Chapter 5: The Crowning

Track—Overture/End Title—Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack

Atem watched the moon reappear through the cold clouds overhead, waiting, watching. He tipped back his goblet and drank it to the dreads and refused another cup. The moon hung high in the sky now and the revelers were growing impatient. Staring at the array of food starting to cool in the frigid air, the servants were quick to guard the feast even as trolls, selikes, phookas, werebeasts, birds and creatures far more frightening loomed closer. Their bellies rumbling and the leaders of the other courts glaring and impatiently drumming their toes and fingers as if they were too important to be kept waiting. A harsh, unforgiving glance from the King of Shadows and all his many forms humbled them at once and they, wisely, stayed silent.

Atem cast another nervous glance to the moon. When rose higher, breaking free from the cage of branches, and blazing a bright, brilliant, gold and orange. Then blue and silver—an autumn moon transforming in to a cold moon and heralding the midnight.

He looked up as the Hall silenced.

Yugi had entered the grove surrounded by his courtiers. Syrus rushed ahead and quickly lit the candles on every table. Servant girls bowed and scattered fallen leaves from their baskets marking a trail for the procession to follow. Mahad whispered something to Mana and the blond herald scampered to the head of the procession, her cat's ears and much too bright green eyes twitching with delight as she whispered their arrival. The Court Magician was close behind her. Then came the Tea Mistress next to the Dessert Monger. The Seamstresses stayed back shielding the queen with their long- flowing sleeves and many arms.

Then came the pipers playing lyres, lilting instruments and stamping their feet to keep the tempo. The dancers spun into view, dressed in tattered silken skirts and bustiers made from winter flowers and autumn leaves. Crowns of branches rustled as they skipped and spun: their movements slow and fluttery like fallen leaves dancing in the autumn wind. Together they moved in a wild parade that tweedled the whole crowd into signing. A thousand voices sung a thousand songs that suddenly became one, harmonizing and stepping in time. Melodies fused eurhythmicly together in a polyphonic woodnote: bird songs, raptor shrieks, wolf howls, bear growls, mermaid's serenades and banshee cries, the rustling of trees, the jingle of icicles and the laugher of flowers, a stampede of cloven hoofbeats bended with the grating scrape of claws and the high sweet notes of pipes and the soft strung tunes of lyres. Until all were standing and taking part in the vociferous, mellifluous, paean in their Queen's honor.

Turning summersaults and bouncing high into their hair, they stamped their feet and snapped their fingers as they danced. The ground rumbled and shook as trolls waltzed with dryads and the wind rushed with the spinning, aerial acrobatics of birds and beasts: ravens waltzed with wolves, fish splashed and twirled with songbirds. The antlered Heart kind elegantly kicked and jumped and spun, their light-footed steps keeping in perfect tempo with the heavy, burly stomps of the bears. The bats formed their own jig and summersaulted in the air trading kisses with the vulture maids. A jackal juggled pixies as she kicked her feet, a kelpie was performing underwater aerobics with the shark-toothed mermaids while red-capped merrows hopped and kicked wobbly with the sleek and slender selkies. Bells rang, drums thundered, fiddles sizzled and folk danced with such exulted jubilation it shamed even the Revel of Halloween.

Then the last candled was lit, the servant girl's baskets were empty, and the path of fallen leaves ended and the parade arrived at the roots of the King's throne where the tree convoluted into a throne of birch, bleached white as bone. All standing dropped into a graceful bow. Even the Seamstresses stepped back like a flutter of butterflies coming to land.

All, except one.

And there he was: revealed in all his splendor and looking more stunning in his shimmering, shot-silk silver dress than Atem had ever seen him. A crown of branches laces with autumn leaves and frozen berries adorned his head and hanging from each golden bang was a suspended frozen drop winking like crystals in the moonlight. The slight cold had blushed his cheeks a soft, sweet pink, and the long flowing silks of his sleeves and gown offered teasing peaks of the evergreen bracelets adorning his tiny wrists and slender feet. He wore no shoes and his shoulders and chest were bare of decoration save for the shimmering spiders silk holding up his dress and sleeves like a delicate wed, but it was not the dress nor its revealing mesh that beautifully hugged his curved and shadows his nakedness as well as it revealed it that made the King's eyes bulge and brighten. It was the smile gracing his little one's face: a lively, ludic smile the brightened his voracious eyes and sparkled with such brilliant, beaming confidence that even the king himself shuddered.

