The Stone Queen

by L. E. Bross

I flexed my shoulder blades and my wings fluttered with irritation.

  He actually expected me to wear one of those?

  Good God, there was barely enough of anything to call material. After spending all my life trying to cover up and hide my body, there was no way I could expose myself like that, no matter how I looked now. I wrapped the sheet tighter and dug further back. There had to be something I could put on.

  Why couldn't there be jeans and a hooded sweatshirt here somewhere? I'd settle for third-hand if it meant I didn't have to wear any of these things. In the end, I chose what I hoped was the least see through outfit. It was held together by ribbons laced up the back to leave room for my wings, which took considerable twisting to pull tight enough for my liking. Finally, the filmy material fluttered against my calves and I stepped to the mirror. An ethereal creature looked back at me, almost too beautiful to be real.

  She was not me, but I could not not look away.

  “Beautiful.”

  At the whispered voice, I spun around, covering myself as best as I could. The V in the front dipped down almost to my belly button.

  Nephaste stepped through the door and his eyes glowed. “Even more breathtaking than when I first saw you at Evelina's.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but his stare made my insides tremble. The air between us grew thicker, and I ached to move closer to him. My skin tingled in expectancy. Waited for his touch. What was wrong with me? My body and mind couldn't seem to agree.

  A smile of satisfaction curved his lips upward, and he took a step closer.

  I caught the corner of my reflection in the floor length mirror, and it drenched me in ice cold reality. This was not me. I was just some glittery shell on the outside now, a perfect wrapping over a soiled soul. When I looked back at him, the connection was gone.

  Nephaste scowled and his shoulders tightened.

  “Come.” He held out his hand toward me.

  “I'm not a fucking dog,” I spat at him.

  A storm passed over his face and he turned away, his hands clenching and unclenching before they finally stopped and relaxed. When he looked back, the dark emotion was gone. He was the image of a gentleman.

  “Fine, would you do me the pleasure of walking with me this morning? I would like to show you around my home.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “I really don't feel like going anywhere with you.”

  My heart thundered in my chest, and I held my breath. A tiny voice told me I was poking a stick at a tiger and had better behave. I've never been good at doing what I'm told, though.

  He took a step towards me, and I stepped back. His eyebrow lifted, and he crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring me. He was dressed casually today in a soft button down shirt and the leather pants he seemed to favor, though todays color was tan and not black. With boots laced to his knees, he looked like a pirate.

  He had the plundering and murder down anyway.

  “I’ll stay here and rest,” I said with an over exaggerated a yawn.

  “My dear, it wasn't a request. Again, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I prefer the civilized approach myself. Much more…pleasant for you. Though if you’d rather I drag you through the halls by your hair, I’m not adverse to playing caveman.”

  He’d do it too.

  I gnawed my bottom lip between my teeth, weighing my options. It wasn't like I had anywhere to go. I was trapped here by the simple fact that I had no idea where I was. Like it or not, Nephaste was the only person who could let me out. And the more familiar I got with the houser, the better my chance to get out became.

  “Fine.” I stomped past him into the hall.

  His hand on my lower back sent a shiver up my spine and my wings twitched. The material did little to hide the heat from his touch. A tiny part of me yearned to lean back and enjoy the sensations, to let myself sink into his arms, but I clenched my teeth and stepped away from his touch.

  I didn't even like him.

  His low chuckle sounded right behind me, and I thought I heard him say “soon” under his breath. Goosebumps skittered over my bare arms, and my steps got quicker. The marble felt cold under my bare feet as we walked to the end of the hallway. Nephaste guided me down a large flight of stairs and stopped right before the archway into a dining room.

  “Almost forgot.” He leaned forward, as if he were going to kiss me and I inhaled a gasp of surprise. Warmth trickled down my throat this time.

  “What did you do?” Even as I asked, my limbs softened.

