by N L Nold
“I’ve had enough, why are we trekking through the wood like a bunch of animals? No offense Maikoh!”
Eerikki realized their line had halted and circled back to where she sat among the leaves and dirt.
“What’s the problem here, why have we stopped?”
Abban answered for her
“Reign needs a break; its lunch time anyway lets rest here for a bit and can continue onward after.”
Eerikki huffed at the mage, managing to look down his nose at Reign
“At this rate we won’t make it Wargra before nightfall. I would have expected more from the Valdraken.”
It may have been childish but she couldn’t help it as the fae turned around she lifted her leg and kicked him in the back of the knee. Abban and Maikoh both snickered under their breath at her childish antics.
“Oh, I’m sorry Eerikki, you better sit for a bit rest up that knee wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
She gave the fae a sickly-sweet smile hoping it displayed the contempt she felt towards him at the moment. Eerikki glared at her from his spot on the forest floor. He opened his mouth no doubt a witty retort on his tongue but stopped abruptly turning his head to the side and raising his finger to his lips. He stood and disappeared into the forest as silent as a ghost, leaving the three remaining members of their party on high alert.
Reign stood quietly taking her fighting stance and materializing twin Sais in her hands. She felt Maikoh and Abban close in around her back each offering the other protection as well as covering the entirety of their surroundings. They stood there for several moments hearing and seeing nothing.
Maikoh’s shifter hearing picked up on it first
“Footsteps to the south, at least a dozen coming up behind us.”
Abban whispered back
“Do we run, or do we fight?”
Reign felt the need to speak up at this point as there was no certainty that this party intended them harm. They could be traveling through the forest just as they were.
“Guys….”
She was cut off by a loud popping noise. Seconds after the noise a net landed on top of their group trapping them all underneath. Maikoh hissed in pain immediately dropping to his knees. The net was made of chain, iron chain.
Abban tried to lift the net from his side but couldn’t seem to touch it either. Reign looked at the net realizing the reason she wasn’t having the same problem. Her rune had activated and covered herself with shadow not allowing the iron to touch her skin.
Just as she was about to lift the net from them Eerikki dropped down from the trees right in front of her.
“Oh, thank god Eerikki help me get this net off the guys it’s hurting them.”
The fae looked at her with regret making no move to help them.
“I’m sorry about this Reign”
Was the last thing she heard before everything went black.
Chapter 16
The fury of Reign
Opening her eyes caused the thumping in her head to increase and the pain to skyrocket. After a few tries she was able to pry her lids apart and take in her surroundings. She was in a dark room with a rock floor that was cold and slightly damp.
There didn’t appear to be any natural light coming into the room only a flicker off the walls that indicated a torch was lit nearby. She slowly sat herself up holding a hand to the side of her head hoping to quell the pounding there.
Having come out of her fog a little more she noticed a burning on the skin around her neck and moved her hand from her temple to her throat. She felt something around her neck an iron collar had been placed on her neck to quell her magic. She tried and failed multiple times to access her magic and each failed attempt made her angrier.
Reign propped herself up against the wall facing the source of light. A wooden door with an opening in the top that held bars. Her eyes having adjusted more she was able to take in her surroundings better.
She noted she was in a room of stone on all sides, the only entry or exit the wooden door. The door seemed fairly sturdy and there was no handle from the inside indicating that it must be locked from the outside and she was in fact in a cell.
The cell held no comforts, only the stone floor and a bucket in the corner she was meant to use for relief. That is what she guessed anyway based on the odor it was emitting. She closed her eyes and slowed her breath hoping to focus more clearly on her hearing.
She heard very little so decided to move closer to the door. Leaning against the door she angled her ear towards the opening at the top. She could hear a dripping noise just outside her cell at first it was hard to push the noise in the background out of the way. After a few tries though she was able to drown out the sound and hear the other noises outside the door.
Reign heard clanging of metal on metal, pained groans, and whispered conversations too quiet for her to make out. After standing near the door for several long moments she decided there was nothing of use to her just yet and she would try again later.
She headed back towards the back of the cell once more. Placing her back to the wall she slid down into a sitting position. Time seemed to move at its own pace here.
She had no idea how long she’d been locked in the cell but judging by the grumbling coming from her stomach it had been at least a day.
Reign waited and waited but no one came to her cell, no one brought food, or came to get her. She waited for so long she began to drift off to sleep.
Just as her eyes closed, she heard the shuffle of keys on the other side of her door. Opening her eyes back up and quickly standing. She prepared herself as the key twisted and lock disengaged.
