Page 17 of The Queen The Fae Forgot
“Surely, Eckhardt …” she gasped, taking in the tightly wound gag digging into the sides of her once-daughters’ face, “that’s a bit much.”
Eckhardt’s head cocked to the side slightly and a muscle worked at the outer corner of his jaw, perhaps in annoyance as if her words grated at him, but he did nothing to defy her. He simply made a small gesture with his hands and the guards reached to unbind Fauna’s tongue.
The moment the gag was released, however, a string of curses streamed from the changeling’s mouth until even the guard’s hand that still held the strip of fabric twitched, as if he was considering returning it to its former place.
The curses soon jumbled into meaningless screams as she began to attempt to bite her own tongue off—and the gag was replaced without the need for a second command.
The queen had straightened in her seat, her face paling as she tried to keep from flinching back a second time.
It didn’t matter that she knew this was a changeling, I realized.
She still loved her as a daughter.
Bitterness rose up in me as I saw the look that was rightfully mine, the sympathy and pain that the queen should have been feeling for me.
It was an ugly feeling, but at least it numbed some of my guilt.
My uncle, meanwhile, just let out a sigh as he came to stand beside the queen. Her loyal shadow.
“I’d always assumed Princess Fauna had inherited her mother’s temperament,” he said, shaking his head, “but it seems she picked that up along the way.”
It took me a moment to understand what he meant, and then a moment longer to believe my own ears. It wasn’t until I saw the look the queen was unable to keep from shooting his way, followed by the stifled guffaw from one of the guards at the door behind me, before I could.
I looked over my flaming-haired uncle with new eyes, if only for a moment.
Perhaps not so loyal after all.
It was just a comment, a jest, really, but even more important than the look he shot at the imposter who had taken my place, was the one he aimed next at me.
“We’ve had much time to think, Princess. Your arrival here has disrupted months of careful planning, months of work put into maintaining peace within a kingdom without its king.”
“If you’re expecting me to apologize—”
“No.” The queen’s response was curt and unexpected. “No, Aurra,” she said. “But we do expect you to comply.”
Comply.
I didn’t like the sound of that word, and neither—from the shift of feet behind me—did the fae of the Western Court.
“We should have known that there was something amiss. Usually, the power of the Tongues begins to transferbeforethe old ruler dies. When Fauna did not inherit it, we began to make preparations just in case she never did. The power of the Eastern Court would not hold without that glamour. It seems, however, that we were misguided,” the queen said, sharing a look with Eckhardt for a moment before she continued. “So now, we’ve made a new plan.”
She leaned forward toward me, hands splayed out on the table.
“Soon you will have a whole kingdom to attend to … one that needs your power now more than ever. But …”
I knew what was coming before she said it. The queen’s voice was steely and determined, her gaze cold and unyielding as she looked at me—into me—her words practiced and careful. It was a look I had seen many times before, but never like this. This time, there was no room for negotiation, no room for compromise.
What she was about to say had already been long decided, pre-meditated and planned in the hours and days I spent unable to do the same.
“These are troubled times in the kingdom of Luxia,” she said, her tone so measured it was almost as if she was reading off a script. “We must proceed with caution. Most rulers have a lifetime to prepare, to learn their role, their duties, their expectations as head of these faerie courts. Ruling a land like Luxia is not a simple task.”
“I never imagined it would be,” I said. I didn’t add that I’d barely imagined it at all. I was so focused on getting here, that I hadn’t had much thought for what it would actually be like when I got here. I’d been determined not to be shaken, but as the queen continued, I felt the weight that had first settled onto me when I got here grow heavier.
“The other courts have long coveted the seat of power the Eastern Court holds over them,” the queen said, her eyes leaving mine just long enough to catch the gaze of Shiel over my shoulder. “If word of our weakness spreads before you’re prepared to handle it, then bloodshed will be sure to follow.”
I’d expected the queen to put up a fight, to deny me my crown—but here she was, doing the exact opposite. Though she offered me warning, he warnings seemed fair enough.
It was almost too fair. Too easy.