  When Nephaste put his arm around my shoulder, I didn’t complain. We walked together into what was a dining room. Nephaste stepped behind me and I felt his arm slide around my waist. I was too numb to think of pushing it away.

  “Did I forget to mention we had company, my love?”

  Sitting there in a chair, as if he didn't have a single care in the world, was Torin.

  I struggled to break away from Nephaste's hold but barely moved. He held me pressed against his front, brushing his lips over my bare shoulder. Inside I was screaming for Torin to help me, but on the outside, I tilted my head to the side to give Nephaste access to my neck. I felt him smile against my skin.

  Torin had not even left the chair and watched us with indifference, his eyebrow raising only when he skimmed down over my clothes. I wanted to scream it wasn't my choice, that I’d been brought here against my will, but I couldn't say a word. The soft moans echoing from my throat made me want to die.

  Surely he knew this wasn’t me.

  A muscle in Torin’s cheek twitched before he met my gaze and raised his glass in a mock toast. The condemnation blazed from his eyes. He couldn’t think I was there willingly. He knew me better than that. Even as I fought to give Torin some kind of sign, Nephaste slid his hand higher, cupping my breast.

  I screamed and raged and fought even as I stood appearing to enjoy the touch.

  “I see you haven't wasted any time getting comfortable.” Torin downed the juice and stood. “You clean up very nice, Mer. A true Princess. You were right Nephaste, she has embraced this and appears content. Thank you for letting me see her for myself and congratulations.”

  His eyes roamed up and down me once, lingering where Nephaste had his hand and then he turned and strode from the room without looking back. Nephaste held me firmly in place against him until Torin was gone. I screamed for him to come back, voicing only whimpers until Nepashte released his spell with another breath. My legs buckled and only his grip kept me from falling to the ground.

  “He wanted to see for himself that you were happy here. With me. We will make the perfect team Meri, think of it, you and I, ruling next to each other, Light and Dark together,” he whispered in my ear.

  “That wasn’t me. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

  “That’s not how it looked to the Prince. He believed you chose me. He could barely look at you when he walked out.”

  A sob flew past my lips. Torin couldn’t really think I chose Nephaste, not after everything we’d been through. Tears burned my eyes and streamed down my face. The Dark Elf leaned forward and licked the droplets away. The darkness in his eyes grew deeper and he smiled.

  With waning strength, I struggled against him until exhaustion claimed me. Nephaste carried me to my room and laid me gently in the bed, pulling the cleaned covers up to my chin. I didn't even have the strength to turn away when he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  “Sleep my dear,” he whispered. “You will soon learn to enjoy your place here by my side.”

  My eyes slid closed, and I fell into a fitful sleep where everyone I loved had been yanked from me and I was utterly and completely alone. Not a nightmare but my reality now.

  I woke filled with rage and incontrol of myself again.

  Nephaste had used his power on me.

  How dare he?

  I wanted to kill him. Run him through with the dullest knife I could find. Maybe tie him to a pole and let the shadows feast on h
is corpse. I stripped off the clothes he’d had his hands all over and threw them into the fireplace. The next time the boggart lit the logs, the damned material would be incinerated. But disrobing wasn’t enough. I wanted to dig at my skin to get rid of the crawling sensation of being this place.

  There was a bathroom of sorts attached to the bedchamber. The entire room was a mosaic of tiny tiles in a million colors. An enormous shower head hung from the ceiling in the center and several smaller ones formed a circle around it, but there were no handles to turn on the water. As I stepped closer to look, water cascaded from the main fixture. I braced for the shock of cold, but the water was instantly the perfect temperature.

  I spread my wings slowly, and the remaining fixtures sprang to life. Warm rivers ran over my skin, washing away the echoes of Nephaste’s touch. I closed my eyes and felt the droplets running down my face. I had to get out of this place. It was clear that Nephaste could make me do whatever he wanted with only a breath. What would he do next? I’d seen the look in his eyes. The thought made me sick that I might do more than allow his touches.

