Chapter One
Bevan
“Will she pull through?” Despite my relief at seeing the fae healers tending to my beloved girl, she looked so small and fragile.
I didn’t want to find out I made it this far only to lose her to some stupid swamp sickness.
Lord Cyrus turned his attention to me. He was a dourly handsome man, dressed in black, with a short sword at his side. “She’s stable,” he said.
I let out a breath. “Thank the gods.”
“You gave her some powerful tonic already, by the looks of it,” Lord Cyrus said.
“Tonic…” I glanced back at Piers, who was sticking by the door, knowing he didn’t really belong here. “Piers picked some mushrooms that he thought might help and we steeped them into a broth, but they didn’t seem to do much.” Other than that, I had only given her some common herbs to help a fever.
“Do you mean Blood’s Salvation mushrooms? Those did plenty,” Lord Cyrus said. “In fact, they probably saved her life. It’s a good thing you knew what to do.”
“All my studying comes to some purpose,” Piers said, but he shook his head. He didn’t look like he wanted any credit.
I stared at him. I was still feeling a little breathless, just knowing Jenny could have died before we had any chance for a life together.
“I’m glad you came with me,” I said to Piers. “I mean that.”
“I’ve used what I know for a lot of…unsavory purposes,” Piers said. “But…this was a good reminder of why I initially loved to study magic.” A faint smile passed across his scarred, pale face.
“Don’t make me start to like you,” I said, giving his arm a little punch.
“I’m sure you don’t have to worry about that,” Piers said. I hadn’t really meant it as a joke, exactly, but I’m not sure the guy would have gotten a joke if it punched him in the face anyway.
Wyrd, the realm of the fae, was the weakest, smallest and most fragile of magical realms. It had only recently become known to the rest of the magical world after centuries sequestering itself. It was now making moves to gain power, however. A thought worthy of keeping in mind as I approached the fae queen for an audience.
"Welcome, fair companion to the von Hapsburg family," the queen greeted me. Then she looked behind me to Piers. "You have brought this one to our doorstep..."
I bowed to her, although it felt weird. I'd never been much for royal trappings.
When I brought Jenny to the court, thankfully, they rushed her to their healers right away. They didn’t even ask me for my name, although I could have told them that I was an ally. With Jenny safely tended to, now I had to face the queen of the fae herself. She was the last of the high fae, so they said—serene and beautiful, frail and willowy. But she was also a tiny bit intimidating to me. I don’t know if I could say why. Maybe familiars were just the dead opposite of high fae. We were pretty simple, down to earth types.
”My name is Bevan Soundhunter. I'm actually here seeking help for a girl who needs a healer. Both of us became bound to a high demon, who proceeded to try and force me on her with the use of aphrodisiac spells. Unbeknownst to us, he also watched while I tried to treat her with care. He knew we were in love and had hoped to destroy the relationship by making us his pawns. Jenny ran away out of humiliation when she learned that Lord Variel and his other servants had watched her lose her virginity. For some reason, the paths led her to Lord Variel's castle, where she was stricken by the swamp sickness and is now delirious with a fever. I'm here to beg your help, because no one in Etherium will aid us as long as we're connected against our will to the high demon. I love Jenny. I'll do anything you ask of me in exchange for saving her life."
"Did you bring Piers Nicolescu as prisoner in exchange for her life?" Queen Morgana asked.
I looked at Piers. His face was completely stoic.
Oh, for crying out loud.
It would be so easy to just hand him over. I guessed it made sense that the fae had a beef with him too.
But now I couldn’t just throw him to the faery queen's mercy. "Well...," I said. Piers still wasn't reacting at all. Maybe he expected me to trade his life. Maybe he didn't even care if he rotted in a faery prison. I sighed. "Piers...helped me get through the swamp safely and make healing tonics for Jenny. So I didn't bring him as a prisoner of war."
"Oh, puh-lease," a very American voice rose above the gentle murmurs of the faery court.
The queen raised an amused eyebrow. "I imagine you have something to say about this, Lady Daisy?"
Piers' ex-fiancee swept out of the crowd with three imposing men just behind her. "Bevan! What the ever-living fuck are you doing hanging out with Piers in the first place? Let it be known throughout the land that he is the literal worst."
"You remember me," I said. "How do you recognize me out of bat form?"
"You just announced yourself," she said.
“Yes. I did." Dumbass.
To be fair, Daisy could throw off a lot of people. She was wearing a bright yellow gown that sat off-shoulder and showed off her breasts, but it also had billowing long sleeves, and a sweeping skirt slit up to her thigh, with gold stiletto sandals. Daisy had always been a lot to handle. She grew up in the same elite circle of wizards as my family, where inheritances and patriarchal arranged marriages were the order of the day. The only reason a familiar like me knew Daisy was because she was betrothed to the younger brother of my witch. When he fell for someone else, Daisy was passed to the older cousin--Piers. When that went south, she agreed to marry a faery lord just for the alliance.
Needless to say, Daisy understood transactional relationships.
"Are you aware of all the absolutely horrible stuff he did?” she asked me.
"I am extremely aware and have been reminding him of it frequently," I said, irritated. "But still, I have to acknowledge that he was helpful in Sinistral and..."
"And so, he can go to jail," Daisy said. "Man, just when I think I'll never have to see this guy again, he keeps popping up like a pimple. Not that I have a lot of experience with those..."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Piers Nicolescu?" Queen Morgana asked.
"No," Piers said.
"Nothing in your defense?"
"You all know what I did," Piers said. "And you probably know why I did it. If you need to send me to jail, I would say that all is fair. I would have done the same thing. I just hope you won’t blame Jenny for being acquainted to me. She needs your help.”
"I might hate martyr Piers even more than unrepentant a-hole Piers," Daisy said.
"Lass, do you think it's possible he might just be tired of a life of crime?" asked one of Daisy's male attendants. "He looks like he's been through the wringer already."
“Orson, don't treat him like a hurt cow," Daisy said. "I don't think he deserves even one hand. He once tried to grope my boobs with that hand--and very clumsily."
"I was trying to put an arm around you," Piers said, turning slightly pink. His blush was stark because he was so pale.