Page 56 of The Lord of Whispers

“And Oliver, I met him in the north shortly after the war was over. He was in the service of House Patton, and someone mentioned that he was a skilled swordsman and suggested I seek him out. You’ve seen us spar. He’s one of the most skilled fae I have ever crossed swords with. His potential wasn’t being maximized by House Patton. They didn’t even have him in a sword master role,” I said with a sneer.

“So, I invited him to become the master at arms for my House. The offer came with a bit of land as well. He heads up the operations for the Azurinium mining too now.”

“So, he’s a—” Alarie began in a tone of surprise.

“Lord,” I interjected.

“And what about House Patton? How did that all come about?” she probed.

We usually avoided the topic of Lady Vitruvian. She just wasn’t relevant to our day-to-day lives. She stayed at one of her family’s estates most of the time, and Alarie and I lived our lives unencumbered at the High Court. But I’d mentioned House Patton, Lady Vitruvian’s maiden House, so I guessed this time was as good as any. I dropped Alarie’s hand as I moved toward the water, resting an arm on the banister of the fence running along the waterfront path.

“There were a lot of sacrifices made in the wars. Deaths like Cress’s husband are the most obvious kind of losses, but there were others—of land, of power… of love.” I paused. “Rex’s powers are…” I paused.

“Rex?” she asked incredulously.

I gave her a wry smile, my foreboding effect dissipating for a moment.

“When you have been around as long as I have, love, even kings have first names,” I said.

“To say Rex is powerful is a gross understatement. His abilities are wholly unique, Alarie. His powers are of both light and darkness.”

“That’s not possible,” she said.

Her reaction was predictable, understandable. It was textbook magical theory that a fae’s power was either of light or darkness, but never both.

“It’s impossible,” I agreed, “unlessyou’re Rex.”

“There have been stories of a few others throughout history. And I’ve always been skeptical until Rex. Alarie, I have no doubt about it when it comes to his powers. They are unrivaled.”

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

“Even still, we may have been able to defeat him. But we were suffering losses that were not acceptable,” I explained fiercely.

“Rex and the northern fae were more willing than the southern fae to pay the costs of war. In the north, absolute power reigns supreme, which allowed them to view the toll of the war in simple terms—the strong live, the weak die. But the fae in the south were ready to get back to their easy lives, and we were looking for a way out of the war. So, Grey and I and a few others came up with a way—we would erect a magical wall between the two kingdoms. Figuring out how to pull off such an unparalleled magical feat took months of planning. During that time, we relied heavily upon the loyal Houses along the northern border to stifle King Vandros’s advances. That reliance came at a price.”

“House Mouchard,” I spat the name, “was looking to extract a sizable concession from Grey in exchange for their resources along the border. When the Diamond Court broke off and created Alancia, the Ruby Court was created to take over the northern part of land that used to be part of the Diamond Court. Ever since House Mouchard was passed over for House Rein as the seat of the Ruby Court, House Mouchard has acted like there was a debt owed there. With her husband having died at the beginning of the war, Lila Tragon was looking for a new, strong suitor. She had her sights on Nik—Prince Heroux,” I clarified.

“But there was no way that House Mouchard or Tragon had anything to offer that would justify that match. So she set her sights on me.”

Alarie looked like she was holding her breath. She finally exhaled, waiting for me to continue.

“I also refused to marry Lila Tragon. So, we looked for other solutions. Too many of our people were dying, so I stepped up and secured the support of House Patton and paid the price they asked—a marriage with Elizabeth. We considered a marriage between Grey’s son, Nik, and Elizabeth. They’re closer in age, after all, but an alliance with the King’s House was too high a price to pay. And, in any event, it seemed unfair to saddle the Prince with an arranged marriage at so young an age.”

“So that’s why you don’t like High Lady Tragon?” Alarie asked.

There was one last thing that I needed to tell Alarie for her to truly understand the sacrifices I’d made in my life before her.

“There’s more. A lot more. When you have been around as long as I have, you have scars on the inside that no one can see. But it would take me all night to share the full story, and we have better things to do tonight, love. So, I’ll just tell you this. I was engagedand bondedto another woman at the time I agreed to marry Elizabeth. Al—”

I didn’t want to say her name.Alanna. I banished thoughts of the chunk of my magic that was forever missing because I’d given it to Alanna.

“Shewas murdered.” I gritted my teeth, nostrils flaring, surprised by the emotion that still lay there even after all these years. “Stabbed in the heart with an iron blade—shortly before I turned down Lila’s last overture and agreed to marry Elizabeth.”

“Oh, Jay,” she sighed.

Alarie grabbed my hand, tenderly running the underside of her thumb across the top of my hand.

“Wh… Who? Why?” she asked quietly.

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