Page 32 of The Queen’s Shadow

“You’re right, it was different. You did it of your own free will, and didn’t have the excuse of a slavery bond to hide behind.” I spat.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and I got the impression that I wasn’t the only one whose mask was slipping.

“And you did? You were just as free as I was, when you tortured and murdered in her name for centuries. You did it with glee.”

“I was not free.” I snarled. My voice was so low, it vibrated in my chest. My mother’s face flashed across my mind. She was the invisible noose my father had tied around my throat. The one thing that had kept me in check.

He had told me, time and time again, that if I stepped out of line, she would be the one that would suffer the consequences of my actions. I had begged her to leave him, but she had always insisted that she couldn’t. He was her mate, and she was trapped. Now, having found Raven, I couldn’t understand how he had been able to do it. How he could stand to hurt her.

“I hope you suffer, Dark Prince.” The Siren’s voice was as cold as the ice that I knew flowed through her veins. She turned on her heel, slamming the door shut behind her on her way out. My power churned and paced against the edges of the bond. If I had been free, The Siren would be dead.

Relieved that she was finally gone, I rolled my head on my shoulders to stretch out the tension that had gathered from so many hours of being forced to sit in that unforgiving chair.

Turning back to the large and suspiciously comfortable looking bed, I felt the bond relax around me. I realized I had leeway to navigate this space as I saw fit. Resolving that even if the bed would be used for something nefarious and twisted at some point, I was too injured right now to turn down the opportunity to rest.

Exhausted, I collapsed onto the silken duvet on my back, closing my eyes. I ensured my hands rested palms down across my stomach, doing my best to make sure nothing grazed against my raw nail beds. I took a deep breath in, working to calm my heart rate as best I could.

As my body began to finally find equilibrium and balance, I allowed myself to mourn the loss of the mating stone that Ash Nevra had torn from my neck. It was likely still on the floor of that disgusting chamber, doomed to be forgotten for all eternity. It had been in my possession for only a short while, but I had already grown attached to the way it ensured I was always surrounded by Raven’s scent.

She smelled like summer rain. Like that clean smell the world seems to have after a storm had washed all the heaviness from the air, leaving the skies quiet and full of hope for a brighter day. That was what Raven represented.

Hope.

Hope for a better life, not just for me, but for my people. For The Dominion.

To distract myself from the pain, I played back what it had felt like to run my magick through the power of the trace, teasing her to her core. I tried to imagine what her face would have looked like. The soft blush that would have spread across her perfect cheeks, and the coy, innocent look in her eyes as she realized what it was I was doing to her.

I wanted her to look at me like that forever.

‘I love you,’ she had told me, as I had pulled away from her mind.

I had waited so long to hear her say those words.

It had been nearly four hundred years since anyone had said those words to me at all.

There had been a time, where I had resolved myself to the fact that Raven would never say them to me. She had hated me, and I hadn’t even blamed her. I deserved to be hated, for the many lifetimes of abhorrent sins and evils I had committed in an effort to survive. Even now, the memory of her voice whispering those three, small words through my mind made me feel unworthy.

I allowed myself to drift off to the memory of her touch, of her voice.

‘I love you.’

Kieran could remove the very heart from my chest, and it would be worth it. If I could hear her tell me she loved me, even one more time.

Raven

Iblasted several chunks of shadowstone away from the wall and allowed the raw material to float and orbit around me as I made my way back into the center of the cave. Glancing up at the massive eye that stared endlessly up into the sky, I noticed its pupil dilate, as if it knew that I was there.

I tensed, wondering if there would be some sort of consequence for stealing from this powerful, magickal phenomenon, but The Eye just watched as I made my way back to the entrance of the tunnel. Frira’s dragonflies still whizzed around me, and I smiled at them. Hovering before the dark mouth of the horribly long and dangerous path back to the volcano, I sighed.

I did not want to go back there, and it felt counter productive to go all the way back to Mount Frira. The Eye was much closer to The Court of Pride. Thinking, I spun in the air and eyed the ceiling of the cave critically. How much power would I need to blast right through the rock? I pursed my lips. I was confident I could do it.

It would also make it possible for me to send a team of daemons to harvest more shadowstone if necessary, without going for another swim through an ocean of lava. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a good idea.

I glanced back toward The Eye, and found a space in the cave that did not touch it. I felt bad enough I was pillaging its treasures, I didn’t have any interest in harming it. I just needed a safer path out.

“Sorry.” I muttered to The Eye as it stared. “Hope this doesn’t hurt.” I winced, before releasing Bond Breaker and allowing it to hover around me with the rest of the shadowstone.

I reached deep into myself to the eternal well of power that bubbled in my chest. My daemon woke up and purred, as I opened the door to its cage, allowing it to stretch its legs.