Chapter 1
This is a story about two kingdoms, side by side, but worlds apart.
All along the border between the Sundrop Realm and the Dark Forest there grew magical flowers called Lupines which bloomed between light and shadow and were used solely in the making of love potions.
And as spring was blossoming into summer, the flowers were nearly in full bloom...
“Father wants to speak to you.”
Sirius looked up from his book to find his younger brother standing at the edge of the alcove with his arms crossed and his leaf-pattered phthalo green wings fanned out behind him.
“How did you find me?” he asked.
“You are not as inconspicuous as you’d like to think,” Regulus replied. “And I repeat: Father wants to speak to you.”
“No, thank you,” he responded, standing up and stretching out his own blood-red wings.
“Sirius.”
“Regulus,” he replied in much the same tone. He huffed and put his book away into his satchel. “I just don’t see the point; I already know what he is going to say.”
Regulus tutted, “You don’t know—”
“Father is going to ask me when I intend to find a companion, and I don’t fancy having the same conversation that we have had a hundred times before,” Sirius said, matter-of-factly.
Regulus pursed his lips and seemed to think about his response before he said, “Father just wants the best for you, and for our kingdom. You are next in line, Sirius; you will never find love if you hide yourself away all the time.”
His brother was not incorrect, even Sirius could admit that. He was Sirius Black, faerie prince and next in line to care for the Sundrop Realm and its residents, and their father did want the best for them all. But Sirius was not in the habit of settling – and finding his Other, the one who would love him unconditionally and who would help him to watch over and protect their forest, was certainly not a task to be taken lightly.
Sirius would rather rule alone than wed for anything other than the purest of love.
“I am not hiding myself away,” he said, fully aware of the irony that he was in an alcove at the edge of the forest, technically hiding himself away. “Father wants me to get married, I know that, but I refuse to settle. If I am to fall in love, it will happen when it happens.”
Regulus hummed and replied, “Perhaps. But Father still wants to speak to you before the Maytime Ball, so you might as well have your hundredth-and-first conversation with him.”
:: --- ::
MEANWHILE, deep in the Dark Forest, thunder rumbled, and whispers passed through the trees. A rumour that a sun-sider had crossed the border to steal a Lupine petal made its way to Wormtail, the Wolf King’s most trusted confidant. Being a domovoi, Wormtail was small and quick, and he hurried to the Wolf King’s domicile to pass on the message.
“A korrigan, on our side?” the Wolf King asked. “Did it take a petal?”
“No, sir. Almost, I’ve been told – but the goblins, they stopped it. Scared it away,” Wormtail said.
The Wolf King frowned and drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. “Send out more goblins,” he demanded. “I want all of the Lupines to be cut down with haste. There must be no possibility of a petal being stolen.”
Wormtail nodded and left to recruit more goblins for the annual Cut Down.
The Wolf King sighed and sat back in his throne. He glanced out of the tall windows and watched the grey skies empty onto the woodlands below. He hated this time of the year. Flowers bloomed wherever they wanted, and the weather was always unpredictable. Springtime, what an absolute liberty. He was alone for some time before a lithe banshee wandered into the Throne Room. Her name was Hope and she was the personification of such a concept.
“Remus, cariad, must we cut down all the Lupines?” she asked, her voice as willowy as her dress. “They really are a beautiful blodyn.”
“Do not call me that,” he replied, looking at the woman who had birthed and raised him. “And yes, we must. They might be a... nice... flower, but they are dangerous. They can be used for dangerous reasons. We cannot risk it.”
Hope bustled but did not speak, for she knew that anything said on the topic of love would fall on deaf ears. Her son had always been a pragmatic and stubborn thing, and since being made king at such a young age, he had always had the Dark Forest and its dwellers at the heart of everything he did. Sometimes he went a bit overboard – for example, cutting down innocent flowers to avoid the possibility of them being used for nefarious reasons – but he did what he thought was right.
“One day, Remus, you will understand that true love will always win,” she said. “Pure love cannot be brewed or bottled. The love potions never did last long, did they?”
“No, but that is not the point,” he replied. “Love potions should not even be an option. The fact that some would request such a thing, and that the Dragonfae Queen would create an elixir like that with no thought... It is reprehensible. No one should be forced into those situations.”
“Remus...”
“The Lupines go!” he snapped, and then immediately felt bad because no matter how frustrating his mother could be, he never liked to raise his voice at her. “My apologies, mother. I did not mean to… Removing the Lupines removes temptation.”
