Bound to the Elvin King (52 page)

Talion went on to detail all the trespasses committed by Eamon. The throng appeared to listen, enraptured, to his every word. Maggie nearly snorted. Enraptured meant something far different when applied to elves. They let their carefully crafted composure slip for a moment, so that a glimpse of some strong emotion was possible. Well, unless it was anger or derision—those they seemed to express more freely.

The knowledge the darkindred were supposed to discover mates in the human world brought out surprise, ire, and acceptance in different proportions from most members of the crowd. Maggie bit back a smirk. Their lives were about to be shaken up, much in the same way she’d turned Talion’s inside out.

Once Talion finished, Avrin spoke next. “Any words from the accused?”

Eamon’s face took on a defiant look, and his lip curled in a sneer. “You are all fools if you think this new queen won’t be the downfall of our world. Humans are never content, and if they find out about our world, they won’t stop until they possess it.”

Murmuring arose, and some seemed to agree with him. Though she hated to admit it, he had a point.

Talion frowned. “Silence, please. Two others of the accused are going to speak of their experience with Lord Eamon.”

Both told of how Eamon was the corruptor of the darkindred. Many elves in the audience gasped when it was revealed how Eamon snatched the orb from Aistiane’s neck while she, in her human form, rested at Andrian’s camp. Even the council members wore expressions of shock. Maggie zoned out now and then because she’d already heard most of this. With any luck, Andrian and Alanon would come out of this without too harsh of a punishment.

Maggie’s ears perked up when Avrin quizzed Andrian about why he never attempted to dispose of Eamon, if Eamon was really as hated among the darkindred as Andrian said.

“Because of the failsafe,” Andrian said, his voice ringing in the two-story room. “The failsafe that could potentially end the lives of all darkindred.” Andrian took a deep breath and shook his head. “I did try to kill him. That’s when he told me of the failsafe. I didn’t know whether to believe him, but I couldn’t take the risk of killing him if he were telling the truth.”

Alanon backed up his friend’s story, and the room broke out into whispers again.

Talion sat with a finger raised to his lips, a pensive look on his face. He nodded at Avrin to continue to the questioning.

“Why did you wait so long to aid the king and queen?” Avrin asked, pacing in front of Andrian with his hands behind his back.

“We had to wait until your men could fight off the posted soldiers.”

“But they were your men.”

Andrian gazed steadily at Avrin before turning his regard to the ceiling. “Yes, but some were scared to challenge Eamon, and are distrustful of the elves.”

After a few more statements from both darkindred, Talion addressed the council. “I believe the proof against Lord Eamon is irrefutable. Even if we don’t take the darkindred’s words for the full truth, the reality that Lord Eamon tried to kill the queen and me is undeniable. Thereby, he’s proven himself worthy of death.”

The council conferred among themselves. Maggie bit her lip, not sure what outcome she was really hoping for. Not that it mattered. If Talion wanted Eamon dead, his council couldn’t stop him. The trial was a mere formality, a way for the nobles to feel they had equal say in the kingdom. Most of the time Talion abided by their input, but he could disregard it when he wanted to.

Avrin bowed to Talion and Maggie. “Your Majesties, we have reached a decision. Given Lord Eamon’s crimes, we say death is the appropriate—”

“Death will not be his fate,” a familiar feminine voice called out.

Aistiane
. Maggie swiveled on the throne, trying to locate her. Panicked whispers floated on the air. There, to the left side of the room, stood Aistiane. The guards in the room stared at Talion, indecision on their faces. An intruder, one that matched the description of the veil’s manifestation, had entered the throne room.

Talion motioned for the guards to stay where they were and welcomed their new visitor. “Aistiane, you honor us with your visit.”

She smiled. “I always enjoy dropping in on my favorite elvin king.”

Talion raised a brow. “We haven’t met before to my knowledge.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen me, but I’ve been watching over you for a long time. Eria holds a special place in my heart out of all the fae realms.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“They are true.” She paused before asking, “Did Andrian tell you why the darkindred have yellow eyes like mine?”

Talion shook his head, interest flitting across his face.

“The yellow eyes are a mark that they were to be sent to the human world to find bond mates for themselves or others. The darkindred are as much my children as you are. Now that they’re free of Eamon’s influence, I hope they can attain the glory they were supposed to. If they can recover to perform their original function, Eria—and indeed all the fae realms—and Earth will be well-served by it.”

Mecebrin, who had been quiet until now and watching his son, Alanon, with concern, spoke up. “If the darkindred can revert to what they’re supposed to be, why do we need to send them to Earth to seek human mates for those who are unbonded?”

Maggie still didn’t like the guy, but Talion had said nothing incriminating had turned up against him or Baltor.

Aistiane stared at Mecebrin, a neutral expression pasted on her visage. “While the magic and the veil will become stronger because the magic used to pervert the darkindred has been released, this still doesn’t solve the primary problem—and the reason I created the darkindred. Bond mates produce the energy the magic needs to fuel itself. And many of those bond mates happen to be on Earth.”

Something like discomfort covered her face. “The magic and I…we were shortsighted when we withdrew the fae worlds completely from the mortal realm. To fix this, I had altered a human bond mate’s blood to imbue the darkindred with their bond-mate finding powers, and kept this essence in the orb. To create the darkindred, I placed this essence within each of them. When Eamon stole the orb, his hate and bitterness corrupted the magic within the orb. In turn, that was how Eamon corrupted the darkindred. The magic drove most insane for the first years of their new life. Only with time were most able to overcome the worst effects.

“Calantha and Margaret were needed to bring about the prophecy. The queen’s blood destroyed the ties between Eamon and the darkindred because she was mortal-born and freely gave her blood for her bond mate. When she cut the orb from Eamon’s hand, her blood touched the crystal and irrevocably broke the link.”

