Queen of Hearts (The Risen King) (9 page)

“
You seem at a loss for words, my dear queen. Didn't expect to see me?” She turned and took a few steps away toward the smoke. “You thought I would be at that battle, am I correct? You thought all of my resources would be focused on a castle I couldn't possibly take, no? Yes, well, I'm a bit clever like that. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, so to speak.” She turned back before Titania could raise the fireball she was building in her hand. “Don't bother, dear. You won't win.”

“
You're in my castle, killing my people. I will win, and I will make you suffer for all the wrong you've done.” As she spoke, she brought the fireball up and chucked it at Leanansidhe's stomach.

The woman reacted faster than she would have expected. Leanansidhe's hand came up as well, and a strong wind knocked the fireball aside. It crashed into some bushes and smoldered in the leaves underneath.

“Tsk, tsk. None of that now.” Lea cocked her head to the side. “Unless, of course, you'd prefer to do this the hard way. I'm quite fond of the hard way myself. It's so much more exciting, don't you think?” Her other hand swung around and lightning bolts streaked out of her fingers toward the queen.

Titania dove to the side as the electricity sizzled past her ear, singeing her hair and leaving a small divot in her earlobe. She rolled and came up into a crouch.

“Oh, dear. I don't think you were able to heal him in time, Tati.”

Titania followed Leanansidhe's gaze to the man laying on the ground. He stared up at the sky with dull eyes. His mouth was open slightly and blood dribbled down the side of his face. He felt no more pain.

“You will pay for this, Leanansidhe,” Titania said as she rose to her feet. “You will pay for your wickedness. I will see to that.” A fireball shot from the hand at her side and smashed into Leanansidhe's thigh.

Leanansidhe screamed as the fire engulfed her leg. She bent over double as she swatted at the flames with both her hands and her magic.

While she was distracted, Titania took the opportunity to duck into a nearby copse of trees and coaxed the foliage around her for cover.

A laugh found her as she knelt behind the thickest trunk and tried to formulate a plan. Leanansidhe was strong. She always had been. And her ability to suck the energy from faeries around her only made her stronger. Titania had no idea how many of her own citizens Lea had drained the life from and she really didn't want to find out.

“That wasn't smart, Tati. Not smart at all.”

Titania remained where she was and listened closely to the world around her. The birds and animals, normally so chipper and talkative, had fallen deathly silent. Even the leaves refused to rustle.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” sang Lea as she walked along the path. Her thick boots thudded on the packed dirt. She made no effort to hide her passing.

“
Are you here?” A bush across the way cracked and the screams of a squirrel were cut short. “No, not there.”

The boots thudded some more, moving past the place where Titania cowered. A branch shattered and another scream pierced the air, this one elongated and filled with terror. Titania jumped when a white ball of fluff came crashing through the foliage beside her. A small rabbit twitched on the ground as electricity raced up and down its body.

Titania pressed her lips together to stifle the cry forming in her throat. The creature stared up at her with big, black eyes. It pleaded silently for mercy.

The queen covered the rabbit's head with her hand and put the poor creature out of its misery. Another scream rent the air.

“Enough,” cried Titania as she pushed herself to her feet. Her dress snagged on a branch and ripped as she stepped out into the sun. “That is enough, Leanansidhe. We will settle this, you and I. No one else needs to be hurt.”

The dark-haired woman laughed. “Oh, my darling Tati. Many will be hurt. I can promise you that. You will just suffer the most..” A bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips, but Titania was ready for it. She rolled tot he side and jerked her own hands up as she went. A vine snaked out across the path and wrapped itself around Leanansidhe's leg.

As Titania came to her feet, another vine slid from  the other side of the path and twirled around Lea's free leg. The other woman fought and kicked at the vines, trying to free herself, but she was unsuccessful. The vines wrapped up her legs and around her torso, pulling her to the ground. She tore at them and screamed as they squeezed her body.

Titania rose to her full height and walked toward her fallen opponent. “Leanansidhe, you were given a chance once. I let you run. I let you have your freedom and you betrayed me for it. I will not make the same mistake twice. You will pay for the crimes you have committed against the land and its people, against my family. You will regret your wickedness.”

Leanansidhe lay on her side, tangled in vines. Her forehead was pressed against the dirt and her shoulders shook with sobs.

“
Show some remorse, Lealea. Ask for forgiveness and I shall grant it. For all those years we spent as children, I will make your end quick and painless.” Titania leaned over and placed her hand on her former friend's head.

The sobs continued for a second longer, until Titania realized they were not sobs, but stifled laughter.

“Oh, Tati,” Leanansidhe said as she spun and threw her hand out. The full force of her palm connected with Titania's  breastbone at the same time Lea threw the whole weight of her magic behind it.

The air was knocked from the queen's lungs and she couldn't even scream as she soared into a thick tree trunk. Her back cracked against the wood and she sank to the ground in a heap.

Leanansidhe freed herself from the vines and stalked over to the fallen queen. “You always were so gullible.” She picked up a heavy branch and stood over her broken opponent.

“
Lealea,” Titania whispered with what little breath she could manage.

“
Don't 'Lealea' me, witch.” Leanansidhe swung the branch like a club and knocked the queen into oblivion.

*~*~*~*

Kane lay in the darkness of his bedroom, listening to the screams and sounds of battle outside his door. For the first fifteen minutes after they started, he had tried to free himself, to join the battle. Now he just lay there in the darkness, waiting for Leanansidhe to come kill him. He knew that's what was happening. She had attacked. No one else had the strength or insane desire to attempt a full-scale attack on Castle Eiri Greine.

