The Unseelie King (The Kings Book 6) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

The platform was called, simply, The Moving Floor, or
Mover
, for short. The marble and glass bead floor, which spread the span of an oversized ballroom, literally possessed the ability to leave the ground and soar over the lands of the Unseelie Kingdom as if it were a helicopter or jet plane. When it did so, it had no walls and no obvious means by which to keep people from falling off its edges. It was only a marble floor, upon which rested the same marble pillars it possessed now, and whatever furniture and accoutrements were appropriate for the event.

The Mover was as ancient as the castle it had been created for. When the Unseelie King wished to utilize it, he had but to cast the proper spell. That was what he had done tonight, shortly after bringing Minerva back to the Great Hall.

He’d called a handful of people to him, given them a series of orders, and then pulled her to the side to sit her down at a small round table for two. There, he’d settled her with a firm gaze and told her that if she wanted a tour, he would damn well give her one.

At least, that was
about
how he’d put it:

“I will
show
you the land and the people that you will be queen of, Minerva Trystaine,” he said calmly, but firmly, in that matter-of-fact way that brooked no argument and drove her a little insane.

“I will show you things you never dreamed, and by the night’s end, you will wear your crown readily.” His voice lowered then, and his tone turned more serious. “But I must warn you, Moonbeam. The unseelie fae are not like the fae of my brother’s realm. Selene was able to be forthcoming about what she was.
You
, on the other hand, will need to keep your abilities as a Wisher to yourself. Until you wear your crown publicly, the unseelie will otherwise see you in one of three ways: as a terrifying enemy to destroy, a terrible power to exploit, or as a precious prize to win at all costs. Most likely a combination of two or more of the three. My people are, after all, known for their manipulations.”

The warning had seared through Minerva in a strange way. It had scared her, yes. But it had also forced her ire to rise, and she could actually
feel
those blue flames leap to life in her eyes now. “I can handle myself,” she said. The prospect of ruling over an entire nation that saw her as something akin to a powder keg or nuclear warhead, something to be fought over but feared, was admittedly unsettling. But
life
was unsettling.

Caliban rose from his chair. “Not that I for one moment doubt your capabilities, my queen,” he said as he placed his hands firmly on the table and leaned over until his face was inches from her own. She froze in that nearness, caught in another rogue wave of his fae power. “But for the time being, let’s not invite more trouble than necessary, agreed? Because if you unwittingly wreak ardent, lusty havoc, I promise you I will deal with the issue long before you do, and probably in a manner of which you will not approve.”

It was a promise she absolutely believed then and there. It was sworn in the amethyst hardness of his eyes.

“And I would rather not bury too many of our citizens tonight.” He straightened to that full, imposing height, and offered her his elbow. “Shall we?”

In the minutes and hours that followed, it became clear to Minerva that the king intended to give her the most amazing tour of his land any fae had ever been given. It made her feel guilty. But it also made her excited. After all, what she’d said was true. She
didn’t
know this land, and she
was
being asked to rule it. Maybe this would be a very good thing. It would introduce her to the realm, and the realm to her.

Within the course of a single hour, several notable people had taken Caliban’s orders and run with them. She’d been introduced to Thanaeryv Drummar, the Duwomm advisor to the king, whose wife was apparently responsible for most of the delicious food that would be served during the engagement tour-slash-party. Minerva had liked him at once, and she hoped it was mutual, because something about the old man made her very much want to have him as a friend.

She’d also been introduced to Pi, the fire elemental, whom she found so freaking adorable, if he hadn’t been made of fire, she would have very much wanted to hold him. Of course, it wasn’t until after the little dancing flame had come and gone that Caliban informed her if she wanted to hold fire, she could do so quite easily. She was a fae, after all. And quite the powerful one, at that. “Everything will come with practice, love,” he’d told her with a promising smile.

Titania, the fairy, had also taken orders from him, though she was quick to point out to him that she hadn’t
needed
to, since she can already automatically tell what it is her master and mistress need. But before Caliban could retort with any kind of warning, she’d flipped her blue hair over her shoulder and called to her a score of other servants who were obviously her underlings. Moments later, they were scurrying in a dozen different directions, busy coordinating the biggest party the realm had ever known.

The cooks were preparing, magic spells were being cast, the Mover was being decorated, and it didn’t take long before Minerva all but forgot that someone out there somewhere wanted her dead.

