TWO WEEKS LATER
"Where are you going?"
Taelan grabbed Alori's waist as she slid toward the edge of the bed.
Bright morning light winked through the cracks in the dark curtains on the opposite wall. They were in their new apartments, which had once belonged to her parents. Alori still felt strange occupying the space, particularly the bedchamber where she and her siblings had been conceived, but the king had paid to have the rooms redesigned as a gift to the newlyweds. It would have been rude to refuse such a kind, expensive gesture.
Taelan pulled her backward into his chest, rubbing his nose through her hair until he found her soft, yielding skin.
Alori sighed, turning into his arms. "Don't you remember? I'm going to Ville-Tokki today to see Hira."
"Oh, I'd forgotten. Am I not invited?"
He was adorable when he pouted, his eyes lazy with sleep. Alori smiled.
"I think she might feel more comfortable talking to me alone, if you don't mind."
She kissed him as if she hadn't just tried to sneak off without his noticing, dragging her teeth across his lower lip. Taelan's hand slid up her side, his fingertips grazing her breast, the dimple in his cheek peeking out beside the turned up edge of his lip.
"It's fine," he whispered.
Alori leaned into his touch. "You're not making it easy to get ready."
"No, I'm not." His drowsy half-smile broadened into a wicked grin. His hands came down on either side of her head, and a moment later he was straddling her hips.
Oh for the goddesses' sake, she didn't have time for this folly. Today's schedule was already getting away from her.
Except she did have the time, she really did.
How many times was this now? Alori had lost count. All she knew for certain was that the number had eclipsed once a week for six months, and then some. It hadn't taken nearly as long as she'd expected.
"I just want my wife all to myself a little while longer."
Well, then...
Alori surrendered herself to the inevitable, their bodies finding a shared rhythm, a composition of taste and touch and tenderness. It was a short song, but she wasn't complaining. After last night, she hadn't expected he'd want her again so soon.
"Now I really have to get cleaned up." She climbed off the bed in a couple of well orchestrated movements, then bent down and gave Taelan one final kiss and a slap on the bottom before slipping away to the washroom.
♪♫♪
The ride to Ville-Tokki took a few hours. Kors and one of the other paladins, a man with dark features and a blinding smile, were her only company for the trip. She'd gotten to know Kors a little over the past month, so she made small talk by asking after his wife and young family living in Upper Topaz. Otherwise she didn't know what to say, which left an awkward silence stretching out between them along the winding country road.
Alori didn't like leaving Taelan behind. They were rarely apart these days, and she felt uneasy without him beside her. Since their wedding, he'd attended each council meeting with her, regardless of how menial. He'd even joined her in sitting for the court, hearing the grievances and requests of the citizens. Thankfully, nothing of grave consequence had happened since the breach in Ville-Tokki. There were always miscreants and the whisper of rogue mages but, by and large, things had been quiet.
All this law and order meant Alori was able to travel the countryside with minimal guard presence, and without her bard prince if she so chose. But that didn't make her feel better about it.
A sharp stab of guilt unsettled the light breakfast she'd managed to eat before leaving the palace. She hadn't lied about the purpose of her trip to Ville-Tokki, not as such. Hira's cottage was the first and foremost stop on her itinerary, but seeing the mendmage and her infant wasn't the only thing Alori had planned for the afternoon. There was another stop she intended to make. She was going to pay a certain loathsome apothecarist a visit.
It wasn't a matter of trust. Unrelenting curiosity had led her to this. Alori knew Taelan wanted nothing to do with Roja, and wished he'd never met the rogue mage, but that didn't stop the onslaught of intrusive thoughts plaguing Alori. If anything, her ire toward the apothecarist had increased in the weeks since the wedding. Over the past month and a half, she'd become obsessive, her idle daydreams turning darker and more terrifying by the day. So far she had been able to hide it from Taelan– from everyone– but she wouldn't be able to forever.
What did Roja look like, sound like? What did she sell in her shop to cover her illegal dealings?
What would she do if confronted?
Alori had been too ashamed to share her thoughts with anyone, even Mendmaster Doari. The solution seemed obvious... She needed to meet Roja. Then Alori could move on, putting the past behind her like Taelan had done. Perhaps she could find a way to have Roja arrested without implicating Taelan or any of the other bards from the Conservatory. Selling illegal dream potions wasn't exactly an uncommon practice, and with the right strategy it would be simple to nail the apothecarist for her crimes.
The coach pulled up outside Hira's cottage and Alori hopped out with Mr. Baejun's assistance. She hesitated on the sidewalk, letting the frenzied ideas swirling in her mind settle. She would confront Roja, but not yet.
