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We were two weeks past the Spit, the human dead in the Shadow Wood long forgotten. Guinevere had given up her sulking when we reached the base of the mountains. On the other side waited Baylaur, the Queen of the Elemental Fae, and my future.
I wanted him more than I wanted my next breath. My mind and body made war inside of me, the loathing and hate crashing against the heat and desire. I was powerless before my own needs. I had no control over what my mouth or body might say or do.
“What precisely does he understand, Veyka?” I did not have an answer. Not one that I could articulate to myself, determined as I was to stay far away from the pain of my own deeper emotions. Certainly not one I was willing to articulate to the Brutal Prince. I’d give him my body willingly. But my soul? Never.
His words were soft. Like the promise of a lover… but the threat of death.
The one that would tear my kingdom apart. My powerlessness. A fae without power. A thing that had never existed in the history of Annwyn. An abomination.
“That is your mistake, Arran. You assume that your soul is the only one that is ruined. But listen when I tell you… this thing within me, if it is a soul, is blacker than the starless night above the Split Sea. And no one can save me—not even you. Because I do not wish to be saved.”
the human stammered on. “It steals the men, and leaves something else in their place. Something not of our world. Something other.”
She might think her soul stained black already; but her world was infinitesimally small. She had no idea what three centuries of killing could do to one’s soul.
I was letting him closer. Each secret, each shared glance…
While the elemental fae controlled fire, ice, wind, water and weather, to varying degrees, the terrestrials fell into just two camps: fauna or flora-gifted. Fauna—the power to shift or to control animals. Meanwhile, the flora-gifted among us could bend the trees and grass to our will, or coax deadly plants to grow. When a terrestrial child was born, families waited on tenterhooks to see where their affinity would lie. Flora or fauna. Never both. Until me.
Did I still hate her? Part of me did. She might have revenge in her mind, but she’d made one reckless, stupid decision after another. I still hated that she thought her life was worth nothing, that she thought she didn’t need to concern herself with running her own damn kingdom.
But when I turned back to her and offered my hand, her eyes were bright. Not quite glowing. But the nearest thing I’d seen. Oh, yes. My Queen liked power.
She’d become a cupbearer for the royal council so she could listen in, study them, deduce who was to blame. She’d given up control of her kingdom so she could not only avenge her brother, but find the traitor in their midst, who was a danger still.
That this was not just a quest to avenge Arthur, but to protect Annwyn after all.
“You’re not my enemy,” she said softly. “I don’t know what you are.” Truth, between us. Finally.
There didn’t seem to be much use in keeping him out of the machinations anymore. He’d seen and heard it all. Maybe he would notice some thread that I had missed. He was also a convenient distraction.
“Then comes a queen, in the age of uncertainty, when shadows cast doubt upon the realm. Born under a double moon and marked by a radiant star, a faerie queen shall rise to command the depths of the voids of darkness.”
Twice blessed, the realm of shift and mist, when comes the awaited queen who shall possess ethereal might. With a touch, she will feel the heartbeat of her subjects, and she will unlock the secrets they guard within.”
I would protect her. No one would ever get close enough to test the strength of her magic. I’d kill anyone who tried to touch her and offer her their severed heads as a gift. We’d bring each other to climax with the scent of our enemies’ blood swirling around us.
I held her tight and told myself that I would never allow anyone to take her from me. Ever.
That thread I’d felt in the center of my chest, pulling me toward her again and again, had transformed into something new. Stronger. Tenuous, still, but more. More than I’d ever imagined was possible.
The darkness tried to consume me. But this time, I looked up and saw the stars.
