Page 48 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)
“Is this what all of this is about?” Aesileif’s eyebrows drew together and she stepped forward, her hand reaching out to touch his cheek. “Vidar, you know that I don’t care about whether you’re an elf, or a fae, or anything else. You?—”
A guarded expression took over his features and he stepped away from her touch. “We are not from the same world.”
“Where is this coming from?”
He stared at the floor, his lips curled back.
Something flickered over Aesileif’s face, as if a realization had dawned on her, and her expression shifted from confusion to horror and hurt. She stumbled back. “You—You’re leaving to join … to join my sister, aren’t you?”
Vidar remained quiet, but the blank look on his face told Kolfinna and Aesileif everything they needed to know.
“You are, aren’t you?” Tears filled Aesileif’s eyes and all of a sudden, Kolfinna wanted to shield the woman from the pain she was feeling; her heart was heavy and she couldn’t bear to see her betrayed expression.
“I knew it! You—you’ve always wanted to join her legion, haven’t you?
They—they all love her. I knew it, I knew it!
” She whirled around, even as Vidar stepped forward.
“Of course you would want her. Why would I—” She choked on a sob, covering her mouth with trembling fingers.
Vidar’s furious expression softened, and he touched her shoulder. “Prin?—”
She shook off his hand. Her shoulders hunched and sobs ripped from her thin body.
Vidar winced. “Aesileif?—”
“Did it mean nothing?” She turned to him slowly; tears ran down her face, her eyes already puffy and red. “Was I just the means for you to reach Elin? Is that it?”
“No.” Rage like Kolfinna had never seen before filled Vidar’s eyes, making his expression darken. “Listen to me. It has always been you .”
“Then why are you leaving for war?”
His jaw locked tight, his muscles straining as if he was holding back. He turned his face to the side, his lips peeled back into a snarl. “Do you truly not see what I see? Or are you sparing me your true feelings?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I am not meant for you, Aesileif.” He fisted his hands together. “I am a commoner. A filthy half-blood. You and I can never be anything. Your sister has ordered me to leave your side and fight on the front lines.”
The color drained from her face. “Elin is forcing you? Why can’t she—why can’t she ever let me have anything ?” Her lower lip quivered, but this time, it was from rage. “Why are you listening to her? She is not queen yet!”
“I have no choice.”
Aesileif pulled out a necklace from among the dozens she wore; the pendent had been nestled beneath her neckline, hidden, until now. She held up the blue gem that glittered in the light. It was the same shade of sapphire as her eyes, and Kolfinna instantly recognized it.
“ All fae males must present their wife with wedding gifts. I could not afford anything better than this, but Aesileif accepted it nonetheless .”
A jolt ran through Kolfinna. According to the fae soldier’s diary she had read, Aesileif and Vidar had married when she was already the queen. So … why did she have the necklace right now? They weren’t supposed to marry for another handful of years—when they were already in the thick of war.
Vidar stared at the piece of jewelry with such loathing, such shame, that his emotions were easy to decipher, for once.
Aesileif shook the necklace. “Does this mean nothing to you?”
“Stop it,” he growled.
“You told me—” Her lower lip trembled and she exhaled deeply. “You told me you wanted me to be happy?—”
“You cannot be happy with me!” he roared, and the whole room trembled as his power rolled off him in sinister waves. His wings flared and Kolfinna shrank away; even Blár grimaced, his gaze skating over the half-elf, and then focusing on the smaller woman in front of him.
But Aesileif didn’t even balk. “You plan to leave me? To listen to my sister and run off to war? I need you here, Vidar. I need you by my side. What poisonous lies has Elin told you? Has she told you that you are undeserving of me? That you are tainting me? What has she said ?” The last part came out as a shrill scream, one that betrayed the calm mask that wavered over her blinking tears.
He unclenched and clenched his fists, keeping his gaze averted. “Nothing, Princess.”
“Nothing?”
He slowly raised his head; angry shadows began pulling at his skin, his power leaking. “Yes.”
Aesileif released the necklace until it fell against the other dazzling jewelry she wore.
All of her anger seemed to deflate in that moment and her body curled in on itself.
Like she was too tired, too hurt. “Elin has always taken everything from me, and she will never allow me to have a shred of happiness. You can leave and fight in your war, but if you do leave, know that I will not be here anymore.”
