Shadow Queen (Gods & Dark Creatures Book 2)

Chapter 7

"You have more shadows than I remember," Ciaran remarked.

"I don't trust Arawn," Amaya replied. "I will not enter his world without an army of my own."

"If you don't trust him, why are we going to him?" Ciaran didn't understand.

"Because we need his help," she said. "You will become king and I must hide from my Keres."

"I will only be king if you will be my queen, Amaya," said Ciaran.

"That will depend on what conditions Arawn sets," Amaya said.

"Nothing will make me leave you."

"Instinct of self-preservation."

"You could have left too and you didn't."

Cailleach sighed in annoyance. "Your emotions are unbearable," she said.

"It's rude to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation," Amaya retorted.

"Decency is for the people," said Cailleach. "You've obviously been spending too much time around them."

"They're definitely better company than you," Amaya shot back.

"I don't understand why the Shadow King would waste time with someone like you," Cailleach said offended. "You despise him and would rather associate with a worthless person."

"Arawn and I feel the same disdain for each other, but we need each other. That's the only thing that binds us together." Amaya said.

Cailleach laughed. "Emotions are a weakness."

Amaya was silent. She knew it. She grew up with it. It was a rule she always followed. It was sacred. Like faith. Emotions are a weakness and she is not weak.

But now she had one weakness. A great weakness. And she couldn't get rid of it. As much as she could deny it, she couldn't shake it off.

She felt something to Ciaran.

She felt a lot.

It swirled inside her and pulled her down to the depths where she was drowning.

"Your weakness is obvious." Cailleach cut through the judgmental silence.

Amaya didn't say anything, she didn't want to be led into her trap, but Ciaran couldn't stand being silent.

"People see love as power."

Cailleach laughed again. "Stupid people," she said. "Do you really think Amaya loves you?" she asked him.

"I have no reason to believe not," replied Ciaran confidently.

Cailleach stopped. Everyone stopped. She measured Ciaran carefully with her icy gaze. Ciaran didn't even flinch. Het didn't give her the pleasure of seeing the fear of a being so powerful that it ruled the entire Snowy Mountains. She turned to Amaya. She put on a stone mask. She didn't show anything. She was as cold as the Queen of Winter herself.

"We are dark creatures, Prince Forsaken." She gave Ciaran a wicked grin. "We don't know such a thing as love. We are lustful, but it quickly fades. Sooner or later she will find a replacement for you. Might always win, and the Shadow King is the most powerful."

"Or am I wrong?" she directed her question at Amaya. "Do you love that man, girl blessed by the gods?"

Amaya looked at Ciaran. She saw the anger and tension boiling in him. His hand was on the hilt of his sword. She saw in him the desire to kill Cailleach.

She was cornered. No matter how she answers, it will be wrong. There was no right answer.

"Neither of you would like my answer, so I'd rather stay silent," Amaya finally spoke.

She saw the anger in Ciaran's eyes turn to disappointment. She knew the reason why, but it still hurt. Cailleach was not thrilled with her answer either. Amaya no longer desired power. Used to. Once because it was the path to what she most desired. In Deira, with Ciaran, however, she found out that it goes the other way.

That maybe she could even have something more.

Home.

Amaya did not like where Cailleach had driven her. But she forgot that she was vindictive. The Winter Queen made one big mistake, getting too close to her.

Amaya grabbed her arm and got into her head. She looked for her weaknesses. She was showing her her worst nightmares.

She once loved a man. In times when there were no big kingdoms and cities fought among themselves for territories. She fell in love with a human king ruling the forest on the edge of the Snowy Mountains. Her love for him blinded her. She helped him gain power. The fear of her power helped him keep people under control. She thought they would rule together, but she didn't see that he was just using her. When he suddenly no longer needed her, he banished her to the mountains.

"Monsters are not among us welcome," he said that day and those words broke her heart.

She was angry. She was furious. As punishment for his betrayal, she summoned eternal winter to the village. Everything froze. People became ice sculptures. And so they remain to this day. She kept them as her trophies.

She kept him.

Amaya made her relive it all. The anger. That pain. That hope that crumbled to dust. She didn't let her forget.

She will never forget.

Cailleach broke free from her grip. She fell to her knees. She gasped. Amaya turned her face to her.

"I hope this has taught you to never try to attack my weaknesses again when yours are so obvious and vulnerable," she told her with venom on her tongue. "Next time I'll tear you apart from the inside, piece by piece, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"That person of yours will eventually betray you anyway," Cailleach said, taming her anger.

"It already happened and here we are," Amaya said with a mischievous smirk on her lips. "Now get us out of the mountains!" she ordered.

"No!" Cailleach refused.

"Want to risk the wrath of the Shadow King?"

"He thinks he is a god. Without you, he will remain trapped in the shadows forever."

"Bad decision."

Amaya touched her again, forcing her mind to feel the pain. Her body convulsed. She wanted to call her wolves to attack, but Amaya's shadows cut them off. Pain gripped her neck and she couldn't find her breath. She tried to summon the wolves, but the words wouldn't come out of her throat. She dug her nails into the snow. She grunted.

"Enough!" said Ciaran. He couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

Amaya agreed. She released Cailleach from her power. She breathed cold air into her lungs.

"Be glad for his mercy. I wouldn't show it to you," Amaya told her. "Now show us the way and don't try your tricks."

"As you wish," Cailleach hissed with fury in her eyes.