King of Merits: A Fae Romance (Black Blood Fae Book 3)

Riven

Flanked by three Elemental mages, Merri glides toward me as I wait on an altar twined with flowers and vines, erected in the grassy oval of the ancient tournament site below Castle Black’s ruins.

Last night, Merri broke me, and, today, resplendent in silver and gold, each step she takes toward me brings her closer to becoming my queen and making me whole again.

I only wish my sister were here as witness, but we dared not wait a moment longer than necessary in case our marriage somehow puts an instant end to the Black Blood curse.

And, besides, when we return to my land, we’ll have a coronation ceremony to look forward to.

The three mages, Terra dressed in black and purple, Undine, a vision in iridescent blue, and Salamander with her flaming hair, hand Merri to the High Mage. Ether guides her up the opal staircase, bringing her to stand beside me.

Smiling serenely, Ether takes our hands and joins them together. The crowd cheers, and Merri’s family claps. Even her father.

Merri and I laugh like spell-addled fools, and my heart overflows.

Merri’s silver crown of diamonds and rainbow moonstones sprays colors over the black and green tunic the people of the sea made for me and the large assembly of creatures—elegant fae, gnarled gnomes, goblins, trolls, and fauns, to name a few.

There are no moss elves present, because today of all days, they must work extra hard to keep the air mage, the originator of the curse, tethered to her forest prison.

“Finally,” says Ether. “After moons and moons of planning, I have the pleasure of presenting you to each other. Merri, the Silver Hand, I now give to Riven, the Silver King who she shall rule. Your blessed union will bring peace to our lands and put an end to the oldest blight on the Seelie kingdom, the curse of the Black Blood princes.”

Ether smiles at me, and with dawning alarm, images flash across my mind of a willowy fae dressed in silver, drawing a golden bow and aiming it at my chest.

“You!” I say. “Back in the forest on Mount Cúig, it was you who shot me with the poisoned arrow. You who tried to kill me.”

The courtiers growl and snarl, and the palace guards raise their swords, the tips pointing at me.

Ether’s laugh chimes, echoing through the glade like birdsong. “Well, yes, that is correct, Silver King. I did shoot you, but only to bring you under our princess’s care. To deliver you to each other. The path was, unfortunately, longer than I foresaw, but today you both stand where destiny commands you must.”

Merri says, “So, the first time I met Riven, that was you, too. The purple mist in the Lowlands was yours, and you created a portal space that allowed our kingdoms to meet.”

“Yes.” A field of silver glows around Ether, and she grows taller. “It has always been I, intercepting messages and working to bring you together.”

Merri squeezes my hand, and we grin at each other as dozens of swords in the crowd are sheathed. “Well, thank you,” she says to the mage. “I’m grateful for your help.”

“But instead of shooting me and risking an all-out war, I don’t suppose you could have simply told us about our destiny?” I ask.

“I could have, yes. And you would have fought the outcome by all possible means. Some fae cannot be told and insist on learning by experience. Do you deny this is so, Merit King?”

“No.” I laugh and cut a low bow to the mage. “You’re correct. I wouldn’t have listened. And even though that arrow hurt like blazes, you have my eternal thanks. To you, I forever owe my happiness.”

“Ether, we should hurry,” says Merri. “Let’s see if we can break that damned curse.”

The mage inclines her head, and then speaks the binding words. We repeat the vows, swearing to the Elements Five, to our lands, and to one another.

“By the Blessed Five that binds all matter together and the eternal powers of the oak, Merrin Airgetlám Fionbharr and Riven Èadra na Duinn, I declare the Light and Dark Courts of Faery united and you to be husband and wife, Lady and Lord, Queen and King. May your sacred union bring everlasting bliss.” Ether spreads her arms toward the Court. “Seal your vows with a kiss, then turn and face your loved ones, born anew.”

Our lips meet, and the altar quakes beneath our feet. Baby Aodhan, the current Land of Five heir, releases a bloodcurdling scream. A series of violent shivers wrack his body, and his mother, Queen Isla, holds him tighter, worry darkening her eyes from bright blue to indigo.

Aodhan’s skin turns green, then a dark cloud rises from his body and dissolves in the air. With another wail, he loses consciousness, waking a moment later to give his parents a cheerful smile.

King Rafael’s palms hover above his son’s forehead, sensing deep into the child’s being. “The curse is lifted,” he cries jubilantly, and the crowd answers with wild hoots and cheers.

Merri wraps her arms around me, and we laugh and sway with joy. “We did it, Riven. It worked!”

As I inhale a sharp breath to answer, a disturbance parts the crowd behind us. I turn in its direction.

A tribe of moss elves runs toward us along the aisle of meadow flowers, their high-pitched voices piercing through the din. When they’re a little closer, I make out their words. “Run,” they yell. “Run.”

