MIDDLE GROUND

46

Violet's POV

The King has gone mad. He sentenced both his daughter and his Queen to death by beheading.

When I first heard Nyx's voice in my head, I thought I was going mad. It's not everyday someone just pops into your mind and starts talking. And it was no secret I had a crush on him so I thought maybe I'd gone crazy.

He said he was going to ask Maeve to pose as the Princess and that everyone should look and act normal while all was in chaos.

If only Nyx had told me that Maeve had agreed to his plan I would never have gone through with it. Once we successfully separated from the Princess, we had Maeve in a convincing glamor with what I was told was a protection spell made up of a bundle of dried herbs that she stashed away in her dress. If only they would have told me, maybe I could have saved her. I most certainly would have taken her place.

Arriving at the Kings study we heard wailing and the Queen pleading for her daughters life. My eyes shot open and I tried to turn us around but Nyx and Maeve stood with their heads held high and their eyes forward. Why was I the only one freaking out?!

Maeve was a young sprite, just starting her life at the castle. How could Nyx put her up to this? He couldn't. He wouldn't. I had to assume the protection spelled pouch of herbs were a sure thing; why else would they both look so calm and cool under these circumstances.

"Your Majesty, the Princess has arrived. Escorted by Nyx and Lady Violet."

The doors opened to a frightening scene. The King stood over the Queen who was kneeling before him. Her eyes were swollen from crying, her dress a mess, and it looked like he had ripped the crown right off of her head. It takes hours to weave the hair in and secure the Queen's crown. She had blood dripping from her scalp. The crown lay nearby with pieces of hair and skin. I almost puked at the sight.

The King's eyes looked wide with anger. He wasn't making any sense.

"She's not my daughter, she's my brothers daughter. And for that, she must die."

I couldn't fathom it. The King had killed his brother years ago after he made a play for the crown. They were only 2 years apart in age but looked like twins. After he killed his own brother for plotting against him, many questioned who had been put to death.

Nyx put it everything together. The Queen had loved her King. They had mated and created a daughter, Evelyn. When she stole away to the mortal realm it broke the King's heart. That's how Nyx found out that the man standing in front of us now was in fact the King's brother.

A broken heart can kill a faery. He was no match for his brother but he had one last wish: for his brother to take them in as his own. The King being unaware of what abuses were going on in the mortal realm or if Kathy would ever come back for him, he died with the thought that they were happy and safe.

After spending the night with Evelyn, Nyx went to the King to show him images of what had occurred between her and her stepfather. Although he knew of these now and had welcomed both Kathy and Evelyn into his home, he hadn't gotten to see it the way Nyx was able to show him. Nyx can plant only fragments of a memory into others and Nyx had picked the wrong moment of the memory to share.

The King was livid when he saw his niece having sex with her stepfather and in his mind, she enjoyed it. He decided then and there that the Queen would be put to death for her crimes against the royal family. She had taken his brothers rightful heir to the mortal realm and left her there to return to her beloved. He apparently wanted to execute her when she came back to the land of the fog at first. The Queen hadn't noticed that the King wasn't the one she had mated with years ago. It was a betrayal in his eyes.

When he saw the memory of his niece sleeping with her stepfather, it was the last straw. Neither of them would ever be worthy of the crown and therefore had to die.

I remember watching Maeve go up to the King and speak as though she were Evelyn.

"Father, that is not what happened, if you'd only let me explain..."

He had the audacity to laugh at her before slapping her across the face. "Explain? Explain how you fucked your stepfather after your mummy came here to claim her thrown? Explain how you two were probably planning this from the beginning and would probably end up murdering me to get to the crown? Maybe explain to me how much you withered in enjoyment as he took your virginity. PLEASEFUCKINGEXPLAINTHAT EVELYN!"

I tried to stop him but Nyx held me back. Maeve was beheaded right in front of my eyes. That's when I knew that the bag of spelled herbs weren't for protection but to strengthen the glamor so when she was executed, she wore the face of our Princess and not her own.

"Take this filth to the dungeon to await death and clean up this mess. I don't want to see a spot of blood staining my carpet or walls. Nyx, thank you for your loyal service as always. You may go."

Nyx dragged me out of there holding my mouth shut so I wouldn't get killed. It wasn't until after we left the study that Nyx explained how Maeve was ready to die for her Princess and even if the glamor wore off when she was executed, she looked more like the Princess than I did. He brought me back to his house and explained how he must have shown the wrong part of Evelyn's memory and once that happened the King went mad with rage and wouldn't listen to another word from Nyx.

"Our true King, may he rest in peace, was paranoid about his brother but the Prince had always been paranoid. He didn't want Kathy to come back because he was certain she would see that he wasn't his brother and out him. When she didn't he kept his word to his brother and needed to find a way to get Evelyn here."

I just nodded in disbelief. It made sense but I was completely numb. He paced back and forth after putting the kettle on for tea.

"He was hanging by a thread, Violet. I knew it and I still decided to show him what that fucking monster had done to our Princess. Both of her so called fathers betrayed her. I-I...I betrayed her."

Nyx hadn't looked me in the eye since he brought me to his home in the woods to explain everything.

"When did you know the King was really the Prince?"

The kettle whistled. He put out two teacups already filled with loose leaf tea and poured in the boiling hot water.

"I knew almost immediately. It has been odd working with him always tip-toing around the subject. He knows I that I know, but since I've never said anything he's seen me as a valuable resource to keep around. And honestly Violet, as the years went on I had tricked myself into believing he really was the rightful King." Nyx's head hung low and I saw a tear drop splash into his teacup. "I should have saved her."

"You did." Sitting at the table with him I laid my hand over his and tried to sooth him. "I can't believe Maeve was willing to... to um, ya know." I choked up my own eyes filling with tears that shed for everyone. For my true King. For my Princess. For Maeve. Even that ghastly woman who brought Evelyn into this world. "... do that. She was so young Nyx. Too young."

He finally looked up and told me to sip my tea. When he was able to compose himself a little bit he went on to explain each tea leaf, herb, and dried flower. It was a delicious white tea, full of antioxidants and no caffeine which would help us get some sleep.

Although he offered to take the couch, I asked him to hold me until I fell asleep. We cried until we had no tears left to spare. Falling asleep in his arms was a little slice of heaven although we had just gone through hell. And our duties to the Princess hadn't ended tonight, oh no, they had just begun.

All we could hope for was her safety and he said that the vampires would protect her with their lives. He was sure of it.

I was sure I needed to speak with Maeve's family, if she had one. I didn't know her that well. I would at least make a bouquet for her grave and tend to it as often as I could. She saved the Princess with her own life. What a brave little sprite. In my anger I thought of how stupid she was for going along with all of this but in the end she had a spirit of a true warrior. She may have met her end on the battlefield, but her death would not be in vein.