Page 40 of Brutal Fae King
“Have to answer tome,the queen!” I state.
The guards share another look, and then they both bow.
“At once, your Majesty.”
***
My room looks a lot livelier with all the staff inside it. The guards who helped me see the witch to begin with were the first to arrive, even before the wine did. But soon, even staff I’d never seen before came, just out of curiosity. After all, there had never been apartyin the castle, let alone one for thestaffto attend. They are stiff and uncomfortable at first, but I smile, welcome them with a glass of wine each, and chat with them, and they loosen up after a short while. Soon, the wine flows and everyone in the crowd starts talking, reassuring one another that it’s okay to relax now.
As the atmosphere gets more and more comfortable, a few of the maids start talking to me. They’re fairly curious about my story, too—and as I talk to them about Thawallow, I find myself repeating the same story over and over again to the crowds. Eventually, I’m finishing the tale for the umpteenth time in front of a couple of latecomers.
“—and it turned out the witch wasn’t there to be the witness, but instead, she was there to bind us together with magic.”
“What?” Marya gasps.
“Are you serious?” Dronfil asks, shuffling his guard’s helmet under his arm as he sits down close to me.
“Yes…” I murmur. “Apparently, being married is not enough.”
“It’s because the bastard knows you’re the true queen,” Dronfil growls.
“Yes,” Marya adds. “The Cruel King would do anything to keep his power—we shouldn’t be surprised that he’d do something so vile.”
“He’s the worst,” Dronfil says. “I’m thankful he finally stands to be overthrown—only a shame it’s not by a violent coup.”
They both smile at me.
“I’m sure you’ll do better, Ebelor,” Marya says. “I’m sure someone can break the spell—the witch should be able to.”
I nod.
“The sooner the better. Did you hear about the attack on the Naga that he sanctioned the other day?” Dronfil says, eyes scanning between myself and Marya. “There was a magical assault on the border of Murbyn Bridge—and he just sent a huge beam of magic down on it.”
My memories of Naga come slithering back. The coils, rocking the carriage, wrapping around the carriage like a Kraken sinking a ship, the screaming horses filling my ears.
“M-maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing…” I mutter.
They both stare at me.
“There was almost an entire squadron of soldiers there!” Dronfil protests. “They didn’t have enough time to escape!”
The memories of the Naga still flash in front of my eyes as I answer back:
“But were there a lot of Naga?” I ask quietly.
They look over at me. Dronfil shrugs.
“Of course,” he says. “There was an entire army of them.”
I shudder.
“I don’t know, maybe I don’t blame him,” I say. “I’ve been there when the Naga were there, and they areterrifying.If he’sjust trying to keep them from invading the royal city, then… I don’t know.”
“Where were you when the Naga were there?” Marya asks.
“He took me out to the castle town, just outside the keep,” I say. “We got attacked by Naga as we were traveling back.”
“They attacked the carriage?” Dronfil asked. “Really?”
