‘Care for a sip to forget your worries?’ she asked, quirking a brow.
I groaned. ‘What happened to facing my worries? Was that not your whole point with the Awakening?’ I asked mockingly.
She stifled a laugh before taking a drink and holding it out to me. Reluctantly, I gripped it and took a long drink. I did not carefor drinks that clouded the mind and slowed the body; they made me feel like my control was slipping. But after everything that had happened, I realised I had no control over anything anymore, and some part of me wanted to revel in it and let go of any illusions of control I still clung to.
Looking at the night sky I thought of Visarous’ words and shivered at the uncomfortable feeling they evoked within me. Was it him or was it the bond? I didn’t truly know anymore. I drank deeply.
Handing the pouch back to Sienna I asked, ‘Do you remember when we met?’
I was a teenager during the first year of my mother’s alliance with the Wiccans and Forest Fae. My mother sent me to live with the Wiccans for a year to learn their ways of life once we became allies. I was merely collateral, someone the Wiccans could kill should my mother step out of line and break her promises. I was abandoned and isolated from everyone I had ever known. That is when I learnt I was truly alone in this world. During that year, I lived with the Elders—five women who had been alive for hundreds of years but looked as though they were only twenty. Sienna was the daughter of one of the Elders and was in training to become one herself.
The Wiccans were brutal with her; the training to become a high Wiccan was akin to torture—torture I was very familiar with. My mother had put me through similar mental and physical tests to push me to my limits and create new ones, all with the purpose of finely tuning me and protecting our secrets should I ever fall into the hands of my enemies. Sienna and I became very close during this time; I cared for her beaten and bloody body most nights and tended to her mental scars. I saw myself in her, and soon we became kin.
The legends spoke of finding your true kin; it was discovering a bond of choice that surpassed family. That’s who Sienna became to me. So, when I ascended to my throne and chose my advisors, I selected Sienna. My people challenged my decisionbecause, although we had long allied with the Wiccans, many still harboured distrust and fear of the unknown. In return, I was brutal in my punishment. I tied every nay sayer to the backs of the royal carriages and dragged them through the streets of the city. After that, everyone was far too fearful to utter another word of dissent. In time, she proved herself, and my people sought her out for her abilities once word spread.
Sienna let out a laugh while reminiscing about our first fateful encounter. ‘How could I forget? I took one look at you and thought you were a fucking bitch. There was just something about your face.’
Picking up a stone, I threw it at her and laughed. I rarely allowed myself to smile so genuinely. ‘The day I met you, I never thought we would find ourselves here after all these years,’ I said taking a deep breath before continuing on, ‘Sienna, thank you.’
She suddenly looked at me with tears brimming in her eyes. ‘No Sky, I should be the one thanking you. I never did during those months you stayed with us, when you took care of me when no one else would. Or when you fought against your own people to find a place for me. You showed me kindness; you showed me respect. It’s why I’m honoured to stand by your side. It hurts me to see how everyone views you. I know why you maintain the façade, but I wish the world could see what lies beneath. What your heart is truly made of. Your kindness, your mercy.’
Deflecting, I scoffed, ‘What heart?’
‘No,’ she said, grabbing my wrist ‘Your heart is pure. Your actions might not be, but I have never seen you be cruel just because. Everything you do is fuelled by something greater and the root of it is love. Love for your people.’
Sighing I shook my head. ‘Sienna, you’re wrong. I’m not capable of love. Most of what I have done has no other purpose than to be a release for me—a way to let the darkness out before it builds to be too much, consuming me,’ I explain.
With a knowing smirk, Sienna said, ‘Oh, how long you havelied to yourself! You actually believe that, don’t you? Tell me, how was it you met Cain?’
In my youth, when I was sixteen, during one of my month-long solo hunting trips in the Shadow Forest over summer break, I lost my footing and fell from a redwood tree. These trees existed alongside the first dragons; some were as tall as mountains. I awoke after the fall to see Cain’s face staring down at me. He had come across me in the forest and nursed me back to health. This was a few years after my mother’s alliance with the Wiccans and Forest Fae came into effect; things still weren’t truly stable. He should have taken me to his leaders so that they could use me as leverage against my mother; it was the smart thing to do. Instead, he helped me and looked after me as I recovered, hunted for me, and cared for me.
After that summer break, my solo hunting trips were never carried out alone again. It was easy to talk to Cain, and his being mute meant he learnt to listen beyond words. He was in tune with the subtleties of a person’s body language and the things their eyes were concealing. The Forest Fae never appreciated this ability of his and had ostracised him for being different. It was of no consequence to them that his inability to talk had not been his own doing but rather something that had been done to him by abusive parents and a sick society. Where they saw someone broken, I saw myself in him. Fire, determination and eyes that had depths one could never fully unravel.