By the stroke of thirteen, the platform was completely ready for lift-off, in grand celebration of the formal engagement of the king and queen of the Unseelie Realm. Since, as he put it, he was not yet prepared to let her out of his sight, Minerva remained more or less at his side during these preparations. She looked on silently, with eyes she knew were way too large for her face, but that she could do nothing about. What was being revealed to her were scenes from a fantasy. They were the kinds of things graphic designers dreamed of one day creating with CGI, but that technology had not yet grown sophisticated enough to sculpt. She was walking through a forming dream, watching objects of the imagination being brought to impossible life.

Every now and then, she would look away from the mesmerizing displays only to catch Caliban staring at her. Caught in the act, he would either shake his head in what looked like silent wonder, or he would lean over to place a kiss to her forehead, or he would reach out to take her hand and give it a squeeze. She’d known him a few days, but to Minerva, these were the actions of a couple that had known each other much, much longer. And they felt right.

Every layer of glitz and glamour laid upon the next was more extravagant, more wondrous, and even more improbable, until the great hall smelled divinely of dozens of different forms of desserts, and fanciful footmen were ready to receive guests, and servants were lined up in their own finery, preparing to wait hand and foot on their royalty and the royal court. Hundreds of invitations had been automatically sent out to appear without delay in the homes of unseelie fae far and wide.

At one point, someone in royal court clothing approached Caliban respectfully and informed him of a political matter that needed his attention. At the same time, Titania appeared before them and asked to borrow Minerva.

Minerva smiled graciously, feeling as though she should allow Caliban to deal with whatever it was he needed to deal with alone. She nodded at the fairy and quickly followed her.

As she left Caliban’s side, she could feel his power tugging reluctantly at her. It was almost a physical thing, like a magnet – or strong, silk ropes. She could feel a heat behind her, too, and she somehow recognized it as the king’s stark irritation. Instinctively, she used a bit of her own magic to sever the hold of his power around her. Then she looked back at him over her shoulder – to find his eyes ablaze, and the corners of his lips turned up in challenge. There was a promise in that gaze.

She shivered, and turned away, noticing her mouth had gone dry.

“We have to hurry,” Titania said quickly in her light, tinkling voice. “The first guests will arrive shortly.” She was leading her toward the dessert table. Minerva followed willingly.

“How will they all arrive here so quickly?” she asked. She’d been wondering this anyway.

“The Moving Floor picks them up,” the fairy replied distractedly. “Okay. Is
this
the dessert that mortals call mousse? One of the royal court members has been wanting to try it, but she’s never been in the mortal realm, so it was a little hard getting the info from her mind.”

Minerva glanced at the dish and bit her lip. The crystal bowl was dusted with gold, the chocolate inside was cut into the shape of diamonds, and icing that appeared to have gemstone dust in it had been used as perfect, thin piping in exquisite, intricate design. There were layers to the dessert as well, each a different shade of chocolate. It was a display no mortal cook on Earth would have been capable of creating, especially in the time frame the fae cooks had been afforded, but it did look a
little
like chocolate mousse. It looked like chocolate mousse and a trillion bucks had gotten together and had a chocolate baby.

“Um, yeah, that looks about right,” she replied, mystified. “What do you mean the Mover picks them up?”

Titania glanced back at her and giggled. “My lady, why do you think it’s called the Moving Floor?”

The truth was, she
had
wondered, and her stomach had done a little flip-flop at the thought of an enormous, unprotected platform shaking free from its foundations and floating over the realm like a gigantic Frisbee. But she’d pushed it out of her mind and concentrated on everything else that was happening, which lucky for her, wasn’t that hard.

“Because it flies around and picks people up,” she answered dully. Her gut tightened, and she absently pressed her hand to it.

The fairy straightened, her expression growing concerned. “Oh, my lady, please don’t worry. There is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. The Mover is very, very old, and has been used by the king on hundreds of occasions. It’s perfectly safe, and I must tell you, it’s quite wonderful.” She grinned, winked a luminous pink-purple eye, and rocked forward onto her tiptoes. “Wait until you see your land from above. Especially at day break. There is no vision so breathtaking.”

Minerva forced a smile and dropped her hand.

Titania’s expression became serious then. She rested back on the soles of her feet and clasped her hands together in front of her. “You know… when there are matters of the realm that need a sovereign’s attention, you are as much entitled to handle them as the king. If not more so.”

Minerva blinked. She glanced back over her shoulder to where Caliban and a group of other men stood. They were animated, raising their hands in earnest, their expressions troubled, their faces pale and taut with concern. He’d told her earlier that those particular fae were known as Lubraine. Like the Korred, they resembled humans but for one trait that set them apart. While the Korred possessed ears like elves’, in the Lubraine’s case, it was eyes that resembled cat’s eyes, with elongated pupils and yellow-gold irises.