♪♫♪
Hira was doing well. The baby was a darling little thing about a year old. Amira had inherited her father's blond hair, but everything else was her mother– the dainty features, the almond shaped brown eyes and alabaster skin, the sweet smile. Especially the smile.
Seeing Hira with her child made Alori wonder how Tomoko was doing with her new little one. She'd also had a baby girl, just as the king had predicted, but that was as much as Alori had heard of her lady's maid's growing family.
So many babies lately, but Alori was using a contraceptive. She and Taelan had decided to wait to have children. Wearing a crown was a huge responsibility, and they were both still so young. But when they did decide to take that leap, in all likelihood they too would be welcomed by a baby girl. The next Crown Princess of the Ville-Realms.
"I'm honored you would come all this way just to visit me, Your Highness."
Hira's cheeks were rosy as the two women sat opposite each other at a small round table in Hira's mother's kitchen. It was a shame the older woman wasn't at home, Alori would have liked to meet Hira's mother.
"It's my pleasure, I assure you." Alori smiled down at the tiny infant, tickling her chubby belly. "Amira is precious, such a little beauty."
"She's been my salvation through all this, my reason to keep going. Children are special that way."
"They are," Alori agreed. "I've always had a particular fondness for them. It makes my job easier, knowing that I fight to protect the innocent."
Hira leaned over the table, her palms curved around her pewter teacup. "Forgive me if this is an impertinent question, but are you and Prince Taelan planning on starting a family?"
"Not right away."
Alori took a sip of tea. It wasn't a high quality blend, but it was tolerable. Sometimes she resented that she'd grown up acquiring expensive taste. It bothered her, knowing that she enjoyed luxuries that most of her people would only ever dream about.
"I suppose that makes sense. The prince must still be accommodating to royal life, and who knows when ...."
Hira trailed off, her eyes darting to the fireplace.
Alori knew what the mendmage wanted to say, because she was thinking the same thing.
Who knows when the next attack will come?
The ever-looming threat of demons was the primary reason Alori had started taking precautions. It wasn't necessarily a secret; Taelan had agreed that holding off on children was for the best, although he wanted them as much as she did. Someday.
"Just don't tell my father." Alori winked, leaning back in her seat. "Speaking of the king, he and I discussed our goal to reward everyone who helped defeat Dantalion. The demon was right about one thing, you're a strong mage and an excellent healer. If you'd like to apprentice with the menders at the palace, I could arrange it."
"That's very very kind of you. I... don't know what to say."
"Of course, I understand if you would prefer to stay here and raise Amira where you grew up. Ville-Tokki is lovely, and much quieter than Ville-Saseum." Alori took another sip of the lukewarm tea. "Whatever you decide, if you should change your mind the offer stands."
Hira sagged in her seat. Had she thought Alori would be offended if she didn't come to the palace? She tickled her daughter's pink heel, looking askance at the modest hearth and fireplace. "I've never known any place but Ville-Tokki. I fear the city would swallow me, but I'll think it over."
Alori set down her teacup. "Do whatever makes you happy. I'll check in from time to time, if you don't mind. I'd love to see how little Amira is faring."
"Anytime, Your Highness. We'd love to see you."
"There is one thing I wanted to make you aware of." Alori laced her gloved fingers together, resting them on the table. "Thelix's trial has been pushed forward. The usual waiting period is three to six months but, due to the nature of his crimes, his trial will begin in six weeks.
"I told you he wouldn't be executed, and I stand behind that promise, but his sentence won't be lenient. He'll be made an example of, and might find himself indentured to a forbidding sort. A Redmage, perhaps."
Redmages walked the line between the light and dark arts, for the sake of the Crown. They were the executioners of the Ville-Realms, but more often they used magic to interrogate and torment violent criminals. The king kept them on a tight leash, as one day soon Alori would.
"There may be times he'll wish he'd been put to death," she admitted, a band of tension pulsing between her temples.
"I understand. What Thelix did can never be atoned for." Hira's eyes flared golden, reflecting the firelight. "If he had only threatened me... but he hurt you as well, and he was in league with our enemy." Her knuckles whitened around the kerchief she was holding. "I would not have blamed you for executing him on the spot, but some weak part of me is glad he'll live. I shouldn't care, but he's my daughter's father."
Alori put her hand over the mender's trembling fingers. "You're not weak for abhorring death. I admire that. But Thelix will be held accountable for all of his crimes. What he did to you was reprehensible. No man should abuse the mother of his child."
