“I don’t know. I might have understood why I had to endure hell at the hands of those I loved? Maybe then I wouldn’t have felt so much betrayal when it happened.” Chewing my lip, I released it with a popping sound. “I could have tried to get back here sooner. Instead, I’d endured hell as I walked alone down a dark, dreary path of isolation.”
“A path you had to walk alone down to see the unjustness of what Hecate was doing. Without feeling the pain, you wouldn’t be so willing to fight against it, Aria. We are so much of what we live through, or endure. Those scars you hide, they’re what crafted you into the fierce, just woman you’ve become. Besides, if I’d told you what she was, you wouldn’t have been with the others at the House of Magic when Knox Karnavious forced the others back here. I am the one who ensured he’d be the one to bring you into the Nine Realms. My guard personally handed the message to the council residing over the Nine Realms at a specific time and date, which ensured he couldn’t murder you. My guard carried that letter with him until the exact moment it was needed, then delivered it to them. In it, I shared one detail ensuring they feared repercussions of what would unfold if they failed to hold Knox Karnavious’ blade from your neck. I’ve planned everything right down to who brought you through the portal. I forced you to see the evil within the realms, to discover the rot seeping from the core of those drunk on power and authority to murder others weaker than themselves.” Her eyes swam with unshed tears. The familiarness of her made sense now, which helped me feel safe in her presence.
“I know it wasn’t the life you deserved, but too many have paid the price for your existence. I couldn’t allow their sacrifices to be in vain. For that, I am eternally sorry.”
The moment her speech ended, pain frayed through my entire frame as I twisted and jackknifed on the altar. The scream that escaped pierced my ears as fire burned over my flesh, scorching it as tears ran unchecked down my cheeks. Scylla’s hand slid into mine and then held it through the agony, tearing my innards apart. My spine lifted as electric pulses flooded me from foot to head. Water filled my lungs until it gurgled in my throat, exploding out of my lips. Wind slammed into my mind, then whipped against my flesh until it cut it from my bones. Earth rocked through me like a great earthquake, forcing my teeth to chatter through the agonizing torture.
It felt like hours before the pain finally lessened. The only constant thing throughout it was the pressure of Scylla’s palm against my own. Torment forced through me at the behest of the land, but in exchange for the torture I’d endured, power rushed through me. An endless well of it churned inside my soul. Where I’d felt misplaced before, I now felt a strange sensation of coming home.
“Welcome home, Aria Primrose, heir to the throne of fire, and true queen of the Nine Realms. We’ve waited a long time for you,” she whispered. “My time here is almost up, so let’s do something about your nakedness. I can’t have you returning to greet our people in nothing but your birthday suit. What kind of grandmother would I be if I sent you back there without the air of a true queen?”
“Will I ever see you again?” I whispered, past the swelling of my tongue.
“I am always with you, child. I am the air beneath your sails, and the wind when it ruffles through your silvery hair. But to answer your question? I will be there when you prepare to ascend to your throne. I wouldn’t miss you reaching for your birthright, for anything.”
“What about Fennia and Fennix?” I questioned with worry as I sensed them watching from the shrubbery.
“Once they chose you as their master, it sealed their fate to be yours. I wouldn’t worry too much about the critters. They’re very resourceful.”
Chapter Six
Knox
Aria had been gone much longer than we’d agreed upon. The shit I’d discovered since she’d slipped from my bedchamber was terrifying. If we were correct, the new realm wasn’t the same as our own. Many things about it varied, but what those things were hadn’t been laid out in the large book. The books we’d requested of the library had us pouring through volume after volume of texts. Nothing explained how to reach the realm, or where she’d be spit out once she’d concluded her business there.
The fire crackled from the fireplace, which was the only other sound within the library. I used to love the silence of it, but Aria had ruined it with her sweet sounds. Now, I craved the chaos she’d created in my space. I both hated and adored the little imp who’d ruined my place and upended my world.
A knock at the door forced my mind from the woman who consumed it wholly. Killian and Brander both entered, their faces both strained with tension.
“I take it you don’t come baring good news?”
Killian’s snort forced my stomach to churn as he tossed down a bloodied doll. Picking up the small doll crafted from animal hide, I turned it over in my hand.
“They butchered the entire village. The witches spared no one, not even the babes.” Killian’s words caused my stomach to flip before bile burned against the back of my throat.
“Claddagha?” I asked, praying he hadn’t discovered the same at the village on our borderlands. A quick nod of his head forced anger to roil through me. “Everyone?”
Brander sat in the chair across from me, tossing a soiled banner onto the table between us. “Claddagha was worse than the three villages before it, brother.” His heavy sigh filled the room with a tinge of despair before he braced his elbows on his knees, peering over the table. “After removing the heart from the body, they then string them up to display the corpse. They pile up the hearts at the entrance of the town after removing them. Whether it’s displayed as a warning to those thinking to disavow the new high queen, or a gift to her, is unclear.” Nausea churned through me at Brander’s words.
Glancing at the map pinned to the wall, I studied the path they’d taken through the Beltane Circle, where I’d forced Aria to marry me. They hadn’t stopped there, though. Instead, they’d continued on to Vraegary and entered the forest lining the rocky terrain of the mountains situated farther west of them.
Anyone who opposed the self-appointed, newly crowned high queen was left dead on the path they had trailed through the realms. Aria hadn’t been gone days before cries to dethrone me went out far and wide. Shortly after, they’d occupied the capital, taking control of it from me. I didn’t care about titles or the politics that went into being the high king. That wasn’t what had left the sour taste in my mouth. It was the inhabitants of the realm who were being needlessly slaughtered by the new ruler with no remorse.