Hope looked at her son and quietly nodded. “I understand, cariad,” she said, and then wandered away again, leaving Remus by himself in the Throne Room once more.
Orion Black was an old-fashioned man.
Decades ago, he had been crowned king of the Sundrop Realm and had found a suitable queen within his first year of governing. He was the kind of man who believed that you couldn’t be a good ruler without having someone at your side – perhaps because his queen, Walburga, had kept him in check in the same way his mother had done for his father before him and so on.
Sirius disagreed, for the most part. He didn’t think that you necessarily needed to have someone by your side in order to be a good king, but he did think that it might help to ease the weight of the duties. But as it was known, Sirius did not believe in settling. He would rather lead his people alone than be trapped in a marriage of convenience.
Just because it was a known fact, this little tidbit didn’t stop Orion in his attempts to pair his son(s) off.
“Sirius!” he greeted jovially, clutching his eldest son by the upper arms and giving him a onceover. “How are you, my boy? Well, I hope?”
“Yes, Father,” Sirius answered, fighting to keep his wings from whisking him away. It was better to get this conversation over and done with so that he could get on with the rest of his week.
“Good, good,” Orion nodded, releasing Sirius and moving over to the window that overlooked the valley. His spotted grey-and-moss wings fanned out behind him – a clear sign that he was getting ready to talk about The Subject. And then, without further preamble, he said, “The Maytime Ball is tomorrow. Are you planning on—”
“I will be there, Father,” Sirius cut in, “But no, I will not be looking for an intended.”
Orion sighed and turned around to face his son. “Sirius, I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” he replied stubbornly. “I don’t need an Other to be a good king.”
“You are a... unique boy, Sirius,” Orion said, glancing at Sirius’s wings which were unlike any other.
Sirius’s brow furrowed and he glanced at himself in the reflective wall-piece to the left. All fae had distinctive wings, with designs and colours exclusive to themselves, but Sirius’s were unusual because of their pattern – or rather the lack thereof. Sirius’s wings were blood-red with charcoal outlining but otherwise plain, no spots or stripes or anything like that.
Orion continued, “Someone out there will find you utterly mesmerising. There must be someone who has caught your eye?”
“There isn’t.”
“Perhaps if you ventured out a bit more,” Orion suggested. “You could be a strong ruler, especially with someone by your side.”
“I’m fine alone,” he replied. “But I promise you, Father. If I find someone, and I look into their eyes, and I don’t want to punch them... I’ll consider matrimony.”
Orion stared at his eldest son for a long moment before he nodded and said, “All I ask is that you keep your mind open. You never know. You may find someone tomorrow.”
“Unlikely, but I will try to be more open,” he replied.
Orion accepted this and dismissed Sirius with a promise of seeing him and his brother at dinner. And with that, Sirius left his father’s chamber and made his way to his own.
ELSEWHERE, the following day, there was a commotion happening.
Remus had been attempting to resolve a disagreement between a troll (who had been a little too greedy when ordering some food in one of the taverns) and an orc (who owned the establishment and was not happy with the amount of food wasted) when a small goblin came scuttling in and requesting his attention.
“Wolf King, sir! You are needed back at the castle as a matter of urgency, sir,” she said. “There has been a break-in, sir. The Dragonfae Queen...”
Remus didn’t need to hear any more. Any news concerning the Dragonfae Queen was a matter of urgency. She was a no-good rascal, selfish and rude and dangerous, especially since she was one of the few witches out there who had potion-making abilities and refused to abide by the laws.
Remus left Kingsley – a giant that he had entrusted for years with the responsibility of punishment for unlawful impunities – and transformed into his wolf form. He sprinted across the land in record speed to find his domain in chaos. He returned to his natural form and seized Wormtail roughly by the collar.
“What happened?” he hissed.
Wormtail held up his hairy hands and said, “We’re sorting it.”
Remus forced himself to release the domovoi and asked again, “What happened?”
Wormtail straightened himself up and said, “Someone got in – I don’t know how – but some dwarf, it got in and we found it with the witch.”
Remus growled and rushed to the dungeons where he kept the Dragonfae Queen confined. She was a twelve-inch nymph who glowed brightly and floated around. She had been in the dungeons for a few years, ever since her immoral nature had led her to sell illegal potions in the Dark Forest. If she had gone away, if she had agreed to never sell her wares on his side again, she would have been free. But alas, her greedy nature would not allow her to accept the terms.
Remus rattled her cage which seemed to upset her flow as she fell to the metal floor. She glared at him, and he glared back.
“Tell me what the dwarf wanted with you,” he demanded.