Yugi winked at him spun to the crowd, gave an elegant bow and roses with the grace, and fiery fierceness of a phoenix who'd risen full grown from the ashes of his father. All who'd mocked him before, who been impatient for his arrival and complained as if somehow he was inferior were now silenced and trembling. Gazing into his hard eyes as he raked the room looking as intimidating and fearless as the King behind him, but with a key difference—the King, they knew, was a creature of shadows, he operated with the shadows and he moved and struck like a shadow: silent, secret, and severe. His Queen was no such creature. He was a forestling, a wildling, a Halfling. He was the forest and the woods that ate little girls in the dark, and tempted people with its lush greenery and flourishing trees and trapped them with its labyrinthine ways and endless roads. The wild wood who seduced men to insanity and breed the most savage of beasts, the strongest of survivors and the fiercest of creatures—he was not one of them, he was them. He was the Woods: all its fierce, untamable savagery and lush, tender kindness, and like the woods itself, he would become one or the other and you would never know which.

Then he smiled, a secret sort of smile with the King. Atem matched his smile and nodded in their secret language and shifted his eyes to the three crones hiding in the shadow.

Obediently, Yugi straightened his knees. Then, rooted, he lowered his face and bent his upper half in a long, low, elegant arch. A small breeze picked up the light fabric of his dress, playing with the train. Moonlight sparkled across the sewn crystals making him sparkle like twinkling stars. Stunning, even in submission.

Glorious, Atem thought as he waited for the crones. And absolutely eatable!

The Washerwoman came forward dragged in rags of gray and silver, their long, flowing, red, silver and gold hair betrayed their aged face and antiquarian wisdom. The circled around the bowing boy like three vultures before spinning in circles, chanting harmoniously.

"Will you take the Oath."

"I will," Yugi said evenly, but is tone was neither flat nor expressionless.

"Do you declare yourself thee, King of Shadows, King of the Hunt, King of Autumn's Air and Fire. Before all these witnesses and all his court."

Yugi lifted his eyes. His gaze met the King's and smiled.

"I do." There was no mistaking his devotion.

"Do you bind yourself to this court: To the Darkness and the Woods, to the Hunters and the Hunted, to the Wilds and the Wilderness, to the Solitary and the Mated, to all that live and hunt and die and are born in this Forest."

Yugi cast a quick glance around the grove: to the Desert Monger and the Tea Mistres, to the Seasmstreses and the Kitchen staff, the goblins, the jackal and Frostbite the troll, to the human servants hiding by their masters and the dancers and their newest human apprentice, and finally to the King and saw all of them smiling.

"I do," he said without doubt or hesitation in his voice.

"And last and finally, will you consummate this declaration and declare yourself before all us gathered as witness to the unification of you and the King? Will you bear his children? And in preparation for this, will your blood be spilled upon this alter?" They each raised an arm and pointed a single, gaunt finger to the bloodstone alter in the heart of the grove.

Atem frowned. This was the part he knew Yugi had been most worried about. While virginity was hardly praised among Fae and wildlife, fertility, however, was. Predictions made by the Washerwoman as they bathed the bridal clothes and divined the future from the remains would ring in the ears of everyone here. A strong, successful ritual would promise the king strong, fruitful children: future hunters, fighters, mothers, a litter. If the consummation were a failure, fortunes were less favorable: warnings of children born weak, sickly, insentient.

He watched his lover carefully, silently offering his reassurance. For an instant, he thought he saw Yugi shudder, but when he looked again, he saw it was not in fear. Yugi trembled, as if to laugh, and said without a single trace of bravado or doubt. "Yes."

Then he rose and the Washerwoman all spun to the King: it was there turn to bow, their long, gaunt arms raised in presentation and when they spoke it was in a single, melodious voice. "We present to you, Our King, Lord and Maser Atem, The Darkness, King of Shadows, Alpha of Shifters, and Lord of the Wild Hunt, we, three, present to you Your Consort: His Royal Majesty, Our Queen Yugi, The Wild Woods, Mate of the Shadow King, Lord of the Woods and Wilds, and Master of Tricks and Traps."

Then the three stepped backwards away, not once lifting their heads.