Aistiane glanced out over the audience. “It is thanks to them, and Maggie’s sacrifice in protecting her king, that both worlds have a future.”

Many seemed to take her words to heart, and nodded. As Aistiane glided forward, the crowd parted before her. When she reached the three accused, she halted and glanced at Talion and the council. “I hope you will give leniency to Andrian and Alanon.” She gave those two a sweet smile, which they returned.

Then she faced Eamon, her smiling melting away. His face remained impassive. “Death is too easy an escape for this one,” she said, her tone containing a touch of acid.

Talion’s face clouded, and his lips thinned. “What do you propose we do then?”

“Banish him.”

A disbelieving sound left Talion’s mouth. “His last banishment didn’t work. Why would we punish him so again?”

“But his banishment was to the wilds of Eria. Where I mean to send him is much…more of a challenge.”

“And where would that be?” The words popped out of Maggie before she could stop them.

“Where would I send a human-hating elf?”

Aistiane’s devious grin made Maggie’s mind work overtime. The only place that made any sense was…Earth. God, no, Aistiane wouldn’t do that to humanity, would she? “You mean Earth?”

“Smart little queen.” Aistiane gave her an approving nod. Eamon bolted up from his chair. “I’ll not go live with those heathens.”

Aistiane spun on her heel and leveled a glare at the traitor. “You’ll do as I say. As a peaceful force, I may not be able to kill you myself, but I can still bring about your death, nevertheless. You’d be wise to listen to me in this. Earth is your last chance. Don’t screw it up.”

Crimson flooded Eamon’s face, and his mouth worked soundlessly. Aistiane turned her back on him, clearly dismissing him. Gazing at Maggie, she said, “Now that their fates have been decided, I have one last thing to do.”

Maggie stood without thinking and descended the dais. As she came to stand before Aistiane, Maggie stretched out her hand.

Aistiane reached out to take the pouch. “Ah, thank you, child. I believe this is mine.” She drew Maggie close to her and gave her a one-sided hug. “Remain close to your king, and you’ll know much happiness. Congratulations on the little one.”

Maggie’s throat clogged with tears. For some reason, Aistiane’s presence felt more comforting than her own mother’s ever had. “You know about the baby?” she whispered back.

“I knew the moment he—or she—was conceived.”

“Thank you...for everything.” Though her words were short and sweet, Maggie couldn’t think of any others that were more concise.

Aistiane let go of her, and then looked up at Talion. “Protect them.”

Some sort of unspoken conversation passed between Talion and Aistiane in a matter of seconds. Talion nodded, and she continued, “And make sure Eamon lives until I come for him.”

Talion bowed to her. “I’ll see it done.”

Maggie arched a brow. He didn’t seem nearly so frustrated as he had been that Eamon’s death penalty had been taken from his hands. Guess he agreed that Earth was the perfect torture for Eamon. Given that Eamon despised humanity, it probably was.

A terrible thought rattled Maggie. What if Eamon hurt innocent people on Earth?

As if Aistiane read her mind, and Maggie wouldn’t put it past her, Aistiane spared one last look at Eamon. “And trust me, there’ll be ground rules for when you arrive on Earth. You’re not going to cause death and chaos there.”

Eamon scowled at her as she winked out of existence. Everyone seemed to be talking at once. Maggie had never seen such disorder—and she loved it.

Talion leaned over and took one of her hands in his. “Just for you, my love.”

“What?” She sent him an arch look. “You caused this ruckus?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. So how do you like being my queen?”

“I’ll get back to you on it.” So far it wasn’t too bad, but give her a few more months, and she might change her mind.

“You know, a year ago I never thought my life would change, be energized. The notion of an eternal sleep beckoned to me like a siren’s call some days.”

He gazed at her with a solemnity that cast a serious mood over her. Those damned tears clogged up her throat again. She forced a smirk to her lips. “Well, I’m glad you stuck around. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be Queen of Fairyland now.”

“And as queen, you should stop calling Eria fairyland.”

She shook her head and squeezed his hand. “It will always be fairyland. And you my King of Asses.”

Epilogue

Eamon blinked repeatedly to block the glare of Earth’s winter sun. He lay flat on his back, where Aistiane had dumped him on the ground like so much garbage. Unpleasant fumes assailed his nose. Humanity was smellier than ever. Some things never changed, not that he expected any progress from weak mortals.

Shivering, he peeled his aching body up from the frozen ground. By the mist, why was human Earth so damn cold? He sneered. Oh, yes, because they had no magic. The imbecilic savages.

His eyes focused and brought in the view. Trees and more trees surrounded him. A light dusting of snow covered the bare branches and shrubs. He must be in some kind of garden. How like the tree-loving manifestation of the veil to drop him in such a place. Though he was an elf and liked trees well enough, he didn’t worship the ground they were rooted in like so many of his kin did.

His kin
. Bah, they were all traitors to the cause. Why was he the only who could see that keeping humans out of Eria was paramount? Humans loved to destroy everything they touched by maiming, killing, and obliterating. He’d learned that lesson all too well many millennia ago.

He let a wolfish smile come to his face. If any human were stupid enough to approach him with anything but respect, he’d take pleasure in gutting them.

No, no killing
. Aistiane had threatened him with a slow, painful death by Talion if he hurt a fly without her leave. Only to protect himself or another could he kill a human. While he’d kill to protect himself, it was doubtful he’d do so for any human. He growled at the very thought. He’d rather die than help a human that way.

Making sure no one was around, he rubbed his hands over his arms. Pain speared through his right palm, but he ignored it. After all, it was part of his penance. He snorted derisively. Like he needed that. However, Aistiane insisted if he ever wanted to see Eria again, he had to earn his redemption.
What ever that meant
.