The threads dissolve as my fingers float into the air, plucking their strings off a lax puppet. One by one they release, sent back to their bodies with a jolt.
Everyone drops and I collapse, sobbing. My father grabs me before I can pass out. My energy is spent, depleted from something so simple. I have reached the bottom of my reserves—and as irritating as it is—Baris was right. I’ve allowed myself to get to this point by not taking care of myself.
Looking over his shoulder, I hunker into his chest. Horrified faces, full of distrust glare at me as they pant and check their chests. Most of the Dark Fae seem immune, but the Woodland Fae? They’re ready to spill my blood.
Just like in the Blackwoods Coven, I am a monster here.
“Seize her!”
Jumping back, Baris turns to block, but my guards jump. They block the few Woodland Fae who move, swords drawn. They’re panting, exhausted, but not one of them looks at me like I’m a creature of the darkest nightmares. They turn their back to me—their blind trust and loyalty hits my soul.
These guards have never truly seen what I could do. I’ve been drugged, locked up, a doll to be admired. But now they’ve seen my magic, my burden, and none of them are surprised. They still choose to defend me.
“What are they doing?” I whisper, hands clamped around Baris’ wrist. “Why are they protecting me?”
He nods sagely. “Because you are their queen.”
It’s so strange to me. I attacked them-held their hearts in my palms. They should hate me—fear me. Gods know I’ve seen it before. But they turn their weapons to our guides, a shield so I may not be harmed. I’m not sure why—this is beyond soldiers being loyal to the crown.
They’re loyal to me.They trust me.On Cella’s Crown, I’ve never had that before. Pure trust even after seeing me at my worse. Except for Kaden.
Reid reaches my side, brow damp and face pale. But he glares down at Fenrir who breaks rank, still unsteady on his feet. Most of the men here are.
“Come near my sister and I will cut your head from your neck,” he threatens, twirling the daggers in his palm. “And drink from your blood while leaving the crows to peck out your innards.”
Fenrir glares, furious and snarling. He’s positively incensed. “You defend her? She attacked our allies! She attacked you!”
He sways closer and my guards lower their shoulders, hunching forward. They don’t break rank but wait to strike.
“I didn’t mean?—”
“I mean it, Fenrir,” Reid warns. “She might have done it accidentally, but I will be sure with my blade. Come near my queen and Iwillkill you.”
He scoffs. “The thief will kill me? How? With a pick?”
“If I must,” he says, smirking. “But we both know I’m better equipped with my daggers than you are with a sword. Remember who trained me.”
That makes him pause. Kaden’s skill is legendary and just to be trained by him is a deadly threat. I can’t help the quirk of my lips.
“She attacked a royal heir,” he declares, pointing the tip of his sword at me. Baris doesn’t let me go, half protecting me should Fenrir decide to leap. “That is treason in my land.”
“And you’re threatening a queen,” Samkien, a high-ranking guard, counters. He’s with us at Zeke’s insistence, someone he trusts. And if Zeke trusts him, I do. “And that is cause for war inmine.”
“We’re not in your land, boy,” Baris grumbles. “This is theIn-Between. You’d do well to respect it, and who owns it.”
Fenrir snorts coldly. Mal stands at his side—oddly, he doesn’t have his sword pulled like his people and seems ready to intercede. “An old tale told to wayward travelers to scare them should they misbehave. A kingdom in the sky, who owned theIn-Between.”He scans the group before landing on me. “Regardless, she cannot be left without consequences.”
“You really want to do this, Fenrir?” Reid gestures to the woods. “My brother is never far from his mate. In his current state, he might consider your actions to be aggressive. We all remember how he gets when his wife is threatened, don’t we?”
There’s a moment that everyone remembers the beast throwing Zelos from the roof. No one wants a repeat of that.
The coward gulps loudly. Reid laughs, enjoying this torment. I can’t say I disapprove. The prick wants to kill me.
“Didn’t think so.”
“But—”
“That’s enough,” Mal interrupts. “Lower your weapons. We do not attack our friends who are coming to us for aid.”