They looked troubled, but Caliban stood tall and confident, his mannerisms easy and controlled, and as Minerva looked on, the Lubraine calmed down, eventually even smiling and bowing low before they left.

“I don’t know the first thing about being a queen, Titania,” Minerva whispered. “It’s not time yet for me to get involved.” She turned back to the fairy, who was studying her carefully. “You didn’t really want to ask me about the mousse, did you?”

Titania smiled guiltily. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to get a mortal perspective on something created by mortals, but no. I knew you were uncomfortable and that what you really wanted was a way out. And that’s my job, my lady. To make you comfortable.”

Now it was Minerva’s turn to smile. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. She meant it.

Titania laughed. “I understand. You’re being thrown to the sharks. And some Unseelie fae are… well, I can see why you’d want to ease into this. But you won’t be alone.” She nodded at something over Minerva’s shoulder, and Minerva turned to see that the Lubraine had departed. Caliban was heading toward her, his stride long, his eyes fastened on hers. “And you were born to do this, my lady. Never forget that.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Caliban took Minerva’s hand and held it firmly in his as the floor began to rumble. He’d made sure to explain everything that would happen so she would be prepared, but even so, he could feel her tense beneath his grip. She watched the edges of the Moving Floor with wary excitement as it magically separated from the surrounding walls.

Overhead, the ceiling shimmered and then vanished, leaving the Great Hall open up to the vast, star-filled night sky. Minerva looked up, her gaze filled with awe. The small blue flames at the centers of her pupils flickered admiringly, dancing to life with the flux of her excitement.

The Mover lifted then, smoothly as ever, and Minerva looked down suddenly, taking a step back that brought her closer to Caliban.

He smiled, stealing the opportunity to release her hand and instead slide his arm around her slim waist. He used that hold to pull her up against him as the Moving Floor rose above the walls of the Great Hall and was at last free of its earthly hold.

The magic that had created the Mover long ago now protected its passengers from the effects of its flight. There was no wind, there were no inclement weather or temperature changes, there were no insects.

After a few moments of free, smooth flight, Minerva relaxed beside Cal – and looked up at him with a bright, beaming smile. It took his breath away.

“I’m going to the edge,” she told him with the exuberance of a child. She pulled free from his grasp, lifted her skirts, and hastened to the Mover’s edge. Caliban stood frozen, still in the magic spell of that unequaled smile, and watched her scoot up right along the outer limits of the floor to look down.

Though he’d ridden the Moving Floor thousands of times and knew well that it was impossible for anyone to fall off its edges, the sight of her there, inches away from such a prospect, made his heart feel like ice.

A terrible sensation swept through him. Caliban recognized it as fear, but it was unlike any fear he’d ever before known. It was the kind of fear one experienced when they suddenly had something to lose, and that something would destroy them to live without because it meant more than life, itself. There was no fear in the realms like it. And now Caliban knew it first-hand.

She’s going to kill me
, he thought suddenly. He sensed a change in him, the burgeoning of a weakness. He stood there and could imagine the years to come – if he was lucky – in which he wondered where she was when she wasn’t beside him. In which he missed her, worried about her, and yearned for her. This was a fragility that was utterly and painfully new.

It was ironic to him that his
queen
, the one thing in the multiverse that could make him more powerful than he was already, was also the one thing that could bring him to his knees. There was a depth to him now that was positively exploitable.

He would have to stay on his toes. The lifetimes to come were going to be one wild ride.

*****

Minerva marveled at the ground that sped by below. Roads paved with multi-colored stones, rooftops constructed of everything from thatch to carved stone tile, and gardens with mazes, rows of strange vegetables and flowers, and even fountains blurred by at exhilarating speeds. She found herself laughing with delight when the tops of impossibly tall fae trees nearly skimmed the bottom of the platform.

She placed her hand to her chest and looked up, grinning like an idiot at the multitude of stars that glittered like pixie fire and diamonds strewn across the sable night sky. She felt high, as if she’d been sipping moonshine or smoking some exotic fairy weed.

She didn’t know how long she’d been standing there admiring the view when she heard voices behind her and turned to find that the first of the invited guests were arriving. They appeared through an archway at one end of the platform. It acted almost as a portal, sucking people up from below and presenting them on the landing to the Mover.

Minerva imagined it working a little like a
Star Trek
transporter beam. It even looked similar, removing the guests from below and causing them to reappear in a cloud of sparkling energy until they were once more fully materialized.

Titania the fairy suddenly appeared at Minerva’s side. “Here they come,” she said excitedly.

The first guests were two women and a man, all of course dressed regally. “That’s Andari Novall, her husband, and their daughter. She’s been in the Unseelie Court for nine hundred years.”

