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“You’re talking too loud.” Harlin felt his mouth snap shut and looked at Remi, who was staring up at him. “What the hell did you do to me? I mean, I feel like I could take on a man as large as a house and come out on top.”
“You’re evolving into a fae.” Harlin glared at Mercy. “I needed to tell her first. You’d have fucked it up by being all sweet and kind about it.” Mercy looked at Remi. “Also, you’re going to be the queen of the fae. And you’re having a baby. Lucky you. Woo hoo.”
“Is this true?” He nodded at Remi and asked her what she was thinking. “Right now, nothing much other than how good I feel. Also, slightly embarrassed that all these people are in our room right now. We need to really find us a house.”
“You’ll take the castle.” Once again, Harlin glared at someone. Basil kept laughing. “It’ll make it to your specifications. Also, there are any number of fae and faerie around that would leap at the chance to work with the new king and queen.”
“Did I miss something here? When did we agree to be the king and queen of anything?” He jumped at the chance to answer her question when Blaze beat him to it. “I see. So instead of us thinking on it, we’ve been volunteered by magic. I suppose it could be worse. Right?”
When she moved out of his arms and stood up, he watched as wings, as large as his own, uncurled from her back and opened up. She was standing in front of the mirror looking at them when he shooed the rest of them away. It was time the two of them had a talk, without everyone there laughing and having much too much fun at their expense. She looked at him when he noticed the most beautiful crown he’d ever seen atop her head.
“You have one too. It’s very ornate, don’t you think?” It was, but it was beautiful. “I hope we don’t have to wear these all the time. They’ll get in the way of me trying to fly. I’m assuming I can fly with you?”
“Yes, I think so. I have a handbook around someplace. Mom might even have a copy of it.” She told him she had it implanted in her mind. He thought of it and watched as it appeared in front of him, revealing the page of things she could do once she was fully evolved. “I don’t know if you are or not, but I have to
ask. Are you all right with not being a bird any longer?”
“I’m not sure, to be honest with you.” She turned in the mirror and looked at herself in the full length of it. “This is prettier than a vulture, don’t you think? And I do look fantastic in this crown.”
“I think you look beautiful in anything you have on. Or off.” He held her in his arms. When she looked up at him, he saw things he’d not before. “Your eyes have changed. They’re no longer dark but the color of the greenest grass. There are stars in them, as well as a beautiful blue. You are fae, my love.”
“I love you as well, Harlin. So much.” She laid her head on his chest, and he could feel the way her mind was working. He didn’t pry, even though he wanted to find out what had her so preoccupied at the moment. “We need to check out the castle, I guess. As well as figure out what we’re going to do with Rose and her husband.”
“Basil told me last evening that he wanted nothing to do with their trial or their sentencing. He’s leaving that up to Duncan. Or I guess he might leave it to us now. I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to him.” She asked him if she should be able to feel the earth calling to her. “I don’t know, love. I’ve never been a king of fae before. But if that’s what you feel, then I’m sure it’s right. I have always felt the call, but it was never like it is now. Strong enough to have me want to go and check on it. Is that what you feel?”
“It is. Like I not only need to go out and touch the grass, but I need to have a long talk with it as well.” He took her hand into his and led her out onto the decking outside of their room. When he took her into his arms, and they dropped to the ground, her laughter sang all over the woods behind them. Harlin thought she could and would draw all manner of creatures to her with that alone. “I can feel it. All of it. Trees and plants alike welcoming me to their hearts.”
“I can feel it as well. It’s an amazing feeling.”
He was enjoying being fae through her eyes. He had to speak to his mom and thought of her. When she landed in the grass beside the two of them, Remy invited her to sit with them, and they spent most of the evening and well into the night sitting and talking to whatever came out of the woods to speak to them.
Chapter 5
Basil was quite pleased with himself. Not that he would wish what had been happening to him on anyone. But he was free of the poison in his body, and not only that, his wife and brother were being brought to justice for it. Looking around at the crowd that had formed for the trial today, he could see many people he’d not seen in a very long time.
