Queen of the Earth: Book V in the Elementals Series

by Marisol Logan

  He grabbed her around the arm that was free from holding Ava and yanked her forcefully out of the room, pulling her down the halls of the castle on a path that Veria was all too familiar with—they were headed to the King's suite. Her heart pounded and her skin crawled. Whatever was going to happen in that room was not going to be good...

  She stiffened her spine and prepared herself as best she could as they approached the bedroom and Raken jerked her through the threshold. But she could never have prepared herself for what she saw once in the room, and any calm or resolve she had mustered vanished instantly upon seeing Pascha, battered and bruised, swollen face and bloodied lip, slumped in a chair in the corner. And, standing next to her with his arms across his chest and his eyes angry daggers, was Andon. Veria's heart flipped—Browan knew something. As Andon had said, if he were brought into it, there would already be too much suspicion. Browan would already know too much.

  “Put that thing in the bassinet,” Browan snapped as soon as he saw Veria.

  'That thing'...he knew, she thought with horror. It was usually 'my princess' or 'my beautiful Breyda'.

  Veria did as told, placing Ava gently in the bassinet that Browan kept in his room. She pulled her hands away from her daughter reluctantly and suppressed a sob.

  She turned back to face Browan, expecting interrogation and insults, but what she received was a sharp blow across her face. It seared into the skin of her cheekbone and jaw, and vaulted her several feet to the side until she met with the foot of his bed and crumpled against it.

  “Hey!” Andon yelled, launching himself toward Browan. Browan immediately spun on him and punched him in the gut, then across his face, as well. Veria cried out as Andon stumbled backward, wincing in pain.

  “You thought you could keep this from me?!” Browan roared. “You think I'm an idiot?”

  No one answered, and tension and terror filled the room as Veria, Andon and Pascha exchanged brief worried glances.

  “Bring them in,” Browan ordered, and Raken opened the door to the library, Pascha shuddering as he moved to her vicinity. Had he done that to her? Veria thought in horror. Her own husband?

  Willis entered, his face furrowed with sorrow, and he gasped when he saw the three of them, especially his son, each of them now having endured some sort of physical abuse, looking swollen and bruised and pained in some way or another.

  Behind Willis was an Elemental Guard Veria had seen before but didn't know. He was rakishly thin and wore a maliciously smug grin on his pale face, similar to the one Raken seemed to sport at all times since his promotion to Commander.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Willis ventured timidly.

  “Well, I need the services of a verifier,” Browan stated plainly. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “Your Majesty, I don't like the looks of this—”

  “Ambassador Villicrey, you would be wise to do your job and keep your feelings and opinions to yourself,” Browan snapped. “Now, Veria, Andon...I have a few questions for you. Have you two made love since I took Veria as my wife and Queen?”

  “No,” they lied simultaneously, both confident in tone. Veria picked up on very little deception in Andon's answer. If she was a better verifier than Willis, there was no way he would pick up on it.

  And Veria was right. Willis shrugged and shook his head softly. “I sense no deception, Your Majesty.”

  “Veria, where did you give birth to this child?” Browan asked, rounding on her, his eyes icy and his face cocksure.

  “Here, in the castle,” Veria lied, pulling at the energy as the words left her lips. “In the infirmary.”

  Everyone looked at Willis as he assured Browan again that there was no falsehood to her words.

  “She speaks the truth, Your Majesty,” he said.

  “Yes, I'm sure she does, to you...” Browan sneered.

  “I am not sure I know what you mean, King Browan,” Willis said, cocking his head in confusion.

  “I've had the wrong kind of verifier for what she speaks,” Browan declared. He gestured for the other man to come forward. “Alyevek, is there deception in the Queen's words?”

  “No, Your Majesty,” the thin man said. “But there is some manipulation of Fire Energy going on.”

  Veria's heart skipped a beat and she refrained from looking at Andon, knowing her eyes would convey her terror.

  “Really?” Browan asked facetiously. “How could she do that without a talisman that contained Fire energy, I wonder?”

