Beneath Shadows and Secrets

♔ 𝕱𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔶 - 𝕹𝔦𝔫𝔢 ♔

I can only apologise for my slack. I've given you guys the speech before, but I am insanely overloaded with work and uni. I'm tired af and any chance I have to write I literally end up passing out. I promise that things will be back to normal soon. Besides - not long to go! We're looking at probably another 15 chapters (give or take).

And this one is fucking LONG. Like 5.3 k words. But it's nice and it makes me happy so I hope you guys will feel that way too.

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♔ 𝔑𝔦𝔯𝔞 ♔

I am familiar with the nerves that come as the Equinox steals away the little time I have. Each day, it moves closer, grows more domineering, and my stomach flips whenever I think about it. I think about it often.

This time, the Equinox is going to be far worse. Fae restored to their unrestricted power, and not just the Unseelie folk that had little to their artillery. This time, it is the High Fae I will compete. Those with years of practice, with skill beyond my imagination, with a brutality that will rival mine. Nobles and Royals, each of them competing, this time, not for freedom and prosperity, but with a hunger for power and land.

It will be a much smaller, far more intimate competition. There are so few that meet the requirements, so I doubt that if everyone was to join, there would be numbers that exceeded twenty. Does every Lord from Vrodora wish to rule it? I would think Riyan does, if only to defend her late cousin's legacy. Both siblings, or just one of the pair? Would they point their power at their sibling if it meant claiming the throne? Zaire, of course, and Calix too. There are eight other Lords, and I know so little about them it is impossible to guess. Even still, should they all choose to attempt the Equinox, that is only twelve competitors. I make for the thirteenth.

Then the leaders of other Realms. The King of Solaris is about as gutless as the late King of Cracuria. He would not dare. I do not think my father will, but I cannot be sure if he would think to send Darin in his place. He acted as though my brother was something delicate that needed protecting, but I will never know the truth of his words. Then there is Belici and Posieren, but I have no guess as to whether their monarchy will consider this an opportunity, or a gimmick. They might be sure of themselves and their capabilities to commit to the Equinox, or send their children to risk themselves instead.

The not knowing, this uncertainty and hypothesising is what makes me most nervous of all.

I need to know. It is that which drives me to go in search for someone within this Court House which will know more about the other Realms than I.

It is suspiciously quiet – has been for days now. By now, Tynan would usually have come to drive me insane, and though I know I sent Libitina off on a small errand, I imagined that Calix would have sought to return her. Still, the demon and Kythiran are nowhere to be found, and that is why my feet carry me to Calix's office.

We have only seen one another in passing since that night. I do not what to know what it means for us, if it means anything at all. It was amazing, but not quite so sensible. I know what happened the last time... well, it might be better that we return to our strictly platonic relationship. We work well when focused on our alliance, and I do not need soft feelings getting in the way of that.

I expect he will agree.

My knock on his door is heavy, and I let myself in to see him having already pushed aside the letters that stack high on his desk. He does not greet me with anything other than a raised brow.

"Where is everybody?" I ask him.

"Who is everybody?" He sighs, leaning back in his chair. "I have so many beings within my Court, I can hardly keep track of them all."