by Olivia Hart
“That’s true,” she said, and I set my wine glass down. Her eyes watched me as I rounded the small wooden table between us.
When I stood behind her, she looked up at me, and I smiled. “You did well today. You did well yesterday. We’re trying to help the people to respect each other and their own separate gifts.”
I put my hands on her shoulders and felt the knots in her muscles. Knots caused by stress and worry, not exhaustion. Fairy magic couldn’t heal stress, but maybe I could help a little. My thumbs made soft circles around the tight muscles, and she moaned softly.
“I trust you, Rose,” I said. “More than anyone else, I trust you. You’re doing everything that you can, but try to remember that you don’t have to fix it all in the first week of being Queen. My mother didn’t accomplish everything that she wanted in the entire hundred years that she was Queen. She had Aurora’s council, and she didn’t have a war looming.”
“I know, Sebastian. It just feels like every day that I’m not working towards fixing the Dark Realm is another day that people are suffering.”
“That’s true, but if you wear yourself out, then you’ll make mistakes. You have to take care of yourself too. Or you have to let me take care of you at least.” Rose grinned, and I could feel her body calming down. The stress of the day was slowly fading. It would all come back tomorrow, but she needed to relax. She needed a break.
“I have an idea. How about we go to the village tomorrow. We’ll bring Amra and the dragon with us, and we’ll just take some time to relax like we used to.”
“I guess even the President goes golfing,” she said with a grin.
“I don’t know what that means, Rose.” I really was going to have to visit the Mortal Realm eventually.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re right. I do need a little break, and we can’t stay all day, but it’ll be good to breathe some forest air and play with some shifters. I’m sure that your dragon will enjoy it too.”
I continued to knead her taut muscles, and she seemed to relax, but I could tell that something was still gnawing at her.
“We’re not going to be ready for my mother, are we?” she finally asked.
I took a few moments to think of how I would respond to that dreaded question. It had been at the forefront of my mind as well. The war hadn’t started yet, but already I was getting reports of raids.
“I don’t know. Maybe we will be. She won’t want to confront the Dark Court directly. At least not initially. The vision we saw of her winning against my mother was only possible because Seraphina and my mother were evenly matched. You’re stronger than my mother ever was. Seraphina will have to find another way to deal with you.”
“Plus, she still has no way to deal with me shadow walking through my own warrens when I’m around you. She has no shadow walkers to utilize my warrens.”
A thought came to me then, and my hands stopped. “What if I rebuilt the Assassin’s Guild? What if I found all the shadow walkers and trained them to fight as I do? They’d never be as skilled as me, but they’d be a force to be reckoned with, especially if we gave them the obsidian daggers from the village.”
“That’s a genius idea,” Rose said, standing up. “But what if we extended that? I’m the only real advantage we have, but we haven’t thought about using my Queen’s Gift. I’d have to be in the middle of the fighting, but as long as I’m not having to watch my own back, I think I’d be okay. What if we explored some of the lesser Fae’s gifts combined with the Queen’s Gift?”
“Goblins,” I said with a grin. “It’s never been done, but what about if we trained goblins to be your bodyguards?”
“Why goblins?” she asked. “What natural abilities do they have? All I’ve ever seen are goblins cleaning and moving things.”
“Exactly.” I began to chuckle as I thought about it. “The Queen’s Gift allows everyone around you to have expanded powers. Goblins are naturally faster and stronger than anyone else their size, plus they have an eye for detail that almost no one else has. They developed it in order to mine better. Where dwarves are best known for their metalwork, goblins are renowned for their ability to find gems where others can’t.”
“So what would that translate into?” She was still confused.
“They will be faster and stronger than vampires, but they’ll see things that are off. Seraphina won’t try to win an outright battle with you, but she’ll definitely try to use trickery to defeat you. Goblins will notice where no one else would.”
Rose’s eyes grew wide, and then she began to giggle. “What’s so funny?” I asked.
“I’m…” her giggles interrupted her. “I’m going to have a Goblin Secret Service team. The GSS.”
I just stared at her in confusion, and she began to laugh hysterically. Why was this funny?
“It’s like the President,” she said before the giggles took over again.
I shook my head, glad that she was happy but completely confused as to why. I, on the other hand, felt far more confident than I’d felt in a long time. Yes, we could win this war. The main body of the army may be hopelessly outskilled by Seraphina’s war machine, but just a handful of shadow walkers could destroy their back ranks. We might even have a countermeasure for her trickery.
I walked around the chair and picked up my wine glass. When I looked at Rose again, she was smiling for the first time in so long. “I think we may have found the answers to deal with Seraphina,” I said.
“Yes, maybe we have. At least we’ve found something to help.”
She took a deep breath, and I saw the weight settle on her shoulders once more. “We’re still woefully unprepared, Sebastian.”
“We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry, Rose.”
I watched as she drank her entire glass of wine. All of the tension was back. There was nothing I could do to take it away. Nothing that could remove the weight of the world that rested on her shoulders.
