Page 67 of Their Queen

I looked over my shoulder at several soldiers, more lining the sides of the temple and stretching close to where Titania’s forces were lazing about, confident in her triumph. Every single one of them was watching, waiting to spring into action. They looked like statues, their still bodies not daring to move to give away their location. My own limbs were tight as a bow string as I waited for the signal to move.

All the while, Rhowyn was trading words with the bitch, laughing in her face. Pride bloomed on my face in a manic smile, a couple of the soldiers standing near me backing away at the expression, but for once, I didn’t care. “Are you so sure about that?” Rhowyn’s words sounded out, and I nodded at Loki.

He dropped the glamor, pleased with the chaos he was causing today and the masterful trick that Rhowyn had put together. A part of me feared the bargain I still owed him. He was powerful in his own right, so what the hell did he need a favor from a Raven for?

A harsh gasp sounded out as Titania’s magic withered away, her eyes finally catching sight of us. “You have accomplished nothing more than a parlor trick,” Titania sputtered, desperate to regain the upper hand. My tense muscles ached with the need to fight, to do something, but still, we waited. This was Rhowyn’s show to lead. I knew better than the others that if we didn’t follow her plan to the letter, we could still lose.

We had managed to rattle Titania, something I never thought I’d see, but it didn’t mean we were out of the woods just yet. Rhowyn smirked, mimicking the posture and cockiness that Lennox often used. “If you’re so confident, what are you waiting for?” She turned to the soldiers that had followed Titania out of the temple. “Last chance to pick a side. Who do you think has Avalonia’s blessing and will win today?”

The soldiers looked at each other, indecision painted on their faces. Finally, one moved, jerking the others into action as well, all of them running to join our forces. Titania’s eyes widened in anger and shock as she sent her magic flying out, striking one of the soldiers and knocking him from his feet, killing him instantly. “Deserters and traitors to the crown deserve nothing less than death.”

Rhowyn’s own anger rose, her voice now ringing out with the tone that said that it was Avalonia speaking. “You dare strike down one of my children? You dare kill him for doing the right thing? The only traitor that I see here today is you.” Her voice rang out over the crowd, cheers sounding out at the words.

As if the noise from our army had woken a sleeping beast, Titania’s army began to move. Rushing to get into place and ready for the order to attack. Both sides were eager to lash out, the tension of holding onto such bloodlust nearly impossible to control. The strain of the armies holding back was like trying to keep a tidal wave from making landfall. Impossible. Eventually, someone would brank ranks and set off a chain event that would have us scrambling.

Rhowyn’s voice rang out above them all, hypnotizing and drawing the attention of all the soldiers present as Avalonia spoke through her. “Those who fight here for Titania today will die in this battle. If you choose to live, then you will lay down your arms or join my side. I’m offering mercy and the chance at a future.” Avalonia’s voice echoed from Rhowyn’s lips as she began to glow with an impossible brightness.

Again, Titania’s forces hesitated with indecision as Titania screeched out, “Run, and you shall die. Throw down your weapons, and I will kill you all. No one betrays me and escapes my justice.” Her voice was now amplified by her own magic, matching Rhowyn’s in volume and intensity.

Her soldiers stopped, none daring to move, but I had a feeling that several would no longer be fighting with the same fervor. Hell, I wouldn’t even be surprised if many of them switched sides once the fighting started. With her focus not on them, they stood a better chance at getting away with it. Rhowyn’s words had not been fruitless.

Titania began spooling magic to her again as she called out, “Attack!” Her words caused her army to spring forward like a wave crashing against our forces. Her consorts lunged, aiming for Rhowyn, but my brothers intercepted them. I turned to smoke and came up behind them hoping to catch them off guard. A shell of ice met the strike of my dagger as Bernard, Titania’s Winter Consort, turned to meet me.

We traded blows, each swinging and blocking attacks. I popped in and out of view until finally, I got the upper hand, my knife slipping between his ribs and puncturing his lung. Titania’s gaze snapped to me as she fired off a blast of ice, each piece sharp as a dagger. I turned to smoke, coming up behind Bernard, my blade to his throat. Using my momentum, I turned him into the sheet of ice that still flew toward where I had been moments ago.

Titania’s icicles struck her own consort, impaling him on the long slivers of frozen water. She screeched out in anger and fury. Needing to move, I sliced my knife across her consort’s throat, ending him before he had a chance to heal. I released his body from my grasp without ceremony and turned to smoke, already looking for my next foe.

Rhowyn flung lightning at soldiers who seemed to be getting the upper hand on ours, turning them all to ash as she protected them with her magic, giving us the opportunity we needed to win. I appeared beside her, placing my back to hers so I could ensure her safety as she continued flinging bolts like daggers. From my new vantage point, I could see Baer, Lennox, and Arryn each fighting their own consort.