  I scrubbed my hands over my body.

  How did Torin not see that I was a prisoner?

  A sob broke from my throat and I pressed my hand to my mouth. Had he really left me in the hands of a monster? The one person I trusted to keep me safe had abandoned me. Or had he? The note...could it have been from Torin? The walls closed in around me until I panted for breath.

  What was I supposed to do?

  Stop whining and fight.

  I closed my eyes and took a slow inhale in. The water was scented with a soft floral fragrance that reminded me of Spring. New beginnings. A chance to start fresh. I’d spent my life fighting so why the hell was I giving up so easily now.

  Done, I stalked to the bedroom and threw open the armoire. By the time I pulled a hanger free, my skin was dry. This outfit, like the last, clung to my body but I barely gave it a second thought. If he thought to control me by forcing these ridiculous outfits, so be it.

  There was only one thing I wanted to do.

  Finding a way out.

  Something scratched against the door and I watched as the boggart carried another tray into my room and hurried to the bedside table. After he set it down, he glanced at me, then at the door, then handed me a piece of paper. He disappeared before I could even ask him what it was.

  Be ready.

  As soon as I read the words the paper crinkled and evaporated in a poof of smoke. The nerve of Nephaste, issuing demands after what he did to me. I refused to sit around and wait for him. I grabbed a pastry from the tray the boggart left and walked to the window.

  Since the door was always locked, it was my best chance at escape.

  Because that’s what I was going to do.

  Playing the victim was never me and I didn’t want to start now.

  The room was on the second floor of the house and below all I could see was a sprawling garden. Brick pathways were lined with shrubs trimmed into the shape of trolls. Shadows moved and shifted but I couldn't tell if they were the ones that followed me or if they were simply from the bushes.

  It looked like a maze from up here, and I tried to follow it with my eyes, but the turns were hidden from my view. At the far side, it was too dark to tell if there was an exit there or not.

  Even if I could get out the window and somehow climb down the side of the house, I’d be lost after only a few feet. I had to find another way out. Just as I started to turn away, a movement well past the garden, at the edge of the line of trees barricading the property, caught my attention. I pressed my fingers and nose against the glass, straining to see it again. There, in a darkened hollow between two trees, something moved.

  Adrenaline surged through me.

  Someone was there.

  Was it friend or foe?

  They skulked in and out of the trunks, appearing and disappearing so quickly I couldn't get a good look. Trolls didn’t move so gracefully. Ogres were much larger. Still, I couldn’t help but hope they were there for me.

  A figure flitted in front of my face and I jumped back with a squeak.

  A tiny pixie hovered in the air, her wings moving so fast I couldn’t see them.

  “Princess Meri,” a tiny voice called out. “I'm Aliana, from Outskirts. You must break the window and come with me now.”

  “Torin?” My pulse leapt.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Hurry.”

  It wasn’t an answer but who else would come for me?

  Be ready.

  The note was from him.

  I tugged at the window, tried to lift it open but it would not move. She laid one hand on the glass pane and used the other to hit with her fist. She wanted me to hit the glass. I pounded my fists against the pane but I might as well be hitting a wall.

  No matter how hard I hit it, the window would not break. I grabbed a stool and slammed it against the glass. It only bounced back and fell to the floor. The windows had been sealed with some kind of magic.

  Rage smouldered in my gut. I had survived being attacked by monsters, lived through my mom being murdered, and I was not going to let some Dark Elf keep me prisoner any longer. I was a fucking Princess and damned well getting out of here. My stomach tightened as the heat grew stronger. Something like lightning rushed through me, a ripple of prickly sensation that built in my fingertips until they felt on fire.

  I touched the window frame again and the sash shot upwards, shattering the glass in the panes and sending them shooting out like shrapnel. On instinct I lifted my hand to shield my face and the glass just stopped before it fell harmless to the floor.

  I stumbled back, eyes wide.

