King of Death: MM Fae Romance, page 1
KING OF DEATH
FOLK
BOOK THREE
LILY MAYNE
Copyright 2023 by Lily Mayne
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Beta-reading and editing by Kate Wood Proofreading
Warning: This m/m love story contains explicit sexual content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains graphic depictions of violence, serious injury, death, minor drug use and deals with the death of close family members. There is a brief mention of a secondary character being forced into a sexual situation in the past. It is not described in any kind of detail.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Books by Lily Mayne
About the Author
Chapter One
Ash
I still wasn’t used to waking up and feeling completely safe.
Every morning, it took me a few moments to remember that I was in the one place where the Carlin couldn’t get me. That Nua and Gillie were safe, because the Brid was gone.
Every morning, I rolled over and smiled when I saw Lonan sleeping beside me. Or when I roused and felt his head on my chest and his long hair trailing over my skin.
The curtains were only partially drawn, so morning sunlight streamed into the room and threw the long, silvery scars on his back into sharp relief as he slept on his side, facing away from me. I moved closer and wrapped my arm around him, kissing the back of his shoulder as my eyes slid shut.
I’d nearly drifted straight back to sleep when I sensed him slowly wake up. I kissed his shoulder again, resting my nose there to breathe in his sleep-warmed scent.
He chuckled hoarsely, sliding a hand down the arm I had slung over his waist to tangle his fingers with mine. “You’re always so hot when you wake up.”
I smiled and eased closer, trying not to arch my hips when my morning erection pressed against his bare ass.
“Do you hate it, unseelie?” I murmured sleepily, my eyes drifting shut again.
Lonan shifted onto his back, dislodging me as he stretched with a little grunt. His black eyes were sleepy. He still looked tired, but he smiled at me and pushed the hair back from my face.
“How could I hate anything about you?”
I snorted and leaned in to kiss him. “That sounds like a fae answer, not a real one.”
He rolled his eyes and kissed me again before slipping out of bed. As he stretched his long, lean body with a yawn, my gaze drifted down his spine to his ass, and my morning erection bucked against the mattress. But Lonan was already padding into the bathroom, so I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“It’s the first open court today, isn’t it?” Lonan called from the bathroom in his husky voice as I heard a stream hit water.
My gut clenched with nerves.
“Yeah,” I croaked, sliding out of bed to start getting dressed. “I’m really nervous.”
“You’ll be fine, Ash. Do you want me to join you for it?”
“Yes, please,” I said immediately as I pulled up my leathers. “Nua will be there too, but I’ll be less freaked out if you’re there.”
“Of course.”
I heard him start brushing his teeth, so I finished getting dressed before joining him in the bathroom.
“What kind of things do you think they’ll come to me with?” I asked worriedly as I took a leak.
Lonan rinsed his mouth before answering. “Probably fairly mundane things. You’ve already agreed to lower the tithes paid to the court. That would have been their main issue. Well, that and the slaughtering.”
As well as the senseless murder of her people, the Brid had demanded extortionate tithes from the seelie. Nua and I had spent an entire afternoon with the royal treasurer a few days ago, and it had been one of the most boring days of my life.
Once we were both dressed, Lonan encouraged me to have a few bites of the breakfast Jora delivered, but I was too nervous to have a true appetite. He wolfed down some eggs and toast before we left the bedroom.
As we approached the throne room with any and all staff we passed dipping into bows that made me wildly uncomfortable, I nervously adjusted the crown on my head. “There probably won’t even be that many people wanting to speak to me, right? I mean, it’s a new concept for them. Being able to come and tell the monarch their problems directly. Right?”
Lonan cocked his head. “I would think so. I can’t imagine many unseelie Folk having the nerve to ask my mother for something, even if she offered them the opportunity.”
When we entered the throne room, Nua was already there, speaking to Brahm, one of the palace staff who’d been tasked with announcing each fae as they came in to speak with me. Brahm was a driath, his wood-like skin a green-tinged brown, and his root-like hair tied back into a neat bun.
He was clutching a roll of parchment, and his green eyes looked anxious as he watched Nua intently while my brother spoke to him. When he spotted us making our way across the room, he jolted and dipped into a bow.
“You don’t have to do that, Brahm,” I told him uncomfortably.
Nua turned with a bright smile. “Good morning!” He smoothed down his tunic. “Are you feeling prepared?”
“I mean… not really.” I chuckled, releasing Lonan’s hand when he squeezed mine. He wandered over to his throne, the one I’d had specially made for him from black metal. “But I can’t imagine we’ll get that many Folk coming in, right?”
