The Rise of the Fairy Queen (The Fairy Queen Trilogy Book 1)
Page 23
“Thank you.”
“Queen.” He kisses her hand, and she laughs, then cries, then hiccups.
“Did we just do that?” She gestures to the dead bodies, and Hardy nods, sober now.
“I need to go back out. Can I leave you here?”
“No, I should come and fight, come and help.”
“You are queen now, I cannot risk anything happening to you. Stay here, and as soon as I see someone we know, I’ll send them to you. Please.”
Elsie hesitates but then nods, taking a seat on the throne, watching the blood pool around the king and queen’s bodies, falling into a daze as she watches it spread and then congeal.
She is a queen. This castle is her home again.
It doesn’t feel real.
She picks up her step father’s wings, dusky grey and feathery, and drapes them over a chair. Then she picks up her step mother’s wings and does the same. She will do what she said she would – they can fly like a flag in the village to remind every fairy in Allaire how life once was and what they have overcome. Together.
She cannot sit while the fight continues. She just cannot.
She listens at the door and then, when she hears nothing, slips out into the throne room. It’s empty.
She listens at the door to the corridor, nothing. She opens the door and takes a deep breath when she sees the dead bodies littering the floor. The sounds of fighting are lessening, she can tell. There cannot be many left by now. She can only hope that there are more dead guards and dead clippers than are dead on her side.
She makes her way cautiously along, sword in her hand, flying over the debris of death.
She cannot see anyone alive, anyone at all. She heads down to the great hall. If she cannot find anyone to help or kill, she will go back to the throne room and wait. She knows Hardy will come back for her.
She can hear voices and sneaks a look around the corner. She has no way of knowing if it’s friend or foe.
It’s Hardy. She hesitates. She can hear Bella. They are arguing. She hesitates and then doubles back on herself, heading past the throne room and around in a big loop, coming up on them from the other side, so she’s closer, so she can hear what’s being said.
She knows she shouldn’t eavesdrop; maybe she needs to know it’s definitely over between the two of them. Maybe she needs just a slight reassurance. She is queen now – shouldn’t she have anything she wants.
She flies up and watches the scene through a small window. Spying was always going on at the castle. Between secret rendezvous and nefarious deals, there were always little spots to hide away or secret yourself. It was what made hide and seek so much fun when they were children.
Elsie feels silly and hesitates. Should she just fly down to the two of them? Something stops her.
Bella is sitting against the wall, blood pouring from a wound.
Hardy points at her with his sword.
“You just couldn’t stay away, could you?”
“You know me so well.”
He scoffs. “True. And you know me, which is why you should have stayed away.” He lifts his sword.
“Is that your answer? Kill me?”
“You leave me no choice, Bella.”
“I haven’t told her.”
“Yet.”
“I won’t tell her. Don’t kill me, Hardy.”
“I can’t trust you, Bella. If she ever found out, it would ruin everything. You know how hard I’ve worked for this, how much I wanted it. It’s the only reason I killed Meg.”
Elsie covers her mouth with her hand, so she doesn’t let out a sound. She drops to the floor, wings failing completely. She hears the squelch as Hardy’s sword slices through Bella’s skin and she cannot make a move to stop him. She cannot move. She cannot breathe. She cannot bear it.
She is a queen.
And she is betrayed before the crown even sits on her head.
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