Page 67 of Blood and Roses

"Leiddiad! I didn't think such a brutal man could be capable of love. What is it about you that makes you so special? Let's have a look, shall we?" The Autumn Queen snapped her fingers, and the remains of Rosa's dress melted away.

There was a chittering through the hall, and Rosa muffled a scream. She discreetly covered herself with her arms. The queen was after a reaction and be damned if she was going to give it to her. "You are not particularly beautiful," the queen said critically.

"I have a winning personality," Rosa said, gritting her teeth, "and I'm loyal and fierce, and I have a magic of my own. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Enlighten me," the queen folded her hands in front of her.

"I have the power to see your true self. I see you, Queen of Ash and Dust. I know what you look like under the glamor. You are old and wrinkled, a decaying shell and your power is weakening..."

"Silence!" the queen shouted, and Rosa's teeth pulled shut. "My power isnotweakening."

Rosa grinned, wild and feral, enjoying the queen's paranoia. She had never felt particularly violent before, but she silently swore that if she ever got the chance, she would cheerfully kill her.

"You have a fire in your spirit. That is why Bleddyn and his bastard like you so much. I will have to break you of it, sweet Rosa. I'll have you as my own even if it kills you," the queen stated, and she looked at Ryn. "I think our guest must be thirsty."

"No, thank you. I'm fine," Rosa said before the guard grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back.

Ryn appeared at her side, a silver goblet in his hand.

"Open up, little rose. It's time to drink now."

"Leave me alone!" Rosa threw her head around to keep the goblet from her lips.

"Do not fight me, Rosa," the queen ran her fingers down her cheek. "What I do to you now will be a blessing. You will forget your worries, your fears. You will no longer yearn for the life you left behind."

"No, I don't want to forget my life and who I am. You can't make me!" Rosa gasped as Ryn clutched her face and forced her mouth open. The queen held the goblet, and she tipped the red liquid into Rosa's mouth.

She tasted tart fruit, hot fire, and fizzy citrus. Then the numbing swept up her legs, and she felt the fight leave her. The queen clapped, and a dress made of long black feathers flowed over Rosa's naked body. The blood and dirt vanished from her skin, and her hair combed and twisted itself up in a neat style. The Autumn Queen took Rosa's angry face in her hands and kissed her mouth, her tongue tasting the last of the drink left in Rosa's mouth.

"No wonder Bleddyn left you," Rosa said viciously, pulling away from her and spitting on the floor. "You are a terrible kisser."

They dropped her in a heap as dark red mist swirled around her. She tried to think of Balthasar, to focus on his face and his touch but as she lay there, her life, her memories of Gwaed Lyn, the way Balthasar looked when he slept... It all melted away, spilling like blood on the ballroom floor.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Balthasar dozed fitfully as the days wore on. Saul visited once a day to bring him blood and food, but he was the only visitor. Balthasar had stopped asking to talk to Eli. He knew his father would not budge on his position. Whatever had happened to him in his early life in the Seelie courts had scarred him. Eli was afraid of nothing in the whole world except being dragged back to that place of trauma.

"Wow, Balthasar, this is just like a dream I had once. You were chained up to a bed if I remember correctly." Balthasar opened his eyes to see Pearl standing on the other side of his cell. She was shimmering with new power.

"Find an unfortunate faerie to drink, did you?" he asked before looking back up at the ceiling.

"I found a few. I always fantasized about getting you in chains, Bal. This seems so much more delicious," she sighed dramatically. "Are you missing your chubby human? I can't believe you would seriously consider going into Faerie to try to get her back. If you needed some sex, all you had to do was ask."

"I would rather have my manhood eaten by aloup-garou," Balthasar replied.

"Mm, I'll let Caruthers know you said so. Lord Riverclear didn't mind it when I offered a round in the sack," Pearl said, a touch of frustration eating into her words. "Bet you would never have thought it was me. You're so busy ignoring me that you never suspected I was the one that would bring about your downfall."

"So it was your idea for his men to have their tantrum at the ball? Oh, you're a veritable Moriarty, Pearl. You can hardly boast about the Seelie's betrayal. They would've acted the way they did even if your dubious charms hadn't worked on Riverclear." Balthasar sat up on his pallet and stared her down. "What I don't understand is why bother with it at all? No one pays attention to you or takes you seriously?"

"Of course not. I want you gone, Balthasar."

"And to think, not five minutes ago you were offering to fuck me."

"It is hardly the same thing. You see, I was the one that had to console my poor Lily when you returned. You went off to have your pity party on every battlefield you could find, leaving it up to her to pick up the slack. Eli was grooming her to take over. She was good at it. The lords respected her, and Eli relied on her. Then you decided to return on a whim, and she was cast aside. I wanted to see her as queen. Iwillsee her as queen."

"So you can share in her power? That's ridiculous. Unlike Lily, you'll never be taken seriously. I don't even thinkLilytakes you seriously. That is the point. She has lived and suffered, and you bring her a shallow, easy, lightness when she needs to be removed from her melancholy."

Pearl shivered before reappearing in front of him, her hand raised to slap him. Balthasar caught her arm with such a force that it broke. "You know what is even more pathetic? You actually think that you're going to get away with this," he said as he flung her back towards the door. "I don't have to kill you,Pearl. You have signed your own death warrant, and not even Lily and all the guilt and affection Eli has towards her will be enough to stop him from tearing you apart."

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