Page 91 of Fates Fulfilled
Lex’s heart raced. Her mother had never actually died in an avalanche, but that didn’t mean Lex wasn’t woefully aware of how deadly this land could be. And how deadly Garrin was.
Camille nearly carried Amund over to them, his large arm draped over her much smaller frame. His eyes were open and he was walking, if unsteadily. His powers must have been subdued by the alchemists.
“Fool,” the queen said. “You think downing a few of my men will stop me? I would have made you heir, and here you betray me.”
“I am already heir,” Garrin said.
“Not if our people discover you are not a child of my body.”
The alchemists on either side of the queen didn’t move, barely registering their prince’s impressive power over the elements. “My queen,” one of them said. “Would you like us to dispose of him?”
The queen’s eyes narrowed. “He has become a nuisance, has he not? Allow me.”
And just like that, the queen shot a lightning bolt at Garrin, throwing him off his feet and tossing him several yards away.
Lex scrambled to him, touching his face, his chest. “Talk to me,” she said as he lay with his eyes closed.
Seconds later, Garrin blinked and sat up, shaking his head as he did. Into the muzzles of two djune snarling above them.
The djune were quick and silent. Lex hadn’t felt them near until they were practically on top of them.
She clung to Garrin and sensed his magic flow out a second before the djune yapped and backed away, the scent of singed fur filling the air.
Garrin looked at the queen. “Why are you doing this?”
The queen touched her flawless hair as though ensuring no strand lay astray. “The question is, why not? I had hoped to have you at my side, but you are proving less mercenary and more common by the minute. I haven’t decided if it’s worth it to wait and see if you’ll come around.”
She walked slowly toward them, her men giving her a wide berth, the djune fanning out, and Lex’s heart thrummed in her chest.
“Why would I marry a man several times my age? For that matter, why would he marry me? We had an agreement. I was blessed with dual abilities—one in particular your father wished to utilize—and I would use my magic to make him more powerful. What else is there?”
Garrin rose unsteadily, his hand pressed to his chest where the queen had struck him. “You feel nothing for our people? For the kingdom?”
The queen smiled. “You always were soft in that way.Caringabout the people. Our royal magic and lineage keeps the food from freezing. It keeps them fed!” She let out a slow breath as though to calm herself. “Without us, there would be no Dark Fae.”
Lex sensed tension radiating off Garrin, but his voice was level when he said, “What did you get out of the arrangement?”
The queen’s eyes narrowed, and her mouth turned up slightly. “That is the question, is it not? Your father, in his infinite wisdom, thought being queen was all a young woman of his realm could ever desire. That I would be satisfied with the power my new status provided.” She chuckled. “He never did understand women.” She glanced at Camille, still holding up Amund. “Not your mother, and certainly not his first wife.
“To be fair, his first wife hadn’t my ambition. She was more like you and cared for every little whim of the people. And look where that got her? A frozen grave. Ironic, is it not? Your father’s first wife wanted nothing more than to continue the legacy of Dark Fae, and in the end, her demise and your father’s punishment is what entrapped us. Well, you can see why he needed me.”
She strode closer, power emanating off her in waves. “Your father needed someone to help him…navigate.To persuade.” She grinned, and a chill ran up Lex’s arms.
Lex read the power and realized the queen was using it to dampen Garrin’s anger. Using it to make them believe the queen only wanted what was right, and even Lex felt the pull to side with her.
Garrin squeezed his brow. “Stop it, Mother. You don’t need to convince me of your innocence.”
Had the queen persuaded Garrin into believing her?
Before Lex could figure out the answer to that question, the air shimmered next to them.
Lex held up her arm to block her eyes against the glare of magic on white snow, and then a portal opened.
The king and two guards stepped onto the mountaintop.
One of the guards immediately threw up and collapsed, his face ashen.
The king looked at the sick soldier and snarled at Garrin. “You will suffer for your disobedience. Look at what you subjected me to. I had to use the only other portal creator in the land. His power is so weak after a couple of leaps, he is barely conscious.” The king’s gaze slid to the queen. “Wife, what precisely do you think you’re doing?”