Hira lifted the baby out of her bassinet, studying the small, cherubic face staring back at her. Worry lines creased her pale forehead. "I hope there's nothing of him in Amira. Nothing but his hair."
"Amira won't be like her father." Alori could tell in one glance around the quaint, neatly kept cottage that it was a place of love and happiness. "She'll grow up under your care and guidance. She'll make a positive difference in the world someday, and you'll be able to send her to school, I'll see to it. Send her anywhere you want. I promise you, Hira, your child will thrive."
"Thank you" The mendmage's eyes glistened with tears. "Thank you so much."
Alori wasn't so vain to believe the royal coffers were hers to dole out at will, or that her generosity was worth much praise. Most spent a lifetime amassing their fortunes, but Alori had been born into money. She hadn't truly earned anything– although, to be fair, her work for the Crown had to count for something.
Either way, she was happy to see assistance go to those who would genuinely appreciate it. It felt nice doing good, even if there was a self-serving element to it.
Now, if only the rest of the day would remain so pleasant. Somehow, she didn't think that was going to be possible.
♪♫♪
Alori stood under the carved sign hanging above the apothecary storefront, steeling herself to her goal.
Taelan had told her Roja's shop was in the town center, but it was a shock discovering it just two doors down from the Ville-Tokki Inn. They had been so close to this spot the night of their dinner date, and he hadn't given so much as a hint. The proximity had to have affected him, but all Alori remembered of that evening was their easy conversation over supper and their heated kiss against the out of tune piano.
Reaching up a hand, she aligned the wool cap on her head. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she glanced back over her shoulder. Her carriage was out of sight, parked along the end of the adjoining street, just as she'd instructed. The storefront was dim.
Sundown was approaching, but most shopkeepers lived on the second floor above their stores, so chances were that Roja would be there.
Alori knocked once, then opened the door. A bell tied to the inside knob jingled cheerfully as the mingling scents of herbs and boiled potions filled her nostrils.
Would the strong smell of this place dredge up bad memories for Taelan, if he were here?
If she was lucky, she'd never find out.
Alori stepped into the small shop, the door banging shut behind her. A lamp burned low on a table behind the till, a closed ledger resting beside it. Shadows crept away from the corners of the walls, crawling over the bookshelves and tidy apothecary cabinets lined up back to back in the middle of the store. Soon the oil would run down and the room would be consumed in darkness.
"It's five 'til closing, y'know,'' a slightly annoyed female voice grumbled from somewhere out of sight. "I'm coming, I'm coming. I swear, you're all the sa–"
Alori turned around, plastering a smile on her face. Well, it wasn't exactly her face, just as it wasn't exactly her body. Roja wasn't the only one who could cast a believable glamour.
"Taelan?" The woman's dark red eyebrows drew together into a deep frown. She wore a simple brown frock and loafers. Not overweight and not thin, she was somewhere in between. And she was nowhere near as old or as haggard as Alori had expected.
This woman, with wild red curls and a look of shock on her round pudgy face, might have been forty-five. Maybe.
"Hello, Roja." Magic-altered vocalization was finicky business, but Taelan's deep, musical voice rolled easily off Alori's tongue.
Goddess but she missed him already.
"W-what are you doing here?" Roja swung a tapestry sharply into place across the end of the hallway she'd emerged from, taking a few tentative steps into the room.
"Would you believe it if I said I wondered how you're doing?"
Alori pulled off Taelan's scratchy cap and shoved it into her pocket, eyeing the witch with her glamoured gray gaze.
"No," Roja said simply, shaking her head. A square of light blue fabric hung from her hand, the top section squeezed in her fist.
"What do you think I'm doing here, then?"
The witch looked up at her, studying Taelan's face. "I don't know. You're a prince now, aren't you? Have you come to arrest me?"
"Perhaps I should." Alori stalked forward, getting a closer look at the apothecarist's freckled cheeks. She backed Roja into the wall beside the tapestry and glared into her piercing blue eyes. "Did you think I would forget about her, after what you did to me? Did you think I would give up on my dreams so easily?"
"You have no idea what I was thinking." Roja's features softened, fear giving way to curiosity. "You look... different. Like a man."
"I am a man. You blackmailed and assaulted a boy. Are you proud of yourself?"
Alori planted her hand on the wall beside Roja's head and leaned in, as if she might kiss the witch. Instead she sneered and shoved off the wall before her rage turned physical. She hadn't expected to feel such itching hostility. She had expected Roja to sneer right back at her, not to cower and mince words.
It made her edgy and uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Taelan. What I did to you was wrong."
