Queen of Midnight: A Dark Fae Fantasy Romance (Court of Lies Book 3)

by Olivia Hart

  She cocked her head to the side and said, “Haven’t you already been?”

  Cara was right, but I didn’t want to admit it. “There has been nothing to prove that the border problems were connected to Seraphina. Rose doesn’t want to go to war until she is sure that her mother has begun the fight.”

  “I’m not saying that you should have done anything differently. She does not need to know until there is an undeniable connection. Do not force her into a war with her mother without justified cause. She’ll be changed forever. The lines are not in place yet. She must grow before she can be the Queen to take the Dark One’s place.”

  “If you inform her of these raids, she will feel the need to attack quickly, and that will be a mistake. Terrible things are coming, but it is not time to move against Seraphina. The strands of fate are still being twisted from the other side.”

  I took a deep breath. Rose was going to be furious at us. At me. “You’re sure? I will do what is best for the people and for Rose, but… But I’d prefer not to have my wife and Queen pissed at me.”

  “It is necessary. For now, let her be happy. Give her the chance to grow and become the Queen we all know she will become.” She gave me another serious look, “And that Queen will still smile.”

  Chapter 10

  Rose

  The entire village stepped through the portal into one of the receiving rooms in the Dark Tower. One after another, they carried their most precious belongings with them to their new home.

  It felt like Black Friday at the mall with how many people were trying to find space in the room. An entire village had come through the portal on a split-second decision, and the level of excitement and anticipation was higher than any of us were used to.

  Yet, Sinivyn stood with his hands on his hips as he looked around the room. “What’s wrong, Sinivyn?” I asked.

  He grunted and said, “It will be very hard to forage in this city.”

  “Yes, that’s true. On a good note, the kitchens are full of snacks that you don’t have to forage. Including chocolate.”

  He raised an eyebrow and said, “And I can get food from the kitchen?”

  I nodded. “Whenever you want.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out quickly before putting his hands back at his sides. “Then I will be able to live here for at least a little while. Amra will take me to the forest if necessary. This will be acceptable.”

  I smiled at him. “Glad to hear that Sinivyn.”

  “Sinivyn, you stop acting like an old gnome right now!” Asli said as she approached. “I’m sorry, Lady. He knows better than to act like this. Sinivyn is not good at new things.” She turned to her boyfriend and almost seemed to growl at him. “But he’ll be good. He knows that old gnomes don’t get certain things from their girlfriends.”

  I really had to struggle to keep from laughing at Asli as she kept Sinivyn in line. “I’ll have servants help you get settled, but until then, just hang out here. I’ll get someone to bring some food and drinks up.”

  I turned away from the gnomes and moved towards Sebastian who was looking at each of the villagers. He was assessing them, trying to decide where we could place each one of them.

  “Is this going to work?” I asked him in a whisper.

  He grinned. “Of course, it’s going to work. This is what I’ve wanted from the beginning. It’s what the council is supposed to be for. They’re just terrible, and you don’t trust them for good reason. This is better. Far better.”

  “If everyone is doing my jobs, then what am I supposed to do?”

  He bent down and kissed me. “Maybe me if I’m lucky. It’s been a long time, Rose.”

  That was the first time that I’d realized that we hadn’t been intimate in far too long. I was married to an incubus. I had to make sure he was fed. “Oh no, Sebastian. I’m sorry, do you need to feed?”

  The smile on Sebastian’s face faded instantly, and he said, “No Rose, I want to touch you, to feel you. I want you to remember that we’re more than just two people who work together. I didn’t bind myself to you to feed on you. I did it because I wanted to be as close to you as possible.”

  “Oh.” For what felt like the first time in forever, Sebastian took me in his arms. Ignoring the crowd of people around us, he pulled me into his embrace, and I felt myself melt in his strength. He was right. I’d been so focused on fixing things that I’d completely forgotten the man that I’d fallen in love with.

