Through the Eyes of a Fae
Chapter 31

Ben lay in bed, holding Kora close. Light had started to filter through the curtains a while ago, and the soft scratching on the balcony had told him Shadow had missed his master last night. After letting the puppy in and putting him on the bed, he signaled him with a finger to his lips. Somehow understanding, the puppy curled up at the end of the bed and promptly fell asleep. He stared down at this beautiful woman and knew he could never part from her now. Whatever challenges came their way, he would be by Kora’s side forever. He knew she still struggled with trust and her past trauma, and he could not blame her. Ben wanted to show her that she deserved to be loved, and to love in turn. Kora moaned softly, stretching. He noticed that she instinctively stretched to reach the top and bottom of the bed, and it made him smile. He had done the same when he was a child. She nuzzled his chest, rubbing her nose in between his collar bone, and under his Addams apple. He felt himself starting to harden at the feel of her breath on such tender flesh, and he pulled her up to kiss her eyes, forehead - mouth. Soft and slow. He reveled in her softness, the way she smelled like summer rain in a field of sunflowers. Breathing her in, he pulled away to look at her.

" I could do this forever.” Ben meant it. He wanted to do this forever. She smiled, a slow sleepy smile, and his heart melted. They were jolted out of their reverie by an obstinate banging at Ben’s door, followed by - oh my gods, was someone coming in? He heard the door shove open, and he jumped up, quickly throwing covers over Kora, and he snatched a pair of breeches from a chair. Jumping in them as fast as he could, he grabbed his sword, headed for the door. Not noticing Kora as she struggled to stand up, wrapping the sheets around her, he was met in the doorway of the bed chamber by his aunt. Ben’s confusion and alarm turned to anger.

" What are you-” of course, she cut him off.

" We need to talk, and why are you still abed this hour?” She made a move to pass him, and he blocked her path. She glared at him. His eyes had turned pure silver.

" You are not welcome in here. You need to leave. NOW.” Ben gritted his teeth, seething. Beatrice peered around him and began to shriek.

“Tell me you did not take that harlot to bed, she better not be in there Benjamín Althan, you dare dishonor our house with that tramp- I will not have it!” She tried to shove past him, but he dropped the sword with a clatter, grabbed her by her bony shoulders and whipped her around. He began to shove her out into the main room, and her shrilling got louder. Shadow had enough, and he came tearing through, barking, and growling as fiercely as he could muster. Ben did not even care when he heard Beatrice’s cries of fear over a puppy, he was glad the dog scared her.

“Benjamin, you will not shut me out of this, your actions do not affect just you! You bring shame to us! SHE IS A BASTARD!”

" I have a name.” Kora’s voice was ice. Beatrice whirled and stabbed a finger at her, shrilling.

" You DARE to sully House Althan! You are not worthy of our name! You are a whore and a li-” Ben covered his aunt’s mouth and Kora spoke, her soft voice cutting.

" You will address me as Your Majesty. I am your liege and the words you speak are treason. If I wish it, I could have you flogged in front of the entire court for your insolence. You have forgotten your place here, Beatrice Althan. You are in MY castle. My brother is king. MY sister is his heir apparent. Bastard or not, the papers have been signed. I rule here, with my siblings. Not you. You do not rule in Althan, and you have no say over your lord’s matters, nor mine. For the love I bear your nephew, and the debt I owe him. I will not drag you to the stockade. This is your last chance. Close that disgusting mouth of yours and breath of this to no one. Never speak to me again. Or I will have you stripped of your title, and what little land you have, from your belated husband. I will whip you myself if you utter so much as a sniff in my direction. I will beggar you. Do we understand each other?”

Kora, in nothing but a bedsheet, looked down her nose at Beatrice, powerful and terrifying. The old woman felt true fear in her heart. This little wench meant every word. She looked at Ben, intent on demanding he defend her, but his eyes were just as cold. He held a finger to his lips.

" Not one word, remember? You are forbidden by me, as your Liege Lord, to attend any further gatherings this social season. As soon as the road is safe, you will set for your belated husband’s lands, and I wish to never see you again.” She gasped. Not there, the small, dank manor was crumbling, its village a squalor.

“Ben please, I -” Beatrice was floundering, and she looked at Kora, murder in her eyes. Kora grinned coldly, holding a finger to her lips as well.

“I have indulged you far too long, Beatrice, for the love I bore my parents. No more. You will leave as soon as the snow clears. Do not let me see you at any public affair. I do not care what excuse you produce. You dishonor me. Leave.” Beatrice spun on her heel, stomping from the room, the dog barking behind her. She had never been so humiliated, never been threatened so! That little whore was going to pay!

Ben watched her go, slamming and locking the door behind her. His anger was burning, and he punched the wall, putting a hole in the plaster. He turned to look at Kora, and he saw her shoulders slump, hair a curtain in front of her face. He walked over to her, Shadow whimpering at her feet. Ben lifted her chin, and he saw all the emotions running across her face.

“Hey, talk to me.” Ben murmured, pulling her into his arms. He stroked her hair, and he felt her breathing hard. He could tell Kora was struggling to control herself.

" Your aunt is horrid.” She managed to finally squeeze out, and he chuckled.

“That, my love, is an understatement.” Ben could still feel her emotions swirling, and he squeezed her tighter.