At last his turn, Atem rose from his throne and descended towards his bowing lover. A smile graced his lips as he descended the steps and placed his thumb under Yugi's chin. Lifting his face he locked with plum-colored eyes, dark as moon pool lit by moonlight. He saw neither doubt not hesitation there. Only love, longing, and lust. Shimmering with an expectant desire, Yugi strategically arched his brows and curled his smile in a way he knew the King liked. Atem shivered only slightly. Gone was the shy little bride who Atem had introduced to the joys of pleasure and the wonders of life. In his place was the minx he'd raised. A minx, with a beautiful, wonderful, merciful little heart.

Without hesitation the King captured his mate's lips in a kiss. Yugi's surprised gasp lasted only a moment before he was overcome by desire. Captured in the King's arms he returned the kiss with just as much passion: though chaste and sweet, and achingly short, the intensity within it was more than any they'd shared before. Around them the glade erupted in toasts and cheers. Deaf to the sounds, Atem kissed Yugi's brow, then his cheeks, slowly moving down to his neck, his chest. Yugi moaned with delight. Slowly, so not to startle his little one his fingers slipped to the fragile chains holding his dress in place—

—and was surprised when Yugi smacked them away. A smirk on his face, he reached behind him and with a single swipe of his claws, the chains snapped. In a waterfall of silver the slippery silks slid down Yugi's lithe frame like water and puddled at his feet. He stood naked before the King, resplendent in his silver skin and evergreen decorations and frosted crown, but what struck the King's desire was not the beauty of his naked flesh, the natural jewels highlighting his beauty, the soft, fluffy tail curling about his hips nor the fuzzy red ears twitching with invitation, but Yugi's eyes. Those breathtaking plum colored eyes that shimmered without a trace of fear or humbleness or embarrassment, but shone with nothing but desire: promise and pride.

He swaggered out of the ring of silver and pressed himself against the King. His own garments had been exchanged for a pair of silk pants and a cloak of gold and white feathers blazed about his shoulders like silvery, fiery wings. The only decoration he wore was a silver brow of sovereignty upon his brow. And there they stood, in all their wild, untamable beauty and for the briefest of moments—all they saw was the other.

The moment was broken by the Washer Woman: scampering forward, one grabbed the dress and carried it like a sacred veil towards a small spring encircled by stones and lit with the midnight moon. The other two arrived with their arms out wide, the bell-like drapes of their dresses spreading like wings covering their naked Queen and offering only the barest glimpses of his flesh. Surprised, Atem backed away surrendering his little one to the woman who guided him towards the altar in the heart of the grove. He watched his little one, slowly, almost teasingly climb atop the bloodstone altar. Sprinkled with a bed of autumn leaves and flower petals, candles lit with oil floated in bowls of glass and scattered around him was the sliced bleeding hearts of pomegranates and autumn apples. The Washer Woman dipped their fingers in one bowl, their fingers came way red as blood and smelling of pomegranate juice. The smell of frankincense and oil spiced the air with a warm, rich scent and in the heart of it all sat Yugi, whose eyes had never left his, as the Washer Woman adorned his milky white skin with bright and brilliant lines and swirls in intricate patterns. Patterns on his cheeks, his chest, his belly, his thighs.

A smirk curled across the King's lips.

In a spiral of shadows, he leap over his throne, sank his claws into the Birchwood and escaladed the latter of branches with the skill of swiftness of a shadow until at last he grasped the top most branches. His winged cloak, glowing in the moonlight, his wild mane unbound and the silvery star of sovereignty glowing upon his brow, he looked in every inch a seraph. He waited in the shadow of the moonlight, waiting for the cold moon of the Winter Feast to finalize its destination until at last the midnight moon waxed its fullest and the brightest of silvery blue lights cast a shadow upon the bloodstone altar. His fell upon his mate, his Queen. His pale skin glowing in the shadow of the moonlight, his eyes sparking like amethysts and his white skin glittering like freshly fallen snow, his fluffy tail curing about his waist hiding the best and most secret parts of him from prying eyes: the moon illuminated the finest details of his beauty in a way the sunlight never could.

Atem leaped from the trees, laughing, descending like an angel from the heavens and spread his arms. His cloak fanned about him like fiery wings made of sun and starlight and he landed with the graceful force of a celestial being. The whole grove gasped in shock and wonderment and all backed away from the altar leaving only the Queen, sitting upon the altar, and their King who would be his judge. Only Mahad stood in the shadows holding a silver tray and pillow where a golden scepter made of spiraling braches rested peacefully. Its heart was a small stone.