Nua’s bright smile faltered for a split second as Brahm looked between us, clutching the roll of parchment tighter. I finally focused on it, realising it looked… kind of thick.
“Well.” Nua cleared his throat and tried to keep the smile on his face. “There is a… I suppose you could call it a somewhat large queue outside the palace…”
“How large?” I asked hoarsely.
Nua and Brahm exchanged a look. Then my brother hurried forward and squeezed my shoulder, subtly directing me toward my throne. “Don’t worry about that, Ash. We’ll just see as many as we can today.”
“Oh god.” I swallowed, thudding down into my throne too hard and staring up at Nua in horror. “There are a lot of them, aren’t there?”
“We will see as many as we can,” Nua repeated firmly, refusing to meet my eyes as he stepped back. “Though we should probably get started quite soon. Are you ready?”
“I…”
I looked over at Lonan, who was sitting back in his throne quietly, looking completely at ease there. I felt stiff and awkward, like I was a kid waiting for my parents to take my photo at some medieval-themed amusement park.
He gave me a tiny smile.
“I guess,” I finished hoarsely, my fingers twisting in the hem of my shirt, crumpling the material already.
“You will be fine, Ash,” Nua murmured, taking his seat in the wooden throne I’d had constructed for him. Fuck sitting up here all on my own. “You won’t even need to speak much. Just hear their issues. Let them see that you are truly listening to them. The staff are taking meticulous notes for us to go over afterward. No one expects you to make any decisions on the spot.”
“Okay.” I managed to exhale a slow breath at that, relaxing slightly.
Brahm, who’d hurried out of the room still clutching his parchment, returned through the wide doors at the other end. His shoes tapped over the stone floor, loud in the otherwise quiet space, as we waited for him to take hi
Once situated, he cleared his throat and unrolled the top of his parchment. The plan had been to take down the names of everyone waiting outside to speak to me beforehand, so they could be formally introduced to me. I hadn’t seen much point in that when they could’ve just told me as they came in, but I hadn’t argued too much. There were probably safety measures around it, or maybe just some old seelie traditions I didn’t know about. I always got nervous about making a fool out of myself by showing my ignorance.
Brahm nodded at one of the guards by the doors. They pulled one open and stuck their head out to call in the first of the seelie Folk who’d come to tell me about their problems.
I tried to keep a bland, polite expression on my face, but I was already regretting this. It was going to be a long morning.
My gut sank when I saw a familiar fae sweep into the room, his nose already turned up as he eyed the guards. His expression grew even more disdainful when he fixed his gaze on Lonan in his dark throne beside me.
Brahm cleared his throat. “Abar, my king. Of the noble Folk.”
I forced myself to smile at the sneering fae as he approached. I recognised him—he was the one who’d spoken to me when we’d first arrived on seelie. He was wearing a finely made tunic in a deep gold with pale thread. His long brown hair was swept back into a complicated knot of braids, threaded through with daisies. His skin had a faint gold-green tinge, and his eyes were honey brown.
“King Ash.” He dipped into a shallow bow. When he straightened, his gaze drifted over to Lonan again.
Sitting up straighter in my throne, I made sure he could feel me watching him. His eyes snapped back to me.
“What can I help you with today?” I asked, my voice flat. I already didn’t like this fae. In some ways, I was kind of glad he was the first one for me to see. I disliked him enough that the sight of him was chasing away my nerves.
Abar cleared his throat, clasping his hands together behind his back, his posture rigid and arrogant. “We believe that our new accommodation is inadequate.”
“We?” I echoed dryly.
“The noble Folk. Those you… evicted from the palace.”
“What’s inadequate about it?”
“For one, there are no staff quarters. And even if there were, you provided no funds for us to even have staff.”
“Why do you need staff?”
He gave me a faint, condescending smile. “My king, I know this is all fairly new to you—”
“The Luad is fully aware of his duties and what goes on in his land,” Nua interrupted, voice harder than I’d ever heard it before. “Do not make the mistake of thinking he is merely a puppet.”
The fae paused. “Of course not,” he said smoothly. “I just meant that noble Folk have always had servers. Our station—”
“You don’t need servers,” I said. “You can learn how to cook and clean. It’s not that hard.”
Abar’s nostrils flared. Back still rigid, he said in a hard voice, “And how do you suggest we provide for ourselves, my king? We need food, just like any other Folk. Clothing. Necessities to live. If you will not at least provide some funds—”
“Get jobs.”