"You think?" Alori ran both hands through Taelan's hair, squeezing the ends as he so often did. "Give me one reason I shouldn't have you arrested. Selling illegal dreams is bad enough, but what you did to me...? Give me one reason."
"I... I was lonely. I wanted someone to keep me company. I wasn't getting any younger."
"So you threatened my future? The only future I'd ever wanted. You didn't know anything about me. You didn't know I'd already met the princess or that I loved her, even then."
Roja's lips cracked open, a blank expression on her face. "I didn't. I thought... At first, you seemed like such a sweet young boy. You were different. I gave you potions for free. But you tricked me. As you got older, you used your dreams to– to see her. I was angry that you'd deceived me. I thought I was teaching you a lesson, but also, I..."
"You what?" The sound of Taelan's voice was frightening. Alori had never heard him so angry. "You desired me, because I'd grown into a handsome young man? You make me sick."
"No. Well, in a way. I wanted..." Roja's unsettling gaze darted toward the tapestry. A strange sound echoed behind it, like footsteps advancing toward them over the wood floor, shuffling and unsure. "Don't come out right now," she called in a lilting, half-desperate tone. "I'll be back upstairs in a minute."
Who was this woman addressing so gently? The hairs on the back of Alori's neck stood on end. A sick feeling stirred in her belly.
No...
"Who's back there?" Alori stomped toward the tapestry as Roja jumped in front of it with outstretched arms, the pastel fabric in her hand fluttering against her wrist.
Alori's heart threatened to leap out of her chest. "What are you trying to hide from me?"
"It doesn't concern you."
Alori could feel the witch's dark magic frothing between them, attempting to seep into her mind. Roja thought she was dealing with Taelan, a normal human who could be dissuaded from asking unsavory questions.
"Oh, but I think it does concern me." She loomed over the witch, raising an arm to where the tapestry was nailed to the wall. With one quick tug she ripped it free.
The rent fabric hung from her fingertips, as limp and useless as Roja's half-baked magic.
The apothecarist's hands flew to her mouth. "Please, don't! Leave us alone. You have no claim."
"What the hells are you talking about?" Alori tossed the remnant to the ground. When she looked back up, she froze in horror.
In the hall not five feet away, lit by the dim glow of a mageflame lantern, stood a child. A boy. A perfect, wide-eyed, little boy. He was perhaps two or three years old, with curly strawberry blond hair and pale olive-toned skin. He looked up at Alori– at Taelan– and quivered in fear.
Alori dropped to her knees, her jaw slack. It felt as if her heart might stop beating. The boy had gray eyes. Not just gray, they were dark and intense like a storm. Shaped like half-moons.
"Stay away from my Salvi." Roja had become a feral thing, climbing over Alori's kneeling figure to reach the child. She pulled him into her arms, clutching him to her chest. Suspicion crept into her icy gaze. "Go back to your palace. Please. Leave us alone."
"What did you do?!"
Magic swirled around Alori, bright and dark and ephemeral and terrifying. She sank to the floor, her outstretched arms nearly reaching Roja and the boy. The red-headed hag sucked in a breath, scrabbling backward, the child anchored to her lap. The boy started to cry, and Alori's heart fractured into a thousand pieces.
"P-princess?" Roja stuttered, holding a hand to the back of the child's head.
"Is that–?" Alori lifted her chin. Her golden-blond hair was splayed across the floor like a fan. She'd let her glamour slip.
"This is my son." Roja turned the boy's face away, running her fingers through his loose curls. "You have no proof of anything, and sowing the seed of doubt would only upset your new husband. You know it would."
This witch would attempt to use blackmail against her? Against the Crown?
Alori wouldn't stand for it. "If he isn't Taelan's, whose is he?"
She hated to even ask. Had this despicable woman conned other men– other boys?– into sleeping with her? But those eyes. Those beautiful, stunning eyes.
"The child is mine and mine alone. Unless I'm under arrest, I would ask you to go back to your palace, your throne, and your precious bard prince. It's in your best interest to leave and never come back, isn't it?"
What in the five hells did 'mine and mine alone' mean? No woman could spontaneously reproduce, mage or not. The witch was trying to deflect from the truth.
"If you tell Taelan I've lied, he'll come to me." A note of fear crept into Roja's voice at the hard look on Alori's face. Her voice began to tremble. "Do you want that? Do you want to be involved in my life?"
"Don't play games with me, witch. It will not end well for you. If this boy is of Taelan's blood, I will find out."
"Do you intend to arrest me or not? I don't wish to see Taelan's reputation tarnished any more than you do, Your Highness."