‘I fail to see your point, Sienna,’ I said as I grabbed the wine and slung it back quickly, letting it burn my throat.
‘Cain, our cautious little bird—the one who never lets anybody in and never trusts anyone, much like yourself—saw you, saw through you, and chose to take care of you. Tell me, how does that not show you who you truly are? His whole gift is reading people; that's why you chose him as your Master of Secrets. Why don’t you trust how he read you?’
Rolling my eyes, I knocked back another sip of wine, letting the sounds of the night consume the silence between us. This isone thing Sienna and I would never see eye-to-eye on. Not because I didn’t believe she meant the words she was saying, but because I knew her. She saw the good in everyone, even those who didn’t deserve it. She saw in me only what she wanted to see, what she hoped to see. Blinded by love and loyalty to me.
Twenty
The morning had us at the edge of where the Forest Fae lived in no time. It was known as the Prasuma. The trees looked different in their lands; the sounds of the wind flowing through them were of whispers floating through the air. The deeper we walked, the larger the trees became until there was no more sky visible. It was a world of its own, cut off from the rest of the world, even though it was nestled in the heart of Maureia. The alliance meant we would leave them be to live as they pleased and we would afford them protection should they need it. It wasn’t the most ideal or fair arrangements but it was the magically sealed deal struck by my mother and I was too early in my reign to renegotiate.
The Forest Fae knew we were here. They were watching us silently, observing our every move and word. No one could step foot on the grassy lands that connected to their magic without them knowing. We came to a small clearing in front of a fence woven from branches and vines. Beyond, I could see their city. Homes made from hollowed out trees that towered higher than my own castle. Bridges that connected every natural building. It was breathtaking. It was no wonder the Forest Fae did not want to leave their lands. It was lacking nothing. There were a selectfew from the younger generation who worked with us as scouts and soldiers. They were outcasts, similar to Cain. The Forest Fae had archaic standards for their people, and those who did not conform were considered unworthy. Less than. So there was no place for them, but Cain and I had found a place for them among my people, and they had formed their own family when their blood had cast them out.
The city before us was quiet, not even the wind rustled the leaves. They were waiting, watching. Sienna kneeled beside me and lowered her chin casting her gaze to the ground in a show of submission. I stood taller. I could not and would not kneel for anything or anyone in my position.
The vine wrapped gates opened, and there stood River, leader of the Forest Fae. A truly ethereal beauty with silver hair, translucent skin, and light green eyes. Her small features marked her bloodline. She was descended from old blood that had never mixed with the likes of the Skin Seepers or anyone outside their species. On either side of her stood two male guards with wooden shields and spears. Like River, they wore clothing made of leaves from the very forest in which they lived. They believed their magic was strongest when they were most connected to the land.
River did not bow to me. In these lands, she was a queen in her own right, even if she technically came under my purview. The alliance my mother struck was magically bound, and there were certain lines neither of us could cross without severe repercussions and great loss. She inclined her head, beckoning me to speak and explain my presence, but I refused to open my mouth. This was a show of dominance, and the first to break was the losing party. She would not bow, but I would make sure she fell into line in all the little ways that mattered, that showed her people here I was the greater power, and that she would be guided by me, as they still were at the root of it, on my land.
‘Sienna, get up,’ I said, looking away from River. Without hesitation, she listened to me and drew her shoulders back. Iknew she was nervous, as the Forest Fae were an erratic bunch, but she oozed confidence—confidence in me as her leader.
I stepped forward, trailing my hand along the gate with a wicked grin on my face. In an instant, every window, bridge, and doorway that was visible filled with Fae, weapons drawn and aimed directly at me. I chuckled as I continued forward. I had no respect for those who cast out Cain and others who were different, who challenged my reign when I first ascended and only conformed once they witnessed my brutality. They wouldn’t be so foolish as to harm me, but they would try to intimidate me. Reckless thinking.
I drew closer to River and her guards until I was only a few feet away. As soon as I tried to step closer to her, the guard on the right drew his spear and held it to my throat as a warning. I never took kindly to threats, so locking eyes with River, I stepped right into the tip of the spear. I felt the sharp point break skin as I pressed against it. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, her surprise fuelling me as I pushed harder against the spear. Drops of blood began to pool and drip down my neck, my smile widening. Knowing she was beat, River raised her hand to the spear and lowered it, with every Forest Fae in the vicinity following suit.
‘What might you be doing here, Queen Skylar Azdaja of Maureia?’ she asked, breaking the silence first.
