Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #5)(32)

King Lucian rubbed his beard and nodded. He prepared to sit on air, when a large purple mushroom formed beneath him, creating the perfect stool.

Mina felt a little bit perturbed that no one offered her a seat, but why should they? They were the Fates. They created their own seats. Using anger more than common sense, Mina focused on a small blue flower. Envisioning what she had in mind, she felt the prickle of power come to her and pushed it toward the flower.

She couldn’t hold back the smirk when the flower grew and morphed—not into just a larger version of itself. Three of the petals grew exponentially larger, one creating the back and two others forming armrests. Mina didn’t just create for herself a chair to sit on in front of the Fates. She went so far as to challenge them by fashioning herself a flower throne. She was about to sit on her throne when she noticed how covered in mud she was.

Well, that wouldn’t do. She pushed the power and made the mud disappear from her clothes. Then, crossing her legs, she settled back in the throne and waited.

King Lucian laughed. “Well done. Well done, girl. I see you have not only power, but sass. I like that. I like that very much.”

Queen Maeve just shook her head at her husband’s verbal adoration.

“You were about to say?” Mina prompted them with a nod of her head. Her smile did not dim in the light of the king’s laughter.

“What we are about to tell you cannot leave this tree.” Queen Maeve warned, her voice threatening.

Mina would have none of it. She leaned forward on her throne, her voice matching the queen’s with its own threat. “One of your Death Reapers took my mother. I make no such promises. I’m here for revenge. I’m not worried about wounding your pride.”

This time it was Maeve’s turn to look shocked but pleased. “Very well. But you must know this is very sensitive information we are going to share.”

“Then why share it with me?” Mina asked. “Especially if you blame me for what happened to your son.”

Queen Maeve stilled her eyes, slowly closing them with barely hidden anger. “Even though I may not trust you, and despite what the Godmothers believe, we do care for our people. And you, child, can save not only your world but ours as well.”

“How exactly can I do that?”

King Lucian crossed his arms and spoke slowly. “We are chosen as the Fates, because we are the most powerful Fae. We marry into powerful lineages to protect our line.”

“That’s why you have the tests,” Mina answered.

“Exactly,” the king said. “But if one far stronger than us comes to power, they can wrest that title from us. Our son was strong, the Fae magic almost too much for him to handle. He feared he would lose control of the power. We had hoped that by finding his match, it would help balance him, and one day the pair would become the Fates. But in his fury, he has taken that from us all on his own. He is now the lone Fate, and with that title he holds control of the army.”

“How did he gain control of the army?”

“Similar to the sweetsuckle bees,” Queen Maeve answered, referring to a Fae bee. “Just as the queen bee controls the swarms of soldiers, the Fate controls our armies.”

“We need to turn our enemy into our greatest weapon,” King Lucian said.

“Stop it.” Mina stood and stared down at the king and queen. “I am not a pawn.”

Her anger was so evident, and her power flowed forth so violently, that the mushroom under the king withered back into the ground, and he fell into the grass. The queen’s swing dropped her on the ground and retreated back into the canopy above. “I am a Grimm.”

King Lucian recovered first. He stood up, dusting the dirt from the back of his trousers. “That is the power we need if you are to succeed where we have failed.”

Queen Maeve gave him a hauntingly sad look.

“Succeed by doing what exactly?” Mina snapped.

King Lucian didn’t look thrilled himself, but he swallowed and looked deep into Mina’s eyes. “By killing our son.”





Chapter 14



There was never any doubt in Mina’s mind that it would come down to death—hers or Teague’s. But for the command to come from his own parents! Their willingness to betray their own flesh and blood so they could once again rule as the Fates turned her blood cold. No wonder Teague was so conflicted. His own parents had just put a bounty out on his head.

At first Mina started to empathize with the Fates, but she didn’t expect them to betray their own son.

“I can see the accusation in your eyes,” Queen Maeve said firmly. She came and stood before Mina. Her chin held high as she looked down her nose at her. “You don’t understand how we, his own parents, can wish that upon our son. But you don’t know what havoc he has wreaked in our world. Thousands have died. Thousands more will as well.”

“He’s your son!”

“That beast!” Maeve’s hand shook as she pointed outward toward the swamp. “Is not my son.”

“Deep inside, he is still the same young man, under an evil spell. I came here seeking help. Hoping you would stop him from destroying my world.”

“How can we,” Queen Maeve whispered, a tear slowly sliding down her dainty white cheek, “when we couldn’t stop him from destroying ours?”