Page 35 of Queen of Ever (Curse of Fate and Fae #2)

Chapter 35

Tarian

I jolted awake, my neck stiff from where I’d slumped awkwardly in the chair. For a moment, I was disoriented, the details of where I was and why running through my mind like sand through my hands. But the light touch of fingers against my cheek quickly brought it all back. I lifted my head, blinking against the gritty sting of my eyes, tentative with my hope, half-expecting to see Imogen’s eyes still closed as she slumped against a pillow. But they were open, fixed on me with more clarity than I would have expected after a few days spent unconscious.

‘Hey,’ she said, voice croaky.

‘How do you feel?’ I asked, clasping her hand.

She stretched her neck. ‘Like I’ve been hit by a truck.’

‘Sounds painful.’

‘It’s not great.’ She cleared her throat, looked around. ‘We’re at Dreadhold?’

‘I had to take you somewhere safe.’

She raised her brows. ‘And Dreadhold is safe?’

I didn’t answer straight away. I knew what she was thinking. ‘Moriana is no longer queen.’

‘Right.’ She put a hand to her head, massaged her brow. ‘I’ve missed a few things.’

‘You don’t need to think about that now.’

She squinted at me, fingers moving to her temple. ‘How long have I been out?’

‘A few days.’

‘Because of the magic, right?’ Understanding crossed her face. ‘I challenged Solas. I think… did I kill him?’

‘That’s one of those things you don’t need to think about right now.’

But she was sitting up higher in the bed, her gaze flicking back and forth, staring into the distance as she relived something I couldn’t see. ‘Marietta died.’

I squeezed her hand. ‘Yes.’

Her eyes grew glassy. ‘She was trying to protect me from him.’ A tear surfaced, spilled like starlight down her cheek. ‘He took her life like it was nothing.’

‘You made him pay for it.’

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, closing her eyes for a few moments, another tear falling. Then she took a deep breath. Nodded. Opened her eyes again. ‘If we’re at Dreadhold… what happened to the rebels?’

I kept my voice quiet. Soothing. I’d answer her questions, but I wished she wouldn’t ask them just yet. ‘Heavy losses, but Sylara is alive. And Ethan. And everyone you sealed in that cavern, including Haddock.’ Pausing, I tried to think of something comforting to say. Something to soften her grief. Floundered. Comforting wasn’t my strong suit, and I doubted any of what had happened could be eased with words alone. ‘You saved a lot of lives there. I didn’t really know Marietta, but if she was fighting with the lesser fae, then I think she’d be grateful for that.’

Imogen blew out a shaky breath, squeezed my hand back. Then her eyes widened. ‘If I beat Solas… Does that mean I’m the Seelie Queen?’

Now we’d reached the part I really didn’t think she needed to be thinking about. ‘Yes.’

‘Shit.’ She chewed her lip, frowning. ‘Do—’

A knock sounded at the door, cutting her off. ‘Your Majesty?’ a voice called softly.

‘Not now,’ I replied, gaze flicking briefly to the door.

‘Of course. Begging your pardon.’ There was the sound of footsteps withdrawing down the hallway.

Imogen’s brow crease deepened. ‘Were they addressing me or… you?’ she asked.

I scrubbed a hand through my hair as I blew out a breath. ‘Could have been either,’ I replied wearily.

She stared at me, teeth worrying at her lip, like she was chewing on the question she wanted to ask. ‘What happened to your mother?’

‘She’s buried beneath the ocean.’

Something like alarm passed over her face. ‘You killed her?’

‘No.’

Relief softened her shocked expression, though I didn’t know why Moriana deserved her mercy. ‘I’m glad you didn’t have to do that.’

Did I need to add that I’d intended to, that I’d wanted to, that if it hadn’t been for Ruisin’s favour, I would have? Probably not. ‘She’s in a prison we call the Drowned Keep. Her magic is restricted, the prison is a long way away and no one has ever escaped from it. She’s not a threat anymore.’ I rolled my shoulders as I spoke, stretching stiff muscles.

‘You’ve been sitting here a while,’ Imogen noted as she watched me rub at my neck.

