He really did not stand a chance against me.
We finally reached the bottom, and it was darker than the stairwell that we had descended.
“Martha…” came Sylius’s voice from behind him. We turned around, and a light spread in the room. I was right. Four witches and him, and he was in a protective bubble.
Gosh…
“You really are a coward, Sylius,” I rolled my eyes, “Come out of there and fight like a real man!”
My eyes fell around his neck, catching the amulets glinting. He did not look happy.
“I’m surprised you made it this far,” he said with a tick in his jaw. The Dark King was very annoyed, “But this is where it all ends. For you and Darragh.”
“Save your breath, Sylius,” Darragh roared and charged at the witches. Marianne activated her powers and took to the other two that hurtled themselves at Darragh’s back. Explosions popped around the room with magic, accompanied by loud noises and grunts from someone taking a hit.
It was all happening so fast, but the witches stay flanked near Sylius, protecting him.
I growled and let the energies surge through me, knowing that this was it. Sylius was trapped here with no way out, and his cowardice would be his demise.
My body threw itself forward, rounding around the battle and propelling myself off a wall towards an opening between the fight. A witch intercepted me and threw me back with a blast, but I landed on my feet and charged again, taking the witch head on with my own magic.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, seeing the fear in her eyes as she realised how much more powerful my attacks were. With a swift jab at her throat powered with an offensive magic, I knocked her out cold. The barrier around Sylius grew a little transparent, and I could see him panicking.
Darragh and Marianne briefly looked over and noticed the change in strength in the barrier. I felt a newfound resolve course through our bodies, and we fought harder. Another witch came at me, using magic that was non-verbal. But I knew these techniques as these were the ones I picked up the most in able to be unpredictable. I countered her attacks quickly, finally finding an opening for a counter that threw her off her feet and sent her smashing against the wall with a sickening crack. I almost gasped, but Marianne knocked out her witch immediately and rushed to the one I had injured.
“She will live!” Marianned called out, “Just finish the job!”
I looked at the last witch standing who was clearly stronger than the rest, taking on Darragh. I almost moved in to help him until he finally got a grip on the witch by the neck. He looked at me.
“Encase Sylius in something so that he can’t use Dark Magic to disappear as soon as the barrier falls,” he instructed. I realised he was right and nodded, turning to Sylius who was paler than he already was. I felt the heat travel to my eyes as I brought up one of my most powerful barriers yet that was sure in cancelling out Sylius’s magic.
“Martha,” Sylius said in panic, “Martha, you know I never hurt you in the time you spent here, right? Don’t you remember? He’s poisoned you! And everyone else! Darragh is the villain here.”
“Your spell over me is broken, Sylius,” I chuckled cockily and cocked a brow, “I remembered everything. And you know what it took?”
I looked him in his sad, lonely eyes.
“Accepting myself,” I announced, “Accepting that I deserved the love I received, and that I was not worthless. It couldn’t have happened without Darragh, Oran, and Marianne helping me grow into who I am today. The Princess Selene.”
“Wh-what…” he gasped, falling backwards onto the ground as I neared him. The last of the witches’ protective barrier fell away and all that was left was of my own. I passed through it easily, looking down at him with pity. “You’re…you’re Princess Selene?”
“I was quite surprised myself, to be honest,” I shrugged in nonchalance and lowered myself to my knees, levelling myself with him. I extended a hand towards him, hoping he could see that I was being kind. He looked at me, still fearful. “I don’t wish to hurt you, Sylius.”
His face contorted into confusion and he slid away, pressing his back firmly to the wall of my barrier. He closed his eyes, trying to gather dark magic to help him out, but he had not realised that dark magic was simply an external boost of power. He had some in his blood that made him evil, and the rest was to attract the power from the air to use it. And my barrier was impenetrable.
There was no way out for him.
“Sylius,” I called out to him gently, “please. Let me help you, and all of us.”
“Why would you do that?” he demanded, tears pooling into his eyes, “How? You’ve been hurt so much over and over, and I’ve brought so much massacre to the Seelie Court and those of the other realms. How in the realms do you plan on helping me after all that?”
“I simply wish to rid you off the dark magic that is within you,” I whispered, “I can do it.”
Tears trickled down his face and he looked away from me, helpless and frustrated.
“This is not how it was meant to be,” he sobbed. It was quite pathetic and I felt sorry for him. I only sighed and reached out for his wrist, pulling him to me. He snatched it away, “NO!”
With a flare of annoyance, I lunged forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. I forcefully turned him to face me and looked into his eyes with my magic activated at its peak. Once our eyes met, he could not look away.
“Sylius, Dark King of the Unseelie Court,” I commanded, “With the power vested in me, I punish you by confiscating your magic. It shall not be returned, nor shall you practice any other form of it for as long as you live.”
“Martha…” he breathed with wide eyes, mesmerised yet so hollow. His eyes glowed bright, quite literally turning to light as the magic seeped out from them and into me. I could feel his essence pool into my chest, adding to my energy. I could feel the dark magic in his blood resist it, and I groaned as it jabbed at me through the bridge of magic between us, trying to distract me. It hurt a lot and I understood what Darragh meant when he said it would be difficult. I could already feel a migraine coming on and I had half a mind to let go.
