Chapter Text
King Theros and his spouse, Consort Calida, stared studiously at me from across the desk. I felt a vein in my forehead twitch. I’d already been here for forty minutes, chatting with the Southwest Summer King and his consort, but so far, we’d gotten no further than circuitous pleasantries and several cups, or was it pots now? of lemon tea.
“Yes, well…I’m sure the court will be interested to meet you,” King Theros said for the third time since we’d arrived. “We’ve a number of social events planned during your stay with us, which you should find enjoyable.”
There’s that twitch again. I sucked in a steadying breath through my nose, biting back what I really wanted to say, when Rigel’s hand bridged the small divide between our chairs to catch mine.
The distraction worked. Instead of reaming out King Theros that I didn’t care about his court socials or if his members found me “interesting,” and that my entire purpose here was to pass on some successful dispute resolution techniques, I focused on Rigel. My eyes flitted over to where he sat on my right, one leg crossed, leaning back in his chair, the perfect picture of easy confidence.
The subtle pressure on my hand centered me, and I turned back to the irritating Summer King.
“Yes…you are too kind, again,” I started, and I caught the slightest twitch of Rigel’s cheek. Now the struggle was to stop myself from rolling my eyes at my hubby. He too often found humor in my court frustrations when dealing with other monarchs. I could forgive him, because if it went from mild frustration to truly irritating frustration, he was really good at giving me helpful advice. Sometimes that advice had to do with fae cultural adjustments, and sometimes came in the form of scaring the living daylights out of my irritant.
Just another reason to love him.
“So, as we discussed before my arrival, I really just need the time and place you want us to host our presentation and practical exercises. The Southwest Summer Court will have the chance to get its fill of me, and I’ll have the joy of helping your people murder each other a little bit less from now on. It’s a win-win, I promise you,” I offered, smiling as best as I was able.
“Will King Rigel be with you?” Consort Calida queried, and my attention shifted to her. Blinking I tried to puzzle out why that would be important.
“I will,” Rigel answered cooly from beside me, his hand gripping mine a little more tightly. “I support Leila’s improvements, and I will, of course, be acting as necessary security.”
Now I did roll my eyes, turning my head to my overprotective hubby. “We brought a whole host of security with us, Rigel,” I reminded him. “Chase insisted we bring like twenty people.”
I might have been exaggerating, but only slightly.
Rigel responded with a subtle shrug, his eyes never leaving the two monarchs across from us.
Shaking my head, I returned my attention to Theros and Calida—wait, was that a blush on the Consort’s cheeks?
“Did I miss something?” I asked, looking between the three fae in the room. King Theros looked at the ceiling and shook his head before giving his spouse a cross look. Consort Calida’s face heated more, and she demurely dropped her eyes to the floor.
“I apologize, Queen Leila. I’d heard the rumors, of course, but to see that they’re true…” Calida’s voice trailed off quietly.
“What rumors?” I asked cautiously, trading a glance with Rigel. Or trying to. My hubby still wasn’t looking at me, ever watchful of our fae opponents.
King Theros scowled. “The fairytales about you and King Rigel, no doubt,” he supplied. “Your soap opera of a love match has been making its rounds across the fae kingdoms. I had hoped we’d be spared after I heard how much it had gripped the Winter Court—”
“Rime’s been talking again then,” Rigel said, breaking his silence. King Theros scowled again at being interrupted, but he immediately stopped when Rigel began talking.
“Yes, perhaps. She and her siblings have been going on and on about you, raving in fact. It doesn’t matter that it’s stark raving mad—” Theros rattled off, before catching himself midsentence. His face paled as he looked up at Rigel, who cooly met his gaze across the desk.
Theros was worried about the wrong person here. The gaze he should have been worried about was mine.
“What do you mean ‘stark raving mad’?” I asked, gripping Rigel’s hand more securely.
Rigel brushed a thumb across the back of my hand, trying to soothe me, but I wouldn’t be stopped. He knew this was one of my triggers—people doubting that he could love or be loved. Maybe a year or two ago I could understand it; we certainly weren’t a love match when we married, not by a long shot, but ever since then Rigel had made incredible strides, and I wasn’t about to let anyone speak badly of him.
“Oh…” King Theros started, trying to backpedal. “Just that there are some who believe yours is more than a marriage of convenience.”
“It is more than a marriage for convenience!” I retorted hotly.
“Oh my,” Calida said, that pink blush returning to her cheeks again. “See, Theros? I told you it wasn’t a mistake.”
Theros glared at the desk. “She’s a half fae. Queen Leila can lie, Calida.”
“I am fully fae, and I cannot. Would my confirmation suffice?” Rigel asked, still calm, still running his thumb delicately across my hand.
King Theros paused, pressing his lips into a thin line. Clearly, he didn’t want to irritate the Wraith.
“How about a contest?” Consort Calida said from the sidelines, and all eyes turned toward her.
“My dear, what on earth could you possibly be suggesting right now?” Theros asked, his eyes flicking between his consort and Rigel. His voice was tight. This did not appear planned.
“How about a masque?” Calida offered, excitement gleaming in her eyes. “We already have a dance planned. What if we host a masque instead? We’ll invite several of our eligible fae lord bachelors as stand ins. If Queen Leila can pick King Rigel out of the lot of them, you’ll have to acknowledge them then, Theros.”
“A contest for the thrill of it you say?’ Theros pondered, stroking his chin.
“I’m not here to—” I tried cutting in, but Calida spoke right over me.
“What if we grant her one request?”
Theros gaped at his spouse at the broad scope of the proposed exchange I didn’t want and hadn’t asked for.
“Nonsense! She’ll demand our court’s subordination, that we assist her in her rise to empress!” Theros said, cutting off his spouse.