Andari Novall was a tall, stately woman with purple and silver striped hair, yellow eyes, and skin the color of an eggplant. Her husband was perhaps an inch or two taller, with similar eyes and skin, but with all-gray hair. Their daughter, a stunning young woman whose skin was slightly lighter in color, possessed hair that was all purple but for a single silver stripe behind her left ear.

“Lady Novall and her family are Endray,” supplied Titania. “Very mild mannered, for unseelie, and very reliable. Lady Novall has been a loyal supporter her entire life. Not much means more to her than the security of the throne.” Titania smiled at Minerva. “Which means she will probably become your best friend before too long. And a good friend to have, too. She’s quite powerful amongst the Endray, which make up a good portion of the unseelie population.”

Minerva nodded. She made a mental note to be on her very best behavior around this particular woman. She wondered whether her sister had been forced to face this sort of thing yet. In fact, she wondered how Selene was, in general.

Caliban had told her earlier that Selene was safe with Avery, the Seelie King, and that she was content as the queen of their realm. It wasn’t safe yet to visit her; their enemy would expect the twins to want to reunite. Minerva understood that, and for the most part, she accepted it. She and Selene had always been close, but they were not conjoined. They weren’t the kind of twins who couldn’t stand to be apart. It was enough, at the moment, to know that Selene was safe.

“The daughter’s name is Linneah. You’ll notice her earrings,” added Titania softly, leaning a little toward her for privacy. Minerva
had
noticed them, in fact. They were long, dangling earrings composed entirely of a pastel rainbow of sparkling gemstones. “Those were a gift from her husband-to-be, Jennid, a Korred fae who will be arriving shortly.”

The earrings were beautiful. “Got it,” said Minerva, who was quite proud that she was catching on to this political stuff pretty quickly. “So I’ll make sure to congratulate her on the upcoming engagement.”

Titania’s smile became a proud grin. “Exactly.” She took Minerva’s hand and patted it comfortingly. “You are indeed catching on quick. Which is good,” she added, releasing her and turning toward the archway where more guests were arriving in quick succession. “Because you’re about to get a comprehensive lesson on the entire Unseelie Realm.”

Time moved strangely on the platform. The world literally blurred by, and it was always night, and there were always new guests, so it was an indeterminate amount of time later that Minerva glanced up from the group she’d been conversing with to find a new group of guests arriving at the archway.

This time, it was not only interest that was piqued by their appearance – it was fear.

Titania was at her side at once, and there was a gentle hand beneath Minerva’s elbow, as if to steady her. She watched Caliban approach the newcomers, ever tall and confident, but this time, Minerva felt something other than pride at the king’s appearance and mannerisms. She felt nervous. As if she were afraid for him.

“My lady, there is no cause for alarm. I understand their appearance is unsettling, but you are perfectly safe here.”

Minerva swallowed, but it was hard to get past the lump that had formed in her throat. Her mouth had gone dry.

The men who’d arrived looked as though they might have come directly from a Hollywood movie set. They were all tall, they were all dressed in tailored and fine dark clothing, and they were all breathtakingly handsome, from chiseled features to strong chins to perfect, broad-shouldered builds. Their eyes were so vivid, she could see them even from a distance, slashes of green and blue hues that would make any woman melt. However, beyond this façade of genteel beauty, there was a savage core, and Minerva recognized it at once.

“Why are they scaring me so much?” she whispered aloud, leaning toward Titania.

At once, the men at the archway looked up, each of them zeroing in on her with their cold, beautiful eyes.

Titania quickly took her queen by the elbow and pulled her further away from the archway. Minerva felt the men’s eyes on her as she retreated, and her body moved stiffly, almost mechanically. Once she and Titania reached the outer edge of the platform, Titania turned to her, taking her hands in her own and squeezing tight. “You see them for what they truly are because you are the born queen. Only a very powerful fae could glimpse past their glamour. You breached their masks with ease.”

It was a poetic way to describe it, really, since all Minerva “saw” was what was there – three painfully handsome men. There was no real “mask” to see past. But it would have been difficult to describe any other way, and Minerva understood totally what Titania meant by her words.

“Titania,” she said as she chanced a glance in their direction only to find that Caliban had reached them, and their attention was now on their king. “What
are
they?” The tightness in her chest made her voice tremble.

“In the mortal realm, you have legends and myths that speak of certain creatures who resemble humans, but are really something much, much more dangerous.”

Hesitantly, Minerva nodded.

“Well,” said Titania, with a knowing glance in the direction of the newcomers. “Usually, those legends and myths are true. And we have them in the fae realms as well.”