Page 32 of The Forever Queen

“The stars where he hides himself away from the rest of the world,” the rabbit explained.

“But no longer,” the second rabbit said. “His court was taken by the mortals, and so, he seeks refuge here.”

Aisling straightened, eyes widening.

“Father.” Aisling spoke her thoughts aloud, despising the sound of his title on her tongue. “But how?”

“I heard the fire hand blew fire from his throat like adragún, lighting the evening sky till every star fell,” one rabbit said.

Aisling sucked in a sharp breath.

Scull draiocht.

“I heard his men shot flaming reeds into the sky—their fire growing and spreading with unnatural hunger,” the second rabbit said.

Dread sank like an anchor in Aisling’s stomach while she thought. But it was Anduril that steeled her. The belt buzzed with excitement and the possibility of whetting its deadly appetite.

“Hopefully, he is the last victim of my father,” Aisling said, but the rabbits appeared unconvinced. Aisling shook her head, biting her bottom lip. Time was running out.

“I hope as well, m’lady,” the first rabbit agreed. “But the hope is surrounded by doubt.”

The rain tapped against the stained glass, an eager listener of theirs.

CHAPTER XI

LIR

Lir felt the moment that thein betweenshed its leaves and became the Other. The smells were more potent here, every touch more sensitive, the colors, light and darkness all more vibrant. Magic dripped from the trees, the storms hammering from above, and the wind howling, dense and sticky and wild as Lir emerged from a wetland nestled deep in a lush, jade forest.

He inhaled sharply, lungs on fire as though he’d held his breath for millennia.

“Ellwyn,” his lips whispered before his mind collected itself. “Ash,” he said more loudly, spinning in the waist-deep waters.

Lir clawed through the water, fingers coming up with grass and sludge where Aisling should’ve been. But the Sidhe king couldn’t stop. Aisling was supposed to be here. She was supposed to have emerged alongside him. The reminder of Danu’s gateways and Annwyn’s aqueducts stabbed Lir with dread. So, he’d keep searching, keep digging, keep clawing through the wetland till he found her.

At last, amid his madness, Lir stilled.

He smelled it before he saw it. The stench of its wet pelt, its talons digging into the mud, its snarling muzzle caught the Sidhe king’s attention.

Lir swiveled, meeting the eyes of a demon.

A questing beast.

The creature lifted its dragon’s snout from the waters, ivory eyes shimmering like pearls despite the dense canopies and dark gray sky. Its haunches rolled back the moment its talons moved, one step into the waters and closer to Lir. A tail like ribbons, dragging behind it.

Don’t move, Lir thought to himself in Rún. The questing beast was a monster of great strength and magic, known to skulk in dense forests and feast on its prey whilst they still breathed. Whilst their heart still pumped warmly for the questing beast to lap. A monstrosity—the beholding of which had cost various knights their lives before discovering the questing beast’s weakness: sight.

The demon cocked its head to the side, its mane dripping down the scales neatly patterned along its neck. It took another step forward, eager to bait another sound. Another clue as to where its next meal lurked.

Lir’s body tensed as it approached nearer, his hand drifted toward the axes at his back upon reflex.

But it was too late. The questing beast had latched onto his smell—potent from the mortal plane—the Sidhe king’s heart racing and filling the demon’s ears with its chorus.

The questing beast grinned, flashing a trap of sharp teeth still stink-ridden with the sinew of its last meal.

“Easca,” Lir commanded it––out of reflex or habit, Lir wasn’t certain. Wild beasts in the mortal plane heeded the Sidhe king’s orders, but he knew the laws were different in the Other, if there were any laws at all.

Lir focused on the monster, watching its muscles roll until it was prepared to pounce. To rip its prey’s organs from their still-screaming body.

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