Page 24 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)

TWELVE – KOLFINNA

Nausea rolled over Kolfinna like waves, each hitting her stronger than the last, until she could taste the bitter bile clawing up her throat.

Her hands trembled as she wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the sword.

Vidar stepped away just as a powerful surge of dark energy burst into her body.

She inhaled sharply, trying to release the cursed weapon, but it remained in her hand, refusing to go.

She backed away again, her body trembling as more evil magic poured into her being.

It’s been a long, long time, Kolfinna , a voice murmured in her mind.

Her spine stiffened and she bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming. She remembered that voice—had been haunted by its call for violence, blood, and death.

“Let me go!” Her voice came out shrill as she tried to chuck the sword from her hand, but it remained in place, her fingers fastened around the worn leather hilt.

Let me taste some fae blood , the sword said.

A scream ripped from her throat as the sword dragged her forward, controlling her body and forcing her arm up to slash against the nearest person—Vidar.

The blade cut straight toward his chest, but Vidar simply grasped the sharp edge of the blade with a single, shadowed hand, his eyes glowing sinisterly. He held it in place, even as sword tried in vain to pull away.

“Do not think you can draw my blood,” he snarled.

“I’m not—I’m not doing it,” Kolfinna shouted through the rising panic as her body moved on its own, trying to yank the D?d Svaerd from Vidar’s grip.

“Calm yourself.” Vidar stared at her levelly and from the corner of her vision she could see the other three generals watching with renewed interest. “Fight off the sword’s control.”

“How?”

“Your will must be strong. Resist its control.”

That was easy for him to say; he wasn’t the one being thrown around left and right by the wicked blade. Tears of frustration pricked her eyes and when Vidar finally released his hold on the blade, the D?d Svaerd swung in a different direction, dragging her body with it as it launched toward Freyja.

The fae female leaped back, her moves swift as she ducked, dodged, and moved away from the sword’s reach.

Even in a dress, she was able to move gracefully.

Kolfinna fought the rise of dark energy within herself.

She could feel the lull of darkness pulling at the edges of her heart, swaying her toward the chanting of death

These people had imprisoned her.

They deserved to die.

She tried banishing those thoughts, but they appeared again. Just like last time, when the sword had whispered those dark thoughts to her. It was already corrupting her mind like she had feared.

This one’s blood will be tasty , the gravelly voice returned with sardonic glee. She carries a child. How fun will it be to slice it into ribbons?

A jolt of coldness brought her back to her senses and away from those evil, cursed thoughts.

She stared at Freyja, who didn’t appear pregnant at all.

She moved with ease, but all it would take for the sword to leech her mana was one mistake, one trip and she could lose an arm, or the sword could jab straight into her belly. The thought horrified Kolfinna.

“Please,” she begged the woman. “Please stop fighting it!”

The corner of Freyja’s mouth curved. “Don’t worry about me, Kolfinna. I am more capable than I look.”

“You don’t understand?—”

“You are stronger than the control of the sword.” Right when the sword was about to slash at her chest, Freyja yanked a dagger out from her sleeve and deflected it with her own blade. She grinned. “I am not so weak as to fall from this blade.”

They exchanged blow after blow, the sword forcing Kolfinna’s body to fight against Freyja. The more they fought, the more frustrated the D?d Svaerd became. Its attacks grew in intensity, and Kolfinna tried with all her might to stave off the bloodlust that was seeping into her mind and body.

“This isn’t working,” she could hear Agnarr say in the background.

“She will learn to wield it,” Vidar replied back icily.

“She’s not able to resist its control. She needs to grow stronger, first, so she doesn’t fall for its call.”

“Agnarr, what are you suggesting?”

She didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, because Rakel jumped in front of Freyja in the nick of time and held her hands up to catch the brunt of the sword’s attack.

Her hands were swathed in inky shadows and she grimaced as the sword landed on her palms. Kolfinna could already see the shadows thinning on her hands as the D?d Svaerd leeched her mana.

“Rakel, what are you—” Vidar began.

“Apologies, Commander, but I need to speak to her.” Rakel shifted on her feet as the sword applied pressure, pushing her back.

She stared at Kolfinna with narrowed eyes.

“Kolfinna, I know you’re panicking right now, but you need to calm down.

The sword belongs to the heir—to you —so don’t let it control you. ”

“It’s not easy.” Her lower lip wobbled. “It wants me to kill everyone?—”

“I know, I know.” She flashed her a grin. “But remember, this sword is meant for the fae. It has a harder time controlling you than it does other people.”

