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Chapter 36: War
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 37: Surrender
I took a hesitant step toward my uncle, closer to the aura of shimmering Seelie magic resonating from him. "Hester!" Sy's voice was taut, desperate. He took a step forward with me, keeping the tip of the poker between me and Lord Raelen. "What are you doing?!""Saving you," I whispered, feeling my eyes stinging. I refused to cry in front of my uncle though. Not when he'd just sworn on my father's memory, despite doing so to shame me and my choices. I wanted to show him I was sure of myself, like the Queen had said. That I knew what I wanted. But I knew, in my heart, my uncle would only see this as surrender. Either way, Sy would be safe."You can't trust him!" yelled Sy, abandoning caution. "How could we not have heard about a war?! And how did it start? There's no way."I couldn't say to him that it didn't matter how it started, that we really should prod into who had struck first. It would only make things stranger and worse. But all at once, the choice was taken out of my han
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 38: Fortification
Sy brought the poker with us to the bedroom, I think as a bit of a security blanket. We laid down together on the broad bed with its picture windows looking out over the stormy mountain ravine. We were too preoccupied to notice the view. We lay together, clothed, and safely enfolded in one another's arms. Sy kissed my lips, my nose, my eyelids, and I pressed my forehead against his, treasuring the small, sure contact of skin to skin, of his hand stroking my waist, my back, of my arm draped around his strong, lean form. I heard the storm fade, the thunder going soft in the distance. And no Seelie or Unseelie appeared to drag us apart. No Jarrah, no Raelen, no armored warriors of a Seelie Queen or an Unseelie King…"Sy," I said, beginning with our small ritual of offering the other's name. "We need to talk about the whole prince thing.""Do we?" he sighed, and I felt his dear, wolfish smile as he kissed me. "Can't we just keep on ignoring it?""I mean, I wasn't ignoring it per se,
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 39: Good Morning, Doom
I made fun of Sy, but only a little, for bringing the iron poker with us downstairs again when we finally got out of bed. I had to pour our whiskeys at the living room bar because he kept the poker in one hand and his other arm wrapped tightly around my waist, as if I would vanish if he let go. And I had to admit that was a real possibility. How did our magic actually work? It had banished my uncle as the iron had banished Jarrah…but neither had returned since. We didn't know the rules of this game. But we were stuck playing it. I could only hope nobody else understood either. Uncertainty might make them less likely to make another attempt to retrieve—or destroy—either of us. But for now, our shared magic seemed to be our best defense. Our best, and only. Which, frankly, as things went, wasn't the worst. Far from it. Because it meant that the responsible thing to do was to take our whiskeys down to the recording studio, set up with our guitars so close our legs pressed together, an
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 40: Break
I could feel the prickly residue haunting us as we settled into the studio though. At the bottom of the golden sense of the music between us, there was the rocky underbelly, like a rough stream bed sharp against your feet. Underneath the lyrics and melody, the melding of the chords into flow as we experimented with new beats and jazzy combinations, there was that unsettled sense of disquiet. It clung to us like brambles as we tried to move past it. And eventually, I couldn't take it anymore.I stopped playing at the end of a long improv session, bouncing off each other, alluding to songs we knew and riffing on them in the chord progressions. The sense of warm golden strength between us hovered like warm mist. Through that brilliance, I met Sy's eye."I think we should talk about what you said," I broached bluntly. "I know it was the heat of the moment and all that. But when my uncle was saying all that about the war, and you said you didn't believe it was really happening…What did yo
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 41: Just Like Magic
I raced up the stairs, knowing with cold, terrible certainty that I'd be too late. "Sy!" I screamed, rushing into the open kitchen and living room. Nothing. Nobody. I could see nearly the whole span of the house, and out onto the patio as well through the chalet's huge windows. Sy was nowhere. And the sweet, clear sense of Seelie magic was everywhere. I wanted to scream, but somehow my voice was gone. My logical brain said look upstairs, look all over the house just in case. Make sure the car was outside. He could be speeding around the mountain roads, burning out his anger and doubt, reason told me. But I knew at a gut level that it wasn't true. He wasn't here."Uncle!" I screamed into the emptiness. There was no response.Why would my uncle have taken Sy, rather than me? It made no sense. He wanted to get me away from Sy, that was clear, but he'd been intent on bringing me to Faerie only yesterday. I didn't like it. What could my uncle want with Sy? Would the Seelie court res
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 42: The Way Is Open
There were preparations to make first. I had the energy—the comments just kept coming—but now I needed direction. Wandering into Faerie with nothing but a lovelorn heart and bald desperation didn't seem like it would take me very far at all, and it certainly wouldn't do Sy any good. I gathered up the various mismatched scented candles from around the chalet's various over-designed bathrooms and arranged them in a careful circle on the living room floor. There was a convenient grill lighter stocked beside the wood stove. Then I descended down into the studio and retrieved the nearly empty whiskey bottle from last night and Sy's beater guitar, the less-than-tour-ready model he played around on for fun. Into the candle circle they went. I had the iron poker, but in a world of magic and fae forms, the iron wouldn't be doing any convenient banishing. It would certainly hurt any faerie flesh it touched, but in all likelihood that would just make the fae party pissed and pained rather t
