Page 2 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“That depends.” Rakel’s steps echoed in the small room as she drew closer to her. So close that Kolfinna could make out thedeep maroon flecks in her blood-red eyes. “How did you get that ice-human to escape from this fortress?”
They had bound themselves with theBryllupceremony. Kolfinna had shared her mana with his, which had been enough for him to break the shadows binding him. And then he had scaled down the fortress wall with his magic. But she couldn’t very well tell Rakel that, so she only shrugged.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about. I was alone when I woke up.” She couldn’t keep the edge off her voice.
“Liar.” Rakel chuckled slowly, the sound tinkering off the barren walls of the room. She lifted her shoulders. “Fine. Keep your secrets. But the more you cooperate with me, the better it will be for you and our race. I hope we can get along better,PrincessKolfinna, and I hope you come to understand that I only want the best for you.”
Kolfinna snorted.
Rakel’s eyebrow rose. “You don’t believe me?”
“No.”
Rakel looked like she wanted to say more, but she seemed to think better of it, shrugged again, and waved a hand toward the doorway. “Suit yourself. Come on, let’s go.”
“Where?” Kolfinna was all too eager to follow behind her as they exited her room. The hallway was darker than she had thought it would be, with fewer light sources, but she was able to see fairly well. That was another thing she had discovered about herself in the past few weeks—that her eyesight had improved ever since her elf abilities had awoken.
“You wanted to meet him, didn’t you?” Rakel gave her a sidelong glance. In the dim lighting, her white hair appeared like streaks of moonlight, glimmering with every step she took. Her pointed ears poked out from among all her braids. “Your father.”
She didn’t want to meet him. The half-elf. The man who had haunted her nightmares these past few days in captivity. Everytime she thought of him, she was reminded of the terrifying image of him in the sky, black dreki-like wings spread out, his dark-scaled helmet obscuring everything but those murderous, red eyes. Or him peering down at Blár after defeating him.
There was no way he was her father. They werenothingalike.
Each step seemed to stretch longer. The pit of Kolfinna’s stomach strained wider and she could barely focus on her surroundings. She had to keep track of where she was going, but the hallways seemed to all blur together, her thoughts echoing louder and louder until she couldn’t make out anything other than the sickness twisting her insides. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to leave.
But she also had to focus. So she stared as hard as she could at the corridors that looked so similar to every other military base—gray walls, gray halls, harsh lines and blocky windows.
Fae soldiers marched down the halls, their faces stoic and their expressions betraying nothing. They were all dressed the same—in dark leathers that made them appear more terrifying than they probably were. But perhaps more jarring than their dark ensemble were theirwings.
Feathery wings. Gossamer thin wings. Scaly wings. Wings that reminded her of bats, or butterflies, or moths. Colorful wings. Black wings, white wings. All sorts she could never have imagined. It was almost too much. It made her own back, where she had two scars, tingle with … sorrow? Envy? She wasn’t even sure.
Rakel nodded to a few of the soldiers, who lowered their heads to her in respect. She glanced over her shoulder at Kolfinna, her red eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “You’re not thinking of escaping this place, are you?”
Kolfinna snorted—or at least she wanted to, but it came out like an awkward laugh.
Rakel raised an eyebrow.
“Of course not.” She coughed, trying to hide her discomfort and embarrassment by staring straight ahead. They passed by a window and Kolfinna cringed at her reflection—unkempt black and white hair, her whole front uniform stained with blood, and ash and blood and grime coating her face. “Anyway, are we really going to meet him? The half-elf?”
“CommanderAlfaer.” Rakel stared straight ahead, an edge in her tone. “You will address him as such. Or, alternatively,Fatherworks well too.”
Kolfinna bristled. “He’s not?—”
“Yes, yes.” The elf woman waved her hand dismissively, not even bothering to shoot her a look. “You’ve made your point clear, but the fact remains that you are Kolfinna Viðarsdóttir,daughter of Commander Vidar Alfaer.”
They went down a flight of stairs and all at once, the heavy, cloying dark mana she had witnessed on the battlefield seemed to flare in every crook and cranny of the wide main corridor. Instantly, her hands grew clammy and she couldn’t stop from fidgeting with her torn sleeve.
Kolfinna knew, even before they stopped at a set of double doors seeming to lead to a conference room, thathewas inside the room. A powerful, dense mana radiated from the room, so overpowering that if she were a magicless human, or a weak fae, she was sure she would have fallen on her knees in absolute fear.
Rakel rapped her knuckles on the door and pushed it open without waiting for a response. Kolfinna trailed behind her and kept her head held high—she didn’t want to appear feeble, even though all her instincts screamed at her to run far, far away from this place.
The half-elf was standing over a table with a map spread out across the entire surface. His dreki-like wings were scaly and impossibly black, tucked in almost lazily against his back, the edges forming an ominous shadow behind his lean frame.
“Sir.” Rakel nodded. “I’ve brought your daughter.”
His red eyes flicked over to her and almost immediately she flinched back. Long white hair fell over his shoulders like streaks of moonlight, framing his sharp, angular face. A giant, faded scar covered half his face, and trailed down his neck. She could tell that it came from an explosion of sorts; not a sharp weapon, but something akin to fire, or perhaps light magic. But despite the scarring, his face was impeccable. Handsome. Sharp. Some would even saycharming.
But the harsh glint in his eyes, his dark attire, and the heavy cloak of evil that radiated from him made his elvish beauty seem like a façade. He reminded her so much of the nightmarish fae stories humans made up—the ones about a beautiful creature whisking people away into dark forests and making them disappear forever.
