by Olivia Hart
I knew that I was powerful, but having power and knowing how to rule were two different things. I would be able to lean on Sebastian though. He was wiser than he let on, and he’d lived under a great Queen. Hell, it had been his mother. She would have talked to him about all of this stuff.
At least I hoped so.
We found the stone that had a piece of tinsel wrapped around it. “Ready?” he asked with a smile.
I nodded. It was time to see the Dark Court for the first time.
He held my hand and reached down to touch the piece of silver. I felt the draw of power over the bridge, and I let it pull me through the world in an instant.
I felt myself falling as soon as I was out of the portal, and Sebastian’s hand held me tight, stopping my fall. I looked up at him and saw him clutching a tree branch. I’d forgotten that the portal was at the top of a tree.
“Glad you didn’t go through without me,” he said, chuckling.
“Just put me on a branch.” It was hard to keep from laughing.
He swung me to the side, and I grabbed onto a large branch. Only then did I remember that I had wings. It was like going through that portal had put me back into the mindset of the girl who knew nothing and needed everyone to protect her. Well, that was done. That girl was gone.
I hopped down and let my wings slow my descent. Sebastian landed next to me, his feet sinking into the ground just a little bit.
In his hand was the silver wire that had been the portal. “Burn it,” he said as he handed it to me.
I wadded the wire up until it fit into my clenched fist, and I let light explode across the silver. I could feel it heating up, smoke rising out of my clenched fist, and then it caught fire. I dropped it into the grass and let it burn itself out.
I looked down at the ash that coated my hand and couldn’t help but remember the ash that had come from Enivyn’s funeral pyre.
I closed my eyes, banishing the vision from my mind, and took a deep breath. “Take me to the Dark Court, Prince. It’s time to find out if I’m everything you think I am.”
Chapter 38
Rose
The Dark Court was not at all what I’d expected. I’d thought it would be a giant building or something. Some kind of dark version of the White City in Lord of the Rings.
No, this was a massive, sprawling city filled with people. Lanterns hung from tall poles, spreading light and shadows across the twilight landscape of a city that never saw a sun. Only the two moons had ever illuminated this place.
Outside of it all was a wall made of black granite with sparkling crystalline pieces embedded in the stone. Massive catapults made of ebony wood stood amongst men in black plate.
Different banners hung from poles at each guard tower. Sebastian had explained that each noble family was required to staff a separate guard tower. I hadn’t expected there to be so many of them. At least a hundred different banners flew, and I was going to have to learn everything I could about each of them.
In the center of the city stood a tower made of sharp and jagged obsidian that looked as though it had been carved from a single piece of stone. Rising high into the sky, it rivaled the size of some of the tallest buildings in the Mortal Realm.
“The palace,” Sebastian said as he pointed at the tower. “That’s where you’ll live. It’s where most of the fairies live. At least most of the full-bloods do.”
I nodded. “Why didn’t we simply shadow walk into the palace?”
“There are no warrens under the Dark Court. It’s not safe to allow shadow walking into a city. It would be difficult to move an entire army through warrens, but being able to shadow walk into the gatehouse with a team of elite troops would be the fastest way to win a battle.”
He led the way down from the cliffside that we’d appeared on. We walked down a twisted path towards the gate. The gate rose high into the air above us, guarded by a group of thirty men in black plate. They held spears that seemed too long to wield with sharp points that could only be made of steel.
Two of them had wings sprouting from the back of their armor, and I was surprised to see just how different they were compared to mine. Where mine was a black that seemed to glow, theirs were varying hues of gray.
“Stop! Assassin!” one of the fairies said as he floated to the front of the group carrying a silver sword that was at least three feet long. “Queen Seraphina demands that you report directly to her on your mission.”
I could feel Sebastian tense at the order, but he flung his hood back. Immediately, the guards held out their spears. “Prince, you’re a wanted man. Why would you come back?” the fairy asked.
Sebastian grinned. “I no longer take orders from Queen Seraphina. We have a new Queen, and I obey only her.”
The guards looked at me, and I let my wings lift me into the air. Their eyes followed me. “Pure black,” one of them whispered. “Darker than black,” another one said.
