Page 46 of The Crowned Fae Queen
A path clears as guards escort our court. Count Jesting, Countess Everly, Mathis, Marken, and Sir Bartley disperse in a semicircle. Miranda’s red curls appear at the end of the line, his arms folded and his face sullen. Citizens gather around us, around the fountain, watching, shouting, and raising their fists. They demand answers. I plan to give them to them.
As a couple, we step into the clearing just before the stone and water, giving our attention to the crowd. Plummeting through the air, a large stone hurtles our way. Iri’s palm shoots out, blasting a wave of his fire white hot. Dust falls over us in its place.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he growls, giving a stern eye to the congregation.
“They need us to,” I whisper, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze.
Carefully, I pull my blue curls forward over my neck to cover the bandages. Iri’s hands brush my shoulders before he pulls my hair behind my head and presses a kiss to the wound and then slowly reveals a delicate crown to me.
My lips part without sound while my heart pounds so loudly it’s the only reply I have for him.
Sapphire and ruby gems glitter with lighting and magic. Its points stand tall and prestigious.
It’s beautiful… and it’s mine.
No strings of a pretentious showy wedding is attached to this gift from my husband to me. There’s no thought that he might take it back. There’s no fear that he’ll never be by my side.
This crown is as mine as he is. And Bear, he’s always been mine.
From the very moment I strung him up like prey in that forest of my island.
And you can’t take back a crazy love like that.
“Let them see you as you are.As my Queen.” His voice is soft. It prompts me to let out a long steady breath, a moment to gather my bearings as he places the cool metal against my hair.
It’s distracting in the best possible way. After everything we’ve been through, I’m his Queen. I’m their Queen. But I can’t linger on the triumphant feel of it.
I just need to concentrate. Losing focus on the world around me, I try to visualize my magic as arms reaching to create. Those arms brush and guide the water, willing it to form as I wish. It only takes me a moment before the crowd’s once-loud cries of outrage settle to intrigue and awe.
Water from the fountain rises. Three pillars rise, rainbows from the sun catching in the prism of their droplets. I form their faces, creating them in detailed likeness. A witch who spoke of a curse that wasn’t true. A woman seeking such desperate approval of her father, she traded her love for obsession. A leader so fearful of losing the church’s followers that he equipped people to ruin the very country he pledged to serve.
Eyes from the crowd vary between watching the figures of water move and mimic their natural movements and watching me.
“We are here to announce the trials of those who have done a great wrong-doing.” My voice carries, putting an end to any still-estranged bickering. “You have been lied to.” The crowd gasps as the water version of Chaplain grins and bows and the water witch winks and shakes his hand. “This curse from Goddess Celeste was not goddess appointed. It was a lie told by a witch and carried through by the chaplain with the help of Aisha Joveth. Aisha has been poisoning the water system.”
Water Aisha pulls a vial from her pocket and drops the contents into the fountain while Chaplain and the water witch laugh. It's a bit of a dramatic retelling, but it gets the story across.
Sir Bartley pales, his hand covering his mouth. Even at the small distance, I can see the way his eyes become red-rimmed. Near him, Miranda’s mouth tenses. I didn’t think he would take it well. Maybe the trial won’t be so hard on my mother.
“We have been poisoned. I have experienced symptoms of this poison.” Memories of the moment I got sick after playing in this very fountain come to mind. Iri’s fast decision to use his only remedy of magic to save me was the only thing that made it possible for me to be here today.
“Today we announce the trial of the three who have committed such great crimes.” Some in the crowd begin to clap, others still trying to register what they have been told. “Today we rid our waters of their poison so we can begin to heal.”
Guards beat their shields with the swords they wield, a two-beat rhythm of rally. Fae stand a little taller as they look over each other’s shoulders, trying to get a glimpse of their King and Queen and the watery figures that collapse at the closing of my fist.
I turn toward my husband and extend my hands. He nods, understanding his role in this purge. He leans closer to me, reveling in the way that I breathe in his scent. A strong want tugs at my core, but I ignore it as our powers flow between us. The mental bond is taut but strong, becoming stronger yet as our powers mimic and flow against each other till it’s a braid that no one else can feel but us.
Water layers itself against my hands. His body sears heat in the form of bright sparks that fly and die as water touches them and puffs into small clouds. The entirety of the fountain and the unseen water that flows under our feet to the remainder of the kingdom separates. Instead of one pool of water it becomes standing rain that strings itself through the air.
A child reaches out to touch a droplet that hangs in the air near them, a mother swatting their hand quickly away. Fae lean away from the rain that waits in the air above them but doesn’t fall down to touch them. Some murmur their fear, some marvel.
Power surges through us, flowing from our heads, to our hearts, to our feet, then out through our hands to each other. It lifts our hair off our shoulders.
Iri keeps his gaze trained on me. His eyes narrowed in concentration, his chest tight with need. It’s a contained want, an oddity that we both sink ourselves in so that our magic can work together.
Fire begins to kiss the rain hanging in the air. Water steams and disappears, hissing away into mist. Nervous onlookers cover their mouths with their shirts like the poison burned from the steam will readily be breathed into their lungs. It won't, though.
We can’t change what’s been done. But we can protect them. For now, and always we will work together to give these people the prosperous kingdom they deserve.
Hazy evaporated water rises high into the sky hanging over us until it falls. Like a downfall after a hundred-year drought, water drenches our clothes and clings our hair, to our faces. Splashes of it splatter against part of the crowd and soak nearly all of their shoes.
Iri grins, watching his wide-eyed kingdom.
I watch him.
Fate brought us together in the magic of the flames and the waves of the sea. Not to break a curse or to save a kingdom.
But to save each other.
THE END.