A vicious wind rises, howling and groaning like a fear gorta on the hunt for food to fill its skinless corpse. The sky turns black, then all falls silent, every courtier, including the moss elves, going still.

“Riven?” Merri’s voice shakes as she reaches for me.

I attempt to lift my hand to clasp hers, but nothing happens. Paralyzed, I can’t move a muscle. But, for better or worse, I can hear and see everything—Merri’s mouth, frozen in a silent shout, her eyes wide with terror, the seven órga falcons and diaphanous-bodied sylphs immobilized as they fly in a lemniscate pattern through the clouds.

Meerade is on top of the altar, wings spread as if about to take flight, Cara perched beside her. Strangely, Merri’s brother stands close to the ever-twirling human, Summer, his hand lightly resting on her forearm, his expression pained.

Thunder cracks. Lightning slashes across the sky. Rain teems down, and Aer, the Sorceress of the Seven Winds, appears at the foot of the altar.

Once upon a time, the air mage’s beauty was celebrated throughout the kingdoms, but Lara’s powerful voice took it from her when she tried to murder Prince Ever here at the ruins of Castle Black. Water streams around Aer’s dull-brown eyes and down her wrinkled skin, drenching her straw-colored hair.

Internally, I call upon the oak and the old gods of the forest but receive no answer. No matter how hard I will it, I cannot move.

The royal family are statues, every creature and courtier, and my Merri, too. We’re suspended in a terrible spell, all except for Ether who strolls calmly down the steps to meet Aer.

“Sister,” she says. “It has been a long time between disagreements.”

“Disagreements? Ha! Today’s squabble is much more than that.” Aer weaves her way through the courtiers, tearing wings and horns with cruel fingers as she passes. She comes to a halt in front of Ever, strokes his hair, then gives his snarling mouth a lingering kiss.

Aer returns to stand before the High Mage. “Just because I’ve always wanted a prince of Talamh Cúig for my own, you’ve thought me worthy of contempt. Well, I have finally beaten you, Sister.”

“Not yet,” answers Ether.

Aer cackles, and my skin chills in response. “Thanks to you, Sister, I have suffered endless, wordless years in the dark under your binding spell. But I’ve kept a lovely surprise for you that helped me wait patiently, knowing that if one day my curse was broken, the provision I wove into its creation would convey me to the center of the event that ends it—with my powers intact. So I can destroy you all.”

Ether smiles and flings her arms toward the sky. But nothing happens. She gives a cry of frustration as her sister laughs.

“No, Ether, you cannot shift into your creature because my spell prevents it.”

“Nor can you, or you would already have taken your dragon form.” Ether throws a bolt of white energy that sends the air mage tumbling through the crowd. “Fortunately, you aren’t strong enough to fully bind my power. Hurry and dust yourself off. Let us see if you can defeat me.”

The mages drop into combative stances and magic, dark and light, blazes between them. The smell of burnt flesh assaults me, overpowering the tangy scent of the ocean.

With a guttural roar, Aer runs and pounces on Ether. Lightning flashes, the rain pelting down harder. The sisters somersault back and forth in a ball of wildly churning limbs. They smash into the trunks of the sacred hazels, roll precariously close to the high cliffs that drop down to the gnashing jaws of the sea, waiting to consume them whole.

Then the mages are up on their feet, bolts of magic slashing both ways, bloody gashes lacerating their bodies.

Thunder rumbles the sky. Cracks splinter the earth, great chasms opening up, one swallowing a whole line of fae into its depths.

The mages disappear from my frozen line of vision, past the sacred hazels and up onto the rocky hillside the ruins sit upon. I can’t see what’s happening, but I hear it. Snarls, thuds and crashes, and horrible screams of pain.

Then Ether is shot back into the oval, rolling and rolling until she’s stopped by the statue-like bodies of a group of courtiers.

On the ground, Ether leans on an elbow, panting hard as her sister strides closer and closer. “You’re a fool, Aer. When you made the curse, you bound part of my powers to its end, decreasing them, but you had to do the same to your power to make it work, didn’t you? You’ve made yourself weak.”

Again, Aer’s cackle sends shivers down my spine. “We are equally diminished. But you are soft and kindhearted, and I am not. I will defeat you. Now get up, so I can finish this!”

Ether pushes onto her haunches and points her fingers at Merri and me. With a loud roar, white light connects us, forming a triangle of magic between the three of us.

“Join hands,” yells Ether.

With a grunt, I move my arm, then grab Merri’s hand in an iron grip. Power rushes through me, my body shuddering with the force.

The sky goes black then flashes silver, the storm overhead growling and roiling like a wild beast in a cage. Aer harnesses the lightning’s energy, sending bolt after bolt at Ether.

