Page 141 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
Keira’s Autumn magic ripples out, capturing each of those potted trees one by one and shattering them into thousands of shards that propel outward, piercing through armor and flesh alike with the strength of the air wields she weaves behind them. Each explosion has the force of that damned black powder weencountered in her realm. She could have detonated every single tree at once, but her expert magic is so much more controlled, guiding the projectiles toward enemies in torrents and away from allies.
It all happens within the space of a minute while I make my unhurried way down the center of the room.
Titania leaps to her feet frommythrone and staggers at the sight of me, almost tripping in those ridiculous high heels that only hinder her during a battle. How fucking confident she must have been that the fighting wouldn’t come to her. That she could call a civil war but wouldn’t need to dirty her own hands.
Titania’s mouth works, but no sound comes out.
I think I prefer her speechless.
She shoots Leonardo a murderous glare, but he simply shrugs, pulls his sword free and plunges it through the chest of one of her advisers. The spell upon his people is broken with that single movement, and they too leap into the fight.
“You are dead!” Titania spits. “Why the fuck do you never stay dead?” She glances around frantically for someone to save her, but all her guards are engaged in the fighting.
“Did you think I would stay dead, Titania?” I bellow across the room as I stroll to her with Keira at my side.
Her soldiers try to charge us, to aim their pathetic arrows at us. I roll my hand and the floor vibrates violently as wisteria roots and branches tear out of the ground around us, forming a tunnel straight to Titania and caging her in with us. Multiple arrows thwack into it, but they can’t penetrate the webbing. We walk along it, through a haze of marble dust.
“Did you think the Starlight King would partner with someone as toxic as yourself, when you are known across the realm for betraying your allies?” I continue. “No, his ruse was cleverly done to get my forces into the palace. All I had to do was die by poison and have it reversed by his abilities.”
“You just take and take, abuse, rob and murder whoever you like,” Keira snarls across the distance. “Did you believe there would be no consequences for the way you have ravaged this court for your own advancement? That the people would roll over and take your torments without ever fighting back?”
Titania’s eyes flare wide, but she spreads her arms out with false confidence. “Look, Aldrin, Keira. Surely we can come to an agreement. I have a lot of wealth—it can all be yours. Just give me safe passage out of here to another court.” A small, forced smile spreads her black lips as her eyes turn to me. “I gave you the opportunity of exile when you lost the last election.”
She is such a fucking coward when there is no one left to fight for her.
The flames of Keira’s hair flare brighter as her features twist with wrath. The intensity of it bubbles down the bond like a pot boiling over. “Death isn’t usually the outcome of a lost election, but I have no doubt you would have killed him then if you’d had enough influence to get away with it.”
“Name your price. Whatever it is, I will give it to you. I am a businesswoman, after all.” She gives a nervous laugh, backing away until she hits the throne that she stole from me, all while glancing around for help.
I reach her and lift her by the throat with a single hand. “Your life. Your legacy. The poison you have spread across these lands. That is my price.”
She opens her mouth, gasping, but I squeeze harder so she cannot speak.
I have had enough of her lies.
It is time for her to die.
Threads of my magic channel into her body, down her throat, piercing her flesh. I take hold of her muscles and freeze every single one. I take control of the blood flowing through her veins, of the particles of air within it, and I turn them into solid shards,into needles slicing her up from the inside. The air within her lungs is mine to command, and I draw the moisture from it and drown her within it.
While she sputters, froth escaping her lips, I pull her close to me and growl in her face, “You do not deserve a quick death, but a lifetime of torture. You can be glad I am neither a cruel or patient man, and I am only too eager to wipe out the blight upon these lands that you are.”
I hold out a hand to Keira and she places the long, ornamental dagger sheathed at Titania’s side into it. The coward never even drew it or tried to defend herself, so convinced someone else would always do the dirty work for her. I wrap Titania’s fingers around the hilt and force them to grip it tightly. Her eyes manage to widen with understanding.
I manipulate every muscle in her arm until the tip of that blade is brought to her chest by her own hand, then plunged into her heart.
I watch my greatest enemy’s face until her heart stops beating and the light fades from her eyes, that eerie swirling ceasing. Just long enough to confirm her death. Then I drop her to the ground in a crumpled heap like the discarded trash she is.
I thought I would feel satisfaction at Titania’s death, perhaps even joy, but it is only relief that courses through me.
She can never torment someone I love again.
Her lies will no longer make this court bleed.
I turn to Keira, who watches me with razor-sharp focus. She doesn’t say a thing, just grabs the back of my head and kisses me passionately. Salty sweat and the metallic tang of blood curl on my tongue, but neither of us pulls away for a long moment.
When we unravel from each other, the sounds of battle crowd in. I lower the cage of branches back into the floor and we get a full, sweeping view of the violence. Less than a third of Titania’s people are left and they are greatly outnumbered.
Keira practically shakes beside me. Her unsated anger is a beast just beginning to unfurl its wings and release its claws. A darkness that will consume her if left unchecked. I take her hand, opening myself up so my reservoir of power melds with hers.
