11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I t took days of traveling, but I finally made it back. I never thought I would feel happy about seeing Cerithia’s castle until that very moment. I was exhausted. Sweat drenched my clothes, and my feet were blistered from running. What did my family think had happened to me?

A guard appeared in front of me as soon as I stepped through the tree line, staggering to the gate in the wall of the castle. His body stiffened, and he blinked rapidly as if he couldn’t believe it was me.

“Captain!”

He hurried over and tried to help stabilize me, but I swatted him away. The guard led me inside and escorted me straight to the throne room. The queen’s eyes frosted over as soon as she saw me.

Yeah, she looks devastated that I was missing.

My family stood at an entrance off to the right that I knew led to a ballroom. They were all dressed impeccably. Each one of them wearing a crown upon their head. The other side of the door was loud with fae and music. I stopped when I realized that they were having a party. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, though; they had never cared about my well-being before.

“I see you all were devastated that I was missing,” I hissed.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. We figured you ran away at your own accord.” Gwyn rolled her eyes. “You look fine.”

My eyes shifted to my father, who stood there like a coward, not saying a word to his wife in my defense. I did not look fine; I looked like hell.

“We're glad you’re alright, Thea, but we can’t stop royal duties. Besides, we knew it had to be Falgon guards, and you would be able to handle yourself.”

My head cocked to the side as I stared at my father. The contradicted everything Gwyn just said.

“Falgon guards?” I asked against my better judgment.

“Of course, who else would it be?” he scoffed. “We saw their dead bodies at the Crimson border.”

“Crimson,” I spoke. “Crimson would make the most sense. Besides, Gwyn just said you all thought I ran away.” They had to have sent guards to the Crimson border first, which meant they thought I ran to Cassius.

“Luren, we have a party.” Gwyn gave him a look that said he needed to ignore me.

“If you thought it was Falgon, why did you go to the Crimson border to find me? Especially if you thought I ran away.”They were lying to me.

Gwyn and my sisters gave my father a look that let me know I was asking too many questions. My father’s green eyes shifted from me to the space behind me. I turned to find Jesper there, only a few feet away.

“We were tipped off,” my father lied. My darkness could taste the deep fear he was trying to hide from me, though, showing me the truth behind his words.

“By whom?”

“Damn it, Thea!” My father’s voice echoed in the small space around us. “You do not get to question me.”

“Why not? Did you even send guards to find me besides the ones you sent to the Crimson border?”

“For one, you're his bastard child.” Gwyn’s blue eyes met mine. “You don’t get to question anyone. Now go away; we have things to do.”

“Fuck you,” I hissed at her.

Gwyn’s blue eyes filled with anger, but she said nothing to me as they lined up in front of the door together, ready for their grand entrance to the party beyond.

“This is you trying harder?” I questioned my father. His eyes traced over me, and he didn’t hide the look of disgust quickly enough.

“Tonight is not the night to fix things. This celebration is important.”

“More important than your daughter?”

“Thea...”

“Luren!” Gwyn demanded his attention. “You are not welcome to come with us,” she sneered at me.

He turned from me and stood with his family, not mine. I don’t think it ever was mine. I watched as they all put on fake smiles as the doors opened. He didn’t even stick up for me against Gwyn, ever.

Why was I even here in this kingdom? The Crimson Kingdom hadn’t really wanted me either. After all, even Cassius had killed me and cursed my soul. I was just an unwanted thing to him. Unwanted. If I had anywhere else to go, I would leave and never return.

Even my own father didn’t actually want me. I watched them pass through the doors and into the noise and laughter of the celebration.

Then the doors closed, and I stood in the center of the throne room alone. Always alone; never anyone’s first choice. Anger coursed through me as my true place sank in. That wasn’t my family. They couldn’t even bring themselves to pretend to care that I had been missing.They thought I went to Cassius willingly.

I smiled as I decided, once and for all, that this fa?ade was at an end. I was going to show them that they were never going to treat me like garbage again.

Stepping toward the door they disappeared through, I only had one thought: ruin this fake family, this fake kingdom. A guard stepped forward to stop me, but one menacing glare at him, and he immediately stepped back aside. My magic began to bleed out of me, my darkness anticipating revenge.

My fingers gripped the cold metal handle and swung open the door. The sound of my entrance went unheard through the laughter and music playing loudly.I stood and looked around the room. Slowly, like a suffocating cloud, everybody quieted down. Eyes peered at me before darting toward my family on the far side of the room. Not one fae looked at me with kindness as I stood there.My appearance was still menacing. My swirls glowed; my darkness swirled around me in a shadowy cloud. I watched as my father turned to see what had killed the celebration. When he spotted me, his face hardened, and Gwyn began whispering harshly to him.