The Dragonfae Queen smiled ominously. Among love potions, she could make all matter of mind-altering elixirs, but it being the season of the Lupine... he just knew what potion was most likely.
Remus refrained from shaking her cage some more and said, “Tell me you didn’t.”
“Oh, Wolfy, I shan’t say such a thing,” she replied squeakily. “After all, a girl gets awful lonely and ever so bored in here.”
Remus clenched his jaw and turned to Wormtail for some sort of confirmation. Wormtail looked concerned as he explained, “We chased the dwarf to the edge of the chasm, but it got away. What it was holding... It was pink, and it smelled very good.”
Remus squinted and said, “It was someone from the sun-side?”
Wormtail nodded.
Remus quietly seethed at this bit of information. It was bad enough that someone had broken into his sanctuary and colluded with the witch to create an Amortentia, but for it to be an outsider, for it to be someone from the Sundrop Realm to trespass when it was silently but mutually agreed on both sides that they didn’t cross the borders. The disrespect, the invasion of his land and home, the impertinence of his prisoner! It all made him rage.
He stormed up the stairs and out into the courtyard where his army of beasts were awaiting his instructions. “Who fancies a trip to the sun-side?”
A cacophony of sounds arose: a resounding yes. And they prepared to leave the Dark Forest.
“What about Benjy?”
“No.”
“What about Caradoc?”
“No.”
“What about Gilder—”
“No, Regulus,” Sirius cut in, barely glancing at his brother. “Just... no.”
The Maytime Ball was in full swing, and it was as tedious as Sirius had expected it to be, with both his father and his brother attempting to point out potential suitors. He had been able stand it for an hour before he’d moved out of the way to the edge. Regulus had sharp found him, though, and was pointing out faeries and sprites on the dancefloor nearby.
“Fine,” Regulus mumbled, his keen grey eyes scanning the party. “What are your thoughts on Flora? I was thinking I might ask her if she’d like to dance with me.”
Sirius looked at the nymph in question and knew she would say yes, if Regulus asked her to dance. “I think you should,” he said.
Regulus looked at his older brother. “Really?”
“Absolutely,” he replied.
Regulus’s small smile transformed into a grin, and he nodded before he flew off. Sirius watched with no small amount of pride as his brother spoke with Flora and invited her to dance. He watched them for a moment before he clocked his father walking over and knew he’d have to make an escape, lest he be subject to more painful introductions, and he ducked away to the other side of the area.
And then it happened: fast and with little warning.
One second, the Maytime Ball was thriving – elves and faeries and all sorts of beautiful creatures were dancing and laughing and enjoying the festivities – and the next, it was chaos. A darkness descended on the party, and then they emerged from the shadows, the beasts from the Dark Forest, and they brought with them bedlam and carnage. Orcs and fomorians and all matter of ghastly things surrounded the area, overrunning the place and trapping the partygoers.
Sirius instinctively searched for his brother, and he found the youngling standing in the centre of it all, being jostled by the crowd. He rushed forward to protect the boy but was halted by an ogre who grabbed his arms and pinned him. He struggled against the hold and only paused when he heard a loud BANG!
The mainstage filled with smoke and a silhouette appeared.
Out of the smog walked a tall man dressed all in furs. He was decidedly wild-looking, with a thick beard and messy blond hair, and two scars that stretched from his eyebrow to his cheekbone on the left side of his face. He held a six-foot sceptre in his right hand and his amber-flecked hazel eyes swept over the crowd.
“I am the Wolf King,” the man said, his voice quiet but clear. “And I am here because my land has been encroached upon. I have been insulted, and I am not amused.”
“What do you want, Wolf King?” Orion asked, two fomorians holding his arms.
The Wolf King made to answer but was stopped by a small domovoi who crept up and whispered something to him. He did not seem to appreciate whatever it was that was mumbled as his jaw clenched and his eyes raced over the crowd again. He glanced at two giants and pointed his staff at Regulus, and Sirius watched in horror as the giants threw a woven sack over his brother and handed him over to a hippogriff. Sirius struggled against the hold once again, but it was no use. His wings were as trapped as his arms.
“Release my brother, you furry-backed freak!” he snapped, kicking and resisting against the ogre’s hold until he was ruthlessly wrestled to the ground. “Let go of me!”
The Wolf King looked at Sirius and walked closer. “My territory has been infringed upon,” he said. “One of your... kind... has stolen from me. A love potion. And until I get it back, I am keeping the one in the sack.”
Sirius sneered, “You have no right! You cannot take my brother; he has done nothing wrong!”
