Twelve Realms Ch. 03-04

"But if I married you, you would be Duchess, not Princess."

"Oh, sweet Elias, there is another girl for you somewhere. You deserve a Duchess who can give you her whole heart.

***

On Fiona's sixth evening on Citadel, Jacob looked up from his work and there she was, as though she'd appeared out of nothing. She reminded him of a fairy from one of the old tales. He had read somewhere that encounters with the Aelfir many aeons ago had given rise to those stories of queens who captured men with their ethereal beauty. Fiona was like that to him, but her humanness made her even more alluring. On this evening he didn't hear or see her until she was next to his desk and peering at his screen from behind him at the reports on the battling going on at the front.

"I'm keeping you from your troops," she whispered. "They need you."

He pulled her down into his lap and they kissed. He held her face in his hands and just looked into her eyes for several minutes, watching her tears gather at the corners.

"I don't deserve to have the Blood Royale," she choked out. "I've been thinking only of myself."

"It's just one week," he soothed her.

"And then we won't be together ever again," she sobbed.

"I will figure something out. Once this war is over, we will run away. Malcolm can be Duke. I can't live knowing I can't have you."

"You know you can't do that. I won't let you give up Citadel for me."

He carried her to his bed and they made gentle love for hours, clinging to each other like they would drown without the strength of the other's arms around them. Each knowing these last minutes together might be their last moments together. Each trying to memorize each other in the time they had left. They fell into a deep sleep wrapped up in each other.

It was well past midnight when the door to the Duke's chambers crashed open and Maeve, the Dowager Queen, stormed in followed by the cowering form of Elias who had been sleeping just outside the door. Jacob used his body to shield his beloved from her mother's rage. He watched the queen warily. He had been frightened of her as a child. Her beauty was ethereal and terrifying. It had long since ceased to startle him that she appeared never to age; she didn't look a day older than she had the first time he saw her when he had come to court as a small boy. Her hair and eyes were the same shade of teal blue, and her skin was the pale blue of ocean ice. Her lips were as red as new blood. Here lobeless ears swept up to sharp points that ended above the crown of her head. She was absurdly tall, her body lithe. When she was angry, as she was now, magic seemed to crackle around her. Her sea green gown of raw silk swirled around her as if moved by her own personal thunderstorm. The Queen did not speak until after she drew one calming breath and then another.

"You defiant children!" Her eyes flashed with anger. "You don't even know what you are playing at!"

"Mother! We... ."

"I do not want to hear it, Fiona. You have 10 minutes to say your goodbyes. If you are not out in the hall by then, I will come back here and drag you out!" She sailed out, Elias in her wake, closing the door heavily behind her.

Jacob held his Fiona against him as her body trembled and she sobbed. He tried to kiss her tears away but she couldn't be comforted.

"I love you, Fi. I've loved you our whole lives. I can't live without you. We will find a way."

"Oh, Jacob, I love you, too. Why can't they just let us be happy? All I want is you."

They held each other, each feeling the minutes slip by. Finally Fiona slipped out of bed and put the clothes that she had worn the day before back on. Then she fell back into Jacob's welcoming arms. They held each other, waiting for the Queen to return and take her from him.

Chapter 4: Going Home

"Is the princess gone, Your Grace?" Elias whispered, tears in his eyes. In her few days with them he had come to love her as a sister. She had confided in him and treated him as a peer rather than a child.

"She is," Jacob replied. "Those of us who love her already miss her terribly, don't we?" He smiled sadly at the boy. "But take heart. You will surely see her again at your father's court, or the king's.

"Go pack for us, Elias. We leave to return to our troops by midday."

Jacob sat at his desk in his study and watched the sun rise through the ancient glass casement windows. He was waiting until it was late enough to call his squad together to tell them shore leave was over and they were heading back to the front. He would be glad to leave his home to try to forget how his heart ached for the loss of his princess. When the queen had taken her away he had lain in his bed that still smelled of her.

