50. Elianna

Chapter fifty

Elianna

My eyes fluttered open to realize that darkness still blanketed the room. I pivoted under the covers to turn and face the window and noticed dawn wasn’t far off, the moon’s glow dimming.

I closed my eyes to fall back asleep once more, but couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. An overwhelming sense of having eyes on me sent my heart racing in my chest.

I pulled the blanket over my face to try to drift off to sleep, telling myself that I was being ridiculous and that no one would be foolish enough to break into our home—I also would have heard them.

Yet still, the feeling remained.

I shoved the covers off and looked at Jace, who remained sound asleep beside me, appearing as peaceful as ever.

Blowing out a breath, I rubbed my eyes before glancing around the room, but all I noticed was that the door was still closed, and everything else remained untouched.

I was about to tell myself I was losing my mind when my gaze caught on the corner of the room, where an otherworldly shadow lingered—one that I had grown accustomed to over these passing weeks.

“Veli,” I grumbled, annoyance filling my tone. “Veli, what in the realm? This isn’t funny at all.”

Silence answered me, but the shadows swerved, as if working to cover something—or someone.

“Jace,” I whispered nervously, but he didn’t stir.

I leapt up from the bed, my gaze locked on the corner where the shadows swirled, their darkness appearing more smoke-like than they had a moment ago.

“Who are you?” I asked sternly as I clutched Jace’s shirt to my front that I had worn to bed.

Nothing answered me aside from the mocking wisps of darkness.

“I am Elianna Valderre, Heir of the Realm, and I demand that you present yourself to me at once and state how and why you are in my home.”

“ Jace ,” I sent down the bond. “ Jace, wake up .”

“Heir of the Realm?” A wicked, bone-chilling voice that I recognized all too well echoed, and my lips parted as it reached my ears.

Idina stepped out from the cover of the shadows, their remnants swirling around her figure like wraiths.

“It is a bit presumptuous to be declaring yourself as such with no proper declaration from the prior king. Do you not agree?” Her head tilted to the side in a predatory manner.

“How did you get here?” My lip curled back into a snarl as my eyes followed her movements.

“Ah, yes, well…you are not the only queen that has acquired witches and their use of magic.”

“I have acquired no one and nothing. People stand by my side because of what they believe is right. I didn’t obtain them as if they were objects to barter for. They are my friends .”

A wicked cackle left her. “Friends.” Her eyes drifted to my husband, who remained asleep in our bed. “Is that what this mortal filth is that you lay beside?”

My steps carried me to block her view, shielding him from anything she might try to do. “You will stay the fuck away from him.”

She tsked and her eyes wandered around the room, taking in the sight of the space—her eyes caught on the gown that remained on the floor at the foot of the bed.

My heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst in my chest.

“ Jace, if you can hear me, do not move ,” I warned.

Finally, a stir from him down the bond.

“ Lia? ” His voice sounded groggy with sleep, even as it filtered through my mind.

“ Do not move. Do not stir. Just remain as you are .”

His eyes flew open, and I felt the panic that rumbled through him.

“ Close your eyes, Jace. Let me try to show you, but you can’t react because I don’t know how deep this magic goes .”

I felt his body tense. “ Lia .” His voice was stern. “ Who the fuck is in here?! ” he demanded, but I ignored him.

Putting in every ounce of effort possible, I focused as hard as I could to show him the room and who now stood in it, willing him to see it through my eyes .

The moment my vision overtook his own, Jace sat up instantly, ready to strike the queen down in his mother’s cottage. The force of his movements startled me enough to drop the sight connection.

When my eyes flew to his, he was panting as he stood beside our bed and then looked at me. “I…I can’t see her.”

“What?” I breathed.

“Show yourself to me, you bitch!” he roared into the dark room.

“A queen does not concern herself with mortal filth,” she hissed at him.

Idina was watching him intently now, and I willed my sight back into his, his eyes flaring as he saw her once again through my gaze.

“Now…is that what I think it is?” Idina asked with a malicious chuckle as her gaze returned to the dress. “You married one of them? Elianna…I knew you had always been a traitorous snake, but I never thought you would take it to such an extreme height.”

“It was never I who was the traitorous snake, Idina. That title has always been yours alone to claim. And you wear it so well, I might add.”

