Page 35 of Wrath of the Fae

‘Get yourself washed and dressed. Your people will be glad to see their queen up and about.’

He leaves me in Reid’s bedroom.

‘Did I really keep coming in here?’ I ask Wolf.

He grunts his reply.

‘I dreamt of him as I slept.’ I look Wolf in the eye. ‘I dreamt of Reid and me. But… I was Reid. I was looking at myself through his eyes.’

‘That wasn’t sleeping, My Lady,’ he replies. ‘That was mending. Reforming. That was you fighting for your life.’ He looks me over with a scrutinous glance as if assessing that whatever I have been doing these past few hours has, in fact, mended me and reformed whatever I shattered. ‘Perhaps you were seeinghisdreams?’

‘I’m not connected to him like that anymore,’ I tell him. ‘Our Bond has gone.’

‘It will never be gone, My Lady. Perhaps the markings on your skin. But the markings on your heart and soul… they won’t fade so easily. The Elder has made her suspicions quite clear. You know what she thinks.’

‘You know what they did. You know their role in my mother’s death. In the loss of the real First Kingdom and then the Seventh.’

He gives a sombre nod. ‘May I remind you that Lucca was also a part of their group when they did these things? You have forgiven him.’

‘He was a child. And he got me out of the portal. They lied to me. Again and again. They broke my heart. Tore my soul to pieces. Shredded any hope I had for a happy ever after with them.’ I slowly walk to the bed and stare at the sheets. ‘And yet… here I am. Dreaming of them. Seeking them out even when unconscious. I miss them.’ I look up at him, disgusted by my own words. ‘I fucking miss them, Wolf. I miss my sister and best friend, and the hatred I have inside me for them betraying me like this is enough to make me want to scream until I have no air left in my lungs and no voice fit for use. I shouldn’t miss them. I shouldn’t want to see them again. But I do. And I can’t decide if I will kill them or hold them when the day finally comes.’

‘My mother used to say that the only thing a heart was good for was breaking,’ he says. ‘Because when it heals, it heals stronger. Makes the soul tougher, too, I reckon. I’d go so far as to say you have one hell of a heart and soul in that chest. Strong enough to forgive the devil himself if you chose to.’

‘I will never forgive.’ I step away from the bed. ‘Not after all they have done. Not just to me but to my mother. To the First Kingdom.’

‘You were given a second chance, My Lady. Pulled from that portal and made flesh and bone again. It’s your life. Don’t you dare let anyone else tell you how to live it. If you want to seek them out, then do so. If they deserve forgiveness, then do that too. If their lives you wish to end, I will oblige. What is your heart telling you?’

‘It’s telling me…’ I sigh and look around the room. ‘I need to find another bedroom to sleep in.’ As I pass him, he gently takes my arm. I look up to see sadness in those ancient eyes. ‘What is it?’

‘They wanted to wait to tell you,’ he starts, speaking low.

‘Tell me what?’

‘Della.’ He lets out a long exhale, and my stomach drops. ‘Something happened to Della.’

I stand at the foot of the small bed, looking at the pale body of the sweetest and bravest girl I have ever known. Her dress is dark with the stain of the blood spilt from the hideous slash across her throat. Her tiny body is so still. On either side of her lie her parents. The father is black and blue from the beating that killed him. And her mother’s throat is swollen and black from the hands that throttled her.

I swallow the lump in my throat. ‘I should never have let her take such a stupid risk. She had no place in the middle of a war like this.’ I stroke her hair aside and lean down to kiss her forehead.

Sweet Della.

‘Spek had a sort of fit. She thrashed in my hands, and then she flew off. I would have gone to her if I had known she was in trouble.’

The room trembles as I cry. My power stirs. It takes all I have to settle it.

‘The others are waiting for you downstairs,’ Wolf tells me when the room falls still. ‘We have something you need to see.’

As I walk through the torn-up manor, there’s a solemn silence in the air. Fae sweep the floors of debris, pick up the broken furniture to assess if it can be saved, scrub blood from the floors and have the bodies taken away.

Ours, and the enemies.

The fireplaces have all been lit, and enchanted chandeliers cast the rooms in a daylight glow. As I pass, I try to keep my head held high. I nod to those who bow and try with all my might to keep my emotions in check.

I walk through to the grand ballroom. It’s been cleared and tidied. Tables encircle the room, littered with books and weapons. The remaining windows, most of which are all cracked, show the day outside as if drenched in the summer sun. Several of the Valker warriors are sorting weapons. They all rest their hands over their hearts and give a formal bow before I follow Wolf through a second set of doors, down a long corridor, and finally arrive in a large study. It’s perhaps the most intact room I have seen yet. Books line the walls, and an imposing mahogany desk dead ahead has a large tapestry hanging behind it. I recognise it as a map of the Thirteen Kingdoms. To the side, a large circular table hosts a group in deep conversation. As I enter, they fall silent and stand. Wolf and I take the two empty spaces.

Without another word, Lucca places a strange contraption on the table and slides it over to me.

‘We found this on one of the men who killed Della and her parents,’ he says, staring at it with unblinking eyes. ‘Looks familiar, right?’

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