Queens of Mist and Madness (Fae Isles, #4)

by Lisette Marshall

and yet it was hard to feel any triumph at the sight of the tens of thousands of bindings still waiting for me. Against an opponent of the empire’s size, it seemed not unlike dropping a bucket of water onto a wildfire.

Cant the people who are now unbound help?

enquired

Im sorry is this how they spell it in Europe?!

something about having both my parents by my side made me feel complete in ways I had never quite imagined, an answer to parts of me I’d never even realised were questions. And yet ... terrible, because that was how my whole life should have been.

Terrible, most of all, because I had only just found them, and tomorrow I might lose them all over again.

In the dim moonlight, a lonely silhouette was sitting on a moss-draped rock – his back towards me, his head bent, his wings a shard of night even darker than the starry sky above us.

BABY WHAT IS WRONG :'(

He must have heard my voice, must have heard the racket of my unsubtle descent, must have felt the swell of my worry and anger and relief washing over him – and yet he didn’t turn or even lift his slumping wings a fraction,

Ohhhh did he take the humans pain away when Em didnt show up according to the mothers terms?

But his eyes … they were alive with something wild, something dark and jagged, glittering feverishly in the shadows as if lit by their own inner fire. The look of a man possessed.

Wtf?!

I should not have left him alone today. I had been a gods-damned idiot to leave him alone today.

So you could … could …’ He fell silent, his throat bobbing visibly in the shadows. ‘Do what?’ I forced out a cheerless laugh. ‘Did you expect me to mock you? Insult you? Throw you out?’

Baby is so damaged it makes me sad, also like i get it & unfortunately id prob react the same way as Em bc of the disbelief, though id imagine to Creon its a form of mocking to act this way in response to his pain, emotions, and damaged heart

‘For the love of the gods, Creon, I’m not your mother.’ He stiffened. ‘No, of course you’re not—’

Em, hes got 2-in-1 mommy issues LEASE calm down and be more gentle

—but people fall out of love,’ he finished, voice choked and too quiet. And there it was. He looked so strangely small all of a sudden,

Yall should go to therapy togethercor abandoment issues

‘But there’s always conditions – there should be conditions.’

Hey im not the one who said it but i was def thinking it bc im annoying

It’s a lie because you don’t need to be good for anything in the first place. You just need to be. You just need to love me and feel like home in this world I can never make sense of on my own, and that’ –

you need to give him the reasons why you love him and not have it only be what he does for you Em

He curled into my lap like a young boy looking for shelter, and for one heartbreaking moment,

Here for healing child Creon :')

‘Em, we might die.’ ‘Yes.’ I forced a shrug. ‘So?’

LITERALLY me like "And!?!? What about it!?!" lmao

Was it better, I wondered, to at least have found that one soul who made my heart sing before the bitter end came for me?

Or was it worse, to die knowing what immortality might have been for me, knowing how much I would have had to stay alive for?

I thought of the light in his eyes when he smiled. I thought of the motions of his fingers in a crowded Underground hall. Love you. And just like that, the shreds of memories began flooding me, as if that slightest nudge was all the encouragement they needed …

And finally, on what might be the last night of our lives, he sang for me – a quiet ballad of hope and heartbreak, courage and despair, and a world that would never be the same again.

SO much pen game in the last few paragraphs

other clenched around the hilt of the unnamed alf sword beside me,

Just name it unnamed at this point lmao

let the vibrant glow of the sunrise wash over me – this might be the last time. I strode on all the same.

I keep thinking Tared is gonna die and its gonna gut me other possibilites: Edored and Agenor

Rosalind, looking human and delicate and ready to stab anyone who dared to suggest she’d better hide in the Underground and wait for the battle to pass.

We love Ali thats my queen right there

‘So … it’s been a pleasure, everyone. And for the love of the gods, please make sure the alves don’t take over my library if I die, will you?’

I thought she came back to life as a phoenix and thats why shes a child rn?

thank you, that’s what I should have said, thank you for being here, and I know we’ve hardly had the time to try and be a decent family, but I think we could have been pretty damn good at it if we’d only been given the chance

Stop :'(

Then silk-clad arms yanked me backwards. And an alf steel knife settled against my throat.

Wtf

Recognition came like a punch to the gut. Ophion.

Wtf how does he have alf steel

I’d called my parents for twenty years of my life, clinging to each other, gaping at me in mute, terrified horror.

And???? they suck

‘I didn’t fully catch that,’ I said, and there was no stopping the maniacal grin growing on my face

Lmaoo

‘Sorry, Mother.’ His golden voice was low and deadly – like the sweetest, purest honey, dripping with venom. ‘I’m afraid you’ve rather … served your purpose.’ Her eyes widened.

DAMN BABY THIS WAS SO SATISFYING

Tared strode in moments after Lyn, sword in his hand, the widest grin I’d ever seen on his face;

So we have 2/3 i thought were going to die still alive BLESS

‘All thanks to you, Noisy Death,’ Edored said, throwing me a broad grin that looked like a hand-less salute and walking on.

Im glad edored survived

‘Afternoon, Em.’ His skewed grin hid a spark of concern that barely touched his voice. ‘Coming to take a look at the bakery?’

Tared PLEASE

‘What if we hand it over to Thysandra?’ I said, lifting my head.

I knew it

Rosalind grinned even broader. ‘Mortality was starting to bother me.’

YAY IM SO HAPPY AND SHOOKTH

he was trying to compose himself, an irrepressible smile that lit up his eyes and stripped centuries of weariness from his face. Like magic. No, better than magic. ‘Off you go, then … daughter.’

This is so cute i could cry

so people can read their books in peace even if we have a few dozen alves around.

My heart

Then, like a predator unleashed, he bolted after me. His laughter and the sound of my racing heartbeat blended into the night –

They are so precious

that I was safe. That I was home. That I would never, ever be small again. Not for anything. Not for anyone. And this … this was what glory felt like.