Page 29 of Kings and Monsters

Bloody faeries!Merlin was beginning to understand why his father stayed away for so long.

Arthur, Rosa, and Merlin had gone back to Bleddyn's room and stretched out on his lounges, helping themselves to his wine and whiskey. Even Arthur's perpetual good nature had been soured by a day of dealing with the Unseelie.

Rosa nudged the toe of her boot against Merlin's, her eyes subtly pointing to Eirianwen. Merlin shrugged fractionally. The way Bleddyn had reacted in the council was indicative enough that he was still protective of the woman he had once loved.

"I see you wasted no time in raiding my cellars," Bleddyn said. He filled a glass for himself and Eirianwen.

"Apologies, Bleddyn," Arthur mumbled. "You can't exactly blame us after today. Are they always talking themselves in knots like that?"

"It's a faerie special," Rosa told him. "They all have an eternity to argue themselves in circles and assume they are getting somewhere." Arthur laughed, and she joined in, telling him of the Vane meetings she'd attended in the past. Merlin watched the exchange, the worry he carried inside of himself eased ever so slightly. Rosa was gutted about Balthasar, but her spirit wasn't as broken as he feared. He knew that if that happened, the Wylt madness wouldn't be far behind.

Merlin had tried unsuccessfully to contact Nimue to see if she knew what was going on. He had stopped in the end, fearing whatever the queen had done to Balthasar she would also try on Nimue.

"How come I never see any servants, and yet food is always appearing? Does this place have a kitchen I can explore?" Rosa asked as they sat down at the table. Steaming soups, roasted meats, bread, cheeses, and fruits were all laid out and waiting for them.

"Traditionally, theBrùnaidhhave always attended to the king's household," Eirianwen explained. "They wouldn't appreciate you trespassing in their kitchen."

"Brùnaidh…" Rosa rolled the word over her tongue.

"Brownies, Rhosyn." Merlin tore some bread up and dropped it into his soup. His appetite had almost been non-existent since crossing over into the Aos Si, but he was determined to eat to encourage Rosa to do the same.

"That makes sense in an Unseelie sort of way. I wouldn't have minded seeing a fae kitchen," Rosa said.

"You have bigger things to worry about, lass. Like how we are going to stay alive once Merlin offers us up to Gwyn ap Nudd as a tithe," Arthur said.

Eirianwen choked on the fruit she was eating and sent a horrified look at Bleddyn. "Please tell me he is joking."

"I did try to warn you that Merlin had a stupid plan," Bleddyn said.

"It's not stupid at all," Merlin argued stubbornly. "You know the stories better than anyone?—"

"Well, I don't," Rosa interrupted and turned to Bleddyn. "I want to know what is between the queen and Gwyn. Is it going to be worth poking the bear over?"

"Bear! More like a dragon. Gwyn is not a being to bargain or trifle with," Eirianwen exclaimed.

"I'll admit, I only know the rumors," Bleddyn said, sitting back and cradling his wine. "I was a child at the time. Even then, the stories were told from one end of the Unseelie to the other. The Autumn Queen was born of a Seelie noble family. Before she married the king and destroyed the Aos Si, she was the lover of Gwyn ap Nudd."

Rosa screwed up her face. "Gross. I'm surprised the king would marry her after being deflowered by the Lord of the Hunt."

"The fae don't possess the same hang-ups as humans when it comes to sexual orientation or virginity before marriage," Bleddyn replied with a slight smile.

"Sounds like experience to me. Were you guys up to no good before Bleddyn even proposed?" Rosa waggled her eyebrows at him. "Knew it."

Bleddyn grinned back."We were young, so you could hardly blame us."

"The fae are more concerned with bloodlines than anything else," Eirianwen added, the tips of her ears reddening. "You saw how Madoc reacted to me today. My grandmother was Seelie, my grandfather Unseelie. They thought it would be a positive step towards a more tolerant future. Both my parents are Unseelie, but there are some who like to bring up bloodline purity as if it's relevant."

"My wife was Irish, and it was much the same bullshit in the human world," Arthur said with a shake of his head.

"If the Autumn Slut was Gwyn's consort, how did she end up marrying the king? I would imagine it would've been a downgrade. The Lord of the Underworld isn't someone you just throw over for a crown," Rosa said with a frown.

"Well, she did," Eirianwen continued. "Her ambitious parents put pressure on her about it, and to become Queen of the Seelie must have appealed to her more than the Queen of the Hunt. It was always about power with her, and Gwyn wouldn't have shared as much of his magic as she would have liked. Some said that he did teach her forbidden dark magic, which is how she got the idea of her curse to begin with. Gwyn was so furious at being used that he brought the entire Wild Hunt to their wedding and openly cursed her."

"Epic," Rosa whispered.

"Indeed. It was where the Tithe was first established," Bleddyn continued. "Every seven years the Seelie royalty had to offer up one of their own people to the Lord of the Hunt. When the queen finally enacted her curse and killed the kings, she made sure that Gwyn couldn't enter the Seelie lands."

"Which is why my plan is brilliant and not stupid at all," Merlin stated. "Arthur, Rosa, and I will go to bargain with Gwyn and hopefully convince him to help us in exchange for the Wild Hunt being able to ride the Seelie lands once more."

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