He had not gone back to sleep and instead got up and gone to the sparring room to work off his anger and frustration. After three hours, his body was tired but his mind couldn't rest. He went back to his Chambers and showered and dressed then sat at his desk and stared off into space. Once the sun had fully risen he went down to his council chamber and sent Elias to gather his squad.

"We have rested here long enough," he told them. "Pack and take your leave. We will depart on the cruiser in three hours.

***

Fiona lay on the floor of her room on her mother's pleasure ship and cried softly. She was so tired from her emotional turmoil. She felt sick to her stomach at being pulled away from her love. Her very soul ached for him.

The bulkhead door slid open with a soft 'whoosh' and her mother stepped in.

"Fiona, dearest, please get up and sit with me." Fiona was surprised at the gentleness in her mother's voice. She was sure that her anger must still be white hot.

She pulled herself into a sitting position and then rose, standing in indecision. Her mother walked over to the sitting area and lowered herself onto the divan, motioning for Fiona to sit next to her. Fiona sat stiffly, but her mother draped her arm over her shoulders and pulled her daughter against her, embracing her tightly. Fiona melted into her mother's warmth.

"Oh, Baby Girl, I have failed the Twelve Realms, I've failed your father, but most of all, I've failed you. I thought that you would forget the Duke if we kept you from him. I should have known better. Your magic chose him. It did so a long time ago. Now you have endangered us all because I did not tell you why you cannot have each other.

"Tell me what happened, baby."

"Jacob and I love... "

"Not that baby. Not yet. That is nothing new. I need to know what took you to D-702."

"Oh. It's kind of a long story, mama."

"I want to hear all of it."

"Okay. Well. Uh.

"You know on Academy I have a routine. Every morning before dawn, I go to the training halls and spar for an hour or so. Then I cool down with meditation and yoga near the eastern battlements as the sun rises. I do it every day, rain or shine. Everyone in the Kype knows it. Sometimes David likes to join me, when he isn't with Edward. His Grace says it helps him to keep calm and battle his ogre.

"Anyway, that morning, David wasn't there because Edward called him away so I was alone on the chemin de ronde. One of the Seeresses from the University came to me. She fell at my feet, shouting that I had to go to the front or the Twelve Realms would fall in fire. She kept saying that we would all burn if I didn't go. That the towers would fall if I wasn't there that day. She started to have convulsions. I tried to help her and blood started coming out of her mouth and nose and ears... and eyes. She died, right there in front of me." Fiona's voice shook and tried to gather herself before going on.

"I was scared by what she said. I headed back towards the Kype thinking to talk to Duchess Lisabet. She always seems so wise. And she listens to me, unlike Maester Vincent. But the closer I got to Their Grace's apartments, the more people there were in the halls. At every turning there was a man or woman in the robes of a Foreseer crumpled to the ground and moaning in pain. They all seemed to feel more pain the closer I got and then it would fade as I passed them by."

The queen stroked her daughter's hair and back, trying to soothe her past the memory.

"I decided to go to my dormitory instead of going to the Duchess. I was afraid I'd hurt more people, or even kill them because of what happened by the battlements. I gathered my sword and dagger, sent a message to David and Lisabet to tell them I was using the Labyrinth, and headed to the stairs below the Kype."

"You used the Labyrinth," the queen asked sharply, clearly startled.

"Yes. I didn't know what else to do." Fiona laced her fingers together nervously.

"Go on, sweetie."

"I was afraid, mama. I hadn't ever walked the Labyrinth before. We aren't allowed to until we earn the Stellein. But I used my concealment glamour on the guards and got through with no problem."

"Your concealment glamour is the best I've seen in someone your age. You were already better at it as a little girl than I am now. I've noticed that you can fade yourself from Edward's mind even when he's talking to you."

"Edward is easy. He loves me. It's harder with people who don't trust me. And guards are notoriously good at not trusting people. It helps that I'm their princess. Their minds don't like to see me breaking rules.

"So I walked the Labyrinth.

