Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(23)

“Tell me what happened,” I demanded. “I have to know.”

The queen closed her eyes and smiled as if remembering those times long ago, of a time when she was just a princess and in love with someone she could never be with. With tear filled eyes, Queen Mab began, “It all started about a hundred and thirty years ago. Going to the mortal realm was frowned upon, but I loved to sneak away and watch how the humans interacted with each other. I stayed away during the times they were at war, but when they weren’t I was there. I don’t know if you go there often, but when you spend a lot of time there our fae magic calls to each other. Faeries will always find other faeries no matter what, especially in a place where no other magic exists. Do you go there frequently?”

I shrugged. “Not really. I only go there to procure paintings. I really love their art. I left all my pieces in my room back home. I didn’t see the point in packing them all.”

A mischievous gleam sparkled in Queen Mab’s eyes when she said, “Oh, I don’t think you have anything to worry about with that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She waved her hand in the air dismissively and snickered. “You’ll find out later, my dear. It just goes with the theory that no matter how different you and my son are, there will always be something that ties you together. Okay, now back to the story. I was in the mortal realm and I had just gotten through walking across the Brooklyn Bridge when I spotted him. He was peering out over the bridge to the city, leaning over on his elbows on the railing. His golden skin stood out among the mortals, and even though he was dressed in mortal clothes I could tell underneath all of that that he was a warrior. I remembered just standing there, staring at him like I had never seen a Summer Fae before.”

“What did he do when he saw you?” I wondered.

Queen Mab laughed and shook her head. “He knew I was there the whole time watching him. After a while, without turning around to look at me, he finally asked me to join him. He also promised he wasn’t going to throw me over the bridge. I knew we were supposed to be enemies, but I didn’t feel any animosity coming off of him at all.”

I chuckled along with her and sat on the edge of my seat, dying to hear more. She wiped her eyes that were misty with tears and continued, “I had no clue what to expect from him. He was so full of life, just like you, and he brought me out of the shell I was in, made me feel things I never thought possible. I guess you could say Brayden is like me in that instance. He’s reserved, but he has a passion inside of him that’s stronger than any of my other sons. He likes to keep to himself, but even in the last day or two I could see a change in him. He just needs the right person to show him the way. You are that person to help him find that way.”

I knew Brayden had started to change, especially since he became my guardian. He kept his emotions open to me fully, which I knew couldn’t be easy for someone who had kept them hidden all his life.

Knowing Queen Mab’s story didn’t have a happy ending and that my mother was the cause of it, I had to know what happened. “What was his name?” I asked.

“Alaric,” she whispered. “His name was Alaric.”

I could feel her pain like a knife in the gut. She must’ve really loved him to have that kind of anguish inside her soul. “What did my mother do? How did she tear you and Alaric apart?”

Queen Mab scoffed and shook her head. “What didn’t she do is the question. Alaric and I knew our relationship was forbidden, so we kept our love hidden from our world. We would meet on the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, even if it was just for a moment. Staying apart made it hard to breathe and during the day I could barely think of anything else other than being in his arms and making love to him. He was my first love and I thought maybe … just maybe things would change in the Land of the Fae to where we could be together. It just so happens that your mother put a stop to it.”

Closing her eyes, she huffed and tightened her hands into fists beside her. “I don’t hate anyone as much as I hate your mother. I didn’t know that she fancied Alaric and that they had once been lovers. When he met me, their relationship had ended and she had moved on to another warrior. However, when she noticed him not panting along after her she got suspicious and decided to follow him to the mortal realm.”

“So she saw you two together,” I cut in, ashamed that my mother could be so cruel. I knew where this story was going and I didn’t like it one bit.

Queen Mab nodded. “Yes, she saw us together and turned us in. I never got to say good-bye to him.”

My heart broke for her because I couldn’t imagine falling in love with someone only to have them ripped away and not be able to say good-bye. Although, most of all, I felt anger. How could my mother do that? How could she be so damn selfish and vindictive?

My voice shook when I responded, “Where is he now? Did my mother have him killed?”

“She might as well have,” she remarked. “He was banished to the mortal realm and I was banished from the mortal realm. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. All I know is that I’ve hated your mother ever since and I will hate her to the end of my time.”

“Angel, are you all right?” Brayden inquired through our bond. “I can feel your anger and despair.”

He rode up beside the carriage and I peered out the window at him. I nodded my head and answered, trying to smile, “I’m fine, Brayden. You’re mother and I were talking and she told me some things that—”