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Jude walked along the shore of Insear, the small island she and Cardan had claimed as home outside of the palace. The night was surprisingly warm for February. In fact, it was suspiciously warm. A sickening sweet smell wafted through the air, strong enough to overpower the usual saline air near the coast. She shook her head, disoriented. She didn't remember how she got to the island, nor what she was doing there in the first place.
“Cardan?” She called out, dread rising. There were no traces of her husband. Jude whirled around, her hand jerking to her hip to grab for Nightfell, but her sword wasn't there either. Instead, she was met with tiny pricks on her arms, and a growl that sounded like it came straight from hell.
Jude's eye flew open as she sat up with a jolt. What the hell? Was that a dream? She knew she was still in bed, but she couldn't see a thing. It was darker than usual in their room. Cardan normally leaves a lit up candle for her, but this wasn't the case tonight. In fact, the room was suspiciously quiet. She couldn't hear his soft breathing besides her. She patted his side of the bed, and found it empty and cold. Jude's heart thundered in her chest. She tried to let her spy’s reflexes kick in, and to take hold of her surroundings as much as she could.
She was still in their chambers, she was certain of it. But something strange was going on. Firstly, the sickening sweet smell of her dream was not all in her imagination: it was here as well, a mix of something burning and something floral, but she couldn't yet determine what it was. Secondly, she could feel the slight burn on her arm. Whatever creature growled in her dreams must have cut her as well. Did someone try to attack her with a poisonous fume? Did they also send a creature to slit her throat in her sleep? But most importantly, what did they do with Cardan?
Jude quietly covered her mouth with the fabric of her dress, careful to avoid breathing in the poison as much as she could. Then, she slid her hand under her pillow to palm her dagger. Thankfully, it was still there. It will have to do until she gets to Nightfell near her dresser.
The High Queen tip toed out of bed, but her well known path was blocked by vines that were definitely not usually there. She walked straight into them and tripped to the floor. The ground was covered with something small and soft. That was also not a common occurrence in the royal bed chamber. What had happened? Jude didn't have the time to get up when vines crept up to one of her legs, and then the other, holding her down. Stealthiness be damned, Jude grunted as she tried to cut herself out. The vines grew frantic, and now that her eyes were starting to get used to the darkness, she saw that the more they moved, the more there were small snowflake-like objects that were falling to the ground.
The door of their bed chamber creaked open without resistance. Were the guards also incapacitated, or worse? Jude struggled to get free, her fury flaring up. Who dared to attack Elfhame in such a cowardly manner? She would make them pay. She–
“What in Mab’s name happened here?”
Jude froze. She knew that voice. In fact, she knew that voice intimately well.
“Jude? Why are you sprawled up like that on the ground?”
The vines finally let her go, and the candles in their room started to lit up, thanks to the arrival of a small army of fire sprites.
Jude was still panting, from frustration at this point, when Cardan finally came into view. Her husband was very whole, very hale, and very not-kidnapped by some treacherous foes. He stood tall and almost god-like. She quite literally meant that, because the High King was wearing a white toga like he was strutting out of Olympus itself. A handful of servants trailed after him, holding various platters. Cardan's hands were not free though: they were trying to contain a squirming ball of black fur.
“Did you wake Jude up? Now it's ruined.” He talked directly to the creature in his hands, softly scorning it as if it were an unruly child.
“Did what wake me up?“ Jude demanded, mustering her well practiced menacing tone.
The servants who were allowed in the royal chamber were rare, and those who had access were keen on quickly reading situations, knowing when to take their leave without the monarchs having to tell them. This was such an occasion. The attendants quietly deposited the trays on a nearby table, bowed and left silently. Jude couldn't help but notice that they avoided looking at her. Surely because she definitely didn't feel really queenly at this moment, still on the floor in her nightdress and her hair undone. At least she wasn't sprawled on the ground with rogue vines pining her down anymore.
Cardan continued his insouciant walk towards her, not at all bothered by her murderous gaze. He was too used to it now, and was mostly immune to it. Jude would need to do something about that.
In lieu of answering her previous question, he turned the heap of fur in his hands towards her. A pair of round green eyes stared back at Jude. The creature opened its mouth, letting out a plaintiff meow. It wasn't a gremlin or some woodland beast. It was a common kitten.
“That's the thing that scratched me?” Jude lifted her arm up, showing Cardan the reddened lines.
He gasped at that, lifting the tiny cat up to his eye level, glaring at it.
