I arch my brow, waiting for him to elucidate.
He leans back in his seat, taking on a more casual posture. With one arm resting on the back of the bench, he props an ankle over the opposite knee. “Your family’s reputation has been…declining.”
“Why is that?”
He cocks his head slightly to the side. “Do you know anything about your parents’ history? Not as your parents, of course, but as Lunar’s seelie monarchs.”
“I recognize their names from my studies. I know the year Horus Briar gained the seelie throne of Lunar.” It was two years after the isle’s unification. Before Faerwyvae was unified under fae rule, it was divided in half with fae living in the north and humans living in the south. After the war, the fae claimed rule over the entire isle and new territorial lines were drawn for the eleven fae courts—Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Wind, Sea, Earthen, Fire, Solar, Lunar, and Star. To ensure both seelie and unseelie fae were given equal opportunity to live as they pleased, as well as care for the humans, two sovereigns were established in each court: seelie and unseelie. The unseelie monarch would oversee the wild fae and advocate for their continued way of life according to the Old Ways, while the seelie monarch would rule over everyday matters of life and finance, their subjects being the humans and the seelie fae who chose to live in modern society.
My history lessons never meant much to me, aside from a means to earn high marks in school, but now…I’m a part of that history. If my parents claimed rule two years after unification, then that was one year before I was born.
“Other than that?” Mr. Blackwood prompts.
I shake my head. “If you mean their personal lives, I’ve heard very little royal gossip. I’m hardly aware of what happens in the Star Court, much less Lunar or elsewhere.”
“So you don’t know how Horus Briar claimed the throne? Or how he keeps it?”
A line from my mother’s letter springs to mind:He has me to thank for his throne.
“I don’t.”
“Do you at least know what kind of fae your parents are?” His eyes sweep over me. “What kind of faeyouare?”
My pulse races. Stars, I’ve yearned for that answer for so long. “I don’t. Will you tell me?”
He studies me for a few silent moments, his gaze so piercing I find myself shifting in my seat. Finally, he speaks. “They’re mahrts—dream fae.”
“Mahrts,” I echo, surprise mingling with a deep sense of belonging. My dream magic…there’s a reason for it after all! I want to ask if he knows more aboutmyspecific type of magic, but I don’t dare interrupt, not when I’m finally getting answers.
“Your father is an alp, a type of mahrt that feeds off the energy of dreams, but your mother is a particularly powerful dream fae. She’s a succubus, capable of entering others’ dreams or pulling them into hers. While her magic is at work, her victims are powerless, paralyzed until she releases them.”
I bristle at the wordvictim. It’s too dark a term for the sweet and flighty persona I met in my mother’s letter. Though, if I’m being honest, I’ve only ever heard negative things about succubi. How they tempt men from their wives by forcing erotic dreams upon them, how they feed off arousal and abandon their targets once they’ve taken their fill. These may simply be rumors, of course. How could students at an isolated convent in the Star Court know the truth about a type of fae that never leaves the Lunar Court? At least I can take comfort in knowing I’m notthatkind of fae. I only create dreamscapes and memories to interact with later. I don’t have…victims.
Mr. Blackwood continues. “Your father won Lunar’s seelie throne because your mother paralyzed his rival on the day the contest was held. He was unable to wake from his nightmare until after the agreed-upon time for the contest was over. That is how he’s kept his throne ever since. Your studies have taught you how challenges to the throne are dealt with, right?”
I nod. Whenever a fae seeks to challenge a current monarch in hopes of gaining their throne, the challenger must make a formal decree and establish a date for the contest ahead of time. The contest itself is often a battle of strength, but there have been battles of wit, magic, and divine choice as well.
“Then you might imagine how Divina Briar has helped your father remain undefeated during his twenty-one years as king. And why they’re losing the respect of their subjects.”
I frown. His tone suggests he finds her methods to be unfair, but fae rules are far different from human ones. The fae respect brutal cunning. Though, I suppose the humans and seelie fae respect such traits far less—
Understanding dawns. “My father is aseeliemonarch. The people he rules over don’t respect my mother’s…methods.”
“That,” Mr. Blackwood says, “and the fact that King Franco—the Unseelie King of Lunar—has gained a ridiculous level of popularity, thanks to his recent marriage to a charming human wife. Even the seelie people prefer King Franco over your father.”
I puzzle over his words, matching them with what I learned in my studies. Only recently did Lunar’s unseelie throne shift hands from Queen Nyxia to her younger brother, Prince Franco. No, he’sKingFranco now. Before he was king, my fellow students gushed about him the same way they do about Thorne Blackwood now. But as he’s no longer considered eligible, thanks to the servant girl who won his heart, the students spend more time romanticizing his lucky human queen. It makes sense that such a marriage would draw the respect of humans and seelie fae, even if the king is politically unseelie.
The reasons behind my marriage to Mr. Phillips grow clearer. “Wait…are my parents trying to replicate King Franco’s situation…with me and Mr. Phillips? They think my marriage to a human will gain them back the respect of their subjects?”
“Yes, and Monty Phillips isn’t just any human,” Mr. Blackwood says. “He’s an aristocrat, the son of a Human Representative—the highest position a human can have in the government. And since he’s from the Earthen Court, your family’s influence will spread beyond their current sphere. More influence would result in fewer challengers to the throne, but if your mother’s methods eventually fail and your father is dethroned, your marriage will ensure your family retains a respectable position in society thereafter.”
I sit back in my seat, poring over this new information. I’m starting to understand why my parents would value such a marriage and why they consider it their salvation, but I never expected being theBriar family heromeant digging them out of a holetheydug.
Irritation writhes through me, but it’s tempered by a wave of guilt.
Yes, I’m still furious over my unwanted engagement, and Thorne’s explanation hasn’t lessened that. Yet I have no reason to believe Thorne knows the full story. Based on how he described my mother’s magic, he’s clearly biased. Until I meet my family and hear their explanation from their lips, I’ll resist passing judgment on them.
I pose my next question. “Does my family’s…reputationhave anything to do with the danger I was in? Or…still am in?”
