Killian pulled me in tight to his chest, “I love you, Twilight. You die, I die, remember? So don't die, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed, and Killian stepped back with the others.
I set my stare on Moire and settled into a fighting stance. No, I wouldn't be the one dying. Not today.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Moire barely waited for Killian to get clear before she blasted me with her magic. Slick, ebony thorns shot through my skin, from the inside out, over my entire body. I screamed in agony, dropping to my knees. Thorns broke off wherever I hit, amping up the pain. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Raza and Tiernan restraining Killian, who was beginning to shift into his snake form. Raza was trying to talk him down. Keir, who stood calmly beside this chaos, nodded to me, giving me a confident look. It occurred to me that I'd seen Keir fight Uisdean before, and Moire's mór magic was nearly identical to Uisdean's. I knew exactly what to do to counter it.
I surged to my feet, brushing off the thorns with a wave of air magic. Another blast stopped the bleeding. The elves shouted their encouragement. Moire hissed at them, and I used her distraction to throw my own mór magic at her. Thorny vines wrapped around Moire and then burst into flame. She screamed, dropping, and then rolling on the slowly blackening floor as the vines constricted around her like an anaconda. The smell of burning meat and hair wafted over to me. As Moire writhed, I pulled my iron sword.
This was going to be over faster than I'd expected.
But then a blast of frigid air burst out from Moire, encasing the thorns in ice. The vines continued to burn, steaming through the frigid attack, but Moire had weakened them enough to shatter them and break free. She stood, skin charred and hair burned away. Her clothes were in tatters and hung from her like they'd rotted off her corpse. She looked like aWalking Deadreject.
I lifted my hand to attack Moire again, but she launched herself at me, forgoing magic for brute strength. If you had previously told me that Moire had any brute strength whatsoever, I would have laughed in your face. She was thin to the point of emaciation and looked so fragile that walking too aggressively might break her bones. But Moire was fey, and looks could be deceiving.
She was damn strong and tenacious to boot. Her fingernails dug into my throat as she tried to strangle me. I dropped my sword as I was forced to defend myself using more barbaric techniques. In other words, I headbutted her. Moire reeled back, but her hands stayed tight around my throat, like a falling man clutching to the ledge of a building. I was gasping for air, little spots appearing before my vision as blood poured down my neck. I clawed at her, punched her, but nothing swayed that vicious bitch. Finally, I rolled, setting myself above her. I glared down into her cruel eyes and smiled. There was more than one way to skin a fairy.
I released my grip on one of her hands, and Moire grinned, thinking I was losing strength. I eased back a little, to add to this deception, while I called to my magic subtly. I felt it gathering in my fingers, and when it was ready, I lifted my free hand and flung lavender dust into her eyes. My mór magic was strong and unique, but there were other magics I had available to me. Magics I had inherited from my father, which only we could cast. Like star-crossing. I was one of two fairies alive who could fairy-strike another fairy. It may not be as showy as burning vines, but it was effective.
Moire's hands fell away from my neck, and the violence faded from her face as my magic took control of her mind. She laid back and looked up at me, utterly compliant, waiting for my command. I gulped in air, sat back on my heels, and considered her. The room had subsided into a shocked silence around me, giving me some quiet to ponder by. I didn't have to kill Moire, but I had vowed I would. She'd done evil beyond measure, hurt my family-
“You must kill her, Seren,” my father called to me. “There is no mercy in a challenge for the throne. Finish it.”
Alright, never mind the inner battle with my morality. I didn't have a choice. That was freeing actually. I stood, then looked around the room. Everyone watched us avidly, and I realized thathowI killed Moire would be as important as the fact that Ihadkilled her. Both the seelie and the elves were my people now, and they would judge me by my next actions. They didn't know me like the twilight fey did. They didn't have a history with me to ease them through a violent moment like this one. What I did here would be the foundation of our future relations. So I needed to make a decision. Even in execution, you could be merciful. Did I want the seelie to see me as merciful? Or did I want them to fear me, as they had feared my grandmother? Well, that was an easy enough question to answer.
