Page 81 of A Trial of Fate

“We understand all of this, Queen Minaeve,” Alistar answered. “Skylar needed time to recover, and with the alternative selection presented to us the other night”—he looked to his right at Gilen—“other options needed to be explored.”

Like claiming me against my will so they could use my power for themselves and force someone else to go in my place.Sure, let’s call that new information. It had a nicer ring than…betrayal.

“I have been informed that Skylar Cathal still intends to be named champion.” Minaeve gave Alistar a smug look of distaste and defiance.

“She will be claimed and marked as my mate,” Gilen growled.

Over my dead body!

I jolted upright to my feet, and Magnus was immediately at my side, grabbing my arm so I didn’t lunge across the room and try to strangle Gilen with my bare hands. “I rejected your claim, Gilen,” I growled loudly. “Nothing has changed. I am going to enter the trials.”

“You cannot go if the alpha of the Solace pack intends to claim you as a mate. And that’s what I still intend to do,” Gilen countered, and I could feel the room grow tense… beginning to freeze.

Actually freeze.

My skin felt the kiss of ice as my breath created a fog when I exhaled into the room. Daxton stepped forward, his gray eyes blazing like a winter storm on the frozen ice-packed mountains.

His stare bore into Gilen as his deep, thunderous voice echoed across the room. “The queen has a chosen champion, and the selected has voiced their desire to go. Your opinion does not have any stake in this decision. I advise that you step down. Now.” Daxton’s commanding presence was terrifying, the room shaking with the pulses of the magic emanating from him. It sent chills up my spineand even caused Alistar to stagger, shifting toward his mate, Helen.

“Daxton.” The queen reached out a hand and tenderly stroked his arm. “I believe the alpha’s son is aware of all this… Calm your magic or else the shifters will turn into blocks of ice and become more useless than they already are.”

My insides twisted at her insult and the sight of the queen touching Daxton with such familiarity. I watched him meet her gaze and slowly regain control of his power in the room. The ice-cold grip no longer chilled my skin and bones. Alistar uneasily twitched, and I knew he wanted to support his son, but he also understood his responsibility to help uphold my promise. The promise sworn by magic etched intomyskin withmyblood.

“Would you accept another?” Alistar dared to ask, and I about lost my mind.

“No!” I screamed as Magnus grabbed my other arm, pulling me flat to his chest. “I am going. No one else.”

“Silence, young one.” Minaeve waved her hand, and the room went unnaturally still. My voice was somehow siphoned away from my throat. “I believe we have been too soft with you shifters on this visit. You have mistaken our patience as weakness, but I assure you this is not the case.”

Suddenly, a violent blast of power jolted through the room, attacking each shifter and bringing us all down to our knees. I gripped the carpet, trying to muffle a scream as the queen’s psychic blast twisted and crushed my mind. I could feel the pressure build inside my skull, but I couldn’t do anything to relieve the pain. It was excruciating.

“I believe you have made your point, Queen Minaeve,” Daxton’s voice broke through the tortuous blinding pressure, and I realized he was trying to convince her to stop.

“You don’t want to kill the champion before she can compete, now, do you?” Castor chimed in with his brother.

Minaeve wasn’t in the mood to listen, however. A deeply wicked smile crossed her scarlet-painted lips as she increased her attack on everyone else—except me. Magnus screamed, and my heart sank into my middle.

“Magnus!” I gritted my teeth, trying to break through the pain and crawl to him. To somehow heal him and take away his pain. “Stop. Please,” I begged, looking up at the fae queen. “I am coming with you. I am volunteering to go with you. Hurting them is not helping anything. I will go, I swear it!”

I could see the fear in Daxton’s eyes, and I quickly glanced at Castor only to see the same fear reflected in his. They both knew she wouldn’t stop. She planned to kill them all to make a point and show her strength.

“What do you want from me?” I shouted in pain and confusion. The screams from the others intensified, and I knew they were only seconds away from death. Her magic somehow draining, siphoning the life from them.

Before Queen Minaeve could send a final pulse of magic to end their existence, Daxton took her face in his hands and quickly pressed his lips to hers. Minaeve dropped her magical assault immediately and encircled one arm around Daxton’s neck while the other wrapped around his waist. I helplessly watched as she pulled him toward her, increasing the intensity of their kiss, claiming his mouth for her own pleasure. Daxton remained utterly still, allowing the queen to mold herself against his body.

The sight of Minaeve with her hands and lips on Daxton made me want to vomit. I began shaking on my hands and knees despite the slow release of the queen’s hold on my mind. I clenched my eyes shut, refusing to open them. A soft moan of pleasure escaped from Minaeve, and it was enough to make me double over and collapse on the floor. Magnus reached out to steady me, hoisting me up off the ground.

I dared to look at them, seeing Minaeve finally pull her lips away from Daxton but keeping a possessive arm draped around his waist. She turned to face us. “Do you wish to question the shifter’s choice again, son of the alpha? I’m not sure Daxton will be able to persuade me to stop if I have to show you how important our departure is again.”

Silence filled the room. Gilen couldn’t manage to bring himself off the floor just yet.

“I will leave for Aelius today to begin preparations in the capital for the first trial,” the queen said as she glided across the room toward the door with Daxton close behind. “Daxton and Castor will take the second ship and escort the champion to the Inner Kingdom in no more than two days’ time.” The room was silent, with only nods of understanding as a reply.

“Good,” Minaeve sneered. She turned to Daxton, running her fingers across his chest before they migrated along his neck and into his hair. “Come to my chambers before I leave for my ship. I will need to take your offering before I sail through the veil.”

“Of course,” Daxton answered without hesitation as all the High Fae took their leave.

Offering?What did that mean? How did the queen hold so much power over them? More and more questions were spiraling through my head.

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