The Wolf King merely hummed and said, “You are not incorrect, but I have been disrespected, and someone needs to be held accountable. Seeing as it was someone from your side who decided to intrude into the Dark Forest and steal a Lupine to create a malicious potion, it is only fair that someone from your side be held responsible.”
“It is forbidden to touch a Lupine,” Sirius stated. “You must be mistaken.”
The Wolf King stared at him for a second before he looked at the ogre and nodded once. The ogre pulled Sirius back to his feet again but did not release him. Sirius was now face-to-face with the Dark Forest dweller.
“I am not mistaken,” the Wolf King retorted. “Someone here has trespassed and colluded with the Dragonfae Queen to create that abominable love mixture, and until I get it back, I am keeping your brother captive. You have until sundown tomorrow to return it to me, or else.”
Sirius scowled, “You have the Dragonfae Queen imprisoned. It is impossible for any one of us to collude with her.”
“And yet, one of you did,” the Wolf King replied stubbornly.
Sirius stared at the other being and felt his magic building in his anger. It burned through his veins, travelling through his body. It approached much like a sneeze or a tic, something that could not be controlled or held back. He wasn’t entirely sure what he did but the ogre holding him cried out in pain and Sirius managed to release his right arm temporarily.
He did the only logical thing he could think of: he threw a punch.
His knuckles connected with the Wolf King’s cheekbone, catching him off-guard, before another ogre grabbed Sirius’s arm and restrained him once again. The Wolf King lifted a hand and swiped his thumb over his cheekbone to find some blood. It was a small cut, but a cut nonetheless.
“Impressive,” the Wolf King murmured to himself, and he gave Sirius an appraising glance before he transformed with ease into a great wolf. His piercing amber eyes looked over the crowd again and he growled, “I have given my terms. The love potion by sundown tomorrow, or else.”
And with that, the Dark Forest beasts made their escape.
Sirius broke free from the ogres and went for his sword, but the dwellers ran off before he could do much else. He made to follow them but was stopped by a hand gripping his forearm. He turned and found his father to be the one holding him back.
“Sirius, I cannot let you go,” he said.
“I have to go,” he replied obstinately. “They have Regulus!”
“Exactly,” Orion said. “Regulus is my responsibility—”
“But if I am ever to be a good king, I must be willing to put myself on the line—”
“Sirius, this is not a debate,” Orion stated calmly. “I am the King, I will go. We just need a strategy. We cannot go there without the potion, and I do not believe we have such a thing. Therefore, it is likely we will be going into battle.”
“Father, this needn’t end in bloodshed,” Sirius said. “I will simply go there and explain that no one here would ever—”
Sirius was interrupted by a noise from his right and when he looked, he found Prongs, his closest friend, standing there with a rictus grin. Sirius frowned and waited for the faun to say something.
“Speak, boy,” Orion demanded.
“We did have the potion,” Prongs said.
Sirius froze. “What?”
Prongs exhaled and explained, “I was patrolling the edge of the forest, as I do, and well... Amos, mate, d’you want to explain a bit?”
Amos, a korrigan who lived on the edge of the Sundrop Realm, stepped forward and looked very contrite indeed. “It, um. It was me,” he admitted. “I just – the Lupine was on the ground; I didn’t steal it. It was on our side, I swear. I didn’t mean to – It was stupid. I didn’t mean to cause... all this. I just wanted Allicena to – I’m sorry.”
Sirius was in a state of shock, not only at the situation he found himself in but also at the fact that one of his own would so brazenly ignore the rules.
“So, it’s true? You took a Lupine when you knew it wasn’t allowed, you crossed the border into the Dark Forest, and you got the Dragonfae Queen to create a love elixir?” he checked.
Amos nodded meekly.
Sirius didn’t know what to say. To let such a deed go unpunished was unthinkable, but they didn’t do prisons or anything of the like in their kingdom. The only sentence they had was... Sirius looked to his father, who nodded to confirm that it was Sirius’s decision what happened to the korrigan.
“Amos, what you have done is beyond reckless,” Sirius said. “We have rules in place for a reason. We stay off their side, they stay off ours. You broke the accord.”
“I know. I know that and I’m sorry,” he panicked. “I’m really sorry. Please forgive me.”
Sirius took a deep breath and tried to figure out the next move.
It had always been his intention, once he was king, to broker a peace treaty with the Dark Forest and its leader. He wanted peace and prosperity between the two worlds. He wanted the creatures and the beasts to live in harmony, no fear or hatred. This disrespect, them going over to the other side without permission and actively breaking rules, was not going to help his case for the future.