His eyes flashed with heated fury. Visibly tamping back his anger, he said, “I was under the impression that the open court was to provide opportunities for you to help your people, my king. Forgive me, but you are dismissing every one of my concerns—”
“They’re not real concerns.” I sat up straighter. “You just don’t want to do anything for yourselves. There’s nothing stopping you from getting jobs. Sorry if you’re annoyed that I’m not going to fund your lavish lifestyle like the Brid did, but you’re going to have to get over it at some point.”
The fae was breathing hard, his nostrils flaring with every exhale. “My king, you leave us destitute—”
“You were given food supplies when you were moved out of the palace, correct?” Lonan lounged back in his seat, chin resting on his palm in a picture of calm, but his eyes were hard and cold as he stared at Abar. “You were allowed to take all your clothes and belongings. If you and your friends are Folk of such noble stock, surely you can easily find work. Surely the seelie are all clamouring to employ you.”
Abar’s eyes were narrowed on Lonan, filled with such loathing that fury flared hot in my stomach. Before I could say anything, he looked back at me with a simpering smile.
“My king, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but is it truly wise to have the unseelie prince here, privy to the issues the seelie Folk face?”
I went stiff. “What are you insinuating?”
“Your subjects might come to you with matters that could be seen as weaknesses in your land. Your court,” he said smoothly. “Surely you see that I only speak in your best interests, my king.”
My hands clenched into fists on the armrests of the throne, and he noticed. His throat bobbed as he took a tiny step back.
“I told you from the beginning that the way to make me angry would be to disrespect him,” I said through clenched teeth. “Watch your mouth.”
“I have no loyalty to the Carlin,” Lonan said flatly. I glanced over at him to see his cold mask still in place as he stared back at the fae with hard eyes. “My loyalty is to King Ash.”
“Highly unusual,” Abar drawled, his lip curling in a sneer. “I do wonder how the unseelie queen feels about that.”
“It’s none of your fucking business,” I exploded, hands clenching on the armrests of my throne as I leaned forward. “Now if you don’t have any real problems, you’re wasting my time. If you don’t want to get a job, learn to grow your own fucking food. Forage and hunt.” I sat back. “We’re done here.”
Abar’s breaths trembled from his nose in forceful exhalations. He eyed me in silence for a moment, gaze drifting to the crown on my head.
“Not so different from your mother as we first thought, it seems.” He gave a mocking bow and turned to leave.
Rage, hot and overwhelming, flared in my chest. I could feel my eyes flashing with fury, my teeth sharpening in my mouth as I started to rise from my throne.
Nua’s long, spindly fingers gripped my shoulder, gently urging me back down. “Calm, Ash. He’s trying to get under your skin. You’re not like her. You know that.”
“He thinks you’re young and easily manipulated,” Lonan said, dark eyes still tracking the fae as he swept out of the throne room. “Quick to anger. Volatile. Don’t let him be right.”
My gut churned with unease as I sat back, twisting the hem of my shirt in my fingers. I was young and easily angered. I was pretty sure I was the youngest seelie king there’d ever been.
And weren’t all seelie hot-headed? That was what Ogma had told me. That the seelie inherited the First God’s fierce, heated anger.
But Nua wasn’t hot-headed. Neither was Jora.
Maybe I was more like her than I’d thought. The Brid.
The thought made me feel sick.
Chapter Two
Ash
The rest of the open court was far less eventful. Folk came with minor problems—petty land disputes, requests to delay their tithe payment this month, questions over crops and sanctioned hunts in the royal forest, which they called the kingswood.
I hadn’t even realised there was a royal forest.
Once the open court was done for the day, Lonan told me he was going to practise with his swords and left after giving me a kiss. I’d had a covered training ring made for him at the back of the palace, getting a wide section of the garden cleared and a wooden roof constructed so he could stay out of the sun.
Because it was only getting hotter on seelie land, and I didn’t think Lonan liked it.
The training ring had been cleared and built amazingly fast once I’d asked for it to happen. The perks of being a king, I guessed.
I caught up with Nua after Lonan strode off, halting him before he left the throne room. “Can I speak to you about something?”
“Of course.” Nua nodded to the door that led to the private part of the palace. “Shall we go to the rose garden?”
Server Folk we passed dipped into bows as we made our way through the palace to the small rose garden tucked at its side. The air was warm and redolent with the scent of the blooms when we stepped outside, the afternoon sun beating down on us.