Atem snatched it on his way over and dropped to one knee before his resting little one. One hand, slithered up Yugi's leg, his calf and settled on the soft flesh of his thigh. His eyes dark as they met Yugi's. Atem presented Yugi the scepter, and placed a loving kiss upon his forehead, whispered his love in his ear then stepped back.

All around Yugi the guest abandoned their seats and gathered at the foot of the altar. Songs filled the ruins: soft and sweet like gentle lullabies and nothing like the wild ruckus of before. The seamstresses and maidens gathered around the back, where the King's Court stood in attendance, like loyal sentries besides dryads and treemen. In the shadows of the moon pool, the Washer Woman began their work: gently they dropped the silk dress into the waters waited for the silvery materials to spread and meld with the moonlight. Goblins and tiny creatures gathered at the altar by Yugi's little white feet. Lords and ladies of other courts, stood in the back, waiting, until all the attending were gathered at the boy's feet.

Atem watched, his eyes shinning with pride. Sharing one last glance with his love, Yugi laid back on the altar and raised the scepter to the sky. Glittering in the moonlight, it burst with a bright gold light, and suddenly a siren's song erupted from the song—a wild, jubilant song of celebration and sovereignty. At that same moment, Yugi's forehead sparkled: the very spot were Atem had kissed him, burst with fireworks and while everyone else jumped back, Yugi did not move. When his eyes opened there was a silver, regalness shimmering there. Upon his glow, glowing like a bright, blue star, was a silver star of sovereignty. The red lines on his flesh suddenly glowed—first white, then silver, then blue and finally green. The color of earth, the color of fertility, the color of the Wild Court.

Then he said. "I am Queen Yugi: The Wild Woods, The Lord of the Woods and Wilds, The Master of Tricks and Traps, and The Mate of the Shadow King!" Yugi declared: his hands extended, his eyes bright and wild. "You are my people, and I am your Queen. Swear your Allegiance to me and my Husband will give you the Hunt, but I will give you all of Samhainne!"

The grove erupted in cheers: a stentorian chorus of shrieks and roars and giggles and shouts and caws. A sonorous, polyphonic howl of approval from all the creatures of the wild woods shouted in jubilant love and acceptance of their new Queen. The beasts and shifters howled in unison, welcoming their new Alpha Mate and those of the other courts snorted and grumbled in the background at seeing no weakness or way to corrupt and conquer this wildling child whose sweet face and clever eyes betrayed his fierce, wild indominance. They simply clapped and cheered as halfheartedly as they could though it was hard when their desire for alliances had failed, but the promises of food and drink and reveling would lift their spirits.

Only one last ritual now, and then the Feast would commence and all would make their obedience to the new King and Queen. Atem stepped forward, swooping like a shadow and crowd parted like a wave before him. Yugi met his face with a curled smile and eyes dark with need. Atem climbed upon the alter and, no longer caring for rituals and protocals, no longer carrying who was watching and who was speaking: he kissed him. Atem kissed him and Yugi kissed him back. They fell back with a gasp of surprise: Atem lying his lover against the altar and Yugi dragged his lover down to greet him. Hands wandered over hot, naked flesh. Arms enwrapped and embraced. Legs intertwined and thighs quaked. Soft skin pressed flush against hard granite muscles. Lips molded and curled, parting and recapturing in a silent, secret dance only for lovers in the shelter and shadows of Atem's winged cloak.

Then their lips parted with a soft pop. Yugi's lust fog mind cleared for the briefest moment as his King and husband looked down at him with such adoration that his heart ached. Then slowly, sweetly, he whispered in the boy's ear. "Have you taken your tonic?"

Confused, Yugi blinked and nodded.

Atem smiled. "Good," he kissed him again. Lost in the kiss, Yugi forgot his surprise and surrendered to the warmth of his lover's lips, the feel of his hands on his hips, his thighs, his flesh.

Seeing the confusion still present behind his eyes, Atem smiled and whispered to his little lover. "As much I want nothing more than to fill your sweet little womb with my seed and watch it grow fat with child, I know you are not yet ready for offspring. You are too young and your heart is not yet reached, and that is fine. I am a patient mate, I will wait."

Yugi's eyes widened and at last he understood. He was being given a reprieve: a time a chance to spend with his lover not out of duty or discipline, but for the simple want of being with the man he loved. The man who loved him. The man at whose side he would rule.

