Page 24 of Their Queen

Nox laughed, and Callum called out, “I heard that! If you don’t get your shit under control, I’m going to spank that ass of yours!” It was my turn to laugh as I wiggled in Lennox’s lap, his own arousal evident at the image Callum gave us. “Now, Trouble!”

Doing as he said, I closed my eyes and focused the last of my energy on pulling back the final lashing threads, gasping as sweat beaded down my face. Finally, I was able to get the last bit back inside me, snapping the lid closed and locking it shut.

Callum snatched me from a drained Lennox, who was still on the ground, my drenched clothes soaking into Callum’s dry ones. I tried to push him off me or to get him to put me down, but my arms were about as effective as limp noodles. “Is he okay?” I asked as I saw Arryn kneel beside Lennox.

“Yes. He may be a little sore, a little high after consuming so much of your magic, but he’ll be fine in no time.” My head swam like I was going to pass out, but I pushed it down. I Will Not pass out again. That shit was getting old.

Callum squeezed me tightly as Arryn strode over to me now. “How are you feeling, my Queen?” he asked me, tenderness and concern in his eyes.

“Better now,” I told him as I leaned my cheek into his caress. I felt his magic course through me, making sure that I wasn’t injured. Satisfied, he stepped back and looked around.

“Want to tell me what you’re doing out here all by yourself?” His eyes scanned the empty and desert-like vicinity, seeing nothing more than scrub brush and dirt.

I pushed against Callum’s chest, and he reluctantly put me down. Surveying the area, I saw the piles of ash from the soldiers and horses that my magic had utterly destroyed and my heart broke. Knowing that it wasn’t my fault, that they had refused to listen to the many opportunities that I’d given them to escape, didn’t lessen my guilt. I still mourned the loss as if they had been my own wayward children.

Cyerra burst forth from the shield then, startling everyone, a huge grin on her face. “Just wait ‘til you see this shit.”

The guys looked at me like Cyerra had lost her mind, and I smiled weakly at them, nodding that they should follow her. “Seems Avalonia had a reason or two for bringing me all the way out here.”

Chapter Seventeen: Callum

This woman was going to be the death of me. If it wasn’t one damn thing, it was another with her. She was constantly getting herself into trouble, into dangerous situations, and not once had she done as we asked by staying out of it. Unlike other females, she was determined to run headlong into that danger with no concern for her life. No concern for what it would do to the rest of us if she were no longer here. Of course not; she was too concerned with saving everyone else, with little regard for her own life. I raised my head to the sky and breathed deeply, tamping down my temper for what seemed like the thousandth time since she had disappeared on us, praying to Avalonia for the patience I needed to deal with such a reckless bond.

Once I was convinced that I wouldn’t completely explode, I turned my gaze back to the shield that Cyerra had come out of, following Rhowyn as she crossed through it. The magic tingled as it coursed through me, judging me as friend or foe. Thankfully, it allowed us through, and I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight that greeted me.

I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but it certainly hadn’t been this. Everywhere I looked, I could see my people rushing about, whole and well. Autumn Court colors were represented everywhere, a clear indication that try as Titania had, she hadn’t managed to kill everyone. Everything I had been through had been worth it. Had kept them safe.

Stuck there, unable to pull my gaze from my people, my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. For once, something other than anger was holding me in its tight grip. “What is this?” I asked Rhowyn, afraid that this was all an illusion, a trick that would fall away if I blinked.

She took my hand. “Maybe it’s best if someone else explains. I hadn’t been here long before the soldiers approached.”

I dragged my eyes from the scene, looking down into her face, so different now that her glamor had fallen, but still the same in every way that mattered. She was the same as ever, except now she was more. So much more that my heart ached.

Her now almond-shaped eyes pulled from mine, and I followed her line of sight. A sharp intake of breath had me blinking furiously because surely my eyes were playing tricks on me. The woman before me, the one who shared my eyes, our mother’s eyes, smiled softly as sadness tinged her expression. “Hi, big brother.”

“Aurelia?” I asked, still not quite believing she was, my voice barely more than a whisper as if I spoke her name too loudly, she’d disappear. A part of me was convinced that Rhowyn’s power had incinerated us all, and this was heaven. That the scene before me couldn’t possibly be real.

“It’s me,” she said, holding her hands out, waiting for me to come to her. I hesitated, not quite ready to find out that this was all a dream. If I touched her, it would all vanish because things like this didn’t happen to me.

“I thought you were dead. I thought she’d gotten to you too,” I whispered out, emotions choking me as her visage never wavered. The truth was finally starting to sink in that she just might actually be real.

She laughed. “She thought she had, but Maggie smuggled me out. She presented another child who’d been killed during the attack as me. For all intents and purposes, she did kill me. Doesn’t mean I’ve been hiding away in fear this whole time, though.” Her own green and amber eyes glinted with tears as she explained just how she’d managed to survive escaping Titania’s wrath. I had never before been so thankful for another person, but right now, I promised I would build a statue in Maggie’s honor. The devoted nurse had kept the only family I had left, alive and well.

“I can see that. What is all this?” I asked her, taking a step toward my sister. I still saw the little girl with pigtail braids, but it was now superimposed by an image of a woman grown. One who looked so much like our mother that it was painful.

She smiled then, pride beaming from her face, her calculating eyes showing the mind she’d gotten from our father. “This,” she said, indicating with her hands the Keep and the people, “...is an army. One I’ve been building over the years, quietly waiting for the right time to strike back for the crimes Titania has committed.”

I smiled then, unsurprised by her statement. It was exactly what our parents would have done. “Of course you would.”

“What did you expect? I mean, I’m the girl who snuck into all those tactical meetings while you helped hide my presence.” She laughed, a bittersweet sound falling from her lips at the fond memory for both of us. “It’s not surprising that I picked up a thing or two from you and Father.”

I pulled her into a hug then, unable to resist the temptation any longer and risking the revelation that she was simply an amalgamation of my dreams. Her arms wrapped around me tightly, proving that she was flesh and blood, as real as she could get. “It’s good to see you,” I told her, tears falling from my eyes as I squeezed her tight, all the pain and anguish of what we’d both been through escaping in this single hug.

“I miss them too, but just so you know, it’s not your fault,” she told me, squeezing me tighter to emphasize her conviction. “No one blames you.”

Stiffening as I was assaulted by the reasons why my parents were killed and so many of our people were made to suffer, I let her words wash over me, guilt eating away at me again. “It was,” I whispered, needing her to know that.

“No. It was no one’s fault but Titania’s.” When she wasn’t convinced that I believed her, she continued, “Did you order their murders? Did you sell them out for money or glory?”

---