“You think that betraying your own race, and inter-breeding with lesser beings, is not treasonous? And you believe that you are fit to rule? While I despise your existence, you are the daughter of the late fae king, and I had not taken you to be quite so reckless.”

“ Elianna ,” Jace growled. I could feel his patience slipping as he frantically tried to watch through the bond’s haze. “ We don’t have any weapons in here. And I can’t even see her with my own eyes. I don’t know what the fuck to do. ”

“ Stay where you are . That is an order .”

“ If she fucking touches you …”

“ An ORDER, Jace .”

I felt him hold himself back at my command—his anger igniting our tether in searing flames.

Idina’s stare drifted back to my mate, and my heart crept up my throat. “At least it appears that you keep your mortal pet in line as he stands in the corner with his tail between his legs.”

“You will not speak of him.” My nails dug into the palms of my hands as they balled into fists, shaking with rage. “And interesting for you to declare what deems an act treasonous…considering you murdered my father!” I barked, my voice rising with each passing word.

If my knowledge regarding the manner of the king’s death surprised her, her face certainly didn’t show it.

The corner of her lips tilted into a venomous, knowing smirk as she took a single step toward me, placing her hands behind her back.

“You were always such a good little youngling for your father, doing as he said and always making sure he was pleased with you and what you had accomplished…you and I are not so different in that sense, I suppose,” Idina said.

My eyes flared. “You are implying that you murdered the King of Velyra over a century after your father’s death. If that had been his wish, I’m sure many chances for that had presented itself when your father was still alive…or even shortly after his death. ”

Her eyes narrowed in on me, as if I had struck a nerve. “You know nothing, and I will not waste my breath in explaining what I have done for my kin. I know how you are with your own, and you would have been just as ruthless.”

“If a threat presented itself! Not to steal the throne from the royal bloodline of the realm! And you are a threat, Idina,” I hissed.

Anger-riddled pride radiated from Jace.

She took a step toward me, and I stood my ground at the edge of the bed.

“I am a threat?!” she seethed. “You stole my only children from me. Murdering one in cold blood for his claim to the throne you so desperately seek while poisoning the other two against me. I am their mother . Make no mistake, I will get my other children back from you, whether you hand them to me or I pry them from your grasp.”

“Murder in cold blood? Claim to the throne?!” My fists were getting ready to strike her the second another word left her mouth. “Your son was just as malicious as you are, and he possessed as much claim to the throne as a peasant beggar in the slums that you look down upon so much.”

Her eyes widened in shock as her jaw ticked with fury, its aura filling the room.

“As for Avery and Finnian, they hate you just as much as the rest of the realm does. Perhaps even more,” I continued.

A huff of approval sounded in my mind from Jace as he impatiently watched through my eyes.

“I don’t know what it is that you think you know, but—”

“It is not a matter of what I think to be true, but what is true by blood. And that is that Kai was not King Jameson’s son,” I stated.

“And how do you know of such things, little Elianna?” she hissed.

My lip curled into a snarl once more. “The realm always knows. Every vine that sways from a willow tree, every root that runs deep into the soil, and every creature that roams above it…possess the power of knowing.”

Her eyes leisurely roamed up and down my body before meeting my stare again. “And who would father a child of the queen if not the king?”

My brow rose, and this time, it was my turn to smirk at the knowledge I held. “Perhaps the menacing, personal guard she kept so close all these years?”

She scoffed, pretending to be disgusted, but something resembling rage-induced hurt flashed across her eyes. “That is quite an accusation.” Her voice was deceptively sweet.

“One that holds truth,” I bit out.

“ Lia, her tone has changed ,” Jace warned, and I peeked over at him as the veins in his neck throbbed from continuing to hold himself back at my order.

“ I know. Don’t move . The shadows are swirling at her feet and I don’t know if they can harm us .”

I could feel his temper slipping as he reluctantly obeyed.

“Well then, Elianna ,” she spoke my name with venom, one somehow more poisonous than she had my entire life. “Let me make this as clear as possible for you…”

My heartbeat quickened again as I watched her eyes dart back and forth between me and Jace.

She stepped up to me, putting her ruby-painted lips to my ear as she whispered her threats. “You will surrender your life to me, and I will forgive your merry little band of rebels for their treason.”

“Lia!” Jace shouted, but I blocked it out, praying he remained where he stood. Pure agonizing panic rattled our tether from him.

