"No, don’t do it, Aldric!"
Valerie woke with a startled gasp, jolting upwards at once. His breaths were uneven and quick, so he drew long ones in a bid to calm his racing heart and wiped his palm down his face.
For two nights in a row, he has been reliving that incident in his sleep and it left him feeling shaken anytime he woke. Valerie could not forget the look on the witch’s face when Aldric slit her throat. She had trusted him, believed in him and expected that he would save her. Yet he failed. Like a fool, his feet were rooted at the spot and watched as Aldric murdered her.
The feeling of helplessness engulfed and tormented him; he did nothing. The witch wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t involved her in his crazy plan and now it was all on him. The anger built and built inside of Valerie till it reached the bottleneck and all he needed was one more push to explode. If he couldn’t protect one witch, how could he protect the Faeries of Astaria?
Valerie gritted his teeth while the bed sheet bunched up under his fist. Aldric was a threat to Astaria - and to his position. How his father left the threat to fester like a disease was beyond him. Sure, Aldric was a prince, but he was a dark Fae, first of all, well, kind of. Everyone in the royal family knew the story of how he came about.
But how long would his father feel guilty for what happened? He couldn’t protect Queen Nova and her child, that was a thing of the past. He had three sons already, losing one that wouldn’t even be missed by anyone would not make a difference. If anything, Astaria would be relieved by his good work. Nonetheless, once he – Valerie – was king in a few moons to come, everything would change.
Valerie calmed his nerves only to stiffen when it dawned on him that he was not alone. No, the summer prince hadn’t been alone, he just realized it now, having been distracted by the effects of his dream. He slowly turned only for the breath to be knocked out of his lungs when he realized it was no one else but his mother. He swallowed, the cold, indifferent mask on his mother’s expression was enough evidence she had caught up to something.
"How often do you dream of that pest?"
Valerie did not need to ask about who she was referring to, the disgust in her tone was enough clue. Only Aldric could make her hackles rise this much, aside from her co-wives. Valerie heard his mother and Aldrin’s mother never got along for one day and he could tell why even without the dark Fae history.
While Queen Nirvana, Theodore’s mother loved to be in charge, his own mother, Fae Queen Maeve relishes being the pinnacle of attention. She wanted all eyes on her like a proud peacock with the feathers on display. Sadly, the limelight was stolen from her with Nova’s arrival, and to make it worse, while she was just a princess, Nova was the winter court Queen.
In one word, dark Fae or not, he and Aldric wouldn’t have gotten along. The winter prince was too much of a threat to him and his mother whose ego was severely bruised during his mother’s reign. Rumors were suggesting that Nova was their father, King Oberon’s true mate. However, the king hadn’t come to acknowledge or debunk the claim.
True mates were rare and if that was the case, how their father could carry on with his life after Nova’s death was a mystery. True mates never fully recover from the death of one partner. King Oberon must truly hide his pain well. As twisted as it was, Aldric was the only thing left as evidence of the times he shared with his mate, Nova. No wonder he kept Aldric alive despite what he was.
"Not often, just once in a while, Mother," Valerie answered gruffly, putting the sheet aside and climbing out of the bed.
"You were not home two nights ago, where were you?" His mother interrogated him.
"Monitoring my moves now, aren’t you, mother?" He attempted to walk away only for his mother to seize his arm.
Valerie stared down at the grasp with a questioning brow, watching as his mother’s features suddenly softened and she turned him, placing both hands on his arms and rubbing down tenderly.
"I was just concerned about you, my son," She reached out and touched his face, "Ever since that attack on you, I have been scared for your life, Valerie. You do know that, right?"
"Of course, I know that." You remind me, every day, he sassed in his head.
While others might assume Valerie was scared of his mother, the truth was that she stifled him with her involvement. Queen Maeve groomed him to be the perfect heir and it wasn’t until he met Islinda that he became a bit rebellious.
The human taught him how to live his life and now he thirsts for just a little more freedom. His mother lives vicariously through him, gaining a sense of fulfillment through his success and position as the crown prince, in turn, solidifying her position in the palace.
In one word, Queen Maeve would eliminate any threat to his position. Including Islinda. Valerie did not even dare to imagine what she would do if she heard about the incident. Islinda would be endangered, whether under Aldric’s care or not. His mother would always find a way to extricate stumbling blocks to her son’s success.
"Father talked about working with Andre now that he’s back. You can ask Derek, we spent the time away from the palace bonding." He gave her a convenient excuse.
Andre had not been in the palace that night either, else he wouldn’t have been able to track the witch down. Although the both of them had already thought of this scenario and agreed on this story. Nor would Derek betray them either. They made sure of it. The only problem left was Aldric.
"If you say so then, son. I would leave you to prepare for your court affairs. But remember, no nightmare should scare you, not even one with the face of that demon. You are strong, and my son." She stroked his cheeks and gave him a tight smile before taking her leave.
Valerie caught the distrust in her eyes. His mother did not fully believe him, yet, she had no evidence on hand to accuse him of evading the truth since Fae’s were incapable of lying. She had no choice but to take his word as it was.
Now, where was Andre?
He hadn’t gotten back to him since meeting with Aldric yesterday and it left him anxious.
It can’t be Aldric has killed him.
The dark Fae demon wouldn’t murder his brother, right?