Contents

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Book 5: Queen of Queens

  Chapter 1 Nolan

  Chapter 2 Gloriana

  Chapter 3 Lyall

  Chapter 4 Rorik

  Chapter 5 Gloriana

  Chapter 6 Rorik

  Chapter 7 Gloriana

  Chapter 8 Gloriana

  Chapter 9 Nolan

  Chapter 10 Gloriana

  Chapter 11 Thressa

  Chapter 12 Kenji

  Chapter 13 Gloriana

  Chapter 14 Nolan

  Chapter 15 Rorik

  Chapter 16 Gloriana

  Chapter 17 Nolan

  Chapter 18 Lyall

  Chapter 19 Gloriana

  Chapter 20 Nolan

  Chapter 21 Gloriana

  Chapter 22 Thressa

  Chapter 23 Gloriana

  Chapter 24 Angelo

  Chapter 25 Gloriana

  Chapter 26 Gloriana

  Chapter 27 Gloriana

  Chapter 28 Gloriana

  Chapter 29 Kenji

  Chapter 30 Gloriana

  Thanks for reading!

  Read Book 6

  Acknowledgments

  About Traci Lovelot

  Copyright & Attributions

  Book Description

  It’s time to claim my throne… but magic rarely acts as expected.

  My bonds to my consorts are strained, I struggle with the role I’ve been given, and my magical link to the Tree of Life is tenuous at best.

  On top of that, our enemies are growing more powerful.

  The Unseelie leader sends me an ultimatum — surrender the throne or she’ll kill someone close to me. But if I let her take over, it’ll mean outright genocide.

  To become queen, revive our long-lost magic, and stop the Unseelie at last, I’ll need to bond with my fifth and final consort.

  Unfortunately, he doesn’t want anything to do with me. Without a genuine connection, our chance of bonding is doomed.

  Can I win over my final consort in time to save everyone we care about?

  ————

  Full of twists and turns, Queen of Queens will have you turning the page well past bedtime. Get ready for a wild ride filled with new love, sexy group scenes, and a cliffhanger that’ll leave you desperate for the final book.

  18+ only. Our Fae Queen is a reverse harem series with polyamorous themes. Steamy group interactions always involve Glori.

  Enjoy!

  This book is dedicated to Amos, who helped me better understand what polyamory really means to me.

  Book 5: Queen of Queens

  Author’s Note:

  Due to regional variations in Gaelic and Irish, there is no standard pronunciation of ‘geas,’ but the most common are: guess, gesh, gas, or gash. Pick the one that sounds right to you, dear reader!

  Get updates from the author and exclusive bonus content:

  ~ sexy bonus chapters from the guys’ perspectives

  ~ behind-the-scenes secrets

  ~ the Fae Encyclopedia and Bestiary

  < Sign up here >

  You’ll also get new release & price drop reminders, along with the opportunity to read future books before anyone else. So, be sure to join!

  Visit Traci Lovelot’s website to learn more about the author and Our Fae Queen.

  Thanks for reading this reverse harem series!

  Chapter 1

  Nolan

  After rescuing my fellow Duwende and recovering the scrolls, we all returned to the palace tree feeling victorious. But less than a day later, some of us felt more frustrated than victorious. Notably, me. The Council had allowed but one night to rest before demanding we report in. Glori and Maeve had complied, although, as heirs, they would have been well within their rights to send others in their stead.

  I had joined Glori in the Council’s audience chambers, along with her Guard — it was clearer every day that no one considered me part of the Elven Guard anymore. What little remained of Maeve’s Duwende Guard joined her, along with all the other Duwende who had been imprisoned with me at Iona’s stronghold. We’d all heard the same debrief. We’d all noticed Maeve’s missing ear, evidence of the torture she’d suffered.

  As Iona’s captive, I’d been left with more questions I hoped to use the scrolls to answer. That list of questions grew after hearing Maeve’s admission that she’d tried to surrender her queenhood to Iona. It had shocked me as much as anyone, possibly more so.