“The humans, well, they will continue to be hunted into extinction. That is, unless they would prefer to offer themselves as slaves, declaring fae as the superior race of the realm once and for all.”

An evil, breathy laugh left my husband. “Go to hell, you fae bitch.”

Her face twisted into something horrific at his words, so I quickly brought her attention back to me.

“My people want freedom from your wickedness, not to offer themselves into a lifetime of servitude to you.”

Idina laughed wickedly while shaking her head. She took a step back to get a better look at me, attempting to make me feel small beneath her stare. “Well, then, Elianna, when your people, as you have claimed them to be, all meet their end, you will have no one to blame but yourself. This includes the pet that warms your bed.”

A growl rumbled through my chest as she threatened my mate, and I took a step to the side, blocking his body from her once more.

“Lia,” Jace growled.

“ Stay back ,” I ordered through my mind .

“Honestly, Elianna, what kind of ruler takes away the choices of her kingdom’s people?” She winked at me. “Perhaps we are more alike than we wish to admit.”

“We are nothing alike, and I know my people would rather fight for a chance at true freedom than be forced into slavery. Make no mistake, Idina, any chains you place upon their wrists…I will shatter them.”

She watched my speech with a menacing grin. “You will do well to remember this when you discover what we have gifted you during our little chat this evening. It is a pity that it appears you’re not there.”

“ Lia, what does that mean? ”

She leaned into me once more, a shiver working its way up my spine at her proximity. “It poses the question…is one life worth more than another? Is your life worth more than the millions that will die?” She took a step back and then another, creating a short distance between us.

“I have made that choice now, not once, but twice,” she admitted, and my eyes flared. “For the reckless decisions made by two foolish fae had threatened my family’s plans for the realm and its superior race, so they had to be dealt with.” She paused for a moment. “And my only regret is that you were not there when I slit your mother’s throat, for I would have done the same to you.”

My jaw dropped, heart nearly coming to a screeching halt in my chest as my surroundings evaporated. Time ceased as my vision skipped red and went straight to a blinding haze of black.

“That’s it!” Jace boomed as he moved to charge toward her .

A scream of wrath tore through my throat as I surged toward her in unison, but the moment I thought we would collide, I was met with nothing but air. My body slammed into the floorboards where she had stood only a moment before as the vanishing shadows swirled.

“You made your choice, Elianna. Now, you must live with it.” Idina’s voice echoed through the room as if coming from every direction.

And then she was gone.

“Lia!” Jace bellowed as fell to his knees at my side. His arms wrapped around me as he heaved me to sit upright beside him.

“Why did you make me stay down, Lia? Why ?! She was eyeing you like prey. I was bursting at the fucking seams. Please don’t ever demand something like that of me again. Ever . Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

His eyes roamed over my body, pure worry radiating from him.

“I didn’t know if she would harm you, and I wasn’t willing to risk it. Especially with the sorcery that had brought her here.” The words were barely audible as I tried to gather my thoughts.

My rage-hazed, unseeing eyes darted back and forth, refusing to land on any one thing as my entire body remained tense. I wanted to crawl out of my skin, feeling more violated than I ever had before.

I had endured chains, whips, and the hands of unwanted males on my body—but none of that had felt like this .

His eyes softened, and he bowed his head. “Gods, I’m so sorry. I was just terrified. Why the hell couldn’t I see her too?! I could only see her through your eyes. It wasn’t as if I was a bystander, but exactly where you stood beneath her stare. I saw it all… felt it all. Lia…” His tone teetered in desperation.

My lips parted as I worked to put my thoughts into words. “She killed my mother,” I whispered.

“I know.” His tone was more gentle than I had ever heard.

“Idina murdered my mother the day I was born…and she allowed everyone to believe that I had killed her from the birth. She lied to my father and told him that it was a birthing complication—that she bled out on the bed as she lay there alone.” My voice rose with each word as tears of rage streamed down my cheeks.

“My Lia,” he breathed. “Your father knows that it wasn’t your fault.” His thumbs worked to swipe the tears as they slipped.

“I’m going to fucking destroy her.”

He nodded. “Yes, you will. And I will be right there with you as you set her world ablaze and watch it burn.”

My gaze lifted to his—the golden flecks in his eyes illuminated as dawn filtered through the curtains. “We move our armies now .”