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“Why?” I asked, thinking back to the negativity I’d picked up from the high lord during my lesson mentioning House Tragon. I could have guessed about the high lord’s demand for detail before Luke’s admonition, but I wasn’t sure what the high lord’s issue was with House Tragon.
“Ah, well, let’s just say the high lord believes that High Lady Tragon was too friendly with the north at one point during the war, and he’ll not be persuaded otherwise,” Luke answered. “And her son definitely hasn’t done anything to help their reputation.”
I tried to think back on everything I’d read about High Lady Tragon recently. Her husband had died in the last war, and shortly after, she’d become high lady, the only high lady ever appointed to the High Council. She was from a northern border town, and House Tragon was located along the border as well. Location alone didn’t implicate the high lady of impermissible northern ties, though. House Rein was also located in the north and was known as one of the most loyal Houses to Valencia and King Heroux. I knew I was missing something.
“Don’t think too hard on it, Al,” Luke joked. “Work’s over for the day. Let’s go have some fun!” he said, squeezing his arm around me and pulling me closer into his body.
I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Leave the new kid in the dark. Guess I’ll have to find out on my own,” I quipped, pulling my long hair to the side and tucking under Luke’s arm.
7
Jay
“Grey, the discontent among the lesser fae continues to grow,” I warned King Heroux.
The discontent of the lesser fae was notnewnews. The issues with the lesser fae, like most issues in Valencia over the last quarter century, could be traced back to the dying magic. The magic of Valencia began to dim around twenty-three years ago, shortly after the conclusion of the war with Alancia. The dimming was so gradual at first that many did not notice at all.
The most conspicuous magical abilities were the first to noticeably diminish. Those with abilities to magically travel people and objects with the power of their minds could not travel the same amount or distance as they once could. Healers could not pull off the miracles they once could. However, these more discernible abilities tended to belong to the high fae, and they were very circumspect about revealing the diminution of their power. Eventually, all abilities, high fae and lesser fae alike, were perceptibly impacted, and no one could relegate this fact to the shadows.
The lesser fae’s magic fading, in particular, caused a chain reaction in the Kingdom. Daily transit, as well as the supply chain around Valencia, depended upon carriages powered by the magic of lesser fae transporters. The lesser fae used to be able to simply instill their transportation power into the carriage and send the carriage’s contents on their way. But, as the magic began to die, the power of transporters had to be supplemented with Azurinium, which was plentiful enough at my Court but otherwise limited throughout the Kingdom. The effects of the decline in easy transportation further exacerbated the already impacted resources in Valencia. Lesser fae with magical harvesting abilities could no longer harvest a crop with the snap of their fingers. Lesser fae with hunting abilities found their fish nets empty and their arrows unused in their quiver. This led to a shortage of food in some communities, which eventually impacted the distribution of all resources in Valencia.
“My King, you can count on House Mouchard to quell any disruptions along the northern border,” High Lady Tragon said sycophantically.
The muscles in my jaw jumped. The high lady pushed the King toward conflict with the lesser fae at every possible opportunity. She thought that a conflict with the lesser fae would give her an opportunity to elevate the status of hermaiden House, House Mouchard, which was located along the northern border between Alancia and Valencia and would be strategically indispensable in such a conflict.It was a reckless power-grab.
“Grey, there is nothing thatneedsto be quelled at this time,” I said, ignoring the high lady’s comment.
It was true that high fae and lesser fae, once united by the common cause to defeat Alancia, found themselves once again at odds after the war. The lesser fae, who once stood shoulder to shoulder with the high fae during the war effort, quickly found themselves relegated to their pre-war roles in the Kingdom. After the war, the high fae moved back to their lavish coastal estates and their opulent manors at the High Court, and the diminished lesser fae were once again consigned to their meager existence in small towns and as servants to the high fae.
The divide between the high fae and the lesser fae became visceral around the time of Queen Heroux’s passing. Queen Heroux had been a beautiful mixed fae with liquid black hair and deep dark green eyes. As immortals, there were very few things that could bring a fae true death—essentially, rare magic or specifically crafted iron weapons or some combination thereof. We did not get sick, we were rarely injured outside of war, and we quickly healed on our own. And for the more grievous injuries, there were talented healers. But, after the war with Alancia, the Queen became weak. Despite the ministrations of the best and brightest healers in Valencia, the Queen continued to perish, just like the magic of the Kingdom.
When the Queen passed, about three years after the end of the war, the fae of Valencia were aghast. Fae were not immortal if their Queen could simply perish. And so, the fae of Valencia sought a way to distinguish themselves from the Queen—anything to separatehermortality from that of the immortal. The Queen’s lesser fae heritage was all too easy for an unfortunately large subsect of the fae population to latch onto.
And so, the Queen’s seeming mortality set off a reaction of extreme prejudice within some of the high fae of Valencia. The lesser fae were seen as tainted with mortality, and the high fae viewed themselves alone as immortal. This bit of propaganda was perpetuated, even though around the same time, a lord of pure heritage passed away under the same circumstances as the Queen, just seeming to fade away. The Queen’s death wasn’t even the first death of the kind, and certainly not the last, although it was the most widely known.
After the Queen’s passing, Grey found comfort in Gloria’s company and soon made her consort to House Heroux. This was unfairly viewed by some as their lesser fae Queen being replaced with a high fae lady. And then there was the fact that the mixed-fae prince, Prince Nikolas, began to come to the High Court less and less after his mother’s passing, which some mistook for further evidence of some prejudice on the part of the King.
The King’s relationship with the lesser fae populace since his wife’s passing was complicated. But it was not to the point of physical conflict, as the high lady suggested.
“We should send envoys to the lesser fae over at House Dumont,” I suggested. “They’re reasonable folk over there. I can go,” I offered.
House Dumont was the oldest and most established lesser fae House at the High Court. House Dumont maintained a residence and the largest contingent of lesser fae at the High Court until recently. Now, Lord Dumont resided in his manor along the northwestern border of Valencia in Ardmore.
Grey nodded, seemingly in agreement.
“We shouldn’t let this sentiment fester with the lesser fae,” I advised.
Statue beheadings would be the least of our worries if the lesser fae truly began to rebel. We relied heavily upon the lesser fae for so many things to keep the Kingdom operating.
High Lord Rein chose not to weigh in on the issue. He’d previously told me that he could see points on both sides—as of now, the northern Houses, including his House, were bearing the brunt of the lesser fae discontent because that was where the majority of the lesser fae population resided. But it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle, at the moment at least. If matters escalated, however, Lord Rein agreed with me—this was not just a northern problem, and unlike the high lady, he had no desire to take on the entire governance of the lesser fae relations on his own.
“Perhaps you’re right, Jay,” the King said at last.
I began to release the tension I was subconsciously holding in my shoulders.
“But let’s let the northern Houses handle this a little longer,” the King decided.