"Have you ever done it," she asked her mother. "It feels like it peels you apart, layer after layer, until at the end you are pure energy. You relive every pain and every pleasure. And then you are in the middle of it and you are whole. I understand on repeat walks, it sometimes makes you whole with your younger self. Maester Vincent told us that. I wonder how that works... ."

"I have walked it and it does remake you into your younger self. Not 'sometimes' but every time. It's the main reason why they don't want youngsters to do it. I am very concerned that you did it now because when you walk again, it could unmake you. You are at least 10 years too young. We will talk more about that later. But for now, go on with your story."

"I pulled out my sword and dagger and asked the Labyrinth to send me where I most needed to be."

"That was EXTREMELY dangerous," her mother admonished.

"It dropped me in the middle of a forest clearing that was on fire. I had no idea where to go from there. I couldn't see the sun for all the smoke and I'd no idea which way was north. I didn't have much chance to worry about it though, because before I could take even a step, a squad of those Dog monsters the Empire uses for ground forces marched into the clearing. I tried my concealment glamour and it didn't work one bit. I tried my Land Law Magic and got nothing. They attacked me, but I was able to take them out one by one. The last three were finally able to surround me. I was injured when I attacked their leader. I killed it, but one of the two left skewered my arm. I am sure I would have died if His Grace and Sir Bartholomew hadn't arrived just then. They finished off the last two and Jacob took me to his medical ship."

"I am not surprised your concealment glamour didn't work since they'd already seen you and you were surprised. It is nearly impossible to throw a cloak of glamour without at least some preparation. And your Land Law Magic has always been a mystery. I don't think it'll work anywhere but Terra. That is the only Land that binds you. Perhaps if D-702 was an outpost of Terra... But it is of Citadel."

"Mama? I think the Seeress wanted me to be found by Jacob."

"I guess it's possible. Your magic is very strong. And there is no doubt in my mind that your magic wants Jacob. But that doesn't mean that your magic didn't orchestrate the vision the Seeress had."

"But I don't have any Talent for seeing the future."

"No, but you have a Talent for using the Talents of others. All of the royal House of Aelfir do. You are my child as much as your father's, you know."

"Even if my magic caused this, it doesn't mean that what they Saw wasn't real. It might still mean that if I'm not with Jacob... ."

"Don't you dare finish that thought, Princess. Your magic is desperate for Jacob. You cannot excuse your behavior by saying you did it to protect the Twelve Realms," the queen's voice hardened with some of her earlier anger.

"I'm sorry mama.

"I don't understand what you mean by my magic wanting Jacob, though. I love Jacob. He loves me. For as long as I can remember."

"I know you do. There were many signs that I ignored. Even when you were both small children, Jacob was drawn to you," the queen smiled sadly at the memory. "He was terrified of me, but he would find some reason to come see you almost every day from the moment he arrived on Terra."

"This is where I failed you, daughter. I thought that your human blood would protect you from the Aelfir Curse. I was wrong, but I didn't realize it until the day I found you two in my bed. I shudder to think what would have happened had we not found you there before you consummated your bond. You were certainly too young then. For an Aelfir woman, you are still far too young, but Terrans mature earlier, so I should not have been caught so off guard."

"But Mama... What is the 'Aelfir Curse' exactly?"

"Quite simply, It's when an Aelfir's personal magic picks out a life mate. Most Aelfir never suffer the curse, thank the Old Gods. For them, love is just like it is for any Terran. But for the small fraction who do..."

"I don't see how that can be a 'curse' Mama."

"That is because you are young and have no idea the heartbreak and pain that can be caused by being in love with someone who does not love you back. You love Jacob and Jacob loves you. You do not suffer from unrequited love."

"So then it's not a curse to me...," Fiona began.

"No, my dear, let me continue.

"As I said, the first part of the curse is unrequited love. Of course it happens in Terran's too, but a Terran who suffers the pain of rejection will get over it eventually. An Aelfir will never be able to love another.

"The second part is that when the love between an Aelfir and the one who his or her magic has chosen is mutual, the two make a life-long bond that cannot be broken. Once they consummate their bond, their lives are inextricably linked."

