Exchanged Read online

  Oberon’s face remained calm. “You have to admit, slavery is an extreme response to an entire population based on the actions of a few.”

  “My mother is the one who allowed the slavery of mortals,” Ginette said, her tone even. “It was her way of responding to the disasters of her time without resorting to bloodshed. To change what has been in place so long could bring unrest to our kingdom.”

  “And what of the smaller fey?” Callannon said.

  It pleased him that Ginette and Jekob remained silent for a few moments. He never approved of the Deepwood’s treatment of mortals, but with Aubriel as his exchanged, he detested the idea even more. There were mortals who were not to be trusted, like that paladin Elston, but to pay a harsh price for having the misfortune of accidentally stumbling through a gateway was cruel and unacceptable.

  Ginette inclined her head. “A fair question, Lord Thray.” Her gaze paused on each of them. “What is it that you would propose?”

  “What about Miss Aubriel?” Captain Salda said, a cold smile on her lips. “Tell us, how is this issue handled in the Forgotten Mists?”

  Callannon glared at Salda and put his arm around Aubriel as if that would be enough to deflect the royals’ interest. “We have enough to discuss today. There is no need to add the preferences of a land neither of our realms interact with to the list.”

  “It's alright, Lord Thray.” Ginette waved away his attempt to interrupt. “I'm curious, and perhaps there is another option none of us have yet considered.”

  All attention remained on Aubriel. Oberon reached out a hand to pat her arm reassuringly as he conceded. “Please, tell us.”

  Aubriel looked at Callannon, who had no intention of releasing his hold on her waist. Suspicions be damned, he wouldn't leave her on her own for this. She cast her eyes on the blanket for so long he wasn't sure she would say anything. He gave her a gentle squeeze.

  “It is forbidden to practice slavery in the Forgotten Mists, but that isn't always a deterrent.” Her words were slow and measured but maintained her natural quality. “What those of us in the Mists do instead is find ways to work together. We find that it’s more peaceful when everyone works toward the same cause. Feeling like a necessary part of a community and experiencing all of a community’s benefits often lead to a happier and more productive community overall.”

  “Peace is its own reward,” Titania said. She turned to the Deepwood royals. “Would that be enough to satisfy you?”

  Ginette and Jekob shared a look that had an entire conversation behind it. When the queen spoke, she kept looking at Jekob. “We will need to discuss the possibility before we can give an answer. I hope you understand.” The sentiment lacked room for argument.

  “Of course,” Callannon said before Salda took the opportunity to interject. “We’ve come to many conclusions today, and it is only natural that some matters will be more difficult than others.” He sighed in relief at the lack of opposition. “For now, why don’t I take us through the hedge maze. We haven’t ventured there as of yet.”

  At his side, Aubriel placed her hand over his and guided it to her belly. She looked up at him meaningfully. “I’ll take care of the basket and blanket. Go ahead and I’ll catch up to you.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I need to speak with Ginette.”

  “If you’re certain.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against her, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “I eagerly await your return.”

  Ire crept through him as Salda stood and offered a hand to help Titania stand, but the captain looked as baffled as Callannon felt when the queen ignored Salda’s hand and accepted Oberon’s instead. It was strange to see them getting along, but then again, it was likely a performance for Ginette and Jekob’s benefit. After all, it was difficult to ignore fifty years of betrayal.

  ~*~

  The garden grew quiet as everyone left, save Aubriel and Ginette. Soon, only the sound of rustling from gold-tinged leaves could be heard. Aubriel inhaled deeply. She’d spoken to the queen alone the previous night but felt a new edge of concern. Mortals were slaves in the Deepwood.

  It struck her as fortunate that she and Elston found Callannon’s necklace. If not for blindly following the paladin, Aubriel would never have met her exchanged. But now the reality of her luck hit her with force. Had the amulet belonged to a different fey, perhaps one from the Deepwood, the fey might’ve taken her back with sinister purpose, and Elston’s betrayal would have looked like little more than elfling troublemaking.

