by Amy Sumida
Moire's hands fell away from my neck, and the violence faded from her face as my magic took control of her mind. She laid back and looked up at me, utterly compliant, waiting for my command. I gulped in air, sat back on my heels, and considered her. The room had subsided into a shocked silence around me, giving me some quiet to ponder by. I didn't have to kill Moire, but I had vowed I would. She'd done evil beyond measure, hurt my family-
“You must kill her, Seren,” my father called to me. “There is no mercy in a challenge for the throne. Finish it.”
Alright, never mind the inner battle with my morality. I didn't have a choice. That was freeing actually. I stood, then looked around the room. Everyone watched us avidly, and I realized that how I killed Moire would be as important as the fact that I had killed her. Both the seelie and the elves were my people now, and they would judge me by my next actions. They didn't know me like the twilight fey did. They didn't have a history with me to ease them through a violent moment like this one. What I did here would be the foundation of our future relations. So I needed to make a decision. Even in execution, you could be merciful. Did I want the seelie to see me as merciful? Or did I want them to fear me, as they had feared my grandmother? Well, that was an easy enough question to answer.
I could have made Moire do anything I wished. I could have forced her to slowly cut pieces off herself until she bled out. I could have humiliated her or made her cast herself from the highest tower. There were countless ways to be cruel, and I was sure Moire herself had employed several of them. The extinguisher in me wanted justice, wanted to make her suffer. When I looked to Raza, I saw that he wanted me to be vicious too. The beast in him longed for a violent end to this despicable woman. It would be so satisfying. But I needed to think about more than appeasing Raza's dragon and my extinguisher nature. I wasn't just an extinguisher anymore, nor was I only a princess, and I didn't want to become a wicked queen. I was an Ambassador.
I picked up my sword and started to lift it, thinking to make it a clean execution, as painless as possible, when I saw Bress weeping. This was still his mother, and I cared for Bress now. I cared about him enough to not want him hurt any more than he had to be. Before him, his father was bent over double in his throne, covering his face with his hands, and sobbing. They both needed some closure. I couldn't spare Moire, but I could at least spare her husband and son some pain.
“Moire,” I ordered, “go and say goodbye to your husband and your son. Tell them that you love them. Then release Bress from his chains.”
Moire stood obediently and walked over to her husband. She opened her arms to him, and Conn went into them. He held her tight as she told him goodbye. After Conn finally let go, Moire went to Bress. She hugged him, kissed his cheek, and gently wiped away his tears. I couldn't hear what she said to him, but it made him sob harder. She pulled a key from a pouch at her waist and undid his manacles. Bress' magic was restored in a tingling burst of energy, and he threw his arms around his mother. I waited for him to make peace with her, to make his goodbye, which was far more important to me than hers.
“Alright, Moire, come here,” I called.
Bress took his mother's arm, and led her back down the dais steps, to me. He faced me steadily and nodded. Then he let go of her and backed away. I was shocked to see tears streaming down Moire's face. Being star-struck rendered a fairy incapable of doing anything but obeying. Still, it didn't take away their emotions. Moire was still in there, trapped, and for the first time ever, I felt sympathy for her. It looked like the monster had a heart after all.
“Kneel, Lady Moire Thorn,” I said gently, “and I will give you peace.”
The room had gone deathly quiet, and I realized that not only was I showing the Seelie Court that I could be merciful, I was also showing them the extent of my power. I could make any of them as helpless as a human. Perhaps fear would be something I couldn't avoid instilling. So be it. I would just have to do my best to counter it. Starting with making this execution into an extinguishment.
I removed the seelie crown from Moire's head, and placed it on the floor beside me.
“For the crimes of murder, treason, and just general evilness, I, Ambassador Seren Firethorn of Twilight, find you, Lady Moire Thorn, guilty. Your light will live on in your son, but the one inside you shall be extinguished.”
