AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I push open the vast double doors, and shrieks fill the room as men step forth, forming a line in front of everyone. A quick scan tells me there are no children here. There are three women in wide poofy dresses cowering in the far corner of the room. Their white gloves hide their mouths like they’ve crawled out of the debutante era and are here to find their soon-to-be lawfully wedded husbands.
News flash, if they were, their suitors will probably be dead soon.
“Listen closely. I’ll only ask once.” At this point, I’ve repeated this same sermon a dozen times. It’s rehearsed and not once has it worked. “I am Alice Whittaker, slayer of kings, and your crimson queen. You can bow and swear your loyalty to me, or you can burn with the rest of them.” Eyes cast around the room, as if they’re trying to all go down with the ship, or jump together. “Three… Two…” Half of the men cave, laying down their swords and bowing their heads in respect. “One.”
Those who chose to defend their very dead king charge forward and I sheath my blade. My hands raise as magic swarms my fingers. My eyes fall dark as twisted lines spread across my face. I let them grow closer and closer and right before one of them comes within sword-swinging distance, I flick my wrists and their heads snap backward. The sound of bone snapping is music to my ears as I walk forward, motioning for the men who pledged themselves to me to stand.
“Are they all mortal?” I ask, earning nods. “Good. Stay here.”
Continuing down the hall, I whistle ‘Paranoia’ by Neoni, letting the noise lure the men out of hiding. I’m ready for this to be over, to be able to lock the castle doors and take a fucking nap.
“Here!” a man shouts over his shoulder as he barges into the hall. “She’s here!”
“Damn right, I am,” I tease, until an arrow soars through the air toward me. Using my magic, I stop it, flipping the arrow around until the point faces the man who shot it. Poison drips from the tip and I let it go with a flick. It slams into his chest, sending him flying. “Now, bow or pray. The choice is yours on whether you live.”
The men notch another arrow, and I sigh. My power pulses, making the stone floor roll like a ribbon being trailed through the air, and I snatch their arrows from their quivers, and send them flying. The men are speared by the shafts, pinned to the stone walls of the castle until the only thing piece of the arrow visible is the fletchings.
Most of them are either knocked unconscious to die quietly, or already dead except for one. I step closer, watching the blood pour from his mouth as he struggles.
“Why is it so hard for you and others like you to bend? The king was mad. He abused his people–his family–and would murder without cause. Here I am, offering peace, yet you still fight me. Why? Answer that, and I’ll end your suffering.” I set my hand on the man’s chest, using my magic to numb the pain.
“There’s never been a woman to sit on the Solarian throne. A woman can’t and will never hold it on her own, not without a strong consort. The people in the city might support you, but it’s not because you ‘freed’ them. It’s because any house brave enough to remove your crown now has a chance of rising to the most powerful seat in the realm.”
Even as the man choked between words, stumbled over the trickle of blood running across his tongue, his eyes never wavered as he spoke. He believed every single word of it. I pulse out power, squeezing it around his heart to keep it from beating and watch the life drain from his eyes in seconds.
“He’s not wrong, you know.”
There’s a slight patter of boots echoing off the stone walls around me. My throat clamps shut, denying me air as I turn to find the one man I’ve dreamed of talking to again standing in the middle of the hall. There’s a second set of footsteps getting quieter. Finn, I presume, looking for Eva. It’s hard enough to tell myself to breathe, let alone form words, but I gather the nerve to walk toward him, stopping a few feet away.
“You’ve been busy,” Kai says, his vibrato making my stomach flutter with delight. His voice hits harder in person than it does in my dreams… Maybe it’s the power that constantly toys between us when he’s near, or the fact our souls yearn to sit so close that our frayed edges and tangle.
“I have.”
“When you said you planned to earn our people’s respect, this,” he looks around the hall, falling silent. “This isn’t what I expected. I never thought in a million years you’d set out to conquer a kingdom.”
“It wasn’t the original intention. I thought bringing Finn–their most beloved warrior–back from the mad king’s clutches would be enough for them to be open about me. Then… things changed.”
“What things?” he asks, stepping closer.
“Me… You… Everything. Knowing how you felt–I couldn’t put you through it again, but it also meant returning to Hell Hold was no longer an option. It’s not like there’s anywhere else I could go, and the high king was a terrible man. He deserved to rot, and I thought I was doing Hell a favor.”
Kai doesn’t answer, but his eyebrows tip, the vivid amber color of his gaze softens, and his head tips slightly. It’s a look that offers comfort and support and is full of understanding.
“I didn’t ask to be queen. I planned to cut off the head of the snake and level this place to ruin. I figured after, I could blend in, but apparently in their custom, thou who kills the crown picks it up. I don’t know the first thing about running a kingdom, and so far, I’d say it’s off to a shitty start. Hardly any of the people I’ve come across in this keep see me fit and now I’ve taken more lives than I can count.”
I pace in front of him, surely looking like a lunatic, talking with my hands. “This plan sounded better when I viewed all of these people as monsters, but they’re not. They’re like me. Misfits that were thrown away because people feared them, only to be dictated by someone scarier. I’m starting to think that Asmo was wrong. These people didn’t want to be freed. The bodies lining this hall alone should make that clear.” Halting, I face him once more before I wear a line into the stone, or worse, pace the tread off my boots.
“Well, it was his castle and war comes with a cost, Alice. There are always going to be casualties… You have to remember, these people don’t know you. All they’ve ever known has been turned upside down. As long as you’re offering them the chance to make the right decision, that’s all you can do. And as for you and I, there will never come a day that you don’t have a home in Hell Hold, and I was a fool to not accept that you were standing right in front of me.”
My eyes lift from his chest to his amber eyes, holding them, and waiting for the shoe to drop. “But the deal…”
“We can figure it out. You’re not the only one who has strayed from the path, Alice. If anything, I think my people would accept you over me, at the present. I caught a glimpse of the monster I’d become if I was forced to live in a world without you in it. Let’s hope for all of Hell’s sake that day never comes. Regardless of the fates and their games, I’d take it all in a heartbeat, because I’d have you by my side…yelling at meto get my shit together. I need that. Hell needs that, and if this kingdom can’t see the promise you’ll bring to their lives as their queen, then they don’t deserve to live in it.”
My lips tip up. Of course he’d miss my yelling. He’s always had a love-hate relationship with my attitude, and I can’t understand why.
“Do you feel them now? The fates?” I wring my fingers together, trying to calm the nerves tingling across my skin.
“No…” He steps closer, leaning into the motion as his hands link behind his back. “The only thing I feel right now is resentment. Not for you, but for the air standing between us, because you’re still all the way over there.” Kai throws his hands at me, pulling a chuckle from my lips. “After finding out you died, all I’ve wanted is a chance to kiss you one more time, to spend one more second in your presence, to run my hands through your hair or hear you laugh. Now, you’re right in front of me, and I’m not sure if you’d want me to kiss you, and I don’t know how to feel about it.”
