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March 5 - March 13, 2024
“What’re you gonna do about your hubby?” Puck sniffed dismissively. “Who is a fucking asshole, by the way. Do you know he threw me off a cliff once? Totally uncalled for.”
head, and placed her hands on her thighs. “I come to you for guidance, knowing I do not deserve any. But I do not know what to do.” Silence. She expected nothing else. She shut her eyes and let out a breath. “I love the man who desires to destroy my people—the people you have given me. I love the monster who has done terrible things and seeks to do more. And I do not know how to live without the creature who wishes to destroy two worlds in his wrath. I find myself caught between mercy and love, and I do not know which I can sacrifice and still wake each morning.”
“I was raw. Primordial. A force of darkness from beyond the veil, that had existed in Tir n’Aill since the dawn of time. Since perhaps before Tir n’Aill was even formed. I am an ancient creature from the very nether between worlds.”
“If I did it for her—if I destroyed the Seelie and the humans, she would give me Tir n’Aill for my own. But in return, I must keep the Unseelie close—to protect her chosen people and become one of them. I, of course, said yes.” Valroy coughed and winced. Oh, that hurt when he did not have both his lungs. “I would make myself small for her. I would sacrifice my own being and leave the ephemeral shadows, if it meant I could finally feed the hunger for death that fuels me. Too bad the bitch changed her mind.”
“Oy, seaweed.” Anfar lifted his head, though barely. “You are not allowed to die.” Valroy grinned. “I still have use for you.”
“The Weeping Willows. When I destroyed them, I…oh.” She sighed and paused in her work. “I am sorry. I did not know they were a part of you.”
She knew what he meant. The tree. That terrible, awful, bloodthirsty tree, with a thousand weapons both new and old buried in its bark.
How to kill Valroy
“Please, Great Father Dagda, help your child. Help me see what I am meant to do. How I am meant to give my people a place that does not lay within the grave.” She clenched her fists. “I do not even care if I survive. Let me be the sacrifice if I must. Take my life, take it all—I am nothing without my Oberon. But please, let my people live. Find a way to stop this monster who would laugh as he licked clean the bones of so many innocent souls.”
“You are now Queen of the Seelie, Abigail Moore.” Titania tucked her head against Abigail’s shoulder and shut her eyes. “Protect our people, Abigail. Save them from that monster of yours.”
“Things have changed,” she stated simply. “Things are strange. And I do not know what will transpire. I do not know what will happen next. But I will do all that I can to save your people. Our people. I vow this to you—all of you—I would rather die again than see this world crumble beneath Valroy’s axe.”
She hesitated before retreating from him. “You would have me be queen of the ashes, Valroy. You would have me rule a dead and enslaved people. You would burn this sunlit world and then move onto the next.”
“All the light shall die, and the shadows shall reign. And when all is said and done, and there is nothing but dust and the tears you weep for those creatures you have made…only when you beg me for pity and mercy—only then shall I forgive you long enough to kill you. For that is the price you shall pay for the death of my Abigail Moore.”
“Promise me one thing.” His words were quiet, nothing of his anger remaining in them. “Tell them you defeated me in battle. Or say you played some terrible trick upon me. Do not tell them I…I could not kill you. That I would rather surrender all that I am than to watch you die a second time.” His features contorted in pain. “I could not—I could not survive it.” She
“I will defeat you.” His lips quirked in a faint smile. “You will try.” She lifted his hand and placed his palm over her heart, pressing it there. “You are my friend, and you are my enemy. You are my hunter, and you are my lover. And I—” Her voice cracked, and she forced herself through it. “And if I were to watch you die, I would join you in the grave but a moment later.”
“My little witch…my Seelie Queen. No matter what we shall endure. No matter what becomes of us. My sunlight. My glowing blossoms. My living heart. I will not stop until I defeat you. And I will relish every moment I fail. I love you.”