He would simply have to take the Amortentia back, apologise for the inconvenience, and try to build bridges sooner than he had anticipated.
“Okay,” he said to himself, his plan forming more cohesively in his mind. He turned to the korrigan and said, “Amos, if you ever do anything like this again, you will face the possibility of banishment. Do you understand?”
Amos nodded.
“And do you promise me that you will never break a rule of ours again?”
“I promise,” Amos said immediately. “No more broken rules.”
Sirius nodded and turned back to his father. “We needn’t go to war, Father,” he said. “I will return the potion to the Wolf King and then he—”
“Ah, so about that,” Prongs cut in, a guilty grimace on his face. “Here’s the thing. We don’t actually have it anymore.”
Sirius stared at the faun for a moment before he said, “What? I thought you said—”
“I saw Amos with it, and I confiscated it,” Prongs said. “But then it all kicked off and I got knocked and it fell out of my hand and... yeah. Some little fox-beast-thing grabbed it and made a run for it.”
“Prongs, please tell me you are joking,” Sirius implored. “We need that potion now. We can’t wait. My brother is being held captive.”
“Sorry, mate,” he replied. “I’m not joking. But! But we’ll get it back. I know which way the little fox-thing went. And Amos’ll help me. Right, mate?”
Amos nodded again.
Sirius took a steadying breath and tried to calculate his next move with this new information.
It could be hours – maybe more than they had been allowed – before they had the potion back in their possession. It was too risky. Regulus was just a kid and the Wolf King... well, he didn’t look the type to break his word. Sundown, orelse. New plan: Sirius would go to the Dark Forest, take his brother back, and hope he could deliver the potion before an all-out war occurred.
“Prongs, go and get the potion back,” he tasked. “Father, I’m going after Regulus.”
“No, Sirius, it is too risky. I will assemble an army and then we can collect your brother—”
“I’m not putting other lives on the line,” Sirius replied. “I’m going – and you can’t stop me.”
And before Orion could react or say anything to the contrary, Sirius pushed himself into flight, his dark wings taking him away.
ELSEWHERE, Remus had made it back home with his beings and a sackful of fae.
He hadn’t exactly planned on capturing a faerie but when Wormtail had confirmed that there was no sign of the potion, he had felt out of options. Asking seemed futile, given all of the horrified stares he received. (He was aware that he cut an imposing figure, and it had worked in his favour for many years, commanding respect and admiration from his beasts, but apparently the sun-siders scared easily.)
With a quiet hum, he wondered what to do. He didn’t want to put the faerie in the dungeons, but he couldn’t just let the thing roam around free. A guestroom, he decided. He would put it in one of the guestrooms with a guard stationed outside. It would be comfortable but secure.
At the top of his tower, he nodded his head at the giantess holding the sack, giving her permission to release the faerie. She opened the sack and tipped the faerie out. It stood up and blinked a few times before it saw Remus and a sickening smile crawled onto its face. Remus frowned and jumped when the fae moved forward and latched onto him.
“You are soooo pretty,” it said, running a hand over Remus’s arm. “And hairy.”
“What?” he responded, rather dumbly.
“So pretty, so lovely, so handsome,” it murmured, slinking closer until their chests were touching. “My name is Regulus, faerie prince of the Sundrop Realm and second in line. What’s your name?”
“Uh, you may call me Wolf King,” Remus replied hesitantly, and he looked to Wormtail for a bit of help but the domovoi looked just as perplexed.
“My little Wolfikins,” Regulus whispered, battering his eyelashes. “You are so lovely; you make me want to sing!”
“What is going on?” he snapped, stepping away and holding the fae at arm’s-length.
“SUGAR PIE, HONEY BUNCH,” Regulus sang.
Remus winced.
“It, um, it looks like he’s been dosed?” Wormtail guessed.
“YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU!”
“With what?” he asked.
Wormtail shrugged in response.
“I CAN’T HELP MYSELF! I LOVE YOU AND NOBODY ELSE!”
“REGULUS!” Remus shouted, and it seemed to have the desired effect in pausing the singing. “It is Regulus, correct?”
“Yes,” the boy smiled.
“Did someone... feed you something?” he asked. “Or maybe you drank something?”
The faerie hummed in thought before he said, “Weeeeell, in all the commotion, someone – I think it was Prongs – he did accidentally spill something on me, but I’m okay.”
Remus frowned because the picture was clear now. It was Amortentia, and Remus knew what he had to do, but he really didn’t want to do it. But needs must, as they say. He would have to venture into the dungeons and speak to the Dragonfae Queen immediately to request an antidote. He also needed to get Regulus away from him, lest the poor thing think that it was okay to sing at him.