  “She has one, my King,” Alyevek said. “So does he,” he added with a nod to Andon.

  “And tell me where these talismans are, Alyevek.”

  “On Andon Villicrey, the thin chain on his neck. On the Queen, the wedding band you gave her,” Alyevek replied plainly.

  Fear like Veria had never felt in her life filled her, crawling through her skin as a terrified shiver, then settling deep in her bones as a throbbing, aching fire.

  Browan strode toward her slowly, menacingly, his eyes stabbing into hers with a malice she had never seen—and she had seen him angry and hateful many times, often toward her. This was beyond all of them. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her hand toward him. Andon flinched and went rigid against the wall behind Browan as he forcefully ripped the ring off her finger.

  “You are even more vile than I thought,” he growled under his breath, an echo of the words she had said to him the day after their wedding. He whipped around and stalked toward Andon, towering over him and ripping the chain from around his neck once he reached him. “Let's try this again, shall we?” he boomed, his voice a cold taunt. “Queen Veria, Andon Villicrey—have you two made love since the Queen and I were wed?”

  The room was silent, save for the soft sobs and sniffles from Pascha in the chair in the corner. Veria knew there was nothing she could do, and surely Andon did, too. When Browan turned to look at Willis, who looked even more terrified than Veria felt, Andon caught her eyes and gave her a look of solemn apology.

  “Say it!” Browan roared, his voice echoing around the room, causing several of them to jump.

  “Yes,” Veria muttered in defeat.

  “Is that the truth?” Browan snapped at Willis.

  “Yes,” Willis answered, his head dropping to look at the floor.

  “Andon Villicrey, are you the father of that child?” Browan snarled.

  “Yes,” Andon answered, his voice and eyes full of hatred for the man who interrogated them.

  “Is that the truth?” Browan barked at Andon's father who had not looked up from the floor.

  Wordlessly, Willis nodded.

  “And Pascha, did you arrange a meeting for the two of them at the stone quarry?” Browan asked her. She cowered and trembled in the chair, and her eyes flashed to Raken standing by the door.

  She nodded and sobbed her answer. “Yes.”

  Browan turned back to Willis, who nodded, tears forming in his eyes.

  “Ambassador, take your granddaughter,” Browan ordered. “Alyevek, you are dismissed.”

  Willis let a sob break from his throat. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he sniffled as he trudged to the bassinet. Veria watched as Andon's lip trembled, but his body went rigid as his father pulled the baby into his arms.

  Before he left the room, Veria called out to him, “Her name is Ava.”

  Andon sighed through a strangled sob and dropped his head, and Veria knew it was because he couldn't bear to watch his daughter leave. There was a chance neither of them would see her again.

  As soon as Willis and the baby were gone, Browan grabbed Veria by the shoulders and pulled her into him, shaking her in a rage. “Ava!?” he shouted in her face. “You had a different name for her?! You really think you are going to get out of this, and go have your perfect little life with your damn servant boy? You arrogant snake of a woman! You worthless whore!”

  He threw his hand across her face and the pain blinded her for an instant.

  “Get your damn hands off of her,
Browan,” Andon warned.

  Browan threw his head back and cackled. “Or what, Villicrey? You'll knock me out with your natural state, like the coward you are? You will defy your King, again? Sounds like treason...do you know what I do to people who commit treason?”

  Andon fumed, his face bright red and his fists clenched.

  “I am willing to let you all live, under one condition,” Browan said, his voice, and his words, turning Veria's entire body to ice as if Raken were freezing her body.

  She had heard those words before—when he'd had Andon and Strelzar and Sarco in the dungeon and traded her family's lives for her agreement to marry him. Her body went rigid and she swallowed against a hot stone of despair. “What?” she spat.

  “Veria, don't do anything he asks of you,” Andon begged.

  “Oh, no, I had no intention of giving her a choice. She will provide me with an heir, or you all die,” Browan snarled. Before she had a chance to react, Browan lifted her and threw her on the bed behind her. Her heart stopped beating and her body went numb.