A short stout woman walked in wearing a dull silver tunic and apron wrapped around her waist. She stood at the door hands on her hip assessing Reign. Her eyes traveled up and down taking in her fighting leathers and no doubt disheveled appearance.
She made a slight tsking noise with her mouth turned on her heal and walked out of the cell. Calling over her shoulder
“Come now girl, we must prepare you. Meeting the High queen in your state will just not do. Have my head she would.”
Reign pushed off the wall taking cautious steps towards the door that remained open. A guard awaited her on the other side grabbing her roughly by the arm and following after the woman.
They passed many more wooden doors just like hers, before ascending a set of stone steps. The halls of doors wound around and around with each new set of steps they ascended. There were no windows to the outside but the higher they climbed the lighter the air grew.
After what seemed like forever and hundreds of steps, they finally arrived at a large iron door. The stout woman reached down the front of her chest pulling out a chain with keys attached to the end.
She shuffled through them eventually landing on a large iron key which she placed in the lock and twisted causing the door too swing open with a groan of its hinges.
Stepping through the large iron door she found herself stopping on the other side to take in the sheer beauty of her surroundings. An extreme contrast to the dungeon of stone with no natural light. She now stood in a large open area the walls made of a beautiful warm red wood.
They appeared to be standing inside a tower of sorts as there was a natural stone staircase that wound its way around the walls and up. The center of the room held the most glorious fountain. What appeared to be a beautiful woman with large wings stood in the center, people of all species bowed around her?
The water fell from somewhere far above in a waterfall that cascaded down behind the woman making her shine. Fae milled about the grand room happy and content not paying Reign any mind.
She was so entranced by her surroundings that the guard had to shove her forward to get her moving. She followed the stout woman to the elegant staircase and they began to ascend. After several steps they passed the first window, it seemed carved directly into the wall itself.
As they approached then passed Reign noticed they wer
e in a forest surrounded by trees as large as any castle tower she had ever seen. Then it dawned on her they were not in a manmade structure but a tree right now.
The fae made their homes not just in the forest but of the forest as well. Awed by her revelation she took in the rooms features under a new light even more impressed by her surroundings.
Their small group continued to ascend the stairs passing multiple windows and hallways that appeared as random as the branches on the tree they were now in. If she had to guess it was because they were most likely indeed the branches of this very tree.
After walking for what seemed like forever the stout woman finally stopped at a landing about mid-way up the tree. Contrary to her appearance the woman did not seem winded or even slightly fazed by the number of steps they had just climbed.
The woman turned towards Reign briefly, assumedly assuring she was still behind her. Satisfied she turned to her right and pushed forward down a hallway that solidified Reigns thoughts on them being tree branches. They continued on down the carved wood tunnel until reaching an ornate door at the end where two fae stood guard.
The guard on the right nodded to the woman
“Good morn Beatrice”.
Beatrice responded in kind
“Good morn to you as well, the prince has requested the prisoner be brought to his chambers for preparations.”
The guard looked Reign up and down, seemingly satisfied with what he saw he turned towards the door producing a small gold key. Once unlocked he pushed the door open and stood to the side allowing them entrance.
Beatrice stepped back grabbing Reigns arms she waved off the guard at her back and pulled her forward towards the door. Reign did not struggle. She knew she could take this woman out easily enough even with the collar around her neck. To take on Beatrice and the three guards would prove too difficult without her powers.
They stepped over the threshold into a circular lavish waiting room. The furniture appeared to be carved by hand and was decorated with several colorful pillows for comfort.
There were two couches and a few chairs all centered on a beautifully carved stone fireplace. Off the sitting room there were three doors all closed and lacking indication of what they may be. Once they were both inside, the door was shut followed by the lock clicking back in place.
Beatrice let go of Reigns arm and stepped towards the large door at the center of the other two. She knocked once and spoke quietly
“Sire I have the prisoner you requested.”
Shuffling could be heard from behind the door followed by the click of the handle. Reign was still taking in the luxury around her when she heard the voice.
“That will be all Beatrice thank you.”
Reign’s eyes quickly latched onto the gray of the fae who stood in front of Beatrice. If not for the shock of who stood there the pain and rage she felt towards the fae would have overwhelmed her.
Beatrice looked between the fae prince and Reign noting neither’s eyes where focused on her but instead locked in a silent battle between the two. She nodded once to the prince and made her way out of the suite.
Reign heard the soft click of the door once again followed by the lock clicking into place. She intended it to come out with all the furry and pain she felt but instead it left her lips on a whisper,
“Eerikki”.
Chapter 17
So much for trust
He tried to step towards her, but the look in her eyes must have made him rethink his decision.