Just then, I heard chanting in a sibilant tongue. Words I didn’t recognize fell from Titania’s lips, yet the sounds resonated within me, both familiar and incoherent. I turned to find her reading from the slate book that she still held in her possession. Whatever she was doing wasn’t good. I prayed to Avalonia that Titania wasn’t freeing Balor, calling on his unknown powers.

Darkness began to swirl around Titania, her eyes wide and manic as she continued reading from the book. Each shadow contained a foreign magic that had fingers running up my spine with fear. Her words cut off as the magic coalesced around her. Much like my shadows had sunken into Rhowyn’s skin, these now sank into Titania.

I tried to throw a dagger, the need to stop her intense and instinctive, but the shadows swallowed the blade before it could touch her. Rhowyn, now facing Titania, sensing the building threat, threw out a streak of lightning. The shadows split to avoid her magic but quickly fell back into place as soon as the light had passed.

Titania snapped her eyes open and smiled. “You will all bow down to me as your new goddess.” Her words echoed like Rhowyn’s had, the words striking me deeply in the chest with fear and the need to run.

Whatever this new magic was, I no longer thought we stood a chance. I wanted to snatch Rhowyn and carry her away, abandoning the fight and everyone on this battlefield. Instead, Rhowyn stepped forward and away from me before I could grab her. She held her head high as she faced down Titania, proclaiming, “I will never bow to you.”

Chapter Forty Seven: Callum

While Titania’s attention was focused on Rhowyn in the temple, I was finally able to get a glimpse of my girl from under my brow. It had only been a few days, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Unable to rest while also enduring the beatings from Titania’s consorts, with the worst coming from Bernard himself, it was hard to remember that it was a temporary state. That I wouldn’t be under Titania’s thumb for much longer. The Autumn Consort, Ambrose, also had a nasty temper and took his anger out on me, but at least they hadn’t touched Jonathan nearly as much. With me there, I seemed to be the focus of their ire, an extension of Rhowyn herself.

They had kept us shackled with iron, the collars and chains keeping us weak and submissive. However, on more than one occasion, I feigned passing out to stop the assault on my body, listening to them discuss Titania’s plans openly. Never before had they been so careless. It wasn’t just our confrontation with her that was coming to a head, but it seemed that whatever she had been working toward for years was suddenly urgent.

During one conversation, they stated they needed an orb of some sort, something to do with Balor and becoming gods as promised. All they had to do was free him from his prison, and it was as good as done. They’d ascend and rule not only this world but others.

I had known about Earth and the realm from which Elves had come from, but I hadn’t known there were others. My thoughts and reasoning were sluggish and spotty, my ability to catch their conversations hit and miss due to me coming in and out of consciousness. However, the tone and theme of their arguments and discussions never changed. They were irate with Rhowyn, confused as to how and why she was still alive despite all they had tried to do to her.

At one point, the tone turned to confident, Titania having set a meeting with Rhowyn. They’d made a deal to trade me and Jonathan for the book Cyerra had rescued. At least she had made it out. I had done my duty by protecting her, and whatever happened was not because I had failed her. Titania felt assured that she had a plan to outsmart Rhowyn, but if I knew Trouble like I thought I did, she had a few tricks of her own.

After that, they had increased the frequency of their beatings simply for the fun of it. Titania watched as, one by one, her consorts took their turns with us. The Summer Court Consort, Samual, was half-hearted in his attempts, but with Titania and the others looking on, he had no power to stop it. There were times that his visage would blur into Arryn’s, my mind playing tricks on me as it tried to determine what was and wasn’t reality.

The iron shackles and collar kept us from healing, and each beating brought us closer to death. I feared that we wouldn’t survive long enough to make it to the meeting, especially if they continued on like they were. Without a doubt, I had a concussion, and one of my eyes was so swollen I couldn’t even open it. The burn on my chest reminded me that I still hadn’t had a chance to recover from the magical lashing I had taken when they had captured us.

Finally, they jerked us up from the cold stone floor, where we slept like dogs in our own filth. My hair was matted and tangled, dried flakes of blood falling from it as they forced us to move. They loaded us into a cart and set out, Titania’s full army at her back as we headed to the meeting spot. A temple from what I had overheard from one of their conversations, though I couldn’t tell you any other details about it. Titania smirked the whole way there, confident in her abilities and cunning as the cart swayed back and forth.

I smirked, earning a glower from the Spring Consort, Ellis. “What’s so funny, bastard?” he asked me, as if that slur would hurt my pride. At this point, I already felt I had fallen as low as I could go.

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