"Spare me," Alori scoffed, climbing to her feet.
The boy's narrow shoulders slumped, his head lolling against Roja's chest as if the threat he'd perceived moments ago had diminished. Because it had. Children could sense such things. As much as it would give Alori satisfaction to lock Roja up in a cell, immediately and without remorse, the witch was right. Alori had no proof the apothecarist was selling illegal potions, nothing to go on to arrest her except Taelan's word.
But that would prove a temporary problem.
Roja adjusted the boy on her hip, grinning smugly. The wicked woman knew the princess' hands were tied. For the moment.
Alori pulled the sides of her cloak around herself and stalked to the exit. "We are not done here."
She stopped in front of the door, just long enough to leave Roja with a word of caution. "Stop selling illegal potions. Not that it will matter if you don't. I'll discover what I'm after, either way."
The door slammed shut behind her, the bell bouncing haphazardly against the door frame.
A light snow had begun to fall, reminiscent of the night she and Taelan had stayed at the Ville-Tokki Inn, but the similarities ended there. The last pink rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon as she retraced her steps back to the carriage. Mr. Baejun noticed her sullen expression and wordlessly helped her mount the coach. The paladins stared out the window during the long ride back to Ville-Saseum. To her relief, neither of them tried to broach conversation.
What now?
The question rang through Alori's head like the bell on the apothecarist's door.
What now? What now?
Taelan had a son. Salvi, Roja had called him. She could deny it until her last breath, but the boy's face was all the proof Alori needed.
What was she supposed to do with this knowledge? Should she uproot Taelan's life, and her own as well, in the name of the truth? Even if by some small chance it turned out that the beautiful gray-eyed boy wasn't her husband's flesh and blood, Roja didn't deserve him. Who knew what evil intentions she had for the child. Alori couldn't leave him there with that pitiful excuse for a woman. One way or another, she had to save Salvi. She had to expose Roja without implicating Taelan. But how?
She sighed, blowing cold air through her lips. She had hoped her honeymoon would last longer, but it seemed that fate had other plans for her and Taelan.
Nothing would ever be easy for them. She'd known it going into their marriage, and yet, she'd wanted so badly to be wrong.
♪♫♪
It was well into the evening when they reached the palace. Ville-Saseum's enchanted purple streetlamps soothed her tired eyes, but no amount of familiar comforts could do the same for her soul. Her hands were cold as she stepped down from the coach and drifted through the open doors of the grand entrance, where she found Taelan waiting for her.
Their gazes met through the ambient lighting winking off the chandelier. His expression was too keen. Did he know where she'd been? Had he suspected her secret, even before she'd left this morning?
Maybe she hadn't been hiding her negative feelings as well as she'd thought. His arms wrapped around her waist, the warm anchor she needed to withstand the turbulence crashing through her mind.
"Do you feel better now?"
"I..." Of course not. Meeting Roja hadn't gone anything like she'd expected.
What would Taelan say if she told him about Salvi?
He reached into her pocket and withdrew his cap. "I was wondering where this went."
"I don't like being away from you, so I took it with me." A truth, and not exactly a lie. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"You don't have to tell me everything, Alori." He smiled softly, pulling her closer. "You're my wife, I trust you."
He knew. Somehow, he knew she hadn't only gone to see Hira. But he didn't know about his son. He couldn't have. Roja's reaction when she'd appeared in the shop wearing glamour had proved as much.
'He shouldn't trust you,' a small, smokey voice in the back of Alori's head chided. 'You're as bad as the witch, hiding the truth from him. But then again, he wasn't always honest with you, was he?'
Dantalion. Just when she thought she'd gotten rid of him for good.
'The two of you are perfect for each other, little sweetflame. Two broken fools haunted by demons.'
Alori clenched her jaw, squeezing the long fingers tangled with her own. "Taelan?"
"Yes?"
The affection and worry commingling in sad shadows on his face made her heart ache. She wanted to kiss away those specters of darkness until they reached the light.
"It's been a long day." She pulled his hand toward her, pressing his palm flat against her belly. "Let's go to bed."
'I know what you're up to, and it won't work. But go ahead and try. When you're done lying to yourself, I'll be waiting.'
Her feet felt heavy as they took the winding stairs to their apartments, walking silently side by side.
Alori was fairly certain this was how vicious cycles began.
♫THE END♫
Thank you so much for reading this story! If you liked it, please leave a comment and follow.
Keep swiping for a sneak peek at the second installment in the series, The Princess and the Demon Hunter, which adds Princess Liahfey's perspective into the narrative!