The Reign of Queens: A Kingdom of Diamond Antlers Novel

by Zachary James

  My throat feels like steel beams keep me from swallowing, but my lips split from the movement as I choke out, “Who…are…you?”

  “Compared to you?” She lifts a dark brow and tosses her knotty grey hair over a shoulder. “I’m nobody, but a generous healer wanting to help an injured Fae. I’m little more than a peasant in these streets.” When I look at her wrinkled skin and dark eyes, I see the wisdom and full life she’s lived. I haven’t seen a human since I killed Duke Rywell’s brother in Alpri. But what amazes me is that even though humans live within a century, they achieve so much and experience so much more! I feel as if I have seen nothing of the possibilities of the always changing world. I mean, I was trapped in a cellar for thirteen years, but that’s beside the point. I remember as a child being envious of the mortals.

  “Where,” I begin to ask where my maker and mate are, but I feel as if maybe something happened to them. What if this human isn’t healing me, but poisoning me instead? Revealing the names of the ones close to me is something I’m not ready to reveal yet. The healer stares at me, waiting for the question and I just decide to ask the one thing I already know the answer to. “Where am I?”

  She chuckles and looks down to a different table of tonics and bubbling potions and green herbs. “You’re in Alpri, immortal one. May I ask you a question?”

  I sit up and swing my feet over the end of the table and look at the healer who makes me a bit uncomfortable. She is wearing long dark robes and I assume her to be a witch rather than a healer. Although I don’t trust her, and I really don’t care about her well-being, I can’t ignore the sugary scent of her blood. I can eat human food, but blood is like a drug to the part of me that is Vampyre.

  “What is it?”

  “What species are you?”

  My heart skips five beats. Suddenly the room feels small and although I can’t die I feel as if I will. Acacius told me to never reveal what I am, but I feel as if I can tell this hag anything. The way her dark eyes stare at me makes me believe she already knows the answer.

  “Why would you ask such a thing?” I decide to pull up an impenetrable mask of oblivious confusion. If I play my cards right I may be able to leave this chamber, but I have an inkling that she won’t let me if I try.

  “Well,” She waves her hand like a witch would a wand. She starts to aimlessly wander around the chamber while she begins to list off everything on her fingers. “I noticed your pointed ears, so I thought Fae, but that’s when I noticed the two x scars on your neck showing a Vampyre bite. When I looked into your mouth I saw the elongated canines of a Faerie.”

  On the instinct of a threat, my Vampyre fangs snap down.

  She pauses. “And that happened. So I decided to take a test, so I into cut your arm, extracted the blood before you could heal, faster than any Faerie. I poured a mixture into the vile of your blood and it turned obsidian, the only time that happens is when the herbs react with traces of iron.”

  I try to silence the fast pace of my galloping heartbeat, but fail miserably. I peer over my shoulder, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. She seems to wait for an explanation. “Iron is common in Faerie and Human blood.”

  “Unless the being’s blood is half iron, then the blood wouldn’t turn black. You were healthy a week ago.” I’ve been asleep for a week? “I needed to run more tests and see what you are. You’re a hybrid. Born Faerie turned Vampyre. You are one of the immortal nightwalkers, but also a daywalker. You are a Vampyre and a Fae.” The healer’s words just barely pass her lips before I grab a large beaker of some dark green concoction and throw the mixture behind me. She ducks beneath the flying glass and the strange potion as it smashes against the wall staining the dark wood neon green. For her age I’m surprised at her speed. She sprints to a counter and pulls a syringe full of a dark blue liquid off the surface. I clamber off the wooden table at the center of the room and let the wood remain between us. I knew she wasn’t just a simple healer! I reach onto the table and grab a large cutting knife she must’ve been using to slice the herbs that appear to be growing by a window to my right. “You’re not getting away from me,” she seethes.

  My first thought is to jump, somewhere far away, but the memory of the feeling that took over me after we arrived on the Eastern Cliffs is too fresh. I don’t want to jump to some alleyway and blackout again where she can find me. It’s not like my trembling legs will get me far anyway, but they sure as hell won’t make me unconscious.