“Not only did you ruin my surprise, but you hurt Jude? You ungrateful feline.”
The furry creature yowled, clearly done with being held. It tried to bite Cardan's hand, and he finally let go of it.
“Princeling, no!”
Princeling? He gave the cat a name? Jude massaged her temples, sensing the pressure building up, and finally pushed herself up from the ground. She was shorter than Cardan, but when she stood tall and menacing, even the High King took a step back. He wouldn't cower, but she knew they were equally proud and stubborn.
“What surprise?”
Cardan dared to look offended. He gestured vaguely at their rooms, and then at himself, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.
It was then that Jude finally looked at her surroundings, really looked at it. There were more branches and vines than usual in their room, all of them strangely in bloom for the time of the year. Pale pink flowers hung from them, some of the petals falling off delicately like snowflakes. That was what adorned the ground, what she had fallen on earlier. Jude turned to the table, where the servants had left the various trays. She spotted plates of food, a very glittery heart-shaped box, and more variety of wine than they can reasonably consume. And then there was Cardan, still in his toga.
“What surprise?” Jude repeated. She had an inkling that this was supposed to be a romantic moment, but she wasn't sure what exactly was happening. From Cardan's demeanor, though, she was certain that he had just learned something new from one of her siblings, and was all too eager to show it to her in all his kingly extravaganza.
“Jude! Surely you have heard of Valentine's Day? It's the day of lovers. And we are lovers.”
Jude had vague memories of a day where the children in her class made heart shaped cards to doodles to their families. She remembers the chocolate lollipops and numbing cinnamon candies shaped like little hearts. That was the Valentine's Day she'd buried in her memories of her time before Faerie, just another mortal holiday where people get cards and chocolate. She knew conceptually that Valentine's Day was more than that, but it was not something observed in Elfhame, nor something she was nostalgic of, having never experienced it herself.
Cardan was examining her cuts now, frowning at the specs of blood. He procured a handkerchief from somewhere inside his toga and wrapped it neatly around her arm. His focus was solely on her injury now, his grand gesture almost forgotten. That thawed Jude's heart. Just a little bit. She let her free hand roam in his hair, and pulled slightly so he'd look at her.
“And who thought you about such mortal holidays?”
Sensing that the tide might now turn in his favor, Cardan grinned at her, and guided her towards the table.
“Vivi and Heather, of course, mostly the latter. She was quite horrified that I had nothing planned, and I was equally horrified that I've failed to observe a day celebrating love with such excess.”
Jude didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. What were they teaching her husband? In fact, she felt that anytime Cardan learned about something from the mortal world, she learned about it too. Jude may be human, but she grew up in Faerie. While she knew of many human things, it was a different matter to experience them herself. She decided that Cardan's efforts were valiant enough to warrant the dissipation of her earlier frustration. It wasn't his fault her mind went directly to an assassination or kidnapping attempt. She kissed his cheek, eliciting a purr of pleasure from him.
“Tell me about the things you've made the poor servants prepare for this celebration of yours?”
He took off the covers that were over the trays, revealing a variety of delicacies.
“You favorites.” Cardan supplied, a small but very smug smile gracing his lips.
Jude rolled her eyes, then pointed at the wines. “Your favorites”?”
He laughed merrily, and kissed her on the lips.
“Precisely, my queen. I believe no one else in this world knows me as well as you. And that alone warrants all my love.”
Cardan opened the heart-shaped box and plucked something out. He lifted it to her mouth. She could smell it then, the combination of chocolate and strawberry. She wondered if Cardan had procured them in the mortal world, or if he'd made a poor servant dip them by hand, one by one. He'd always been better than her at gift-giving, whether it was material things or beautiful words he'd string together just for her. Jude decided that the best gift she could give him tonight was to indulge him, not that she was secretly enjoying everything, of course.
She bit into the chocolate covered berry, letting the sweet and tangy juice cover her tongue. Cardan's eyes darkened, transfixed on her red stained lips.
“Would you care for some of these delicacies, my king?”
Jude felt generous tonight, and pressed her body against his. Her thin nightdress and the fabric of his toga left very little to imagination once they were this impossibly close. She imitated his earlier action, lifting the rest of the strawberry to his mouth, and Cardan took everything in, chewing slowly, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Hmmm. This was quite a treat, but I believe I have an appetite for something else.”