  How did I do that?

  Voices shouted and there was pounding on my door. Just as it started to open, I swept my hand out in a truly reflexive movement and furniture went flying into each other to pile against the door. The voice grew louder, angrier.

  Tension built inside me again and this time I swept the gigantic bed aside to wedge against the furniture as if it weighed nothing. The room was a mess and broken bits of the window littered the ground. I stared at my fingers in horror, afraid of what would happen next.

  Shadows danced along the edge of my vision. Whatever this power was, it had control right this minute. In the haze, I heard a shrill voice right next to my ear.

  “Meri. You must fly right now.”

  Aliana tugged at my ear and that slight touch caused the darkness to recede.

  “We must leave now, Princess.”

  She flitted to the window and motioned for me to follow. I stepped to the sill and looked down. It was too far. I’d break bones if I jumped. Something huge crashed through the door behind us and Alianna screamed. A shove at my back sent me flailing through the opening.

  The ground rushed up.

  Instinct took over.

  THe muscles in my back tensed and my wings spread open. After a few awkward flaps, I even out and glided over the garden maze, away from the house. Wind rushed past my face. How did I know how to do this?

  Because you’re fey.

  Aliana led as we sped across the open meadow toward the spot I’d been looking at. We'd almost reached the outskirts of trees when I heard the shouts behind us. I glanced over my shoulder and it threw off my equilibrium. I faltered and crashed into the ground, rolling along several feet before I stopped on my back. When I sat up I saw the shadows spilling from the house like a black wave.

  The edge of the woods seemed farther away now.

  Nephaste wants you alive, I kept reminding myself, but the baying and snarling made me freeze. It was the Shadow Hounds. The wall of blackness thundered closer and the air grew icy around us. Aliana tugged at my hair but she was too tiny to actually help. I couldn't make my limbs work through the fear.

  Strong arms slid under me and lifted. I fought and screamed, convinced one of the monsters had up snuck behind me.

  “It’s me,” Torin growled in my ear and instan
tly stopped fighting.

  His body shifted and I felt him moving. I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked over his shoulder. The Hounds were so close now, I could almost feel their putrid breath washing over my skin.

  Alianna was at our side, yelling to run faster. The forest loomed in front of us, an impenetrable wall that parted at the last second and allowed us through before closing ranks around us.

  Kalian said the druids didn’t take sides, but they were helping us now.

  Beyond the thick wall of trunks and branches, I could hear the snarling before thick foliage filled in the gaps and dulled the sound.

  “Mer?” Torin set me on my feet and cradled my face.

  His gaze darted everywhere as if checking to make sure I was okay. Relief filled his bright purple eyes and I couldn't look away. He was magnificent, dressed in dark brown and green leather clothing, a huge sword strapped to his back. A warrior. And he’d come back, ready to do battle over me.

  He didn’t abandon me.

  All of this must have played out on my face because his gaze softened, and he stepped closer. His hands felt warm on my cheeks when he tilted my chin up.

  “I’m so sorry I left you. His guards would have been on me quicker than you could blink if I tried to take you. I'm powerful Mer, but not strong enough to take on the whole damned castle. I had to make sure he had you, then I could come back. God, I want to kill him for putting his hands on you.”

  His words came out in a growl but his fingers trembled against my skin. The tortured look in his eyes made my chest tighten. I laid my hands over his, offering what little strength I had.

  “I’m okay. You found me. Again.”

  The words were only a whisper, my throat so tight with emotion I could barely speak. His thumbs stroked over my jaw, the touch familiar and safe. With a long exhale, he leaned closer, until our foreheads were touching and I could see every speck of light and dark playing in his eyes.

  “I went to convince Evelina to help you, but she didn’t have everything she needed to make the potion. I had to wait and when I finally got back to the apartment you were gone.”

  He pulled me into his embrace and slid his fingers in my hair, holding my head against his chest. Against the frantic pounding of his heart.