The Dark King’s body trembled under my hands, glowing with dark energy and exuding such evil that I almost backed away from him, repulsed. But I held on, knowing it could not do anything to me. It could not invade my heart, soul, or blood. I was too pure for that. I held on until every last drop of Sylius’s magic had left every fibre and cell of his being.
And suddenly, as soon as it had begun, it ended.
Sylius fell limp to the ground, breathing lightly as if asleep. I let go of him, feeling extremely faint. The barrier I had created fell around us, and I saw myself drop into oblivion.
It was a while before I had come around. Darragh, Marianne, and Oran leaned over me, injured and worried.
“Hello, handsome,” I croaked at Darragh with a weak smile.
“Martha…” he breathed and scooped me into his arms, holding me tight, “Oh, Martha, you’re all right!”
“You almost died!” Marianne cried out, “That’s how difficult it was extracting Sylius’s energy.”
I pushed away from Darragh quickly and looked around.
“Oh goodness, please tell me you didn’t kill him!”
“No, we didn’t,” Oran put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, “We have locked him away, though. Queen Lynn is here keeping an eye on him. His armies retreated as soon as Sylius was knocked out. There was some connection between him and the people of the Unseelie Court, so they knew when it happened.”
“Gosh,” I sighed and fell weakly into Darragh’s arms, “Just…keep him alive. We must.”
“Is there something you’re not telling us?” Marianne prodded, “You know you can trust us.”
I shook my head, feeling too faint and tired to try at all.
“She needs rest,” Darragh announced, picking me up and standing, “We just won a war. We can discuss these things later. Let’s just…go hom
e.”
I closed my eyes and snuggled into his neck, tears pooling around my eyes at the sound of it. Home. I wanted to go home.
Chapter Nineteen
Princess Selene
Martha
* * *
Three months later
“Please, Darragh, I hope you remembered that there are to be no trumpets,” I begged, “They sound horrendous.”
Darragh looked a bit upset at that, if not offended, “I quite like trumpets, you know? Very fancy.”
“Who is getting coronated today?” I blanked in annoyance. He smiled sheepishly.
“You, my love.”
“Who decides the arrangements?”
“I will go get the violinists on the stands immediately.”
He ran off before I could blow up on him. I shook my head, and Marianne came up behind me with her soothing energies, massaging my shoulders. She dragged the chair from my vanity to me.
“Sit,” she ordered, and continued to knead the skin at the back of my neck, “I can understand how stressful this must be.”
“I thought only weddings were supposed to be stressful,” I sighed, “but this takes the cake.”
Marianne chuckled, “Oh, you wait until you get married. I promise you this is nothing.”
“Good grief,” I groaned and let my head fall back.
“And then,” she continued, “you’ll think you have it all figured out until you get pregnant with a child. Why, I’ve been craving lemon meringues and strawberries all day!”
I gasped and turned to her, looking into her eyes excitedly.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes!”
I squealed and shot up to my seat, engulfing her in a hug. We jumped around until I panicked and pulled away form her, “That’s bad for the baby!”
“I only just found out two days ago,” she laughed, “It’s hardly been a month to the conception.”
“Still,” I said with a gentle pat of her abdomen, “I would want you to not exert yourself. You’re still weak from the battle.”
“Those witches were very powerful, I admit,” she chuckled, “but we made a great team, didn’t we?”
“Yes, and it will hopefully be the last battle we engage in for a very long time.”
“Oh, Martha,” she shook her head and sat me down, receiving my clothes from the maids as the hurried around to set up everything else to get me ready, “The world is a complicated place, and there will always be evil somewhere rising to the occasion of taking over the world.”
“I don’t get it,” I sighed, “Why would anyone want to rule the world? It doesn’t make sense!”
“Power is a scary thing,” Marianne agreed, “I’m just thankful that we have someone as powerful as you to keep the rest in check.”
I giggled, beaming with pride. Marianne turned my chair to the vanity and reached over for a brush. She ran it through my long red hair gently, humming a lullaby.
“I was just wondering…” I said softly, “How’s Sylius?”
“He’s all right,” Marianne nodded, letting out an exasperated sigh, “We’ve effectively provided therapy to half your queendom and helped around a fourth of them out of their connection to dark magic so far. Sylius is resistant, though. It also has to do with the fact that he’s adamant he see his sister.”
“Oh, I wish Gabriella could be here to see this,” I sighed sadly, “and Aria, too. I hope they’re both all right.”
“Couldn’t you locate Aria yourself?” she prodded.
“I could if she had attacked me at some point and I’d absorbed her essence,” I explained, “Magic works in weird ways.”
“Agreed.”
We fell into silence, and the stylist soon came in to take over. Marianne squeezed my shoulder in reassurance and left, leaving me to the mercy of five women who would go on to prepare me for my coronation.