  Of course, I understood Maeve’s drive to prevent further torture of her consorts and subjects. She’d failed, and her people had paid the price, suffering Iona’s wrath. But how and why had her gambit failed?

  Maeve should have easily passed on her queenhood if she gave intention to it and deemed Iona her heir. If Maeve had succeeded, her consorts might still be alive, and we might all be under Unseelie rule by now. Iona would have ascended as queen, replenishing only Elven magic at the Tree of Life, leaving the rest of the Fae to die as our magic continued to fade.

  So, despite the loss of Duwende lives, I was thankful Maeve had failed to pass on her queenhood — even if I didn’t understand why. Unfortunately, the palace guard had seized my translations and taken them to the palace library the moment we returned. My fingers itched to unroll them and begin the search for answers, but I’d been forced to exercise my patience so far.

  Still, I intended to unravel this mystery sooner rather than later. If I had to wait for access to my translations, I could at least pursue other avenues of inquiry. Which is why I found myself taking the sloping corridors of the palace tree up to the more prestigious levels where my fellow Duwende were quartered to learn more.

  Like Glori, Maeve had also refused to stay in the Last Queen’s chambers, but I was pleased the Council had not relegated Maeve to the lower rooms near me — instead, her chambers were located nearly as high up as the Council’s own. While Glori remained with her Guard in the Queen’s Guard chambers, Maeve took the heir’s chambers, and the rest of the Duwende made themselves at home in the old Heir’s Guard chambers.

  “It’s good to see a Duwende in these halls again,” a Nixie said as I passed, not recognizing me as Glori’s consort. It didn’t surprise me. To the other Fae, all Duwende were alike, interchangeable, largely invisible — at least until they were missing entirely, apparently. I gave him a polite smile and a nod, but didn’t stop.

  On my way up, I passed many Fae, some transformed into squirrels, chipmunks, cats, foxes, and kitsune. Elves and Kitsune tended to use their alternate forms to travel more quickly through the palace tree’s clogged interior tunnels. I could recognize Elven foxes versus the kitsune thanks to their multiple tails, depending on their age.

  Most Nixies I passed smiled and nodded at me as I went by. I could tell which Veela recognized me, as they avoided my gaze due to my oathbreaker status. To them, there was no greater sin, and word of such traveled quickly among them. At least while I was ‘under protection,’ none of them would try to slay me on sight.

  I could attempt to explain my thought processes, how I’d been trying to protect the Duwende, and how wrong my actions had been — how I should have had more faith in Glori all along — but it would be to no avail. To the Veela, once an oathbreaker, always an oathbreaker. It made me worry that association with me tainted Glori in their eyes, making her an unworthy future queen. Rorik had already implied as much, suggesting that was a reason Glori hadn’t yet found a suitable Veela consort.

  If no Veela would become Glori’s final consort, she couldn’t become queen. Not that it was impossible, but performing the ceremony without a Veela consort would leave their entire race unable to use their deeper magic for another century. Their lifespans would continue to dwindle, and many would die before the next Tree of Life ritual. And Glori wouldn’t allow that.

  Now that we knew the whereabouts of the other Duwende, Glori might have been better served taking one of them as consort instead of me, an oathbreaker. At least then no Veela could hold that against her.

  Determined to deal with one problem at a time, I soon reached the old Heir’s Guard chambers where the Duwende now stayed. Two Seelie palace guards — a Veela and a Kitsune — stood to either side, but neither of them spoke to me. Though I saw no evidence of animosity from either, I still couldn’t help but stray a little farther from the Veela’s side, keeping my eyes firmly on the ornate carvings of the door.

  Una’s guard had once taken up residence here. The Council had been flustered by having two heirs and their Guards in the palace tree at once. The Queen’s Guard chambers were, of course, at a higher elevation in the tree than the Heir’s Guard chambers. I could see how, to the Council’s way of thinking, it had been a slight against Una. By now it had become very clear that Glori was most likely to become queen, and the Council grew less concerned about appearances.