"Listen," Atem whispered. "I know the ritual entitles, but if your truly uncomfortable, I can take you back to our rooms and we can…consummate, the ritual there. Away from all these eyes and—" his warm sentiments were silenced by a fierce set of persistent lips pressed against his own. Yugi kissed him passionately—and there was nothing shy or hesitant about it. Nothing but the simple desire to please and be with his lover.

Sensing the change of heart, Atem chuckled into the kiss and relaxed then. His spine melting as he felt Yugi drag his hands through his damp dark hair. He let himself be pulled away and soon found himself rolled onto his back with his greedy, writhing mate above him. Yugi pulled away from this kiss and licked his lips looking feral and delicious: his dark eyes blazing with a confident desire, his silhouette shadowed against the moonlight illuminating the hunger in his eyes more fiercely than the sun ever could.

Beaming with pride, Atem had never been so pleased and hungry for another person in all his life. Surrendering his control, Atem smiled and slid his hands to his little one's forearms, gently tugging him. Eyes still blazing, Yugi crawled slowly over his lover, pushing away that feathered cloak and sliding his hands over the warm, hard flesh of the King's clothed legs. Once he was settled in the man's lap, sliding his naked flesh against Atem's girth through his silks, he smiled down at his lover, and pressing their foreheads together.

"Everything of fae importance is done in open air," he reminded with a wink and laid his forehead against the King's chest, his clever fingers sliding down to the King's belt, undoing the loops and pulling them away.

It was the first time Yugi had been so brazen and Atem found he liked this saucy, seductive side of his little mate, who was just full of surprises. Atem ceased him by the arms, and pulled Yugi into a deep kiss, pulling away only to whisper. "I am yours, and you are mine, do with me as you will, my little sweet, and I will do the same."

Yugi's eyes flooded with tears of love. As if Atem had no already done enough to prove his love for him. But Yugi shook them away. Atem had already done enough for him, now it was his turn to do the same. With renewed confidence, he pulled Atem up to sit, and kissed him hard, wrapping his arms around his neck, and savoring the warm, sweet taste of his lover's lips. How many nights had he spent like this? Wrapped in Atem's arms? Both too many and not enough. He was Queen of the Wild Court and yet in that month he could count on one hand, the number of times they had been apart.

It was exhilarating and terrifying, wonderful and horrible—this weird, wild, and wonderful connection shared between them. A connection based entirely on shared sensation, warm moments, lost memories and intimate brushes of the mind. It was a relationship based on shared memories, simple gestures that held grand meanings, and brushes of consciousness that cumulated in inflections of the other's name—and sex. Yugi admitted with a blush as he rubbed his cheek against Atem's hard chest. More sex than what was probably healthy, but for some reason it worked and it was wonderful. Terrible and terrifying but wonderful all the same

Throwing away the last of his anxiety, Yugi rocked forward, smirking when his King angled his hips. Yugi pressed closer, straddling the King's hips and locking their lips once more. Shivering as the heat of his girth brushed against Yugi's bride, shivering as the King's hand dipped in one of the oil bowls and slid along his calve. Shivering as his fingers slipped between his thigh, probing and circling the one place Yugi longed to be touched the most.

He caught the King's groan in his mouth, ignoring the hard press of Atem's fingers on his hips. In counter, Atem curled his fingers inside him and Yugi shuddered. Breaking the kiss to moan and arch his back, Yugi discarded the last of his decency and thrust onto Atem's fingers: moaning as those fingers stretched and spread. Moaning as the King hissed and groaned into his mouth, moaning as the King pulled away and locked their eyes: dark with desire and blazing with need.

Yugi smirked and smiled.

Shredding the last of his decency, Yugi lifted his hips until Atem's fingers slipped free and crawled back up the King's chest. He met the King's eyes and shivered at what he found there—those hot whine-colored eyes like freshly spilled blood watched him with a rabid, carnal desire and Yugi relished in the fact that he was the source of that gaze. His eyes never left Atem's as he ran his fingers along the King's shaft, the faerie silks parting at his command. Never left his as his found Atem's chest and gripped his shoulders. Never left his as Atem's hands kneaded and parted the soft flesh of his thighs and held him in position. Never left his as he slowly, ever so slowly, sank down on his King's cock.

The burn that followed was a familiar pain: the drag of hot, thick flesh pulsing against his insides, his own tightness constricting tightly against the invader, the unbearable heat pulsing through every core of his body as he was filled completely. Finally, he dropped completely and settled in the King's lap relishing in the feeling of fullness, of completeness, of the King inside him and knew in that moment, this was where he belonged.

