Page 19 of Queen of Ever

‘Then I am ready to hear it.’She was enjoying this.A variation on endless rounds of using magic to force me into compliance.I thought free will would always be preferable, but it was worse, so much worse, to humiliate myself by choice.My gaze flicked to Briyala, who held her bowed position like she was a carved sculpture, silver hair cascading to the floor.Would she be spared punishment if I begged convincingly?Maybe, maybe not.Could I live with myself if I didn’t at least attempt to win mercy for her?No.

‘Please.’It came out barely a whisper.

Moriana gestured towards her ear.‘A little louder, darling.IfIcan hardly hear you, I’m sure no one else can either.’

Slithers of magic were starting to escape me, licking at the slate until it began to crumble beneath my knees.I tried to breathe through it, to reign in my hatred of her, and as I said the next words, of myself.An image of Imogen flashed through my mind, of her beneath me, starlight in her eyes as I kissed the mark on her wrist.This felt like betraying her all over again.‘Please forgive me for disobeying you and breaking my engagement.’

‘That couldhardlybe called begging.What do you think, Briyala?Would you like to show him how it’s done?’

‘I’m on my knees,’ I growled.‘In front of the whole court.What more do you want?’

‘Begging requires humility, which is something you sorely lack.’She flicked a hand.‘Come, Briyala, show him.Beg me.’

Briyala straightened a little, began shuffling forwards on her knees.

A commotion broke out behind me, a shuffle of feet and raised voices.Moriana’s focus left me, her eyes darting over my shoulder.Her demeanour frosted over, and the noise and movement abruptly ceased.Rising to my feet, I turned to see what had disrupted the proceedings.

A spindly legged, pot-bellied imp stood just beyond the line of the crowd, his tattered wings trembling beneath the full force of the queen’s gaze.Behind him, a few guards lingered, as if they had been chasing him but lacked the courage to follow him past the protection of the crowd.

‘F-f-for…’ the imp stammered, choking on the word as Moriana smiled coldly, crooking a finger.

‘Come closer.’

The imp crept forward, clutching a large parcel wrapped in a strange, pearlescent cloth that shimmered and shifted in his hands.‘I’ve c-come b-bearing… a gift… f-for you, Your Majesty.’

Moriana raised a single dark brow.‘A gift,’ she repeated, her voice as icy and calm as a frozen sea.

‘Of g-great power and ancient m-magic.’

Her eyes narrowed.With a flick of her hand, two guards scurried forward.‘Take it from him,’ she ordered.‘And let’s see what manner of gift is worthy of interrupting my justice.’

One guard grasped the package while the other seized the imp’s arm, yanking him backward so hard he stumbled over the tips of his wings.His wide eyes, filled with terror, weren’t fixed on the queen—they were locked on the parcel.A chill of foreboding crept over my skin.

‘Open it,’ Moriana commanded.The guard slipped his fingers into a fold of the wrapping, and immediately it cracked, shattered, and dissolved into wisps of something far stranger than cloth.

A large orb of crystal or glass was revealed, clear as water, containing a dark mass of brambles, all writhing vines and long, lethal thorns.The sphere began to pulse, expanding and contracting like a beating heart.

Arun was suddenly before me, breaking my line of sight, as the air in the room began to shift, thickening, squeezing my chest, sucking the air from my lungs in the direction of that orb, like it was a planet with its own gravitational pull.Time slowed, the queen’s rise to her feet became sluggish, her retreat behind her throne impossibly drawn out.Arun’s attempt to heard me backwards turned laborious, his arms outstretched, attempting to form words as all sound deadened, giving way to a crushing silence where everything froze completely.

A heartbeat of stillness.

Then, everything exploded.

With a deafeningboom!the air and sound and motion rushed back with the force of a tidal wave, screaming over me in a pulse of heat and shrieking cries.The air was burning, ripped through with thousands of thorns, the world crashing down around me.Arun’s hand was on my arm, pushing me round just as pain tore into my back.A chunk of ceiling crashing to the floor by the throne.Agony split my head in a burst of white light.My legs gave out.Then all was darkness.

Chapter 8

Imogen

Iwasawakelongbefore Marietta entered my room that morning, not for dreaming of Tarian, but for another reason entirely.She hadn’t mentioned the boy to me even once after I’d left them in the kitchens together, and despite having plenty of other things to focus on, I couldn’t help worrying about him.

Finally, the door opened and Marietta had barely closed it behind her before I was in front of her.‘What happened to the boy?’I asked quickly.

She looked up in surprise, blinking once as if she hadn’t quite heard me before she finally answered.‘He’s safe, you don’t need to worry about him.’

‘How can he possibly be safe in this place after what I saw?’I asked.I could still hardly believe the cruelty I’d witnessed.Those collars were as barbaric as the courtiers.

I could see the wheels in her head turning as she calculated her response.‘He’s not in the palace anymore.’

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