I could have made Moire do anything I wished. I could have forced her to slowly cut pieces off herself until she bled out. I could have humiliated her or made her cast herself from the highest tower. There were countless ways to be cruel, and I was sure Moire herself had employed several of them. The extinguisher in me wanted justice, wanted to make her suffer. When I looked to Raza, I saw that he wanted me to be vicious too. The beast in him longed for a violent end to this despicable woman. It would be so satisfying. But I needed to think about more than appeasing Raza's dragon and my extinguisher nature. I wasn't just an extinguisher anymore, nor was I only a princess, and I didn't want to become a wicked queen. I was an Ambassador.
I picked up my sword and started to lift it, thinking to make it a clean execution, as painless as possible, when I saw Bress weeping. This was still his mother, and I cared for Bress now. I cared about him enough to not want him hurt any more than he had to be. Before him, his father was bent over double in his throne, covering his face with his hands, and sobbing. They both needed some closure. I couldn't spare Moire, but I could at least spare her husband and son some pain.
“Moire,” I ordered, “go and say goodbye to your husband and your son. Tell them that you love them. Then release Bress from his chains.”
Moire stood obediently and walked over to her husband. She opened her arms to him, and Conn went into them. He held her tight as she told him goodbye. After Conn finally let go, Moire went to Bress. She hugged him, kissed his cheek, and gently wiped away his tears. I couldn't hear what she said to him, but it made him sob harder. She pulled a key from a pouch at her waist and undid his manacles. Bress' magic was restored in a tingling burst of energy, and he threw his arms around his mother. I waited for him to make peace with her, to make his goodbye, which was far more important to me than hers.
“Alright, Moire, come here,” I called.
Bress took his mother's arm, and led her back down the dais steps, to me. He faced me steadily and nodded. Then he let go of her and backed away. I was shocked to see tears streaming down Moire's face. Being star-struck rendered a fairy incapable of doing anything but obeying. Still, it didn't take away their emotions. Moire was still in there, trapped, and for the first time ever, I felt sympathy for her. It looked like the monster had a heart after all.
“Kneel, Lady Moire Thorn,” I said gently, “and I will give you peace.”
The room had gone deathly quiet, and I realized that not only was I showing the Seelie Court that I could be merciful, I was also showing them the extent of my power. I could make any of them as helpless as a human. Perhaps fear would be something I couldn't avoid instilling. So be it. I would just have to do my best to counter it. Starting with making this execution into an extinguishment.
I removed the seelie crown from Moire's head, and placed it on the floor beside me.
“For the crimes of murder, treason, and just general evilness, I, Ambassador Seren Firethorn of Twilight, find you, Lady Moire Thorn, guilty. Your light will live on in your son, but the one inside you shall be extinguished.”
I was about to swing my sword, when the room went to its knees. Like the tide drawing back from the shore, the fey sank down in a backward surge till only my father and my men remained standing. My father gave me a crisp nod, and I brought the blade down upon Moire's neck. Her body fell limply to the floor.
“Hail, Queen Seren of Seelie!”
My mouth fell open as the room erupted into cheering. The seelie rushed forward in joy, the elves in satisfaction, and my family in relief. My family, that's what they were now. My new husband and my two fiancés. Killian hadn't exactly proposed, but I was pretty sure we were engaged now. It didn't matter either way. He was family, and he was mine. All of them were mine.
And I was a queen. Of Seelie. How the hell had that happened?
“And now you see that I never abandoned you,” Danu's voice cut through the cheering, and everyone fell to their knees this time, including me. “I love you, Daughter.”
Danu stood before me in a shimmering haze. The only clear thing about her were her eyes, which appeared to be mine. The rest of her shifted through the forms of different types of fey, as if her body was fickle and couldn't decide which one it liked best. She was a dryad when she leaned over and kissed my forehead.