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 43: Homeward Bound
I knew before I opened my eyes that it had worked. The sense of the air was entirely different here, the magical energy in every atom of the breeze against my face. But there was something strange and sour about the overwhelming tide of Seelie magic prickling against my skin. Something cold at its heart, where there should be summer warmth and vibrance.I opened my eyes. I was sitting on a vast, rocky plain. It was somewhere I'd never seen before. It wasn't Seelie land; neither was it Unseelie. This must be the barren no-man's land between the two realms, in the space where the Seelie's eternal summertime sank into Unseelie shadow. I stood carefully, gripping the iron poker, and slung the guitar over my back. I didn't like the raw sense of this place, its tangled sense of chaos and unbalance. But Sy was around here somewhere. I was sure. I'd spent so much of my energy getting here focusing on him, on my longing for him, that I knew the magic wouldn't have dropped me far off the
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 44: A Trap Closes
Darkness and cold buffeted my skin, tangible malicious magics nipping at me like tiny insects. But all of a sudden, we burst out again into air and light—that same, no-man's-land gray light of the sky. I twisted, trying to grip Jarrah's wrist to relieve some of the terrible tension on my scalp as I dangled by the hair in his grip. My eyes swam with tears, but I blinked them away, trying to focus. We were in the overgrown, stony ruins of what might have once been the great hall of some ancient palace. The floor was broken by huge tree roots and the shifting of earth. This place had been empty for a long, long time—forgotten, in fact. I'd never heard of a palace in the borderlands between the Seelie and Unseelie realms. I heard a cry of distress and despair—in a voice I knew as well as my own. "Sy!" I screamed. "Sy, where are you?!"Suddenly Jarrah's hand let go of my hair, and I crashed, sprawled, onto the broken stones. I raised my head, mind swimming with pain and confusion a
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Prince from the Other Side Chapter 50: Prying Eyes
The morning light struck in through the wide picture windows of the chalet bedroom. We were still firmly in bed, sticky with sweat and Sy's slow whiskey kisses from the night before. I couldn't stop touching him, even lazily half asleep. I kissed his jaw, the subtle rise of the dark laurel tattoo, his shoulder. I felt him nuzzle his nose into my hair. "We have to get up," he whispered, and I shivered with pleasure as I felt his hot breath against my ear transform into a teasing nibble. "People are going to start getting here soon.""Hmmmph…Just a little while longer."His palm slid up my rips, kneading distractingly at my breast."And you're not helping," I scolded, pressing against him. I felt his c*ck stirring against my leg, and we lay there together in the tender potential of what might come next. A gentle repetition of last night: my lips coaxing him to attention, his hips firm and strong against mine as he pushed deep, igniting all my most secret senses. He was careful aroun
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 49: The Break
My heart sank like a stone, hard into my gut. I took a half step, trying to put myself between that mighty silver sword and Sy, protected by nothing but his dignity and a ripped t-shirt. But Sy tugged at my hand, holding me back. His voice was firm and clear as he continued. "But Lord Raelen made a mistake in trying to frame me in this instance. I remember the execution of the killer from my youth. I remember his fruitless instance on his innocence. And I remember the one piece of evidence offered: the murder weapon itself. There was no doubt his essence was linked to it. A forensic certainty. But there was no consideration that this might be a trick of new magic, a magic developed and kept secret for the very purpose of pulling off the ruse. If I may…"And he leaned down, picking up the dagger from the stones. It dripped incriminating red at his feet. The Seelie Court stiffened around their Queen, watching the Unseelie wielding the bloody knife mere feet away from her. But Sy e
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 48: In the Hands of the Queen
The magic caught at once: I felt it ignite like a dynamite fuse, searing towards unstoppable explosion. The Queen's attention was on us. It was like looking up at an impossibly tall ocean wave about to crash down on your head.But Realen moved fast. The next thing I knew, I had toppled out of his arms to the hard ground. The air around me was an explosion of silvery Seelie magic and the golden burst of Sy's invocation. I scrambled blindly forward over the broken stones, toward that sense of safe, familiar gold. Toward Sy. I had to get to him before…Song echoed to my ears, a song so delicate and lovely it shimmered against my skin like pleasure. The might of the Seelie court in its glory crashed like waves of thunder. The gray light of this place exploded into brilliant silver. Horse hooves, charging, shook the ground. The horses were spectral, cloud-like, too lovely to be physically real, as was the armored woman astride the lead mare's back. Queen Titania sat tall, impossibly, on
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 47: The Danger of a Name
