Page 33 of Queen of Ever (Curse of Fate and Fae #2)

Chapter 33

Imogen

M y head pounded and the copper taste of blood coated my lips. Marietta was carrying the brunt of my weight as we clumsily made our way out of the tunnel, moving as fast as my feet would allow us, terrified to imagine more black flames were behind us, creeping ever closer. I’d never seen such a thing before, monstrous and destructive and hungry . I wanted to look back, to know that Tarian and Ethan were following us out, but I didn’t have the strength to do that and walk.

‘We’re almost there,’ Marietta said, encouraging me even though she herself was injured. I could feel her limping as we stepped over stones and avoided holes that had started to open in the ground. The place was coming down around us.

Finally, I felt the fresh air on my face, cool and welcoming, and I breathed deeply. But the relief was short-lived. Waiting for us as we escaped the underground were High Fae dressed in leathers with breast plates and wrist guards made of gold or silver.

‘Marietta—’

‘I know,’ she said.

But the forces that had assembled didn’t look like an army, not the kind you’d see in the movies. We were most definitely outnumbered, but not hopelessly so. I felt a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, we could regroup as more of the rebels reached the surface.

And then I saw him.

Solas was standing at the head of a group of gold-plated soldiers, watching with a sinister glee as lesser fae scurried from the collapsing tunnels. He was like a kid playing with an ant nest. He raised two fingers, then dropped them quickly. Archers released arrows, some of them alight with flames.

‘Take cover!’ Marietta shouted.

But there was precious little to take cover behind.

The arrows soared through the air as if in slow motion. My heart hammered in my chest. Suddenly, I felt that presence in the soil beneath our feet, calling out to me, to my magic.

Tree roots shot out of the ground, tangling together to form a shield in front of us, halting the arrows raining down. Several of them embedded in the shield, but others found their marks, striking down rebels who hadn’t managed to find someplace to hide. I cringed at the sight, closing my eyes against the horror.

‘Imogen, you have to let go,’ Marietta said, and I realised my shield was still growing, stretching slowly wider. Part of me wondered if I should ignore her advice, if I could keep going and stretch the shield around the entire court and keep those remaining safe. But my body trembled with the effort and the pounding in my head grew stronger, warning me that a move like that could kill me.

‘We need to at least get the injured behind this,’ I said through panting breaths.

‘We can’t risk it,’ Marietta said. ‘The archers will be waiting to strike again. The best chance anyone has is to stay hidden. You can’t die here.’

‘My life isn’t worth more than theirs.’

‘Yes, it is.’ There was no room for argument in her voice. ‘Solas doesn’t want you dead, he wants your power. That gives us leverage. If you want to save them, that’s how you do it.’

‘You think I should offer myself to Solas? How long do you think that would really hold him off?’ I asked. Did it matter? What would Tarian do if I went with Solas a second time? What would he do if he knew it was against my will?

Was this the choice I had to make? Risk the lives of the lesser fae rebels or Tarian?

‘Not exactly. But we can buy ourselves some time to think of a better plan.’

Was there a better plan? No matter how I thought about it, I kept coming back to the same conclusion. We were outnumbered, we’d suffered losses already, and we had a vulnerability the High Fae didn’t—we had women and children locked beneath the ground. What if they couldn’t get out?

Silence fell around us, eerily stretching across the plain. A nervous energy began to buzz through my body as I listened for anything besides the groans of pain coming from the injured lessers we couldn’t reach.

Where was Tarian? I was sure he’d be able to figure out something, he knew the High Fae better than any of us. But I couldn’t see him anywhere. Hadn’t he made it out of the tunnel? I took a deep breath to calm myself. Panicking now wasn’t going to help anyone.

‘So what is the plan?’ I asked Marietta.

‘Do you think you can hide from me forever, rabbit?’ Solas called out across the battlefield, carrying clearly in the silence. There was a smugness in his voice, as if he had already won. Did he know something we didn’t or was he just overconfident?

I stood up, my legs trembling beneath me but still holding.

‘Where are you going?’ Marietta hissed, yanking me back down.

‘To buy us some time.’ I could only hope the rest of the rebel forces were gathering somewhere else, having escaped out the other tunnels. If they weren’t, then we had already lost.

‘I grow tired of this game, rabbit. If you won’t come out on your own, I’ll force you out,’ Solas said. Before I could respond, more arrows flew through the air, this time fewer of them, and all aimed at the shield protecting Marietta and me.

My brow furrowed as I tried to figure out why he’d bothered. The arrows weren’t even flaming. But it didn’t take long for his strategy to reveal itself. As if the arrows were coated in some kind of acid, the roots began to erode, eaten away by something unseen, and inch by inch our shelter was shrinking and there was nowhere else for us to run, no place we could go where we wouldn’t be exposed to the next onslaught.

I pushed my hands against the soil, willing my magic to regrow the tree roots, to manipulate new ones to block the holes in our defence but it drained the little energy I had, the pounding in my head throbbing harder, my body growing weaker.