‘I wanted to be here when you woke up.’ I smiled, brushing fingers across her cheek. ‘I wanted to see your eyes.’ She leaned into my touch and as I turned my hand to cup her face I was choked with gratitude that she was here with me when she’d come so close to being lost to me forever.

‘What happened after I killed Solas?’ she asked.

That answer required an explanation that went further back than the battle. So I explained my visit to Ruisin, the favour and the portal, explained the mate bond my mother had broken, and the dragon who had arrived on the battlefield to seek his justice.

‘She cut out his heart?’ Imogen asked, the horror peaking her brows.

‘She was already planning to marry my father when she met Ruisin. It was back when dealings between High and lesser fae weren’t what they are now, and he had a place as an advisor to both courts at the time. Their bond snapped into place when he brushed past her in a hallway. They courted and she made him believe she’d given up her plan to marry into a crown.’

‘That’s cruel. Why would she go to all the effort of pretending?’

‘To gain his trust. Dragons aren’t easy to injure, even without their scales. I think she gave him her fiorainm so he’d let down his guard. But dragons are one of the few creatures that don’t have a fiorainm, so she convinced him to give her a secret of his race in its place. He told her how to create a blade to cut through dragon hide.’

Imogen shook her head, like she was trying to shake off the image conjured by the story. ‘But he lived because he has more than one heart?’

‘I think it crippled him in a lot of ways. He can’t use magic at all, which he’s pretty bitter about.’

‘Oh, that’s all he’s bitter about?’

‘I don’t know why he wanted her kept alive,’ I muttered. ‘Seems like he has even more reason than me to want her dead.’

Her mouth twisted in a strange, sad half smile. ‘Maybe it’s because he loved her once. Maybe even after what she did to him, he still does.’

It seemed a far-fetched idea, but as I drank in the sight of Imogen’s face in motion after so many hours of praying she would wake, I started to wonder if she might be right. Because if Imogen betrayed me, even in so gruesome a way, I would still love her. Loving her felt like something physical, inevitable, inescapable. She could ruin me and I would love her. If she tried to carve the heart from my chest, I would storm and ache and grieve and love her through my rage.

‘Where is he now?’ she continued, brushing back a lock of hair that had fallen in her face, seeming unaware of the way she held me in her thrall.

I cleared the emotion from my throat. ‘Helping the rebels. His presence will be enough to put off any more conflict while they’re waiting for us to leave this room and start making decisions.’

A silence settled over us. I ran my thumb across the back of her hand, staring down at the charcoal silk of the sheets and letting her process everything she’d woken up to. The light falling across the bed had turned thick and honey-coloured, which meant another day was slipping away. There would be more knocks on the door soon. They were getting more frequent as the problems requiring answers stacked higher and higher.

‘So, if I’m the… the Seelie Queen,’ she began, and I returned my focus to her face as she struggled with the words, with the idea of being a fae monarch, ‘and you’re the Unseelie King, how does that work for us?’

I sighed heavily, shoulders slumping. We’d reached the crux of the problem already, then. ‘It doesn’t. Not under the laws of the land as they currently stand.’

Her gaze flickered between my eyes, like she was searching for an answer to a question she hadn’t asked.

‘They’re already demanding you be returned to Seelie lands so you can be crowned,’ I continued. ‘I made a lot of people very angry by bringing you here. And the amendment is still in place, so we aren’t protected from conflict by the treaty. If the Seelie forces were to rally, they could invade.’

‘And if I go to them, you can’t come with me, can you?’

‘No.’

Her eyes were glistening again.

‘It’s okay,’ I said, chaffing her hand between mine.

‘But it’s not. You’re saying we have to separate.’ Her words were coming out thick, her chin quivering. ‘I rule the sun court, you the night. And then what, we get to meet on the bridge across the Sunder? Is it just Beltane I’ll be able to see you, or is there another festival that brings the courts together?’ She inhaled sharply, almost sobbed. ‘Nothing about that is okay, Tarian.’

Rising from the chair, I sat on the bed beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close. ‘It doesn’t have to be that way. We have choices.’