  I feel for the cold thrumming power within me and all I find is a small, weak cord of blue light hopping between the fingertips of my left hand. The knife is tightly snug in my right. I stare at the mortal hag as she shifts her weight back and forth and wheezes her panting breaths.

  “You want me?” I smirk with a swagger I didn’t know I had within myself. “Then don’t be a meddling coward, come and get me.”

  She dives and rolls across the table. Her robes fall away revealing a frail naked body covered in red scars on bone white skin. Her golden teeth gleam as she leaps towards me in the candle light. I scramble to the right, towards the large pots of plants. She lashes out with the syringe and catches my shoulder with the endpoint. I instantly fear the sedative being inside me, but when I look to the needle it is still full of the blue liquid. I shoot the weak cord of electricity and it leaps from my fingertip onto her bare skin. She shudders and begins to laugh.

  As she trembles her grey hair falls before her face and she doesn’t even seem bothered from the strands of corded, knots of hair that hang before her vision. “Magic gives me such a rush,” she breathes and then is sprinting at me screaming at the top of her lungs. She approaches meters in single steps, and with my Vampyre speed the world slows. She is flying through air and moves slowly across the chamber as if beneath water. I move out of her path and circle around the table of herbs and lift the large knife that never left my fingers. I hold the gleaming blade against her throat. Her body begins to twist and her legs start to fly forward as I hold the back of her head and yank the blade across the wrinkled skin of her neck. I smile as blood spews everywhere and showers the wall, window, growing herbs, me, and the floor in scarlet warmth.

  I stop moving quickly and her body slams against the floor. Her momentum causes her to roll into the wall. Blood, surprisingly still leaks out of her neck and is pooling around her, staining her pale skin with a scarlet hue. With a grin on my face, I lick the mirror-like blade and sigh at the eruption of sweet, warm flavor on my tongue. Oh how I love the taste of blood. I have only drank from one mortal before and I killed the poor girl. She was young, and in a strange way, beautiful, but I didn’t care about her death. Nor do I care about this wicked, dark-hearted healer who is well past dead. No longer do I need to fear killing my food, so I just drop the knife to the floor and crawl down to her naked form, huddled beneath the growing plants and illuminated window, clouded with dirt and dust. I shiver at the euphoric feeling of my fangs slipping ever so easily into her neck.

  The door bangs open and two pairs of feet come stumbling into the chamber. I pull away from the body and crawl away, acting as if scared. My fear has long passed, but I don’t need Lunan and Acacius thinking that I killed her because I was hungry.

  I stagger to my feet and look to the two males, humans. They look at me in horror and glance around the room in utter terror. “Sorry for the mess,” I mutter and shrug. The odor of their emotion slams up my nostrils like a brick and I stalk towards the men who begin to actually shake in their shoes and I blatantly stare down at the large wet stain that is continuing to grow on one of their pants. “And I’m sorry that I loosened your bladder.” One male whimpers and the pisser just stares at the window. They must’ve been in training or maybe customers of the healer, but whatever it is, it doesn’t matter anymore. I have my friends to find somewhere in this Mortal Kingdom and I’ll need to do it on foot.

  I leave the two humans in the room, basking at the scene. I don’t know where I’m going, but I aimlessly walk down t
he hallway and quicken my pace as I get to the stairs. I don’t know what type of security Alpri has, but I’d rather be gone before the kingdom guard arrives. They don’t need to know of Vampyres and Fae wandering through the streets. The stairwell drops me off in a small, unwelcoming threshold and I notice two large wooden doors before me. I clatter through them and stumble into an alley. Dark swirling puddles of sewage are scattered in the shadowed alley and I avoid the whispering vagrant at my feet. He hisses at me and I hiss back, bearing my blood stained teeth. He recoils and whimpers like a struck hound. A flowing wave of moving people wearing different colors and styles of dress pass the entrance to the shrouded alley. I approach the bustling people and try to stay in the shadows as I peer outward to see what all of the crowding is for.

