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“There is only one condition,” I warned them as we left their putrid settlement to the east of Luminael and began our march on Eldrion’s city. “No Shadowkind is to be harmed. If you see a Shadowkind fae, you leave them be. Or better yet, you bow and curtsey like the good boys and girls you are.”
The Gloomweavers did not appreciate my tone, but they bit their tongues and did not object. The promise of blood is too much for them.
“And what of the Sunborne?” one asked, saliva dribbling onto his bulbous chin.
“Do what you like with them but remember they are powerful. You should use your strength and the element of surprise if you want to overpower them.”
“They’re powerful,” Yarrow says now as we approach the city, “but they’re out of practice, Finn. They haven’t fought or really used their magic in centuries. They’ve been sitting pretty, content to let Eldrion fight their battles for them.”
“Then let’s hope they have forgotten how to fight.” I raise my eyebrows at him and grin. He bears the same swirling tattoos of smoke on his skin, but there are fewer of them. He is bigger than me, possibly stronger, but my markings make it clear I am their leader.
And if there is one thing Shadowkind are, it is loyal to one another.
We are not elves or Leafborne. We do not double-cross those who are our kin.
Closing my eyes, I think of Alana.
I cannot wait for her to see what I have built for her. The beauty of the army I am going to lay at her feet. I cannot wait for her to taste the power I am offering her. Because I know she wants it.
Deep down in the basement of her soul, there is a darkness that longs to be in control. She has never had that. I saw it when I let her bind my wings and take me the way she did – the flicker of arousal in her eyes, the joy she felt at being the one to have complete power over another.
I will draw that out of her once more. I will make her see that, by my side, she can have everything she ever dreamed of. I have already killed all those who disrespected her. The Leafborne who pretended to allow her to be one of them but who secretly hated her. Made her feel unworthy. Not good enough.
I will give her the gift of knowing herself, and owning herself. I will set her free, and she will love me for it.
In that moment, I realise that I love her more than I thought I did.
Because now, with every decision I make, I am thinking of her.
In the beginning, I intended to use her. I built up my walls and I delighted in how easily I tricked her into trusting me. But as she trusted me, and I saw who she really was, and how alike we really are, I realised she was the woman I was destined to be with.
My Queen of Shadows.
A smile parts my lips, and Yarrow asks what I’m so happy about.
“The future, my friend. I am happy about the future.” I clap his shoulder and he puts his arm around me. His wings beat out behind him, and the look on his face tells me it makes him feel just as jubilant as it makes me feel to finally be able to fly. To be what we were always meant to be.
We have reached the river. I would prefer to be travelling by air, but for stealth, we decided to travel by foot.
At the front of the group, one of the Gloomweavers I asked to scout for us turns and runs back in our direction. He is waving his hands in the air.
“What is it?” My eyes flash and my body coils, ready to fight.
“The river,” he pants.
“The river? We’re not on a fishing expedition, boy.” I push past him and stretch out my wings. I reach the river in seconds, closing the space between the rest of the group and the riverbank.
When I look down, I realise what has made him panic; the water is moving faster than I’ve ever seen it, and it is so high it looks as though it’s about to burst the banks themselves.
Then I see something else.
An arm.
A foot.
A face.
Wings. Tattered, pale wings.
