“So I either bow to you and your concubine, or I lose my head?” He puffs his chest out and glares.
“Synthia is not my concubine, Cornelius. She’s so much more than you can see right now. She’s also higher ranking than you and your family, and I intend to offer the Blood Kingdom an olive branch through her. We are at war with the Mages, and soon they will attack in force. If the Four Castes of the Realm of Faery do not work together, we may not have anything left when they are finished.”
“They are Changelings! Easily killed,” he says.
“Easily killed? Did you not notice that they breached our fucking defenses last night? They have been brewing in hate for centuries. If you do not see them as a potential threat, then open your eyes. They can conceal who they are from us, as they did with Arianna. They breached my defenses, which you yourself know is an impossible feat. They have centuries of preparations on us. This isn’t some half assed plot they just worked up. This has been centuries of planning on their part. There aren’t a handful of them bent on revenge, there are thousands of them. If we plan to save this world, and I do, we need to stick together.”
“Zahruk,” Cornelius sputters. “I choose the second born prince for my daughter’s hand.”
“You weren’t listening. I will not force your daughter on any of my brothers. I will not sign their fate over to you. I will allow your daughter to court them, and if they make a match, I will honor it. I will allow her free choice, as will you.”
“That’s ludicrous!”
“That’s how it will be. I am the Horde King, and this is my will. Agree to the terms, Cornelius. Do not make me become my father to see them fulfilled. That would become messy and I’d rather not slip into that role anytime soon. I will, however, if pushed.”
“I will take it under consideration. However, I need to pass it by my advisors.”
“Do so, and remind them that they can be found, and replaced, easily.”
~Synthia~
I woke up early to find Ryder already gone from his chambers. I sat up and felt another presence in the room. Danu turned around and pushed the hair from her face before she spoke.
“I am sure you have more questions,” she said quietly.
“Um, yes, how about we start with the whole, you could even be considered my daughter business. You’re my mother?”
“In a way, yes, Synthia. You were created from an egg that I took from my womb and planted into your mother’s. Easy feat for a Goddess, but I needed to be sure you would be strong enough to fight for this world. You are tied to it more than anyone else, and yet you seem to fight it harder than anyone. You hold onto humanity, when you were born without a shred of it in your being. You are my daughter, you are the child of a Goddess, and yet you are pure. Your heart is untouched by the influence of me, or anyone else in Faery. You fight for what you love, and I needed you to have something that I knew you would be willing to fight for. So I set Ryder on your path. I made you for him so you have everything that he needs and wants. He just doesn’t understand it. His beast doesn’t have to understand it, he just accepts it. He is everything you want, and I need you for the stability of this world if it is to survive. Strong of mind and pure of heart is the only way to hold the relics. You need them to fight the Mages. You need them to protect your unborn children.”
“Back up, you are my mother!?” I stammered, even though she’d said it. It was sinking in fully now.
“I said you are the perfect Queen for Faery. As a whole. Ryder could be the King of Faery and I want that for him, but I can’t allow him to have it unless he is balanced. Like his father before him, he has the drive to take it by force, and he’s not pure of heart. He would be easily corrupted if he doesn’t have something to keep him leveled. That’s you. You are his equal in every way. Stronger, well he does have you there. He does have every creature of the Horde pouring through his veins. You; well, you have me. You have the blood of a Goddess running through your veins and countless others who are part of me. It’s why you can heal, and also why you feel so much and fall so hard. It’s a bitch to balance, but you do well, considering.”
“Ryder’s beast mentioned that he was all of the creatures of the Horde, and that’s what makes the difference between Fae and the Horde King.”
“It is also what makes him the strongest creature in Faery. Unfortunately, the beast can be unstable because of it. This is not how I intended for it to be. I love the Horde. All of the creatures of the Horde are…different and diverse. Some are truly hideous and dangerous, others are beautiful, and you underestimate the danger inherent with these creatures. I intended for the Horde King to be their champion and also to keep them within the boundaries of the Horde Kingdom. I also created many others of the Fae, and they were always special to me, but nothing like the Horde. Bilé fouled it all up.”