Stumbling and rocking backward with each attack, Ether somehow gets to her feet. She cries out to Dana and the Powers of Five and harnesses the quicksilver energy arcing between us, shooting it toward Aer, who leaps sideways a little too late, taking a hit to her side. She drops like a wall of bricks, cursing and writhing in agony.

Aer is down, but Ether doesn’t move in to finish her off. With her arms raised to the sky and her eyes squeezed closed, she mutters a low chant in an unfathomable language.

“Riven!” Merri tugs my arm, not letting go of my hand to retain the circuit of power. “I can move my upper body, but not my feet. I’m stuck, and we need to get over there and pummel that shrew before she gets up.”

My mouth goes dry, my heart raging against my ribs. “I can’t move either. Nor can I manipulate this magic your mage has created.”

“Dammit, Ether,” screams Merri. “Come out of your trance. This isn’t over. We need you. Now!”

The mad air sorceress lifts her head and levers her body’s weight onto an elbow, and, still, Ether continues to chant.

I try to direct the magic into my legs, leaning forward, imagining running or transferring. Nothing happens. It’s as if my feet have grown unbreakable roots into the earth. “High Mage, I beg you, help us!”

Aer pushes onto all fours, her hollow gaze full of bitter hatred. “Spawn of Everend Fionbharr, the curse is done, but you have not won,” she screeches, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth. “Winds will whip, sparks will fly, waves will churn, earth will rumble. And the coldest heart in the land will melt for one he can never possess.”

She points at Merri’s brother, Wynter, whose emerald eyes burn back at the mage. “Prince of the barren earth, buried within it you must be for at least seven days and seven nights, and until you—”

“Now, Merri. Now!” commands Ether. “You’re the key to the riddle, the vessel of our power. Release it now.”

Our bodies jerk as the three of us concentrate our power into a stream of the brightest, purest light I’ve ever seen. It blasts from Merri’s outstretched palms directly into the air mage’s heart, instantly exploding her into tinkling shards of mirrored glass and black feathers.

“By the Five, all wake,” cries Ether, and the rest of the court begins to move, lingering enchantment making their limbs slow and awkward.

Ether disappears, reappearing a moment later beside Wynter. She presses her palm against his heart and speaks quickly. “Prince of the barren earth, buried within it you must be for at least seven days and seven nights, and until your heart’s love unearths you. Then free and forever blessed you shall be.”

Wynter’s eyes roll back as Ether’s tempered curse takes hold, and he blacks out, swaying. Before he drops to the ground, he wakes with a grimace and buries his face in his hands.

Ether gently uncurls his fingers and clasps his hands tight. “You can bear this curse with ease, Wynter Ashton Fionbharr, Prince of Earth. I promise you this. You can and you will.”

Merri’s mother rushes to Wynter, gathering him in her arms as the human girl dances a slow circle around them. The rest of the royal family, including the formidable Varenus, surround Merri and me, clapping our backs and peppering us with kisses.

The mages, Terra, Salamander, and Undine sweep all remnants of their sister, Aer, into a fast-woven basket of young hazel branches. Ezeli, the sea witch queen, takes it from them, swearing to bury the remains in the deepest part of the ocean as she dives off the cliffs into the Emerald Sea.

Soft skin meets my lips as I kiss my new wife’s hand. “You did it, Merri. You’ve won. The curse has ended. From this moment on, all our dreams will be dreamed together.”

“And I’m so thankful. But, Riven, now that Wyn—”

“Wyn will find a way,” says Ether. “He always does.”

Prince Ever addresses the High Mage. “What will happen to our land and to the Lake of Spirits now that our air mage is gone? The Elements are out of balance. Our magic systems and entire kingdom will collapse.”

“No,” says Ether. “All is well. Before I dealt Aer the blow that felled her, I cast a spell that bound Merri’s and your power to the source. You, Ever, must forever remain in this land to stabilize it. Merri’s union with the Silver King has made her very powerful. You witnessed the incredible force that she and I wielded when we linked our magic. She is free to move between the Land of Five and the Merit Kingdom at will. Talamh Cúig will endure.”

The mage kisses Merri’s cheek, then mine. “Together, you are the solution to the problems of the past, but Merri is the key to the future, the silver hand that controls the Unseelie king’s power. Follow her council with diligence, Riven na Duinn, and you cannot fail.”

Merri grins. “Did you hear that, Riven? Apparently, I am wise.”

I pull her close. “I have no doubt and hereby promise to heed your every word and treasure you forever and always.”

“Are you happy?” she asks.

“As never before. Now let us go and celebrate our wedding.”

“Are you suggesting we skip the feast?” she asks, her face a mask of false shock.

I pretend to consider this, but my mind is already resolved. “Well…surely as the guests of honor, we’re allowed to be a little late.”

She kisses me, and snow begins to fall. Soft and pure and as welcome as winter light, it dances around us.

“Yes,” she whispers. “I imagine we’ll be very late.”