Queen of Vengeance (Iron Fey Fanfiction)

Chapter 4: Broken Hearts

    "My nobles said you fled the palace after an argument with my son. This has led me to believe in the near impossible, dear Crystal." She paused, tapping a long, manicured nail on the armrest of her throne. "Lady Crystal, the daughter of Eira, of the Black Ice Mountains, has fallen in love."

    Crystal felt dizzy. Was this what a panic attack felt like. She needed water. She needed her mother. She needed to get out out out out out out....

    Just when she thought she was going to faint, a smirk reached her ears from a few feet to her right. She would know that smirk anywhere. It came from the prince who'd broken her heart exactly one year ago. That smirk seemed to shatter her reverie and what little composure she had.

    The long windows in the back of the room exploded and the flames dancing in the candles around the room flickered out. After the sound of shattering glass ebated and all was quiet again, Crystal met Mab's eyes, hating how the Queen's figure was blurred at the edges.

    A thin trickle of blood crept out of Crystal's nose - an effect of letting go of so much glamour at once. She did not bother to wipe it away. Nor did she bother to wipe away the tears that fell from her eyes, freezing on her cheeks.

    "Yes. I did. And it was fucking wonderful." Was all Crystal spat out like venom before she turned on her heel and marched out of the room, a thick layer of frost covering the already frozen ground as she walked.

                    *************

    She did not know how she ended up standing in the dungeon before her sister's cell, two handsome guards at her back, ice spears in their hands. They would not let her in to speak with her sister; it was too dangerous, they'd said.

    Crystal wanted to both stab them and kiss them. Her emotions ran around in her head like wildfire, messing with her head. The guard on her right was named Rene and the one on her right, Felian. Rene had a tattoo of a pattern of leaves swirling up the right side of his neck and along the side of his face, the tip of the final leaf coming to rest just above his eyebrow.

    He had given her more than a few glances by now. Being in the state of mind that she was, she both wanted a distraction and a reason to let more of her icy glamour explode. She supposed that was how she ended up standing in front of her sister's cell, her eyes dry and the blood on her nose wiped away.

    "So, dear sister, you have come to visit me," Neve began, sheathed in darkness. Her voice was as smooth as a snake. "Finally a familiar face other than the ugly bastards who bring my pathetic excuse for a supper."

    Crystal said nothing. For once, she did not know what to say. She heard Rene shift behind her.

    Neve stepped slowly into what little light there was, coming to rest her arms through the bars of her cell. She looked ragged and beautiful all at once. Her shirt was near threadbare and had probably been white once. Her hair was greasy and yet untangled. Smudges of dirt marred her cheeks.

    She looked insane and every bit a dark Queen as she had the night of the revelry, when Neve had assaulted many of the Winter courtiers with her dark magic. Crystal swallowed stepped carefully closer to her sister. She remembered when they used to play in the snow when they were little, used to build snowmen and snow dogs. She remembered when they used to ride horses in the woods...

    "You fell in love once, didn't you?"

    Neve seemed taken aback by the question. "Yes, I thought you knew that." Her voice wasn't irritated, just curious.

    "Then I'm sure you understand why I look like this." At first Neve had been stunned by her sister's new look. Crystal had not replied until now.

    Neve gave a dark laugh. "No, dear sister. Love does not change a woman - heartbreak does." She could not have been more right. "So. Hedgehog broke your heart, huh? I am not surprised, really. The sons of Mab have always toyed with people's hearts."

    Hedgehog. Neve always used to call Rowan "Hedgehog" because she thought his spiky hair faintly resembled the spikes of a hedgehog's back. "I am, however," Neve continued. "Surprised you haven't bludgeoned him yet." She grinned when the guards behind Crystal stiffened.

    Crystal let a faint smile lift her lips. "Oh, believe me, I've wanted to," she replied. Neve turned serious again and lowered her voice.

    "Now you know what it feels like, to have your heart broken. A Winter faerie would say you are weak for feeling the way you do, would laugh and say you are acting like a human. But I say I truly am sorry you have to experience this." Neve's eyes held an old emotion, one that spoke of love lost, and wars fought over that loss. "I am sorry that you have to feel the most brutal type of war - the one inside you right now, probably. It hurts, I know."

    She reached forward and took Crystal's hand in hers. Trying not to burst into tears was probably the hardest thing she'd ever done at that moment. She did not know why her sister was comforting her, and even doubted that it was genuine. But Neve and Crystal had been close when they were younger, almost joined at the hip. Neve still cared for her, deep in her black heart. And silently, while squeezing her sister's filthy, dirt smudged hand in hers, Crystal thanked her.