“Jeremiah,” I sob into the dark. He raises his hanging head and looks at me. The wooden chair he sits in has his ankles and wrists shackled, but his eyes can still move. Their once warm chocolate is now shadowed dirt and full of agony.
“Help me,” He whispers in the dark and his voice echoes a thousand times in my ears making another sob break past my lips. “Please.”
I run to him, but the mist curls into a churning smoke beneath flaring fire that illuminates a stone wall, painted with an immaculate masterpiece. Jeremiah is gone and now I’m looking at the prophecy I saw in the Ravine of Wisps. My teary eyes lock onto the white hair of the Faerie girl, wielding lightning like a spear. Across from her is a male with fists of fire, the twin flames, and onyx cropped hair. His pointed ears symbolize him as being a Fae.
At the center, I stare into a mirror. Fiery red hair flows around a pale, delicate face. Green eyes glow and pointed ears peak between the orange waves. Purple, smoke-like flames surround the Faerie in dark robes as she seems to float on the battlefield. The Void whispers in the darkness from inside of me, that’s you. The fire illuminated the wall gets snipped out to nothing and I look at my hands. Small. Thin. Callouses embroider my palms and fingers where a sword and bow would sit.
“He’s your brother.” Rumbles through the dark and I jump at the familiar voice. More water instantly fills my eyelids and clumps on my eyelashes making my vision become a kaleidoscope. Her sun yellow hair glows and flows in the rippling darkness. Her blue skin isn’t covered in holes or torn away like the other ghosts of my past. I smile at Seri. The Faerie maid in the Summer Kingdom who took care of me and told me what was happening. She was more of my mother than Evaflora will ever be.
“What?” I croak through cascading tears and heavy sobs. She is wearing a soft green dress, it makes her look alive. She steps over to me and hugs my shaking body, even with her swelled belly she holds herself elegantly.
She lifts her mouth to my pointed ear and whispers, “Lunan.”
She’s gone.
<<>><<>><<>>
My eyes snap open and I regret it, the white stone infirmary blinds me and I cover my tear stained face, dry rivers of salt cling to my pores. Nobody is in the empty chamber and the table I lay on is grey stone which makes me tremble. My first thought is where am I and suddenly I remember Kane found me in the Akuji’s nest. I awoke to see Jax and the High Lady. Unless that was just a fever dream.
It hits me like a truck.
“I have a brother,” my whisper is almost mute and the words feel foreign on my tongue. The male who tried to help me escape the Summer Kingdom and danced with me at the Summer Solstice ball is my brother. Lunan had told me how to get to the Tree of Light because I had asked. He sold me mountain ash weapons my first day in my mother’s kingdom. He had to have known all along. But how is he my brother? My father never slept with another woman, unless…Evaflora was born with the Tree of Light. She must be thousands of years old which gives her more than enough time to be promiscuous. Lunan Berdu Walsh is my half-brother.
The door clicks open and my eyes lock onto Jax. Relief makes his shoulders sag and he runs to me and grips me in a severely needed hug. I think of Seri and the warmth she brought to me.
“Ouch,” I mumble into his shoulder through the pinpricks of pain and Jax tenses before releasing me in an instant. He holds my face between his calloused palms and he looks into my eyes. “I’m fine.”
“I feared the worst.” He kisses my forehead, then my brow, then my cheeks, and trails a line down my nose. He leans his brow bone against mine and we close our eyes. He heaves a sigh. “I’m sorry. For everything! I didn’t want to lie about the Tree of Light,” my chest caves at the memory of his lie. “I hated keeping things from you, but now, from now on, I’ll tell you the truth and only the truth.”
“Promise?” I click and he nods.
“Promise.” He takes a seat on the table and rubs my thigh. He ditched the fur-lined leather armor for a silver tunic, embroidered with blue thread. Dark pants are tucked into leather boots and his hair is chopped off. He notices my stare and scratches the back of his head as a blush colors his ears and cheeks. “Do you like it?”
I grab his hand and hold it between my palms. I kiss each of his fingers, “I love it.” His ice blue irises glow with happiness. He no longer looks like a shaggy warrior, but although I like the haircut, I wish it to be long again. But Fae hair grows extraordinarily fast, so the length will be back in a month or two.