  Merchants of different skin tones, wearing different clothes, bear a variety of items. Awnings shield carts full of weapons, blankets, potions, rocks, and even clothing. Iridescent khalats draw my eye, but that’s the opposite of what I want. That’s when I notice the dark, skin tight, silk outfit nicely folded on a merchant’s cart. The awning is striped blue and white, and from the glow of the sun on the fabric I can see the metallic shimmer of embroidery on the uniform. I look at my own outfit. My feet are bare to the elements and my threadbare shift is stained with blood, sadly, so is my face and hair. I almost shout with excitement! The onyx dye that stained my hair on Crimson Island is gone and now the moon white waves are back and softer than before.

  I hug the wall as I leave the alley and sneak behind a female merchant who is bargaining her clay jars of water from different locations around the world. I personally find the idea a load of dung, but anybody will crave for the taste of magic nowadays. These humans seem hungry for something different, change, culture. Whether the water is from a faucet next door or a secret island off the coast of Pangea, I swipe a jar of the liquid and quickly douse myself. My sodden hair is cold along my skin, although the moist, summer-like heat is overpowering. The air is thick and wet, but it is only March.

  With my face cleaned of blood and my clothes hiding the blood, I approach the merchant across the square that has the neatly folded uniform I was eyeing. I look down at the black silk and admire the golden swirls that seem to twist into stars that twinkle on the fabric.

  “How much for this?” I ask touching the suit and looking to the man with pale white skin. His dark hair tickles his brow and his soft grey eyes seem to glow beneath the shade of his cart’s awning.

  The corner of his mouth lifts as if I may have made a joke. “The item is sold,” he says sounding more like a woman than any man I have met. I start to wonder his gender when I realize she is using the majority of her weight on her hip poking out in a way only women do. And yet they still conquer gender conformities. They make me think of the Faerie culture and practice of loving another Fae for their personality and never their gender.

  “How is it sold? It’s sitting right in front of me.”

  “The customer who purchased it is retrieving their money,” The merchant growls like a want-to-be queen with a shit poor attitude. Apparently this human, who I actually liked, is a royal bitch.

  I glance around the bustling square and make sure nobody is looking at me. I turn around and in a fluid motion snatch the bitch’s collar and yank her towards my snarling face. I let my elongated fangs twinkle in the sunlight. She doesn’t even scream. The merchant’s breaths come out in panicked pants and she looks from my fangs to the square. “If you don’t give me the damned uniform I will split you from snatch to chin and greedily enjoy the taste of your blood.”

  A single tear falls and I push the merchant away. She holds her chest and doesn’t meet my eyes as she scurries towards another merchant’s wagon. I grab the beautiful outfit and slide into it. Thank the gods for my luck because I notice a box full of silk slippers. I put on a pair of black ones and then yank a cloak of bright silver from a hanging rack. I can’t help, but smile when I hear the bitch’s cries from across the square. The merchant doesn’t say a word when I let my billowing cloak fall over a table of blades. My fingers hook onto two large daggers with night-dark handles and the silver blades are etched with the Faerie language.

  I feel as if I’m flying when I let my Vampyre speed take me across the city. I scale a wall in seconds and I’m hopping from roof after roof until the noon sun falls and descends behind a heavy gloom of black clouds. I feel the crackling lightning above the clouds and far away. It feels like a pulse, a beating heart. It sounds like a drum in my veins and I know it is still miles away. I can’t even hear the booming thunder from Alpri. It’s alluring and making my strength ascend. I feel this growing energy within me and I want nothing more than to feel its true power.

  I feel my mate. Lunan is nearby. I don’t know where, but I can feel the wire between us snare me and begin to pull north, towards the storm, toward the castle. I follow the path, it carries me over roof after roof and with my incredible speed I build enough momentum to let my body fly into the air and right over the wall that surrounds the castle. The storm tingles in my bones and I feel the clouds split and the lightning crack to the earth like greedy fingers reaching for gold. I inhale the scent of electricity and I scream with thrill as I land on my feet and roll, stopping the momentum. Alpri shakes as the roiling thunder rattles Abella. I can’t help the smile on my lips as I feel the thrumming electricity. It is only a few miles away now. It’s traveling hard and fast.