The muscles on his jaw feathered, but he didn’t say anything.
“You will leave that easily?” Aesileif’s voice broke, tears rimming her eyes. “Did our love mean so little?”
“Do not call it that.”
A laugh choked through her sobs. “Are you too ashamed to say that you love me? Or … or did you never love me after all? Did Elin do this to you, or have you always?—”
“Enough, Aesileif!” Vidar’s scarlet eyes appeared even deadlier than usual. Power thrummed from his muscular build, making the air tremble with the denseness of his magic. The shadows appeared darker, and the light spearing through the curtains waned and flared.
Aesileif’s plump lips curled down as she shouted, “No, no! I will not be silent! You’re planning on leaving me after everything we have shared? Over what? Over Elin’s poisonous lies? Or is it something else that makes you want to distance yourself? Are you?—”
“ Enough .” That one word hummed with enough power to crush the air between them. Vidar clenched his fists, his teeth grinding so hard Kolfinna could make out the muscles lining his cheeks. “Why are you making this more difficult than it needs to be? We come from two different worlds!”
“So what?”
“Aesileif …” An unsteady breath wrenched out from his chest and he unclenched his fists, the rippling air calming, even as the torrent of rage on his face continued to play.
He raked an angry hand through his white hair and groaned.
“Stop this, please. I have no intentions of hurting you, and yet you are forcing my tongue to speak words I shouldn’t.
I will be leaving for war and nothing will change?—”
“I am carrying your child.” Aesileif placed a shivering hand on her belly. She raised her chin at him.
Whatever retort he had seemed to die on his tongue. Slowly, his attention flicked between her face and her flat belly, over and over, as if he had heard wrong. He opened his mouth to say something, then clamped it shut.
An uneasiness pulled at Kolfinna’s chest. It was too early for Aesileif to be pregnant—to have Kolfinna .
And honestly? Vidar and Aesileif appeared too young here. They were in their late teens, or early twenties, at most.
Was Aesileif playing a game with him? Forcing him to stay even though he had to leave? Or … or was there more to this? That already marked two things that happened earlier than they were supposed to.
Blár seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he gave Kolfinna a strange look.
He opened his mouth as if to say as much, but then the floors began to shake.
She stumbled forward, and he snatched her waist. Panic seized her and she whipped her head to look behind her, expecting the shadows to writhe out of the ground and rake them toward their destruction.
But even Vidar and Aesileif nearly fell to the floor. Aesileif yelped, her hand flying out and grabbing Vidar’s forearm to steady herself.
“What is—” she began.
Boom .
Screams split the air.
Another tremor threw Aesileif against Vidar again. This time, he banded an arm around her waist, yanking her close to his chest. They remained that way for a brief moment as another blast sounded in the distance, the castle walls shaking.
All at once, the room filled with people. Kolfinna jumped back, ready to fight, but Blár pulled her close to him.
“It’s all right,” he said. “This is just a vision, remember?”
He was right; the intruders passed through them, and it took everything within her not to throw herself in front of Vidar and Aesileif.
She watched, in mortification, as Aesileif screamed and was shoved backward, fire blasting toward her face.
Vidar’s shadows spewed from his body and he snarled, swiping at the men.
“Humans,” Blár murmured. “They’re … humans.”
Fire, electricity, and enhancer abilities—all human magic.
But there was one that was clearly an elf, judging by his white hair. Had the elves and humans worked together during the war? But that couldn’t be … Could it?
But if there was animosity between the fae and the elves, it made sense that some would side with the humans.
Vidar fought the intruders while they tried to kill Aesileif, killing two instantly with his light magic, which blasted a gaping hole through their chests, but there were too many of them, and they were filling the room fast. Aesileif tried to fight back, but her magic didn’t seem to come to her easily.
She ducked behind a chair, screaming as one of the men’s swords bounced off the floor between her legs, narrowly missing her.
She used her stone magic to hit him, but he swatted it away with ease, a twisted grin on his face.
The elf raised his hand toward Aesileif and several beams of light shot out from his hand. Before they could strike her, Vidar dove in front of her and the light exploded on the side of his face, his neck, and his chest. He crashed to the floor, his shadows spreading around his body.