Chapter Thirty-One
Ash
“Oh my—oh my gods.”
Nua stared at me from the door, and I couldn’t help but grin triumphantly in return.
“I did it.”
Nua had cried when I left to kill the Brid, but it was Gillie whose eyes watered now as he rushed up to join Nua at the door.
“You’re alive.” He yanked me into a hard hug and gave me a gentle smack on the back of the head. “You sly bastard.”
I laughed, pulling away to hug Nua.
“He’s not just alive,” Nua said shakily, gripping my shoulders as he stared at me. “He’s the king.”
Gillie burst out laughing. “Of course you fucking are. As obstinate as your brother. You weren’t going to let that old bitch take you down.”
“Well, her King of Boars did.” I realised we were still standing at the door, so I stepped inside and closed it behind me. “Not quick enough, though. The Brid died first and her power transferred to me. Which I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?” Nua gave me a smile. “You’re the strongest. The rightful heir. The power itself decides—not the ruler or the order of birth.”
“But how am I stronger than you?” I shook my head. “I was half mortal. I’m—”
“You’re not half mortal anymore,” Gillie pointed out, ushering me into the kitchen as Nua followed. “Full fae, just like the rest of us. Don’t let those fucking queens make you believe otherwise.”
“You wouldn’t be king if you weren’t, Ash,” Nua added softly, clasping my shoulder before moving past me to the cauldron over the hearth.
I shook my head again. It hadn’t really sunk in yet—that I was the Seelie King. But at the same time… it had. I wasn’t scared. For some reason, I wasn’t intimidated by the enormity of the role before me.
“What are you doing here anyway, King?” Gillie grinned over at me as he got three mugs. “Shouldn’t you be on your throne in your palace, addressing your subjects?”
Hearing him call me king made something ping in my brain. I stared at him hard, memories surfacing of when I was a boy. Of the dark-haired, silver-eyed fae teaching me about mushrooms.
Calling me the thrice-lived king.
“You called me king when I was little,” I said. “You called me the thrice-lived king.”
Gillie went still, his brows pulling down into a frown. “Did I?”
I let out a short laugh. “Yeah. I remember.”
“Well.” He let out a breath, then looked at Nua with a grin. “Do you hear that, my love? I knew all along.”
As Nua rolled his eyes, I grumbled, “You could’ve told me that before,” as I joined them at the table.
Gillie chuckled. “If I’d remembered, I would have. I was probably a little out of it.”
I snorted at that, taking a sip of tea as we all settled in our seats. This didn’t feel any different to how it had months ago, when I’d first gotten here.
But it was. I was king.
“You can come back to seelie land if you want,” I said to Nua with a grin. “Come and live at the palace. Or wherever you want. You can stay out here.”
He fidgeted, twisting his mug on the table as he glanced at Gillie. “I don’t think the seelie Folk would want me there.”
I stiffened, scowling. “Fuck them. How can they resent you for not killing me when I’m theirkingnow? They all hated the Brid anyway. They were all scared of her. I doubt they even really felt that strongly about it.”