Page 12 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“Huh?” Kolfinna’s steps slowed as those words registered to her. Her back tingled with that new piece of information. If that was true, then why did the fae cut their children’s wings off?
“They probably forgot how to do that over the centuries,” Rakel murmured, as if reading her mind. She slowed in her steps, her leather boots crunching over pebbles, singed grass, and crumbling stone. When she looked back at Kolfinna, she wore an almost rueful expression. “It’s a shame they chopped your wings off. You used to have the most magnificent pair.”
She whirled around and began her trek toward the drekis, leaving Kolfinna to scramble after her. Had Rakel … known Kolfinna as a child? She must have been around two years old before she was sealed away in the cave—if she truly was the heir, an idea she was starting to realize was truer than not.
“Did you—” Kolfinna’s question was drowned away by the roar of the nearest dreki, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Her hands went straight to her ears and she winced at the sore, tender skin. Either her new ears were highly sensitive to any sound, or that beast was really, really loud. It was likely the latter.
An elf soldier tossed a chunk of meat close to the giant beast’s head and it shot forward, sharp teeth snapping over the food, before it roared again, demanding more. Kolfinna watched in fascination as soldiers hauled over barrels full of dead rabbits, goats, and chickens. Blood seeped out from the cracks of the barrels, leaving wet trails along the grass.
“We usually feed the drekis before we go on long journeys.” Rakel stopped a dozen feet away from the slew of beasts and the elf warriors tending to them. She placed a hand on her hip andscanned her surroundings. “It keeps them happier and avoids an unexpected detour to hunt. Trust me, the last thing you want is a hungry dreki.”
A long journey. Where, exactly was that? Were they going to find the fae queen now?
“Where are we going?”
“Trying to get information out of me?” Rakel shot her a wry grin. “We’ll be headed toward one of the territories we’ve captured, and then after that we’ll launch an attack on the capital.”
She had known they wanted to take over the kingdom, but hearing it out loud made her blood run cold. If they thought they could up and drop into the capital without repercussion, they were wrong. Fenris was in charge there, and she doubted he’d let them do as they pleased. But still, thinking about Vidar invading the capital sent a chill down her spine.
Kolfinna shifted on her feet and stared at the drekis munching their food, feathers and ribbons of meat stuck between their razored teeth. It was strange to think that these creatures were somehow …domesticatedby the fae and elves. Sure, they didn’t act like horses, dogs, and livestock, but the arrogant creatures seemed to know their place here. She was positive humans would never have been able to do such a thing.
She wondered, for a moment, if the fae queen had ridden just a beast, or if she preferred to fly with her own wings. She couldn’t imagine the wicked queen doing such a thing; all she had read about her and learned of her was that she was vile, she drank the blood of human children, and she kept a plethora of slaves in her palace at all times. She hardly seemed like the type to ride a dreki.
“Where is the fae queen sealed away?” Kolfinna asked.
Rakel turned to her sharply, bright eyes narrowed to slits. “None of your concern, Princess.”
“But if I’m supposed to free her …” Her throat closed up at the thought of it; she prayed she’d escape their clutches before she could do such a thing. “Shouldn’t I know where she is?”
“Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing?” Rakel crossed her lean arms over her chest. “I’m not going to tell you vital information so that you can use it against us. I highly doubt you’d be able to leave, but considering you arehisdaughter, I wouldn’t be surprised if you found a way.” She spoke the last part with a hint of respect, but Kolfinna doubted it had anything to do with her, and was mostly because of Vidar.
Silence filled the space between them. Kolfinna reluctantly touched the edge of her sharpened ears. They stung with the small contact. Now she looked even more like him, she thought with a shiver.
“You … like him, don’t you?”
“Excuse me?” Rakel’s head whipped to the side, her white braids following the quick movement, as she pinned Kolfinna with an incredulous look.
“Vidar, I mean. You seem to love him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s married.”
Kolfinna searched the elf woman’s face for any vulnerability, for something that she could use against her, but there were only harsh lines on her face and an even harsher glint in her eyes. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
Her jaw stiffened. “I respect him, Kolfinna, and you would be wise to do the same.”
“But—”
“I’m married.” She parted her lips to speak, but a flash of something vulnerable passed over her features. She clamped her trembling mouth together. “Stop talking about this nonsense. Stay silent and wait here.”
Rakel stomped off toward one of the drekis and began speaking to the elves feeding it. Kolfinna watched her as shebusied herself with impatiently chucking the entire barrel into a dreki’s mouth using her shadow magic. Kolfinna glanced over at the rest of the soldiers milling about doing their own thing. Nobody was paying attention to her right now.
She didn’t want the opportunity to slip.
Without wasting another breath, she slowly backed away, keeping an eye on Rakel and the other fae soldiers close by. Another step, and then another, and then she spun around and speed-walked toward the fortress. The last place they would expect her to run to was the building. She needed to find where they were keeping Herja and escape this place immediately.
The doors to the fortress were wide open and soldiers were going in and out carrying weapons or tools for travel. She had expected for all the soldiers to swarm her immediately, but they seemed too focused on their own tasks on hand. Some of them glanced at her, but were either distracted by something else, or didn’t think too much about her. Maybe she didn’t look too much like the enemy anymore now that she was dressed in pretty clothes as opposed to her torn and bloodied military uniform.
The fortress was warm inside, even though the bare halls and cold, stony walls gave it the opposite impression. She took a left down the corridor and hurried along, her attention flicking from the fae walking with their wings furled out, to the elves passing through nimbly. Where could Herja be? Would they be keeping her in the dungeons? Or was she locked away in one of the rune marked rooms?
