In hindsight Aubrey couldn't come with a single reason as to why her aunt couldn't be Fae.
Apart from the fact that all the times she had seen her there had been nothing remotely magical about her.
But Sarah had played the same trick on her in school by appearing human so why couldn't her aunt?
And they had brought Aubrey here which had to mean that she had to be part Fae as impossible that seemed to sound.
Don't trust them.
Don't tell them about your grandmother or the tales she told you. Lie, Aubrey, lie.
Her aunts voice was faint and strained but Aubrey had been gazing at her aunt the whole time and her lips hadn't moved.
Her aunt had spoken to her telepathically.
Aunt and telepathically were not two words she would have expected to say in one sentence.
Don't trust them.
Aubrey glanced at Declan who had told her the same thing before. He'd told her to get out of this place before it was too late and yet he was the one who had lead her right here.
"Aubrielle I'm sure you have a lot of questions." The king spoke. His tone was the kind that hushed crowds and held them captive with each word.
It was a sign of a leader.
A very powerful leader.
And an extremely dangerous one at that.
His blue eyes regarded her as if he was waiting for her to do something.
As if he was waiting for her to bow to him.
You are not my king!
The voice in her head roared with so much force that Aubrey stumbled back slamming into Declan.
He put his hands on her shoulder to steady her and gave her a very slight nod but his eyes were filled with warning.
Don't as he wants, his eyes seemed to be telling her.
Aubrey hesitated only a moment after that before getting down to her knee, bowing to the king.
Declan remained impassive and unmoving.
The kings eyes glittered as they focused on Aubrey,"You just saw a vision didn't you?"
Aubrey looked at him confused and her voice came sharper out than she wanted it to,"What vision?"
"Jenna, would you please excuse us." The king said his yes still focused on Aubrey pinning her into position,"Id like to talk to the Diviner."
The Diviner?
That's what Thorne the crazy history teacher had called her.
I thought you were just a measly diviner, That's what he had told her when he had come after her with a sword.
Jenna bowed bowed her head once again before getting up. Without sparing another glance towards Aubrey, she swished away, reaching the door at the end of the throne room in less than a blink of an eye.
"Rise."the king said and Aubrey stood up unsurely on her feet next to Michael.
The kings gaze finally broke form Aubrey and focused behind her and a satisfied smile settled into his face. There was something about that smile that sent Aubrey over the edge, it wasn't warm or friendly just cold and calculating like the rest of him.
He would make a deadly enemy. Aubrey thought to herself.
You make a deadly enemy. The voice in her head spoke, quieter and far more collected.The queen rises from the heirs ashes, and she only bows to her true king, not the usurper who sits on the throne of silver.
Usually when the voices spoke in her head they were undistinguished merged together speaking nonsense. But the voice that spoke to her now was like her aunts and Declan's voice in her head. It was strong and firm.
Who are you? Aubrey asked, why can I hear you inside my head?
Your powers are getting stronger,the closer you get to finding the truth the more powerful you get, said the voice, that's why you can hear me and that's why you can hear Declan. Don't be afraid of the usurper on the silver throne, you were born to rule over him side by side beside your true king. Now ask your questions to the Fae in front of you.
"What is a diviner?" Aubrey demanded,"Why have you-"
The king simply waved his hand dismissively and Aubrey stopped abruptly. He stood up from his throne and Michael and Sarah beside her took a sharp breath in.
He was even more daunting when he stood up, almost touching seven foot in his full height.
"Son." He regarded looking behind Aubrey.
Declan.
Declan was standing behind her. And the king had called him son.
But the king looked like Michael, who was currently staring at the king with a mix of awe and fear almost mirroring the look on Sarah's face beside him.
Declan stood defiantly straight, his face giving nothing away as he stared at the king with a look that bordered near boredom. Aubrey knew that look, she didn't know how she knew, but she knew that look on his face and it was one he wore when every nerve on his body sensed danger.
"Father." He regarded his voice utterly emotionless and his gold eyes hard as the metal.
The king waved to his side and Declan moved from his position behind her to stand beside his father.
Father?
Declan was a prince?
Aubrey's head was swimming. She was confused as hell and utterly terrified.
Her aunt was a Faerie who could speak to her telepathically.
The king who looked like Michael, was Declan's father.
God, what was next? Miley Cyrus crashing through the throne room yelling I came in like a wrecking ball?
"Welcome to the Seelie Court Aubrielle." The king said looking down at her,"It's rare that we get visitors and even rarer when we get visitors who are as important as you are."
"You're parents were powerful Demi-Fae, their loss was felt deeply in my court." He said, he took a step forwards and stretched his hand forward bringing it below her chin to push her head up so that she was staring right at those terrible blue eyes of his.
"You don't look very much like them." He commented scanning her thoroughly," Though I can see the fire burning in your mother alive in you."
Aubrey was tempted to smack his icy hands off her but she was too frozen by his gaze to do anything.
The king abruptly let go and strode back to his throne siting down once again, so that he was at eye level with Aubrey.
And a good distance away, thank god. Aubrey thought.