  It was just another way the Duwende differed from most of the other races. We were much more practical and disinterested in the petty desire of higher ‘status.’ Putting the queen and her audience chambers so high in the tree, with so few corridors to reach them, made perfect sense from a tactical perspective. Her guards could protect her from below, cutting off all methods of ingress on the inside or outside of the tree. The heir’s chambers were nearly as secure. At least in this, status and practicality aligned.<
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  Before knocking on the ornately carved door, I took a deep breath, centering myself in the typical Duwende calm. Years had passed since I was last among my people, other than our stressful time imprisoned in Iona’s stronghold at the Edge. I raised my hand and lifted the knocker. Before I could let it fall, the door opened, and a familiar Duwende face appeared. As soon as he saw me, Tauro’s stoic expression broke into a wide smile.

  “Nolan! Well met once again, old friend,” Tauro said.

  He was fair-skinned for a Duwende, with light brown hair that had once been long, now trimmed close to his skull like Maeve’s. He was shorter than me by an inch or two, making him one of the smallest adult Fae. A bruise covered the side of his neck, and I had to wonder if he’d been strangled, and if so, why Maeve hadn’t healed him yet. But it would be rude to ask.

  “Well met,” I agreed. “Under much better circumstances this time.”

  “Indeed.” That was all either of us needed to say to acknowledge our time together as Iona’s prisoners and torture victims. “Vito, Shayla, and I were all about to head to the kitchens. Care to join us?”

  “I have some questions for all of you, so as long as you won’t mind me asking them on the way, I would be happy to.”

  “I don’t. Vito, Shayla, did you hear that?” Tauro called over his shoulder.

  The two of them appeared in my line of sight. Tauro had barely opened the door wide enough to facilitate his own passage through, but I couldn’t blame him. The rings in the doors were set high, not made to accommodate Duwende residents.

  After all, until the Last Queen split the magic, all queens and heirs had always been Elves. Never mind they’d all had Duwende consorts for longer than any living Fae could remember. In the palace tree, aesthetics were prized over accessibility for non-Elven Fae, especially the Duwende.

  “I’m ready enough.” Vito grumbled, then noticed me standing outside. “Are you barring Nolan entrance, Tauro?”

  Vito was about my height and coloring, but with a tougher demeanor that had always made me feel a little inadequate in his presence. He radiated strength and power, not only in the width of his shoulders and his wide stances, but in his personality as well.

  Tauro laughed. “No, I was inviting him to join us in the kitchens.”

  “Good, let’s go!” Shayla said, and Tauro lunged forward as though pushed from behind.

  I sidestepped as the three of them piled out. As the two tallest, Vito and I pulled the doors closed behind them. To my surprise, Shayla’s hair was also trimmed close to her head, causing me to wonder if they’d all cut their hair short in solidarity with the Duwende heir. If so, I was the odd man out, as usual. The Unseelie had apparently cut Maeve’s hair near her missing ear to add insult to injury, and the Duwende were making the best of a bad situation.

  Shayla was much shorter than me, but with a cute button nose and a kindly mother’s face. She took Duwende stoicism to a different place, with kindness and compassion, instead of mere practicality. About four centuries my senior, Shayla had always treated me as a kid she needed to look out for.

  “It’s good to see you again.” Vito took both Shayla’s and Tauro’s hands as the little group headed down the hall.

  “I didn’t know you were together,” I commented to Tauro, who fell in beside me when the corridor narrowed.

  “Shayla and Vito have been together for a decade now,” he said. “Vito and I are a more recent development. What’s it been, three years now?”

  “Aye,” Vito replied.

  “I’ve been courting Bowdyn too,” Tauro confided. “But he and I don’t see eye to eye on a few things.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s not meant to be.”

