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I stare in amazement at the closed door before switching my gaze to the stone beast. He's staring at the door with what looks like a mixture of pain and rage, as if he would run after Him if he could. I recognize the emotions in him because they're emotions that He breeds in me as well.
After a long minute his gaze shifts from the door to me, who he gives a look of utter distaste. I hold my hand out to him awkwardly and for no reason since a queen is usually not in the habit of shaking hands. He makes no move to acknowledge my dangling hand.
"Who are you?" he says in a gravelly voice.
I look at him confused. "Pardon me?" I ask.
"Who are you?" he repeats.
"My name is Eva."
"Who are you?" he asks again, stressing the word 'who' this time.
"I'm the Queen of this land as you well know. Why are you asking me this?"
"I don't see a Queen here," he says, shocking me. I go to open my mouth. "I seea scared little girlwho is letting her kingdom be destroyed at the hands of that mad man."
His words inflame the anger that has been brewing all morning after the incubus's comments.
"You know nothing about me or what I have given up and done for this kingdom," I seethe.
"So you gave up your mate. He's still alive, isn't he? That's better than what most people have to deal with in their lives."
"I do not answer to you," I tell him coldly, turning to walk out of the room.
"Do something to make your sacrifice worth it then," he snarls at me before I can leave. I turn around and stalk back to him.
"How dare you talk to me like this," I practically scream at him, undone from everything that has happened to me this morning.
"I knew you had some spirit in you somewhere," he smirks at me, spinning my head with his about face. I stare at him dumbfounded.
"Let's get to work," he tells me strolling to the stairs on the far side of the room. I stand there for a moment totally confused about what just happened before I tentatively follow him up the stairs.
"I'm Lexington by the way," he calls back to me. "It's a pleasure to be of service to the Queen." I shake my head at the lunatic my husband's given me as my flight teacher, and continue to follow him up the stairs. At least his insanity is a distraction from the events of the morning.
The stairs seem to go on forever and when we finally get to the top I see that we must be in one of the highest towers in the castle. I can see for miles up here, the black line of death in the distance is a stark contrast from the green of the surrounding unaffected land.
I turn to ask Lexington a question when all of a sudden, I feel his stone hands push me forward, so hard that it sends me hurtling out of the large window that I was looking out of. I scream as I tumble through the air, the ground looming in front of me in a certain death. Just before my inevitable death is upon me, I feel my wings burst out of my back and I find myself gliding, instead of free falling, the rest of the way to the ground. I make an ungraceful, hard landing, but it's not the splat I was expecting.
Lexington lands lightly next to where I'm still shaking from my near-death experience. He has large, bat like wings that extend several feet behind him.
"Very good!" he says to me, as if he didn't just try to murder me.
I turn and shoot him with an electrical bolt, not even caring who sees. He gives a pained yell, and looks at me with wide eyes.
"Why in the hell did you do that to me?"
"You just tried to kill me," I screech, motioning to the very tall tower I just fell from.
He looks at me incredulously. "I did not try to kill you. That was your first flying lesson," he tells me as if I'm the ridiculous one in this scenario. "How do you think baby birds learn to fly? Do you think that the mother bird gently works with them on various stages of flying? No, the mother bird pushes them out of their fucking nest. It's called the school of hard knocks and you, My Queen, just passed your first test."
"You have got to be kidding me," I mutter under my breath.
"I'm not kidding you. And nice piece of magic there by the way," he tells me, talking about the little lightning strike that probably would have killed him if he wasn't made of stone.
I realize at that moment how I may have just blown everything. "Please don't tell anyone," I beseech him. "You have no idea the consequences if you do."
"Oh, I think I have a good idea of the consequences," he tells me darkly. "I'm very familiar with His idea of consequences. You didn't think it strange that He left you, His forbidden, untouchable queen, in the presence of another man alone."