It was an hour’s task, and I was soon dressed in beautiful silver robes. It was speckled in moonstones, the official stone of the Unseelie Court. The neckline was straight, running under my collarbones and leaving my shoulders bare. The bodice clung to my torso delicately, showing off my curves and then flowing in soft waves of silk and tulle from the hips down to my feet. My sleeves were delicate ribbons of silk held between the biceps and forearms with clasps carved out of silver.
The girls brought forth an intricate silver choker that locked around my neck comfortably with a large, beautifully cut moonstone right at the centre. Onto my ears, they clasped droplets of moonstone held together with silver.
I slipped into a beautiful pair of silver heels and turned around to look into the mirror. I gasped in awe. I could not remember the last time I looked this beautiful.
“Wonderful job, girls,” the stylist announced proudly, “This is our masterpiece. No one will be able to battle it.”
“Princess Selene herself is rather beautiful,” one of the girls whispered to their mentor, “Give her some credit.”
“Of course, she’s beautiful!” the woman snapped, “She needn’t be told!”
I looked at my red hair that was gathered and twisted beautiful down the sides of my head, with calculated strands left loose to frame my face. My make-up was natural, but I somehow looked prettier even when I had not changed.
“Princess Selene?” Darragh called out from the door. I turned to him and he gasped, dropping the large box in his hands. The girls screamed and lunged towards him at the ground, grabbing the box before it hit the marble flooring.
“Oh, goodness gracious!” the stylist cried out and fell back into the arms of one of her girls dramatically, “That crown took a full six months to design and make!”
“Yes, she started working on it as soon as the news spread!” one of the girls chimed in, “This is her blood, sweat, and tears!”
Darragh mindlessly walked past the women, his eyes trained onto me. They were gleaming, and I thought he would cry.
“Martha…” he said, out of breath, “you look absolutely stunning.”
“Do not touch her face!” the stylist snapped and Darragh complied mindlessly, taking my hands gently into his.
“I don’t want to ruin the work of art you are, or I would have kissed you,” he smiled.
I giggled with a squeeze of his hands, “I would’ve loved that.”
“King Darragh,” the stylist held the box out to him.
“Ah, yes, thank you,” he said and took it gingerly from her hands, turning to me. The women quietly left the room and closed the door.
“I had this made just for you,” he said softly, holding out the box to me, “Open it.”
A blush spread across my cheeks as I looked down at the elegant dark-wood box crested with the Unseelie Court’s motif. Lifting it gently to reveal a purple velvet interior, I gasped at the glittering crown placed in it.
“Is this for me?”
“Of course,” he chuckled, “This is the crown you will wear as queen.”
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed, running my eyes over it. It looked quite literally woven out of silver strands that rose from the sides, curling around crystal cut moonstones that fanned out at the top and backwards. It was the loveliest crown I had ever seen.
“Darragh,” I teared up and he panicked, hurriedly patting around for his handkerchief. He finally pulled it out from under his sleeve and handed it to me. I carefully caught my tears on the fabric, making sure to dry my lashes quickly.
“You’ve done it, my Queen,” he stroked my cheek gently, “Come on, your people are waiting for you.”
My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He took my hand and led me out of my quarters.
I could hear the violins playing loudly outside, and I looked at Darragh gratefully. He kissed my knuckles.
“Anything for you, my Queen.”
When I turned around the corner into the open balcony and walked past my throne, my eyes fell on the intensely large crowd that had gathered under the darkening sky. There were lanterns in the
ir hands, already lit. The cheers were so loud that the ground under my feet vibrated from the strength of their voices.
My new Inquisitor, Lilly, was announcing something with her voice amplified by magic, but I could not register what she was saying. I was so overwhelmed by the amount of people that had turned up, and all the cheering. I walked slowly to the edge of the balcony, delicately placing my hand on the stone railings to look at them. I could recognise the released prisoners from the mine seated on stable chairs at the front, and I smiled. They looked so much better than before.
I waved at them, and the crowd erupted in louder cheers once again.
Darragh’s warm hand took mine, and I looked at him. He nudged to the throne behind him and I realised it was time to be crowned. I followed his lead as he brought me up to the throne. I sat down gently on the edge, giddy and excited. My knuckles turned white from how hard I was gripping the arm rests, but I held my gracious smile.
“I don’t know how you did this when it was your time,” I spoke to Darragh through my teeth.
“Trust me,” he laughed, “I wasn’t any better.”
Someone brought the crown to Darragh on a velvet pillow. Lilly stepped back, and Queen Lynn stood in her place, looking at me with so much adoration that I thought I would burst in tears.
“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered, and reached over my head to hold the other side of the crown with Darragh. I looked ahead, anticipating its weight on head.
The crowd was silent, watching patiently. There were gasps as I felt the crown settle on my head, and it was as if fate had planned for it all because the clouds pulled away to reveal the moon. Its light shone down on the Unseelie Court so brightly that night that I would never need another daytime in my life.
The moonstones on my dress, jewellery, and crown started to glow under the moonlight, and I heard yells and cheers of adoration in the crowd. Darragh and Queen Lynn took my hands, helping me stand and walk forward to the balcony again.
“All hail Queen Selene!” came the collective roar of the crowd. What followed next was magical.
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