“I love you,” he whispers staring at my face for a reaction.
I feel quick to answer, but suddenly words slam against my mind. He’s not your mate. I feign a smile and I physically lose the breath I was holding as the door opens. A Faerie with skin of grey fur wearing a white uniform tells me of her title as a nurse. She grins at me and flicks her brown eyes to Jax. She tries to hide her disgust, but fails horribly. “It’d be best if you leave.” I wonder if she says this for my sake or hers.
Jax looks from me to the nurse, but I don’t defend him. I have never been to the Winter Kingdom before, so I am not aware of their titles and ways of life. I, a High Lady of a distant Mortal Kingdom, am not going to start arguments or create a scene in a Faerie Kingdom. A part of me knows it won’t look good to defend the exiled prince, especially if I do want the High Lord’s army.
“I’ll see you in a bit.” Jax nods and leaves me to the stranger.
The nurse grabs my hand and says, “Your body is almost healed, take it easy for two days before doing any fighting or hunting. Have some tea and soup and stay warm or else the bacteria that got into your system will make you sick. Now be quiet.” She makes quick work of changing my bandages and checking my vitals. She counts my heart beats and feels my blood pressure by just holding my palm. I’ve never seen a power like hers before and I wonder how she wound up in the Winter Kingdom.
The nurse leaves me for a moment to allow me to get dressed out of the uncomfortable shift and into my huntress, fur-lined, leather-plaited armor that I wore on my way to the Winter Kingdom. It’s clean and relatively new looking. Once I’m in the outfit the hides and furs make warmth envelope me like a blanket.
The hairy Faerie tentatively knocks before entering and she gestures for me to follow and we walk down corridor after corridor, all of them are silent and made of grey stone. Each square of rock is engraved with beautiful swirling images that remind me of Kane’s tattoos. “This way,” the nurse calls pulling me away from the distractions as she grabs a torch from the wall and sticks it into my hand. “Go straight up those stairs, they’ll lead you to the throne room where your…friend is.”
“Thank you,” I say, unsure of what to do in the growingly awkward situation. She waves me up the steps and I push on the flat wall at the top of the flight. The stone door scrapes against the floor and I see the dark blue fabric of a tapestry blocking my view of the room. Avoiding the fabric, I scurry into the large, open chamber and almost drop my torch in utter shock.
The High Lord sits on a throne of jagged ice. A crown of a similar style is fashioned to his dirty blonde curls and his sea-green eyes, Kane’s eyes, flare like an unyielding storm, eating up the room and the hundreds of courtiers crowded within. His dark tunic, styled with a bright blue thread draws snowflakes across his chest. The High Lady is to his right on a smaller throne, but it is still a twin to his. She is wearing a diadem of silver snowflakes atop her onyx hair, which is slicked back into a tightly braided bun at the base of her neck. Her dress is a white glittering river that pools to the floor. Kane, looking nothing like the handsome hunter I met in Elkwood, is sitting on the opposite side of his mother. He looks regal and elegant, beautiful even.
The nurse said Jax is in here and I try to make my way through the thick throng of courtiers or citizens, which one I’m unsure of. They are all wearing either fur or silk, and all look to be warriors of some kind. Some of the women have arms the size of tree trunks. If this is what his citizens look like, I wonder what h
is army is like.
I place the torch into an iron holder that’s fastened to the stone wall. The large ceiling is vaulted and columns rise up to the stone roof. Windows cover the entire wall opposite of me and the door is opposite of the Archaeminza family, the royal family. Midnight blue shades hang from the corner where the walls meet the domed ceiling. A glittering white embroidered snowflake, surrounded by small white spots, covers the fabric; I realize it’s the Winter Kingdom flag.
“The exiled prince has returned.” The High Lord booms from his throne and the crowd roars with anger, a chill rakes its claws down my back. I don’t think Jax is here, unless the king is using him as a spectacle. “He arrives without invitation after seventeen years of being exiled. Do you think he deserves retribution?” The crowd screams yes with earsplitting hatred. My eyes scan the throng for his ice blue eyes, dark hair now short. I find nothing, so I excuse my way to the opposite side of the chamber. I start searching harder, faster, my fingers tremble. “He deserves a punishment for what he’s done.” The hundreds of courtiers jump with excitement. I try to peer between the heads and shoulders of the crowd and I see the king wave his hand before him. “Seventeen lashes for seventeen years. Make it painful Reyluke.” A fist rises above the heads and shoulders. The torchlight makes the bullwhip glitter through the air and the crack snaps within my ears as an agonizing scream gets drowned out by the roar of excitement from the crowd. Jax.
