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Well, that didn’t sound like a very peaceful death.
"Oh. "Ace shoved her hands into her pockets, acting nonchalant while her brain processed the horror of what she just witnessed. "And what spell did you do earlier?" She tipped her head toward the passage they’d just left.
"I veiled us so they can't track us anymore."
"And what are the chances you could use your magic to get us to where we need to go cause I'm assuming this cave isn't our only plan. Right?"
Shelby shook his head, moving to the exit. He pressed his tall lanky body against the ledge and began shuffling until he disappeared on the other side of the water. Ace clung to the rocks and followed suit. On the other side of the waterfall, Shelby was already shaking the water from his face.
"Don't you mean my plan? This was not a combined effort here. And so far I have yet to get any good helpful information from you."
"Helpful information?" Ace squeaked as she hopped off the edge of the rocks and into the grass next to Shelby. "I've already promised to find a way to remove the bonds of slavery. I am living proof of the gods. That seems helpful enough."
"I'm not even sure if you're living proof of the gods. What if you're just some weird genetic mutation."
"If I was just a genetic mutation then how did I know exactly what you prayed for in the kitchen?"
"A good guess?"
It would've been a good guess. And an educated guess. How was she supposed to prove who and what she was without telling him the entirety of her story? She wasn't sure even if she did tell him her story that it was even believable or that she could make it through without falling apart. No one knew how the queens came into power, but Ace did.
There was just no way that anyone was going to believe her.
Queen Sienna
No sooner had guards chased two people out of the ballroom than Ophelia had pulled Queen Sienna away from the throne. The queen had been on the dance floor until she’d locked eyes…
She couldn’t get the staff in her hand fast enough. She was being haunted. If that's even what this was. Those eyes that had looked back at her hadn't been human. And that's the only way Queen Sienna could make sense of what she saw. The girl that was chased from the ballroom wasnota human. Not anymore.
There'd been a flash of emotion that raced through Sienna’s veins like a bolt of lightning. It tasted like regret but it was so hard for Sienna to truly know if that was what it was for sure when she no longer recognized half of her emotions.
In the next second, she'd run for her staff. The court wanted her to dance with her potential suitors without the staff, of course. Without it though…she didn't have power. Queen Sienna didn't like being vulnerable and the idea of being so painfully alone without the staff made her grip it more frantically now.
Her heels clicked against the floor in a rhythm that matched her racing pulse. She didn't give her suitors another glance as she was rushed out of the room and more guards surrounded her.
"Are you okay?" Ophelia asked as she ushered the queen into the safe room.
"Whatjust happened?" What had they seen? Did they see who Sienna saw? Did they understand?
The queen waved the guards away from her and they all moved to the edge of the room to give her space. She held the staff close to her body wondering if she should summon her power. What would she do with it? Her thoughts looped so badly she wasn't even sure she could make sense of what should or should not be the next step. But that was why she had people that worked for her.
"There was a warlock at the party. He didn't outright use his magic but there was a girl with him who had a page from a Grimoire. We can only assume that they were here to cause you harm." Ophelia perched herself on the arm of a chair.
Sienna paced in front of the couch. Her safe room wasn't much, basically just a room in the middle of the castle where they could easily surround the queen. There was the chair, the couch, and a small table with a couple of chairs. Stacked beside the table were some preserves that were kept just in case the queen had to stay for longer than a few hours. Not that Sienna would let it come to that.
"Yes, a girl. Have you seen the girl? Did you see the girl?"
Ophelia folded her hands in her lap and her eyes followed the queen as she walked back and forth, back and forth. "I didn't notice the girl when she arrived with the warlock. I'm not familiar enough with your warlocks to know if he belonged to you or not so I assumed, as she appeared wealthy, he belonged to her. I didn't get a good look at her when she dropped the spell. I was only able to recognize that she had changed."
“Isn't part of your job description to observe my surroundings?" Queen Sienna snapped, coming to a sudden stop. Ophelia flinched as the queen pointed the staff in her direction.
"I'm sorry, my Queen," Ophelia whispered.
“Sweep the warlocks’ quarters. I want every single one of them questioned and counted. If any are missing—”
There was a soft knock at the door, one with a steady rhythm they all recognized. Three knocks, then a pause, then two more knocks, a pause, and two more knocks. Clearly, someone privy to the action plan put in place for moments like these. Two guards moved to the door, opening it a fraction to peer out before they let it swing wide. Des Tartal stepped into the room, long brown hair combed away from his face. His armor shined like he had polished it before the event and it only made it more apparent how broad his chest was. The queen expected as much seeing as he was the head of the guard.
"Des." She greeted him. He bowed low to the ground, not a single strand of his hair falling out of place as he straightened himself. Some humans were pretty enough they could be mistaken for Fae and Des was one of them. He was still pretty even though he sported a wicked scar that trailed from the top of his forehead over his left eye, down his chin down the side of his neck, and only came to a stop in the middle of his chest.