I was about to swing my sword, when the room went to its knees. Like the tide drawing back from the shore, the fey sank down in a backward surge till only my father and my men remained standing. My father gave me a crisp nod, and I brought the blade down upon Moire's neck. Her body fell limply to the floor.
“Hail, Queen Seren of Seelie!”
My mouth fell open as the room erupted into cheering. The seelie rushed forward in joy, the elves in satisfaction, and my family in relief. My family, that's what they were now. My new husband and my two fiancés. Killian hadn't exactly proposed, but I was pretty sure we were engaged now. It didn't matter either way. He was family, and he was mine. All of them were mine.
And I was a queen. Of Seelie. How the hell had that happened?
“And now you see that I never abandoned you,” Danu's voice cut through the cheering, and everyone fell to their knees this time, including me. “I love you, Daughter.”
Danu stood before me in a shimmering haze. The only clear thing about her were her eyes, which appeared to be mine. The rest of her shifted through the forms of different types of fey, as if her body was fickle and couldn't decide which one it liked best. She was a dryad when she leaned over and kissed my forehead.
“I needed you to unite our people,” Danu said gently. “It has been difficult to bring you to this point, and I've had to resort to some underhanded behavior, I admit it,” her head turned to Tiernan. “I'm sorry I forced you to fight with Seren, that I compelled your hand against her in violence. I know how it hurt your heart to do so, and it hurt me to move you in such a manner against her. But it was done to bring you here, to this point, where she is now yours. I hope you will forgive my interference, Tiernan.”
“Of course, Goddess,” Tiernan bowed his head. “There is nothing to forgive.”
“You have been through much, and have always remained true to me. That will not be forgotten.”
“It was you?” I shook my head at her. “You made him say those things? You made him hit me?”
“I knew it was the only way to force you into leaving him,” Danu said softly. “The only way you would ever turn your back on such a powerful love. And if you had never left Tiernan, you would never have accepted Raza.” She turned and smiled at Killian, “Or Killian.” Danu turned to me once more, “Your human reservations needed to be stripped away so that you could accept what would truly make you happy.”
“And what would make you happy,” I smirked.
“What will make our world happy,” Danu conceded. “Now that it has all unfolded as I hoped it would, I know you will move forward with grace and dignity. You shall bring peace to our world, Queen Seren Firethorn, and hopefully between our world and my brother's.” The seelie crown lifted from the floor and floated over to Danu's ghost-like hands. She placed the sun-tipped crown on my head, “May all here bear witness that I, Danu, Goddess of the Fey, have crowned this woman, Seren Firethorn, Queen of Seelie. Her right to rule shall never be questioned.”
The fey bowed their heads in acceptance.
“I have brought you through the fire, my children,” Danu smiled softly, “all of you,” she looked back to me. “But I promise that it shall be worth the burn. Those we have lost will be mourned, but their numbers are far less than those who would have perished had I not acted. Forgive me for my interference, I love you so.”
Then Danu faded away.
But her voice echoed in my head, “Now stop being stubborn, Seren, and love those whom I have bound to you.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
My first act as queen was to hug my cousin.
“Bress, I'm so sorry I failed you,” I
whispered.
“You saved me, Seren,” he said. “You freed me from her, and you even allowed us one last moment together, one last memory that was happier than any I have of her. Thank you for that. You have won my eternal loyalty today.”
“But I let you be taken,” I shook my head.
“My father tricked me,” Bress sighed and looked toward his silent father. Conn had left the king's crown on the throne and went to stand off to the side, lost and alone. “But I cannot truly fault him. I was manipulated by her once. I was as he is now. I'm going to try and help him through it. Unless you had other plans for him?” Bress glanced down at Moire's corpse.
“I hold no ill will towards your father,” I shook my head. “I hope you can reach him, lead him out of the mental maze she's put him in.”
“I'll try my best,” Bress hurried off to his father.
Then my own father came to me, and hugged me tightly, “I have never been so proud. I knew you could beat Moire.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I basked in the parental praise and the fatherly love for a few minutes, then let him go so I could hug my men. “Raza, are you still alright with this?”