“Take the fae to the farthest room,” he commanded, turning on his heel and heading for the stairs. “I have to go and speak to a witch.”
“Wait!” Regulus shouted. “Wolfikins? Are you coming back?”
Remus paused and offered a tight smile. “Of course, little prince,” he replied. Only once Regulus was safely locked in his room did Remus march down to the dungeons to get some answers.
:: --- ::
Having never been into the Dark Forest before, Sirius was unfamiliar with his surroundings, and it took him a minute to get his bearings. By the time he figured out which way was north, it started to rain, and since rain and flying did not go well, he had to pause to find shelter.
:: --- ::
The visit to the dungeons proved to be fruitless, though that was to be expected. Being a prisoner and severely lacking in entertainment, the Dragonfae Queen was determined to be impossible and refused to give him an antidote, instead choosing to cackle at his misfortune.
(The conversation had gone a little like this:
“Give me the antidote,” Remus demanded.
“No,” the Dragonfae Queen replied, sticking her tongue out.
Remus growled and grabbed the cage. “Give me the antidote,” he repeated with sparse control. “Or I will—"
“What?” she retorted, raising an eyebrow. “What will you do if I don’t? Lock me up? Hah!”
“I mean it,” he snapped.
“So do I,” she cackled.
Remus growled and stormed away.)
Remus was presently sulking on his throne, his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out the singing. He had quite forgotten that singing was what faeries did often. It was torturous, listening to the soft but loud tones coming from the other side of the tower, and it was starting to affect his workforce, who had spent the last twenty or so minutes with their hands over their ears as well.
“I CAN’T LIVE, IF LIVING IS WITHOUT YOU!”
“God, why do they always sing?!” he grumbled.
“I think it is quite lovely,” Hope murmured, staring out of the window placidly. (Of course she did; she was a banshee, and banshees loved loud noises.)
“I CAN’T LIVE; I CAN’T GIVE ANYMORE!”
Remus ignored her and pleaded, “Will someone shut him up?!”
“We’ve tried,” Wormtail shouted. “He won’t listen!”
“NO, I CAN’T LIVE… IF LIVING IS WITHOUT YOU!”
“Oh, for the love of— Fine. I will do it myself.”
And he stormed out of the Throne Room to the bedroom that he was keeping Regulus safe in. The singing didn’t stop until Regulus opened his eyes and saw Remus. A lovesick smile climbed back onto his face.
“Wolfikins!” he greeted through the barrier of branches that criss-crossed over the doorway and blocked the faerie from just waltzing out whenever he liked. “You came to see me!”
Remus took a calming breath and said, “Stop. Singing.”
Regulus mimed zipping his mouth. “Anything for you, my crumpet,” he replied.
“You do know that this is all because of the potion, don’t you?”
Regulus just smiled in response.
Remus sighed. “Listen, Regulus, you have had a very long day. Why not have a nap?”
“And then we’ll have dinner together?” Regulus asked hopefully.
Remus sighed and put on a placatory smile. “We shall see,” he answered.
Regulus nodded happily and wandered over to the bed. Remus made sure the prince’s eyes were closed before he shut the door and went back to his throne. He could feel his headache start to ebb away now that the impetuous singing was over. He slumped down in his throne and closed his eyes.
“Everyone out!” he said. “I need some quiet, and I am sure you could all do with some as well. Take the afternoon off.”
The Throne Room emptied, and Remus was left alone.
The Wolf King spent an hour on his lonesome.
Peace and quiet could be very healing under the right circumstances, and sitting on his own had certainly done Remus a world of good. He’d had time to ponder his next steps and wonder what would happen if the potion could not (or would not) be returned. An all-out war was not something he wanted, so he sincerely hoped the elixir could be returned.
But that was a secondary thing. The first thing to fix was the lovestruck faerie in his guestroom, and then he would deal with retrieving and destroying the cause of said lovestruckness. It was by chance that he looked up at the glass ceiling and saw something flying towards him.
The flying creature smashed through his glass ceiling and swung a sword at him, and he thanked his quick reflexes that he was able to grab his sceptre and block it in time. He blinked and realised the sword-swinger was the faerie from the Maytime Ball, its silver eyes and unpatterned blood-red wings undeniably notable.
“Release my brother,” the creature said.
“Oh, Horra,” he swore. “Another prince? At least you are not singing at me.”
