Page 30 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“Commander Alfaer would have killed her, as he plans to do with every member of the human royal family,” Rakel started.
“Those cursed fiends,” Astrid uncharacteristically hissed from the hallway, her eyes narrowing at the woman. “You are the blood and flesh of King Harald.”
King Harald, the human monarch who had fought against Aesileif and the fae, and had ultimately won. He had eradicated most of the fae after that.
The woman appeared unfazed. “Yes, but there are many centuries between me and King Harald.”
“Nonetheless,” Astrid said with a scowl. “You are his kin.”
Kolfinna shifted on her feet, turning her attention to Rakel. “What does Vidar plan to do?”
“None of your concern.” The elf woman lifted her shoulders. “You both will remain here for the time being.”
“But you said Vidarwould havekilled her. That means he has a plan for her.” Kolfinna glanced at the woman apologetically—she didn’t like talking about other people right in front of them, but the more information she had about what Vidar was planning, the better it would be.
Rakel inspected her long, sharp nails and shrugged, her red eyes flicking to the woman and then back to Kolfinna. “I misspoke. Anyhow, you have new dresses in that trunk over there, and you can shower in that room.” She pointed to the wooden chest by one of the beds and then to the closed door. “Commander Alfaer wishes to have you attend dinner later tonight. Astrid will help you dress and get ready in the evening.” Her grin turned sharp as she and Astrid headed out of the room.She was just about to close the door when she piped up, “Ah, and before I forget, if you have any questions, bother someone else for them, because I don’t have time.”
The door shut with a final click, leaving Kolfinna alone with her new roommate, for lack of a better word. She smoothed down the skirts of her dress and gingerly headed toward her bed. Thick fur blankets were piled atop of it neatly, and the sheets were clean and smelled fresh. She didn’t even want to look through the trunk of clothes, so she plopped down on the mattress and covered her face in her hands, sighing loudly.
The exhaustion from riding the dreki, the travel, and her imprisonment crashed down on her shoulders, making her want to curl into a ball and sleep for eternity. With all the events of the past week, she hadn’t even had time to properly think of Blár, or her friends at the military base and the royal guard… or the fate of everyone if Queen Aesileif succeeded in taking back this kingdom.
“You are fae?” the woman, Aslaug, asked gently. Her hands bent over the frayed edges of her book and she watched Kolfinna with a gloomy expression—as if she didn’t care what happened to her one way or another. “You surely do appear like one, but it makes me wonder why you are imprisoned, then?”
“I’m curious too,” Kolfinna said, eyeing the woman. “You too are a princess, so why did the humans imprison you?”
The corner of Aslaug’s plump, dry lips rose. “That is a good question for another day. I myself have been asking that for nearly a decade.”
Her mouth dropped open in horror. “You’ve been trapped here for a decade?”
“Not exactly.” Another sad smile. “Almost … eight years.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” An uneasiness pulled at her chest, and she wove her hands together to keep from fidgeting. She had so many questions to ask—why had she been locked away herefor that long by the king, why was she kept a secret if she was still alive—but she couldn’t find the words. Not when the woman looked so glum, so desolate.
Aslaug motioned to the door. “You should go take your …shower, was it? I have not been able to make the contraption work, but I am sure you will be able to, since you are fae.”
Kolfinna blinked at the familiar word. Shower … Was that what it was called? The invention Joran had built in his room using old fae engineering texts? She had taken a shower in his bathroom, and it had run with rune magic. An unexpected giddiness washed over her at the prospect of cleaning all this gunk off her body. The last time she had used the contraption, it had been surprisingly soothing to step under the cascade of hot water.
“Has it always been here?” she asked as she headed toward the door. “I thought most fae inventions were destroyed by the humans once King Harald took over, since it was mostly useless for him and the rest of humans.”
“I have no idea of the history behind it,” she said, hugging her book to her chest. “The fae only moved me here today, while my original tower, the northern one, is being reinforced with runes. I didn’t see anything similar to it there, and all these towers are nearly identical. So I assume it’s newly built.”
Kolfinna opened the door to find the bathroom. It was similar to the one Joran had built. A giant mirror was erected on one wall, there was a contraption she assumed was for relieving oneself, and there was a box-like area surrounded with glass walls and a glass door in one corner of the room, which must be the shower. Dozens of drains were set into the tiled floor and similarly a dozen or so holes sat in the ceiling of the glassed shower area. Golden runes were etched into one of the walls, and even from this distance she could read them—ice cold, cold, warm, hot, andhalt.
“I’ll be taking a … shower, I suppose,” she said to Aslaug, shutting the door behind her when she noticed the woman had gone back to reading. Now alone in the bathroom, Kolfinna stripped out of her grimy dress, letting the thin material pool around her ankles as she stepped out of it. It was only when she stepped into the shower, closed the glass door, and pressed her magic into thehotsetting, that she could finallybreathe.
As the water hit her body, her tense muscles relaxed. Her tangled hair clung to her neck, reducing in volume once wet, and dried blood and dirt swirled at the bottom of the tiles, the water running murky and then eventually clear.
Kolfinna covered her face with her hands, tears springing in the corner of her eyes. Her shoulders hunched together and she silently sobbed. All of her pent-up emotions released in that moment.
Her whole life was a lie.
She was no longer Kolfinna the fae, but Princess Kolfinna of the fae empire. Princess Kolfinna who was a quarter elf. Princess Kolfinna who didn’t belong anywhere—not with the humans, or the elves, or the fae.
Her fingers brushed over her sharp fae ears and she stifled a hiss of pain, her hands curling to her sides. They were another reminder of how much she had changed. What would Blár say if he saw her now? There was no way she could lie or deny her connection to Vidar, or to the last fae queen. Would he still … love her?
Actually, now that she thought about it, he had never told her he loved her. He simply … wanted her? For her figure, maybe? Because they were similar in some aspects? He liked her, she was sure of that, at least, butlove? They had never discussed that.
Would this be enough to break their new relationship?
