Page 79 of Brutal Fae King
I shudder and close my eyes before I can remember too much.
“Thank you, Gargamint!” Ebelor says. “Oh, it’s beautiful!”
“Allow me, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you, Michharn.”
I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is Ebelor. The crown sits so perfectly on her head, like it was meant to sit there. It’s breathtaking. It doesn’t blend into the rest of the outfit, but that is a blessing—it highlights her stunning face even more.
“Ebelor…” I can barely breathe. “I…”
She smiles lightly and averts her gaze.
“I feel a bit ridiculous.”
“You don’t look it. Not at all!” I meet her in three long strides and rest my hands on either side of her waist. “You look like the queen you are.”
A light blush colors her cheeks a rose pink. I lean forward and kiss her very gently on those cheeks—as if I were kissing a delicate rose. She giggles in flattery.
Then, I lean back.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
She sucks in a breath, then looks at me with that flinty look in her eyes.
“Let’s go.”
***
We walk into the war room, and I can tell by the feel in the air that the state of things is a lot calmer than it used to be. There’s a grim, stomach-churning alarm, but not the bristling feeling of barely contained panic like it was when I was last here.
The atmosphere gives a confusing shift when we walk in. First, it lightens still when I walk in, perfectly recovered. But then they shuffle uncomfortably and look between each other when Ebelor walks in behind me. She doesn’t have the graceful stride of a queen in her dress yet—still a little uncomfortable in it—but her presence is commanding regardless, and they know that they are in the presence of aqueen.They haven’t been in the presence of a matriarch for a while.
As we approach the table, I stand at the top of it. They stare at me like a deer in front of a hunter, and when a heavy silence reigns for a moment, I realize I’d usually started shouting at them by now.
“What’s the situation with the army outside the castle?” I call—but I can’t even force the same kind of rage that used to fill my voice before.
They relax, and one of them replies:
“In terms of the army, not one of them succeeded in breaching the castle’s walls, mostly thanks to the electrical barrier that has been set up around it,” he says. “The enemy’s still occupying the castle town, but they still haven’t made many moves toward the townsfolk, so that on its own isn’t the most pressing issue; we suggest we don’t divide our limited forces to save the townsfolk when they don’t appear to be in danger. The more important problem is that the electrical barrier seems to be fading away. We need to replenish it before we do anything else.”
I nod and then look over at Ebelor.
“What do you think?” I ask her. “Can you replenish it?”
There’s a rumbling and a gasp among the war counselors. They look between each other in awe.
That’s right… they probably don’t know it’s her, considering she did it in the heat of the moment on the battlefield. They likely thought that it was the spell I gave the mages on the battlements.
I feel a strange sense of second-hand pride for her accomplishment, but when I look back, she’s looking down, biting her lip.
“I—s-sure I can,” she says.
“I don’t like that stutter,” I mutter carefully. “What are you thinking?”
“I just…” Ebelor says. “I worry. I was fully wrapped up in the heat of the moment when I did that. I worry I won’t be able to do it again.”
I put a hand on her lower back. She smiles lightly.
