, as they’d mapped out.
“Lady Evelina isn’t one of my harem,” the Winter King said regretfully. He gestured at Rydstrom and Baron with hostility. “They took her before I could make that happen. They outmaneuvered me, but it isn’t over yet.”
“Then you deceived me while I was in your Winter castle, King Rowan,” Brigantia scolded. “I regarded you as my closest ally.”
“I’m your only ally, Queen Brigantia,” Rowan said icily. “As you can see from what’s happening here. You don’t want to push me to their side.”
He didn’t act very love-struck with her now. When he stared at her, there was no heat or any adoration for her in his cornflower-blue eyes. It was as if the Winter King had split personalities, and the one in front of us was his third persona.
“You had that wee thing in your castle, and you didn’t give her to me,” Brigantia hissed, unwilling to let go of her sourness. “You sent me one of your courtiers instead and told me that she was the impostor. How dare you lie to me? How could you trick me like that, Winter King?”
Rowan had used glamour to disguise one of his court ladies as me and given her to the Dawn Queen to torture. In the magical hologram the dark prince of Hell had shown me, I’d watched the queen drill iron nails into the Fae courtier and pin her to the wall like a helpless butterfly. The Winter King had played a part in that woman’s horrific ending because she betrayed both him and me. He was just as cruel as my evil sister.
The coldhearted bastard flicked his gaze toward me, and I glared back, showing my icy hatred and loathing for him. He had wanted my reaction to his presence, and now he had it. For a second, he flinched, and then his face hardened to icy steel. A trail of frost puffed out between his sculpted lips.
“Perhaps the girl was too good at duping me,” the Winter King said acidly. “She held her own and concealed her power from me. And then the treacherous Summer King and Night King interfered with my plan. They’re insufferable and unforgivable and shall remain my enemies forever.”
What a douche.
“Those are your excuses, Winter King?” Brigantia yelled.
“What else? What do you want me to say?” Rowan turned to her, his look cutting and glacial, and she blinked in anger and surprise at his sudden surge of temper and leaned away from him. “Perhaps I thought I could keep her to punish both the Summer King and the Night King. These two assholes screwed everything up for us, especially for you. I understand that you planned to absorb and harvest the girl’s immense raw power by torturing her to death or forcing her into the Wild Hunt. It’ll be too late for you to take her power for yourself after her Turning. She’ll be too powerful. Perhaps I wanted the same thing from her as you do, but it’s not going to happen for me now. I hope you’ll have better luck.”
“King Rowan! What have you done!” the Dawn Queen raged at him.
He arched an eyebrow at her and laughed bitterly and cynically. “What do you expect, Queen Brigantia? We’re Fae. We crave power over all else. Who are we to deny our bloody nature?”
I hadn’t expected him to be so unhinged, but then he’d just revealed to us what my evil sister was up to and why she was so hellbent on dragging me into the Wild Hunt. She’d known exactly who I was, and she wanted to take my power, just as she had stolen the powers from her many victims.
Baron’s golden eyes and Rydstrom’s midnight ones were on fire, terrifying rage brimming in them.
At the queen’s shriek of rage, Rowan blinked at her as if he’d just awoken from a trance, then he narrowed his icy eyes at Baron and Rydstrom.
“They played us,” he said, pointing his two fingers at the kings from his rival courts. “My despicable half-brother has been working with the Unseelie King. They’ve conspired to combine forces against us. They hid Evelina from me, and they took her from my castle. It was them who glamoured my loyal, lovely courtier to look like Evelina right before I sent her to you. Now I see the truth, and I won’t forgive this betrayal.”
As I said, he was utterly deranged. He was completely different than the Winter King I’d once thought I knew.
“So, King Rydstrom, all the evidence is laid out now,” the queen jeered. “You’ve been conspiring against me, and I’ve been too lenient toward you for too long. I won’t let it slide this time. I have my limits, and you’ve repeatedly tested my patience. Now, here’s a proposal for you. Either you agree to it or—”
“Or what, you psycho cow?!” I said to her face before Rydstrom could refuse her. I’d lost it. “Return my brother, Brigantia! Any harm comes to him and I’ll shred you to pieces like the true trash you are.”
The Dawn guards were on the move instantly, but a team of mages intercepted them.
