Page 60 of Fairies Don't Fall

Everyone deserved to die.

For a moment I was on the edge, about to fall into the abyss of destruction, but I heard the whimper of a young wolf on the stairs, struggling through the lethal fairies to get to her alpha. The one who had taken her and the other juvenile delinquents in. The one who had rehabilitated the fairies.

And me.

I flipped my hair, and the moon came back, the candles relit, and the world became calm once more.

“Enough,” I said gently as I floated down into the seething fairies that were ripping Dawn and Slaughter apart. “You dare touch the Queen’s consort?”

They immediately gave Max generous space while they looked up at me with blood-smeared mouths.

I smiled at them and they flinched. “Bring him to my chambers. Vervain as well.”

I gracefully spun around to face the rest of the guests.

“Pardon the interruption. Please return to the dancing. I’m afraid I won’t be able to join you at present, as there may be an army on its way to back up my aunt’s claim.” I gestured at her head where it had rolled to the bottom of the steps. “You’ll have to excuse the mess. It’s nothing compared to the slaughter she brought to my mother’s court. Speaking of Slaughter, the lupin sorcerer is my consort. He is under my control, along with his wolves. In case any of you are thinking that I have no alliance. As long as he is alive, he is mine. I do know how to keep people alive for a very long time.”

I whirled around and then flew up, up, up, through the dome, up where I could see the surrounding countryside and any possible threats.

I searched far and wide, searched and searched, but all was as it should be. The greatest threat here was me.

I wasn’t okay.

I came down on the roof, perched on the edge, pulled my knees up under my chin and gave myself permission to have a good cry. My eyes burned, but I didn’t cry. I wanted to fight the enemy. I hadn’t even had the satisfaction of killing Dawn or exiling her.

“Ahem.”

I didn’t turn around. I smelled goblin and wanted him to attack me so I could rip the heart out of something so it would hurt as much as I did. Not very queenly feelings, but Dawn was right about me being a terrible queen. Still, I’d never lead the enemy into our home.

“Beg your pardon, but might I sit?” the Goblin Authority asked.

I sighed. He wasn’t going to attack me, so I couldn’t kill him. I gestured to my left, and he sat, dangling his legs over the edge so it would be extremely easy to push him off to his death. “Can I help you with something?” I asked stiffly. My throat was still clogged with anger and hurt. Betrayal. Even Vervain had betrayed me. He hadn’t told me about Slaughter’s identity as soon as he realized it.

“Actually, I’ve come to help you with two things.”

I turned to look at him. “I told you that you don’t owe me anything.”

He smiled, showing very sharp teeth with the silver filigree to make them even more elaborately deadly. “No one tells the Goblin Authority what I do and don’t owe. Other than the Music Master, but she’s backed by ogres, angels, and most terrifying of all, her own powerful obsession with music. You’re lucky your voice is so confusing musically.”

“Yes, thank you. That was one helpful comment, what’s the other?”

He smiled again, but it looked slightly more genuine that time. “I’m going to tell you what has been set in motion with your dramatic beheading of the Lady of the House of the Rising Sun.”

“Traitor of all Fairyland is her current title,” I said with my own smile.

He shrugged. “You met the fairy mayor. Let me tell you the gossip.” He leaned back on his arms and kicked his feet slightly, showing his fancy boots with elaborately designed silver caps that matched his teeth. “He lives next to Alpha Max, and has been threatening for years to get the city to condemn his house and get him evicted. He’s tried so many ways, but each time, Max responds in kind. Such as the time the Mayor haddignitaries over and Max hosted a monster truck rally. In his backyard. I believe they shot off rockets, one of which landed on the mayor’s roof. At any rate, it’s been war between them for years. Max has a soft spot for fairies, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, so he didn’t personally end the mayor. But that only gave the mayor the idea that Max was weak. He’s young, moderately powerful, and lacks a great deal of understanding about power balance and real war. Max is old, massively powerful, and understands everything about real war. So many different kinds of war. I fought against him a few hundred years ago while Malamech was growing in power. It was universally agreed that he was undefeatable. But you defeated him.”

It was my turn to shrug. I collapsed on the roof, looking up at the stars. “It was easy. I just had to turn my people into the worst kinds of monsters to do it.”

“That’s a good point. The mayor is going to use your reputation as a monster and Max’s position as your consort to take his property. He’ll spread the news that Max is your slave, and the wolves will break their bonds with him and find a new pack. Maybe start one under the helpful guidance of the mayor and his extensive connections. It’s going to bring a lot of chaos to Song as wolves fight for position. There will be death. The young and innocent will get caught in the middle, as they always do, and the caverns will be taken by the mayor without any resistance. He’ll evict all the homeless fairies from Singsong and turn the caves into an amusement park. All for the sake of tourism and his ego.”

“You really think that your prophecy of gloom and doom is worth a favor? Why should I care about Singsong City or its wolves?”

He was quiet for a moment. “Why terraform their caverns in the first place? Why exert your strength healing so many werewolves and goblins? Because you are the sort of person whocares. That’s what I thought the first moment I saw you. ‘That’s the softest fairy I’ve ever seen,’ I thought. Such big eyes. Such sweetness.”

“Are you hitting on me? I’m looking for an excuse to throw you off the roof.”

He chuckled. “I am definitely not hitting on you. My heart is otherwise employed.”

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