Page 76 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“Charming place you’ve got here,” I remarked.
One of the guards drove the butt of his sword into my side, bruising a rib. I hissed in pain but didn’t falter. Now, I sensed, was not the time to show weakness. I had to be strong. Show the Fae that I belonged. That would be the only way I stayed alive.
We stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a pair of doors cast from dull bronze. The helmetless Fae turned, his eyes blazing with malevolent energy, turning a much darker shade of blue as they did.
“When we enter the Dark Lady’s chambers, you will show respect. I would just as soon take your head from your body here and now, but she has insisted on bringing you before her. If you do not act as her station accords, I will show you the true meaning of pain. This, I swear.”
“Anything else?” I asked, trying to appear bored.
He leaned closer and grinned. “I can smell your fear. You don’t fool me, half-breed.”
Then he straightened and pushed open the doors, leading me into a hall that was even grander than the one we’d just left.
Deep rich royal blue velvet carpeting ran down the center of the throne room, leading up the steps to a huge chair carved from some sort of black metal shot through with streaks of cobalt that glittered from the roaring fires that blazed merrily on either side of the seat.
But it wasn’t that which caught the eye, nor the lofty arches that disappeared into darkness high above, where azurethingsdarted in and out of view. Empty rows of pews carved from rich hardwoods did little to keep one's attention, nor did the multitude of art on the wall or various pedestals.
No, all focus was immediately drawn to the woman sitting on the throne. Draped in living shadow, all I could see—besides the slender shape of her definitely feminine body—were her eyes. They were twin ovals of perfect ultramarine, so vivid and piercing that all focus in the chamber was drawn to them.
Which was probably just how the Dark Lady wanted it.
Evil rolled off her in waves, practically filling the room with malevolence. An act, I wondered, or just her natural state? It was impossible to tell, but regardless, I knew her power wasn’t something I wanted to trifle with. She would squash me flat with less than a thought.
“Bring her forth.”
I shivered at the Dark Lady’s voice. It was cool but hard. Like spring water frozen into diamonds, it reached out and captured me, urging me on with a life of its own. I tried to resist the pull of her magic, but I was a babe before a master, a match flickering before an out-of-control wildfire.
I stood no chance. The guards paused while their leader alone escorted me closer to the foot of the throne. It was only as we got close that I realized just how huge it was. The lady must have rivaled Korr’ok in height, and the throne was built to size. She towered over us, looking down from her position.
“Interesting,” she said as I came to a stop. Her head tilted slightly to the side.
I bit back my natural reply ofIf you think so. What she thought was interesting, I didn’t know.
“How did you come to be on my lands?” the Dark Lady asked.
I started to shrug, but a vitriolic look from the Fae captain stopped me. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But according to him, I’m a Fae who was killed and thus banished back here.”
“You aren’t a Fae?”
Now I did shrug. “He’s telling me otherwise, but I’ve lived my entire life among humans,beinghuman. I find it hard to believe I’m some magical creature. How could I have been oblivious for so long?”
The figure shifted on the throne, shadows parting for just a moment, giving me a glimpse of the woman’s face. Her beauty staggered me, nearly driving me to my knees as my brain tried to process and failed. She was perfection. Every inch of skin flawless, every curve perfect.
She was everything I, and every other woman, was not and would never be.
And I hated her for it.
“There are ways for such things to happen,” the Dark Lady said, her perfectly plump limps curling upward into a wicked smile. “Especially for a half-breed.”
I stiffened.
“Oh, yes,” she replied. “That is what you are. I can smell your human heritage from here, a truly unpleasant odor. It betrays you, you know. I can all but taste your fear, your nervousness. It is rife in the air. You are no Fae, but nor are you truly human either.”
“Then … who am I?” I asked nervously. “How was I tricked into coming off as human?”
The Dark Lady lifted a hand, and a spark of blue leaped from her index finger and plunged into my stomach. I hissed at the pain, but it was gone just as quickly as it came, carrying a trace of me back to the Lady.
She examined the magic, moving her long, delicate-fingered hands in weird ways, seeing things only she could see.
