What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)(37)

It felt like walking to my death. Like walking to what I knew would be an endless, miserable torment for me. A chair lurked off to the side, set there as if it had been forgotten until it would serve a purpose.

The Fae who had leered at me, the one who had spit upon me, stood closest to it, running his hands over the surface like it was something to be worshiped. A messenger darted past us as we made our way up the center of the room, hurrying to Mab’s side. She grimaced at his lack of tact, ushering him forward when he hesitated just at the top of the steps. He leaned forward to whisper something that I couldn’t hear as I placed my foot on the bottom step and lifted the hem of my dress as gracefully as I could manage.

Court life was not something that would ever appeal to me, too like the life Lord Byron had tried to force upon me. I couldn’t breathe through the parallels in the lives I hadn’t wanted, feeling plagued by the reality of my fate.

I wanted a quiet life with Caldris at my side and the ability to come and go as I pleased. We’d have just enough land to call home without entrapping us. I wanted to see Alfheimr, to know what made each of the Faerie Courts unique. I didn’t know if that future included children. I could be entirely content to just have the love we shared. But none of it seemed possible. Even outside of our imprisonment with Mab, Caldris had titles and responsibilities to his people.

Those responsibilities included an heir, but this world was ugly and cruel. I didn’t think I could ever bring a child into it, not while knowing the fate that child may face one day. The pain they would feel with the loss of those they loved. The pain I might feel if I ever lost them.

“Bring him to me,” Mab ordered, waving her hand to the side.

Caldris grabbed my forearm, guiding me to the side of the dais as the messenger darted past us once more. He left through the doors of the throne room; the stone creaking as he heaved it open. I pressed into Caldris’s side, turning to watch as a Fae Male stepped into the throne room.

He limped his way up the center column. The hushed whispers of Mab’s court were the first confirmation that something truly horrific would happen to him if it hadn’t already. His hands swung at his side, the motion jolting and uncoordinated as he fought to drag his injured foot over the stone floor. In another life, I’d have gone to meet him.

I’d have helped him as I’d so often helped my mother, understanding the pain of putting pressure on a limb that didn’t want to bear your weight. But in this world, I felt trapped to the dais, watching as he struggled. Caldris’s grip was tight on my arm, understanding my desire to help better than any other.

“You appear to be empty-handed,” Mab said, pursing her lips as she stared at the male.

He nodded, his face pinching with pain as he paused at the bottom of the steps. I watched in horror as he grasped his leg by the thigh, forcibly lifting it up onto the first step. He grunted as his good foot followed, leaning his weight into his injury.

“Yes, my Queen,” he said, taking the second step. He maneuvered his way up every stair, stopping finally in front of Mab. He collapsed at her feet, kneeling upon the stone as his breath left him in ragged, harsh gasps.

“And why have you not brought me what I asked for?” Mab asked, her fingers clenching around the arm of her throne.

Her cheeks hollowed out. Her mouth pinched in rage. Whatever it was that the male had failed to deliver, she wanted it more than she wanted to know what I was. Her eyes were wide, wild, and feral as she stared down at the male before her. It was the first hint I’d seen of the madness many had alluded to; the first sign that she had that within her.

The man turned his head up to her, his eyes filled with sorrow. It was the gaze of a man begging for forgiveness, for another chance. His first tear fell, splashing off the stone in front of his knees as he shook his head from side to side.

“They deemed me unworthy,” he rasped.

Mab swallowed, nodding her head as she considered his words. “I did not ask you to return to me empty-handed. You should have remained in Tartarus until you were able to prove yourself worthy.”

I looked at Caldris, silently questioning what she could have wanted from Tartarus. There wasn’t much that I knew about the prison, only that it was the home of the most terrifying creatures of Faerie. The things that could not exist within our world without destroying it.

He shook his head silently, his vow to tell me about it later rippling down the bond between us. I gritted my teeth as I forced myself to stay silent, to stay out of business that wasn’t mine. I felt more like Caldris in those moments than ever before, putting him before the male that I couldn’t help.

I would burn the world if it meant saving him, sacrifice every shred of my dignity and morals if it meant he was unharmed.

The male sputtered, his hands trembling where he rested them upon his knees. “But the others are dead, my Queen. To stay is to die. There is no winning against them. They’re—”

“A pity you thought the fate waiting for you here would be any kinder,” Mab said, waving a hand as she turned away from him.

Impatience pulsed off of her, striking me in the chest as one of the guards stepped away from her side and unsheathed his sword. I gasped as he stepped up beside the man. I was no stranger to killing. No stranger to death and battle. This was purely cold-blooded murder, not a strategic death or self-defense.

This was no casualty of war.