Brigantia shot to her feet, and my kings rose too, facing her down.
“Drag this disgusting human whore out of here!” she screamed, her trembling finger thrust in my direction. “She has no right and no place here among the kings and queen. The peace talk I agreed to has nothing to do with this mortal slut! I came to the Silver Circle’s headquarters because I believed that the kings and I could finally reach an agreement, as Elfame’s survival depends on our treaty!”
Well, on the treaty part, we’d tricked her. Rydstrom hadn’t taken it upon himself to inform Brigantia of the true purpose of the summit, which was to force her to cancel the summons of the Wild Hunt, return my brother without a scratch, call off the bounty on my head, and promise never to try and harm me again. Also, there was the matter of Pestilence, which had spread to the human world, and we needed her to give us the antidote.
In the mortal realm where her power was the weakest, we’d thought we could force her hand. Rydstrom had led her on, allowing her to assume that he might bend to her will this time. She’d wanted to make him her consort more than anything.
“You’re the one who’s trying to destroy both faerie and the mortal world, Brigantia,” Rydstrom said, violence storming in his midnight eyes. “We’ve also learned you’re behind releasing Pestilence, the Fae plague, into the human cities to thin their populations. You’re dragging us into a forbidden war that we might not win.”
“Is it true, Queen Brigantia?” Northton rose from his seat slowly, unforgiving power and promise glowing in the silver cloud of his eyes.
“False,” Brigantia sneered. “This is all nonsense!”
“It’s too late to pretend now, Brigantia,” Baron said, his face hard. “You know exactly who Princess Evelina is, or you wouldn’t have placed a bounty on her head and orchestrated three assassination attempts. Last time, you sent an army of darkfae to kill the princess. You slew my knights and took Evelina’s adopted brother to blackmail her into being the tithe in the Wild Hunt.”
The room dropped into deathly silence at the Summer King’s pronouncement.
“And you murdered my warriors in the mortal land while they defended the true heir to the throne of the Dawn Court,” Rydstrom said. “Their blood won’t go unanswered. You have one minute to call off the bounty on the princess, return her brother safely, and cancel the summons of the Wild Hunt. You’ll also hand us the antidote to Pestilence.”
“I don’t think so,” Brigantia said, venom in her eyes and her rage nearly making her drop her glamour. It flickered for less than a breath and stabilized again, yet no one else but me could see the moment of the subtle shift. So her glamour wasn’t infallible after all. “I won’t put up with all these outrageous accusations. Are you going to risk war against me and the Winter King just for his used slut?”
“Drop the act, Brigantia. It’s getting tiresome,” Baron said, his deep, harsh voice booming in the hall. “Let me spell it out for you. Lady Evelina is Princess Ileana—the lost princess heir, your sister, and the rightful true queen of the Dawn Court. Abdicate, give up your throne now and go into exile, and we might let you live. Then the true Queen Ileana might forgive your many black sins.”
Baron, the most vocal and blunt Fae king, had quickly issued many demands on my behalf. We’d diverted from our original script and plan of gradually and strategically pushing Brigantia into a corner and forcing her to accept our terms.
Fae were always hardcore, and they didn’t think or act like humans. The Fae monarchs were the most ruthless and deadly predators. When they clashed with each other, reason and logic were the last things on their minds, and consequence could go fuck itself.
But then, reason never worked in the real world either.
And who could understand the intricate and brutal workings of the Fae kings’ minds? I was raised in the human world, but a part of me was just like them—ruthless beyond reason, despite my parents going to great lengths to train me to be cautious at every turn. They’d practiced the same to keep me safe, but they hadn’t known that it was never their lessons or principles but my love for them and for my siblings that kept me grounded.
Without them, I could turn into a monster even I myself would fear. But now, while the rest of my siblings were tucked away in safety, I could afford to become that person.
The Fae kings had tried to hide my identity to keep me safe, but my enemies had still discovered me. So, the kings had changed their tactics. We no longer had the luxury of slow moves, like infiltrating the Dawn Court and waiting for an opportunity to put me on the throne.
They were announcing my true heritage to the world in the mages’ headquarters and letting the word spread. Now, more than ever, it was time to establish my legitimate status as the true queen of the Dawn Court.
