Page 143 of A Trial of Two Worlds
“I’ll kill him,” Daxton replied with a stone-cold edge. “And trust me, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Go ahead,” Minaeve said as she clicked her tongue in annoyance at my brother’s hesitation.
“What?” Seamus fought to gaze at his queen, to whom he dedicated the past five centuries of servitude and obedience.
Serves you right.
Minaeve dared to step closer, her guards materializing on all sides, unveiled by Anjani’s magic. “Despite everything I’ve granted you, Seamus, I find that you’re still insufficient to my cause.”
I almost,almost,felt sorry for the unfortunate soul.
“Kill him,Daxton,” Minaeve said.
The only reason my brother hesitated was becauseshewas giving the command.
“Kill him!” Minaeve roared again, her shadows blasting outward into the night and latching onto Daxton’s blade, willing Valencia to make the final strike and end Seamus’s existence in this life.
“No!” I heard Rhett’s exclamation without ever seeing him.
From behind an illusion, Rhett lunged for Minaeve and tackled her to the ground. The tendrils of shadow dropped as Minaeve’s guards turned on Rhett in a flash. Anjani appeared behind them, her brows raised and eyes wide with panic.
Rhett was restrained and hauled to his feet. One of the guards gripped the back of Rhett’s hair, revealing a unique patch of freckles in the shape of a crescent moon at the nape of his neck I hadn’t noticed before.
Minaeve struggled to compose herself with Anjani’s aid. “Get off me!” Minaeve spat, swatting Anjani’s hand. “Go and find it!”
Anjani nodded before backing away and disappearing.
The queen’s hands glided across the skirt of her overly extravagant gown before racing up to tame her raven hair, when her fingers stopped at the crown of her head.
“My, my—” Minaeve’s eyes widened with terror as she spun toward Rhett. “No… You—”
Rhett only smiled as he freed his arm from a guard’s grasp, lifting Minaeve’s golden crown of three gems overhead before violently smashing it to pieces at his feet.
“No!” Minaeve roared as a blast of magic exploded across the Inner Kingdom.
A bright flash of white light illuminated the final moments of the darkened skies as my skull, my gods-damned skull, felt like it was splitting in two. I cried out and buckled to my knees. My hands pressed against my temples to try and prevent my mind from tearing. My vision became a blur as every living soul surrounding me also collapsed, the same tormenting headache assaulting their minds. I fell to my side, groaning with a foreign pain.
Was this some kind of attack?
Prying my eyes open, I saw Dax and Seamus grasping their heads. Their screams joined the choruses of others ringing through the fragments of dawn, daring to peek over the eastern horizon.
“Gah!” I roared as my vision blurred once more. It felt like a premonition was absorbing me, but no, not a premonition of the future. These were visions of my past.
My… My memories.
They cascaded like an open waterfall, smashing onto the awaiting rocks below in a violent collision. The current of them whipped and overflowed in every facet of my mind. Reforging all that had been stolen, painting them into a new tapestry of a vibrant array of colors before my eyes.
“My Gods.” I could hardly breathe.
I trembled beneath the weight of the truth returned through my memories—ourstolen memories. I braced myself to push onto my hands and knees. My eyes met my brother’s with a newfound breath of life.
“Minaeve,” I growled as every High Fae in the field turned their attention toward the false queen.
Minaeve stood her ground with her shoulders pulled back and the air of arrogance shining through her false sense of royalty. I beheld her with a new sense of loathing, finally witnessing the depths of her wicked nature.
Minaeve’s skin, which always held a golden magical hue, was dull and ordinary. Her raven hair contrasted against the glow of the approaching dawn as her haunting turquoise eyes remained hard as stone.
But her ears… Hercurvedears, now bore the reality of her true heritage.
