Fairytale

ALASTAIR

Olympia and Lochlan were on their way to the castle, traveling in their human forms. They had joined forces with a peculiar fae man, which required this change.

The king haunted Olympia’s dreams, as did the chilling memory of the silver cells she had been trapped in. He had tortured her without a second thought, sometimes seeming to forget she was even there. Then, he had set her free.

She knew Aurelia was behind her release. Olympia had kept the king in the dark about certain things, and Aurelia was simply returning the favor.

Their relationship was far from the typical familial bond. And seeing what Aurelia had become, Olympia was sure there was no hope for her.

She had watched her sister fall into darkness once before, and it had nearly extinguished her own light. This time, she knew there was no saving Aurelia. But the king was too dangerous to defy.

“We’re still worrying about that little pest,” Lochlan grumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. “I should’ve known something was wrong when she came back.”

The king stopped in his tracks. Olympia quickly reprimanded Lochlan for insulting the queen. Despite everything, the king was still protective of her.

“She came back?”

The king’s lack of reaction to their words, or rather Lochlan’s words, surprised them. He needed Olympia, but he could easily do away with Lochlan.

“I found Aurelia at our house. She seemed to be leaving the castle.” The king muttered a string of curses under his breath and stormed off.

He realized he had missed the signs. He had been too blind and narrow-minded to believe his young queen capable of such betrayal.

As night fell, exhaustion set in. The day had been long and while the king and Vidarr could keep going, the others didn’t have the same stamina.

They found an old cave in the woods and decided to take shelter there.

The king sat outside the cave, leaning against the wall as the others slept. Rain fell on his cloak and hair, the droplets sliding down his face.

He rarely left the castle. It felt like his own personal prison, where nature and he himself were slowly dying. Now, he was surrounded by it.

“She’ll never love you back,” the king said, hearing Cathan’s soft footsteps. “Even if she doesn’t want me, she could never love you.”

“I know that. That’s not why I’m here,” Cathan replied with a sigh. They sat on opposite sides of the cave entrance, not looking at each other.

The king held his machete in his arms, ready for an attack. He was a formidable beast, but the weapon would come in handy in case of a surprise.

“You’re here because you love her, right?”

“Yes, but not to win her love. Unlike you, I care about her. This isn’t for me, it’s for her. If we succeed, someone needs to care about what happens next.

“She won’t be discarded, locked away in your dungeons.”

“I’ll do whatever I want,” the king growled.

Their conversation ended there. They had once been friends, but time had made them bitter. Now, they were working together towards a common goal.

Deep growls echoed through the forest. They weren’t coming from the king. The collective rumble indicated there was more than one.

“Fae are not welcome here,” a rough voice said. The noise had woken the others, who peeked out of the cave. Vidarr stood by the king, ready for a fight.

Wolves emerged from the shadows, surrounding their shelter from a distance. It was a large pack of fae hunters.

Their group included one fae, a powerful one at that. They also had the former general of the army and the king. Those hunters didn’t stand a chance.

“Watch your words,” Vidarr hissed at the leader, who had appeared in human form from behind a tree.

“I’m talking to fae trash and fae-loving wolves,” the leader shot back.

“One of those fae-loving wolves is your damn king,” the general retorted, shocking every hunter. “And the general of the warrior wolves. You threatened us. That’s treason.”

The leader seemed taken aback but quickly regained his composure.

“We’ve all heard about the change in power at the castle. That hybrid bitch is in charge and I don’t bow to her. She’s not my queen, so I’m not committing treason,” he argued.

“We have no problem with wolves. Just the fae. Hand him over and we’ll leave peacefully—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the king lunged at the leader, sinking his fangs into his neck and ripping out his jugular.

A wolf jumped on his back, but the king was so fast that the wolf was cut in half before it could attack. One by one, Alastair took them down.

The others watched in horror. They could have defended themselves. Vidarr and Cathan could have helped. But they were too awestruck by the king. He was a monster.

