Page 96 of Queen of Ever

‘Beforethe coronation?’

He brushed fingers across my cheek, hooking my hair behind my ear.‘I want you all to myself a little longer before I have to share you with a whole realm.’

Well, I couldn’t say he didn’t listen to me.Time on a sandy island as just the two of us sounded heavenly.I clutched that tube of sunblock in my hand as I looped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

And kept kissing him.

Epilogue

Vesryn

ThetunneltotheDrowned Keep was as dank and unpleasant as I’d expected.Water dripped down the walls, settling in shallow puddles across the cold floor, like the ocean above was slowly seeping through the ceiling, eager to reclaim this slip of stolen space.The whole place reeked of brine and mildew, which really only served to intensify the thrill of anticipation as I imagined being trapped in the heavy stench, day in and day out for months, years,centuries.Oh, how I hoped she wouldn’t hear me coming.It would be so much more satisfying to catch her in a state of despair.Or even better, perhaps the steady drip, drip, drip had already started to erode her sanity.

The first of the cells when they appeared in the walls offered little amusement; their occupants lay curled in balls on the ground, banged their heads repeatedly against walls or just moaned as they clutched the gates, their skin peeling away from the iron bars even as they pressed their faces between them.Most of them didn’t seem to even notice that I was passing them by.Perfect.They would make for excellent neighbours.Let them remind her hourly of the distance of her fall by how insignificant her presence was to them.

The tunnel began to curl in on itself, spiralling like a shell, round and round and round.Hercell was announced only by the presence of a pair of guards—a luxury not deemed necessary for the rest of the unhappy inmates.They were just Tarian’s paranoia showing, really.No one had ever escaped the Drowned Keep.There was no reason to suspect she was so special that she’d be the exception to that rule.

The guards were a pair of trolls who certainly added their own special aroma to the cloying scent of mildew as they sat at a table set away from the bars of the cell, their huge forms hunched over a spread of cards.They nodded in my direction but didn’t trouble themselves with actually performing the job they were down here to do.I supposed they were as confident in its pointlessness as I was.I practically hummed with anticipation as I approached the cell to peer into the shadows within.It was a large, deep room, gloomy and sparsely furnished, almost cruelly so, considering her jailer was her own son.

I rapped my knuckles against the bars.‘Knock, knock.’

There was movement towards the back of the cell, someone rising to their feet from where they’d been sitting by the rear wall.Her clothes were a plainer variety than those monstrous gowns she’d favoured as queen, but comfortable looking.In fact, aside from the shackles she wore around her wrists and neck—carved with runes pulsing with a sickly green light as they restricted her use of magic—I’d have said she was faring just fine.She moved well enough, her posture still straight and her gait smooth as she approached.Pity.

‘Vesryn,’ she purred, approaching the bars.

‘Of course.Who else would make this ludicrously long walk to come and see you?’I folded my arms and leant against the wall.‘You know, you look a mite too well for someone buried beneath several kilometres of ocean.It’s actually quite disappointing.I was hoping for a little more—’ I twirled a finger in the air, like I was searching for the word, ‘—madness.’

Her expression distorted, her upper lip curling.‘You should be careful, Vesryn.You forget who you’re provoking.’

My smile widened.‘Oh, Ilovean empty threat.They justreekof desperation.You may have been dangerous once, but now?’I leaned a little closer.‘You’re just a woman whousedto be a queen.’

She laced her fingers through the bars, curling her hands around them, her expression not betraying even a flicker of pain at the contact with the iron.‘What have I done to deserve your disrespect?Have I not always favoured and indulged you?What has Tarian offered you that has won your preference of him to me?’

‘Other than the fact he doesn’t require as much mollycoddling as you?I’m sure you can think of something.’In a flash, my hands were on the bars above hers and I leaned in close, the smile gone, a spill of vengeance twisting my features, baring my teeth.‘Think really,reallyhard.It will come to you.’

She withdrew in a brief flash of alarm, but she quickly wiped that off her face, considering me closely for a moment.Then she began to laugh.‘Oh no, Vesryn.Don’t tell me you’re still holding a grudge forthat.I thought you knew better than to let yourself get swept up in sentiment.It was nothing personal.’Her mouth warped, stretching in a cruel, distorted smile.‘But oh, how shescreamed.’

I straightened, readjusting the mask of indifference.‘It’s good to see you laughing.You’ll need something to amuse yourself with, trapped down here in a dank cell in the dark.’

‘My dear boy, what makes you think I’m notexactlywhere I want to be?’

I enjoyed the flare of fire for a moment, turning over the possibility that she had some sort of card to play down here in this prison built for the particular task of ensuring those within it were entirely forgotten.Highly unlikely.‘It’s going to be a very long eternity for you, Moriana,’ I said, tapping the bars lightly with a single finger, ignoring the sting as the sound echoed faintly through the tunnel.‘I almost hope you surprise me.But until you do—’ I turned, leaving her to stew in the darkness of her cell, my shoes clicking as I walked away, ‘—let’s see how long you keep that fire burning.’

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