  If Ginette knew who—what—Aubriel really was, would she still smile at her with warm excitement? Would she still look at her like an equal?

  “Did you get it?” Ginette asked, her hands clasped regally but tightly before her.

  In response, Aubriel bent to dig to the bottom of the basket for her hidden cache. She retrieved a parcel and handed it to Ginette. “There are four portions, each made from fertility herbs. Based on what you told me, I suggest waiting a day or two before drinking them. Once you start, drink one potion each day, and be sure to consummate as well, otherwise they won’t work.”

  Ginette laughed. “Of course. That’s the best part of making a child.”

  Aubriel couldn't help but chuckle, a mix of humor and nerves. “Remember, you will want to...be intimate at least once every night—if not more—from now until two or so days after you finish the last potion.” That was a safe bet to allow for conception.

  Not seeming to notice Aubriel’s mix of knowledge and guesswork, Ginette turned inward. “Must I wait?”

  “It will come soon enough.”

  “I suppose.” Ginette tucked the parcel against her bare side, her red dress resembling something that had once been beautiful until swords slashed gaping holes in it. “If this works for me, then you’ll know what to do when it's your turn.”

  Bree coughed loudly. “My turn? I can't have Callannon’s child, at least not now, and not before...”

  “Before what?”

  She couldn't say before they were married, that would be assuming too much. They’d only known each other two short months, and they’d had been exchanged for only one of them. Of course she now trusted Callannon, and yes he was taking their relationship seriously, but it was too early to voice such things. Not until she knew his feelings better.

  Besides, any child of theirs would be half mortal. If such a child could be created from them, and Aubriel wasn’t sure one could be, it would make their situation even more dangerous. “I think the others must wonder where we are.”

  Ginette’s smile grew. “Oh my, you haven't had the talk.”

  “What talk?”

  “The one about children.”

  “Why would we, especially when I take herbs that do the exact opposite of what I gave you?”

  “Nothing is certain to work forever,” Ginette said with a shrug. “After all, I hear Queen Titania is the youngest of five, so there are exceptions to the rest of us who have trouble.” She brushed a hand emphatically over her smooth stomach.

  As the queen turned to follow the rest of the group, Aubriel realized that the fey was right. If Rabek had shown her one thing these past few months, it was that nothing in her life was impossible.

  ~*~

  The royals wound their way through the maze, but Callannon and Captain Salda were nowhere to be found. There were so many conversations Aubriel needed to have with Callannon, and the weight of the treaty sat heavily on her. After searching the maze, the gardens, and the grounds to no avail, she made for the archery range.

  A flash of red caught her attention, and she turned to see Acorn running to her. Relief filled her at seeing her friend. She bent to pet the fox. “It's so good to see you. Did Callannon come this way?”

  Acorn gave a small yip and ran toward the manor. Holding her skirts down to her thighs as she ran, Aubriel followed her guide to the front steps of Sagma House. She found Callannon and Salda arguing at the front doors.

  “I’ve had enough of you bar
ging into my manor uninvited,” Callannon seethed down at Salda. She glared back at him with equal intensity.

  “Queen Titania came here to discuss the treaty, and I escorted her. If you have a problem with my service to the queen, that is something you need to speak of with her.”

  “My staff informed me that, yet again, you entered Sagma House without my knowledge and entered rooms that are private. The queen has not stepped foot in my manor this day, so you were either acting on her orders to search through my private affairs or did so of your own volition. Perhaps I should bring this up to Queen Titania, or better yet, King Oberon.”

  “And what will you tell him?” Salda’s mouth tilted into a half smile. “That I walked about the manor, taking nothing, tampering with nothing? Besides, it’s not as if I was alone. Your staff saw me, as did your exchanged.”

  At mention of Aubriel, Callannon became strangely calm. “You’re walking a thin line, Captain.” His voice was low and dangerous. “No matter how much Queen Titania favors you, you are part of King Oberon’s guard first, and he does not favor you. Should I find you in my manor or near my exchanged ever again, I will not hold back from doing everything I can to see you stripped of your title.”