War Report 2
The city of Huross was assaulted in the daylight hours yesterday. It is the closest city to the borderland between the Dark and Light Realms and situated near the main road between the realms. It was fortified with solid stone walls and had a troop of two hundred elves and dwarves.
One of the city’s guard patrols found the city burning with large gaps in the wall. It was left completely empty. No bodies from either side were found. The city of more than a thousand people was left completely empty, and we have heard no reports from survivors who fled. It is expected to have been an attack by the Court of Light, but all scents were purged from the area.
The only definitive information we have is that an artificer was involved. Only through an artificer’s tool could the area have been purged of scents so well.
It is recommended that we heighten border security.
Chapter 9
Sebastian
We stepped through Amra’s portal as Andryn and Asli were preparing the village’s lunch. Cara was standing nearby as though she were waiting for us. “Welcome back,” she said.
Asli and Andryn turned to us then, Andryn with a smile on his face and Asli with a frown. “You said you would visit more often!” she said.
Amra grimaced. “I’m sorry. There’s so much to do now. Rose wants me to learn how to do Court stuff, and it lasts forever. Please don’t be mad.”
I smirked as Amra was thrown off her typical excitedness. I could sense that Asli wasn’t actually angry.
Asli sniffed the air, and her eyes opened wide as she looked behind Amra. “Is that a dragon?”
Amra turned to the dragon, and it was as though the entire conversation hadn’t happened. “Yeah. Rose and Sebastian found him in the Tower. Well, some of the goblin servants found him, but they’re the ones that are making sure he doesn’t burn the place down.”
She walked forward and called to the dragon who followed obediently. “Dragon, this is Asli. She’s nice. Don’t burn her. Actually, don’t burn anyone here. They’re all nice.”
&n
bsp; The dragon blew a puff of smoke that looked suspiciously like a dragon carrying a stick. “Umm…” Asli said. “Nice to meet you, dragon?”
“Why doesn’t he have a name?” she asked Amra, and Amra turned to me.
I answered the question for her. “I expect that he has a name, and we just don’t know it. I don’t think I’d like to be called something other than my name, and I doubt he does, so we just call him dragon.”
Asli squinted at the dragon and chewed her lip while Andryn and Cara moved closer. “Dragon, I don’t want you to eat me. Want to eat something else instead?”
The dragon flapped its wings and stood up on its hind legs much like a dog begging for treats. That seemed to convince Asli that it was hungry, and as with all gnomes, she was quick to feed him.
Cara grinned as she watched the baby dragon follow Asli and Amra to the food table. “I never expected to see a baby dragon. There are so few of them, and they’re so closely guarded. How in the world did one manage to find its way into the Dark Tower?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
It was then that the shifter pups showed up. They’d grown up so much in the past few months. No longer the little puff balls they once were, they’d become young wolves. They weren’t full-grown, but when one of them pounced Rose, she toppled over, caught unprepared.
Rose began to giggle as the shifter assaulted her face with his tongue. “That’s not fair! I wasn’t ready yet,” she said in between laughs as she pushed him off her.
“If we’re going to play, then you have to give me a chance.” The shifter jumped to his feet and began to yip at her with far more fearsome teeth than he’d had before.
“They’ve gotten much bigger,” I said quietly to Cara as Rose jumped to her feet and began to run.
“And much more annoying,” she replied.
“Let’s see how they do with the dragon.” Already the dragon was running across the field after them. He didn’t get nearly enough playtime, and he certainly hadn’t ever had a chance to play with anyone his size.
Amra yelled after him, “You play nice, or you won’t get to play!”
“Should we be worried about him being too rough?” Cara asked.
I shook my head. “He understands how much stronger he is than anyone else. The worst he’s done so far is knock us down a time or two. If a pup can’t handle that, then they shouldn’t be playing with a dragon.”
* * *
Andryn’s stew was nearly done, and I could see that Rose, the shifters, and the dragon were exhausted as they walked back from their wrestling and chasing. All of them had bits of grass and leaves sticking from them. Rose’s hair looked like she hadn’t brushed it in days, and the shifters were covered in dirt. Somehow, a long strand of grass had gotten stuck between the scales on the dragon’s head, and it was sticking straight up.
But they were all smiling as they panted. This was exactly what Rose had needed. A day of playing with no cares in the world. Just the simple pleasure of chasing and being chased by creatures built to kill.
When they got closer, Amra reached out and pulled the blade of grass out from between the dragon’s scales. “Have fun?” I asked Rose.
She nodded and looked pointedly at the stew pot. “Is it almost done? I haven’t been this hungry in a long time.
“You missed lunch, and I doubt you’ve run that much since you came to the Dark Court.”
The people of the village were gathering, the scent of the stew told people that it was time to eat. There was no need for a food bell. When you smelled the food, it was done, and people were already starting to line up.
“Was this what you needed?” I asked.
She grinned at me. “It was way better than golfing.” Then she got into line with everyone else.
I just shook my head. The way she felt and smiled told me everything I needed to know even if the words didn’t make any sense. I lined up behind her and saw that Asli had picked up a second bowl. The dragon stood next to her. They sure did embrace the crazy quickly enough.