With Atem sheathed inside him, the barrier between their minds and souls shattered, and they were both open to the feel of the other: all their emotions and memories poured into the other unfiltered and untamed. Those claws hands squeezed his thighs as he pushed down. Those bottom lips pulled between his teeth as he hissed. Those dark eyes blazed with a need so ferocious and hungry that anyone else would've been terrified, but all Yugi felt was delight. He lowered himself slowly, watching every twitch of the King's eyes, ever curl and twist of his lips, every arch of his brows and hearing every hiss and groan and growl. He wanted to watch Atem come undone.

"Yugi," Atem hissed, his hands trembling on Yugi's thighs. Hunger rolling off his words.

Eyes blazing, Yugi gripped the King's shoulders and pulled himself to his knees. With a herculean effort, he relaxed his tight muscles and slowly, ever so slowly, lifted himself from the King. His pride dragged out of him and Yugi trembled. He rolled his hips as he descended and a moan left his lips as he was filled once more. He felt Atem hardening inside him and set a slowly, torturous pace. Atem growled beneath him: his claws digging into Yugi's thighs but otherwise never set out to quicken the pace. Yugi delighted in that as well.

As a reward, Yugi gently shoved the King down, sliding his hands and dragging his nailed across his chest and nailed, exciting him. Dragged them down his stomach and settling them on his own rigid thighs: Yugi increased his pace: Rising and falling on that glorious, marvelous heat. Atem watched him with hungry, ardent eyes. His thighs tight and hard beneath Yugi's hands. Yugi moved faster: urged by the King's hunger. The way his lips pulled back, revealing his fangs. The way his eyes darkened and brightened with need, the way he looked like he wanted nothing more than to roll them over and rut into him until Yugi screamed.

Yugi rode him as fiercely as he'd ever ridden a wild beast or rode the branches of the Here Tree. Shuddering and overcome with desire, Yugi leaned down and whispered something in Atem's air. Something flashed in the King's eyes: a sparkle Yugi had never seen before and only now recognized: pride.

Atem sat up, catching Yugi as he fell back and grabbed Atem's shoulders for support. Those rich, ocher hands clenched his thighs tight. Those glorious hard, hips, rolled beneath him and then they were moving: thrusting, arching, driving into him with such abandon, it was all Yugi could do to meet him. They rutted against each other without rhythm or measure.

"Yugi…" Atem groaned his name, coming undone at Yugi's touch.

Yugi's heart palpitated with pride and he arched his hips at an angle that had them both shuddering.

All around them the Wild court laughed and cheered but Yugi ignored them all. There was no decency in his place, no privacy in the heart of the glade, but his eyes were all the only ones Yugi saw, the only ones that mattered, and was he not Queen of this wild court? Was he not above them all?

That thought above all others, filled Yugi with pride. Ceasing Atem's shoulders, he kissed him fiercely, pulling him closer and wrapping his hands around his neck. Pouring all his love, his hope, his desire into that single kiss as he arched and thrust against the King faster than he ever had before. Bliss, white and wonderful exploded behind his eyes and he screamed into the kiss.

Atem caught him as he fell, and suddenly Yugi's world spun as he saw stars. Suddenly, he found himself on his back: Atem kissing him and, under the protection of his heavy cloak, rutted Yugi senseless and to his own completion. Atem drove into him: invading his over-sensitized body, their hips slapping against the other without rhythm. Over-sensitized and over stimulated, Yugi whimpered and ceased Atem's shoulders, holding him close as his body clenched and tightened on the cock still invading him and that was all it took. With a muttered oath, Atem found his pleasure. Eyes locked, the both moaned as their pleasure was ripped from them, filling them and bringing them to a completion more powerful than any they'd felt before.

Yugi collapsed in Atem's arms spent, but the King caught him and pulled the boy into his arms. He kissed him sweetly and Yugi returned the kiss, pulling him closer. They kissed a final time—and were interrupted by screams of rapturous delight.

The kiss a final time and only then do they turn to see the Feast that has been watching them and cheers with rapturous delight. Brought back to the present, the two turned to the room and the wild ruckus around them. Faeries barked and cheered as the Washer Woman rose from their pool pulling out Yugi's coronation gown: shinny and silver and still unraveled despite a rigorous washing.

"A Child!" They cheered in rapturous jubilation! "A strong child! A Son of Living Stars!"