‘Imogen, stop!’ Marietta said, fear in her voice. ‘It’s no good, you have to stop.’

‘We’ll be exposed.’

‘Let me speak with him.’

‘Are you crazy? He’ll kill you. He needs me alive. I’m going.’

‘You’re in no condition. If you use any more magic, you could die.’

‘Then I’d better not use any magic.’

‘Imogen, wait—!’

But it was too late, I’d stepped out from behind the decaying shield. Solas walked forward, covering some of the distance between us, then beckoned for me to do the same. It seemed we were to talk before war broke out.

‘You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,’ I said when I reached him, pushing as much confidence into my words as I could muster, fake as it might be.

The look of displeasure on Solas’ face was well worth the jab. ‘Do you really think this is all for you?’

‘Isn’t it?’ I asked, quirking an eyebrow, daring him to deny it. ‘Oh, don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not out of any kind of affection. You want my power so you can challenge Moriana.’

Speaking of the Unseelie Queen, where the hell was she? I saw her soldiers, but she was nowhere to be seen. I’d doubted she would agree to help Solas capture me so he could use me against her. But here they were, allied. So what had they agreed on? A bad feeling twisted up my stomach.

‘Finally figured it out, have you?’ he asked, a smirk pulling his lips. ‘It would have been so much easier if you’d just married me. There are worse things than a loveless marriage. You’d be alive, for example.’

‘What, you can’t have me so nobody can?’ I scoffed, but the sarcasm slipped from my face at his bland expression. That’s exactly what it was. He didn’t come here to bargain with me, he came here to kill me.

‘Sorry, rabbit. It’s not how I wanted this to play out,’ he said, not even a hint of remorse in his voice. ‘But you really left me no choice.’

Faster than I ever would have thought him capable of, he drew his sword and swung it at me. On impulse, my magic flared up, ice shooting up from the ground, not thick enough to protect me indefinitely but enough to stop his blade before it shattered. My legs collapsed beneath me and I fell to my knees, my breathing laboured, my head pounding harder.

‘Overusing your magic?’ Solas asked, mocking me. ‘Tisk, tisk. Such a novice’s mistake. You’re making this far too easy for me.’ He moved closer to me, taking his time, clearly enjoying his victory. ‘Don’t you know that will get you killed?’

Pain exploded in my ribs as he kicked me and I went sprawling on the ground, gasping for air, my hands pressed against my side as if that could somehow stop the pain.

‘I admit, I’m a little disappointed. I didn’t think this would be quite so easy.’

I could hear him moving, I knew he was raising his sword, I knew the killing blow was coming, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. My body was heavy, too heavy. I’m sorry, Tarian . My eyes closed as I waited for the blade to strike me.

‘Solas, stop!’

Marietta’s voice cut clear across the field. No wait, it was closer than that. I opened my eyes to find her standing in front of me, blocking Solas from reaching me. But she didn’t have her sword. Where was her sword?! I wanted to tell her to move, to run, to save herself, but I couldn’t get my mouth to work.

‘Marietta, I’d wondered where you’d gotten to. Haven’t you shamed this family enough?’

‘Killing her was never the plan.’

‘Neither was my own sister turning traitor for a bunch of filthy half-breeds. Plans change. Sometimes for the better.’ Solas’ lips twisted into an ugly smirk as he swung his sword, steel cutting through the air with an audible slice. Time seemed to slow to an impossible speed. Something wet splashed across my face. A gurgle. Marietta fell to her knees before she collapsed to the ground beside me. Her eyes found mine for a brief moment before the life drained from them.

‘Marietta!’ I cried, dragging myself to her, pulled her onto my lap, hands tapping at her face as if that was going to rouse her. ‘No. No, get up!’ I begged desperately even as I knew she wouldn’t, she couldn’t. Blood soaked her chest, too much blood. Solas had pierced her heart.

Tears flooded my vision, dripping onto her cheeks. She couldn’t be gone. She couldn’t. But she was. She was and he had killed her.

Grief gave way to something else. To fury, to vengeance, to magic. I could feel it creeping into me, like a balm soothing every cell in a way that nothing else could, promising retribution. Promising destruction.

He wasn’t going to get away with this.

Strength began to return to my body, pulling me to my feet, balling my hands into fists. And still the magic grew within me, hungry, ravenous, and I released it, relinquishing control, giving in to the emotions that raged inside me like a storm.

The wind was the first thing I noticed as the world began to return to me, starting as a gentle whisper against my skin and steadily growing as if it was responding to the rage building inside me. I finally tore my eyes away from Marietta’s body as the wind began to whip around me, making the loose strands of my hair dance furiously around my face. When I turned, my eyes found Solas and it was as if nothing else existed, as if they were drawn to him by some divine power. Every part of me seemed to be numbed, everything except the magic taking control of me.

Solas shouted something but I couldn’t hear the words, the wind carried them away from me. They didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now. Nothing could stop what was coming.

