Page 7 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses (Cursed Fae Courts #1)

Chapter Seven

Aurelia

B reaking our stare, Heliconia’s dark gaze swept over the crowd like a predator sizing up prey. Her beautiful face was twisted with hate, her lips curled into a smile that chilled me to the bone. The Summer Court’s roses, always in bloom, seemed to wither in her presence. Even the lamplight had gone dim.

My knees trembled, but I stood straight as I faced her.

Some of the guests tried to flee for the exits, but an invisible wall had been conjured, preventing anyone from leaving. Or getting in.

I glanced at the skies, searching for the Aine, but saw only a veil of shadows. The stars were no longer visible through it.

Over the sound of wails and tears, Heliconia’s voice rose. “I see my invitation was lost for this special occasion.”

The king, my father, rose from his throne, his face hard as stone. “Heliconia,” he called, voice sharp. “You are not welcome here. Leave now, or I will see you thrown into the dungeons.” He lifted his hand, and heat flushed his skin, spreading up his arm as he called on his magic.

Heliconia’s shadows thrashed at his words, her power pulsing with rage. No one else seemed to feel it but me. A gathering… as if she were pulling it in so she could unleash it on us all.

“Father—” I tried to speak, to warn him, but Callan yanked me back, hissing at me to shut up.

Power shot from Heliconia’s hand. A dark arrow that speared through my father’s palm. He made a sound of pain as soldiers rushed to his aid. A few other guests attempted to use their own magic. A small streak of lightning flew from Elyn, my mother’s advisor and best friend. A gust of wind from Cruve, the commander of my father’s guard. And snarling at full speed ahead with claws outstretched, Norley, a panther shifter closed the distance.

None of them reached their target before some dark artifice of Heliconia’s making snuffed them out or stopped them in their tracks. The wind died. The lightning winked out. And Norley fell with a black blade buried in her heart.

Ignoring the commotion that followed, Heliconia took another step, a slow, deliberate movement, her eyes sweeping the room once more before re-settling on me. “It’s nice to see you again, Princess .”

People gasped, and fury flushed my cheeks. She was insinuating I’d met with her willingly.

“There’s nothing nice about you,” I spat. “Which is why I tried to kill you the last time.”

“You froze like a coward,” the dark queen scoffed. “Just like you’re doing now.”

“Enough!” My mother’s voice cut through the tension, her golden gown shimmering in the lantern light. “We will not tolerate your intrusion. Guards!”

The handful of royal guards stationed nearby surged forward, placing themselves between Heliconia and the dais where my parents stood. The soldiers pointed their swords at the dark fae queen .

She rolled her eyes.

“Be gone from my court, demon witch,” my father demanded.

He stepped out from behind his guards as power shot from his unharmed hand—a burst of heat with enough power behind it to spark as it flew. It struck out with lethal precision at Heliconia’s chest, only to sizzle away like steam before it could pierce her flesh.

“I’ll come and go at my will, old man, not yours,” Heliconia said coldly. “My business is not yet finished here. And you will address me as a queen.”

“We have no business with you,” my father said. His voice was steel, but his eyes… his eyes betrayed his fear. “And you have done nothing to earn that title except to steal it. This court doesn’t recognize thieves.”

My stomach roiled. If King Tyrion was afraid…everyone should be.

“Not you,” Heliconia said. Her gaze swung back to mine. “Her.”

The guests standing nearby seemed to shrink away from me. I couldn’t blame them. Callan remained, but I felt him tremble as Heliconia’s attention settled on me.

“I have nothing to say to you,” I told her.

“The Fates think they can stop me, but they are wrong,” Heliconia said, hatred dripping from her voice. “It took me a long time to learn what they’d done with you. Mostly because I wasn’t bothering to look. Silly me thought the Aine would never betray their sacred laws.” She snorted. “My mistake. Although, I’m not sure it matters now that I’ve seen what you are—and what you’re not. Yours is a foolish destiny, girl.”

She strode forward, and I braced for whatever attack she would launch. More guards would be coming, but it wouldn’t be enough.

The worst part was that I wouldn’t be enough, either .

I had no idea what she meant about my destiny being foolish, but I knew for sure, standing in her presence, that I would die for it before I’d had a chance to live.

“If I’m not a threat to you, why bother hunting me down?” I asked, buying time—for what, I didn’t know. Prolonging the inevitable maybe.

Heliconia’s eyes flashed with pure fury. She didn’t like being challenged. “Why does a cat hunt a mouse?” she shot back. “The fun of the kill, I suppose.” She lifted her hand, dark magic sparking from it?—

“Heliconia, stop this,” my mother commanded, her voice trembling now as she was nudged back behind her guards. “You’ve made your point. Leave. There’s no need for violence.”

