Page 4 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“I’ve read about you,” she blurted.
He blinked and turned his head slightly to the side. The firelight caught in his eyes, making them shine a brighter red, like blood welling from a fresh wound. “Truly?”
Kolfinna bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grimacing. Why in the world had she said that? Was it because she didn’t want him to think she was clueless? Or something else?
“I, um, read about you in a diary written by a fae soldier.” She coughed and scraped at a dot of old food clinging to theedge of the table. Her ears and face felt impossibly hot, like they had caught on fire at some point. She wanted to bang her head on the table; why, oh why would she mentionthat? “Nothing important, I suppose.”
Vidar continued to stare at her, as if he could peel back the layers of lies to reveal the truth beneath it all. “Hm.”
“Anyway, I know you need me.” She tapped her feet against the worn-out rug and picked at a speck of dirt beneath her cracked fingernails. Anything to keep her from squirming in her seat. “I know the wicked queen can only be unsealed by me.”
His wings twitched. “Hold your tongue when you speak of your mother.”
“She’s not my mother.”
“She went through an awful period to have you.” A heaviness stirred in the room and his dark mana thickened the air. His wings spanned wider. The chairs screeched as he pushed them aside, and a final thrust of his wings sent them toppling over with a loudbang. He rose to his feet swiftly; his entire presence filled the room and his wings made him appear more ominous, dwarfing everything around him. “Vomiting at every second of the day. Dodging threats to her life. Forcing herself to carry a heavy crown in order to protect her people, her kingdom, and most notably”—he pointed at her—“you.”
An awkward silence fell between them as they stared at one another.
Kolfinna’s throat closed up and she didn’t know what to say. He sounded genuine, but it was impossible to think of the evil queen as her mother. Not when she had lived her whole life thinking the fae queen and the war with the humans was akin to a fable or a twisted rendition of history. She didn’t know this man who had captured her, nor her supposed mother. But the thought that maybe her mother had cherished her created an uncomfortable pit in her stomach.
“You and many people who know nothing about Aesileif think thatshewas the monster, but it wasIwho carried her blade,” he continued with enough vitriol to burn her on the spot. “My vengeance. My wrath. And my power is what made them fear our empire. Think of her as a wicked queen if you must, but she dideverythingin her power to protect her people and keep them safe from those miserable, treasonous humans.”
She chose to ignore his heated words.
She was sure that even the vilest of monsters would justify their actions.
“She’s not my mother.” Kolfinna’s words were barely a whisper, but he heard them. She could tell by the flare of his nostrils. The darkening of his eyes. But she continued quickly, heatedly, “I don’t know my mother, nor my father, nor anyone blood related to me. The only person I ever had was my sister—and she’s gone too, dead like the rest of them. I have no idea why I’m alive at this point in time, why my family unsealed me, or why I’m even in this mess to begin with. I don’t know what sacrifices you or your wife made to have me. You all are strangers in my life. If you want me to be … be grateful or something, that’s not happening. I know what’s right and I know what’s wrong, and you”—she motioned toward the wings and the black uniform, all of which looked like they were snatched from a nightmare—“are not the image of virtue. I saw you kill countless people. I saw the horrors you’re capable of. Not to mention, you …” She bunched her hands together as she remembered how he had stood over Blár. “You almost killed the man I love. You were planning on making him a mana slave. You want me to believe that you and your queen are anything but wicked? I have a hard time believing that.”
“You have childish expectations of me. I am not here to hold your hand and tell you fairytales, and neither are you. Do you think I’m foolish enough to fall for whatever reasoningyou’re going with? Or are you perhaps trying to fool yourself?” The corner of his mouth rose and there was something otherworldly sinister about him in that second. Something cold and unapologetic. The look of a man who had served as the fae queen’s commander-and-chief. “I saw you kill several people too. Fae and elf alike. You were ruthless.”
She flinched back, her palms suddenly growing clammy.
“You are not as kindhearted as you make yourself out to be.” Vidar lowered himself back into his seat. “We are at war with one another. Do not speak ofgoodness,” he snarled the word like it was poison. “If you are anything like me, then you will do whatever is in your power to protect those whom you love, even if it means becoming wicked.”
“Then youdounderstand why I’m loyal to the humans.”
“Youlovethem?”
“No … Well—” Kolfinna couldn’t meet his incredulous expression. “I believe this is better for our race. For us to unite with the humans and to show them that we are good. That we don’t want to oppress one another?—”
“A very childish response.” He pursed his lips. The disappointment curdled the air. “Spoken like a child who has never seen true war.”
Embarrassment heated her cheeks and she leaned forward, hands cupped over her knees to keep from lashing out at him. “I’ve seen war. I’ve seen cruelty.”
“Clearly not enough of it.”
“What do you know about my life?” she snapped. “What do you know about what I’ve seen or haven’t seen? You weren’t even there for me! If you are my father, then why—” Her voice cracked and the back of her eyes suddenly burned with unshed tears. She blinked, unable to trust herself to speak.
She was angry, she realized. Angry and bitter for the life she could have had, the life sheshouldhave had. If she truly hadsuch powerful parents, then why was her life so difficult even now? Why had she worked her whole life, fighting and struggling just to survive? Why had she been forced to watch her sister’s brutal murder? Why had she been so utterly alone for so many years? If she truly was a lost princess, then why did she feel so unworthy?
It all sounded ridiculous.
How wasshe—an unimportant fae girl—a lost princess of a dead empire?
“You don’t know anything about me,” Kolfinna said, her anger fizzling as she realized it had no place here. She didn’t know him and she didn’t plan on getting to know him. In fact, she was his prisoner and simply a tool for him. She couldn’t forget that. “Anyway, you, your armies, and Ragnarök are making things difficult for the fae race. You’re showing the humans just how true the tales of our heartlessness goes. I’ve worked so, so hard to make myself appear normal to these humans. For them to realize that we’re just like them … and you’ve dashed those efforts! And in case I haven’t made it clear enough, I have no plans to join your forces and wake the queen.”
She was sure that was the whole reason she was even in this conference room with him. He probably wanted to discuss with her how they would unseal the evil queen. But she wanted none of it. She already felt terrible that she was the cause of his legion of bloodthirsty warriors awakening in the first place; she didn’t need to add an epic war against the last fae queen on top of it all.
