Page 7 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)

They kept going through crowds and crowds of stoic soldiers, most with their black helmets back on their faces so only the colors of their glowing eyes were visible.

At the helm of the army was a large dreki that lounged on the ground with its tail wrapped around its body like a cat’s.

Its head was tucked against its arms and it looked …

peaceful, almost, if she ignored the terrifying mana dripping from it and its scaled, dangerous black body.

Vidar stood a few feet away from the vicious beast. He had pulled his helmet on too, and there was a grimness about him that made her shudder.

Here, he was the lethal commander again.

The energy that seeped from him was even more potent, more stomach-curdling, and more nausea-inducing.

She swallowed down the panic rising up her throat, sending chills over her body, and rising every hair in her body.

He turned to them as they approached, his red-eyed glare fixing on Kolfinna. Rakel lowered her head in respect in front of him, and released her iron-clad grip.

“She’s dressed, as you requested.” Another head bow, and then a glance in Kolfinna’s direction. “This was the best I could find.”

She couldn’t tell if his prolonged silence was disapproval or something else. It was hard to read any emotions from just his eyes alone; and the fact that she didn’t want to stare into his gaze for longer than few seconds made it even harder.

“And her wings?” He stared at her again, and this time a discomfort trickled on her back where her wings should have been.

Rakel hesitated. “They were cut off.”

He flinched and something dark shadowed over his eyes.

Almost immediately, a heavy, powerful mana radiated from him and Kolfinna stumbled back in shock at the murderous bloodlust she could feel.

Goosebumps rose across her flesh and the instinct to run flared with such intensity that it became hard to breathe.

Rakel lowered her head again, but she too seemed affected by the sudden rage consuming him. But just as quickly as it had come, it disappeared.

“Cut … off? Someone sheared her wings off?” There was a sharp edge to his voice as he turned his attention to Kolfinna. “Who dared cut your wings?”

Kolfinna licked her dry lips. It was very obvious she didn’t have wings, so she didn’t understand why he was suddenly so enraged.

An uncomfortable knot pitted itself in her stomach.

It was normal for fae to cut their wings off in this day and age—it was one of the first things fae did when their baby was born, because wings were the most sure-fire way to pinpoint who was fae and who was human. It was easier to blend in this way.

“My parents, maybe.” Kolfinna cringed as the words came out. She wasn’t even sure who her parents were anymore.

Vidar made a throaty sound of disapproval. “It’s a great dishonor to have your wings sheared off. You will have to ride with the elves since you’re unable to use yours. Rakel, keep her close to you.”

Ride with the elves? Kolfinna found herself staring at the dreki, and then at the other drekis further in the camp. She hadn’t noticed it before, but wingless soldiers surrounded the mighty beasts, and she realized with a start why that was exactly.

“Yes, sir.” Rakel hesitated for a moment, looking between Kolfinna and Vidar. “There … There is still the matter with her ears, Commander Alfaer.”

Kolfinna stilled. “My ears? What’s wrong with my ears?

” She inadvertently touched her rounded ears.

Rakel and Vidar both had sharp ears, and so did Revna and the other ancient fae she had seen.

But as far as she could tell, the fae of today’s age didn’t have them.

Most likely, she assumed, due to mixing with humans.

But if she truly was Vidar and Queen Aesileif’s daughter, why were her ears different from them? Maybe this meant … she wasn’t really their child?

An unexpected hope bloomed in her chest. Maybe this was all a big misunderstanding. Maybe?—

“The magic hasn’t worn off in all these centuries,” Vidar mused, so softly she almost didn’t hear him.

He took a step closer and before Kolfinna could stagger away from him, he touched her with a single finger on her forehead.

All at once, a rush of mana violently forced itself into her.

White hot pain blinded her and she screamed, falling back as something broke inside of her.

Her mana, which was usually so calm, convulsed fiercely.

Like something was cracking the streams of mana flowing through her body.

Her head grew heavier with each passing second and she clutched her forehead to ease the pounding. Her mana seemed to whip inside her, ebbing and flowing with such force that she wanted to throw up.

She hadn’t even realized she had fallen to her knees until the pain slowly eased.

She released a shuddered breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

Her hands went to her ears almost immediately, and she hissed back in pain when her finger brushed against the now-pointed tips of her ears.

The skin felt raw, sensitive, and itchy.

“What—What have you done?” she whispered.

The sounds all around her seemed clearer—the breathing of the drekis, the stamping of their feet, the wind blowing softly over blades of dry glass, the sneezes from fae soldiers, the amalgamation of voices.

She had already been surprised that her hearing had improved after her elven powers had awoken, but now it seemed like it was even more honed than before.

Her ears were no longer rounded.

The realization made the back her eyes burn and prickle.

She was losing herself more and more—first, the hair, and now, this . Soon, she wouldn’t even be able to recognize herself.

Kolfinna blinked away the torrent of tears and lifted her head to meet Vidar’s unfeeling, cruel gaze. “What have you done?”