" Talk to me.” He urged. He wanted her to get the anger out. It worked, she exploded.

" About what? She is right! Everyone will be talking; your reputation would be ruined. No lord will take you seriously if you take me to wife. They will think so low of you - to marry a bastard princess in a desperate attempt to seize more power. Regardless of the truth!” Ben froze, and he grabbed her by the hand.

" Koraline, are you agreeing to be my wife?” Ben’s eyes were dark again-storm clouds. All of Kora’s anger dissipated, replaced with embarrassment and fear.

" Well, I- you have not even asked me! This will not do you any favors, and you will regret it-” Ben covered her mouth with his. Kissing her deeply, he pulled her close, gripping the sheet to pull her tighter against him.

" I love you Koraline Eden, I want to marry you. In front of the entire country if I need to. I wish to honor you always, to spend the rest of my life loving you, and teaching you to love yourself. Be my wife. Please, consider it.” Kora looked frozen, so uncertain.

" Please, Ben, may I think about it? Can we just … Keep progressing as we have?” Ben kissed her again tenderly, easing his mouth over hers, feeling her slowly relax in his arms.

" I … I love you too, Benjamín Althan… with everything I am.” She whispered the words against his mouth, and Ben picked her up- carrying his entire world back to the bed chamber. He fully intended that they would not be leaving that room all day.

They did not get to stay in bed as intended. Later in the day, there was another knock on the door and Ben found Malik, Ludis, Stella and Royce at the door, the men holding trays laden with food. His stomach growled, and he let them in, smiling. Setting the trays down, Ben walked to the bedchamber, where Kora was already pulling on a pair of his breeches and his shirt. He grinned and twirled her around. The Breeches were long, but she had cuffed the bottoms. The shirt hung low, covering her bottom. She ran fingers through her hair, trying to tame the tresses. He could hear their friends calling to them, and he shook his head at her in wonder.

" I prefer this to the dress.” he said approvingly, smacking her bottom as she walked past him. Kora yelped, then laughed. Her friends whistled and cat called as she walked in, and Kora waved them off with a pretend air of indifference. Cheeks burning red, she grabbed a roll from the tray on the table. They all settled onto the couches, Kora curling into a corner, tucking herself in to Ben’s side, and the others did the same.

" A bird told me this morning that you had a visitor.” Malik looked at the ceiling as he said this, trying to sound nonchalant. Ben frowned, and Ludis smiled.

“The bird has listening spells in the hallways near your visitors … Quarters. There were numerous broken things, and maidservants crying.”

“She did not!” Stella was stunned, outraged for the maidservants. Ludis raised her hand to Stella,

" I saw them. Only a few bruises, and I healed them. They have been given some time off - paid- to recoup from the scare.” Malik’s eyes were dark. No abuse of the staff was tolerated.

" I fully planned to visit your aunt, but I wanted to see what had transpired, to not be blindsided when I approached the harpies’ lair.” Royce, who was playing with Stella’s hair, agreed.

" You know we stand with you guys.” Royce’s voice was encouraging.

Ben and Kora began to tell them what had taken place this morning. Kora turned red as Ben proudly told them how she had told Beatrice off. Royce guffawed and clapped his hands together, delighted someone had finally told that woman off. Malik’s eyes glittered dangerously even as he nodded his approval. Ludis’s face was also frozen, and there was a rarely seen anger in her eyes. Stella was beside herself with fury and began to rage that she would escort the old troll to her lands herself, snow be damned.

“I truly want to forget about her.” Kora sighed, leaning back against Ben. The others agreed- and the conversation moved on to more pleasant topics. With the opening ball a success, there were still many more events lined up for the season. Kora was excited to hear that many people from the edges of the kingdom had come for the winter, including tribe members even further south than Royce and Ludis were from. They came from the seas of sand, and Kora had always wanted to talk shop with them. Such a barren land was so different from what she knew, and it fascinated her how odd the earth’s magic was there. Discussing this with Ludis - Royce, Ben and Malik discussed the different military generals who had made the journey and discussed setting up a jousting match on the training grounds. Stella was playing with Shadow, feeding him bits of pork. It was a nice end to the day, and again Kora was struck by just how lucky she was. Eventually, the maidservants appeared, to light the candles and to add more burning coal to the braziers. The couples each got up to leave, and Royce stopped suddenly.

" Ladies, do you know how to ice skate?” Royce was grinning ear to ear. Stella groaned.

" Great, another chance to show everyone how graceful I am. With sharp knives taped to the bottom of my boots.” They all laughed at her disgruntled expression.

" I did hear that the river was almost solid. Wouldn’t it be fun if we all went?” Ludis looked up at Malik, his face was thoughtful.

" I think I could make that happen…” Malik grinned and looked at Ben and Kora.

" Interested?” Kora nodded eagerly; she had not gone ice skating since she was small. Ben also nodded, and the group departed. Looking Kora up and down, he also came to another conclusion.

" I do not want to sleep alone anymore. Kora- could we perhaps… Bring some of your things to my rooms, and some of my things to your rooms? I don’t want you to lose your privacy- but if we are planning to spend time together, you can’t keep wearing my clothes.” Kora laughed agreeing. Covering her in a cloak, and lifting her up, they made their way through the snow in the garden to the balcony that led to Kora’s rooms. Kora had a deep bath, and a soak sounded heavenly.