“Take the Queen to the tower, Prince.”
Sebastian nodded and put his hood back on. He whispered, “Hide your wings unless someone else stops us. We don’t want anyone to notice you until you make a formal claim for the throne.”
I took a deep breath as I walked through the gate and willed my wings to dissipate. They would come back in an instant if needed, but for now, they were gone. It was easier said than done. They wanted to be there just like a bridge wanted to be used.
We walked through cobbled streets. Old stone buildings pressed against the walls of the city, and hooded people walked beside us. Many of them looked nothing like humans or fairies. Things of nightmares.
We passed a shadow standing tall like a man wearing only a burlap robe. Another creature was covered in scales, its hands ending in long claws. Then there were men covered in scars or even open wounds who walked as though nothing were wrong.
Not all of the citizens of the Dark Court were even that close to human shaped. A half-naked woman with the wings of a bird folded against her back shoved me out of the way, and I’d have fallen if Sebastian hadn’t caught me.
“What was that?” I asked seeing that the woman’s hands ended in claws rather than fingers.
“Harpy,” he said softly. “Let’s hurry. You can ask me all the questions you want once we’re safely inside the tower.”
He pulled me behind him as we moved through the crowds, turning into alleys when the crowds became too thick as we moved closer to the center. The shadows seemed deeper here. The walls, cracked and breaking. “Things don’t seem to have changed too much since I left,” he murmured.
In front of the tower, four fairies stood in gleaming gold plate. They all carried golden shields and golden swords. Their wings were of yellows, oranges, and reds, and they seemed to radiate a soft glow even through their armor.
“Stop,” they commanded. “Queen Seraph…” Sebastian threw his cloak hood back and didn’t stop as he approached the tower.
“You no longer belong here. Tell your Queen that the Dark Court no longer bows to her rule.”
One of them laughed, a tinkling laugh that sounded almost like a bell. “You are a dead man walking, Shadow Prince. Your mother will be happy to be reunited with her son in the void. She has waited too long for you to please her again.”
A simple flick of his hand sent an obsidian dagger flying through the air. The soldier tried to block with his shield, but he was too slow. The dagger slid through the armor like a knife through butter, embedding deeply into his chest.
He fell to the ground, his hand struggling to pull the obsidian dagger from his chest. Two of the others stepped in front of Sebastian while the third tried to pull the dagger out.
Sebastian held both hands up, daggers appearing. “Go tell your Queen that she no longer rules the Dark Court, or I will be forced to find others to go instead of you.”
The men glanced at each other, and they gathered up their fellow soldier before rushing off. “We’ll need to move quickly, but those men will struggle to find a shadow w
alker to help them. Especially since the Assassin’s Guild was where most ended up going.”
Sebastian pulled the massive door open, and as we stepped inside, he barred the door behind us. This was the true Dark Court. Everything around this tower was affiliated with it, but this was the real thing. Flames of black similar to my wings rose from braziers set around the room and contrasted the normal fire in the center of the room.
Shadows and light danced what seemed to be an eternal dance as the two opposing flames flickered. “The royal dance hall,” he muttered as he led the way up the first set of stairs.
Cold black stone was everywhere, but in the stone, gold and silver veins wove pathways creating beautiful contrast. The more that I saw of the Dark Court, the more I realized that it wasn’t the opposite of light. It was the combination of opposites.
Where the Court of Light was about purity, the Dark Court was about completeness.
Stairs. So many stairs. Sebastian seemed to almost run up them, and I could feel the excitement in him. I tried to match his pace, but he quickly outpaced me with those damned long legs of his.
“To Hell with this,” I muttered. Leaping upward, my wings appeared, and I floated next to him as he began to take the stairs two at a time.
“Wondered how long it would take for you to think of that,” he said.
“You told me to hide my wings. I was trying to be good.”
“Well, you don’t have to hide anything anymore.” He stopped at a door. Two floors below the pinnacle of the tower. He smiled at me and pulled the door open. A four-poster bed stood against the wall. Wings were carved into the poles. Sheets of black and silver.
It was the dreamscape. The place that Sebastian had taken me over and over again.