The fae prince shifted back and landed his feet on the floor, giving Remus a moment to straighten up. It was a curious move, but Remus took the opportunity and readied himself for a battle. And then they were at it again. With each swing of the sword, he blocked it with his sceptre. Three, four, five – swing and block, clash upon clash. They were on the table for their next words, sword and sceptre pointed at the other.
“Have you got my potion?” Remus asked.
“Oh, after someone, are you?” the fae prince retorted, only slightly out of breath. “I didn’t realise you needed it so much.”
“I don’t need it,” Remus scoffed. For some bizarre reason, he felt the need to explain himself. “I want to eradicate it.”
The fae prince raised an eyebrow and lunged forward, missing as Remus sidestepped and jumped off the table. He blocked the downward swing of the sword and stepped back. The fae prince flew down from the table and kept at it – forward, swing, forward, swing, until he managed to catch the Wolf King on the shoulder. Remus touched his arm and saw his fingers come away red. It was only a flesh wound, but this creature continued to impress him.
“You fight well,” Remus said, looking at the fae. “For a faerie.”
The fae prince laughed and said, “Wish I could say the same for you.”
Remus frowned, “What do you mean?”
“Just that I was expecting better from you.”
Remus growled and swung his sceptre, causing the faerie to jump back in surprise. "If I had my dagger, this fight would have ended minutes ago," he grumbled.
The fae prince laughed and ran at him again. It was a decent battle, fought well on both sides, until Remus misstepped and the fae prince managed to get the upper hand, knocking Remus to his knees and the staff from his hand. The fae prince held the beautifully crafted sword to Remus’s throat but did not finish it.
“Go on,” Remus said. “Kill me.”
Silver eyes watched him for a long moment before the fae prince sighed and lowered his sword. “I’m no killer,” he replied, sheathing his sword and stepping back. “Where’s my brother?”
“SUGAR PIE, HONEY BUNCH!”
Remus groaned, “Great. It is awake.” He stood up with some difficulty and grabbed his sceptre. He looked at the prince and said, “I hope you have a strong constitution.”
:: --- ::
Sirius followed the Wolf King and was led to a room on the other side of the tower.
It was a vast place and not at all like he had expected. On the outside, the castle was a towering grey structure. But on the inside, it was much warmer than he had thought it would be: a sea of browns and beiges, furs and plants littering the grey stone walls, and windows that stretched from floor to ceiling in most places.
Having grown up in the sun-side, all he’d heard throughout his childhood was horror stories about the Dark Forest. How dark it was, how cruel its climate was, how unfriendly the beings were. The truth, though, was that it was not too dissimilar to the Sundrop Realm. Yes, the weather was a little wetter than where he came from. And yes, it was slightly duskier, but the plant life was captivating, and the dwellers were mostly kind. And the Wolf King... well, he seemed different as well.
He was not the beast that had interrupted the Maytime Ball. Sirius couldn’t quite say what it was, but he couldn’t deny that something didn’t match up with all of the stories he’d heard about the Wolf King. Still, Sirius was not to be lured into a false sense of security, and he kept his hand on his sword – just in case.
They stopped at a door where a tall three-horned beast was standing, clearly guarding the door. The Wolf King stepped aside and gestured to the door.
“Have at it,” he said.
Sirius furrowed his brow and opened the door, only to have Regulus sing at him: “IN AND OUT MY LIFE, YOU COME AND YOU GO!”
He slammed the door shut and stared wide-eyed at it. Of all the faeries, Regulus was one of the ones least likely to sing. He glanced in again and was greeted with more singing. He shut the door and turned to the Wolf King.
“What...”
The Wolf King shrugged, “It appears your brother has been dosed. Not by us, I might add. He said that it was an accident, that it happened at the Ball. I just... happened to be in front of him when it hit.”
“Oh, Good Horra.” Sirius felt his face twist in disgust. He shook his head and removed his sword from its sheath, determined to take his brother home and... fix it there. He opened the door and moved the branch-mesh out of the way to grab his brother’s arm. “Look, it was nice fighting with you, Wolf King, but I’m taking my brother home now. I’ll get the potion to you as soon as I can. Come on, Reg—”
“NOOO!” Regulus pulled out of Sirius’s grasp and ran to Remus, latching onto his side. “I won’t go; you can’t make me!”
“Regulus, be reasonable,” Sirius implored.
The Wolf King raised an eyebrow and said, “It is a love potion. Reasonable is one word that means absolutely nothing to those in this state.” He turned to Regulus and said, “Come on. Why don’t we get you back in your room?”