‘Tell me it’s a choice that doesn’t involve more fighting.’ She turned her face up to me, eyes pleading. ‘I can’t watch more people die for me.’

Well, we didn’t have choices. We had one other choice. But she wasn’t going to like it. ‘We don’t have to figure this out now,’ I said. ‘You’ve just woken up. You need rest. The last thing you need to be worrying about is this.’

But she pulled out of my arms, drawing her legs up to sit cross-legged before me. ‘What I need is to know I don’t have to say goodbye to you.’

‘Alright,’ I conceded. She clearly wasn’t going to let this go. ‘Being gifted Oberon’s magic means you had the right to challenge for either throne. You were able to challenge Solas. It also means you could challenge me.’

If she had any idea what I’d been about to say, it was clear she hadn’t been expecting that. She squinted her eyes, like she wasn’t seeing me right. ‘I could what ?’

‘Challenge me for the Unseelie throne,’ I reiterated. Her jaw slackened, mouth popping open. ‘Wear both crowns.’

She was shaking her head. ‘I don’t even want to be queen of one kingdom.’ Her voice came out almost a squeak. A bubble of hysterical laugher escaped her. ‘And, what, I’d have to fight you?’

‘I’d never fight you, Imogen. I’d surrender.’

She sobered up very quickly at that. She studied me long and hard, mouth pressed into a tight line, eyes flicking across my face like she was trying to read my thoughts.

‘Ask me,’ I prompted.

‘Would you really do that? Surrender your throne to me?’

‘Yes.’ A simple answer for a simple question.

She inhaled sharply. ‘But… what if…’ She trailed off, seeming unable to find the end of her sentence.

‘If it means the difference between a life with you and one without you, I’ll do it,’ I said before she could think of an objection. ‘You could dissolve the borders. Unite the realm the way Oberon did in his time. I know ruling a whole realm isn’t what you want, but you wouldn’t be doing it alone. You’d have advisors coming out of your ears with both courts combined, and Sylara and her lesser fae supporting you, too. And I could help you.’

She seemed to be considering it, which was a start. ‘The High Fae would hate me,’ she said slowly. ‘I could stop the enslavement of the lesser fae. If I challenged you and united the kingdoms, I’d topple all their hierarchy and divisions.’ Her eyes widened. ‘And the Unseelie throne—’

‘—would fall with me,’ I finished for her, smiling sardonically. ‘Prophecy fulfilled.’

She sat staring at the bed for a long time, running her fingers back and forth across the silk as the golden afternoon light slipped away, cooling into early twilight. I waited patiently for her to decide, knowing the weight of her choice. I wondered if anyone else in this divided, damaged realm could feel the significance of this moment, of how it would disrupt their lives and futures.

When she looked up, the confusion was gone. Her jaw was set, eyes determined. ‘Alright,’ she began. ‘I said I wanted change. I’d better not back down now that I could actually make some.’

Taking her hand, I threaded our fingers together. ‘Then use your words,’ I said, and I knew I stirred a memory when a little mischief threaded through her smile.

‘You won’t be able to boss me around anymore,’ she said.

‘Maybe I would stop if you didn’t like it so much.’ Lifting her hand, I kissed her fingers. ‘You can give the orders in the throne room and take them in our bed.’

She huffed a laugh, flushing a little. Then she inhaled slowly, closing her eyes a moment. When she released the breath, she opened her eyes. Held my gaze. ‘I invoke the right of challenge.’

Magic spilled into the space around us, and it smelled of frost on fresh, green growth. It spread quickly, a faint, glowing skein enclosing us in a globe that contained just the two of us, blocking out the entire world beyond, muffling all sound except that of our breathing. I watched it for a moment, braced myself for what it would feel like to have that newly-claimed power of the Unseelie throne stripped from me once more. Perhaps it would hurt. But only physically. I was satisfied with what I was trading it for. I leaned my forehead against Imogen’s, closing my eyes, focusing on the heat of her skin, the shape of her hand in mine. I had sought her out to thwart my fate. Now I went to it willingly. When I spoke the words to bind me to it, all I felt was warmth.

‘I yield.’