But Heliconia only laughed. Low. Cold. Her eyes glittered with cruel amusement. “You’re the ones who bred a weapon for my destruction. And for that treachery, violence is precisely what you’ll get.” She spread her hands wide, and power shimmered around her. Dark, ancient magic. It radiated through the thick air, sending shivers down my spine.

Unlike with the Obsidian, there was nothing about this dark force that appealed to my strange hunger.

The smoke veil over our heads began to descend again, clogging my throat. I choked on it, my eyes watering as I bent over to try to breathe.

“Aurelia!” Sonoma’s voice came from somewhere above me.

Hope speared through me, and I straightened, straining to see her and the other Aine through the swirling blackness.

“Come and fight us, bitch!” Amanti’s voice rang out.

I felt the pulse of their magic as the Aine desperately attempted to break through the wards Heliconia had used to seal them out.

Desperate to do something, I picked up a broken plate and hurled it upward. It bounced off the barrier and slammed to the ground at my feet, shattering into tiny pieces.

Callan flinched.

The great and terrible general, the warrior of Autumn, stood and simply cowered.

“The Aine will save us,” someone uttered behind me.

“The Aine are weak. They cannot save you now,” Heliconia hissed.

I turned slowly, dread pooling in my gut. Around me, several fae had begun whispering prayers to the Fates, pleading and begging for their help.

“The Fates will not intervene,” Heliconia declared. “Their time ruling this realm is finished. Mine is only beginning.”

People gasped at that. Some began to sob.

Heliconia’s words thundered inside me. If she were telling the truth—if the Fates had abandoned us—even the Aine couldn’t stop her now.

“Take me,” I blurted. “Leave them alone. I will go willingly or do whatever you want. Just leave them be.”

“Princess Aurelia,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. “The girl who was never supposed to be. The warrior meant to destroy me. I’ll happily take your life, but it won’t spare theirs.”

“She is not a threat to you,” Sonoma’s voice rang out through the veil. And I felt the cut of her words slice all the way through me.

Heliconia glared up through the shadowy ward she’d erected against the sky. “Did you think I wouldn’t know?” she demanded. “That the forest wouldn’t whisper what you’d done behind my back? Concordia spilled all your secrets to me.” Sonoma snarled, but Heliconia only seemed more pleased by it. “I found your cabin. The scent of your little family is still there, you know.”

She waved her hand, and another layer of shadows appeared. It thickened like smoke in my lungs. I struggled to breathe through it, my eyes burning. Somewhere above me, Sonoma shouted again, but her voice was muffled now, as if the barrier between us had solidified, swallowing the sound.

I needed a weapon. Some hope of defending myself—but there was nothing. And then a figure moved beside me.

Callan.

He stepped forward, jaw clenched. I spotted a jeweled dagger in his hands. It was clearly only meant to be decorative; an accessory to his tailored party clothes. But he raised it anyway, and my heart squeezed at the way he stood ready to defend me. Or at least try. But then he moved again, and I realized he wasn’t defending me at all—he was backing away.

Toward the exit.

Heliconia’s laugh was sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade. “Going so soon?” she sneered. “The Autumn Court’s perfect little prince deserting his new friends. How disappointing.”

Callan had almost made it to the door.

Magic slammed into Callan, lifting him off his feet and sending him crashing into the stone wall on the far side of the roof. His dagger clattered uselessly to the floor, and he slumped down, unmoving.

“Callan!” I screamed, but he didn’t stir.

“Marriage is such a waste of a vow,” Heliconia murmured, almost amused, her eyes flicking back to me. “But don’t worry, Princess. Your turn is next.”

Power crackled around her.

“Why are you doing this? I’m no threat to you.”

“Not yet,” she agreed. “But someday, you might have been.” She lifted her hand. “There’s only room for one of us in this realm.”

“No!” I tried to move toward her, to stop her, but the power was already building—twisting like a storm, violent and out of control.

She raised her hands to the sky. “Die screaming, daughter of darkness.”

Black smoke spilled from her fingers. She lowered her hands, pointing the smoke at the crowd. Fae and human alike screamed, trying to run from it, but they didn’t get far before they fell.

In a horrific wave, it brought down everyone standing.

Scrambling back, I tried to call up my flame as I’d done before, but it barely had time to spark to life before her magic snuffed it out—and sank right through my skin.

Pain seared me, worse than any wound I’d ever known. My vision blurred. My legs gave out. A scream built and then died in my throat. The magic inside me stirred, attempting to turn the poison into something it could feed on. But it spread too fast.

The world burned hot and bright—and then blurred.

The ground rushed up to meet me, and all I could think was, This is it. A last breath caught in my chest.

Around me, the Summer Court lay still, unmoving. Silent.

My heart broke for them just before oblivion swallowed me whole.