Page 86 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
Vidar’s hands fisted, the muscles on his jaw clenching.
“But it’s perfect, really,” Elin continued. Relief washed over her fading eyes. “He is powerful, so your child will be powerful, too. Perfect. Now we can rest our future on your heir.”
And then she was gone. Her eyes became glassy. Lifeless.
Another scream tore from Aesileif and she curled over Elin’s body. Vidar knelt beside her, his hand on her shoulder as she wept. His face was bathed in blood, making his eyes appear all the more murderous. When he peered down at Elin’s body, a look of pure revulsion, pure loathing, seemed to consume him.
Their bodies slowly began to fade until Blár and Kolfinna were the only ones left in the blood-stained throne room. Kolfinna didn’t even realize she was trembling, her cheeks wet, until Blár wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
She bit her lower lip to keep from crying. She shouldn’t have mourned any of them, but … but something cracked within her at seeing all of this. Even if it wasn’t real, even if … this was all a lie, she couldn’t help the bitterness, the sorrow, that ate away at her. It was too gruesome, all of it. Too heartbreaking. Too … much.
These were her parents. Her grandparents. Her aunt. Herpeople.
“We have to move forward,” Blár said quietly, nudging her toward the exit.
She followed him numbly. She could feel the darkness swirling in the background, and so they both hurried to find the black door. The whole time, her mind spun and replayed the devastating screams, the blasts of light that had torn through Vidar, the haunting, cruel last words Elin had said.
When they found the arched black door, the shadows had only just begun to descend. They both entered through into the next vision, slamming the door shut behind them.
25
TWENTY-FIVE – KOLFINNA
Like last time,they had to search for the starting point of the vision. It didn’t take them long to search through the halls until they came across Aesileif again. She was older this time, by a few years, and dressed in a thin white night gown. Her hair was loose and flowing down her back, and she was curled into a tight ball on her bed, sobbing.
Bookshelves lined the walls, the shelves buckling under the weight of the heavy books, and the room was just as fancy as the other rooms—gold-veined marble floors, silk drapes, vibrant rugs, heavy gilded furniture.
Blár watched Aesileif cry and a flash of pity passed over his face, but it quickly disappeared as he examined the rest of the room. Kolfinna could only stare at her mother.
“She doesn’t seem …” Blár sighed, giving Kolfinna a neutral expression. “She doesn’t seem stable, does she? Is Vidar …?”
“Pulling her strings?” She lifted her shoulders. She truly didn’t know. But her father’s words echoed in her mind.
“You and many people who know nothing about Aesileif think thatshewas the monster, but it wasIwho carried her blade.”
She shivered.
Her thoughts halted abruptly when the door burst open and Vidar rushed inside. He looked closer to his present day self; dressed in ominous, dark leathers, his wings deadly and his expression hidden away by his helmet. He ripped the helmet off the instant he was in the room, dropping it on the floor and coming to the side of the bed.
“Aesileif? What’s wrong? What happened?” The bed creaked beneath his weight.
Aesileif crawled onto his lap, burying her face against his chest. He placed a hand on her lower back, brushing her hair absentmindedly. His expression was shuttered. The time between the last vision and this one seemed to have tempered his disposition, or maybe he had learned to hide his emotions better. But the lethal, feral look in his eyes softened.
“What has made you this upset, my love?” he whispered so softly that Kolfinna almost missed it. He brushed Aesileif’s pale gold hair gently, trying to ease her off his chest so he could stare at her, but she clung to him tightly, her tears making her hair stick to her wet cheeks. For a moment, she remained there, sobbing against him, holding onto him like he was the only person holding her together. And maybe he was.
Kolfinna’s gaze strayed to a golden crown sitting atop the vanity table; it gleamed in the sliver of sunlight that peeked through the part in the curtains. Blár shifted on his feet and followed her attention. At this point in time, Aesileif was definitely the queen of the fae. Was she considered evil yet? They had no way of knowing presently.
“I—” Aesileif’s shoulders shook, and her eyes were bloodshot when she braved to stare up at him. The heartbreak and grief were clear on her face; devastation leaked through her weary, soft tone. “I am sorry, Vidar. I lost—I lost another one.”
His shoulders grew taut, pain shuddering through his eyes, but he quickly masked it. A tenderness sparked through the obvious sorrow as he whispered, “Do not apologize.”
“How many more will I lose?” Her voice cracked and she squeezed her eyes shut. When she snapped them open, a flash of fury shone in the sapphire depths. “Why is my body so useless?”
“Don’t say that,” he growled.
“How many more babies will I have to bury?”
