Page 13 of Consort

I prepare myself for more safeguards as we walk down a vaulted corridor. Windows reach almost to the ceiling on one side, yet the hallway is dim and littered with shadows. It’s a fitting path to the dungeons, which is where I assume I’ll be for a while.

But instead of the dungeons, we enter a great hall with a raised dais and an intricately carved wooden throne at its center. The wood is ashen, colorless, just like the rest of the place.

There is an open, unguarded door on the other side of the room, and there’s a fae with curly green hair lingering around the steps of the dais. The hall is otherwise empty. The lone fae approaches us as soon as we enter, his thick, white robes billowing out around him as he hurries over. He wears a weak glamour of a stern brow and a taller frame. He’s even glamoured his ears to look longer. Am I the only one who can see right through it?

The silver-eyed soldier exchanges some hushed words with him. He nods before they hurry back out the door we came in. I stand stiffly with the other guard, not daring to utter a word. If my assumptions are correct, we’re waiting for the queen.

Nerves send chills down my back, and I can do nothing to stop them. In all my years of preparation, I couldn’t have trained for this. I’m a common fae. I had no access to information on what happens inside the walls of the castle with the queen and her court.

I keep my breaths even, trying to trick my brain into thinking I’m calm. We wait for ages until I finally see movement from the doorway the fae disappeared into. I expect a company of guards surrounding the queen, ready to protect her if I try anything. But what comes in is even more unexpected than I could have even imagined.

The robed fae strides back into the room, followed by a creature handler and a group of about ten chained mixed fae shifters.

Mixed fae shifters are a crossbreed between shifters and fae. Normally, one could identify them only by their slightly shorter ears and muted colorings. But these mixed fae are crazed, having succumbed to their bloodlust.

Even though the mixed fae are only part fae, the bloodlust still courses through them. For some reason, they aren’t able to handle the urges very well. The bloodlust becomes unstable, often leading to fits of uncontrollable rage where they take down anything in their path. Fear is forgotten; only fury and the lust for death and destruction guide them. They are incredibly dangerous in those states.

Rumors say the queen uses them as a sentence for those who have disrespected her. That she watches as they drain every ounce of their fury and mania on the offender. Ears are ripped from heads and often eaten. Limbs are flattened into rugs for her feet. Faces are removed. So many stories of torture.

I’ve even heard stories of single mixed fae taking down multiple nobles. Others have been said to have taken out their own families in their blind rage. We’ve been told that mixed fae shifters are to be eliminated if found, but I’ve never encountered one this lost to the bloodlust. I’ve only come across a couple of them in all my years, and they seemed perfectly normal. They weren’t a threat to me, so I turned a blind eye and continued on my way.

But these ones… they’re raving. Some are foaming at the mouth or drooling as they growl and shriek. They stumble and tug at the shackles around their necks and wrists. Their eyes are wide, searching for a victim. Incredibly, they don’t target each other. Instead, they shove one another aside as they reach for everyone else in the room.

I can see why the queen and other fae might view them as beasts. But they are still part fae. Our own kind. And, as terrifying as they are, I don’t think they represent the majority of shifters. Definitely not the one I saw begging Mitah for his life.

The handler is calm, his face expressionless. His light blue hair is braided behind him with not a strand out of place. He casually leads the creatures to two large metal loops bolted to the floor on either side of the throne. He attaches the chains to the loops and steps back, unharmed and completely unafraid. There must be magic involved because no one should be able to control them so easily.

But that doesn’t matter. What matters is why they’re here. Will they carry out the queen’s judgment on me? Will she hand me over and laugh as they rip me apart? Perhaps they’re just here to protect her. That seems unnecessary, though. The queen is the most powerful fae alive. Why would she feel the need for protection? I’m just one fae, useless with broken hands. Surely, she can’t think their presence is necessary.

The only sounds are the growling of the creatures and their rattling chains. But soon, even that fades away as the queen’s magic seeps into the room. Invisible tendrils wrap around my ankles and neck while others slither across the rest of my body, lingering on my injured hands.

She’s surveying the room before even stepping a foot inside. Wise, but unsettling. This is my first taste of her power, and it’s alarming. But I won’t turn away from my mission. This much power should be used to protect, not terrorize. She doesn’t deserve to be a ruler.

She emerges through the doors and smugly glides across the hall to her throne. Her long, white hair falls straight down her back like it’s reaching for the darkness below. Her light gray eyes pass over me flippantly as if I’m not worth her attention. But I see the icy-blue slivers in her irises flash, just for a second, whenthey cross my face.

She’s intrigued, and that’s much more promising than the anger I expected.

Her light blue dress hugs her gentle curves as she walks. Whether she’s naturally beautiful or she’s glamoured herself to be more appealing, she stands out with a beauty others could only dream of finding.

The mixed fae shifters seem to settle as she climbs the steps up to her throne, though she doesn’t acknowledge them in any way. At first, this strikes me as odd. But when I think about it, what could calm a bloodthirsty beast but a bloodlust more profound than their own? Perhaps they heel to it.

The queen gracefully takes her seat on the throne, pulling my attention away from the mixed fae. Instead of meeting my eyes, she smirks down at my broken hands. I’m immediately consumed with rage. I thought I’d melted that smirk out of existence, but Mitah apparently adopted it from her.

My heat boils beneath my skin, but it has nowhere to go. I grit my teeth, trying not to let my pain or disgust for the queen show. I manage to keep my expression blank, but my body vibrates with the strain of suppressing my angry magic. The fight awakens my bloodlust, and it demands to see what color the queen bleeds.

I feel my lips begin to turn up into a smirk of my own as I give in to my fury. I no longer care about anything except roasting her lips off her face.

But before I can lunge at her, the soldier who led me here grips my shoulder. A sense of trust and adoration washes over me, dousing my anger. I feel safe. Relaxed and peaceful. And I suddenly want to confess everything. To beg the queen’s forgiveness for Mitah’s death and pledge my loyalty to her.

Farris snaps me out of it with a pinch on the back of my neck. I realize that the fae gripping my shoulder must be an empath.I’m an idiot for not considering the magic of the soldiers who brought me here. The queen only selects the strongest fae for her court. I need to stay alert. I still don’t know what anyone else in the room is capable of.

Grateful for Farris’s silent warning, I take a deep breath and lower my head in deference. I can still make it out of this alive, maybe to end her reign another day. I tell myself I’m ready for anything, but what she has in store for me is a worse sacrifice than I could have ever prepared for.

Chapter 5

Rue

When Cirro and I reach the gathering area, most of the pack is still out laughing and enjoying themselves. He pulls me by the hand toward the Prime as I scan the group, searching for my mother. When our eyes finally meet, hers are filled with fear. I give her a reassuring smile, silently urging her to stay quiet. If they find out I was hiding my designation, I’ll never be trusted. They’ll watch me closely, making it difficult to escape.

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