COLD (Twisted Forbidden Tales) Book One

Chapter Two

Warning: Chapters Two and Three contain sensitive issues that may be uncomfortable for some readers. Please skip these chapters if it is not to your taste. However, this is the character's backstory and the source of what happens afterward in getting her revenge.

QUEEN ( Two Years Ago)

I was simply numb, the tears streamed down my face. Sadness and anger surrounded me. My King, my dearest best friend Silas, was gone. The power in me surged and I thought of how kind and gentle my husband was. So much so that it got him killed.

Slow, and yet swift in its taking of life, it looked to everyone else in the kingdom as if the King had died of natural causes. The special guard and I had no choice, but to let my people believe this for now. He always brushed off my warnings about having too much blind trust in his childhood friend King Finnigan and his lecherous son, Prince Walden.

A vile and dirty man to the core, I knew all too well what he was capable of and his well-hidden jealousy against my husband whenever they were in each other's presence. Finnigan coveted my husband's kingdom and he also coveted me. The same as he did Silas's first wife, Selene, who hadn’t really died from childbirth.

I looked down at the papers splayed across my lap. A lengthy letter was left from Silas to me upon his death. A ragged sigh left my lips as tears slid down again. As I began to read the letter in its entirety, my hands began to tremble. Word after word left me speechless, he had known everything from the very beginning.

Silas, Selene, and I met when I was 15 years old. They had gotten lost in the palace maze gardens in the Stone Kingdom. Accidentally, they discovered the hidden path that led to a small cabin in the Forbidden Woods. They mistook me for a servant girl that day and, in turn, I gave Silas a warning that had saved his life back then. The Forbidden Woods were pitch dark at night. Normal humans would not be able to see clearly. Silas had cut his hand on a tree branch, leading me to administer first aid. The scent of the poison in his blood was obvious, so I couldn't let things be and told him what I had discovered.

I knew this poison well and would never forget the smell. This was the same poison that killed my mother and paved the way for the new Queen in the Stone Kingdom. My stepmother was the birth mother of Silas's best friend, Finnigan. I thought Silas didn't believe me at the time, but now I know he took it to heart as a true friend would and must have found a counterattack to the poison in order to live as long as he did.

My stepmother Christine was a vicious and cruel woman behind closed doors yet loving and kind in the public eye. My father, blinded by her deceiving love, let her do as she pleased, along with her disgusting son, Finnigan. I never understood why my father was so obedient to her.

I never wanted my father, Silas, and Selene to see my pain and scars hidden behind my smile, so in every secret meeting we had I made sure they saw me happy. I never thought the way I carried and composed myself back then would be my biggest telling to Selene and Silas that I wasn’t a mere servant girl.

A half-year into our friendship, I introduced them to my godbrothers, who were known throughout the Forbidden Woods as The Seven; Gill, Danny, David, Hank, Ben, Seth, and Sloane. Each of them held a place and position within these woods and guarded and guided its people within it well.

Throughout time, a happy and not-so-surprising relationship between Gill and Silas bloomed. Selene and I vowed to guard their happiness with our lives. There was no judgment from us or my godbrothers. However, within the kingdom was a different matter. Soon our happy times would not last forever, as neither of us had any idea how soon our vow would be put to the test.

QUEEN ( The Past I )

I was 18 when Silas went away for King transition training. He was 23 years old then, with Selene following close behind; their birthdays were four months apart. At this time, the abuse from my stepmother had reached a new peak. My growing beauty became too much for her and she couldn't handle the sudden attention I received and couldn’t keep me hidden inside the palace anymore.

At this time, I didn't know about Selene's and Sila's suspicions nor that a rumor was quickly spreading throughout the kingdom, of my father's true heir, that was me, had suddenly died and Finnigan would be taking the reign. My father thought I was away from school, but I had really been trapped in my stepmother's hidden tower chambers, unaware of the plan she had set in motion.

I was chained to a bed and beaten, whipped, and nearly starved for three and a half months. During this time she would invite special guests. Making sure I was blindfolded each time, their dirty hands would touch me all over, and they could lick, bite, suck, beat, and force me to perform acts that made me literally puke.

They were not allowed to take my virginity. For some reason, it had to stay intact. She said it was to be a special gift to someone to ensure all her plans would succeed.

In time, I overheard from the guards about my father's illness and how Finnigan had begun his transition training. My kingdom needed a successor and he was the next best thing. I had been planning my escape for a week and that night was my chance to break free. I had no idea I would be delivering myself into hell. Death would have been more peaceful than what I would have gone through.

I had no idea that Selene had found out the truth or that Silas had returned early. Together, with my brothers, they had planned out my rescue, but because of my impatience and blind trust in a servant girl, I thought was a friend, the people I cared about most were subjected to something that scarred all of us for life………….

Tears were unending as I continued to read Silas' letter. They had arrived five minutes too late, following the servant and me until we reached the clearing. Before they could get to me, we were ambushed by my stepmother, her guards, and Finnigan. I will never forget this servant or her words. She hated me for taking her place, she actually enjoyed those nasty men's touches and the favoritism

she got from her Queen. She had set me up and told my stepmother my entire plan. Her name was Rose.

Silas, Selene, and The Seven had no choice, but to hide. They were outmanned and out-magic. Ben and Sloane shielded them as they could only watch in horror the Queen's true viciousness and try to find another way to save him. Her evil laughter surrounded me as I was dragged to the middle of the clearing stripped bare in front of the lustful eyes of her guards, the hateful stare of Rose, and the insidious smile of the Queen. My stepmother smirked as she gave me to her son Finnigan.

My limbs became numb in an instant as I fell to the ground. She had given me false hope again, letting me run just a bit just to fall where she wanted me to. The drug Rose had given me was inside the flask of water she'd given me during our escape. She waved the flask in my line of sight with a delightful smile.

The Queen used her earth magic to bind me with vines, my arms trapped above my head, my ankles restrained and legs spread eagle for Finnigan and her guard's viewing pleasure. My struggles brought pain and blood as I fought to break free. The vines tightened around my limbs, holding me in place.

Finnigan could hardly contain his lust and desire, as the Queen and he both approached me. She undressed in front of me and then lay next to me on the grass. She motioned for one of her guards to come forward. I could feel Finnigan's dirty hands all over touching and probing. Only my legs were numb, but the rest of me was not.

I realized she wanted me to feel everything as she turned my head toward her, forcing me to watch the guard as she had s*x with him before me. She leaned forward and kissed me, holding my head in place, the vile taste and scent of her making me want to vomit. I didn't know when she had released the binding around my ankles, but before I could reach it, the most soul-searing pain flowed through me, causing me to bite the Queen's lips and scream.

She slapped me full force, causing the guard to stop. I could feel the swelling on the left side of my face instantly. She yelled at me that I would pay while wiping the blood from her lips. Her laughter rang around me again as her son Finnigan continued to violate me. My hands balled into fists as I held back my tears. As his groans and moans of pleasure echoed in the night, my fingernails dug inside my palm from the pain. After Finnigan had his fill of me, she would now make me pay.

The lower part of me hurt so much I could barely move my legs, which were still unbound. She brought Rose forth to clean me up. I made sure I heard her and Finnigan's conversation as he thanked her for the gift and assured her that I would birth him a son because of how good it was. She smiled at her son, then told him they had to be sure because he was too rash and hadn't stimulated me enough at first, it really didn't matter who I conceived a child with.