by Ella Fields
A deathly still moment saturated my lungs, and then more clapping took place.
Looking over the miles of people spread toward the forest and foothills, I discovered some were weeping.
Weeping with gratitude.
I frowned, then hovered over the megaphone once more. “You will find the punishments for breaking any law during my reign harsh. You will also find archaic and barbaric laws crushed over the following months as we revise and amend them, and new ones are put in place.” I raised my chin. “You will soon find there is a difference between good and evil.” Everyone quietened, grew completely silent, as I finished with, “That difference is me.”
I stepped back from the megaphone, then placed my hand in Raiden’s.
Crickets chirped as the updated law was passed around, whispers growing louder into chatter that eventually ceased when Raiden and I walked toward the two awaiting torches either side of the stage.
Patts handed Raiden sticks, and Raiden set the tips aflame, Mintale bringing one to me. Together, we lit the torches at the same time, then stepped back to watch sparks of silver and gold fly high into the sky.
Joining hands again, we walked to the steps, when the rumbles and crying and screaming formed a sentence that paused Raiden’s feet, and then my own.
My eyes swam as their chanting became clear, but I couldn’t turn around. I could hardly breathe as I registered what they were saying.
“Long live the queen, long live the queen!”
Amused, Raiden’s eyes met mine, and then he turned back, raising my arm into the air as their ear-shredding cries rose higher than the trees surrounding all of us.
I could’ve killed him, but I stood still, staring unseeing to the dark sky atop our heads while I tried to keep my eyes dry.
Once we were safely down the steps, Truin hurried over, stealing me from Raiden in a breathless hug. “You are magic, my queen.”
I hugged her back, overwhelmed with gratitude that I could, and then joined Raiden in the tent set up a ways back from the roaring celebration and protected by a thick circle of guards.
Inside, he spun to clasp my cheeks, staring at me with an intensity that, once upon a time, would’ve lit my chest on fire. Now, I only felt a flickering ember of affection.
“Wicked and cold and fair and unforgettable,” he said in a rush, his hands tightening. “Audra, the unforgettable, we, you, have made history.”
I grabbed his hands, removing them from my face. “There is still more to be done.”
“And I cannot be more thankful that it is happening, and that I get to be right by your side as we erase all that rots this land together.”
With a genuine smile tugging at my lips, I nodded but took a step back. “I must go.”
Raiden’s brows gathered as he poured himself a goblet of wine. “You will not stay and celebrate with our people?”
“Do not guilt me,” I said. “My job is done, and I am tired.” It took a lot for me to admit as much, but I had to, else I fall prey to dizziness in front of the wrong people.
For as much as I’d hopefully swayed those who once wished me ill, I wasn’t a fool. Many would still see me as they wanted to forevermore.
Raiden paused in lifting his drink to his mouth and nodded. With a soft smile, he approached and laid a kiss upon my brow. “Fair enough, my queen. I’ll see you in one moon.”
He would be returning home at first light, and I would see him again in a month’s time to resume the work of amending the other barbaric laws and begin work on brokering new trade opportunities with neighboring countries who’d rather ignore our existence.
The time for ignoring us was over. Especially when there was more to gain from doing business with us than ever before.
“Enjoy the festivities,” I murmured, smirking.
Raiden only winked, lifting his goblet into the air before tipping its contents down his throat.
I opened the tent flaps and waded past dipping guards to the awaiting carriage.
Rounding the other side, I found my drivers over by the trees, and the reason as to why leaning against the carriage door, half cast in shadow. “Quite a speech.”
I hadn’t lied to Raiden about being tired, but even so, I was not in the mood for Zad’s torturous presence. With a blank look at him, I gathered my skirts and opened the carriage door, forcing him back.
“Find me in the darkness.”
My lungs and heart seized, and I turned to him.
His eyes shined as he straightened from the carriage. “I heard you.”
“How?” The word was stolen by the breeze, though it was barely a sound to carry.
