Page 48 of Fairies Don't Fall

“But you didn’t need to stab him like that.”

“I was too angry at him, but he would have survived even without you.” She didn’t look certain, but she raised her chin. “He got too much dust. He would have overdosed, and his mind would be lost completely. He’s better than that. You’ve seen how he took your crude efforts and turned them into something magnificent. You should have rehabilitated him instead of me. He has gifts worth keeping.”

I stared at her. “Oh.” She liked Berry? He liked her? Why were they not together? “He likes you.” Yes, I was the queen of subtlety.

She looked shocked and horrified. I patted her shoulder. “He likes you so much, he followed you out of Fairyland. He could terraform a hat into a little tiny world you could live in, inside your hat shop. That sounds so delightful.” I beamed at her while her face went paler and paler.

Finally, she grabbed my neck and side of my face, the pressure of her fingers digging into me. “You gave me what I want. Now break the binding.”

She helped me find the tiny uneven edge that I could pick at until it peeled away, then another and another, until the binding came apart in a rush.

I was standing in a hall, an exquisite crystal chandelier above me, someone standing behind me, her voice familiar. I’d heard her before, talking about poisoning werewolves. But also some other time that tickled my memory.

“You will lead him back to the gates of Fairyland. That’s all you must do, Buttercup.”

I didn’t see the face, but I turned and saw a war beast, dusky mottled skin blending with the shadows that clung to him like my cloak. Malamech’s second. I’d never forget that vicious snarl. He looked at Buttercup, at me, like a soulless beast, and then hesaid in a smooth voice that rippled with control and contained violence, “You smell of fear. I hope your fear speeds your flight.”

I nodded rapidly and then turned and darted out of the hall, into a garden constrained by pillars and arbors, then I spread my wings and flew while the war beast ran below, barely making the underbrush shiver he moved so stealthy and quick. Had any creature been so fast without making a sound? Malamech’s second was his muscle, his strategy, his champion. And I’d let him leave Fairyland with his wolves, showing mercy they didn’t deserve. It wasn’t for them, though, but for me. If I’d finished slaughtering all of them, the land wouldn’t ever recover, and neither would my people.

I blinked the woodland cave back into focus as Shotglass dropped her hand and gave me a flat look. “He was Malamech’s second. He came first to scout Fairyland, to make arrangements with the one who planned the Queen’s downfall. I didn’t understand everything at the time. I didn’t know the wolves would bring slaughter. I didn’t understand death and pain. But now we know all too much.”

I shivered and then took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I had to have dignity even though one of my own had worked with the enemy to destroy us. Max was right about all of it.

“Who told you to take him to the fairy gates?”

She raised her brows. “You didn’t pick that up? I thought the Queen could see everything.”

“I’m not the Queen, and I could see if I looked, but your mind is delicate, and I don’t like violating people’s privacy.”

She blinked at me, then took a deep breath. “Dawn, the Lady of the House of the Rising Sun, made a deal with Malamech. Your aunt’s plan was to overthrow your mother and take the throne herself.”

I stared at her while the world swam alarmingly. I tried to stand there and be reasonable, dignified, and in-control, butinstead, I turned and ran until I hit a tree, literally, and then I climbed it.

I crouched on a branch as high as I could get with my wings wrapped around me while the tree swayed and the earth shook me out of its usual orbit.

My own aunt betrayed all of us. Was it really for power? She hadn’t fought in the war. She talked of surrender, of peace, but after the slaughter of my mother’s court, there was nothing for me but retribution. We would get rid of the monsters or die. Come to think of it, she’d been on the team to help develop my medicine. She and Vervain were from the same house, but they always seemed cold towards each other. Was that a lie? Were they working together? Was even Vervain against me? No. He’d fought beside me every second. He’d never allow wolves into our land.

I heard distant howls as the werewolves joined in the celebration. I smelled some smoke and saw a distant flicker of fire. They loved the welcoming beacon of the flames, but I looked up and stared at the moon. It was night. How long had I been sitting in the tree while my world shattered?

There was a creak of a branch, and then a flicker of wings brought a stunning specimen of cool green and silver to my branch. Vervain the Terrible, of the House of the Rising Sun.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a slight smile and a narrowing of his silvery-green eyes.

“If you’ve betrayed me and my mother, you will be exiled.” I sounded like ice, death, and I certainly had that feeling, like I might suddenly erupt and rip hearts out of chest cavities.

He studied me thoughtfully. “Search my thoughts. You have my loyalty.” He thought I wouldn’t do it, that I’d respect him and trust him without question.

I reached forward and took his face in my hands, peering into those silvery green eyes while I went through his memories,everything about the ruler of his court, about Buttercup who was now called Shotglass, about the war, and the wolves.

There wasn’t anything I didn’t know. He was sent as a likely candidate as my future consort, wishing to get away from my aunt’s predatory advances. Well. That made me feel creepy to see in his thoughts. Fairies should take no for an answer. He didn’t know about her betrayal. In my mother’s court, he was obsessed with weapons and strategy and war games of any and all kinds. He’d gotten more invested in politics later, after my mother rubbed off on him. The war of the court manners. Vervain was astute at every kind of strategy and maneuver you could make. But however long he spent with me, there was no binding. He’d looked into it to find out why he couldn’t give me his strength from any number of sketchy sources, but he’d always been loyal.

I knew where he was during the war, fighting at my side, or working to collect intel from his sources. I searched out his thoughts about the war beast, Malamech’s second, Slayer. There was only one notable thing. Of all the war beasts that were Malamech’s inner circle of magical shifter werewolves, he was the only one who put down his weapon in surrender once Malamech died. Slayer had led the exodus out of Fairyland and into their world. Was he still working with my aunt? My heart trembled at the thought.

I watched Vervain’s memories of hunting down fairy traitors, torturing them to get any information they could on the one who had betrayed Fairyland, allowing in the wolves. Shotglass had been one of those he’d tortured. And she thought I’d ordered that? That explained the way they called me ‘death-fairy’.

I gasped and pulled away from Vervain, almost falling out of the tree. “You tortured fairies? You can’t do that!”

He gave me a slight smile. “I was sanctioned by the Queen.”

---