  “If you get rid of me, the queen will get rid of you,” Salda said, frowning. “Whatever injury King Oberon gives her, she gives back. Let go of your pride, Lord Thray. It will be your undoing.”

  Callannon stepped closer to Salda, his voice dropping so low that Aubriel strained to hear what he said. “Go back to the queen’s side and stay away from Sagma House. You are forbidden from coming here without her.”

  Salda scoffed and stepped back. “I know you’re hiding something. Just like with Venta, the truth will come out eventually whether I’m here or not.” She turned to descend the steps but paused when she saw Aubriel. Her face twisted in a mix of disgust and suspicion. “Miss Aubriel.”

  Giving no greeting, Aubriel simply waited until Salda was out of sight. Callannon remained on the steps, trembling in anger. She went to him and placed her hands in his, giving them a squeeze. “It's alright, Callannon. She went away.”

  “She's getting too close.” His eyes were stormy. “It's not just your safety she could ruin, but the entire treaty. We could lose everything. Oberon could lose everything.”

  “Nobody knows anything yet.” Aubriel ran her thumbs over his hands. “You’re holding onto everything, Callannon. It's like you want to carry every burden on your own. But I'm here with you now.” She bit her lip. “Venta was your exchanged, wasn't she?”

  Callannon stiffened. “You heard that part.”

  It wasn't a question.

  “I've heard enough to piece a few things together.” She tugged him toward the manor doors. “The kings and queens said something about retiring until dinner. You need to rest too.”

  He shook his head. “No, I need to tell you about Venta. Let’s go to the study.”

  Chapter 11

  Ever since their exchange, Callannon knew this moment would come, but that made it no easier. After leading Aubriel into his study, he checked each and every ward on the room three times, then placed a lightning trap underneath the old one, just to be sure. Aubriel searched about the room, checking corners and shadows for hidden figures. The aid and determination she displayed made him want to kiss her, but he refrained.

  Suitably convinced that they were well and truly alone, Callannon pulled Aubriel into the light from the windows as if that could dispel his dark thoughts. Even still, he could not help but smile down at her, more open and honest than any other woman he had known since becoming advisor.

  “I need to know,” she said, reaching to take his face in her hands. He didn't need to ask what she meant. “It's not that I lack faith or trust in you; I see you cracking under the weight of this thing, whatever it is.”

  He took her hands and kissed them before holding them to his chest. “I will hold nothing back.” He led her to sit with him in chairs beside the cold hearth, which he lit with fire in an instant. “Where to begin?”

  “What did she look like?”

  The question surprised him. “She had hair even longer than yours, and it was fair. She was tall. Just as tall as I am. I think that’s what first caught my attention.” The memory he once held so fondly came back to him with bitterness. “She was new to court and had received an invitation to join, or so she said. I liked her right away and always assumed she came to court out of curiosity more than anything. She never showed an unhealthy interest in politics.”

  He realized he had paused when Aubriel squeezed his hand. “To say we were well matched is an understatement,” he continued. “The more time we spent together, the better we fit together, and soon enough I knew that I needed to be with her.” He laughed. If only he had known then. “We courted for an appropriate amount of time—twenty years—before we exchanged.”

  “Twenty years?” Aubriel asked in horror.

  He stroked Bree’s arms just to feel her, as if she was what kept him grounded in the present. He’d fallen into the morass of his memory before, and he wouldn’t let himself do it again. “That was only leading up to our exchange, but things went shakily after that.”

  “What changed?”

  “She moved into the manor with me, and that's when others began to notice what I had not, what I could not. It was difficult to remain reasonable when those closest to me became suspicious of Venta, and being reasonable is something I pride myself on. Oberon was open with me about his concern that she was using me to her own advantage. Some spoke of it behind my back, and yet others said nothing at all, simply watching as my exchange with Venta unraveled.

