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CHAPTER THIRTY

H yax stared into the mirror, he was dressed to perfection, every inch of what a fae prince should be on his wedding day. There was no point in waiting for someone to race in and stop the proceedings, this marriage would have to go ahead. He’d been able to dictate the direction he’d wanted, with no talk of love or devotion. He had rejected anything that talked to commitment and the mentions of union and collaboration could be referring to their tribes and not him.

“I know this is not how you envisaged your wedding day to be, but at least try and enjoy some of it. Your Gwil is here, he’s very dashing in his consort robe.”

“Consort robe? You did that?” He turned to face his mother, not believing she’d have gone to the effort to have a robe made for Gwil.

“I did. In black and silver, I thought it would go nicely with your gold and he, well, black for a vampire seemed rather fitting.” She tucked one of his braids behind his ear. “I delivered him to where Prince Simon was waiting. They should be in their seats causing a stir.”

“You were so adamant that I could not have Gwil, yet here we are, you treating him more like my groom than Metra.”

“Metra’s a sneaky little mummy’s boy. Gwil has stood by you, I admit I didn’t expect him to and because of that, I’m willing to admit I was wrong. We would have been in this situation with the Elementa anyways, they have manipulated fae law to get what they want.”

“Have you found out something new?” Hyax asked.

“Not me, but a potato on legs.”

There was only one creature he knew of that could be described in such a fashion. “You’ve met Copperpipe? What did he say?”

“Something about Gwil’s ex buying a lot of fae chalk. It has to be related to the mining activity, but we won’t be able to find out more now. Let’s get the wedding done and we can investigate further. Maybe you can speak to Metra?”

“I think he wanted to tell me something at the announcement reception but changed his mind. I can pretend that I could potentially come to tolerate him as a friend, if it meant he’d speak to me.” He shuddered. “But if he puts his hands on me, I might break them. If Gwil doesn’t do it first.”

She helped him place his ear chain correctly. He liked the way the gold traced the shape of the point and down to the lobe.

“You should know that King James wrote to me once Simon accepted to attend in his place,” Talia said with a smile. “He not only vouches for your Gwil, he went so far as to suggest that it would be in no one’s best interest if you and Gwil were kept apart. Do I want to know the details that has caused His Majesty to offer such vociferous support of a lower-level vampire?”

“Gwil did help save his son,” Hyax replied, not meeting Talia’s eye.

“I can understand that but there must be more to it, and I can’t help but think this might be linked to James’s status as a vampire-fae. Hyax, have you been using your magic through Gwil again?”

“How would you like me to answer that? Fully? Or so you can have plausible deniability?”

She raised an eyebrow. “For once, I want an honest answer.”

He been vague when she’d asked before, but now was the opportunity to show his mother the potential he could have if he stayed with Gwil. “Then, yes. As you surmised, it started with the Stone of Ljin, but we used another spell to track Prince Simon. I’ve been given access to ancient volumes belonging to a certain senior vampire’s library and the promise of King James to share others he owns.”

She didn’t look surprised, but he’d long thought she’d have known there would be something along these lines going on.

“A word of warning, Hyax. This should not become common knowledge. You are dabbling in things nobody truly understands, it could be dangerous.”

“From what I’ve seen so far, working with Gwil in this manner will bring us only enhanced capabilities.”

“Capabilities that have not been used for centuries. We do not know the ramifications, both for you and the political climate. I am your mother, I do worry about you.”

Maybe, but he thought the political angle was more her concern, or he wouldn’t be standing here about to get married. “I have been able to handle everything so far, and with Prince Simon and his father as allies, thanks to my recent help, if I have problems I have somewhere to turn.”

He wondered if she’d take more exception with this alliance with Calanti than the darker side of magic he was using.

“I sense you won’t be swayed on this,” she said after a few moments of awkward silence.

“No, if for no other reason than it proves that I have chosen my partner wisely, the magic wouldn’t work if we were incompatible.”

“We will discuss this another time, for now we have a wedding to attend. I’ll portal us to the door of the great hall so you can make your entrance.”

Traditionally, he should have walked the path leading to where the ceremony would take place, and he’d always imagined a glade or in front of a waterfall, but Metra did not deserve to be part of those dreams, and he would retain those for a future ceremony with Gwil.

“You should know I intend to give Gwil my collar. I already said I wouldn’t wear one for Metra and originally I thought for the sake of harmony I wouldn’t have my collar worn publicly by Gwil for a few months but to be honest I’m not sure I give a fuck about that.”

“I’m not surprised on either front there.” She squeezed his arm. “This will not be forever. And your life will barely change apart from the odd official engagement you’ll be expected to attend.”

When she had first announced he would marry Metra, he had feared the worse but now things had changed in so many ways and he could count on his mother’s future support.

They stepped through the portal into a lobby of the great hall. Metra’s family had originally offered their palace, but Hyax wanted the home ground advantage.

Talia kissed his cheek. “I will go and join your father.”

She left and he was alone. On the other side of the door were two guards who would open them on cue, but for now he had a few moments to compose himself before the ceremony. Apart from the grandeur of the setting and the clothing, this would be nothing like the last wedding he’d attended. If the congregation was expecting a fairy-tale event they would be disappointed, although he thought they should have known better. He’d never been romantically linked to Metra in public, and he never would. Today he would play dutiful prince, but that was as far as his compliance went.