Queen of Nothing

Chapter 20

I follow my sister in silence to a nearby cave. The silence is awkward but nothing I could say would change that. So I choose to remain silent. When we reach the cave I can see a person sitting inside it. He seems to be tied up and gagged. As I take a closer look I'm surprised to recognise the man. It is Grimsen the blacksmith. I turn to my sister. "Where did you find him?"

"I went with Eldar to the palace to scout the area."

"You spend a lot of time with him recently." Vivienne crosses her arms and gives me an accusing look. I can feel my cheeks flush. After how she found me and Cardan I know exactly what she is thinking. I quickly turn my attention back to Grimsen. "Maybe he knows something." I remove his gag. He looks at me with suspicion. "Last time I saw you, you were kneeling before Cardan's throne as he gave you your freedom to act independently."

"Last time I saw you, you were still pretending to be his Seneschal."

"I was never pretending. I was his Seneschal." Grimsen let out a sound that could have been a huff or a laugh. "Whatever you wanna call it then, your Majesty." I grimace. "Word travels fast..."

"It always does. But you knew that, human Queen of Elfheim."

"So what made you run from us?"

"You know that given my talents... many would try to use me for their plans."

"I'm aware Balekin and Queen Orlagh have tried to make use of your- gifts."

"Then you know why I left." I frown. "Do I?" The smile he gives me is of a tired old man. But that's what he wants me to see, I tell myself. Never underestimate your enemies. "You are a smart girl. I'm sure you know enough to form yourself a picture of the truth."

"Perhaps, But I am still asking you." He shakes his head. "That is not what you are after at all."

"And you know what I'm after?" He just nods a small smile on his lips. His whisper is so soft I am not sure of Vivi can hear it. "Power, a way for you to keep power." I stiffen like he just slapped me across the face. I glance at Vivi. Her face expression yields nothing. "Vivi can you find Oak? He went looking for you. We shouldn't leave him alone here for long." A shadow falls over her face as she studies me. I hold my breath. My heartbeat quickens with the building tension. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine here. I will find you both later." She narrows her eyes at me. I'm not sure what it is she sees in this moment. My fear or my lie. After a tense moment she finally nods. "Don't take to long." She nods at Grimsen. "He talks a lot when the day is long." I give her a smile and nod. "Find Oak."

"Of course I will." And with that my sister leaves us alone.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Grimsen whisper makes me jump.

"Knows what?" His knowing smile makes me almost call Vivi back.

"Your true desires. I don't blame you of course. I have see power corrupt even the purest of souls."

"I'm not interested to discuss this with you."

"Oh, but you are! Who better than the blacksmith who could make you a bloodcrown?" I rest my hand on the Hilt of my blade. "Are you trying to trick me?" He leans forward as if to better look at me. "No. I want to help you. But in return I want something from you." I swallow. "How can you help me?"

"I can make you a crown to match the High King's. One closely tied to it's wearer. It will tie your life human live to his. You will age and live like him. Should he die before your human live is over, you will live the rest of your human live. Should he die long after your human live should have ended, you will die with him." For a long moment I just stare at him. To have a human live that long is not possible. He must be lying. But fae can't lie. "How is that possible? A human can not live as long as the faeries."

"It has never been done before. No one ever said it was impossible."

"So what makes you think this will work if it has never been done before?"

"Because never in the history of Elfheim, has a king married a human Queen for love. Making her his equal. Lovers of the king are always seen as less." I cross my arms and start to pace. This can't be real. It most all be some dream or hallucination. She was going mad. Maybe Grimsen wasn't even truly here. Maybe she just made him up so he can offer her all her fantasies on a silver platter. The laughter bubbled out so abruptly that I could do nothing to stop it. The hysterical laughter sounded so strange that it took me a long moment to realise that it was mine. It took an even longer moment to calm my laughter completely. I look at Grimsen expecting him to be gone or look at me in horror. But he just sat there studying my with clear eyes. There was no judgement there, just calculation. Cold calculation that he knew exactly what she wanted. And with that the knowledge that he could manipulate her. The clarity of that made her pose her pacing. He thought he knew her. He thought he could use it against her. She would have to let him keep that believe if she was to outsmart him. So she walked up to him and sat down in front of him. "Tell me Grimsen. How do I secure this crown?" I give him my most wicked smile, the smile I copied from Cardan.

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Sorry it took me so long to update this. But I had to make some very hard decisions on how to end this. I had three endings in mind and could not decide which would be best. So I did ask a lot of my friends and turned the though over and over in my head for days. Until I came to the best ending for this fan-fiction. So with that in mind I could go on writing. Because I do need to start with hints and small details from now until the last chapter that "hint" at how the story is going to end. To make it all work :)  I'm curious to hear at the very end if you picked up the small hits along the way :p

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