Page 33 of Fae Tithe (The Cursed Courts #1)

H elena felt Lance’s gaze on her. She turned her face from her sleeping daughter and took in the High Prince.

He looked exhausted. Sweat peppered his forehead, and large bags took up most of his face, starting just beneath his eyes.

Lance’s hair tangled messily around his shoulders, so different from his usual loose, long ringlets.

Helena removed her circling hand from her sleeping daughter’s back. “We have a lot to talk about,” Helena signed across the room to where he stood.

“Yes,” he replied with shaking hands, “we do.”

Helena watched as he wobbled on his feet. “Sit,” she signed, then pointed to the armchair.

Anger simmered just beneath the surface, but she was not about to let her Merman collapse onto the worn-out rug beneath him.

Lance nodded and dragged himself over to the armchair, lowering his body onto the cushion.

Helena stood, tiptoed over to the jug of water on the small side table next to Lance, poured him a cup, and handed it to him.

She quickly refilled it another two times after he hastily gulped it down.

Helena finally poured herself a drink and sipped, the cool water easing her dry tongue and cracked lips.

She placed the cup gently down onto the battered side table, desperately trying not to wake her exhausted daughter.

“I need to know,” her hands moved quickly, “why didn’t you tell me?

One year of friendship, five years of love, and you never told me.

” Her face held an accusatory glare, eyes narrowed, and lips tugged down.

“I’m sorry, I should have,” he signed, his shoulders drooping. “From the beginning, but I was scared. Then I left it too long, and it got harder to explain. I meant to tell you everything this visit, before I asked you to be formally Bound to me, so you had all the information for your decision.”

She huffed loudly through her nostrils, skin prickling with anger. “Yes, but why didn’t you tell me?” she repeated, hands snapping through the air.

“I didn’t tell you because there are rules in my court that even I have to follow.

I didn’t want to have the possibility of your location being spread throughout the sea.

Things are not well between my cousins, who rule the neighbouring principalities to my territory.

I wanted to keep you safe, and to do that, I felt I had to keep everything about that life of ours a secret.

” The Merman’s jaw clenched as his hands and fingers continued to move swiftly through the air.

“Every time I set foot on land, I am supposed to have my personal guard with me. I didn’t want to bring that to your doorstep. ”

A muscle in Helena’s jaw feathered and her hands clenched and unclenched as she processed the information. “Next question,” she signed.

“Yes?” he gestured.

“Why didn’t you just march straight into the Seelie Court Palace and demand El back?”

Lance blinked before moving his hands in response. “It’s illegal for me to enter Solas, just as it is illegal for the Seelie King to sail across the waters of my Capital. I had considered it as an option, if I am honest.”

“Not good enough,” Helena signed, her jaw aching as she clenched it, anger constricting her chest. “Why is it illegal?”

“Because it’s part of a complicated treaty that was put in place long before I was born.

The idea is to try to keep the opposing magics apart.

” He stopped his hands for a moment, looking thoughtful.

“If I were to do that, march before the Seelie Court and demand Eleanor back, they would be well within their rights to kill me on sight. And then what would happen to you? To her?”

“They didn’t, though, and I saw your water magic force the King’s back,” Helena signed.

Lance exhaled heavily through his nose with a huff.

“No, they didn’t kill us on sight, but they could have.

” His hands moved with quick agitation. “When I swap my tail for legs, my magic halves. And the further I get from the sea, my power drains even more. Then, after so long on the road with barely any sleep, I felt weak. I was scared. I was scared that I couldn’t protect you and that my power wasn’t enough to keep you safe.

” His throat bobbed and he licked his dry, cracked lips.

“That. I. Wasn’t. Enough,” he emphasised with slow deliberate movements of his hands.

Helena began to sign. “You—”

The High Prince held up his palm to stop her signing and continued with his own.

“I don’t like him, but when Declan offered that way into Tithe Manor, I realised that it was probably the safest way to go, and the only path where we were least likely to have to depend on my magic, as it had dwindled so much.

We were lucky that I still had enough to protect us in front of Seelie Court.

We were even luckier that they let us go.

” His shoulders slumped, eyes cast downwards.

Helena stepped forward and caught Lance’s wrists with her hands.

She looked down at him in the chair, tears streaming down her face, making tracks through the sweat and blood caked onto her skin.

She rubbed her thumbs along the velvet skin on the underside of his trembling wrists, feeling the slight raise of the thick veins there.

His eyes met hers and he gave her a slight, hopeful smile.

She gently released him and slowly moved her hands. “You. Are. Enough.”

Lance’s smile grew.

Helena made sure he was watching carefully as she continued to sign.

“I am so angry you didn’t tell me before.

You should’ve told me when you kept returning all that time ago.

” She smiled softly as she reminisced. “I remember that you kept coming back, every other week, with all those different fish. You’d weave them onto a long string of kelp and hold them up to show me as a gift. ”

Lance’s hands moved. “I didn’t bring anything this time. I usually do.”

Helena gave the slightest chuckle, still conscious of letting her sleeping daughter rest. “You do,” she signed in agreement.

“I want to let you know, that even though I am angry that you did not tell me that you are the High Prince of the Sea, I understand why you didn’t.

I can understand why you thought it was best to keep us safe.

In your own way, you were drawing your Circle of protection around mine.

You were doing what you thought was best to keep our family safe.

I wish you had told me before we went into Tithe Manor—”

“I should have, and I’m so sorry,” he interjected with a flick of his hands, a flush of shame across his cheeks.

Helena nodded at his apology. “I don’t like information being kept from me. I should have known as much as possible before I made a decision like that. I was desperate, and that was why I took the option Declan gave us.”

Lance’s small smile cracked into a toothy grin, his hands moving excitedly. “Does this mean we are alright? Us, I mean?”

Helena nearly snorted in response to his puppy-like eagerness, his enthusiasm diluting her anger.

“I’m furious with you. I will need time to understand and process it all.

We all need each other right now, but once we’re out of Solas, I will need to talk about this again, and as many times as I need to.

You will need to accept that,” she signed, letting out a long breath.

“I know that you just saved us, Lance. It was the bravest thing I’ve seen.

You stood against the six Seelie, one of them the King.

” Helena’s hands dropped to her side, clenching and unclenching, emotions whirling in her mind.

“Anything you need. I will give anything to help you feel like you can trust me fully again. I will talk about it and answer any questions you have, as many times as it takes,” Lance signed. The High Prince’s expression grew soft as he stood from the armchair. “Can I hug you?” His hands shook.

Helena considered for a moment, before nodding in agreement. He tentatively wound his arms around the small of Helena’s back. The Merman let out a long sigh when she willingly leant into his chest.

He pressed his lips to her ear and whispered so lightly she could barely hear him. “With the Seelies? You did it too, sweetheart. No magic, injured, exhausted, and you fought against them.”

Helena pressed a kiss to his cheek, his short beard scratching at her lips. She felt his arms tremble, slumping onto her with exhaustion. She gently pushed him back down to the chair and poured him another cup of water.

The Merman nodded as he took it from her, quickly knocking it back. He placed it gently on the table with a slight tap.

“Thank you,” he signed.

“Rest,” Helena gestured back.

“Your wounds?” Lance signed, making a move to stand again.

“Absolutely not!” Her hands moved quickly, pushing him back down softly. “I’m alright for the moment. Rest, drink some more water, and then see how you feel.”

Lance nodded, his eyelids closing. Before Helena could even turn around, he was already snoring gently, his head leaning back into the chair.