The door opened and a figure was silhouetted very briefly in the light from the hall before the room was plunged into darkness once more.

“You've come to kill me?” he asked, already knowing the answer. He waited for the snide response.

“
No.” The voice was unexpectedly male. “I've come to save you.”

A small light blossomed beside the bed, revealing the helmeted features of the captain of the guard, Fjorn. Blood dripped from a cut on his forehead and he looked pale in the dim light.

“Leanansidhe has taken the castle,” he whispered as he waved his hands over the chains binding Kane to the bed. “And your mother.”

Kane sat up as the chains fell away. “We have to save her. We can't let Leanansidhe take the castle.”

“It's too late,” Fjorn said as he removed the band from Kane's wrist. “It was a trap. All of it. You have to go to Castle Daor. You have to tell the king. He is our only hope.”

Fjorn slid a sword from his belt. “You will need this.” Kane took it with a nod.

“Follow me,” the guard said.

The two men slipped out into the hall. They followed the bloodied corridors toward the throne room. “There is a path near the Queen's room,” Fjorn said. “We must get there.”

When they reached the throne room, they slipped inside. Trees and flowers lined the walls, giving them ample cover.

“
It's along the far wall. We must be quiet.”

Leanansidhe and many of her followers had taken up residence on the dais. Screams echoed across the cavernous room as Leanansidhe executed one of the guards.

“Please, stop.” The soft voice carried to them through the leaves and Kane froze.

“
Mother...” He moved toward the sound with his sword drawn.

“
No, Kane. Stop.” Fjorn grabbed his arm, but it was too late.

As Kane stepped into the bushes, the view of the horrors happening near the dais became overwhelmingly clear. The woman who had loved him from the time of his conception, despite all his mistakes and betrayals, sagged between two wooden posts in front of the throne. Her arms were pulled as wide as they could go and the tips of her bare toes barely brushed the ground. Her bright yellow dress was torn and stained and blood pooled beneath her from some wound he couldn't see.

Leanansidhe was draped across the throne his mother normally occupied, using a pile of dead bodies beside her to hold a goblet filled with red liquid.

As he watched, Lea reached over and picked up her glass. While she took a sip, she raised her free hand and sent sparks dancing across Titania's body. The queen's scream was faint and hoarse.

Kane surged forward, but Fjorn caught him and dragged him back. “We'll lose and she will be dead,” he hissed. “We need reinforcements.”

Kane struggled feebly against Fjorn's grip, but even he saw the futility in his plan. He sagged and nodded. Fjorn let him go and led him through the underbrush to the wall near the queen's chambers.

“Here,” he said. “This will lead you to Castle Daor.”

“
Not if we have anything to say about it.”

A trio of guards formerly loyal to Queen Titania stood behind them with their swords drawn and pointed at the pair. The one in the middle grinned at Kane. “I have wanted to do this for a very long time, your highness.” He spat the last word at the former prince like it was a weapon.

Kane lifted his own sword and prepared himself for battle.

“
No,” Fjorn whispered beside him. “Go. I will hold them off.”

Kane gave him a short shake of the head. “You will die.”

“Please, your highness. Just go.”

Kane stared at him a moment before fleeing into the tunnel. The sounds of battle followed him until the path closed in behind him.

*~*~*

ELEVEN

*~*~*

“This is so weird,” Lancelot said for the third time as he swung his sword through a non-existent faery. The redcap growled at him and lunged at his leg. He ignored the creature and kept walking. He and Arthur waded through the section of field they had been assigned, poking at each faery as the passed, looking for any real members of Leanansidhe's attacking army that might be hidden amid the fake faeries. “Did Zela and Percival find any sorcerers in the wood?”

“
No. Their team searched for an hour, but they came up with nothing.” Arthur prodded a pixie laying face-down on the ground with the toe of his boot. A small squeak escaped its lips and it attempted to jump to its feet. He raised his sword, but an arrow pierced it between its shoulder blades and it toppled forward. He glanced toward the wall and Eden raised her bow in a salute. With a wave of the hand, he gave her a nod and poked a banewolf standing idly nearby. The sword slid through without resistance and the creature turned. It gave him a look and went back to standing idly. All around the pair, the faery mirages were losing their fight, choosing to stand and stare into oblivion over attacking creatures they could not touch.

“
So, about Guin...” Lancelot began as he ran a hand through the head of a pixie. He glanced sideways at Arthur to judge the king's reaction.

“
No,” Arthur said. “I cannot do this right now. I refuse to discuss her when I have a battle to tend to.”

Lance laughed and kicked a non-existent nymph. “I think the battle is over, don't you?”

Arthur gritted his teeth together and glared at his friend. “There are still matters to be seen to.”

“
There always will be.” Lancelot stopped walking and placed the tip of his sword on the ground. “Arthur, we really must talk. There are some things you have to know. Some things about the past, about her.”

“
Really, Lance, I'd rather not discuss it now. Especially not here.” He turned and placed a hand on Lancelot's shoulder. “As my friend, please, just give me time.”

Lancelot nodded. “As you wish, my king.” He gave Arthur a half bow and walked away, putting several feet of distance and half a dozen fake faeries between them.

“They're starting to fade,” Tristan called to them from his spot further down the field. He waved his hand through a dark-haired faery to prove his point.

Arthur and Lancelot looked at the faeries immediately around them. Sure enough, several of them were starting to dim and become see-through. “I think we're about done here. Let's head back in.”

The two men met the generals and the other knights at the gates. The guardians had closed them and they began to jerk the giant wooden doors open again.