His eyes glowed a deep, bloody red. His coat was covered in the gore of his kills. His fangs were stained crimson as he surveyed his handiwork.

Cathan had never seen this side of his former friend. They had been just kids back then, and he hadn’t been in the wolf kingdom when Alastair was king.

He hadn’t been like this before. His eyes didn’t glow red; that wasn’t normal for a wolf. For the first time, Cathan was taken aback.

Alastair shifted back into his human form, got dressed, and ordered everyone to sleep. No one dared to disobey him that night.

At dawn, they continued their journey to the castle. Vidarr led the way with Alastair and below the castle.

The king had been foolish not to know about the secret passages and tunnels that no one else knew about. They were there for situations like this, a precaution in case he needed them.

One tunnel led to his secret battle room, filled with weapons and books about the world. There were even spell books, in case he needed to learn about a spell the fae could use against him.

“The queen doesn’t know about this place, does she?” Cathan asked cautiously.

Alastair had a lot riding on this. The queen wouldn’t be shocked by his actions, but her trusted friend and right-hand man acting against her? Even if he was doing it for her own good.

“No, she doesn’t,” Alastair confirmed, settling into his chair at the head of the table as the others took their seats.

“What’s the plan?” the fae man asked, his gaze shifting to Olympia.

“We’re going to use Olympia to reach out to the queen,” Vidarr announced.

“That seems a bit weak, don’t you think? The plan is to have her sister talk to her. I thought we’d have something stronger,” Cathan said, rolling his eyes.

“You can’t expect a chat with her sister to fix everything. She’s too far gone for that.”

The king slammed his hand on the table, hissing, “It’s the only damn plan we’ve got. If you’ve got a better one, spit it out.” Cathan clamped his mouth shut and the king relaxed.

“It’s worth a shot. Hades told the king that love would be the answer. It was vague, but the only person Aurelia might still love is her sister,” Vidarr explained.

And so, the plan was set. For Olympia to simply talk to her sister. It seemed foolish, but it was all they had.

They walked into the throne room together, immediately catching the queen’s attention. A smirk spread across her face as she looked them over.

“What’s happening here?” she teased, her smirk widening. Her gaze met the king’s, her eyebrow arching in question.

“Your sister wants to talk to you,” the king said, nudging Olympia toward the queen.

Aurelia rose from her grand throne and glided toward her sister as if she were floating on a cloud. She was breathtaking, the king thought.

It was almost enough to distract him from the task at hand.

Her confidence had grown so much that he could finally see her without the fear. And she was a goddess. A wicked one, for now.

“Aurelia,” Olympia started, bowing her head slightly. The queen laughed at that and shook her head.

“Come now, sister, don’t be shy. Why are you here?” she asked.

“To reason with you. This has happened before. With your power. I want to help,” she said.

“Help?! I don’t need help. If you haven’t noticed, I’m the queen. I control everything in this kingdom. My power is a gift. Do you understand?”

The king watched as she used her gift on Olympia.

“You’ll feel the abandonment I felt as a child because of you.”

Olympia backed away, her eyes wide. She turned and ran, Lochlan following her.

“Oh, Lochlan?” He stopped in his tracks. Before she could say anything else, her eyes landed on Cathan. “Never mind. Leave.” And he did.

Cathan moved toward her but she held up her hand. The king saw the anger in her eyes as she stepped closer to the silver-haired fae.

“You’re working with the king now?” she asked, her voice bitter. Her fists clenched at her sides. She threw her head back and laughed, a cruel sound, and called her guard wolves.

“Take Cathan to the den. I won’t tolerate treason.”

Before they could reach him, he disappeared into thin air with a spell. The king thought it was a cowardly move, but then again, nothing seemed to change the queen’s mind.

Olympia had barely gotten a word out. Were they really out of options?

The king didn’t like that thought. So, he did what any king would do when trying to save his queen from a curse.

He kissed her.

A kiss between two soulmates. People destined for each other. That had to work. True love’s kiss was their last hope.