I felt pressure around my stomach, a powerful arm hooked across my ribs. Then I felt the swell of sweet Seelie magic all around me, the brilliance halo of silver and softness. My uncle was holding me against him, my back to his chest. And he was holding a knife at my throat. THE knife. Why was I still alive?Then my eyes focused, and I saw Sy.He was standing free of his chains—and the chains themselves lay in broken pieces behind him, splinters of black metal embedded in the wall. Sy was irredentist with golden magic, wrapped in it, as if he were standing at the center of a hollow golden sun. Magic sparked from his fingertips and his wrathful dark eyes. "Let her go," he snarled. There was granite in his voice. I waited for Jarrah to make a mocking retort, but there was nothing. I strained my eyes sideways, toward where I thought Jarrah would be standing. All I saw was a dark, sooty smear on the flagstones. One of his dark boots lay half melted at one end. I didn't have to as
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 46: Justice
There was only a second to act. Luckily, Jarrah hadn't seen me pull my phone from my pocket when he flipped me over. And he didn't see my thumb hovering over the 'play' icon until it was too late.A burst of golden magic ignited on the air as mine and Sy's recorded voices burned together in the stillness. I felt the rush of magic through my veins, against my skin, and I took hold of the energy at once, pushing all of it I could gather in that second against Jarrah.The Unseelie lord flew backward off me, the knife flying from his hand as he crashed into the broken flagstones behind him. He was on his feet in the next moment, but so was I. The music was still playing. I balled my hands into fists, pulling more and more of that magic to myself. I pushed the magic around me in another rush, just in time. I felt Lord Raelen's attack smash against my magic barrier from behind me. I shuffled quickly to get out from between the two powerful fae lords, pulling golden magic around me agai
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 45: An Opportune Murder
"Uncle!" I screamed, vision blurring with relieved tears. Lord Raelen turned his elegant, serene face toward me, wreathed in silvery Seelie magic, and I saw nothing at all in his expression. That's when I knew I'd made a terrible, terrible mistake."Lord Jarrah, I believe I was perfectly clear," said my uncle calmly. "I instructed that she be dead by the time of my arrival. I have no wish to see this."Maybe there was the smallest tremor in his voice. Maybe."Uncle?" I wheezed, straining to make sense of this—though of course it made perfect sense. I just couldn't admit it to myself. "Silence, child." Lord Raelen did not look at me, his face turned deliberately away to look instead at Jarrah's face. "This is necessary. It pains me, but it is quite necessary. Jarrah—""Why?!" I shouted, choking, hands scrambling against the stones. "Uncle, what is happening?!""War is a necessity, my dear child," whispered my uncle, and his composure did not slip an inch. "The Queen is weak. Th
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 44: A Trap Closes
Darkness and cold buffeted my skin, tangible malicious magics nipping at me like tiny insects. But all of a sudden, we burst out again into air and light—that same, no-man's-land gray light of the sky. I twisted, trying to grip Jarrah's wrist to relieve some of the terrible tension on my scalp as I dangled by the hair in his grip. My eyes swam with tears, but I blinked them away, trying to focus. We were in the overgrown, stony ruins of what might have once been the great hall of some ancient palace. The floor was broken by huge tree roots and the shifting of earth. This place had been empty for a long, long time—forgotten, in fact. I'd never heard of a palace in the borderlands between the Seelie and Unseelie realms. I heard a cry of distress and despair—in a voice I knew as well as my own. "Sy!" I screamed. "Sy, where are you?!"Suddenly Jarrah's hand let go of my hair, and I crashed, sprawled, onto the broken stones. I raised my head, mind swimming with pain and confusion a
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 43: Homeward Bound
I knew before I opened my eyes that it had worked. The sense of the air was entirely different here, the magical energy in every atom of the breeze against my face. But there was something strange and sour about the overwhelming tide of Seelie magic prickling against my skin. Something cold at its heart, where there should be summer warmth and vibrance.I opened my eyes. I was sitting on a vast, rocky plain. It was somewhere I'd never seen before. It wasn't Seelie land; neither was it Unseelie. This must be the barren no-man's land between the two realms, in the space where the Seelie's eternal summertime sank into Unseelie shadow. I stood carefully, gripping the iron poker, and slung the guitar over my back. I didn't like the raw sense of this place, its tangled sense of chaos and unbalance. But Sy was around here somewhere. I was sure. I'd spent so much of my energy getting here focusing on him, on my longing for him, that I knew the magic wouldn't have dropped me far off the
Prince from the Other Side Chapter 42: The Way Is Open
There were preparations to make first. I had the energy—the comments just kept coming—but now I needed direction. Wandering into Faerie with nothing but a lovelorn heart and bald desperation didn't seem like it would take me very far at all, and it certainly wouldn't do Sy any good. I gathered up the various mismatched scented candles from around the chalet's various over-designed bathrooms and arranged them in a careful circle on the living room floor. There was a convenient grill lighter stocked beside the wood stove. Then I descended down into the studio and retrieved the nearly empty whiskey bottle from last night and Sy's beater guitar, the less-than-tour-ready model he played around on for fun. Into the candle circle they went. I had the iron poker, but in a world of magic and fae forms, the iron wouldn't be doing any convenient banishing. It would certainly hurt any faerie flesh it touched, but in all likelihood that would just make the fae party pissed and pained rather t