  I looked up at him and saw him smiling. “I love you, Rose. No matter what’s going on in the world, the most important thing will always be you.”

  “It can’t be like that anymore, Sebastian. The Dark Realm has to come first. If it comes down to protecting the Dark Realm and protecting me, you have to pick the Dark Realm.”

  He shook his head. “Well, you’ll have to punish me if that choice ever happens because I’ll let the world burn to save you.”

  “Why do you have to be so freaking stubborn, Tinkerbell?” I tried to push him away, but he didn’t let me go, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was glad. I hoped that the choice was never forced on him, but the fact that he was willing to choose me over the entire world was about as flattering as you could get.

  I put my head to his chest and felt his heart beating soft and slow. He was happy. I knew that through the bond we shared, but it was nice to feel it the old-fashioned way. That warmth. The calmness. The surety he exuded. This was the man that I’d fallen in love with.

  And I wasn’t going to forget that.

  Sebastian finally let me go, and I glanced around at the people from the village milling about. I needed to get them situated. Then I could drag Sebastian up to our suite and show him just how much I’d missed him too.

  I saw a goblin hurrying towards me, and I smiled. Perfect. Then I heard Sebastian whisper in my ear, “I think it’s time that you remembered what it felt like to be my toy. Would you like to forget that you’re anything more than my pretty little plaything for a few hours?”

  His words sent a rush of memories through me. With them, chills ran up my spine. It had been so terrifying being completely at his mercy, but it had been so intense. I had to bite my lip to remind myself that I wasn’t able to let go quite yet.

  The goblin gave me a slight bow and took off his leather cap to reveal a bald and wrinkly head. I was about to ask him to get some of the other servants together to get the villagers situated in their rooms when he began to speak.

  “Queen Rose, will you spare me a moment of your time?” I tapped into Sebastian’s empathy and felt the goblin’s fear and hope mingling inside him. I glanced at Sebastian who shrugged.

  I took a deep breath and reminded myself that he was only asking for a moment of my time. “What’s your name, goblin?” I asked.

  “Kral, Lady,” he said as he crumpled his cap in his hands in nervousness.

  I smiled down at him and turned to Sebastian, “Would you get the villagers situated while I talk to Kral?”

  He nodded, and I turned back to the goblin. “Let’s go into the hall. It should be quieter there.”

  I didn’t wait for a response, but when I walked into the hall, Kral was right behind me. I sat down in one of the chairs that were meant for petitioners on days that I held Court.

  “What did you need to ask, Kral?” I looked into his eyes. Memories of the Throne flooded my mind as I looked at him. I knew their history and their struggles. I knew how they had banded together and moved away from the caves and mountains that had been home to them to escape being hunted.

  I remembered the goblin wars where they donned armor and fought each other. Where a power-hungry goblin king had hunted each clan down in the darkness of the caves and slaughtered their warriors with his armies. The goblins we knew as servants were the refugees and their descendants, never allowed to return home for the king under the hills still ruled.

  He crumpled his cap again as he looked down. His leathery ears seemed to droop just a little
bit, but then he seemed to steel himself as he looked at me with those too-large eyes. Eyes meant to see into the darkest of places.

  “You’re a different kind of Queen and a different kind of fairy, Queen Rose. You’re changing the way the world works. I heard what you did with the ogre, Lady.” He took a deep breath and continued, “Maybe you will understand. Please do not mistake my question for rudeness.”

  I sat back and said, “Please ask your question, Kral. Then we can talk about it.”

  He nodded and after only a brief hesitation, he stated his question. “I don’t want to be a servant, Queen Rose.”

  The words hung in the air, and I waited to hear the question, but there didn’t seem to be anything left. “Okay, so don’t be a servant? I don’t understand your question, Kral.”

  He blinked slowly, like a cat, and I took it for the confusion that it was. “Lady, all the goblins are either servants or miners. I don’t want to be either.”

