“Looks like it’s just us, one on one,” Zaira said.
“It always was between us,” Fairuza snarled. “From the day you were born, our battle began.”
“You should have given up then.”
“Why? It was so fun killing your father and making you suffer the death of your own child.”
The world around her went silent as the wicked smile stretching across Fairuza’s face fueled Zaira’s rage.
She leapt at her, shifting into her wolf form as she soared through the air. Anticipating the move, Fairuza raised her hands, flinging a wave of power at her to knock her back down.
Zaira shifted back and looked up to see the purple dragon descending upon her, but before it could reach her, Merta flew above it, shifted into human form long enough to sink her blade into its head, then shifted back into a red dragon so she could carry the dead dragon away in her claws before it fell onto the crowd, injuring people.
“I’ll kill you!” Fairuza screamed after Merta.
“No you won’t.” Zaira moved quickly, head-butting Fairuza in the stomach before calling upon her own magic to form fireballs in her hands. She hit Fairuza with one after another, not allowing the woman the chance to block.
Fairuza screamed, tried to call upon her own magic, but didn’t seem able to. She was weakening, unable to call upon the strength or mana of her pets Addix had freed.
“You used to be strong,” Zaira taunted her, “but you had to get greedy and curse yourself. You signed your own death certificate the moment you killed the first unicorn, then you went back for more. Stupid!”
Enraged by Zaira’s taunting, Fairuza ducked a powerball and plowed into her, knocking her onto her back. “You will not destroy me!”
She lunged forward, a small dagger extracted from her belt, but Zaira kicked out with both legs, propelling her backward, right where Addix stood in unicorn form.
Zaira rose to see Fairuza impaled on Addix’s horn, her mouth opened in a silent scream as she wrapped her hands around the tip of the horn protruding through the center of her chest.
The pendant around her neck started to dim.
“Take the pendant,” Merta instructed, landing on the balcony just after shifting into human form. “Addix is nulling its magic.”
Zaira removed the pendant and clasped it around her neck, where a faint glow started to form inside it once more.
“All your wolves will die,” Fairuza whispered with a smile. “I’ll win in the end.”
“This is the end,” Zaira advised, dagger in hand. “And you’ve lost everything. My people are fighters. We’ll survive.”
She slid the blade across Fairuza’s throat, mentally warning her pack leaders that more hunters would be coming, and hoping they could hear her through the distance.
Addix shifted back into human form, allowing Fairuza’s body to fall to the floor.
“She’s dead. It’s over.” He opened his arms and Zaira ran to them.
TWENTY
“You almost nulled the pendant.” Zaira stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror as she fingered the teardrop-shaped pendant resting between her breasts. She wore a long wine-colored dress with a deep vee, and had never felt so ridiculous.
“The pendant is the queen’s crown,” Addix said. “Without a queen, there is no Imortia. It was a good thing I didn’t null its magic. Fairuza is gone and all the cruel spells connected to her are gone. The pendant was never bad, the person wearing it was.”
“But even with Fairuza gone, we are still Weres.”
“We harbor those spirits inside us. There’s no nulling that.”
“I need to get back to the pack. Our people are safe for now, but hunters are coming. We should be there.”
“Once other realms learn that Fairuza has been destroyed, Imortia may also come under attack,” Merta advised from where she stood by the balcony doors. “Imortians only function with a queen telling them what to do.”
“Maybe it’s time they learned how to take care of themselves.”
“For that, they still need a leader. It is all they know. I can’t fault them for that.”
“You really care about these people, don’t you?”
Merta shrugged. “It may seem strange, as I’m really not one of them, being born to human, non-magical servants, but I grew up here. These are as much my people as anyone else could be. I believe in them, and with a good leader, I think they can grow to be people you would be proud of.”
“Spoken like a true leader.”
Merta laughed. “Yes, well, I’m not going to get these people chanting some devotion to me during any Gatherings and I’m not about to kill you for the title, so no worries there. I think we have the best leader we can have.”
“So what happens next?” Mercury asked. He’d been reclining on the bed in silence, no longer needed to protect Avery and Phoebe. “You stay here to rule these people and the rest of us just go on without you?”
There was a slight trace of bitterness to his tone, but Zaira didn’t scold him for it. He was family. These people were not. Of course he would feel hurt by what could only be perceived as a betrayal if she did not return to his realm with him.
“Maybe there is another person who could take the title.”
“Yeah, right.” Merta laughed at this. “These people have waited hundreds of years for you to come and take that title. They aren’t going to just accept someone else, and I don’t see any reason why anyone would dare attempt to take the title from you. They were terrified of Fairuza and you killed her. That’s going to make them triple-terrified of you, even if they like you.”
“You could stay here,” Addix suggested. “When I go back to the other realm to get my people, they will have the choice of returning or staying there. You should have the same option. You’ve more than earned it.”
“Stay here?” Mercury looked at Merta. “Are you staying?”
“Of course. This is my home.” She looked away but not before Zaira saw the sadness in her eyes. The hope. The dragon shifter wanted Mercury to stay, but she wouldn’t beg him to. She was too proud.
