Avenged

♔Chapter 6b

I noticed she didn’t mention the king. I also noticed the unusual tenderness in her voice. Almost like she actually cared about someone other than herself. And here, I didn’t think that was possible.

“Thank you,” I panted. We were scurrying on at such a pace that she was forced to drop our hands soon after she took them.

When we didn’t turn toward the safe rooms, I spoke up.

“I thought there were safe rooms in several locations of the castle. I thought there was one near here.” I knew there were. They were created by my ancestors. I’d personally seen them. A maze of tunnels threaded through the bowels of the castle, linking safe rooms to make them accessible throughout.

“Those are inaccessible,” the queen mumbled.

“Why?” I asked before I could help myself.

The queen practically skidded to a halt and turned to face me. The look in her eyes would have intimidated a weaker fairy.

“They can only be opened by someone possessing all four elements. And since there is no one left alive with that level of power, those particular tunnels no longer exist.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, lamely.

I never knew that. I wondered why my parents had always insisted that we never took anyone in them with us, but at the same time had encouraged Tiberius and me to explore them thoroughly. They’d impressed upon us that the tunnels were a family secret, but usually Tiber did the opening, I did the following. I followed him everywhere he allowed. He and Adonis. At the time,the idea of secret tunnels and safe rooms was absurd. We were beloved by our people. We had no need for such subterfuge nonsense. I was naïve.

“My apologies, My Queen.” It must have cost a lot of pride for the queen to admit that. She could say she was the queen all she liked, but the castle didn’t accept her as such.

“What for, girl? It’s not your fault, is it? Unless there’s something you’re not telling me. How did you know about those tunnels?” she questioned.

“Please forgive me, My Queen. I remember hearing of those tunnels as a child. That’s why I assumed we were headed there. Where are we headed?” How did you know of the tunnels? I wanted to ask. Then I remembered it was probably my fault. Once, in passing, I made a joke about secret tunnels to my best friend at the time, Marissa. She’d ask and ask, and I said I was joking until she finally stopped pressing me for a tour. Just how much of what I revealed as a stupid little girl led to my parents’ demise? Too much. I knew that. I pushed away the guilt and focused on the present.

The queen huffed an annoyed sigh,all signs of that brief note of tenderness long gone.

Marissa answered. “A small secure chamber was built between my wing and my brother’s. That’s where we’re headed.”

As we rounded the corner, we discovered two wolves. Both were large and growling as they lowered themselves, preparing to pounce. They were already too close to us.

Marissa screamed. I sucked in a shocked breath. The queen scowled, immediately summoning an ice sword. I’ll give the woman the credit: she was cowardly about how she deposed my parents, but she was brave in the face of this immediate danger.

“Get behind me,” the queen shouted, jumping in front of her daughter and me. Again, that surprised me. There must be the remnants of a shriveled heart beating in there somewhere.

The queen swung her new blade. In sync, Marissa blasted two rather anemic fire balls at the beasts at the same time while I built a wall of ice on instinct. The two wolves slammed into the wall on their side, and the queen’s ice sword shattered as it hit the wall on our side. The queen looked at me curiously, then back at the wall that neither her ice nor Marissa’s fire could damage.

Through the thick opaque wall, we could see the shapes of the beasts moving behind it. We watched as they shook their bodies loose and slammed into it again and again with the full force of their incredible strength. My wall did not falter. Once again, the queen turned her withering gaze on me.

“The primary element of the Deven’s is Air. Usually, a secondary element is weaker. Yet this,” the queen gestured at the wall, “is as strong as I think Duke Qualis could create. Maybe even more so.” She would know; Duke Qualis was her brother and, as far as I could gather, the king’s spy master.

The king’s spy master was known as the spider, weaving webs and plans throughout the kingdom. He had a significant role in framing my parents. I had no direct proof that Qualis was the spider, but I’d long held the suspicion.

“I spent a long time recovering from my physical injuries, My Queen. I was determined to make myself as mentally strong as possible. I worked tirelessly every day to master both of my elements. I figured if I was disabled physically, the best way to honor my family would be to focus on my mental and magical strength.”

That was true of both the real Ella Deven and myself. We’d worked tirelessly to become the best we could be. Nothing less would suffice for my goal. The queen looked at me, a strange new respect, or fear, shimmering under her fiery gaze.

“Interesting,” she murmured. The sound gave me chills.

“That’s not the biggest concern right now, Mother. The Bright Brigade is recruiting wolves now. What’s next?” Marissa questioned.

She was right. Usually, each species stuck to their own kingdom. There were wanderers and a few mixed relationships, obviously. Peace was maintained, at least when my father ruled the land, but when it came to political unrest, each species typically left the others to deal with it on their own.

“We need another exit. Back the way we came, ladies. Let’s go.” The queen gently gave our shoulders each a little shove back the way we came.

We didn’t make it far before we heard more growling and the thudding of fast approaching paws. I quickly shot up another wall, effectively cutting us off from the others and trapping us in with whatever might already be in this small section of the castle, as well as cutting us off from any potential rescuers.

I also built ice walls to barricade the two doors visible in this section of the hall.

“How strong do you think those walls of yours are?” Marissa questioned.

“It will hold them. No one I’ve met has been about to break my ice.”

“Why water? Why not air?” The queen questioned. Now that we were safe, she resumed her questioning.

“I find once the ice is built, it doesn’t require any energy to maintain it. Whereas controlling sustained air patterns or water does.”

“That’s how my powers work, too. I can’t sustain a prolonged bout without draining my magical energy, but if I set something on fire, it will continue burning on its own,” Marissa said.

The queen nodded. Her wary gaze was disquieting.

“So, now we wait,” the queen said.