Golden thread twinkled on the edges of her dress robes. James was trying to determine the pattern as the woman danced across the room with any fairy who asked. She was from the northwest, based on her pale skin and shorter frame. She wore the traditional dress robes of his people, bits of her cute belly peeping out from where the skirts and bodice separated. The thread always painted a story, and hers was hard to make out, but he thought he saw flowers amongst the swirls and folds.

"Are you having fun?" James' best friend, and warrior, Sirius Black bowed in front of the throne. The bow wasn't as polite, as it was mocking.

Sirius had been mocking formality since he'd left his mothers womb. As a full blooded fairy, of royal bloodline, he was noticeably built to rule. Strong arms, strong face, and sharp edged eyes were the makings of a Prince. Yet, James had been the one born with the title, and Sirius had never wished to be anything more than a warrior despite what his family thought.

James turned his gaze to match Sirius' bored stare, "I am."

"Lucky you," Sirius said, "not a single fight has broken out and I'm bored of dancing."

"Marlene is on her fifth glass of apple mead. Dorcas has started bringing me all the fairest of ladies, and Remus is showing off his talents to any who will watch." James said, "take your pick for entertainment."

Both their eyes traveled to the edges of the Great Hall where their friend, and best spy, Remus Lupin was shapeshifting into a wolf at command, then a horse, then a giant dragon that took up the entire corner of the hall. Shapeshifters were rare, so fairy eyes marveled on him like he was gold, with a bit of wariness as well.

"Show off," Sirius snorted, but the tone was affectionate. "I still maintain I could beat any of his beast forms in a fight."

"Dorcas is using him to impress the ladies." James said of their other friend, "she's looking to take someone to bed tonight."

"Tell Dorky that if she's trying to set anyone up, make it Peter." Sirius walked onto the platform holding the thrones and leaned onto James' throne lazily, his right arm resting on the hilt of his sword. "Poor bloke has been trying to get laid for 300 years."

James threw his head back and laughed, "and counting."

It was so nice, being able to laugh, after so much hardship for James and the Kingdom of Lumos. James' parents had been loved by all, including James himself, and the Autumn Celebration was the first big event since their passing. Mia and Fleamont would've been proud had they seen how well everyone was faring on wine and food in the giant hall. Still, a shadow of danger remained hidden in the walls and shadows.

Some of the fairies kept looking at James, almost with fear in their eyes. He knew they were just afraid of the unknown, and he couldn't blame them. If James could admit to any of them that he was terrified of ruling, then he would.

"Any news?" James asked Sirius, lowering his voice in case anyone dared try listening over the music.

Sirius leaned down to whisper in his ear, "it's true, Lord Malfoy went across the icy sea, he's serving under King Marvelo."

"Did Remus find this out?"

"No, Dorcas, she took a courtier of his to bed."

James nodded solemnly. It was as he expected and the man who had killed his parents had escaped with his life to go serve another who was desperate to overtake Lumos. James' parents could have lived to be a thousand, or more, but two ash imbedded swords had cut their lives short on a hunting trip on Lord Malfoy's lands. Despite James' fast action, no one was able to get ahold of Malfoy for immediate detainment.

"We could send Remus." Sirius suggested as he leaned back up. "The river is frozen across at the moment in the North, and he can easily make it in dragon form."

James pushed at his forehead curls, making his crown go lopsided, "we're not risking Remus to find King Marvelo when we don't know his plans, war can wait."

"War does not listen to the commandments of kings," Sirius reminded James carefully, "not even the good ones."

"Keep an ear out for anything more." James dismissed Sirius with a low voice, so that Sirius bowed once more and waltzed away.

James stood up, and suddenly every eye in the room had turned to him. James kept forgetting that he controlled everything now. Even the music has stopped, each musician looking at James for direction after his abrupt movement. James waved at the music to keep playing, absentmindedly, before he stepped off the throne. People went back to their business, but the second he wasn't on the throne, he felt the energy shift as eyes followed his every move.

He walked out of the great hall through a massive open doorway that was bringing in cool air. It wasn't so cool that anyone needed heavy cloaks or mittens. Instead, people lingering outside were having open conversations under the many large fire pits that lined the gardens. James' fingers stroked the flames, and the fire went dancing up his palms. People nearby watched as the flickers of red and orange kissed his skin but didn't burn him.

He remembered the first time he played with flames. He'd been five or six, just a wee little boy, but old enough to have memory of his mother screaming when James grabbed flame right out of the fireplace he'd been playing next too. He could remember the fire whispering things to him, promising him things, and granting him power. His parents struggled for years to comprehend where their son had gotten fyre in his blood from.

