Princess of Faerl

*Alaric*

Belle and I were getting ready to deal with Lyssandra’s sentencing today. It was beyond painful for both of us. No one would know it, but Lyssandra was our mate as well. She decided she couldn’t deal with not being my only and couldn’t handle the fact she wouldn’t get a Royal title as Belle and I were already married and pregnant when she met us. She rejected us and disappeared when I refused to annul the marriage to be able to marry her. Belle has always blamed herself for things falling apart. I say fate saved us and Selene never intended for it to be a mateship in its purest sense.

Belle was crying again. She avoided wearing makeup today as she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop all the tears. I moved to her and held her close. Her pregnancy was holding her emotions hostage as well. We had been able to hide from most that she was currently pregnant. It was better if we got this trial done and over with so Lyssandra couldn’t send a curse or anything our way.

“Belle, we have to get going, my love.” I held my hand out to her. We weren’t presiding over the sentencing today. Since the majority of the crimes were committed against our family, we decided we could not sentence her without personal motive. At least, that’s what we told the council. They didn’t know she was our mate, either. We entered the grand court, taking our seats in the front and center of the room, our children to our sides.

“Now enters Lady Lyssandra MaComb, witch of Faerl, whose charges are as follows: Charge 1: kidnapping the Prince Aranelda Tirisil, concealing his identity, and lying to Their Highnesses causing them to believe he was dead at birth. Charge 2: inappropriate use of concealment magic, impersonating Her Royal Highness, endangering Princess Elentari Tirisil and Duke Scott MaComb, the royal protector of the princess until the date of her 18th birthday. Furthermore, Lady Lyssandra MaComb is charged with knowingly conspiring to kill both the Prince and Princess of Faerl. Lady Lyssandra MaComb, do you have anything you would like to say before the council reads their verdict?” The court crier’s voice felt like hammers in my heart. I could feel Belle’s apprehension through our bond. We both looked across to Lyssandra, praying for some level of remorse to be visible but all we saw was scorn and hatred.

Her lips turned up in a horrific smile. “I have nothing to say, except this: Accept my rejection so I can die in peace.” My heart sank deeply. She had no idea that our bond with her had been annulled by Selene. No one outside of the immediate family knew that Selene resided within Elentari. She stood, her hair almost glowing. This generally meant Selene was beyond mad.

“Lyssandra, you have no mates. There are no bonds to be rejected. You were given a pair of mates that would have cherished you for all time and you decided it wasn’ enough. You decided you were worth more than other around you and you deserved more. As the Goddess of the Moon, I find you guilty of all crimes, regardless of the council, though they may weigh in if they wish to. Your punishment is moon fire of truth. Do you have any last words?” Elentari stood tall but Selene was the one speaking.

‘Cat’s out the bag now…’ I thought to myself, squeezing Belle’s hand. The Lady of the Council looked over Elentari with discerning eyes, making sure she felt the power of the Goddess before she nodded. “OUR GODDESS HAS SPOKEN.” The lady bowed her head in reverence. “Her decision is final and it brings my heart contentment to know our wisdom as the Council is supported by Her Greatness, Selene.” With that Elentari raised her hands, moonfire dancing on her fingertips.

“My heart breaks for your children, that they suffered under your hatred, used for your deranged purposes, denied a mothers love. May your Fae counterpart find her own peace if she is not corrupted as her human is.” A tear slipped from her eye. Lyssandra sneered at her.

“Don’t pontificate to me about what I should or shouldn’t have been. I know I should have been his only love. She should have found her own man. She knew I loved him. She knew I gave him up only because of their mate bond. They were both two years older than me. I wanted him and it was the greatest day of my life to see I shared a bond with him. She wouldn’t let me have the only man I loved. I have no remorse for anything I’ve done to try and help change the course of this world. I was promised… I was promised my love.” Her tears were fueled by anger.

I held Belle closer and pulled her into my chest. The moonfire reached her as her last words left her mouth, engulfing her in beautiful but painful light. She screamed in momentary agony and her Fae soul separated from her human soul, the Fae stepping forward and bowing to Selene, disappearing up to the moon while the human soul was pulled down to the realm of Hades.

Belle was now full sobbing. Her heart was broken. The only woman she had loved hated her. I felt all of the emotions through the bond, my eyes pleadingly connecting with my child’s. “Selene, please help her. If she stays this upset, I can’t imagine what could happen to the child.” My voice was weak, wanting to care for my wife.

Elentari and Aranelda came up on either side of their mother and hugged her. “You did nothing wrong, mom. Don’t worry about bitter witches that worry more about blaming others for their unhappiness than creating their happy.” Aran made me proud, his words were wise and true.

“Aran,” Elentari spoke directly to her brother, “Let this be a lesson to you, more than anything. You and I have major jobs to do. You cannot let someone’s obsession with who you are and what you can provide be more important than their love for you and yours for them.” I didn’t understand why she was saying this, but he seemed to. “Let’s get out of here. It’s not good to stay here longer than necessary.” Elentari helped her mother up and we all walked out of the court. The council wanted to stop Elentari, but she wasn’t giving them the chance.

“Son, what is your sister talking about?” I needed to know. This didn’t sound good.

“Eliza is very… determined to be my ‘first’ wife. She doesn’t want Stacie to have the same status as her. She wants to be above all, and I think she wants to rule Faerl with me, even though our throne doesn’t pass down the male line, it passes down the female line.” His forehead creased with worry. We walked forward and heard a horrific scream.