Movement registered at the corner of my eyes, soldiers racing forward, battle cries, the clanging of steel, the smell of smoke and burning flesh and blood, the prickle of magic filling the air like a toxic cloud. So much death, so much wasted life. All because I had made the wrong choice.

But I wouldn’t run from it anymore. No, now I needed it.

I stepped forward, walking with slow, deliberate steps, each one bringing me closer to Solas as he stared at me, as if he was unable to move, or perhaps he didn’t understand. But I understood.

I could feel my power growing, awakening, feel it latching onto my rage, feel it growing fat on the emotion. The clouds soon moved in, blocking out the sun with their thick, grey mass, as thunder rolled across the sky in a low, rumbled warning.

‘Solas!’ I shouted across the space, my voice carrying like the booming thunder, sounding like it belonged to someone else. ‘I invoke the right of challenge!’

Silence seemed to fall around us as the thunder rumbled once more, something about the raw emotion in me called out to the elements, resonating with them, power washing away everything else in me, creating a strange calm in me despite the chaos around me.

As the words were released into the air, it was as if a spell had been cast. Magic burst forth, bleeding through the air as a shimmering skein of light encasing us in an orb. Tarian had said a challenge for the throne would mean being encased in magic, the rest of the world locked out. It was going to be the two of us in here, me against Solas until one of us was dead because I would never accept his surrender. Solas didn’t deserve mercy.

A smile curled his lips as we stared at each other. But it was fake, forced. I could see the fear at the edges of his eyes. He couldn’t refuse me now that I’d invoked the right, he had no choice but to face me. For the first time in our brief history together, he was powerless. ‘Are you sure you’re ready for this, rabbit?’

‘Are you?’ I countered.

He wiped his blade on a piece of fabric, cleaning away Marietta’s blood. When he released it, it was stained with crimson and the wind carried it away, the action only stoking my rage further.

We stared at each other for a long moment, each waiting for the other to make the first move. I knew it would be him, knew his impatience would get the better of him.

I could feel his magic prickling at the edge of my awareness. The scene outside the barrier changed, shifting slightly. Ethan stood there, banging on the magic that kept us separated, yelling my name though I couldn’t hear the words through the barrier. A sword ran him through, blood splattering across the invisible field surrounding us.

But I knew it wasn’t real.

‘Is that the best you can do?’ I asked.

I knew the words would strike a nerve, expected the anger that twisted his expression, that pushed him forward, sword drawn, ready to strike at me. Light hit my eyes before I could react, a blinding arc that burned through the air. I cursed under my breath, raising my arm to shield my face. When I lowered it, Solas was gone—or so I thought. Flickers of him appeared everywhere, darting around me, each one moving in a different direction. My heart raced, trying to find the real one in the mess of shimmering illusions, but all I could see were shadows and light, bending and twisting around me. And then, just behind me, I sensed it—his presence. Of course he‘d strike from behind. Of course he’d ignore the magic rolling off me, hanging thickly in the air.

‘My turn.’ The words didn’t sound like mine; they were dark and venomous. A glee spread through me that also didn’t feel like mine. I spun round just as he swung his blade down and magic exploded out of me, blocking the blow and throwing him through the air with such force that he hit the barrier, knocking the air from his lungs.

I walked towards him slowly, liking the way he looked at me, that fear in his eyes, like he knew he’d made a mistake. I tilted my head as I looked down at him, wondering how I was going to do it, what would be enough to make up for the loss of Marietta. But it was pointless. Even if I had a hundred years, nothing could ever make up for what he’d done. Nothing would ever feel like enough.

‘You’re losing yourself to the magic,’ Solas said, scooting backwards, trying to escape me. But the barrier soon made it impossible for him to go any further.

‘I give myself willingly to it,’ I said and his throat bobbed in response. ‘You’ve spent your whole life treating others like your playthings. Tell me, how does it feel to be the one at someone else’s mercy?’

‘You don’t have to do this,’ he said, apparently trying to appeal to my better nature. I wasn’t sure she was still in me.

‘And you didn’t have to kill Marietta.’ I felt the magic in me growing again, building pressure like water trapped in a pipe, building until pain began to sting at my nerves, until I felt like my entire body was going to explode. Blood trickled out of my nose, the wind swirled around me like a tornado, and suddenly it was like I was watching myself, watching someone else controlling my body. The magic released, shooting hundreds of ice shards in every direction. Some embedded in the magic barrier around us, others pierced flesh—arms, legs, torso. Blood seeped into his immaculate white and gold clothing, his arms dropped from his face, blood trickled from his lips. He slumped over, his last breath leaving his lungs as the magic barrier shattered around us, the spell broken.

But still the magic built in me, clouding my vision. I was splitting, tearing, my rage pouring out of me, taking form, taking life . It prowled around me, a dark mass of ravenous vengeance, all claws and teeth and fury. I gave myself over to it.