The line moved slowly, and the chatter began to get louder as more people sat down around the fire in the center of the village. We would eat, and then there would be storytime.
When we sat down on a log, Cara sat next to Rose. Amra, the dragon, and the other gnomes were sitting off to the side. Asli had put the dragon’s bowl on the ground, and he was digging chunks of the venison out and swallowing them. A pile of vegetables was growing on the ground next to him, and I grinned.
I noticed that Rose had grown silent, her eyes staring off into space as she did so often now. Memories from the Throne running through her mind.
Cara began watching her, and I cocked my head, not sure what Cara was watching. She placed a hand on Rose’s wrist. Rose jerked, but she continued to stare off into space.
Cara’s eyes became milky white as she saw other timelines. The past, the present, and possibly even the future.
“What are you searching for, Cara,” Rose asked softly.
“You’ve changed, Rose,” she said. “You came to us with all of your father’s influence and none of your mother’s. Now only faint touches of your father remain. Why?”
“I’m tired, Cara,” she said sadly. “This is the first day in a long time that I haven’t felt like the world was crumbling, and I know that as soon as I go back, it will all start again.”
“Your burdens will crush you, Rose. No one can carry the world for long. The Dark One did all those years ago, and even as strong as she was, the burden was too much. Why will you not allow your friends… your family to help carry this weight?”
Cara’s eyes returned to their pale green, and she released Rose’s wrist. “You are not alone in the world. I may not be a Queen, but I will serve the Dark Realm. I will make sacrifices for the ones that I love.”
“You cannot make decisions for me, Cara. You cannot be the wall against the light. You are kind, but you cannot carry my burden.” Rose was about to turn towards the fire when Cara spoke again.
“Then how did Aurora carry the burden for all these millennia?”
Rose blinked, and I knew the sign of weakness when I saw it. We could push her to let us in. We could push her to let us help her so that she didn’t break. I’d been so worried about her since she’d claimed the Dark Throne.
“I will carry the burden of the war, Rose. I will take care of it so that you can think about other things, so that you can stop worrying about every little thing.” She turned towards me, an odd look in her eye.
“I will carry the burden of the city. Let me become a council member that you can trust,” Cara said.
Rose turned to her even more confused, and Andryn stepped away from the fire. The rest of the village had become silent as everyone started watching and listening to us. “Rose, you aren’t alone in the world. I was Queen Aurora’s guard, and I remember how much weight she carried on her shoulders. The only reason she survived was that she was willing to let others carry some of it. Please let us help you. Please let me help you.”
More and more voices spoke from around the fire. Many of them standing up, stew bowls in hand. Each of them offering their help.
Then I said, “We cannot carry a Queen’s burden. No one can, but we can lighten the load for you. We can keep the burden from crushing you.”
I saw a tear fall from her eye, and she smiled at us all.
Then Amra said, “I’m not from the Dark Court, but I will help to carry your burdens.”
Asli stood up, and Sinivyn and John followed her lead. She took a deep breath before saying, “We’ll help you too. We may be little, but sometimes little hands can carry a heavy load.”
“You’re all sure you want to do this?” Rose asked. “You’re living the life I’ve always wanted. Why would you want to give it up to go back to the world of cruelty?”
This time, it was John who spoke. “You did it for us. You left the place that you loved to keep us all safe. We can do the same for you
. You’re family.”
Another tear fell down Rose’s cheek, but she smiled as she nodded. “Thank you. I will let you help me carry the burden. I won’t turn down your help.”
When she looked back up, she glanced at me, and I smiled back at her. “Well, pack your things,” she said as she wiped the tears away. “We’re going to the Dark Court after stew, so make sure you don’t forget anything you want.”
* * *
Andryn stood next to me with Kasia and Talek as the rest of the village packed their things. Rose had gone back to our old hut. She’d wanted to remember it, but I needed to talk to these three.
“What kind of a mess are we walking into?” Andryn asked.
Kasia and Talek turned to me. These would be my commanders. Three people that would follow orders and had seen battle.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “A terrible one. We’re outmatched and outnumbered. The only advantage we have is that Seraphina is afraid of forcing Rose onto a battlefield. No one knows exactly how devastating she could be if she let loose with all of her power.”
“What are we to do then?” Talek asked.
“Find a way to fix those problems,” I replied.
Kasia shook her head. “Those are not easy problems to fix.”
“Do you have any ideas?” Andryn asked.
“Yes, but they will mean that I will need to leave the actual troop training and commanding to you three.”
They looked at each other and nodded. “We will do what you need,” Talek stated.
Cara approached us as we watched them playing together. “Thank you, Cara,” I said when she was close.
“She is not only yours, Sebastian. She is all of ours.” She focused on me, and the others saw the grim expression on her face. “You must carry the burden of this war on your shoulders. Do not let her know the pain that it is causing. The time will come when it will all be made clear to her, but until then, she must be given time to grow.”
“Are you telling me to hide the atrocities of the war?”