  “Nearly five years went by with her here. In the end, it was an attack on the court that truly exposed her for what she was.” The memories he’d put from his mind for years resurfaced as fresh as if they’d just occurred. “It was an inside job. One of the nobles was actually an unseelie fey in disguise—a fey from the Winter Kingdom, which is hostile to the Summer Court. Ironically, he had nothing to do with Venta, but her relationship with me drew enough suspicion toward her to leave the court open for attack.”

  “I still don’t understand,” Aubriel said with a shake of her head. “If Venta had nothing to do with the...unseelie fey, then how was she exposed? What wrongs did she commit?”

  “She died.” He held Aubriel as she flinched at his blunt tone. “It wasn’t just that she died in the attack, but that we found her hours later, once the unseelie was captured and the confusion passed. You have to understand, my duty is first and foremost to protect my king. Venta wasn’t even near me when the attack happened. When we finally made it back into the throne room, enough time had passed since the beginning of that day for her enchantments to wear off and to expose her for who she really was: a spy, and an unseelie fey herself.

  “She wasn’t an archfey like myself or Titania and the others, though she was similar. Much like I have disguised you to look like an archfey of the Forgotten Mists, she did such to herself. She said that she was from one of the seelie kingdoms, such as the Deepwood Realm and the Summer Kingdom. I know she was an unseelie fey, and I suspect she was truly from the Winter Kingdom, but I don’t know for certain, and she may have been from one of a number of other unseelie lands. She deceived me, charmed me, and partially succeeded in her mission to use me to hold sway in court. Because of her and what she did to me, I nearly lost everything I’d worked for. I was nearly stripped of my position as advisor.”

  “You’re certain?” Aubriel squeezed his hands hard, but he didn’t mind. This was what drew him to her, her desire to believe the best in others. “How much of that is fact and how much is based on guesses?”

  “I’m sure.” Callannon pulled her to stand with him. “What Venta did to me is not my guesswork.” They went to the bookshelves where he pulled a dusty tome and handed it to Aubriel.

  Her eyes scanned the cover. “The History of Smaller Fey Creatures and Their Influence on Trade
?”

  “Open it.”

  It took Aubriel a moment to adjust the large book in her hands and swing the cover open. Callannon kept his eyes on hers, watching as they transformed from curiosity, to confusion, to wide understanding. She looked up quickly. “This is—”

  “Venta’s journal,” he finished with a mirthless smile. “Those are her accounts of everything having to do with me written in her own hand.”

  Aubriel nodded soberly, turning the bulky pages to the last entry before closing the tome with a sigh. “How did you find it?”

  “By accident, years after she died. It’s a mundane, boring, dusty book sitting at eye level in the middle of my study. That’s exactly how it had been the whole time, I imagine. Hidden in plain sight.”

  “But the locks on your study...”

  “I gave her the passwords. Why wouldn’t I? She was my exchanged, and I was madly charmed by her over and over again without even realizing it. I trusted her, loved her, and never doubted that she felt the same way about me.”

  “I understand,” Aubriel said solemnly. “Actually, there’s still one thing I don’t understand. You’re exceptionally skilled with magic. What you said about Venta going after you to control the court makes sense, but how could she charm you like that without you noticing?”

  Callannon wondered how they hadn’t had this conversation sooner. “She had an item of great power at her disposal, also hidden in plain sight.”

  A few beats of silence passed. Aubriel put her hands to her mouth. “The necklace.”

  “It allowed her to cast powerful and long-lived charm spells on me and illusion spells on herself. She told me it was a gift from her mother who had long since passed, and with my own parents gone, I never thought it odd that she might wear it every day. After all, it wasn’t as if she wore it to bed or when she washed.” He shook his head. “It all seems so transparent in hindsight.”

  “Everything does.” Realization dawned on her. “That’s why Oberon made his offer to me at the ball, why Salda looks down her nose at me every time she glances my way. Just like Venta, I show up out of nowhere one day, exchanged with you. It happened so quickly. They think I’m charming you!”