Panic controls me. I push through towering Fae that spit curses at me. One literally spits on me. “Watch out!” I scream and a woman with stone skin, like Rasgard, my dress maker, hisses at me. I duck under arms and elbow people’s sides to get through. Nobody hears me excusing myself over the roar of the throng and the cracking of the whip. Two lashes have passed and a male that I try to move around slams his palms against my shoulders making me tumble to the ground. “Bitch!” he shouts and another lash cracks in my skull. Anger and fear become a burning war within me as I blast a wave of telekinesis at the Faerie. He launches into the air and lands on several people who shout and fall to the stone floor like dominos. The people between me and the High Lord notice the attack and immediately make a clear path to the dais.
I scramble to my feet and dash down the tunnel of people. I curve around them and ignore the male who pushed me cursing from behind. I fall to my knees and use my body as a shield over Jax’s bare back. The white tunic torn to pieces is covered in blood at the bottom step of the dais. The whip snaps and a long cord splits the plaited leather on my back. I feel the sting, even beneath my layers. I hiss at the burn that clings to my skin.
The High Lord rises from his throne as does Kane and his mother. “What is this?” he shouts, I notice how quiet the crowd has suddenly become. Jax shakes beneath me and I’m careful to not touch the open wounds on his muscled back. Bruises cover his whole body like he had been beaten beforehand. What have they done to him? It was only minutes since that he left me in the infirmary.
“Are you alright?” I whisper and Jax nods, still trembling and I shake with him. He shakes with pain, I shake from the burning rage that floods my veins. I’ve never looked at anyone else with more hatred than when I glare up at the High Lord who stares at me in shock. Strands of my unbound orange waves hang in my face as sweat begins to bead on my forehead.
“Move,” the Faerie holding the whip growls and I look back at him with the promise of death in my eyes. His pale skin makes his brown hair and eyes appear darker. His needle straight hair is braided down his spine and his dark cloak billows on an invisible breeze. He looks to the High Lord. “Shall I continue?”
The High Lord must nod in answer because the faerie raises his arm, the whip in hand and I barely have time to think as the metal strands at the end split the skin on my cheek.
“Father stop this madness,” Kane roars and I decide to do that myself. I rise and project my hand forward, feeling Reyluke’s heavy, adrenaline-filled heartbeat pulse through his thick neck. I begin curling my fingers into a fist and the male’s dark eyes flood with panic as his supply of air is cut off. A dark red flush makes his neck become the shade of an apple and his veins become prominent between the crushing forces of my power.
“STOP THIS!” The High Lady screams in pure terror and the whole crowd begins backing towards the door. I hold the suffocating grip for a second longer, telling him to watch what he does next, before I release him. He pants and wheezes when he drops to the floor on his hands and knees, Jax still doing the same. I look at the High Lord. He stands on his dais, wanting to make his title clear. The whole Archaeminza family is standing on uneasy feet. Kane stares in disbelief and the High Lady’s hands cover her mouth, muffling sobs. The High Lord however keeps a mask of adamant stone along his features as he looks me up and down, evaluating, calculating his next approach.
“Who are you?” He no longer shouts; his deep masculine voice makes my bones quiver and I straighten my spine. I brush the hair from my face and stare at him.
“Queen Ariadae Vox, High Lady of Equadoria.”
He chuckles, “The mortal kingdom in the north?” He takes a seat instantly thinking I’m no threat. I try not to become angry with his assumption.
I notice the wheezing stopped. I turn faster than I should and pain slices through me from where the bone penetrated my side and I ignore it as I let the crackling sparks of the Void dance beneath my palms. Purple fire coils around my hands. Reyluke immediately drops the whip to the floor and backs away from me.
