Excerpt of Lust by Charlotte Featherstone

The Curse of the Unseelie Court

It is said that the Fey have always lived amongst mortals,
their world lying parallel to ours. They live in two courts;
the good faeries belong to the Seelie Court, where gaiety
and light rein. Opposite to the Seelie Fey, are the Dark
Fey, those who live in the Unseelie Court, or the unholy
court as it is known. These dark Faeries are mysterious and
sensual, well versed in pleasures of the flesh. It is said
that to look upon them and their beauty is to be drawn into
their erotic, voluptuous world, and once there, your fate is
sealed, your body and will no longer your own.

And this is precisely what happened, once long,
long ago to a beautiful queen of the Seelie Court, who had
the misfortune to catch the eye of the Dark Fey King.
Immediately, the king was besotted with the queen. Driven to
possess her at all costs. Queen Aine was all the king could
think about, but Aine spurned him, forcing King Duir to
steal her away from her golden court while she slept. Like
Persephone being taken to the Underworld, Duir brought Aine
to his dark court, plying her with his erotic skills. The
Unseelie king was certain he could win Aine, but the queen
despised Duir. Long had she plotted against her captor,
vowing to leave the king and his court behind, but Duir kept
her prisoner, a concubine for his dark pleasures.

The queen’s loathing of the king festered, until she could
think of nothing but revenge. Fueled by hatred, Aine
searched for a way to break free—all to no avail. Until one
day, she was delivered of the king’s twin sons. Enraptured
by his progeny, and grateful to the queen for giving him
such a gift, Duir became less watchful, allowing the queen
new freedoms, and it was then, that Aine found a way to
leave his court.

One night she stole away, taking with her one of
her sons, the golden haired child who was the image of her
Seelie self, leaving behind his dark-haired brother who bore
his father’s resemblance. As she fled, Aine placed a spell
on the Unseelie Court, that it whither away, never to thrive
again until the Dark Fey could make a woman give herself to
him of her own free will. As well, she cursed the sons of
Duir’s siblings, and any future male children of the king
with each cardinal sin, further destroying the prince’s
chances of finding a virtuous woman who would give herself
willingly.

To this day, the Queen’s spell holds strong. The
Unseelie Court is dying. There is but one hope for the
court, to find the seven women who represent the virtuous
aspects of humanity. Seven women who embody chastity,
temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and
humility. Women whose very being calls to the sins deeply
buried in each prince, sins who are eager to corrupt through
erotic pleasure, their virtues.

If the court is to survive, the Fey princes will
have to find a way to make the virtues follow them
willingly, while satisfying the basic needs of their sins.
Sins, which perhaps, each virtue is ready for a taste of.