They traced his father's lineage back thousands of years, until they found note of a fyre sprite giving birth to James' long-dead uncle. It seemed fire had been snuffed out of the line, until he was born. Fairies didn't come with magic, just wings that they lost by the time they matured, unless they were part of the royal line. James' own wings were folded at his back, the thick black feathers a little rumpled from his slouching.

His mother would be besides herself if she saw. The wings were a statement of the Royal family and were even embolized on their flag. She always used to beseech James to remember to oil his wings into control, but he rarely listened. Instead, flame and feathers seemed to dance together at his back, creating a force that most were too scared to come near.

James fell into a seat far in the back of the gardens, listening to the sounds of a desert lark singing in trees behind him. The moon was high in the sky, hanging as a crescent shape. His clothes were itchy, gaudy, and not his normal attire. The kingdom was waiting for James to bring the killer of his parents forward, but he was certain the death was more than a political move.

Another kingdom was testing James' strength, his magic, and his temper.

"Fyre sprites are normally quite brazen," a voice rose through the cactus lining the garden hedges, "but you didn't even burst into flame when everyone was looking at you in there. I suppose it's the fae in you, holding back the fire."

It was the woman with the golden threaded dress robes he'd been watching on the throne. Close up, she was like a porcelain doll Marlene used to play with in the gardens while he practiced flying. A tiny button nose was framed by a pink lined smile and red hair, which was so different from the sharp faces of the women in his court. Marlene and Dorcas were all edges and stone cut, while this woman looked as if she had been sculpted of clay. Her eyes were as green as the emeralds in the crowns in the castle treasury, and that's what he stayed focused on.

"It's normally customary to bow before a King," James replied, "not offend him before he's made your acquaintance."

She smiled even wider, "witches bow to no man."

James raised a brow at the young woman, well, she looked young, but she could've been close to his age. Witches lived as long as fairies and sprites, sometimes even longer. This witch had perfectly carved fingernails, no traces of black whispers of magic, a tell tale sign of how powerful a witch really was. They all practiced under the Goddess, Minerva, who'd granted them their powers. They usually stuck to their own kind in The Wards, a mountainous land in the northwest.

"I am no man," James admired the permanent pout to her plump lips, "so theoretically, you ought to still bow."

She snorted, very unladylike, so naturally, he liked her already. "I just came by to offer my condolences, fyre fae, as I was quite fond of your mother, Mia. She was my mother's best friend growing up and I was sad to hear of her passing."

"Her father—my grandfather—was Lord Asters." James wondered, "his lands settled right on your boarder, so I'm familiar with your customs, and I was told witches do not mourn."

Lily arched a brow, "do you believe everything you hear from your spies?"

"Maybe." He arched his neck, "depends on the spy."

James was startled when the pretty witch fell onto the bench beside him, crossing her legs as she spoke, "my mother was Queen of the Wards, and the two became fast friends while your mother studied our magic."

"My mother advocated for witches and sprites alike." James was not surprised that his mother had spent time in The Wards, she had been fascinated with magic from the North. "She was a true and just Queen of Lumos."

"Not many humans or fae are very fond of sprites or witches." The girl tucked back her red hair and James marveled that they came to a point, "Unlucky for me, I am both."

"That rough genealogy to have in these parts." James only joked, because he was too enthralled by the point of her ears, just like his. "What kind of sprite?"

She grinned, almost wickedly, as she rose her hand, pulling droplets of water from thin air that splashed onto her fingertips. James watched, amazed, as the water droplets danced across her skin the same way fire danced across his. Suddenly, she clenched her fist, and the droplets turned to ice before his very eyes. She barely flicked her wrist, and the ice shot into a nearby plant, ripping the leaves off.

"Well, that's not terrifying at all, a witch that can also control water." He commented. "I wasn't even aware sprites mated with witches."

The witch's hand fell to her side as she shrugged, "my mother liked to try anything new, including my father when the offer came about for a human with sprite in his bloodline."

"So they made you," he marveled, "a witch with more power than ever before."

"Coming from a Fairy King with fyre sprite in his blood." She remarked, "you're about as normal in your Kingdom, as I am in mine."

"Did you come here to remind me how genuinely unliked I am by my people—or?" James could feel the flames that constantly gathered between his feathers, they were itching to burn her for her words.

"I came here to offer my condolences for Mia," she tilted her pretty moon shaped face, "and to see if her son was willing to forge an alliance between the Wards and Lumos."

"What kind of alliance are we talking about?" James arched a brow.

"I come for your promise that you'll help your neighbors, should the northern King come knocking."

"The King is only human," James reminded the witch. "He and his solders couldn't climb the Cascade mountains and survive."