  I shrugged. “Okay. It’s not the place of a Queen to tell each person what they want to do with their life. What do you want to be?”

  He cocked his head to the side and said, “You don’t want to tell people their jobs?”

  “Kral, I have a thousand things to worry about. Why should I try to control what your job is?” This statement seemed to confuse him even more.

  “Because the council forced all of us to choose one or the other. They said that we were the best servants, so they didn’t want anyone else.”

  Now it was my turn to be confused. Why would anyone force people to do jobs? How had Sebastian let the council do things like this while it was under his control? I took another deep breath and reminded myself that Sebastian hadn’t had the same authority I had.

  “Thank you for letting me know about this, Kral. I’ll be sure to remedy it tomorrow morning, but for now, you’re free to choose whatever profession you’d like. Remember that if you leave the service of the Dark Tower, you’ll have to make your way without the same support you have here.”

  “Oh no, Lady, I don’t want to leave the Tower. I just have a different kind of calling. I’ve always wanted to make new things. Things that no one has ever seen.”

  “Okay, you’ve got my attention. What kinds of things do you want to make?”

  He glanced around him as though he were worried someone would steal his ideas, but then he whispered, “I haven’t told anyone else, but I want to make a No-Walk.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what that is, Kral. Maybe you could explain it?”

  “Well, my wife and I live in the servant’s quarters on the third floor of the tower, and I would like to make her life easier. She just found out that she’s pregnant with our first child, and I don’t want her to have to walk all these stairs every day. Instead, I have a plan to make a platform that will take people all the way from the top of the Tower to the bottom in just a few minutes.”

  A wide smile crossed my face as I said, “An elevator? You’re going to build an elevator in the Immortal Realm? Who would have thought?”

  He blinked his eyes slowly again and said, “No Lady, it’s a No-Walk. I don’t know what an elevator is.”

  I didn’t try to explain an elevator to the goblin. “You’re hired, Kral. Find whoever else you want to help you. I’m sure that everyone would appreciate a No-Walk. Make up the plans for it and bring them to me personally. I may have some suggestions. I took enough physics courses in college that I may be able to help.”

  “You know how to design machines?” he asked.

  “Yes, Kral. Remember that in the Mortal Realm, everything is run with machines. But, if this works out, I may have other projects for you to work on for me. You were right to say that I’m not a normal fairy, and if we’re to win a war with the Court of Light, we need to capitalize on my knowledge of technology. I just hadn’t realized that yet.”

  “Yes, Lady.” He put his cap on his head again. He was beaming a jagged toothed smile as I stood up.

  “Let your supervisor know that you’re no longer going to work as a servant and that I expect you in my sitting room tomorrow morning.”

  “Yes, Lady. Thank you for giving me a chance.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder and said, “Don’t thank me yet. I expect that you’ll work harder on this than you ever did as a servant.”

  “Yes, but it will be doing something that I love, and that makes all the difference.”

  Chapter 11

  Rose

  I sat down at the brunch table and stared at the roast chicken. The thing stunk something terrible. I loved roast chicken, but there was something wrong with this one. Sebastian cut thick slices of breast meat and began to put them on my plate next to a salad.

  “Stop. Please. That chicken stinks. I think it went bad or something.”

  Sebastian raised his eyebrows, and said, “I don’t smell anything.” He picked up a slice and put it under his nose. “No, it smells perfectly normal.”

  “Yeah, well I don’t want any of that. I’ll just eat my salad and grab some nuts or something.”

  Sebastian shrugged and put the slices of chicken on his plate. As he moved to serve himself, I remembered my first night in the Immortal Realm. The night that he’d given me more than half of his rations. The night that I’d realized how incredible he was.

  His hair had never truly become tame. I remembered how his blue eyes and stray hair had won me over. The black silk shirt he wore today was so similar to the one he’d worn when he’d whisked me away, and the way it fit him like a second skin reminded me of how I’d felt that first day in the meadow with the unicorn. The way I’d felt lust for the first time.