  Another flash of light and my attention is thrown to the shadows at my right, hiding amongst the thickets that surround the castle grounds. I am in the garden; the many towering hedges make the place a maze. I try to ignore the uncomfortable inkling in the back of mind that something is wrong, as Lunan rounds the corner. Acacius is at his back and they duck behind a fountain. I wonder who they are hiding from, but I don’t want to risk being seen just in case. I crouch down and run over to them.

  Lunan grips me in a hug, instantly relieved. “We have been looking for you everywhere,” He whispers and places a kiss on my brow. Although I still feel uncomfortable, I’m unsure why; my heart flutters at the softness of his lips.

  Acacius jolts with fear and then suddenly starts to act like a father figure. “Now is not the time,” He seethes.

  “Why?” I question and look around the garden for their attacker, but see nothing but flickering shadows when the lightning crackles, followed by booming thunder.

  “We couldn’t find you,” Lunan jumps in, too excited at the sight of me. His face is a sight for sore eyes and I can see the warm glow of his golden irises in the dark. Those eyes will guide me, a torch in the night, and the light at the end of a path. “We had left you in a small shack on the outskirts of Alpri and when we came back you were gone.”

  I look at Lunan and grab his wrists in an attempt to calm his fluster. “A hag took me and was doing tests on me,” I look at Acacius. “She knows what we are, well what I am. I got rid of her.” I don’t need him panicking about someone knowing. The way I killed her, there is no chance of her coming back.

  “What do you mean, Athena?” Lunan questions and I forget he is even talking to me. I have been known to my mate under a false name. I don’t answer Lunan, so he looks to Acacius. “What is she talking about?”

  “We’ll discuss this later, right now we have a serious predicament,” Acacius whispers and looks around the garden.

  “What?”

  “Alpri is under attack,” Acacius growls. Right as his words vanish beneath the booming thunder, lightning spikes down, illuminating the garden, I see a beast, leaping from a rose bush and into the air. It’s snarling maw wide and bared at Lunan. The blade I stole is slicing through the air and slams into the Dreag’s throat before the lightning vanishes. It clatters against the stones and Lunan gawks at me and looks from Acacius to me.

  I don’t have time to shrug before three giant tree monsters are appearing from the hedges. We thought Alpri would be safe, but little did we know that we weren’t safe at all.
We walked into the center of a war zone.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ~Ariadae~

  We left Janari and sprinted all the way to Febrei. Thankfully my mother’s Forsaken legion hadn’t attacked another kingdom from our knowledge and although I am always panicked when traveling, I’m relieved to have seen Febrei and Marzia intact. The Febrarian king didn’t believe me when I told him of what happened to Janari and the oncoming onslaught of murderous beasts. When Jax and Kane had tried to reason with him a form of agreement over an alliance and tying our armies together, the king hadn’t answered. He told us to leave his kingdom before he showed us a real monster.

  Marzia was slightly different. The Marizian emperor didn’t reject or agree to our contract and alliance. He had said that his father’s grandfather was alive for the last signs of the immortal and mortal war. And for the past two centuries his family believed of a war coming from Elkwood. He fears the Fae and their wrath. With the odds seemingly in my favor he said that he will be considering the terms of our alliance and isn’t ready to tie a new allegiance until he handled the current battle with his adjacent kingdom, Mala. We didn’t have any more time to waste, so we accepted his “maybe” and headed to Alpri.

  We arrive before the heavy storm outside that has only just broke from the clouds above. The High Priestess of Alpri sits at her throne of golden swords. The towering chair might as well be a small structure, but again humans love their symbolism of power. I tried to ignore the purple flags, and carpets and the gold accents because it reminded me too much of the Summer Kingdom. The colors on the Summer Kingdom flag are violet and sun yellow. I draw my focus to the mortal woman before me and her ridiculous dress of chainmail.

  “Who do I have to thank for an immortal arrival in my kingdom?” Her voice is rich and welcoming, but behind her pretty face and lack of revealing clothes I bet she is a snake in a basket, waiting for the lid to be lifted. “Alpri is a home of many from all around the world, but not for many centuries has it seen an immortal.”