Faerie Tales: The Princess and the Dream Walker

Faerie Tales: The princess and the dream walker

(Author’s note: This story takes place in the world of Mary Gentry by Laurell K. Hamilton. We do not own the setting or any characters created by Hamilton, and use them only for our enjoyment in writing this story in a very wonderful world which we both enjoy reading about.)

There was a hush in the unseelie court’s main hall. Silence had fallen, and there was a tense anticipation in the air. That thickening of the air that meant something was about to happen. It was like the calm before the storm. This time was actually more like the eye of the storm. Everything had been in motion and then went still. All eyes moving between two figures.

The one figure everyone watched was queen Andais. She was dressed in black leather and looked angry, her eyes flashing with her rage. The target of her wrath stood at the base of her dais. Golden hair fell to the backs of his knees, held back from his face by two braids along the side, which he could use to push the hair behind his ears. His own eyes seemed to flash with his anger. His eyes were blue in color. The outer ring was sky blue, followed by a ring of turquoise, and finally a ring of azure, the colors moving from pale to darker in the center. They stood out nicely complimenting his sunkissed skin, a color that above anything else physically showed his seelie nature. His name was Gwydion and he was a recent member of the unseelie court. He was the most recently rejected by the golden court and the most recently accepted into the unseelie. Andais originally had planned to not accept him, but lord Gwydion, lord of sleep and dreams was a powerful individual and Andais could not really afford to be picky and choosy. It tickled her pink to have one of Terinus’s head of houses as her servant now, moreover as one of her Ravens.

Gwydion often butted heads with the queen and she quite frankly hated him. The hatred was mutual, and the proud Seelie could not stand having to be beholden to a mad woman. Tis why he often found himself in situations like this one. He again had defied the queens decree, had refused to strike a noblewoman at the queens order.

Andais’s eyes narrowed, “Do you seek to defy me yet again lord Gwydion?” It spoke to his power and influence that she still afforded him the term lord even when she was so displeased. “I should challenge you to a duel right now.” She said coldly.

Gwydion merely shrugged, they had played this game before. She would not challenge him. It was not that she feared him, although quite a few in the unseelie court did. She had once been a goddess of battle, she could kill him easily. No, she wouldn’t. He could serve her better alive. He was a powerful servant, to have one of the former heads of house for the seelie, as one of her subjects, pleased her. It was also pleasing to her that He was still respected among the Seelie. If Terinus continued to rule like a madman, Gwydion if brought to her side could be a powerful influence in gaining allies for the Unseelie. As he stared her down he thought on the events that had lead him to serving a mad woman. It had been over 20 years now. Time moved strangely in the unseelie Sithen at times so he could not be certain. More than 20 but less than 30 years for sure it had been since the events that placed him in this position.

He truly had been Lord Gwydion of the seelie, lord of sleep and dreams, and a powerful head of one of the seelie noble houses. His consort at that time was his long term love Aelwen. They were not married for there were no children between them. Sidhe Marriages were only recognized when the couple was shown to be fertile together. It was commonly known that Gwydion was extremely loyal to Aelwen, and she to him. So when she had come forward to him and admitted that king terinus had seduced her. Gwydion had gone into a rage. He had lost his cool. Gwydion was sure it had been rape; it would have to be to make his love betray him. However, the king, when he finally admitted to the seduction claimed it was perfectly consensual. It became a case of His word verses the kings, and strangely once the king made his view known she made no attempt to affirm or deny the situation from either view. Not thinking of possible consequences of his actions Gwydion had challenged the king to a duel. He still had no idea why the king had just not killed him. The king was very fond of duels and was very skilled at it. However when he had bested Gwydion in the ring, he had not killed him. His official reason was he could show mercy because he knew what betrayal of a woman felt like. Therefore he could be merciful. Gwydion had different theories for his reasoning. First, Gwydion was a powerful nobleman of the court, he was well liked and respected, killing him could have caused some fall out. However Gwydion suspected his second theory was even more accurate, Terinus knew that Gwydion would suffer more living in this cesspool of perversion far more than if he had merely killed him immediately.

Gwydion stood there still, back ramrod straight. He had accepted Andais’s offer to take him in because he could not stomach the thought of living among the humans. They offended his sensibilities almost as much as some of the unseelie did.

“You elect to take the woman’s place this evening Lord Gwydion?” Andais’s words cut like a whip bringing Gwydion back into the present. He should have known this was coming, he knew even though she would not duel him, he would not go unscathed for the defiance. He nodded stiffly.

“You may feel free to beat me all you wish my queen, as long as you do not hit this woman.” He said, “You seek to punish her because you feel her pink dress is too pretty for your court. I will not hit her over such a thing.” He said, each word digging himself farther into the hole he was digging himself he knew, however honor dictated he stand up for her, even though he knew it would not end well for him.

Andais’s eyes narrowed, “I know you dislike being tortured, the sight of blood bothers you. However that was not the torture I had planned for her. I planned to make the strumpet a part of one of y entertainment for the evening.” Gwydion did not react outwardly but inside his gut turned and roiled with rage and disgust. The queen’s words meant he was to be a part of one of Andais shows. No one save maybe Andais, in the unseelie court knew of the reasons that brought Gwydion to the Unseelie. However enough rumors abounded that many in the unseelie court knew how much Gwydion disliked promiscuity. The room seemed to collectively hold its breath waiting to see what would happen. Would the warrior cave in and strike the woman dragging her to the queen as requested, or would he submit himself to Andais in her place to be part of her little sex show?

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Ashling watched the confrontation between the Seelie outcast and the Queen of Air and Darkness with nearly Rapt interest. Few aside from her mother ever dared to defy her great aunt. Not even her brothers, Brendan and Essus. She was quite interested to see what the handsome Lord would do.

Ashling was the daughter of the famous Princess Merredith. She and her twin, Prince Brendan, were the first children born to the Sidhe courts since her mother. They were unique in nearly every way. Each could boast not one but three biological fathers. Brendan had come first and so was named Heir to the Unseelie throne, He was next in line because Their mother had abdicated her right. Ashling was in line for the Seelie Throne, if Taranus ever chose to fade or someone finally murdered the evil bastard. Something told her that time would soon be upon her and she would have to fight for that throne every bit as much as her mother had fought for the Unseelie throne.

There was nothing about Ashling to state her Seelie bloodlines, her hair was as ruby red as her mother's, her skin as pale as her great aunts and her eyes were a dizzying trio of emerald, storm grey, and ice blue. She had been gifted with the curves of her mother's human blood and the height of her fathers' sidhe blood. The Seelie court would fight her reign with everything they had. It already angered them that their sithen tended to respond to her as the Unseelie Sithen responded to her mother and brother.

Ashling was odd even in her own family. She actually enjoyed spending time in the Queens court. There was sex and intrigue everywhere and it titilated Ashling's virginal senses. She would love to see this Handsome Seelie Lord take one of the women in andais' service... Still he was her subject in either court he chose and she was prepared to step in between him and Andais should the need arise. She was no more afraid of Andais than she was of her father, Sholto, King of the Sluagh, and Andais would not risk the wrath of her parents.