"He has swayed some witches to his side," she said, "he is aiming for sprites next, and soon he'll have enough magic to cross into the Wards...or into Lumos"

James considered her warnings carefully, as he weighed it with what his own intel was telling him. If what she was telling him was true, it meant King Marvelo had more up his sleeve than a few surprise attacks on the boarders to the north where the Wards didn't penetrate. No, King Marvelo was planning on taking it all, and he would probably be the last one left standing.

"What is your name?" He asked the witch next, demanding her to revel her trust with her given name.

Green eyes sparkled back at him, contrasted only by her moon-lit skin. "My friends call me, Lily."

"Is that what I may call you?" He asked politely.

The witch stood up, brushing dirt from her hands. "If you come to my Kingdom and pledge your allegiance to the Witches of the Wards, you can call me whatever you like."

James stood up too. He towered over her by at least a foot, but only found that detail about her even more attractive. He looked down as she peered up through her lashes, her gracelessness matched only by her clear thundering passion for diplomacy. They were each something new in their Kingdoms, and each of them had to decide if they were going to be neighboring friends, or enemies.

Lily's cool gaze could fool no one, she was a force to be reckoned with, and James almost wanted to say no just so he could see the icy parts of her emerge.

"The Wards and Lumos have always stayed separate entities from each other," James said softly, "I will need to take this up with my advisors."

"The Wards and Lumos have never had what they do now." The witch had pulled more water from the air and was playing with it around her fingers.

"And what do they have now?" James asked, "besides two hybrid outcasts for rulers."

"We're a threat," Lily made an arrow with the water, aiming it for James' heart, "With our titles, our powers, and our parentage the human King will kill you by ash arrow—" Her water splashed him in the chest before dissipating into the air. "—and me by fire."

"Why?" the flames flickered in his wings, emerging to dance around his arms, "why are we any more a threat than we were before?"

"Because we are everything they fear," Lily motioned to his fire magic, "Fae, sprite, human, and witch."

"My people will not approve of aligning with our old enemies." James motioned at her, "just as your witches will not approve of you siding with me."

"I have a strong court of witches at my side," Lily stood up taller, "women who have passed every witch's test, alongside myself, to become my most trusted advisors. If I tell them we're siding with you, they will put down an ancient feud, for the promise of sanctuary should the Wards go to Hell."

"Then equally," James said, "if I need to evacuate fae due to a northern invasion—"

Lily cut him off, "your people are welcome at my court."

James licked his lips, "I will still need time to talk to my advisors."

"You have until the next full moon," she pointed at the crescent moon above them, "I will be waiting to receive you in the Wards fyre fae."

"Thank you, Lily." He bowed his head, "I respect your wishes to work with your past foe, to save the people who would probably rather see another witch on the throne."

"I might not be their first choice for queen," Lily adjusted her hair around her ears, "but I am the best hope they've got."

"I understand." He thought of the fairies in his parent's court who wished for a pureblood to be sitting on the throne. He reached out a hand clad in fire, expecting it to scare her. Instead, she reached out with a water-soaked hand that sizzled when she grabbed his hand. "To being better than their hopes."

Lily's water put out his flame, "better than they hoped."

She pulled a wand from inside her dress robes, and James watched as it elongated into a broomstick. He couldn't believe his eyes as she settled on the middle of the long wooden pole and started rising into the sky. She winked at him, gave him a watery wave, and then flew right into the light of the moon. He watched until she had disappeared in the desert night sky.

"So," he heard a voice from the hedges to the right and Sirius came strolling out with his hands in his pockets, "are we flying North anytime soon?"

James turned to look at his most trusted warrior, hoping he didn't look as scared by Lily's news, as he felt. "War will be coming either way, I believe."

Sirius cracked his knuckles, "good, it was starting to get a little boring."

James looked back into the star-soaked sky, wondering if he could trust the young queen. A water sprite and a witch having the next heir, it couldn't have been done on accident. Witches were notoriously picky for the males they took to bed. Normally, they tricked humans into their sheets with potions and spells, for one night only. This girl, this water witch, was an enchantment that had to be convoluted in the depths of a war chamber.

Just as the fates gave Lumos a fae King with fire magic, just in time for the world to turn against magic. James wondered if the Gods had taken pity, reached out, and placed them in positions of power. Or were the Gods bored and planned to turn everyone against each other, like they were in the dark ages. James didn't know any ancient kingdom that survived the dark ages, they'd all been laid to ruin by every race, until they had nothing but ashes to build upon.

James didn't want his Kingdom to become filled with ghosts, which meant he'd have to accept Lily's offer, even if it meant angering some of his people. The human King was preparing to decimate anything in his path for control of the lower Kingdoms, so James needed to prepare to make sure that would never happen. The humans feared anything with magic and would kill anyone left after the war without blinking.

That included James' friends, who would go down fighting for the Kingdom they believed in.