Page 69 of Awakening the Dark Throne
I smiled only for a brief second, reminding myself of the fire I was toying with.
She went to strike him again, but a cold mist came over the hall. Shivers went down my spine as I looked up to see what was happening.
Black fog swept through the room in an instant. The guards pulled Otar back to the platform as others appeared from the sides of the throne and surrounded Queen Daealla. The court began to look at each other frantically. Out of the black mist formed bodies. They appeared into focus one after another. Twelve dark alfar warriors stood in a circle. Erendrial Lyklor appeared last. He did enjoy grand entrances.
Erendrial stepped forward, his long black jacket perfectly pressed. His hands were folded behind his back as that wicked smile stretched across his face. He gave a half bow.
“Queen Daealla, King Atros, first let me say congratulations on the wedding ceremony. Though I am a bit hurt I was not invited.” He looked directly at Gaelin. “I thought we had developed a mutual respect the last time I visited.”
“How dare you enter this court unannounced. How did you mist through our runes?” demanded Queen Daealla.
“We disarmed them the last time we were here,” Erendrial said, winking at her.
“How dare you,” she snarled.
“Yes, yes, bad dark alfar, I know,” he said mockingly. “Now, please let me continue to extend our condolences on the sudden and unexpected death of your mother and father. What a terrible way to go,” he said, looking at Otar. “Our friend here doesn’t like to stay dead apparently.”
Otar smiled at him.
“What do you want, Ambassador Lyklor?” asked Gaelin.
“My king and our court would like to guarantee we start this new regime on the right foot,” continued Erendrial.
“And what have you come to offer?” snapped the queen.
“Actually, I have come to propose a peaceful trade.”
Daealla shrieked in amusement. “Of course, you have. Gods forbid you come to offer something without anything in return,” she said.
Erendrial shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a businessman at heart.” He held her gaze.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“We will get to that, but first, let me tell you what I can offer you. I can give you the key to finding the alfar or human who assisted our friend here in the attack on your court,” said Erendrial.
My hands began to quiver. Shit, shit, shit.
The queen’s face went blank as she mulled over the offer.
“For what in return?” Gaelin finally asked.
Erendrial tilted his head, scrunching his face together. “Unfortunately, I can’t reveal that yet, but I promise you, queen, what we take you will not miss. It is a small price to pay for discovering the traitor in your court, I assure you,” he said with certainty.
Queen Daealla looked down at the floor as she thought. Gaelin leaned over and whispered harshly, no doubt trying to talk her out of the deal. Whatever the dark court wanted it couldn’t be good. It would hurt the light court in the long run. You couldn’t trust a dark alfar, especially Erendrial. Even I knew that.
The queen flung her hand up to Gaelin, whispering something aggressively in his direction. She calmed herself before turning back to Erendrial. She looked at Otar and then nodded at Erendrial. “You have a deal,” she said.
Erendrial smiled widely in satisfaction. That same smile I had seen so many times in my visions. “Excellent, onto business then. The accessory to our friend Otar here will have a sigil marked in black on their left wrist. It is an upside-down triangle with an arch going through it, encased in a circle,” he said cheerfully.
I began trembling. How could he know? It made no sense. Otar said no one knew about his secrets. I held my left wrist tightly with my right hand as I began to shake. Get yourself together, Gen. You knew death was an option, now face your fate with dignity.
“Guards, check each other first and then begin to search the room,” demanded Queen Daealla. The guards did as they were told. Ten minutes into the search, they finally began to search the humans. This was it. My end. A guard stood in front of me, grabbing my left wrist with aggression. I brought my eyes up to his and held my head high. He pulled back my sleeve to reveal my sigil.
The guard grabbed me by the neck, carrying me through the rows of tables before throwing me down to the floor in between Daealla, Gaelin, and Erendrial. Gaelin’s face went white as the guard held up my wrist to reveal the imprint. Queen Daealla’s eyes widened so intensely, I thought they were going to pop from her head. Erendrial folded his arms across his chest, bringing a hand to his mouth as he laughed.
“Well, this is delightfully delicious,” Erendrial said behind me.
I glanced at Otar. He looked back with those yellow eyes, still smiling as if this was all entertainment for him and his life wasn’t on the line here either.