  “Are you insane?!” Andon shouted as Browan went to rip off her nightgown.

  Veria was too shocked to fight him off, but Andon launched at Browan, grappling him away momentarily. Veria watched in silent horror as Browan and Andon exchanged several blows. Against Browan's much larger stature, Andon was holding his own, until he suddenly stopped, choking and gasping for air, and his entire body began to convulse uncontrollably.

  “Raken! Stop!” Pascha shrieked.

  Andon fell to the floor in a heap, and Browan turned back to Veria, stalking back to the bed.

  “Your Majesty—speaking as someone with physician training, there is no possible way Veria could become pregnant right now. She just gave birth—” Pascha started to object, but Browan interrupted.

  “Raken, silence your wife!” he shouted as he removed his pants.

  Pascha went rigid and turned blue around her eyes and lips, sliding out of the chair onto the floor, gasping for breath. Veria shook uncontrollably in fear, and screamed in panic as Browan tore the nightgown from her body as he had started to do before Andon's interference. She covered her eyes and sobbed.

  “Browan...” Andon roared from the floor, hauling himself up and jumping onto Browan's back, attempting to wrestle him away from Veria again.

  Browan grabbed his arms and launched himself backwards, pinning Andon between him and the stone wall. Andon cried out as a series of crunches sounded in the room. Veria scrambled to her knees on the bed and wailed as her heart pounded out of control. Browan pulled away from the wall and whipped around, catching Andon as he slumped and started to collapse.

  “I have wanted to kill you for awhile, Villicrey,” Browan snarled in his face. “I must say, I am overjoyed I get to do it with my bare hands.”

  “No! Browan, stop!” Veria shrieked hysterically. “Please! Please, don't do this!”

  Browan jerked Andon away from the wall briefly, then slammed him back against it with a sickening thud. Veria and Pascha screamed and cried in unison.

  “Please, please, stop—Browan!” Veria screeched her appeal. “I will give you what you want.”

  “Veria, stop—” Andon started, but Browan quickly silenced him with a punch to the gut. Veria cried out watching him slide to the floor and cough up crimson blood.

  “Please...Browan...I-I can give you what you want,” Veria sobbed, her words hardly intelligible as Browan turned and prowled toward her.

  “Pascha claims you can't,” Browan taunted.

  “I already did, Browan,” she said, tears and cries pealing from her trembling lips and quivering body.

  “Damnit, Veria, I said stop!” Andon groaned from the floor.

  “What are you talking about?” Browan snapped, grabbing her by the arms, his hands crushing around her skin.

  “Aleon...” Veria started.

  “Don't do this!” Andon shouted, his voice strained from the pain.

  “Spit it out or he dies!” Browan roared.

  “Aleon is yours!” Veria uttered reluctantly, immediately falling to a crumpled heap on the bed when Browan let go of her arms in shock.

  Andon sobbed on the floor and Browan stared at her, motionless and wide-eyed.

  Browan finally spoke. “Raken, bring me my son immediately.”

  Andon buried his face into the floor and wailed in agony. Veria covered her face and cried.

  “All three of you will hang tomorrow,” Browan declared plainly as he redressed himself.

  “What?” Raken choked in shock. “Three? Your Majesty, I—”

  “Commander, your wife committed treason. Your wife has been aiding these two rats for months and months. You turned your wife in to me, for which I am eternally grateful,” Browan drawled icily, staring Raken down. “Do you want to go back on your oath to protect the King and hang with them?”

  “No, Y-Your Majesty,” Raken sputtered, “but she's the mother of my child.”

  “And she is the mother of mine,” Browan snapped in disgust, gesturing to Veria who tracked him out of the corner of her eye. “But they lied to me, and to you—they have made me a fool, and on top of that, they are three of the most powerful Magers in the world. They must be disposed of, Commander. You're lucky I'm not asking you to do it yourself.”

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” Raken muttered.

  “And when you leave to fetch my son, tell the Guard to come get these vile creatures and take them to the dungeon,” Browan added, his voice rich with disdain.