A gust of wind blew against her hair, whipping it to the left, drying her teary eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You are part elf, remember? Let your shadows and your light overpower this fae sword’s control.”

Rakel sprang back, and the sword began its relentless attacks once more, jerking Kolfinna’s body this way and that way.

In the back of her mind, she tried to muster her shadow magic, but she didn’t know how to do that.

The shadows very rarely came when she wanted them to.

It was only when she was in a bind that they revealed themselves. When she was near death.

She had never called them forth on her own. Not truly.

Please . As her body lurched forward and backward, clashing blades against Rakel and Freyja, she tried to grasp onto the dark magic that was always beneath the surface. It didn’t come to her freely like her fae powers did. She beckoned it forward, eager to feel the cold, strange magic.

Mana singed her fingertips, warming her skin.

She could feel it swirling in her flesh, pouring into her veins and strengthening her.

And then, like something had snapped into place, shadows sprang from her hands, staining her skin with blotches of purplish-black ink.

She stopped in her tracks, the shadows writhing from her body and consuming the sword.

The moment she could control her body, she flung the sword as far away from herself as she could. It crashed to the dirt floor, the dark connection between herself and the evil sword severing in a split second.

She collapsed to the ground in a heap. She was drained. Her muscles cramped and hurt from being forced to fight in a way she wasn’t used to, and her head felt heavy, like it would explode. She rolled onto her knees and gagged, feeling like she would vomit everywhere.

“You’re all right.” Freyja kneeled beside her, rubbing circles onto her back. “You did well.”

Kolfinna breathed out shakily, streams of saliva pooling from her mouth.

She didn’t want to retch, but she could feel her stomach clenching tightly.

She grimaced, and then proceeded to throw up violently.

All that she had eaten that morning came up in partially digested bits of eggs, bread, and fruit.

“Oh, dear.” Freyja stared at the vomit and her own complexion paled. She swiftly rose to her feet, covering her mouth to hide her gagging. “Forgive me?—”

“You did well,” Rakel said, coming to stand in front of her. “You were able to hold your?—”

Freyja promptly vomited all over the ground.

Rakel turned to her sharply, mouth agape. “What the—Are you okay?”

“I—Yes.” Freyja’s face was rather green and she covered her lips with her hands, her shoulder hunching together. She glanced over at Kolfinna, then to the piles of vomit on the ground again, and heaved. “Apologies, I?—”

Agnarr blinked back in revulsion as the poor lady threw up again.

Kolfinna momentarily forgot about her woes as she came up to her feet with a wobble, glancing between the fae generals and then at her father, who stared at the entire scene through the slits in his helmet.

She wasn’t sure if he was frustrated, peeved, or amused. It was hard to tell with him.

“Are you all right?” Kolfinna asked without thinking.

Freyja was one of her enemies, she was aware, but she couldn’t help the concern that leaked into her voice.

The lady was with child, after all, so maybe …

maybe this was too much for her. Seeing and smelling this vomit.

With her new fae senses awakened, Kolfinna could strongly smell the foul, acidic smell of the vomit.

It made even her own stomach turn over again.

Freyja swayed on her feet, her nostrils flaring as the scent seemed to hit her again. She breathed out shakily, choking back a gag. “I’m—all right?—”

Agnarr cursed under his breath and came to her side. “You don’t look?—”

She retched again, this time all over his boots. His jaw locked in place as he stared, in horror and disgust, at his now soiled shoes.

“Oh.” Freyja brought a hand to her mouth.

“Here.” Agnarr pulled a handkerchief out of his uniform pocket and handed it to her; she quickly cleaned her mouth, her body trembling.

“Well …” Rakel cast a worried look at the fae female, and then turned to Kolfinna. “I think it’s probably best that we call it a day for today. What do you think, Commander?”

Vidar slowly walked over to the discarded sword.

He picked it up effortlessly and slid it into the empty scabbard on his waist. It seemed to belong there, matching seamlessly with his dark attire.

“We will try again tomorrow,” he said, and though his demeanor remained as neutral as ever, she could hear the impatient irritation in his voice. “But with the tower.”

The tower?

Kolfinna was sure the confusion played out on her face, but no one answered her unasked question. Agnarr was too busy kicking off the vomit staining his boots, Freyja had her head tipped back to better breathe in fresh air, and Rakel was looking between them all with a frown.

“Rakel, take her back to her room,” Vidar said.

“Wait, but what’s the tower?” Kolfinna asked.

The sunlight glinted off the scales of his dark armor as he stepped away from her. An ominous air stirred around them. “You will see.”

Kolfinna shivered, but she didn’t even have the energy to protest.