The Heir and the Undoing

Chapter 1

Duncan's lips still held that mocking smile, but I could feel the fear rolling off him in waves as tendrils of my power brushed his skin.

He felt it. Perhaps he even saw the darkness swirling inside of me through my eyes.

I had never heard another fae describe their power as anything but a part of themselves. Mine was not a part of me. It was an entity of its own. A being that screeched its fury and thirsted for revenge.

It had always been there; I realised. Waiting until I needed it so it could rise up. Uncertainty at what it was almost made me pull it back inside of me. Almost made me spare a killer.

Then I shifted back off my knees, barely able to feel the sting of the uneven ground against my shins. The movement reminded me of the weight of my brother's body in my lap. The weight of my loss.

The power needed no permission. It felt my pain and struck out, reaching inside of the cruel Prince of Nirin and twisting. Ripping and pulling. It was undoing; I realised. Undoing his very essence.

His mouth opened to scream, but no sound left his body. I'm not sure I would have even heard it if he had over the ringing in my ears. Blood trickled from his parted lips and light faded from his yellow-gold eyes as he fell back and the shadows consumed him.

My power roared now. It's triumphant noise loud enough to silence a battlefield.

I sat up with a gasp, fingers scrabbling at the silk sheets as I fought to ground myself. I felt the thing stir inside of me, sensing my panic and searching to see if it was needed again. With great effort, I concentrated on calming my breathing and promising it I was fine. It moved restlessly before making a small chattering noise and settling down inside me again.

Another nightmare. So vivid it had felt like I was back there. Reliving the moment my power killed for the first time. Not that it had killed since. Though it tried its hardest on more than one occasion.

Running a shaking hand through my hair, I realised there was very little chance I would be able to sleep again.

Every night for the last two weeks had been the same. With a kingdom to rule, and no time for processing my grief, the only moment I could fall apart was within these walls each night and not even my dreams were safe.

At least I hoped I had a kingdom to rule. Some of the more political Lords and Ladies had questioned my eligibility, bringing up an arbitrary rule about needing to marry and having a Consort before I could claim my crown.

A crown I was born to. It was mine by right and if they thought I would relinquish it without a fight; they were sorely mistaken.

Soon the Council would rule on whether the law would stand and when that happened, I would know what I needed to do. I hoped it wouldn't involve a Consort. The idea of choosing one of those social climbing monsters to stand by my side for the rest of our lives, just weeks after I lost my last remaining family, seemed an unspeakably cruel act.

Not that the Lords and Ladies of either court cared for what I was going through. All that mattered to them was trying to position their son or daughter to be as close to the crown as possible.

It hadn't been a topic brought up when my brother took over from our parents and it didn't take a Seer to work out why. Clearly, they thought my femininity weakened the kingdom. If only they knew what this weak little woman had done during our battle. But I could never reveal that. Not unless I wanted my parentage and fit to rule questioned more than it already was.