  He was beautiful. Not handsome like a billionaire from a movie. Billionaires were just normal confident men. No, Sebastian was beautiful like a dream come to life, and he moved like one too. He was hotter than sin, and he was all mine. I’d bound my soul to his, yet I still felt like we were so distant. We spent our days together, but all we did was take care of the Dark Realm. Hopefully, that would change after the meeting today.

  “You know what we need? Some freaking shrimp tacos. That would be perfect right now. A little bit of lime and cilantro and a big helping of guac. Throw in some salsa and tortilla chips, and that would be heaven.”

  “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Absolutely none. Maybe you can describe it to the cook?”

  I shook my head. “The last time I tried to describe Mortal Realm food to a cook, they screwed it up completely. Though, that weirdo dessert pizza kind of sounds good too.”

  Sebastian chuckled as he loaded his plate down with chicken, not worried about having to share with me.

  I began to eat the salad, glad that I didn’t have to eat the chicken. I just hoped that Sebastian didn’t get sick. “Well, you’ll be happy to hear that the goblin’s plans for the No-Walk look like they’re going to work. It may not be long until you can float up to the Throne Room in just a few minutes.”

  “Goblin inventors. Who would have thought?” Sebastian said. “I never really expected them to be very good at anything other than mining and service.”

  “Why? Wasn’t it Nyx who said that he didn’t understand how you could be a warrior without a stronger power? No one knows what we’re capable of until we show them.”

  Sebastian shrugged. “I guess that’s true.”

  A few moments passed in silence as Sebastian ate far more of the chicken than I’d ever seen him eat before. “The Dark Tower is going to be in chaos, you know that don’t you?” he said more seriously.

  It was my turn to shrug. “It’s not right to force people to do a specific job. That’s no different than slavery. I’d rather deal with problems than be a slaver.”

  “I can’t argue with that. I hope that Cara and the gnomes can come up with solutions to the problems that crop up because of it.”

  “If they don’t, then I will. People work harder when they’re passionate about their work. You’ll see.”

&
nbsp; It was then that the dragon came skidding into our private dining room, claws scratching at the stone floor below him as he tried to turn but slipped. The creature slammed into the wall, and chips of stone fell to the floor in a rain around him. Asli came barreling into the room, a wooden spoon in her hand.

  The dragon jumped up and ran to Sebastian, hiding between his legs as he stared at the gnome who was red-faced and obviously extremely angry.

  “That dragon needs a spanking!” she exclaimed.

  A giant puff of smoke rose from the dragon who was pressed against Sebastian’s legs and shaking. How could it be afraid of Asli? Neither Sebastian nor I could hurt the thing, so what would Asli do to him with a wooden spoon?

  “What happened?” Sebastian asked slowly, glancing down at the overgrown lizard.

  “I got up from my sandwich. I needed a drink. It’s thirsty work telling people what to do. I turned around and saw him swallow it. The little thief! Get over here. Don’t try to get out of your spanking!”

  Sebastian did his best not to laugh at the scenario, and only the barest hint of a smile crossed his lips as he said, “I have nearly half a chicken if you’d like some of that. There’s also an entire portion of salad.”

  Asli eyed the salad and said, “Fine. The lizard needs a spanking though. That’s what thieving creatures get.”

  Sebastian looked down at the dragon and asked, “You’re not going to steal anyone else’s food, are you?”

  The dragon puffed out a little more smoke, and then, surprisingly, it shook its head. Maybe Sebastian was right. Maybe it wasn’t quite as dumb as I’d thought it was. Maybe it just couldn’t speak like the full-grown dragons.

  Asli sat down next to Sebastian, and instead of putting the salad on a plate, she just pulled the serving dish to her seat and began to eat. Sometimes, I still wondered if I understood the Dark Court. To think that Sebastian had questioned whether I was refined enough to rule here.