Chapter 148: Fae Interest

Words : 1221 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 148: Fae Interest PRINCE ASH POV My mother’s ice-cold hand slapped across my face so hard I tasted blood. "You will not defy the Winter Court!" Queen Morrigan growled, her voice sharp enough to cut diamonds. "The Guardian belongs to us now!" I touched my bleeding lip, feeling the familiar sting of her disapproval. Around us, the Fae Court watched with hungry eyes, waiting to see if I’d bow like a good prince or stand up for what was right. "Lily is not property," I said, my voice steady despite the fear crawling up my spine. "She’s a person with her own choices." My mother’s laugh was like breaking glass. "She ceased being merely human the moment she became a dimensional bridge. She is Fae now, whether she knows it or not." "That’s not how it works," I argued. "Isn’t it?" Queen Morrigan gestured, and the air shimmered. Suddenly we could see through dimensions, watching Lily in her basement prison at Silver Peak. Her body flickered between solid and transparent, exactly like a Fae caught between realms. "Look at her," my mother commanded. "She exists in multiple dimensions at once. She can see across the barriers between worlds. She has power over reality itself. These are Fae gifts, Prince Ash. Gifts that mark her as one of us." I watched Lily struggle to hold herself together, literally and figuratively. The pain on her face was clear even from here. She was fighting to stay human while cosmic forces tried to tear her apart. "She’s suffering," I whispered. "All young Fae suffer during their transformation," Queen Morrigan said dismissively. "It’s natural. Once we bring her to court, she’ll learn to control her new powers." "You want to kidnap her." "I want to save her," my mother snapped. "That foolish girl is trying to hold dimensional barriers closed with sheer force. She’ll burn herself out within days. Only Fae magic can teach her how to handle such power safely." Part of me knew she was right. Lily was pushing herself beyond any sensible limit, using her life force to keep reality stable. But I also knew my mother’s idea of "help" usually came with permanent strings attached. "What do you really want?" I asked. Queen Morrigan smiled, and it was frightening. "A Guardian under Winter Court rule would make us the most powerful Fae realm in existence. We could expand into human lands, claim new hunting grounds, settle old debts with our enemies." "So you do want to use her." "I want to give her purpose," my mother corrected. "Right now she’s wasting her skills on a hopeless cause. The dimensional walls are beyond saving. Better to let them fall and rebuild the world under Fae rule." "That would kill millions of humans." "Humans die anyway," Queen Morrigan said with a shrug. "At least this way, some would survive as our servants." I felt sick. This was why I hated court politics. Everything was about power and control, never about actually helping people. "I won’t let you take her," I said. "You cannot stop me," my mother responded. "I am Queen of the Winter Court. You are merely my son." "Then I challenge your right to claim her." The court went dead. You could have heard a snowflake fall. Challenging the Queen’s choices was serious business, even for a prince. "On what grounds?" Queen Morrigan asked, her voice deadly quiet. "Right of Discovery," I said, using one of the oldest Fae rules. "I was the first to recognize her true nature. That gives me prior claim over any court decision." My mother’s eyes blazed with anger. "You would risk everything for one mortal girl?" "She’s not mortal anymore," I pointed out. "You said so yourself. And if she’s truly Fae, then she deserves the choice every Fae gets - which court to serve." "Assuming she survives long enough to choose," came a new voice. Lord Frost, my mother’s advisor, stepped forward holding a crystal that showed Lily’s present condition. She was getting worse, her form flickering faster now, like a light flame in a strong wind. "The mortal realm is killing her," Lord Frost added. "Her new nature cannot live in such a magically barren environment. She needs Fae energy to balance, or she will simply fade away." "How long does she have?" I asked, fearing the answer. "Hours," Lord Frost replied. "Perhaps less." My mother smiled proudly. "You see? Your noble effort is meaningless. She will die unless we act immediately." "Then we save her," I said. "But we let her choose her own path afterward." "Unacceptable," Queen Morrigan stated. "I will not risk such a valuable asset making the wrong choice." Before I could argue further, the air around us burst with sudden heat. Through the dimensional viewing window, we watched Lily’s prison fill with bright silver light. But something was wrong with the light - it pulsed irregularly, like a heartbeat that was skipping beats. "What’s happening?" I asked. Lord Frost studied his tools with growing alarm. "The human witches are trying to stabilize her with artificial magic. But they’re using the wrong type of energy. They’re making her state worse." Through the portal, I could see Sage working furiously around Lily, casting spell after spell. But each spell seemed to make Lily flicker more violently between worlds. "They’re killing her," my mother noticed with cold interest. "How unfortunate." "We have to help her," I said, going toward the portal. "No," Queen Morrigan ordered, ice forming around my feet to hold me in place. "Let the people fail. When she’s dying, she’ll beg us to save her. Then she’ll be grateful enough to serve gladly." "You’re going to let her suffer just to make her easier to control?" "I’m going to let her learn the price of refusing Fae help," my mother amended. I fought against the ice, but Winter Court magic was too strong. I could only watch as Lily’s state grew more desperate with each passing second. Then something unexpected happened. Through the portal, I saw new arrivals at Silver Peak - vampires landing on the roof, werewolves howling warnings, and the sky itself starting to crack like broken glass. "The barriers are failing," Lord Frost announced with surprise. "All of them, everywhere at once." "That’s impossible," Queen Morrigan said. But it wasn’t impossible. It was happening. And as dimensional tears opened across the human world, I realized something that made my blood freeze. "Mother," I said quietly, "if the barriers fail completely, what happens to the Fae realms?" Her face went pale as understanding hit her. "We die," she whispered. "All of us. The worlds can’t exist without the barrier structure." Through the portal, Lily screamed as every dimensional tear in existence suddenly connected through her changed body. She wasn’t just trying to hold reality together anymore - she had become the only thing stopping total dimensional collapse. "Now do you understand?" I asked my mother as the ice around my feet started to crack. "We don’t just need to save Lily. We need her to save us all." But as I spoke, something massive and dark started pushing through the largest dimensional tear, something that looked hungry and ancient and very, very angry. "Too late," Lord Frost whispered. "The Void Walkers have found us."

Chapter 148: Fae Interest

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