“Actually, I’ve no desire to be fae empress—” I began again but was yet again ignored.
“We can always limit the reward, Theros. It doesn’t have to be an alliance, though the Night Court has been doing fairly well.”
“Again—not here looking for an alliance! Still not trying to be empress, so not sure why you think I’d even agree to this…” I tried again, but the monarchs were clearly off in their own little world for the moment.
“Politically yes, but I hear they have a significant budget deficit,” Theros pointed out.
“That’s because of the prior Queen, Queen Nyte. You know that,” Calida continued.
As mad as I was that they were talking as if I wasn’t even here, it was kind of interesting to see two rulers argue it out like children right in front of me. It was still embarrassing to have to admit how deep in the red we were, but at least they knew Nyte was the problem, not me.
“What if we offer to make a donation to assist with their budget?” Calida offered.
To the side of me, Rigel stilled.
“What?”
The three monarchs turned to me simultaneously. I hadn’t even realized it was my voice that said that.
Tastefully, I cleared my throat and did my best not to look like I was salivating at the thought of free money. Rigel sat up a bit further in his chair beside me.
“When you say a donation to the budget, what exactly do you mean?” I queried, trying not to look too eager. It would still have to be a sizeable sum to be worth it.
“Hmm…” Theros considered, stroking his chin. “I don’t know the ins and outs of your Night Court budget, but it is a national court… how about…”
Then he rattled off a truly outrageous number, one that would have made me whistle if I wasn’t shifting into barter mode. Just think of all the loans, the interest I could pay off with that sum.
But I wasn’t going to just agree without fighting.
“Really?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “You are essentially asking myself and my husband, honored monarchs of the Night Court, which as you point out is a national court, to be your evening entertainment.”
“Leila…” Rigel’s voice came in caution, but Theros’s eyes gleamed at the prospect of a bargain.
“You have the added side benefit of prominence for your future bid for Fae Empress,” Theros began, but I swiped my arm in front of me, killing off that line of bartering.
“I have no interest in being Fae Empress, truly. None whatsoever. I’m just here to talk about some dispute resolution methods, which will benefit your court. If you want me to sing and dance for you, you’ve got to sweeten the deal.”
“You aren’t singing, just dancing,” Calida clarified, but her husband shushed her into silence.
“What if I increase the offer by twenty percent?” King Theros added with a smirk.
Wow. He had me. Cha-ching, cha-ching. My eyes saw nothing but dollar signs. Maybe I could even spring for an extra coffee.
Buuuut…caution came first. Rigel’s hand squeezed around mine, probably hoping I’d remember to be careful.
“Not that I’m going to—but just so I know, what happens if I lose?” I asked. Really though, how likely was that to happen?
“Then you must give up your bid for Empress—”
Easy. Already said I don’t have one anyway, so not sure why they are continuing to focus on it—
“AND publicly announce your failure, your fake love nonsense, and return to your court. AND you have to order the Wraith not to kill me, nor any associates he may otherwise bargain with.”
I turned the offer over in my mind. My love for Rigel wasn’t fake, so I presumed that part didn’t apply, and the rest of the conditions weren’t really that bad…. honestly, aside from a small blow to my pride if I was wrong, it didn’t have much of a downside.
Silly fae and their power games. All this to keep me from being Empress, a position I didn’t even want and had no intention of accepting. Ha!
“You’ve got a deal,” I said with a grin, sticking my hand across the table to shake on it.
Theros shook my hand delightedly, giving me a wicked grin.
“Calida will take care to prepare you then. King Rigel, you’ll come with me.”
“Already?” I blinked, surprised. Rigel and I had been forewarned a ball was scheduled but it was still hours away.
“Oh yes. It will take time to find suitable stand ins and get the glamours in place, and of course we’ll need to let them practice.”
Theros stood with gravitas, as if he were excited to head off to battle. “I’ll put these rumors to rest yet and get peace in my court again, so help me. And what an event for our social! Best of luck to you Night Queen—you’ll need it.”
Theros shifted to his office door, calling to his aides in the hallway. I half expected him to start cackling maniacally.
Well, whatever. I’m sure it’d be fine. Think of all that money!
I turned with a grin to look at Rigel and had to stop myself from startling back. Rigel had already turned toward me and had leaned in, so he was mere inches from my face when I swiveled to face him.
His expression was less than enthused.
“What?” I asked, still floating on the high interest loans I’d all but settled on behalf of our court.
“What ever happened to ‘never bargain with a fae?’” he asked.
“A donation to the budget happened,” I told him, already thinking through where we could apply it.
“You realize you have drawn me into your nonsense bargain as well?”
“Oh…” I grimaced. “Yeah.”
Drat. I’d forgotten about that. He didn’t look too mad so I shot him my best smile, the one I used when I knew he was going to be frustrated with me and I needed to win him over. “I love you?”
Rigel was silent, and my thoughts turned to happily imagining a Night Court managed with fiscal responsibility.
“You have no idea what you agreed to, do you?” he asked flatly, cutting into my happy daydreams.
“A Where’s Waldo with a dance? Sure, I do,” I said playfully, causing Rigel to let out one of his trademark sighs. I do so love exasperating him, and I’m lucky he’s amazingly good about humoring me.
“I’ll remind you of that later,” he said, and if I didn’t know he loved me so much, I’d almost be worried. Standing he stepped outside to converse with our security, who he’d have to trade off with after all.
Calida just looked at me warmly. Excitedly.
Her enthusiasm gave me pause—the slightest twist in the pit of my stomach—but I covered my hesitation with a smile.
It was picking out Rigel from a host of other fae men. How hard could it be?