“I am content, mo shíorghrá,” he wrapped his wings around us for some privacy, “but the dragon in me screams for more. I want to move up the wedding.”
“How much moving are we talking about?”
“A week,” he said immediately.
“What? Have you been thinking about this the whole time I was fighting Moire?” I teased.
“Not the whole time,” he said seriously. “Most of it was wasted on worry. Obviously, I had nothing to be concerned about. You are one of the strongest women I've ever known.”
“You may be just a little biased,” I kissed him.
“Biased or not,” Raza said, “you are undoubtedly powerful. You have just won Seelie, and you are heir to Twilight, something that has never happened in all of time.”
“And soon I shall be Queen of Unseelie.”
“In a week?”
“In a week,” I agreed.
“Then I shall be more than content,” Raza purred. “I shall be deeply satisfied.”
“I thought I already satisfied you?”
“You know, just because you stick those wings up, doesn't mean we can't hear you,” Killian muttered.
Raza folded his wings behind him, and gave Killian a glare, “I shall remember each interruption and inconsiderate gesture, Lord Killian. And I shall inflict them all back upon you times ten.”
“Alright, Dragon,” Killian chuckled. “Fair enough.”
“My wife,” Tiernan slid me from Raza's embrace and into his. “Sweet Goddess, we're married. I never thought I'd get to be your husband.”
“I did,” I laid my hand to his cheek. “I thought about it a lot. Until Danu took those thoughts away.”
“Danu... it all makes sense now,” he whispered. “I never felt like myself. For months, I felt like a ghost, a phantom in my own body, doing and saying things I had no control over.”
“I had wondered how I could have been so wrong about you,” I laid my hand on his chest. “How I could have misread your heart.”
“My heart has never wavered,” Tiernan declared. “Not once has it ever stopped beating for you. Even in the midst of that madness, I loved you.”
“I never stopped loving you either,” I melted into his embrace.
“If our love can survive a goddess' manipulations, then it can survive anything,” Tiernan laid his forehead to mine.
“Your Majesties,” a seelie man stepped forward. “May we crown the King now?”
“First,” Tiernan scanned the crowd, “tell me where my father is.”
A muttering began, and the seelie looked uneasy.
“Your father fell defending Her Majesty, Queen Isabel,” the seelie man reported. “I'm deeply sorry.”
“He wasn't in the Queen's Guard,” Tiernan growled. “What do you mean he fell defending Isabel?”
“He drew on Moire after she declared her challenge to Queen Isabel,” the seelie said. “The elves shot Count Diocail.”
Tiernan's glare turned on the elves, and Dagur strode forward.
“I was not with the group inside the castle,” Dagur said, “but I know why my brethren acted. Danu implored us to stand by Moire until the Twilight Star appeared. Until then, we had to keep up the ruse. I am sorry for your loss, Your Majesty, and our part in it.”
“We have all lost much today,” Tiernan said gravely as he faced the Seelie Court. “I cannot mourn as if I am the only one hurting. So, if you will accept me back into your hearts, my fellow seelie, we will mourn together, and we will rebuild our kingdom into something even stronger than it was before.”
The seelie liked that idea. They shouted and cheered.
“And my wife?” King Marcan, I mean Lord Marcan, stepped forward, still cradling my dead grandmother “May I bury her within the royal crypt?”
“Of course,” Tiernan said gently. “And you are still welcome here, Lord Marcan. You have been a good king to the seelie for thousands of years. That will not be forgotten.”
“And my son?” Marcan asked. “Shall he be allowed to stay as well?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Tiernan said.
“Where is my Uncle Shane?” I asked as I peered around the room.
“Find him,” the seelie before us said to another. Then he looked to me, “We will take care of it, Your Majesty.”
“I'm sorry, but who are you?” I asked him.
“My apologies,” he cleared his throat. “I am Lord Alfred. I was seneschal to Their Majesties, and I hope I may be of service to you now.”
