Forever Fae

Chapter 2 - Ryder

"Are you sure you don't want to accompany me to the ceremony, Mother?" I inquired sarcastically.

My mother, Queen Mab, had graciously asked if I'd go to the Guardian Ceremony for the Princess Calista. Graciously might not be the word I'd say she used. She told me I had to go.

Lifting one of her eyebrows, she smirked to show me she knew what I was doing. I loved getting her worked up over the Summer Court queen. My mother was a beautiful lady with long, raven black hair and blue eyes. She'd been known to freeze things with a single icy glare.

"No, dear son, I will wait here for your father's return. Your father's the only one who can keep me from ripping Queen Tatiana's hair out of her head. That woman drives me up the wall with her air of arrogance, and with your father not here, I find it in the best interest of both the courts if I sit this one out."

"I think I would have to agree. We wouldn't want to start a war now would we?" I laughed at the mental picture in my head of my mother going head to head with the Summer Court queen. It'd definitely be entertaining, and a fight I knew my mother would win. She was known throughout the Winter Court as being the true Ice Queen; never wielding or showing mercy.

Taking my mother's hand, we strolled together to the throne room where we both took a seat by the large window overlooking our wintery palace.

Sighing, my mother muttered, "No, we wouldn't. From everything that's going on in and around the Black Forest, we need to make sure we stay close to the Summer Court. If something happens, we need to have them on our side and vice versa."

Nodding, I agreed, "That's true. I'm curious to know what the Summer Court has to say about all of this. Has any of their fae gone missing as well?"

"Several have, and that's what worries me. The air feels as evil as it did when the war broke out over a century ago. You can taste the bitterness of it in the air."

"Has Heylfred said anything more about the prophecy?" I asked curiously. Heylfred was our advisor and he had a way of seeing things that none of us could. He'd told me of his speculations about the prophecy, but I was curious to know what he'd told my mother.

Tilting her head to the side, she smiled and tried to hold in a chuckle. "He says he believes that you and the lovely Princess Calista will be the beginning of it all, and that your hearts are destined to be together." Yep, it was the same as what he told me.

I groaned. "Yeah, that's the same poetic bullshit I hear from him as well. If Calista is anything like her mother, I highly doubt I could stand to be within three feet of her."

"You may be surprised, my son," my mother said with a devilish smile.

Looking out the window, I saw that my army had all begun to gather and were saddling their horses. The time had come for me to leave, so I reluctantly leaned over to kiss my mother's hand hoping she didn't pick up on my sour mood.

"I must bid you farewell, Mother. Warren and Kalen will be accompanying me, along with several of the warriors. We'll be back soon."

My mother kissed me on the cheek and grinned. "Be safe and make sure to tell the Queen I said hello."

"Yeah ... right," I scoffed while turning away to head out of the throne room. Her cackles echoed throughout the throne room, and I could even hear them as I made my way out of the palace.

Leaving the palace walls, I headed over to my own house that I have on my parent's property. My mother and father refused to let my brothers and my sister live outside of their grounds. In order to have our own privacy, my brothers and I have our own places scattered across the expanse of the Winter Court.