“Gods be damned,” someone in the audience mumbles. More whispers soon echo through the chamber becoming a chorus of gossip. “What is she?” and, “The prophecy,” floods my eardrums as more questions and answers are thrown around the room. More and more accusations begin to suffocate the chamber and I look back to the High Lord. Kane, who was so quick to fire retorts at me, doesn’t even make eye contact. That damned prince saved me and just screamed for the fight to stop, but now has nothing to say. I have the feeling it’s his father’s presence that keeps his true thoughts from leaving his lips.
“Why are you here?” The High Lady asks and I let my Void vanish.
“I need an army,” before I can explain, the High Lord begins laughing.
“You think I’d give a stranger my army? Even if I was debating the thought, what makes you think after your assault on my people you would receive any aid from the Winter Kingdom?”
My retort fires off my tongue before I can filter the words. “And what father thinks it’s right to whip his own son because he didn’t spill the blood of an innocent? Why would it be wrong for a Fae prince to have a heart, to be sympathetic of the innocent?”
“I’m giving him what he deserves. He is an exiled prince! He couldn’t follow the tradition of the Proving, signifying his weakness of ruling this kingdom. If he cannot rule with strength and resilience than he is no son of mine!” The High Lady looks longingly at Jax and I notice the sympathy in her eyes.
“Jax protected me, he is loyal to me, and has always been there for me through thick and thin. Can you say that you did the same for him?” The words cut a wound in the High Lord. He looks away from me to Kane who just stares out the window, seeming bored.
“Be gone! Everybody leave immediately.”
The courtiers vanish very quickly and the High Lord even sends away Reyluke who holds his throat feeling violated. Good I think to myself. I don’t hide the smile as I notice the bruises now blossoming along his neck. The High Lord steps from the dais challenging me. I stand straighter, if it’s even possible. I look down my nose at the High Fae of the Winter Kingdom.
“Brennan,” The High Lady whispers in fright at what her husband will do, but I do not fear what is to come. He hurt his own child just because of a heart beating within his chest. Maybe Kane isn’t the nicest, but he has his own insecurities. He continues to stare out the window as if he is too frightened to look at or challenge his father.
Brennan, the High Lord, ignores her as he circles me and Jax, who is n
ow rising from the floor. I don’t risk making the effort to help him.
“You stole Jax’s time these past seventeen years,” he mumbles. He seems as if he doesn’t know what to say or is pondering out loud. He decides to change the subject he brought up. “Why should I give you my army?”
Jax stands next to me and looks down at the floor, probably at the blood stains. I take off my cloak and wrap it around him, covering his naked torso. He needs to cover the wound before bacteria can get into it. But he hisses in pain and my heart stops as the silk touches his wounds. I cry out as I peel off the fabric sticking to the blood coating the skin on his back. “Can somebody please heal him?” Without question the High Lady jumps from her throne and rushes to Jax’s side. She delicately helps remove the cloak and her hands frost over with a thin layer of snow. It glows and moves as she rubs the wounds on his back. He doesn’t cry out or snarl in agony. The three lashes slowly close and I swear I can hear the creation of skin and the moist sound of it connecting. I glance at Jax’s face which is stern, but his eyes are grateful for the euphoric touch of his mother. The first time she’s done this in seventeen years.
I shift my stare back to Brennan who takes a seat beside his son, Kane. “This past summer Lunan,” I choke on my brother’s name. “Tried to help me escape my imprisonment at the Summer Kingdom, but he told me to stay, so I can learn the lies Evaflora was keeping from the other Faerie Kingdoms in Elkwood. I found out what she was keeping from you.”
Kane looks up at me suddenly interested, but I don’t look to his eyes, I’m too busy keeping his father’s attention. Brennan even seems to lean in, waiting for the big secret. “She wants to enslave the mortals of Abella and become the singular queen of the entire continent.” A tear falls from my eyes and the salt within burns the cut on my cheek. I wait for Brennan to answer, but he only stares at me. My beating heart leaps into an unsteady rhythm at the thought of him possibly wanting to team up with her. Two Fae armies- one Fae, one Forsaken- enslaving the mortals and conquering the continent. Another tear falls as a chill shakes me to the core.
The Reign of Queens: A Kingdom of Diamond Antlers Novel Page 15