He’d heard it anyway. “The wind is the fastest messenger, and I must say…” Stopping before me, he curled his fingers around my cheek, and my knees quaked. “Never have I thought I’d end myself to be with someone. Not until that frightful day.”
“You have a strange way of showing such devotion.” I made myself climb inside, lowering to the velvet black seat. “Good evening and happy Inkerbine, my lord.”
Zad grabbed the door, closing it when he’d leaped inside.
“Oh, really?” I dragged out, incredulous.
He smirked, taking a seat beside me. “Really.”
Rage unfurled, one born of sheer, mind-bending frustration. “What is it you want? I’ve thrown myself at you, begged you, lowered myself to ridiculous standards all because I fucking love you, and you don’t care. You just toy with me.”
As if I’d stated the sky was blue, he said with too much calm, “You never said it.”
“Said what?”
“That you love me.”
“You already know I do.”
“Maybe. Sometimes, I feel what you feel, but closing parts of yourself off to me is not an option. I’ve crept inside every dark space of yours. I’ve seen it all. I love it all. Yet you slam the doors after and expect me to knock every single time I seek entrance.”
“I love you.” It was all I could think to say. Then desperate, I asked, “Do you want me to risk war for you? Our very lives? Because I will. I’ll get out of this marriage before a judge. I have enough to be released, and we’ll see what happens.”
“No.”
“No?” I shook my head. “What do you mean no?” I was tempted to scream, unable to figure out what he needed. “It might not come to any of that, but should it happen, I wouldn’t care—”
“Stop.” He grabbed my face, his eyes boring into mine. “I just want you. Just Audra. So stop closing doors. Stop playing with me only when you see fit. Stop running from me and just be with me.”
Relieved, I nodded, knowing he was right. I could do that. For him, for what I’d almost lost, I would try with all I had to do that. My lips wobbled, the command leaving me on a shaken breath. “Then you must never deceive me, and you must stay. You must stay and never leave.”
“Audra,” he said, throaty and heated. “When are you going to see that is all I’ve ever wanted? That you are all I need.” Tears escaped, slipping down my cheeks. His hands tightened. “Better yet, when are you going to finally believe it?”
“When it happens,” I said, for there was no mistaking what he felt, what I felt, but I couldn’t lie, and I didn’t want to. “When I see it with my own two eyes. When it becomes so normal it’s bothersome and magical and tedious and all consuming.”
His expression gentled, a laugh coating his exhale. “Okay,” he said, lips grazing mine as he repeated himself. “Okay, my queen.”
The carriage rocked as the drivers climbed into their seats outside, and we began to roll forward, dipping over tree roots and crevices until we reached the road. But his lips never parted from mine.
They refused to as he accompanied me home, where he remained all winter long.
Zadicus
Three months later
Across a field of frosted wildflowers, the queen of winter twirled, her fingers dragging over ice-crusted petals and sweeping them up into the wind.
/> It followed her command and sent them high above her head. They fluttered to her awaiting beast, and he tensed in anticipation, his large claws digging giant trenches into the soil beneath us.
Vanamar’s eyelids drooped as he caught them and swallowed, the steam from his nostrils clouding the air before us. Then he gazed back at his queen, content to watch, but hoping he’d be fortunate enough to receive more than just the sight of her.
I knew exactly how he felt, and with a sigh, I handed him the apple I’d been eating.
He licked it from my palm, teeth far larger than my hand appearing and gently grazing my skin.
I ran my hand over his soft coat, watching Audra weave a chain of wildflowers on her walk back to us.
“Can we sleep up here?”
I bit back a smile. “We would turn to ice. Besides,” I said with a heaping dose of reluctance. “The king arrives tomorrow.”
Much to his eternal annoyance, the king and queen continued to live separate lives. He would visit when needed, and she refused to step foot in the Sun Kingdom unless necessary, of which, thankfully, it hadn’t been. At least, not yet.