Regulus smiled up at him, “Anything for you, sugar pie.”
Regulus was returned to his room as Sirius took a seat by the window, unsure of what to do now. He couldn’t very well go home without his brother, but Regulus was clearly in no fit state to travel. He would need to fix Regulus’s brain first.
The Wolf King returned and stood opposite Sirius. “My apologies, Prince...”
“Sirius,” he introduced himself absently. “Sirius Black, faerie prince and first in line for the throne of Sundrop Realm. Just ‘Sirius’ is fine.”
“Right,” the Wolf King said. “My apologies, Sirius, but it looks like your brother will be staying here until I get that potion.”
“Forget the potion!” Sirius snapped, standing up again. “We need an antidote.”
The Wolf King assessed him for a moment before he nodded and said, “You can try speaking to the creator. She refuses to do a thing for me, but maybe for you...”
:: --- ::
Remus stood back and watched Sirius plead with the Dragonfae Queen, who he called ‘Bellatrix’. (Remus assumed that this moniker was probably her name on the sun-side.) Bellatrix seemed more receptive to Sirius’s pleas but mostly unwilling to yield.
“Bellatrix, please,” he begged. “This isn’t natural. I need my brother back to normal. You know that this isn’t him. He falls in love rarely and never with... well, someone like this.”
Remus watched Sirius nod in his direction and the witch’s eyes slid over to him. She seemed to be in agreement as she turned back to Sirius.
“Alright, prince,” she said. “I will give you the antidote.”
“Really?”
“On one condition,” she added, and Remus came forward at this because he was almost certain he knew what that condition was. “I will provide you with the antidote, if you’ll grant my freedom.”
“Absolutely not,” Remus snapped.
Sirius glared at him with silver eyes. “Listen here, Wolf King, you want my brother to stop singing at you, you’ll let her go.”
Remus glared back. “If I let her go, she will go and make more hazardous elixirs – and that, I cannot let happen. I would rather wait out your brother’s affliction.”
“That could take years, if ever,” Sirius cried. “I cannot watch my brother act in this manner for so long. It is unfathomable.”
“How about this, Wolfy?” Bellatrix shrieked. “If I vow to never make another love potion again, will you grant me my liberty? I’ll even throw in the promise to never come on this side of the border again.”
Remus looked at the witch, judging her words. Perhaps she had learned her lesson. A promise by a witch was deadly if broken, so it was quite the proposition for her to make.
“A blood promise?” he checked.
Bellatrix paused but eventually nodded. “A blood promise.”
Remus glanced at the fae prince – at the handsome face, the big silver eyes, the blood-red wings that were tense behind him. Remus couldn’t really say ‘no’ to such an impressive creature, so he looked at the witch and nodded.
“Fine,” he said. “Your freedom for the antidote and a blood promise.”
Bellatrix looked delighted as she clapped her hands. “Great! Here’s what I need.”
Remus instructed Wormtail to get the witch anything she required and then proceeded to ignore the long list of things reeled off. He turned to Sirius, unsure what to do next, and led the way back up the stairs, only to be accosted by his mother on the stairwell. Hope glanced at her son, a mischievous twinkle in her eye, before she turned to Sirius and said:
“Prince, you must be very hungry. Come, I have prepared a plate for you.”
She caught the prince’s hand and rushed up the stairs towards the Banquet Room. Remus had no choice but to follow. When the banshee opened the door and nudged Remus and Sirius into the room, Remus suddenly felt very violent. It was a horrific sight that greeted them. Heart-shaped confetti littered the table, streamers hung from the rafters, and candles of random sizes were dotted around the room but did little to help with lighting.
Remus felt speechless but somehow managed to find the words: “Mother, what is all of this?”
Hope laughed and replied, “It was the best I could do on short notice, Remus. You hardly gave me enough time to make the streamers, but I managed it. Now, you two behave... or not!” And with that, she left them alone.
Remus didn’t think he’d felt so mortified in a very long time, but the last time... he was pretty sure it had been because of his mother then as well. He didn’t want to look at the prince, but he really didn’t want to look at the scene in front of him. He cleared his throat and strode forward, ripping down one of the streamers.
“My apologies, Sirius,” he said, turning the face the other man. “I... I am at a loss of what to say.”
“It’s okay,” Sirius replied, sounding somewhat amused as he moved to sit at the table. He picked up a piece of cucumber and took a small bite. His face showed that he was pleasantly surprised by it. “This is nice. Your... mother, was it?”
Remus nodded.
“Your mother is very talented,” Sirius said. “Please. Take a seat. Let’s eat.”