Page 174 of Wrath of the Fae

I nod and hate the sadness I see on his face. But he puts on a smile.

‘Don’t ever do that to me again. You hear me?’ He kisses my cheek, and through the Bond, I feel a stab of territorial jealousy. ‘Don’t look up. Okay? And stay where I can see you, Pup. No more fading. I promised them the Queen. One that commands dragons and saves them from monsters and men. Don’t make me a liar.’

He leaves the courtyard, returning inside.

The two guys face me. The snow continues to fall, landing on their hair and the dark cloaks they wear. Each returns their swords to their sides and cups their hands as they face me.

I walk towards them.

Cyrus has an eye patch covering his right eye.

Reid has one on his left.

They both look intently into my eyes.

Into their eyes.

‘Why would you do this?’ I ask. It’s the only thing I can think to say. ‘You’ve butchered yourselves. Made yourselves weaker.’

‘We did it for you,’ Reid replies simply. ‘Because you are stronger with your sight. Because we couldn’t bear watching you mourn the loss of it.’

I have no words. No sentences or sentiments can do justice for what they gave me.

‘One day,’ Cyrus says. ‘You will believe us when we say you are our entire reason for living. You will believe us when we say you own us in our entirety. And you will accept that we are delighted to cut, carve, kill, maim, torture and die for you.’

I feel my face scrunch up in confusion.

‘But why?’ I ask, almost pleadingly. ‘Why… me? Is this all because of the Bond? I can’t see you ever doing anything like this for anyone else. You barely tolerate anyone else. Why-’

‘We have never loved anyone else half as much as we love you. So quit asking why we love you. And stop blaming it on the Bond. It is what it is, and it’s all we want.’ Cyrus steps closer and searches my new eyes. ‘It’s going to take some getting used to. I’ll miss your eyes. But I’m so glad I can see your soul again.’

‘I can’t… I don’t know what to…’

‘You’re welcome,’ Cyrus cuts in, kissing my cheek. ‘Now then, my Queen. First, we’re going to talk about whatever it is that Lucca did. Then…’ He tilts up my head, directing my line of sight to the great rip in the sky. ‘We’re going to discuss what the fuck we are going to do about that.’

thirty-one

TheirjawstwitchedasI told them what Lucca did. But I reminded them that he did it tome. And it is my choice who and what I forgive.

I also said I would still be trapped if it weren’t for Lucca. And all those we saved would be dead or worse without him.

So they are to leave him alone.

Or else.

That was yesterday. Today, I’m catching my breath. Rhea has been sleeping almost constantly. I think she’s healing from what she went through. Knowing she is finally safe is a massive relief for her, so I’ve left her to rest, safe in El’s arms.

This Kingdom is beautiful.

I have never seen snow before. It never fell in the human world. Not over our city, anyway. The pollution was too thick and the air too hot to form. We would get hail on occasion. But it was so full of soot that it was almost black.

I stand atop the castle on a high balcony overlooking the Kingdom. The castle itself is stunning. It’s carved into the very mountain. The rooms were hollowed out from the stone and ice. The outside is coated in frost, and icicles hang from every surface. Chandeliers made of sculpted ice hang in every room and shine perfectly. Despite the eternal freeze outside, the inside is remarkably warm. Ancient magic, I’m told. Lost to the ages.

They don’t see the glowing symbols coating the floors as I do. Runes as ancient as the monsters I command.

Everyone has been cleared from the battlefield. Our dead and theirs. The injured have been brought inside to be fixed up. Something that many of the lords and ladies living here disagreed with, claiming that the city was where they belonged. Not the castle.

Wolf groaned and closed his eyes when I told them to fuck off to the city if they didn’t feel comfortable because the injured weren’t going anywhere, so they would be thrown out if they said another word.

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