My lips curled into a smirk as I stared at their horrified faces. I’ll show them what happens when you treat me like shit. I didn’t hold back my darkness as it violently tore out of me, causing the swirls on my skin to glow brightly. My eyes shifted to red as my darkness began ripping the decorations off the walls. Guests started yelling and screaming as they ran for the doors. Not so fast. I used my darkness to slam the large wooden doors shut, trapping them inside with me.

Their fear filled me, fueling my magic.

My father started toward me, but shadows crept out of me, creating a barrier he could not get past. He was yelling something, but I couldn’t hear him through the rage pumping through me.

Gwyn’s frantic movements caught my attention. My eyes flickered at the guards, who had all raised their weapons at me. Like that would stop me. In the blink of an eye, I stopped all the chaos my magic was causing. I stood at the front of the room, breathing angrily. I waited until the fae started calming down. Slowly, they stopped yelling and running. They peered at me as I watched them as calmly as I could pretend.

“You fucking monster!” Gwyn started toward me, her guards following in tow. I almost laughed when she thought she could do something to me. It was time to remind them who the fuck I was and why the gods chose me to fulfill the prophecy. I waited for her to try to slap me. When she did, I grabbed her wrist and yanked her to me.

“Thea!” My father was now rushing toward me. I turned Gwyn around and pulled out my dagger. My father stopped moving and paled as I smiled at him. Jesper stepped toward me with his hands up, showing he wasn’t a threat. None of these assholes were a threat. I let him get close.

“Thea, I know you’re upset, but let everyone here go and talk to us privately,” he begged. I pretended to care about what he said, but all I wanted was for him to feel comfortable enough to get closer.

“Fine,” I said, and shoved Gwyn so hard that she fell to the floor with a loud thud. She cried out in pain, and I hoped I had broken a bone. Jesper stepped closer. Perfect. I swung my dagger, slicing a cut across his cheek. He grabbed his face as blood poured between his fingers. He looked at me like he couldn’t believe what I was doing. Idiot.

“Stop her!” Gwyn yelled to the guards.

I smiled as Jeb came at me. He swung his sword violently at my head, but I dodged him. Before he could lift his sword again, I kicked him in the chest, making him fall backward. Another guard took his place, and I killed him with one stab to the side of the neck. Jeb was back up and charging at me. This time, he was more controlled as I deflected his sword with my daggers.

Jeb was good, but I was better.

I spun away from him and moved closer to my father and Gwyn. Guards immediately surrounded them, and I smiled, completely unhinged. Gods, it felt good to let my darkness out.

“They can’t protect you from me,” I warned.

Tally and Mae curled into my father as if he could protect them. Jeb sent another guard after me, but I was tired of this. I turned and stabbed the guard in the chest, ripping my blade down so his insides spilled out.

He groaned as life slipped away from him. My eyes pulsed between red and black as I turned to a crowd of terrified faces. I sneered at them before waving my hand, evaporating every weapon that was pointed at me with my fire magic. I heard someone call me Crimson's whore somewhere in the crowd. When I glanced around, two faces caught my attention: Linea and the other noble daughter who had been cruel to me. I smiled when I met their eyes. It was one of them who called me the name. Too bad they didn't learn their lesson. They tried to run, but my darkness burst forth and wrapped around them. Their screams filled the space.

“I told you I would come for you in a crowd. Which one of you said it?"

The noble daughter whose name I didn't know immediately pointed to Linea. I tossed the other girl away. My darkness held Linea as I cut her tongue from her mouth. Her crying filled the space, and all I could think about was how much I hated every fae in this kingdom. Maybe I should kill them all right now. I tossed her to the floor and watched everyone to see who would come for me next. No one moved.

“Now that I have everyone’s attention,” I said calmly. “I hope this was a nice reminder that I can gut every single one of you in here by myself. If you think I will continue to tolerate your shitty attitude toward me, think again. I don’t care if you are noble, commoner, or royal.” My eyes flicked to my family. “I will not hesitate to put you in the ground. Does anyone have anything they’d like to say to me?”

No one dared breathe too loudly as I glanced at them. Leer stood in the back of the room with a proud but terrified look on his face.

“I didn’t fucking think so. Sleep well.” I smiled innocently.

My father didn’t dare come at me this time. I walked out of the room slowly, heading toward my shower to wash the blood from me.