I preferred her where I could see her, and not because I did not trust her or because I doubted her ability to fend for herself. There wasn’t a creature in this land unaware of her prowess. But because a love like this necessitated closeness.
The king could have her in small increments, but never in the ways that I could.
I was happy to be nothing, so long as she was mine and mine alone. Besides, I would never be nothing to her, and that was all that mattered.
I was hers, and she was mine, and not even her rightful husband across the border could change that.
Approaching Van, Audra held the chain above his head, pouting. “He better leave when hinted at this time.” She tutted when Van made to lunge for the flowers, and he huffed, plonking his rear to the ground once more. She gave them to him, and he carefully slurped them from her palm.
I doubted the king would take the many hints sent his way. His extended stays were mostly out of spite, empty minutes spent in endless stare downs with me over the dining table.
“What is this visit for?” I was beginning to think he’d make whatever excuses necessary to situate himself before the queen.
Audra scratched the underside of Van’s chin. “To finalize the new trade route deals we’ve brokered.”
I refrained from growling and rolling my eyes, knowing that could’ve been done without his presence.
Sensing my annoyance, Audra slunk toward me, a gleam in her sapphire eyes that never failed to make my heart stomp like a wanting, eager child.
She fell into my lap sideways, her arms draping around my neck as mine looped around the perfect curves of her waist, holding tight. With her lips whispering across my jaw, she said, “If you behave, I might let you ride Van.”
I stilled, blinking. No one, not even his trainer, rode the beast.
Van, seemingly disinterested, snuffed at the grass in search of more flowers.
I took that as a good sign. “You mean it?” I asked, feeling my brows rise.
Her laughter was rain dancing over ice, quiet but beautiful all the same. “No playing, Lord. Remember?”
Swallowing, I nodded. “Now?”
She laughed again, pressing her lips to the corner of mine. “I’m no fool.”
“And I’m always on my best behavior,” I stated, meaning it. The struggle of being in the king’s presence was unbelievable.
She pulled back to give me a bland look. “Death glares over dinner? Muttered insults veiled behind a cough? And let’s not forget how you had me in the hall above his rooms…”
All perfectly reasonable things to do, I thought. Not too bad either, considering.
Clearly, she thought otherwise. “Okay.” Scowling, I pursed my lips. “That doesn’t mean I agree, but fine.”
Brushing strands of hair that had escaped their tie from my cheek, her eyes searched mine, sobering. “Mintale says we are to discuss Beldine.”
I failed to keep from stiffening beneath her, quickly saying, “What of it?”
Her eyes scrutinized momentarily. “Of the consequences that might befall us all.”
Our home—an extricated limb of Beldine—Rosinthe, was a continent of peace once more.
The king of Beldine had never sought to reclaim their land. Of course, that was before Tyrelle had locked their continent away from the rest of the world for years, while many were none the wiser.
We had paid gravely for Tyrelle’s sins, especially his daughter, but the creatures of Beldine did not care for trivial matters of who, when, and why.
They hadn’t yet, but that did not mean they wouldn’t come asking for who was responsible.
Or perhaps, they wouldn’t bother asking.
My arms tightened around her. “If it happens, we’ll face it, and we’ll do what we can to make it right.” Hollow words, even to my own ears, but there was little else I could say.
Eyeing me a moment, Audra nodded, then took in the view of Allureldin, the waters to the west that skirted The Edges. “Together,” she murmured, barely audible above the whistling wind.
Grasping her cheek, I brought her mouth to mine, and promised, “Together, my eternal queen.”
THE END
… for now
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STANDALONES:
Bloodstained Beauty
Serenading Heartbreak
Frayed Silk
Cyanide
Corrode
MAGNOLIA COVE:
Kiss and Break Up
Forever and Never
Hearts and Thorns
GRAY SPRINGS UNIVERSITY:
Suddenly Forbidden
Bittersweet Always
Pretty Venom
