Page 78 of The Forbidden Fae King

A thin layer of snow completely covers the plateau, crunching beneath our boots, with only the green leaves of the odd tulip or daffodil sprout poking through. No flowers. Pine trees dot the plane, with a light dusting of snow on top of the broad branches, alongside skeletal oaks.

Everything is far too monotone for my tastes, the white of frosty ground, the frozen lakes and overcast sky, against the almost black of the trees.

As we enter a forest, and the snow thins to mere patches, Keira joins me at my side.

“Would you believe that I have never seen snow before crossing to this realm? The winters of my home are mild.” Keira’s pale cheeks are flushed a pretty shade of pink.

“Is that so?” I ask. “What do you think of it?”

“Not a fan. Too cold.” Her breaths come out as streams of mist. “Too wet.”

I lean into her, close enough for her to feel my breath on her skin. “Do you want to know a secret?” She nods vigorously and I almost smile at her eagerness. “Neither am I. It's too…white. Boring. Where are the different colors and textures of the scenery? There are no leaves or flowers to set a landscape a hundred shades. I can’t hear the gurgling of a stream or the buzzing of bees, smell the pollen and dirt or the sharpness of bruised herbs. It’s all more of the same.”

She smiles. “I agree with that, though I’m sure there are people who believe otherwise.”

“Yeah,” I say. “There’s a whole Winter Court of them.”

“Aldrin,” Keira bites her lower lip, and I remember how she did that to mine this morning.

“Yesss.” I purr.

“Why are your lands dying?” Her voice is gentle, and so innocent.

I look away. “In short, because most of us have abandoned our posts in the forests for the comforts of the cities.” Those doe eyes continue to stare at me, unsated. I stare at the ground, watching patches of snow turn brown from the mud of my boots.

“This entire realm is made of magic, created by the powers of the Tuatha Dé Danann,” I say. “Without high fae tending the lands and nurturing them with our magic, they fade. It is a cycle, where the more magic we put into a place, the more it generates in return, like a farmer tending their crop.”

Light motes of snow drift down and land on my skin. They dust Keira’s hair. I am entranced by the beauty of her, but I drag myself back to our conversation.

“Once fae were spread throughout the court. The fortresses and villages of the forests, mountains and meadows were brimming with high fae and the wild parts with low fae. But then my ancestors erected a sprawling metropolis modelled on those in the human realm, and after each war, refugees fled to it. The lords amongst our people took up residence there, realizing the depth of power they could hold if they were permanently around their king, forming the council.

“The cities became a place of culture and comforts, where delicacies are imported from other courts. Anything a fae desires is available, bars, restaurants, venues that host parties all day and night. There is an abundance of work in the city, much of it far easier than the country life and the existence in the wildlands. The people there keep all their magic for themselves, funneling it into businesses or self-indulgences, rather than sowing it back into the earth.”

Keira sucks in a breath. “I would love to visit your city. See how the people live there.”

I shake my head. “The problem is, we became lazy, greedy andselfish. We sold our souls for comforts and extravagance. When my people stopped giving part of themselves back to the land, the land stopped returning the magic. Our powers began to fade, and our very life force with it. Conceiving a child gradually became near impossible. There isn’t enough magic to go around. Then…” Words escape me for a moment. “Then our women started dying in childbirth.”

It takes me a long time to pick up the narrative again. “Our numbers dropped drastically, and it wasn’t clear what was happening at first. When the magic dipped below a crucial threshold, our world stared to fall apart. You have seen this. The lower fae whose bodies dissipate on the wind. The land falling away to nothingness in great rifts.”

Keira moves a branch from her path, the staircase up the rocky incline to the Frozen River Fortress barely wide enough for us side by side. She pants at the pace I set in my frustration, but pushes to remain at my side. I slow my strides, forcing myself to not take two steps at a time.

“What is your solution? I know it's controversial,” she asks.

I give her a sidelong glance.

My answer might terrify her, but she will find out eventually. “It’s a two pronged attack. Fae need to move back to the outposts of this court and nurture their land, rather than being concentrated in one city. There will be incentives, land given away, much smaller cities built, trade expanded so commodities are available throughout the court.

“But, we also need to vastly increase our population. You must understand, low fae take their magic from nature, but we high fae generate it within ourselves. More high fae means more magic in this realm. My grand plan, the one that got me exiled, was to invite humans to migrate to these lands as full citizens, and hope they would interbreed with our kind to produce the next generation.”

Keira raises her eyebrows at me.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I utter.

“I didn’t say anything.” Her expression is unreadable to me.

But she hasn’t run away from me screaming, and that is something.

“I know what you are thinking.” Vulnerability rolls through me. “I promised you we don’t steal human consorts, and here I am suggesting breeding between our races. Butthisis different. A solution that relies on choice and freedom. Our people once wanted to live in each other’s lands. To intermingle. Humans have a far longer life span here, so close to the source of their magic. Their power is vastly increased. I hope they would make a home in these lands.”

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