"I don't understand how that's a curse..."

"Think about it, darling. Yes, 'life-long' can mean a long, joyous life filled with family. That is the ideal, isn't it? But what happens when one in the couple dies young? What happens when a woman like you is coupled with a soldier like Jacob? Jacob is at the front lines of the war with the Empire. He is often in harm's way. Look what happened to his father... and yours. Accidents and treachery happen to those in Jacob's position."

"I don't want to have anyone other than Jacob. If he were to die...," Fiona sobbed. "I... I wouldn't ever love again, magic or no magic."

"No, you wouldn't love again. But it would be because you would slowly waste away. You would lose your will to live. In a day or a week or maybe even a month, you would go on, but at some point you would just... choose to stop breathing. Your pain would be so great."

Fiona let out a breath that hitched with sobs, finally seeming to understand.

"I wouldn't want to live without Jacob anyway... " she said, crying softly.

"At this point, what you want no longer matters. You coupled with Jacob. You have consummated your bond. You are living one life now."

"Is that why...? Why you sent me away? So Jacob and I couldn't...?"

"We sent you away because... Well, an Aelfir whose magic chooses a Terran may cause the human great pain and distress as the magic works to consummate the bond. This is what was happening with Jacob and you before we removed you from his proximity. The human doesn't have his or her own magic..., the human doesn't have any inherent personal magic for protection but feels the intensity of the bond. There have been humans who have gone mad from the reciprocal of an Aelfir's magic. There are stories among the humans about that.

"You must understand that your father and I had no choice but to separate Jacob and you. You had no control over your magic and were causing him a great deal of psychic distress. Your magic was making him behave in ways that he would not have without your influence. I'm not saying that he didn't love you then, as he clearly still loves you now, but you made him do things he would never have done without your magic's interference."

"Mother, why didn't you tell me this? Didn't you think it was important that I know?"

"Well, I thought... no, I hoped that your Terran blood would prevail.

"One more thing, darling... I need to explain... You need to know why your bond with Jacob is so dangerous to the Twelve Realms. Why the Crown Law forbidding marriage between a royal princess and Citadel even exists.

"Every royal child of Terra is born to the Land Law. The spells that link the child to the land flow through the child's mother during the birth. It is extremely dangerous to both the child and the mother. And the magic doesn't just go through the male line. When you have a child, the magic on the House Royale will go through you and into your child. History tells us that it is quite as painful and dangerous for a royal princess as it is for a queen. The same forces apply. The spells don't know the difference between a queen bearing the heir to the throne and a princess bearing a future duke or marquess.

"Citadel has it own Land Law magic.

"You are Princess Royale and Jacob is Duke of Citadel. Those titles mean that your child together would be linked by Land Law to two different demesne. Your body would have to channel the magic for two demesne. Doing it for Terra and Citadel...? Queens have died in living memory channeling Land Law for just Terra.

"When we first separated the two of you... You were so young. Your magic was not completely developed. You were not strong enough. You would surely have died attempting to bear Jacob's child. And Jacob, linked to you by Aelfir love magic, would have followed right behind. Jacob is the last of his line. The Twelve Realms would fall to ruin without a Duke of Citadel. Your brother needs Jacob. The King needs the Duke. It's that simple.

"I can only hope that you are strong enough now, Princess."

"Why? Because you think I'm pregnant?"

"If you were pure Aelfir, I would be certain," Maeve said matter-of-factly and Fiona gasped. "The consummation of a union of two ensnared by the Aelfir Curse invariably results in a pregnancy. Because you are half Terran and Jacob is also human... perhaps not, darling. But since you have consummated your bond with Jacob. And you have had a week of intimacy with him... "

"I'm not... I'm not ready, mama."

"Your body and your magic say you are. And you chose to couple with Jacob."

"What now, mama?"

"I am taking you back to Academy. If you are not already with child, it is vital that you stay away from Jacob. Your intimacy risks your life and his now.