“Reign I can explain.”
His hands were palm out towards her as if he was trying to soothe a wild beast. Reign’s response stuck to the end of her tongue as the two other doors in the room opened. Out stepped Maikoh and Abban.
The three men she was beginning to trust stood in front of her. The relief at seeing the other two safe quickly dissipated as fury like none she had ever felt welled within.
Her powers were fighting against the iron at her throat as the collar began to grow hot against her skin. The men before her where speaking as they approached her but the fury within her muted their voices.
They were within a few steps of her now and just as Abban reached out his hand to her the room exploded. Furniture flew and smashed against the wall, glass shattered, and yells erupted from the other side of the door.
Reigns wings erupted from her back, just as the collar flew from her neck. The men around her were thrown against the doors they had just exited. The guards must have heard the commotion as they came rushing into the fray as well only to be unable to enter the room.
Reign hadn’t planned it but her shadows had cascaded off her skin creating a bubble around the room. She had never created a shield around anything but herself but now was not the time to think about it. Eerikki was the first to recover cautiously looking to Reign as he stood on shaky legs.
“My Valdraken Please, I know how this looks but if you will allow me to explain.”
Her voice once again came out in that dark ethereal tone.
“Explain what prince”
She spat the word out as if it tasted ill on her tongue.
“Explain how you lied to me? How you betrayed me? How you took my confidence and threw it back in my face?”
She raised her left hand activating the healing rune there and raised it towards the fae, she intended for him to feel all the pain she had felt, the pain of being freed only to end up in a cell betrayed by those she trusted.
A female voice sounded from behind her. Reign felt her as much as heard her. She walked into the room right through the shadow barrier she had placed around the room.
“My dear girl, calm yourself this is no way for a Valdraken to behave.”
The woman stepped in front of Reign reaching out towards her hand she placed hers on top of Reigns glowing rune and pushed downward neutralizing her attack.
“I am Saline, Queen of the fae, wife to the king, mother to the prince, and daughter of Angelia the previous Valdraken.”
The woman before her stood slightly shorter than Reign, long golden hair cascaded down her back in perfect curls. Her eyes where a dull brown color that reminded Reign of mud.
This woman was beautiful but there was just something off about her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it but no one was fool enough to step in front of an attack and the way she talked to Reign like she knew her.
Queen or not Reign was the Valdraken, future ruler of the world. This woman had no right to interfere with her anger, her business.
Just as Reign opened her mouth and began to tell her as much a strange magic washed over her body. All the anger and pain fled from Reign a dark sickly feeling washing over her. She reached out with her senses trying to feel for the magic and was surprised by what she encountered.
The same thing she was unable to identify within Eerikki was in this woman as well. A deep reservoir of power held within. If what she said was to be believed the same power she now possessed the power of the Valdraken.
There was however something off about her magic as if it didn’t want to be a part of her. The exploration left Reign feeling even more uncertain and weary than ever as she looked at the woman before her.
She knew nothing of the previous Valdraken only that she had lived three hundred years ago. This woman before her though did not look a day over thirty. She was young and beautiful, her features sharp and elegant. If not for the lack of glow she would have assumed her to be fae.
Reign didn’t even know Valdraken could have children everything she had heard so far had indicated the Valdraken belonged to the Great Dragon.
That as soon as she served her purpose she was to travel to the southern mountains and return the gifts that had been given to her.
How did this woman exist and how did she hold the power of the Valdraken?
“I… I don’t understand, why am I here? What do you want with me?”
Reigns voice came out shaky reflecting the uncertainty she was feeling. The woman sli
d her hand from the top of Reigns and up to her shoulder, the wrongness of her traveling with her hand. Saline’s eyes softened as did her tone
“We want nothing from you child, we brought you here to help you and welcome you to our world.”
She appeared sincere but the actions that brought Reign to this point had proven anything but welcoming.
“If you brought me here only to welcome me than why chain me, lock me in a cell, and starve me?”
Reign yanked her shoulder from the woman’s hand and spoke once again to everyone in the room.
“Why not tell me you wanted me to come here, why lie to me, betray my trust?”
She tried to hide the hurt from her voice but judging by the way the three men flinched she knew it had come across.
Saline spoke once more
“I am sorry for the way you were brought here child, we were unaware of who you were until after you had been captured. You were placed in the dungeon as any intruder of my forest would be.”
Reign didn’t miss the way she emphasized my forest, as if trying to prove she held some sort of power over Reign. She looked to the guard’s still trapped outside the door
“As for the way you were treated, it is our typical protocol not to feed prisoners until we know if they are friend are foe.”