"You have questions." He said,"And they will be answered but you need to answer mine."
Trust Declan, even when he doesn't trust you Aubrey. The voice in her head spoke.
And that's when she realised where she had heard this voice before. It was that girl she had seen in her vision, outside in the hall where the glass floor had shattered and the girl had fallen through.And it was the same voice that she had heard with Declan's when the vending machine had exploded.
Be smart Aubrey. Lie, Fake it.
That she'd been doing her entire life.
"Of course." Aubrey smiled her brightest,"Whatever you wish, your majesty."
The your majesty was over the top but it seemed to work perfectly. The king relaxed the slightest bit.
He turned towards Michael and gave the smallest of nods and settled comfortably back into his seat.
"Aubrey." Michael asked giving a nervous glance towards the king,"Could you tell us what happened before Declan found you?"
"Our history teacher came after me with a sword." Aubrey said looking at no one but Declan who gave nothing away with his blank expression,"He threatened me and called me a- a diviner."
"How did he die?" Michael asked stepping in between her and Declan blocking her view completley.
Lie Aubrey.
"He just vanished." Aubrey managed to say.
"The details are important." Michael said,"What did he say to you exactly?"
"He was talking about an heir and a queen-"
At the word queen almost instantly the temperature of the room dropped drastically. At first Aubrey thought that it was just something that she had imagined but when Aubrey glanced at the king she saw that the ground underneath his feet had frozen solid.
Tell him that he said that the usurper shall die and the queen shall rise from his ashes.The voice chimed smugly in her head.
Who are you? Aubrey shot back.
You can trust me, the voice insisted, you know you can. So say it.
"He said that the usurper shall die and the queen shall rise from ashes." Aubrey lied.
The temperature went down even lower.
"How did you kill him Aubrielle?" Michael asked gulping.
"He vanished." Aubrey said,"I didn't kill him. He simply vanished."
"You said he had a sword." Michael said giving a sideways glance to the king,"What did it look like? Where did it go?"
Aubrey tried her bet to hide her impatience. She felt like she was being interrogated in front of a judge who would decide her fate.
"It was about a metre long and made of silver." Aubrey said,"It must have had some sort of poison on it because the few cuts I got burned."
The cold from the kings eyes retracted into something far more amused.
"And where exactly did the sword go?" Michael asked and Aubrey shrugged.
"It vanished with him." Aubrey lied, trying not to dwell to much into where Declan had hidden the sword and as to why it was so damn important.
Very good, you're almost as good a liar, as I am. Renelea would be proud, the voice mused in her head,tell him that Thorne told you one last thing before he vanished. Tell him that they have the Book of Videl and she's going to use it to free him.
Although most of it was gibberish that Aubrey did not understand the name Renelea struck a cord in Aubrey when she remembered that her parents had mentioned something along the lines of taking her to see Renelea on the day of the accident.
"Your majesty." Aubrey spoke,"He did say one last thing."
The kings head tilted slightly.
"He said that they have the Book Of Videl." Aubrey said,"And she's going to free him."
The entire throne room froze.
The ground, the carpet, the walls. Nothing was left untouched, not even Aubrey who didn't need to touch her hair to know that some of the strands had frozen too and her nose was watering and red.
None of the others looked cold though. But they certainly did look shocked.
Whoever or whatever the voice in her head was, knew almost exactly the right thing to say to throw all the Fae off balance.
All of them except Declan, who was staring curiously at her, his eyes seeming to question her, what are you doing?
Of course Declan knew she was lying. He'd been the one who'd killed Thorne.
Aubrey wanted to answer casually, oh I'm just listening to the disembodied voice in my head who told me to say things to a psychotic king who is Elsa gone bad with a beard and pointy ears. You know, just a normal Tuesday.
His lips turned upward into a small smile as if he had actually heard her.
"-the book of Videl." Michael was muttering,"It's been lost for centuries."
"Apparently not more." Sarah said gravely,"It's the key to raw magic. We should plan a secret mission to the Unseelie Court."
Sarah's gaze turned to king and Aubrey followed it. The King seemed seemingly expressionless as his eyes drew an invisible line between Declan and Aubrey as if he'd noticed their exchange.
He smiled. It wasn't the ordinary smile people gave, it was a smile that contained a bitter cold chill to it.
"Never mind that." The king said as if suddenly his mood had taken a one eighty and he hadn't just flash freezed the room.
He turned to Michael,"See to it our guest is taken care of and delivered safely home. Any questions she has, you are to answer."
Yeah Michael, my first question is why does the king act like he's got an icicle shoved up his butt?
The kings gaze turned towards her, his lips still curved into that bitter cold smile,"I look forward to seeing you more Aubrielle. I hope that once you learn our history you will realise what you are a part of."
He pauses for a second before saying,"And when you finally claim your inheritance I hope you are wise enough to know which side to choose."
Aubrey did not miss the thinly veiled threat in his words.
AUTHORS NOTE
I know it's all confusing now, but the next chapter is where I can finally introduce you to world of the Fae's and where a lot of thins will slowly start to clear up.