“How are you feeling, Basil?” He was standing up when his lordship Duncan told him to sit. “We’re not as formal as you’d think. I’m taking cues from my mom on how to let my people be able to come to me when there is a problem. I’m to understand from Remi that you’re not going to sentence your wife and brother.”
“No. I think it should be left up to her and Harlin to do it. It’ll show that they’re not going to be tolerant of breaking the laws. Also, I think they’ve already done more for my people—their people—than I ever did. And they’ve only been king and queen for less than two days.” Duncan mentioned how he’d seen them at the storage house earlier. “Yes. They were there taking an inventory. I’d not been able to do that for some time. I guess they’re going to make sure it’s cleaned up and out at least twice a year.”
“Good for them.” They watched the people for a little bit more before Duncan spoke again. “I’ve heard that Rosemary isn’t doing well. They wonder if she is willing herself to die. The killing of her son, though I know it had to be done, has taken its toll on her. I think, should they have stayed here and not had all this other drama going on, things would have been different.”
“Yes. I suppose it would have been. My wife was never faithful to me, I guess. I’m not saying I was the best person for her, but she was having an affair with my brother from the very start. Even before. I have been to speak to him. He, of course, is saying that since he is my blood brother, I should at least give him a sentence that will make it so he can live.” Basil laughed a little. “I guess there are people like him, even in humans. Thinking that whatever they’ve done can be washed away simply because of who they’re related to. Sad state if you ask me.”
“Are you going to see if he can get a lesser punishment?” Basil shook his head and told him it was out of his hands. “Good for you, Basil. However, you should know that Remi is thinking, only because he is your only living relative, that you would want them to do that. Give Juniper a lesser sentence than the death that he deserves.”
“I know. That’s why before this begins, I’m going to dissolve my relationship with him and Rosemary. It’s an old law, saying that when a sibling or other blood relative has created trouble for the pip, then the king can and should take them out of his lineage so there will be no favoritism.” Duncan asked how it worked. “Nothing to it, really. I’ve already spoken to Harlin—now there is a smart man if you ask me, and Remi is his exact opposite in the way she is very outspoken. Anyway, I’ve spoken to him, and he is going to grant me time at the start so I can do this. He’s all for it. Then when the trial is over, Rosemary and Juniper have their hearts and heads removed. That is mostly ceremonial. It simply means because they’ll never be whole, no one can visit them at a faerie circle and call them forth. Just to talk to them and such.”
“I wish I had done that for my mother. I would love to talk to her on occasion.” Basil started to tell him they’d gladly do that for him when he continued. “But she told me I’ve been wasting too much time talking to a dead old woman and that I should get on with my life. I think she’s right in that. If I could see her like a thing a faerie ring would grant me, I’d never leave her side.”
As more people started filling out the large open field, some of the other birds and their families joined them. Basil was handed an infant as soon as Mercy and her husband joined them, and he looked down at the little boy. Basil wondered if they knew the power this young one had.
“They know.” He looked up at Remi when she sat down in front of him. “He’s been a handful with his power. I heard Mercy telling someone the other day that she was terrified he will figure out more things to do and their house will be destroyed or something. He’s a cutie, don’t you think?”
“He is. I’ve never held a child before.” She said he was a pro at it. “Thank you. Now, what is it you’re here for, my dear queen? You don’t usually start out with something entirely different than what you want to say. So say it so that we can talk about other things.”
“Rosemary is dead. They found her body earlier this morning, and she was just skeletal remains. She also left you a note. I have it here should you want to read it.” He asked her if she’d read it to him. “I can tell you what it says. I don’t usually read other people’s mail when it’s addressed to them, but I didn’t want her saying something to you that would hurt you any more than she had.”
“She’s asked for forgiveness.” Remi nodded. “Anything else? Did she want me to have mercy on my brother? I won’t do that in the event that’s something she asked for.”