"Our Feast and Our Court shall at long last be complete!"

The prophecy brought a roar of rigorous approval and the silent halls filled with sounds and songs. Already the musicians were composing ballads and poems. Already the seamstresses were crying and discussing plans. Already the whole household was in a joyful uproar at the thought of their King and Queen bearing such a wonderful child.

Mahad sprang in front of the altar, as Yugi and Atem slowly pulled apart with mutual reluctance. The Seamstresses held Yugi down from his throne and offered him a silk dress. He wiggled into it like a snake trying to get back into its old skin. Atem simply replaced his belt and redid the strings of his tight riding leather pants. Their cloaks replaced with mantles of bright white and gray fur, a crown to match Yugi's was set upon the King's heads, and upon their brows glittered matching stars of sovereignty.

Only then did Mahad, summon the Herald. Horns echoed in the background and the grand announcement was made: "I PRESENT TO YOU," roared Mahado, "OUR UNDOUBTED LORDS, KING ATEM AND QUEEN YUGI! WILL YOU HUMBLE YOURSELVED AND CALL THEM SOVERIGN!"

The room erupted with applause and unanimous agreement!

"Then come forward!" Mahad concluded, "And Make your obedience known!"

He stepped away and all the room watched in wild rapture, as, hand in hand, the King and Queen of the Wild Court, stepped through the glade and took their seats on either side of the Birchwood throne. But they did not sit, instead Atem rose his and Yugi's hands and with a grand gesture, he presented his Queen.

Yugi stood next to the King, his hand in his and gazed down at all the wild beneath him. The Faeries eagerly awaiting his approval, waiting for his permission to devour the feast presented before them, to engage in their wild ruckus and celebrate the unity of the Hunt and the Woods.

A smile graced his lips. Yes, he realized. It was a new day in the Wild Court...and he was the Queen.

"Let the Feast Commence!"

And with that this story is finally FINISHED! DAMN it feels good to FINALLY finish a story! I have to say...what started as a bizarre summer dream a year ago, inspired by the Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack into a one shot and has become a full fledged story started and completed literally within one year (I checked, so from start to finish it only took me a year and a half to complete this story!)

I'm so proud!

Originally, I planned to continue the seasonal theme and doing a Yule story where we dwell into Atem's past more and then end it with an epiogue taking place in spring seven years later but...truth be told there were a TON of ideas in this story i LOVED-my winter idea dwelling into Atem's backstory, the idea of the Wild Court, the crazy revels and balls and feasts combining victorian masquerade and old gaelic style parties and seasonal festivals with nature, it made me realizes how much i MISSED writing in a fairy world and writing these juxtaposition scenes.

And it also inspired me! So I will be recyling my Yule idea in an original story that will be part of my Flying Castle Series, the spellmaker's wife and The Wild Court and several scenes in this story will reappear in another story (yet to be named) in the same series inspired by the Animal Wife and husband story (ironically this idea ALSO came from a dream ;) as well as possibly inspired by my newet audiobook a Court of Thrones and Roses and this story) so this story may be finished...but the creative process it inspired and created has unleashed a whole new form of ideas and stories, I cannot WAIT to outline!

That and honestly, I was ready to let this story go...even the epilogue which i started writing MONTHS ago-and then lost all the notes, i ultimately decided to cut because it was too sweet and cliched and just not my style anymore-I like my dark fantasy, semi-unknown, let the reader decide the conclusions endings better. And come on hw AWESOME was it watching Yugi's transformation from wild animal to full blown Queen? I'm so proud!

Also Part Two of this story was inspired by The Woodland Realms' "Feast" from their newest CD Secrets Told. I heard them sing it in concert at the Faerie Convention last year and the idea for this part was BORN! if you get the chance to read it I strongly reccommend it! A lot of the imagery and the coronation ceremony was inspired by the song!

I'm so proud of myself for completing this story! And even more to start my next set! So in addition to outlining I will be returning to writing At the King's Pleasure and my novel far time-as I'm still figuring out and organizing Timaeus, so regular updates for ATKP will return next week!

As always read, review, critique, comment ask questions and got nuts! Also if anyone is interested in the notes so far for my Flying Castle Series' i'd be happy to share! I'm also in the process of starting a writer's blog on tumblr (after some support anf inspiration from a friend)

But all in do time...Until then HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! WELCOME TO 2018! It's been a Rough year, but I am Ready to go forward and I hope all of you are too! Thank you all so much!