Deftly, Cardan pulled them back, his back hitting the brocade sofa beside the table as Jude crashed into him. Her yelp of surprise was swallowed by his lips, his kiss hungry, his tongue hurriedly parting her lips to slide against hers. He tasted like strawberry and chocolate, it was intoxicating, and Jude couldn't help herself: she wanted more. Her hands that were resting on his shoulders for balance started to roam and explore the body she'd come to know so well.
Jude tried to push the fabric of his clothing off, but she wasn't quite sure how togas worked. Frustrated, she broke their kiss. Cardan immediately retaliated by latching his newly freed lips to her collarbone, kissing up the column of her neck.
Jude would not be distracted from the task of disrobing him, but she also needed to know why he chose something that was such a far cry from his usual flare.
“Why are you wearing a toga?”
Cardan’s breath tickled Jude as he chuckled into her skin, his body shaking with laughter. “Is this what you want to know right now?”
“Ye–” her answer was cut short when Cardan reprised his ministrations, now leaving open-mouthed kisses on every surface of exposed skin he could get to. “Fine, no. But it might help me understand how to take it off.” Jude let out a throaty moan, damn him.
Cardan finally let go of her, and left enough space between them to tug on the intricate knots that were holding the fabric together. The top right part fell off his shoulders, but it seemed that he wanted to leave the rest of the work for her to do.
“My love, if you wanted to undress me, all you needed was to ask. Nicely.” And then he mouthed the word please at her, and winked.
Oh, two can play this game. She'll make him beg.
“But if you must know, I was told about this Cupid fellow. I thought it would be a nice touch to dress similar to him to honor this day.”
“Cupid? Isn't he a baby cherub?” At least that's what she remembered from her childhood.
Cardan shook his head vehemently. “No, that was for the children's stories. Cupid was originally the god of romantic love, and desire. You see, I thought it would be amusing for you to unwrap me like a present, too. Too bad my queen is too impatient.”
He grinned a wicked smile at her. He was lucky Jude loved him already and was too far gone to go back. King of humility, Cardan was not.
“I'll have you know that I still have my dagger from earlier. I can cut this damn toga, among other things, off you if you continue to be this insufferable.”
“Do not tease me like that if you do not have the intention to follow through. You know how I love it when you get a little violent.”
He pulled Jude back into a kiss, his arm strongly holding her into place this time. They stayed locked in their embrace, exploring each other's mouth languidly. She was really about to cut the damn toga off since most of the thing was still on, when a loud yowl interrupted them.
Jude and Cardan broke their kiss, and turned towards the source of disruption at the same time. It seemed that the tiny kitten from earlier has decided that this was a great moment to return.
“Princeling! Now is not the time!”
Right. He named the cat Princeling. Why did they have a cat? Jude asked Cardan as much.
“I was told the rules were: flowers, chocolate, something adorable, and something romantic. I found this runt kitten on a recent visit to Hollow Halls. I couldn't let it go. So I thought…”
Jude remembered how Cardan was practically raised by a barn cat, how he was the runt sibling of his family. She looked at his tail: it was lashing back and forth, just like Princeling’s.
“So you thought you'd give me a little version of yourself, completed with the real version of you, all wrapped up, no less. As a present.”
“Precisely. A prickly little thing, a furry thing, something with a lot of character. All the things that you love.”
“Precisely.” Jude repeated, smiling softly at him.
She lowered her mouth to Cardan's with the intention of continuing where they left up, but another roaring meow interrupted them once again.
Jude climbed off Cardan's lap, sitting between her husband and the kitten.
“Are you feeling left out, Cupid?”
Cardan threw her a questioning look.
“He's my present, is he not? I find Princeling to be quite a mouthful. Cupid would be a perfect name, considering the occasion. Right. Cupid?”
The black kitten chirped at his name, running to Jude with continuous meows. When he reached her, he climbed into her laps and purred up a storm.
“Unfaithful beast, I found you first!” Cardan chided, but Jude could hear the fondness in his voice.
They stayed like that for a moment, transfixed on the small cat that was now curled into a ball and falling asleep nested in Jude's laps. She craned her neck up, kissing Cardan on the jaw.
“Careful, High King. I believe you'll now have a rival for my affection.”
“Stupid Cupid.” Cardan mumbled, pulling Jude closer to his side.
Jude smiled into her husband's chest. If someone had told her that she'd one day wake up to a room full of flowers, and be showered with gifts on Valentine's Day, she would have laughed in their face. But now here she was, the fearful High Queen of Elfhame, with a sleeping kitten on her laps and her High King by her side, internally grinning about all the research he'd done to celebrate this special day with her.
Stupid Cupid indeed.