Zaira knew exactly what she felt. She caught Addix’s eye through the reflection in the mirror and saw the regretful goodbye in his eyes. He would go back to her pack and lead them while she stayed in Imortia to lead the Imortians. Not because she wanted to, but because it was a responsibility she’d taken when she took the pendant from Fairuza.
“You’re planning on sneaking away when I formally announce myself as queen,” she directed at his reflection, not wanting to turn and look him in the eye. “You’re going to go there to protect the pack while I have to stay here and protect these people.”
“These people need a queen and you’ve taken that role. I know your heart is with your wolves,” he answered. “They are my people, too, and I will take care of them for you.”
“But you won’t be with me.”
“No.” He sighed. “The thought of being with you again is what got me through Hades, but it seems we just weren’t meant to be happy. We’re meant to lead.”
“That’s bullshit,” Mercury grumbled. “You two are depressing the crap out of me. You should be together. You deserve a happy ending more than anyone, and Zaira, you don’t even care about these people. Why throw away your happiness to protect a bunch of cowards?”
“They’re good people,” Merta argued. “They just need a good leader. Zaira will be that for them.”
“At the cost of her own happiness? She has to suffer to take care of them? We never asked Zaira to suffer for us. We never would have.”
“Silence, both of you,” Zaira cut in as she turned from the mirror. “Addix, please stay. Don’t run away. Please just stand at my side?”
Reluctantly, he nodded.
“Good. Now, it’s time to announce the new queen.”
“I think I’ll just stay here away from all the action,” Mercury grumbled.
Merta opened her mouth to say something b
ut Zaira held up her hand. “We all have our opinions,” she said. “You love Imortia and Mercury does not. Let’s just get this over with.”
Merta parted the balcony doors and stepped out, standing to the side as Zaira took her place in the center of the balcony.
The crowd below erupted into cheers and yells of triumph. Addix stopped at her side with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked regal, even in his black T-shirt and pants, like a king, and that was what he should have been. Not a consort, not a lover, but her king. Her mate. Her partner. That was what he would be if they were together in the realm she now thought of as home. And that’s what he would be, she decided as the ridiculousness of the Imortian people’s cheering crept in, sickening her.
“Silence!” she yelled, harsher than she’d intended.
The people stopped shouting, the cheering ceased as they looked up at her and waited for what she had to say. She could see the confusion in their eyes. She stood before them on the palace balcony, obviously the new queen, but there was no victory in her eyes. She’d had no victory. She’d lost her family.
“Yes, I am now your queen. No, I am not overjoyed that I am your queen. I never asked for this, but I took the title. Just as any of you could have done if you’d been brave enough, I walked into this palace and I took it.”
Addix and Merta eyed her curiously, but said nothing.
“Fairuza was not a queen, but a tyrant. She ruled you people out of fear and you just let her. You see, she was powerful. This was true. So were you. Why do you think she closed down the school where your children grew their abilities?” She laughed. “And you just let her! If she were not afraid of you, she wouldn’t have closed the school. She closed that school for the same reason she banished me. Oh, you may have been told that I’d betrayed her, and you may have been told some excuse as to why the school was not needed, but the truth is she feared anyone having more power than her. If she saw the possibility of that happening, she did something to stop it, and you just let her.”
Zaira moved forward and gripped the railing, looking down at the people’s stunned faces. “The two people standing on this balcony with me stood up to her. They were sent to Hades and still they did not quit. They kept fighting. Addix had a unicorn spirit forced on him but he kept going. Merta was just a human with no mana or special abilities whatsoever. A daughter of servants, her life was meant to be spent as a housemaid at best. She refused that life. She fought toe to toe with our strongest warriors, never backing down. She slayed a dragon to protect a queen she despised, and you know why? For you people. She did it for you, and she was then cursed with that dragon’s spirit and sent to Hades when she refused to do the queen’s bidding. Still, she fought. She is here today because she never quit. She did not give in to fear.”
Glancing over, she saw moisture pooling in Merta’s eyes as she stood rigid.
“I am telling you this because you should know that a mere human had more guts than you. You have just waited for me to return because of what? Some sort of tale? Some belief that because of magic I performed as a baby, I would be the one to rescue you from Fairuza’s rule? Well, I did end her reign, but I did not do it alone. I was brought here by a man who refused to be Fairuza’s consort, who fought for who he truly cared about, and a woman who never gave up no matter what obstacles were thrown in her way. I brought one of my children, one of my pack that I have protected, yet taught to stand for himself. My people, my wolves, would have never bowed to me had I treated them as Fairuza treated you.”
Zaira turned to see Mercury sitting up on the bed, listening. He smiled at her and nodded, encouraging her to keep going.
“These people helped me because they care, because they are brave and strong and good. Two of them were kicked out of this realm and punished in Hades. One of them had never even heard of Imortia. Yet, all three of them came with me and helped me to destroy Fairuza so that you could be free from her tyranny. I myself was sent to Hades and these people went in to retrieve me! What did you do? A few gave us invisibility cloaks. That was nice, but you didn’t walk into the palace with us lest you be found out. You waited for me to appear at a Gathering so you could give me your devotion. That’s nice, but was it really that helpful?”
