Page 32 of Brutal Fae King
“Who got…?” she begins to ask, trailing off.
“I wasn’t the only one looking for you,” I explain. “In fact, everyone aware of the legend of the lost queen was looking for you. Only the fact that you were, in fact, a human wasn’tcommon knowledge is what kept your villages peaceful for so many years. Since so many assumed the lost heir to be a dark fae, as many had always known the royals to be, they kept their searches to the other cities in Faevea.”
“I see…” She says.
“Every faction of this war had their eye out for you,” I continue. “With each of the factions aiming to use your power to win the kingdom for themselves. You are the only one who can fix the kingdom from its sorry state now, and many interpret that sentiment astheirspecies being the oppressors. I want to return the kingdom to the era of peace it once was in.” I narrow my eyes and hang my head. “It just seems that I cannot be peaceful to achieve peace…”
“Right,” she says. “So… you say I cannot go see my sister in Thawallow because we wouldn’t survive the journey, basically? That we’d be attacked by every Naga, siren, dwarf, and dark fae who found us as we went?”
“That is a large part of my certain,” I tell her. “They know not who you are now, but they surely will. If nothing else, they’ll notice you by my side and make an educated guess. But there is an even greater threat—someone else looking for you, and this one knows you are a human. Worse still, this one doesn’t even want to save the world in their own way—this one wants to destroy Faevea, and he does so willingly.”
“Wait, what?” she asks. “Who would want to destroy Faevea? What idiot would actively aim to destroy the world they also live in?”
I take a breath to tell her, but then my stomach clenches, and only a half-truth slips from my lips:
“I know his name is Dralis, and he worships the god Mischevil,” I answer. “Mischevil is one of the more ancient godsof this land, and whilst those who worship him would defend him as a trickster god, truly, he is a god of suffering and sadism. Mischevil wants to burn this land to ashes and frolic in its charred remains.”
Her face has utterly curdled in disgust.
“But… why?” she asks. “Why would someone want to follow a god like that?”
I groan lightly before I answer.
“I don’t know, in truth,” I say. “I suppose to some people, being special is so much more important than the wellbeing of others. That’s one thing that Mischevil promises his followers: that they will be the special few who survive as the rest of the land burns away. They will be the special few. That appeals to some people.”
I look at her.
“One thing I do know for sure is that you are the key to all of this,” I tell her. “You, as the lost queen, have the power to either destroy or redeem this vile land, and if Dralis ever got his hands on you, every person in this land would likely be killed at the hands of Mischevil. The worst part of all of this is that I know for a fact that Dralis is out there, looking for you right now.”
Chapter 11 - Ebelor
I was so determined to see Maribelle, but what he says gives me pause. I had no idea that we were dealing with the likes of gods… I knew there was a prophecy, and the kingdom hung in the balance, its fate depending on whether I stayed here or not, but I didn’t think this was that dire… I truly thought there was some wriggle room for me to go home and see my sister… Essentially, take an afternoon off and see her…
I glance back out the window again. There are still people fighting out there, truly fighting tooth and nail with each other in a horrifying display.
I had no idea things were so bad…
My sister… I still ache to go see her, but this definitely changes things… Now, I’m not sure I even feel comfortable having Maribelle brought to me—even if she was well enough from the Weeping Fever by now to travel. I don’t want to risk her even seeing this, let alone getting caught up in it.
Because she has to be alive. There’s no way she can be dead by now. There’s no way…
I keep staring out the window, but I’m thankful we’re moving fast enough for none of the people to truly notice us as anything more than a vague, unimportant blur. He’s right—the human settlements are a hard place to live, but they’re not…this.
I didn’t even realize what I had. None of us did…
“So…” I say quietly. “Just to get this straight—if I was found by this Dralis person, nowhere in Faevea would be safe from this awful god?”
“I can’t say for sure,” the king says. “Perhaps some of the population would be enslaved. But I always took it that chaosand destruction were the point in and of itself, so I wouldn’t hold out any hope that certain places in Faevea would beleft alone.That includes the human settlements if that’s what you were thinking; just because they’re far up North doesn’t mean that they’d be forgotten about by this ruthless god and his followers.”
“I see…”
I fall into silence for a long time. I can feel the king’s gaze beaming into me before he says:
“Speak. What are you thinking?”
“I… just wanted to go home and be with my sister.”
“I’m aware,” he says. “And I hopeyou’renow aware that me telling you no is not an act of cruelty. It’s genuinely to help the kingdom to survive.”
