Dusk of the Realm

8

Eris whipped around, not daring to loosen her grip on the princess. Hivlik's eyes were wide and glassy, but he was still alive, choking on his own blood from the cut across his neck. She urged herself not to gag as she looked around without moving her body. She did not see anyone, but her magic felt them. Told her that there were intruders, and not just any, at that.

Fae.

Her stolen magic seemed almost to reach out to theirs, as if they were long-lost friends that had come to reclaim it. She snarled deep in her throat and pulled the force to her, wrapping it around her like a robe before tying it to her as she would a restraint.

Having a good idea of who it was that had not only managed to sneak into her base, but into this very room, Eris pulled the princess' back against her front, and flicked a dagger out of her sleeve. Then she pressed the edge against the little girl's delicate throat.

"Come out, come out, Warrior of the Moon," she chanted softly, reigning in her heartbeat just as she had her magic. "I'm sure you would prefer my hand to remain steady, after all."

There was a moment when Eris thought she might have been dreaming it all, when she was staring into the emptiness and silence of the room but for the crackling of flames. After all, how would anyone have gotten in here? There was no window, and the door had been guarded. Not to mention that the base itself was heavily secured. And she had not heard anyone, had not seen any sort of movement. Was it really possible that she had not paid close enough attention to her magic before to sense their approach?

The last question, at least, was answered when Tarin Wulf discarded his magic, appearing in the center of the room with his spine straight and his expression grim. Whatever he was feeling, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"So you know who I am. And I know who you are, as well," he stated, his voice just a whisper on the wind beyond the stone wall, an ember in the flames. "Your name is Eris. You call yourself a queen, but you do not have a single drop of royal blood."

She contained her shudder, not wanting this man to see the effect of what he was saying, but still felt a chill run down her spine. He was trying to unsettle her with this information he had somehow gathered. He wanted to distract her long enough to snatch the princess from her.

But she was not a fool. She knew that the girl she held was her only lifeline at this point, and so she clutched her tighter, reinforcing her grip on her blade as she did so. Wulf's eyes narrowed infinitesimally, but he did not stop speaking.

"You lived in Perpetuum with your parents, Oviddus and Leigh, until you disappeared from their home months ago with only a note saying you wanted to explore. You chose to come to the Realm. Somewhere along the way in these lands, you grew to hate the Fae and everything they could do, everything that they stand for."

Eris hissed like a caged animal. "I would stop talking if I were you, Wulf," she cautioned. The warrior moved a step closer, and the answer to another question she had asked earlier clicked into place in her mind: She had not heard them because they made no noise. Nothing.

"You thought to build up a weak but large army to challenge the race that had dared taunt you with their powers," he proclaimed, and Eris slid a small step back, hating herself for the noise she made while doing so. She had the girl's magic, but she had not mastered all aspects of it yet. Not even close. "The Fae, for their magic, the blessings of their heritage. And what better way to strike at those who call the Realm home than to threaten their princess?"

Eris made a noise in her throat and spat at the Fae's feet. "Stop speaking of your kind as though you are not one of them," she said, and there was a slight gleam in Wulf's eyes even as he took another step towards her. She knew that she was close to the table that Serena had been lying on earlier now, that there would be nowhere for her to go soon enough. She gripped the dagger with all her strength.