Chapter Forty-Five

 

 

We had just reached the Seelie border when the rear guard spotted a host of Unseelie knights approaching. I peered warily over Trenton's shoulder at the smudge on the horizon. My imagination sharpened the image into the savage soldiers of the Dark Court; riding frothy-mouthed beasts, with their vicious king in the lead. I could see his grim expression in my mind, and I knew that Drostan would not stop until he had me back. The Unseelie King was not a man to be thwarted.

Luckily, the Seelie Queen was a brilliant tactician and had sent the rest of her army to line the border of Seelie. They closed in behind us after we made it past their ranks. Queen Tana had sent Trenton with a mounted force small enough to move quickly through Unseelie, and then had backed him with the bulk of her army. Thousands of fairy soldiers stood staring out towards Unseelie; armored and eager to cross swords with their enemies.

Trenton reined in his horse as soon as we were behind the Seelie lines, and Conall rode up alongside us.

“Riley, I want you to go with Sir Conall,” Trenton said as he stroked my cheek tenderly.

“What? Why? What are you going to do?” I asked anxiously.

“I'm going to lead my army against the Unseelie,” he said calmly.

“No,” I nearly screeched. “I just got you back; you can't go into battle now.”

“My soldiers are going to war for us, my love.” Trenton took my face in his hands and kissed me gently. “I cannot let them fight without their commander. It would be the highest act of cowardice and arrogance, and I refuse to be that man... even for you.”

“I wouldn't love that man,” I whispered as I looked down at the silk ribbon tied to his belt; the same one I had given him in the training courtyard. “All right, Trenton. But if you're staying, then so am I.”

“And I,” Conall added.

“No; you are not,” Trenton said firmly. “In this, you will obey me, Riley. We have braved much to save you; not only us Seelie, but also your friend in the Unseelie Court, who risked his life to send me a message about your Understanding being released. Now, you will do the honorable thing and respect your hard-won safety.”

“My friend in Unseelie?” I scowled at him. “What friend?”

“The message wasn't signed, though it arrived in a cloud of pixie dust,” Conall said with a meaningful look.

“Hugo,” I whispered. “That wonderful little man.”

“Conall, take her.” Trenton grabbed me by the waist and passed me to Conall.

“Trenton, wait.” I leaned over and kissed him again. “I love you; remember what you fight for. Do not save me only to destroy me.”

“I love you too, Riley. I will always save you; as you have saved me. Have faith in me; I have trained my entire life for this day,” Trenton said. “Now, go with Conall.”

The pound of horse hooves announced the arrival of our enemies, and the soldiers around us set their spears before them in a unified maneuver that was both magnificent and menacing. The foot soldiers drew their swords and stared at the oncoming army stoically. I felt a shiver go down my spine as I realized that some of these men might die today all because their prince loved me. It wasn't fair, but Trenton was right; I couldn't dishonor their sacrifice by putting myself in harm's way.

“Protect our woman, Sir Conall,” Trenton said as he pulled his sword from its sheath. “You hold my heart in your hands.”

“I'll guard her with my life, Your Highness,” Conall said and then spurred his horse off toward the Seelie castle.

I stared back over Conall's shoulder and watched as Trenton leapt off his horse to armor up. He had come for me unarmored, but now that he was entering battle, he needed more protection. His knights were preparing with him; all of them grim-faced as they strapped pieces of fairy steel to their bodies with waves of magic. Trenton held out his arms, and a breastplate settled over him. He looked like a god of war, and I knew he was just as skilled as he appeared. But I kept seeing the image of Drostan in his armor; fresh from battle and covered in blood that wasn't his.

“Will he be all right?” I asked Conall.

“Prince Trenton is our finest warrior,” Conall answered without really answering.

“Conall.” I glanced up at his stern face.

“I don't know, Riley,” he murmured. “I cannot see the future, but I hope that our prince will survive. He made all of this possible. Prince Trenton hounded his sister constantly, and then when that didn't work, he stopped eating.”

“What?”