  It was interesting to hear how the relationships between my fellow Duwende had changed over the last few years. I’d always devoted myself to Braga alone, but that wasn’t typical for any Fae, not even the Duwende. Fae relationships waxed and waned, ever changing and reforming.

  I’d once considered asking if the four of them would offer themselves as consorts for Una and Glori. At the time, I hadn’t known who they were committed to, but I now saw that if any of them became consort, doing so would break many relationships.

  Though I was now Glori’s consort, it wasn’t out of the question that one of my friends might still need to become a consort. After all, if no Veela would accept Glori, but would favor Una or Maeve, then they would become the best option to perform the ceremony. And both Una and Maeve needed to bond with a Duwende since Iona had killed Morna, Maeve’s Duwende consort.

  “I hate to ask any of you about what happened in Iona’s stronghold, but—”

  “You’re a scholar, Nolan,” Shayla said. “Go ahead.”

  “Don’t worry about dredging up bad memories either,” Vito added.

  Tauro nodded. “Regardless of whether we talk about it, we can’t help but think about everything we went through.”

  I appreciated their reassurances, and as usual, their Duwende practicality. They knew I wouldn’t pry if I didn’t have some reason behind it.

  “I’m trying to get a better understanding of how the queen’s magic works,” I explained. “This is the first time the queen’s magic has ever been split this way.”

  “Or given to anyone other than an Elf,” Shayla pointed out.

  I nodded. “Does it bother you that Gloriana is the closest to becoming queen?” Better I know now than later.

  “Replenishing magic to us all must be of highest priority,” Tauro said. “We all understand that. Why delay and cost older Fae their lives if an heir stands ready to perform the ceremony?”

  I glanced at Vito and Shayla to see them both nodding. That was a relief. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if they had judged me. All the other Duwende probably considered Maeve their heir, just as I had done until recently. Now, my loyalties were with Glori, without question. Had there been any animosity toward her, it would have come between me and my fellow Duwende, a thought I hated to even consider.

  We reached a fork in the corridor and headed steeply downward. They seemed to know their way around very well, making me wonder if they’d been to the palace tree before, perhaps while I was gone. I’d traveled in the human realm with the Elven Heir’s Guard for centuries, sometimes going decades at a time without visiting the Encante, chasing first Nuala — Glori’s mother, who had been the Elven heir — and then pursuing the Unseelie women who had kidnapped infant Glori after slaying Nuala.

  “I’m glad we all agree,” I said.

  “Of course,” Shayla replied.

  Although we needed someone to replenish Fae magic, they might not fully support Gloriana. As her consort, I wanted to pave the way for her success. “Gloriana will be a fair and good queen. She sees us all as one people — the Fae. Not as five races. In part because she wasn’t raised among the Fae.”

  “The Unseelie kept her among humans, didn’t they?” Shayla asked.

  I nodded. “Not only that, they never told her she wasn’t human.”

  Tauro laughed. “I can’t imagine her surprise when she came of age and gained her new magic. Well, some of it.”

  None of us had ever experienced what it was like to use our lost magic. The Duwende who were old enough to have done so were on the verge of extinction. Fifteen hundred years or so seemed to be the upper limit to Duwende lifespans now, where once our lifespans had stretched to double that.

  “What are your questions, Nolan?” Vito asked. “Will we be able to stomach them over lunch?”

  To my surprise, we’d nearly reached the level of the kitchens already. Talking with my fellow Duwende made the time pass more quickly.

  “I promise not to ask anything gruesome,” I agreed. “I want to find out what you observed regarding Maeve’s queenhood and how Iona attempted to take it from her. And…” I hesitated.

  “You want to know why it didn’t work,” Shayla said quietly as we passed two Nixies in the hall.

  “Yes.”

  “Unfortunately, none of us know the answer to that,” Tauro said from behind me in the corridor. It was narrow enough now that we had to go single file to let other Fae pass us in the opposite direction.