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Raken rasped, leaving the room quickly.

  “If you try anything between now and the morning, your children won't be orphans,” Browan warned as he left the room. “They'll be dead.”

  All three of them went silent at the threat, and waited until Browan left to speak.

  “I'm so sorry,” Pascha sobbed once he was gone. “This is all my fault. Raken—he just sensed it, I-I don't know how—”

  “Pascha, no, it's not your fault,” Andon muttered, pulling his head up from the floor. “It's Veria's. She gave him exactly what he wanted—our child, my son—and now that he has what he wants, we are disposable.”

  He stared her down with ice in his dark eyes.

  “Andon, please,” Veria cried, sliding off the bed and sitting next to him on the floor. “Please...”

  She reached out to caress his bruised and bleeding face and he jerked away, jumping to his feet and limping away from her. She went completely numb—his withdrawal, his rejection too much for her to process or handle on top of everything else.

  It was her fault...all of it. And now, the people she loved most would pay for her mistakes.

  -XVII-

  Veria didn't sleep for even a second in the cold, dark dungeon. She tried, to no avail, to get Andon to speak to her, but he would not respond to any of her attempts, and wouldn't even look at her. She and Pascha exchanged a few tearful, whispered conversations about their children—their first words, their favorite foods, their funniest quirks and cutest moments—reveling in the memories to take their minds from what would happen to them in the morning.

  Exhausted, each cut stinging and each bruise aching deep within the bones they sat atop, she trudged behind the slew of soldiers and Elemental Guards that escorted the three of them to the gallows at daybreak. One of the Guards was an Earth Mager who had put them all under a mild natural state so they would comply with direction and not try to struggle. And they certainly wouldn't be able to use their powers.

  Veria felt unnaturally calm as they stepped into their spots on the gallows, in front of a huge crowd of onlookers, gathered for the event. The nooses settled around their necks, positioned by the hangman one by one, and she never flinched, never cried, never batted an eye.

  Above them, Browan's voice boomed from a balcony, shouting out their crimes against the kingdom and the King. Veria could make out a few words, but since she was closer to the throng of people awaiting her death, all she coul
d hear was their booing and jeering, their shouts and yells of 'whore' and 'witch', 'bastard' at Andon and 'traitor' at Pascha.

  As Browan continued denouncing them, to the uproarious approval of the crowd, vegetables and small rocks rained down on them. A large root vegetable hit Andon right in the side of the face and Veria dropped her head in pity for him, just as a huge bunch of greens slammed into the back of her neck.

  “I love you, Andon,” Veria muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

  He looked at her slowly, his eyes full of despair and anger. “Be ready, patalana,” was his reply.

  Veria scrunched her face at him, but he looked away and acted like he hadn't said anything to her at all.

  Be ready? she thought. Be ready to die?

  The roar of the crowd swelled to an ear-splitting volume as Browan gave the order for them to hang. Veria closed her eyes and swallowed hard as the planks gave way beneath her feet and she plummeted downward.

  The ground stopped her descent with a painful thud. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around quickly. She was under the gallows, Pascha to her right looking just as confused as she was, Andon to her left in a ready crouch, surveying the crowd that had started to clamor and disperse.

  Smoke filled her nose and she started to cough.

  “Veria!” Pascha shouted next to her. “The rope!”

  Veria pulled the noose around to reveal a singed end, puffing black smoke from the burned fibers.

  Heart racing, she ripped the noose off and scanned the crowd, just in time to see a giant ball of flame crash into the Earth Mager that had put the natural state on them. Her eyes darted out to the crowd, searching for the origin of the flame...

  “Seize them!” Browan roared from the balcony. “Seize them all!”

  Shrieks and panic erupted as five pillars of fire shot straight up in the air, and fanned out around their bases, creating a fountain of flame in the middle of the crowd. The soldiers who had begun to surround the area backed up from the flames quickly. Once enough people had run from the scene, Veria saw them—five hooded figures standing near the flames, looking right at her.