ChapterOne
Theseus, king of the Court of Knowledge, stood in his tower study and contemplated whether death or marriage was the better option.
He clasped his hands behind his back, gazing out of one of the windows set into the tower’s round walls.This particular window looked over the Great Library, the magical library that was the heart and soul of this Court.Currently, the sunlight winked off the glass dome and all the glass skylights, but sometimes in the evenings, Theseus could see through the dome to the upper shelves of books, lit with the golden glow of the faerie lights.
There was a reason he preferred to work tucked away in this tower, leaving the official study on the main floor for formal occasions or meeting with visitors from outside of his court.
All the knowledge of the Fae Realm, and it was his to protect.
For more centuries than anyone in this realm cared to count, his ancestors had protected the Great Library.He could not be the first to fail.
If only his circumstances weren’t so dire, his choices so desperate.
A knock came on the door.Theseus didn’t turn around.“Enter.”
The hinges creaked, followed by two sets of expected and recognizable footsteps.
Philostrate, Theseus’s steward, cleared his throat.“Your Majesty, I have brought Head Librarian Marco, as you requested.”
“Thank you.”Theseus could not bring himself to turn around.“What is the latest report from the Court of Revels?”
“My sources confirm that tension between King Oberon and Queen Titania is rising.At this point, they can’t even stand to be in the same room without fighting.”Philostrate’s voice remained steady and formal.“A resolution does not appear to be coming anytime soon.”
Theseus suppressed a sigh.Bad enough that the barrier between the Fae Realm and the Realm of Monsters had been wearing increasingly thin lately all over the realm.But with the magic of Midsummer thinning the barrier even more, this Midsummer Night was shaping up to be deadly.To make their situation even worse, King Oberon and Queen Titania’s marital fighting would also create thin spots in the barrier.Possibly even tear a full hole.
On Midsummer Night, monsters would pour from their realm into the Fae Realm, wreaking havoc on anything in their way.
And the Court of Knowledge didn’t have enough trained warriors to withstand the onslaught.
Thus Theseus’s dilemma.If he did nothing, he would most likely die on Midsummer Night along with the rest of his Court as they struggled to protect the Great Library from destruction.
Or, he would have to forge a bargain with another Court, one with warriors aplenty who could protect both their Court and his.Yet the only bargain strong enough—and safe enough—would be for him to be bound in marriage to a relative of a Court ruler.Or, better yet, the ruler herself.
That left Theseus with precious few options.The king of the Court of Stone had a daughter that Theseus could attempt to steal.As did the king of the Court of Sand.But both of those courts had so many monster attacks of their own that they had no warriors to spare to aid another Court.
That left Queen Hippolyta of the Court of Swordmaidens.She was unmarried, near to Theseus’s age, and her island court of warrior women was strong and relatively untouched by the monster attacks.She would have plenty of warriors to spare to defend the Court of Knowledge.
The only problem was that Theseus could not merely steal Queen Hippolyta the way he would a bride from another court.Stealing a spouse was a time-honored tradition among most of the Courts, but the Court of Swordmaidens had their own, unique traditions that governed them.
Theseus drew his shoulders straight, still staring down at the Great Library.“Marco.What did you find about the marriage bindings practiced by the Court of Swordmaidens?”
“Sadly, not much.”Head Librarian Marco’s tenor held the regret of a researcher bemoaning the knowledge of a long-lost civilization.“The Court of Swordmaidens has always been secretive when it comes to marrying into their Court.They don’t allow men to stay on their island, and when I’ve sent female librarians to their island to research their ways, the librarians always end up taking their side and never provide me with the information I’m looking for.Any time I manage to document anything, that information always mysteriously goes missing from the Library.I don’t even know how they pull that off.”
Theseus’s fingers hurt from gripping them so tightly behind his back.That wasn’t the answer he had been hoping for, though it was the one he had expected.The swordmaidens guarded their secrecy fiercely.They so rarely left their island that Theseus didn’t even know what Queen Hippolyta looked like.
He turned to face Philostrate and Marco.Philostrate was a thin fae male with earnest blue eyes and black hair flecked with gray.Marco wore his black librarian coat with gold embroidery that marked him as the head librarian of the entire Court of Knowledge.His white beard hung all the way to his knees.
These two men were Theseus’s closest, most trusted advisors.He needed their support of this plan, no matter how desperate it was.
Theseus leaned against the windowsill, facing them.“Is that all the information you could find?”
“Yes, that’s all the officially documented information.”Head Librarian Marco gestured, his fingers catching in a few strands of his beard.“But I’ve been around for a while.I’ve heard a few things.I know that a swordmaiden’s hand can never be stolen, only won.When you present yourself to attempt to win a swordmaiden’s hand, you’ll be put through tests to prove your worthiness.If you pass the trials, you will win the hand of your chosen swordmaiden.If you fail, you will be tossed from their island, never allowed to return.If you survive.”
Trials.Most likely of strength, endurance, and warrior skills.Things a swordmaiden would appreciate in a mate.
Theseus had trained with the best warriors of his Court, as well as a few warriors from other Courts from whom he had managed to bargain training sessions in exchange for particularly sensitive information they had been seeking from the Library.Surely he would have enough experience and skills to at least hold his own long enough to pass their tests.
Though, the tests they would inflict on him to win the hand of their queen would be brutal.