“We’re home.” He pulled me to him and began to kiss me as he shut the door behind us.
I pulled away from him. His eyes were already turning misty. “Sebastian, don’t we have to do things? Don’t I have to claim the throne or something?”
“Yes, you have to do that, but you have to claim it in front of Seraphina and a group of seers.”
I pushed off him, still floating above the floor. “Then what was the rush?”
He grinned. “I’ve never wanted to share my bed with anyone before. Now I want to.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me that you just tried to make me run up a zillion stairs so that we could have sex in your bed?”
He shrugged. “When you say it like that, it does sound a little silly.”
“Not at all,” I said with a smile. “The only thing silly is that you didn’t tell me ahead of time so that I would be just as excited.”
He pulled me to him, pressing those beautiful lips against mine. I’d thought that the village had been home, but now I realized that home was where my love was.
* * *
I stared at the Dark Throne. Obsidian, smooth as glass and black as night. It stood at the end of the Dark Hall. The ceiling was made of glass, exposing the entire night sky. The pinnacle of the Dark Tower.
This was my throne. As soon as Seraphina arrived, I would claim the throne. Sebastian would guide me in becoming a good Queen. I would protect the people. I would rule with strength and compassion.
At least that was the plan. Now that I saw the throne, now that the plan was drawing to an end, I wasn’t so sure I could do this.
“You’ll stay with me?” I asked Sebastian.
“I’m never going to leave your side, Rose. Whether you want me or not, you’re stuck with me.”
“At least you’re pretty. I mean, you’re an ass most of the time, but you sure look good.”
“I could say the same about you, Lady,” he said with a grin.
“You promise that you won’t leave me?” I needed this reassurance. “Even if I’m not as good of a Queen as your mother?”
“I swear on my powers that I’ll never leave you.” His hand ran across my back and pulled me to him.
“But, you don’t have to worry about being a better Queen. You just need to worry about being you. I’ve seen who you are. I’ve seen the woman who will stand up against insurmountable odds and fight, and I’ve seen the woman who will cry at the death of someone they’d only known for a month. You’re everything we need.”
He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “I hope you’re right, Sebastian. I can’t do this without you.”
“I love you, Rose. Not because you’re Queen. I love you. You woke something up inside me, and for the first time in a very long time, I want to be alive.”
“I love you too, Sebastian. I just want to love you for eternity, and I can’t do that if you leave me like everyone else has.”
“For eternity. I like the sound of that.”
Epilogue
Seraphina
The mirror shimmered as I touched it. There was no silver mirror in the Dark Court. No one was that stupid. That didn’t mean that I couldn’t use mine to look in on things that happened there now that the barrier dividing the two kingdoms was cracking.
The city was slowly becoming lighter. “Prince Sebastian,” I whispered.
The mirror fogged for a moment, and then a room came into view. The throne room. Prince Sebastian stood beside Rose and stared at the Dark Throne. The throne that had been empty since I’d had his mother killed.
How had they managed to survive the assassins? No one could have survived that. Not even me. Not without guards at least. They’d had no guards. It had been Rose and Sebastian and a bunch of incompetent villagers against sixty assassins.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I was not some human, powerless and helpless in the face of my enemies. Not anymore at least.
Sebastian was going to die. Soon. Rose would too. She was the reason everything had fallen apart. If she’d never been born, everything could have continued on forever in perfection.
Light began to radiate from my skin, white hot. I took another deep breath and let it out, my anger flowing. A Queen must be in control of herself and her surroundings. A lesson I’d learned in childhood.
Well, it was time to take control of the situation. I’d given everyone else a chance to end these two problems, and they’d all failed. Now it was time for me to get my hands dirty.
At least this time, I’d enjoy it. They wouldn’t die quickly. There would be no damned obsidian blade to drain the life from them. They would scream. They would beg for mercy. They would beg for death before it was over.
A smile crossed my face as I looked at Rose. “It’s time that I see my daughter again after all this time.”
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Olivia Hart is a new author in love with all things fantastical and paranormal. She writes about the darker side of fantasy romance with sassy heroines and flawed heroes.
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