Page 79 of Crowned A Traitor
“Lucifer took you from me!” Queen Aemella lost her calm demeanour. “I sent my Fae into Hell and not only were they slaughtered but he hid you in the very lands I once ruled. Raised you amongst those filthy Creatures,” Aemella raged, her pale blue eyes growing whiter. “Didn’t you ever wonder why you can’t hide your feeling? Because a Fae is plagued by the truth.”
Klara thought of the rebellion that had sent her to Malum. Demons hadn’t come for me, the Fae had.
“If I’m your child, why not come yourself?”
Klara thought of how Aemella had sent the Giants to aid her.
The Queen paced, her heels clicking against the marble.
“The treaty wouldn’t allow it. To cross the River Styx would have meant all-out war.”
“If I kill him you will allow Lottie and Wolfgang to live in peace?” Klara asked, trying to find her way out of Kalos. Once she was back on neutral ground, she couldn’t be touched even by the Fae Queen or held to ransom. Lilith’s grimoires would hold the answer to getting Lottie and Wolfgang back from Aemella’s clutches.
“Yes, and you will have a place in Kalos to live out your days in peace. A seat on my council, help those Creatures you’re so fond of.” The Fae Queen winced at the mention of the Creatures of Malum.
“And Abadan?”
“Kill her too. Being that you are my daughter, I’m gifting you Malum. Do with it as you see fit. Why you’d want anything to do with that rancid place is beyond me.”
“And who will rule Hell in Lucifer’s place?”
The Queen shot Klara a dark look, “Why would you care? You already abandoned your inheritance for my lands. You were trying to come back to me without even knowing who you are.”
Klara could see Aemella wasn’t after Malum or Hell, but Klara didn’t trust her intentions.
“Leave Hell to the Demons and worry about your own skin.” Aemella’s eyes narrowed in on her wounds, “as fragile as it is.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You won’t. On your Father’s orders, you lost someone on that field. I can smell your heartbreak. I wouldn’t have chosen a Commander for you. A daughter of mine could do so much better.”
Klara stared at her, wondering how she knew Frendall was a Commander. “Once the King is dead, we live as what? Mother and daughter, happily ever after?
“If you like. I would take Lucifer’s life myself, but he would sense me coming. I’m afraid you can’t hide from me. I can feel you plotting. We share the same gift, see what others try their hardest to hide.”
“Prove it,” Klara challenged, and Aemella rested a hand on her shoulder. Klara saw within Aemella’s mind.
There she was just a baby cradled in Aemella’s arms, her Father in the background reaching out to take her. As the image slipped away, she felt Aemella searching her mind. “Stop,” Klara said as Aemella reached deeper into her mind forcing Klara to see and feel hours and hours of Lilith’s ruthless training. The Fae Queen stepped back, and Klara took a deep breath.
It was true. Klara was part Angel, Fae and Demon. What she was suddenly didn’t matter to her anymore. All Klara could focus on was keeping Lottie and Wolfgang safe and taking revenge. Klara noticed the double doors behind the waterfall. If she wanted out of Kalos, she would have to agree to kill her Father.
“Deal,” Klara said.I’ll kill Abadan and Mila and worry about getting out of the deal later.
“Delighted to hear it, I knew we would see eye to eye but don’t try and trick me daughter if there is one thing that your Father and I have in common, it's how creative we can be with our punishments.”
Aemella cupped her face, and Klara felt a rush of strength as she saw another memory. The Fae Queen stood screaming as she stared into an empty basinet. Klara felt awash with pity as she felt the Queen’s sorrow.
“My people will be watching,” Aemella winked releasing her.
~19~
“You’ll need this,” Aemella said, tossing a coin in the air. Klara caught it, but before she could ask what it was for, she fell through the floor.
Klara landed in the filth of the battlefield and retched into the grass. Her body wasn’t used to portaling from different lands in such a weakened state. She pulled the grass out from the roots to ground herself.
“Kill my Father.” Klara tested the words out loud. A few feet away Frendall lay undisturbed. She crawled to him, exhausted and bleeding. The Fae Queen hadn’t spared a moment to heal her.
To think she was created from Fae blood and Lucifer rocked her very core. Aemella and Klara might share the same eyes, but her feathered wings contrasted with the Faes’ translucent wings with veins of colour.