“Relax, Alfred,” I said. “No one's getting fired.”
“Maybe you should try saying that when there aren't any corpses lying at your feet, Twilight,” Killian smirked and pulled me away from Tiernan. “Now, can I get a little sugar too?”
“You can get more than a little, Blair,” I leaned up into his kiss.
“Does this mean we're engaged?”
“I don't recall you asking,” I teased.
Killian dropped to one knee immediately and took my hand. The throne room settled into a murmuring quiet.
“Seren, I met you, and all other women faded away for me,” Killian's words rang out clearly. “You shine like a candle in the window, a gleaming beacon calling me home. Now that I'm here, at home in your heart, I never want to leave. Be my wife, Twilight. I'm out in the cold without you.”
“Did you know he could say shit like that?” Tiernan asked Raza.
“No idea,” Raza growled. “The sneaky witch.”
“Snakey witch,” Tiernan corrected.
“I knew he was romantic,” I said to Tiernan while keeping my eyes on Killian. “I knew there was much more to Killian Blair than he let us see.” I knelt down with him, “and I love that man. I could never leave him in the cold.”
Killian whooped and stood, lifting me into the air above him. He brought me down to kiss me, shocking the whole assemblage with his intensity. Then Tiernan and Raza joined us, and I found myself embraced by three men at once. You'd think that it would be awkward, or embarrassing, but it wasn't. It was perfect. We fit together as if they'd been made to surround me, envelope me in love. Or perhaps, I'd been made for them. To bring them together. Whatever it was, we were finally together... complete.
Chapter Fifty
There was a lot to do before I could leave Seelie. Tiernan had to be crowned, and that was only the beginning. We had to set our court to rights, establish who was still in what position and fill the positions that had been opened (like Commander Anson's). Raza's army arrived the next day while we were still settling things. Like the fact that my Uncle Shane had fled. That slimy bastard had run away while his kingdom was being attacked, and his mother murdered. He'd even taken the time to pack a few things.
His wing now belonged to my in-laws, Sorcha and Latharna. They were, of course, deeply affected by Diocail's death
, but part of me thought it was ironic that he had allowed his wife and daughter to go to war without him, then wound up dying in battle himself. I saw that Sorcha felt the irony as well, and upon hearing of Danu's appearance, she seemed to think it was more than ironic, it was Danu's will. I don't know if that was comforting to her or not. It was hard to read a woman who was in mourning for her husband. What did comfort her was the fact that Diocail had died honorably, trying to defend his queen. Sorcha had said that her husband had died as he lived, a true, seelie warrior.
Tiernan's family had risen in rank along with him, and his mother was now a Duchess, while his sister was a Marchioness. The seelie who had once scorned Tiernan were now kissing his ass something fierce. I know it was wrong, but that secretly satisfied me. To go from outcast to king was no small thing. If only his father had been there to see it. Wouldn't that have just blown Diocail's mind?
We held funerals for the dead, even one for Moire, though she would be buried in Unseelie. Conn was given special permission to take Moire's body into the Unseelie Kingdom for burial. The seelie soldiers who had died were given special crypts in honor of their sacrifice. I saw to Commander Anson's personally and laid a wreath of thorns over his marker.
Tiernan's father was buried within the royal seelie crypt, right beside Queen Isabel. I thought that was fitting. Part of me wondered what sort of man defended a queen who had once attacked his wife and son. But Tiernan said his father had been a loyal seelie, and sometimes loyalty, though honorably meant, could make men behave badly.
Yes, I know Tiernan was referring to his own bad behavior. Despite Danu claiming responsibility for the way Tiernan had behaved, he still held himself responsible. His father's temperament just served as more proof to Tiernan that he had the capability to treat his loved ones poorly under the guise of loyalty. We can argue with our parents, hate them even, but it's hard to remove someone's influence from your DNA. I tried to reason with Tiernan, but guilt is often unreasonable. Even though he smiled, and said all the right things, I knew he still held that hurt in his heart. The hurt of hurting me.