She took a moment to make eye contact with several of the Imortians below her, satisfied when they averted their gazes, shame filling them.
“You are cowards. You could have overthrown Fairuza a long time ago. If it was your devotion giving her power, why did you continue giving it? You could have appointed another queen and given her your devotion, but you wouldn’t dare do that, not when you thought you had a sure bet with me. You disgust me and in all honesty I have to confess, I do not want to be your queen. I don’t care about you. You are weak and cowardly and I abhor everything about you.”
The crowd gasped as if struck and then broke out into cries of anger and fear. Zaira listened as they all cried out to her at once, some insulting her but most pleading for her forgiveness, begging her to protect them.
“Silence!”
The crowd hushed.
“As I said, I do not care about you, not in the way a queen should care about her people. You see, Imortia is not my home any longer. It has not been for quite some time. I have a home elsewhere and people there that I do respect and care about. I will continue to do so, but I can not leave you without a queen. It’s been made painfully clear to me that you simply do not know how to function without someone leading you. Sadly, you are not wise enough to recognize a good queen when you see her, so I will do something that has not been done in several millennia.”
Zaira removed the pendant from her neck. “I am appointing a new queen of Imortia and handing over the title without any need for bloodshed. Your new queen, the leader who does love you and will do all in her power to protect you and turn you into the people you were meant to be, is Merta.”
Merta gripped the railing to keep from falling, obviously stunned. “What?”
Zaira smiled as she stepped closer and clasped the pendant around her neck. “You care about them and have proven yourself worthy of leading them,” she explained softly before turning back toward the crowd to address all of Imortia.
“I have passed on the title to Merta the dragon shifter. She is fiercely brave and protective of her people, and you are her people. She is not immortal and has no mana, but she has greater strength than any of you and will be the best leader you could have ever dreamed of, far better than I would have been. Serve her well.”
The crowd stood in silence, stunned, until one voice rang out. “Hail Merta, queen of Imortia. Hail Merta, queen of our hearts …”
Zaira smiled down at Imelda, nodding her thanks for speaking up for the new queen she’d assigned. The rest of the crowd slowly joined in, until they all chanted their devotion to Merta, showing their acceptance.
“Zaira, what the hell?” Merta stepped closer to her, speaking so the people could not hear. “I’m just a human. I’m not an Imortian.”
“You are an Imortian, born and raised,” Zaira replied, “and even before you were given the dragon spirit, you were more than just a human. You always have been. You are strong, courageous, caring and you fear nothing. I couldn’t think of a better queen for Imortia which is exactly why I chose you. I will never care about these people as much as you. I see flaws where you see personality quirks that you can fix, and I know that you will. I may have been the one meant to bring an end to Fairuza’s reign, but you are the one meant to lead Imortia. Not me.”
With tears running down her face, Merta pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you, Zaira, for everything.”
“Thank you,” she responded, pulling back. “Now, introduce yourself to your people.”
TWENTY-ONE
“Beautiful babies,” Zaira commented as she stepped into Jason and Ming’s bedroom to see the pair just putting the babies into their crib for a nap.
“White Wolf! You’ve returned.” Jason crossed the room,
frowning as he saw Addix behind her. “Why is this guy here? Where’s Mercury?”
“Mercury stayed in Imortia,” she answered with a smile. “It seems he fell in love with their new queen. He wanted to be with her so you’ll have to find another enforcer to replace him.”
Jason’s face fell. “Damn. He was my favorite.”
“He’s a good man,” Addix agreed.
“Why is he here? Isn’t your business over?”
Laughing, Zaira squeezed Addix’s hand. “Addix has never been our enemy, Jason. In fact, some of you are directly descended from him. All of you, with exception to those of you who became Weres by mating with one, are directly descended from me. We are all family here. And you can all start calling me Zaira now.”
Jason blinked in confusion, shared a look with Ming who’d returned to resting on the bed, and shrugged. “Alright. So what happened? Is everything good now?”
“No, but it will be. There will be more hunters coming, a surge of them, but once we are through with them, that will be it. We’ve destroyed our greatest enemy.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there. Do I need to call the pack together for a meeting?”
“Call all the shifters. Addix’s people are our people now,” she said, raising her and Addix’s clasped hands to show they were a team. “Whoever wants to stay here can stay. We have some fighting left to do but we’re going to do it together, like family should.”
“Well said, my queen.” Addix kissed her hand.
Zaira smiled up at him before returning her attention to Jason. “Tonight, we celebrate. Gather everyone for a moon vow ceremony.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “I thought moon vows just happened between soul mates, and they couldn’t be planned.”
“Who do you think created the moon vow?” Zaira asked him. “Unlike my children who I have to guide with magic, I recognized my soul mate the moment we met, but I guess you could say it just took a long time for our stars to align.”
Moonlit Majesty Page 13
