CHAPTER 85

Not a box, Faye realized. A coffin.

Alister took her by the throat, turning her to face him. He turned to Rune and said, "You shield her brother. But did you teach her to breathe underwater?"

Faye's heart hammered in her ears as terror stole her focus. She kicked and thrashed, frantically grabbing at Alister's hold. She'd trained and prepared for a fight. To clash with his swords. She never imagined he would drown her.

Alister met her fearful gaze with a smile. "I would have just taken your pretty head. It's Rune's fault you die hard now."

"Wait—"

The next instant, she was submerged. Ice-cold water ripped the breath from her lungs. The hand at her throat held her in its frigid depths. Faye twisted and kicked her legs, grasping for purchase. Her nails were tearing as they raked across the roughened wood.

Her lungs burned, demanding air. She clawed at the arm holding her to her death, reaching higher, shredding fabric.

Faye gasped for air only to be choked with water. This wasn't happening. She couldn't die here. Wouldn't die here. Not after she found the love and acceptance, she craved all her life. Not when Rune would give her the little boy and girl she longed for. Not when she could protect Anarians from vicious dark-bloods.

Her magic rose with her mental cadence as she gazed up at the distorted whites and golds through the water's surface.

Death will come for me, but not today.

Faye's strength flared, power arcing off her back and a crash followed. Her wings free her from her watery prison. She sucked greedy breaths of air and closed her hand. The hilt of her dagger answering her summons.

"Death will come for me, but not today!" She screamed, baring her teeth as she plunged the dagger into Alister's side.

He hissed a breath, releasing her to pull the dagger free. A gray mist curved from the bloodied blade, continuing to enter his wound. Alister threw the blade, sending it clattering over the marble. It skidded to a stop at the emptied chairs surrounding them.

Even distanced, the mist continued its work.

Alister choked. The veins in his neck strained as he struggled to breathe.

Faye rushed to him, still struggling with her own choking breaths. She took his face in her hands and leaned close. The wet strands of her black hair fell over Alister's face, as she whispered to him before he went still.

She gazed at him; his expression slackened as he rested in a spelled sleep that would heal the injuries she'd inflicted.

Faye got to her feet and dropped her shields. Rune phased to her side as she floated Alister's body to the table, laying him before Jareth. "If you would please see that he is taken home. He will wake in a few hours."

"Of course," Jareth answered with a solemn nod.

Rune's arms encircled her, pulling her against him. Her wings squeezed tight to his chest. "You are reckless," he murmured in her ear.

"I didn't expect him to try to drown me." Faye took a deep breath, clearing her throat. "Sometimes you have to take a blow to deliver one."

She shifted in his arms, and he answered with a low growl before tightening his hold. Faye shoved him harder, whispering, "I'm getting you wet."

"This charade grows tiresome. How dare you not only display a fictitious shard, but have the audacity to display ten of them." The High Queen leaned back in her chair.

Faye glanced up at the unmounted shards floating around her, not realizing she'd summoned them.

Rune's chest vibrated as he growled, "Lyssa."

"Everyone is given one shard." The High Queen leaned forward, getting to her feet while laying her palms on the table. "The Creator had one shard. The Shadow Prince has one shard. This." The High Queen sneered, waving at Faye. "This monstrous bitch is a mockery."

Rune released Faye and took a threatening step toward the High Queen. A small carved box appeared in his hand. Opening it, he floated his two unmounted shards of Darkness for the High Council to see. "I carry three shards of Darkness. If you believe this to be but my vanity, by all means, draw power from them."

The color drained from Lyssa's face as she stepped away from the table. Her eyes fixed on his shards as silence dragged between them.

"Since it appears our commitments have cleared," Morbid dramatically motioned to the now empty seats surrounding The Eyes. "I shall also take my leave." He bowed to Faye and said with a feline grin, "Your court is formed, my Lady."

Morbid vanished. The other council members quickly followed. Leaving only Faye and her newly formed court.

Rune stepped behind her, snaking his arm around her waist before pulling her against him. He smoothed his lips over the side of her neck, his teeth scraping her skin. "What is the name of your new court, my queen?" He rasped.

Faye leaned into him, caressing the side of his face, and answered, "The Court of Chaos and Darkness."

Alister Jerked Awake.He Scanned his surroundings, assessing his situation. He expected to be imprisoned in Standing Shadows, his father's crystalline palace. Or tied to a torturer's wrack with Rune waiting for him to wake before he went to work on him.

Instead Alister was in his home. His own bed.

He gingerly touched his side, feeling for the wound Rune's chosen left him. There was no pain. Alister pulled up his shirt. His mouth went slack as he stared. His alabaster skin was untouched. There was no wound.

Rune had the opportunity to kill him, and she'd chosen mercy.

"Jareth," Alister called for his brother, getting out of bed.

"On the front porch with Prin." His brother answered.

Alister stepped onto his porch. Prinia had chosen this cottage so long ago. A place Alister expected to spend a quiet life with the woman he loved. Jareth and Prinia sat in rocking chairs overlooking the flower fields she once loved.

"He didn't come for her." Alister smoothed his fingertips over the side of Prinia's face, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear before taking his seat next to her. His mind reeled.

"Time has changed both of you."

Alister didn't respond.

"You live. Proof his queen is gentle," Jareth said.

Alister nodded, taking Prinia's hand. "Rune somehow found a kind queen." Her words circled his mind.

Rune has gravely wronged you. I will make it right.

Alister no longer remembered the sound of Prinia's voice. How she would laugh as he slowly exhaled when she picked these ugly flowers every day.

Hope became a bitter thing to him. He hoped she would return to him. Hoped each morning when he woke, he would see recognition in her eyes. He held onto that hope for decades. The centuries that followed without his kind, gentle Prinia, petrified his heart. His bitterness twisted him.

But Rune's queen sought to save her. Bring his Prin back to him.

For the first time in centuries, Alister let himself hope.

THE END.