I hadn’t wanted the throne until I had been pushed into a corner. I’d been afraid of fighting for the crown that was mine. I’d thought I’d never be ready for that kind of stifling court life, bound by ruling, responsibility, betrayal, and violence.
But Brigantia was a monster. She’d harmed my human family. She’d released Pestilence into the human world because of her insatiable ambition and black hatred. Now, thousands of human lives were lost because of the Fae plague.
She must be stopped. She must die. Or I’d never feel secure. My siblings would never have a safe home. And more humans would die until Brigantia and the pure Fae wiped them out.
So, I was ready to give all I had to fight and wade through a river of blood and bones to take my throne, claim my birthright, and cut the head off the snake.
I am Ileana—the lost princess heir and the rightful queen of the Dawn Court.
For a second, the room became deathly silent. In the quiet before the storm, the Director of the Silver Circle smiled as if he’d expected this explosive outcome.
“My little sister died at birth,” Brigantia screeched. “This unremarkable thing is an imposter! Look at her! She isn’t even a Fae, but an inferior human!”
“Yet you went out of your way to put a ten-million-in-gold bounty on her head,” Baron said.
I gave him a hard look. It wasn’t wise to mention that much money. Indeed, gasps broke out in the room. I darted my eyes around nervously, sincerely hoping no one would jump on the opportunity. Ten million in gold was damn tempting to anyone who had a heartbeat.
Even Northton raised an eyebrow at the generous offer, his hand automatically moving toward his khaki pants. I bet he kept a few deadly spells in his pockets, and I knew he’d aid my kings and me if anyone came to take my head.
“I was raised by mages in the human world, and I’m proud of that,” I said. It was time to prove who I really was. “But I’m not a human.”
With a thought and sheer will, I shrugged off the glamour the kings had placed on me with their powerful magic. Instantly, I saw my new appearance in the Night King’s sapphire eyes, then in the Summer King’s molten amber eyes. My own eyes were the greenest things, set in my porcelain face. My full lips were gorgeously pink, like roses in a spring mist.
A trace of cool air flowed over my pointed ears that peeked out of my golden hair. I radiated like the dawn star. Everyone who saw me now would be convinced that I was a royal Dawn Fae through and through.
My every feature was beyond exquisite. I hadn’t desired this degree of beauty that no human or high Fae could dream of possessing, but now I owned it willingly and proudly, knowing it was my weapon and my birthright, and I was wielding it.
I was no longer the Evelina who was constantly bitching about losing my college dream in my little familiar world. I was now Princess Ileana, who held part of her human past within her heart. I was no longer lost, for I’d found my mates and myself—or they’d found me first.
Shocking silence rippled across the hall. Not even my kings’ elite knights had seen my Fae appearance before. Yeah, I knew, it was stunning.
The mages’ ward was designed to prevent the use of any offensive magic, but they couldn’t negate Fae glamour. That was why Brigantia still had her glamour in place. That was why I could drop mine to show my Fae heritage. I only wished I could rip off her camouflage and let the world see her true face, which was as hideous as her blackened soul.
Baron and Rydstrom gazed at me, heat smoldering in their eyes like the midnight sun. My heart fluttered, my desire for them searing the air between us. Rydstrom reached for me, and I opened my arms for him, but he pulled me behind him and parked himself in front of me, even with the table between the queen and me.
Baron tensed like a whip, his muscles bulged, his hand twitching near his blade. His hard gaze fixed on Brigantia like she was a rattlesnake about to uncoil and strike.
“Is this too Fae for you, Kin slayer and mass murderer?” I asked with a cold, savage smile.
“Behold Princess Ileana,” Northton called out, his commanding and cultivated voice booming off the glass walls. The Director of the Silver Circle was the first one outside the Fae circle to acknowledge me. “The world can’t wait to get to know you more.”
“How dare you, imposter!”Brigantia screamed, pointing her manicured finger at me then sweeping her hand at everyone around the table. “This peace talk is over! I’ll never concede to a pretender.”
Northton clapped his hands, and two figures stepped out from behind the bar and dropped their mage glamour. They slid off their chef hats and beamed at me, love, pride, and sorrow reeling in the warm eyes of the parents that had looked after me for two decades.
A riot of emotion slammed into my chest.
“Mom? Dad?” I stuttered as pain, relief, shock, and joy flooded me.