“Prince Trenton refused to eat until Queen Tana gave him the soldiers he needed to retrieve you. He was already preparing to fight Drostan—to kill the Unseelie King and free you—when we received Hugo's message.”

“Trenton went on a hunger strike?” I gaped at Conall. “So that he could kill Drostan?”

“It was a brilliant move.” Conall smirked. “The Queen loves her brother more than her own life. She raised him after their parents were killed in the last war against Unseelie. Trenton's more like her son than her sibling.”

“And now he's fighting against the Unseelie as their parents did,” I whispered. “Because of me.”

“Queen Tana won't hold that against you, Riley,” Conall chided me. “You've met our queen; she's a good woman. She gave Trenton what he needed, and now she's fully supporting him. That means that she's fully supporting you. You're the Prince's betrothed now.”

“What? When did that happen?” I huffed.

“When you accepted our proposal,” Conall said in a way that made it sound as if I should have known it already. “That's a binding agreement. Several of our knights witnessed it, which makes it legitimate. Trenton, you, and I are now engaged.”

“How strange,” I whispered.

“Not for fairies.” He shrugged. “There have been fairy royals with multiple spouses before. Seelie had two queens once.”

“Really?” I lifted my brows. “Who rules in such a situation?”

“The one born to the crown,” he said. “For instance, if Queen Tana were to die, Trenton would rule. I would become King as well, and you would be Queen, but Trenton would be the High King of Seelie.”

“Oh.” I nodded. “Okay.”

“But the odds of that happening are low,” Conall hurried on. “Queen Tana is too wise to jeopardize herself... on... the...” Conall trailed off as he realized what he was about to say.

“On the battlefield.” I finished for him. “Is that what you were going to say?”

“Yes.” He sighed. “But don't worry about Prince Trenton; he's far more prepared for war than his parents were. King Drostan would be a fool to attack our prince, especially when Unseelie is so outnumbered.”

“How do you know that Drostan is outnumbered?”

“To catch up with us so quickly, King Drostan could only have brought his knights with him,” Conall explained. “All on horseback. The foot soldiers wouldn't be able to keep up.”

“Oh, of course,” I murmured. “That's good, I suppose.”

“If the battle continues long enough, though, the foot soldiers will catch up.”

“You could have left it at Drostan being outnumbered,” I muttered.

Conall laughed. “I've missed you so much, Riley.”

“I've missed you too,” I admitted.

“It's going to be all right.”

“I know,” I said confidently, but inside, I was a churning mass of worry.

I had nearly bound myself to Drostan forever. Then Trenton and Conall had ridden up in the nick of time to save me. That had been gloriously romantic, but to go with my lovers, I had to leave Drostan at the altar. His heartbroken expression would haunt me—as would the way he begged me to stay. Now, I was running from a war that was partially my fault. I didn't know how to begin to process it all. I was scared for Trenton, but—if I was honest with myself—I was also scared for Drostan. Damn it all to hell; I cared about the Unseelie King. That bastard had gotten under my skin. Now that his hold over me was gone, I could see it clearly; I could feel it truly.

“Turn us around!” I shouted.

“What's wrong?” Conall reined the horse in.

“I can stop this war,” I said, “if you and Trenton would be willing to add one more man to our relationship.”

“You don't mean Drostan?” Conall asked with horror.

“I care about him,” I whispered. “I may not love him yet, but I think that I could. He really has changed, Conall.”

“What are you saying? That you wish to marry all three of us?” Conall huffed, and then his expression went blank. “Dear Goddess; that just might work.”

“It will?” I asked in shock. “I mean; of course it will. Why will it?”

“It would unify the kingdoms,” Conall said with wonder. “All of these years, Queen Tana and King Drostan have been in a shaky truce. Neither have children they could offer in marriage, nor could they marry each other. For one; they don't like each other much. And two; they need to rule their own kingdoms. But if you were to marry Tana's brother and King Drostan, that would be a way of uniting the kingdoms through marriage without either monarch abandoning their throne. This might be exactly what our world needs, Riley!”

Conall turned his horse about, and we started racing back to the border.