“You ask much of me. As always. I would request that you reconsider, for no matter my decision, innocent lives will be lost. If you wish to punish me, then do so. Only leave the innocent out of this.”
“Bah,” the queen snorted. “No one is innocent. This you know to be true. I gave you a choice, now end this once and for all, for if you don't choose, I will.”
Aelbrin’s voice sank lower, the edges of pain bleeding out. “Your Majesty, I would remind you. How long have I been your servant? How long have I served you without question? Have I ever broken my word or betrayed your trust?”
Her piercing laugh seemed as though it would shake the foundations of the castle.
In a movement so quick I barely caught it, she snatched a fistful of Aelbrin’s tunic and yanked him near, as though he were not as solid as a rooted tree. “You think I don’t know?” she said. “You've become bold. I saw the wolf you healed, the fox you saved from the orcs. I saw you grace the owls with your presence to learn the music of the night.” She leaned close. “You took extra game to the village to feed the elders. You watched this woman and kept her safe from Raven whenever she snuck out to visit the graveyard. You think I don’t know what you do when you’re not here, in my presence, but you forget. I see your comings and goings. You have grown soft enough to believe you can cross me. Retribution was always coming, but this woman makes it all the sweeter.”
Aelbrin said nothing, but I sensed his anger all the same.
“But,” the queen continued. “If you would spare the innocent, so be it. Take up your sword, oh knight of mine. Step forward and slay the woman.”
My arms scrapped the floor. I pressed my tongue firmly against the roof of my mouth to keep from crying out, and I tasted iron in the back of my throat. I had to make my last action count.
Again, I saw Aelbrin’s hazel eyes hiding a deep well of thoughts, but every decision led him down the path of an impossible choice. He was damned. If he did not obey the Dark Queen, he would damn the last of his people.
But what about my people? Even now, the queen roused an army to destroy them, an army of nightmares and orcs to tear through the village. It was impossible to warn my people.
Ignoring the pain, I crawled closer to the tree. A smell emitted from it, the odor of a slow death. I reached out my hand, unsure why I felt the need to touch the tree. My fingers wrapped around wood, smooth instead of rough, and emotions flashed in front of me, heart-rending and terrifying.
A scream bolted out of my mouth, but the sensation was quickly replaced with a flood of warmth. My eyes closed, and a smile came to my face as a happy memory of my past rose in my thoughts.
I recalled sitting in front of the fire, wrapped in a blanket in my mother’s arms. She hummed a tune under her breath and rocked back and forth, back and forth. I reached out my tiny hand to wrap it around one of her slender fingers, and she squeezed me tightly. I felt safe, sure, right. Nothing terrible could ever happen to me.
A plethora of feelings surged through me as though I were standing on a cliff. The spirit of the tree nudged me and a velvety voice whispered, so softly I almost did not hear it at first. “Will you take the burden? Will you take our pain? Will you save us?”
Tears brimmed over, striking my cheeks. “Yes.” I whispered. “Yes. If I can.”
“Hold tight,” warned the tree. Mother Tree.
I closed my eyes and squeezed a knotty root. My senses took over, and the queen shouted in a murderous voice. “Let go of the tree, you fool! Let go. You know not what you do.”
I held on tighter.
“Aelbrin, take up your sword and kill her,” the queen shrieked. “If you do not do so this instant, I will send the firedrakes to slay your people.”
“My queen, a blood oath cannot be forsaken so easily,” came Aelbrin’s horrified voice.
“Do you not know the heights of my power? Do it now!” she ordered.
I clung to the tree, even as I heard the ominous ring of a sword being drawn from a scabbard.
Would he do it? Even after our night of passion, would he really slay me to save his people?
A humming began in my head. The tree was pouring into me, its thoughts, hopes, and dreams. A thousand memories flooded in, moving in the blink of an eye. It churned within me like a windstorm blowing into a cyclone so powerful and intense none could stand in its way. Something vibrated in the pit of my being and my fingers went stiff. Magic pushed against the binding spell, undoing Raven’s work and seeped out of my hands.
Overwhelming sensations convulsed through me. My teeth clattered, and my eyes came open, as though I were filled to the brim and could not contain my magic any longer. Still holding onto the tree, I opened my eyes, stood to my feet and turned around.
My mouth hung open at the sight I saw. The slaves were crouched on the ground in front of the braziers, cowering and weeping. Aelbrin stood in the center of the room, facing the queen. His sword was drawn. It was a wide blade, meant for cleaving heads from shoulders, its weight? forcing him to hold on with both hands. Designs etched the hilt, many of them old runes I’d studied before, blessings and curses. He swung the sword, and I realized he intended to kill—not me—but the Dark Queen.
His bravery emboldened me. Why would he sacrifice himself, and his people? Surely not for me? For if she were gone, who would stand between the people and the dark forest? Who would hold back the tide of her demons, leaderless and ready to turn every village into a blood bath?
“Let go,” whispered Mother Tree.
I obeyed and aimed my tingling palms at the Dark Queen.
She evaded Aelbrin’s blade, laughing and swearing, telling him the many ways she would torture first me, forcing him to watch. She seemed to have forgotten I was behind her, and a grim smile came to my lips.
The power bubbling within me felt good and strong, and although I sensed a dark energy behind it, I liked it. It was like a forbidden fruit. Once tasted, the delectable pleasure became too heady and delicious to let go of ever again.
Energy surged through me, out of my fingers like lightning, and slammed into the back of the Dark Queen.
A stillness came over the air, and the queen’s body went rigid. Her blood red mouth came open in a silent scream of shock. Her body doubled over. Bent at the waist. She held out her arms to keep her balance, staying on her swaying feet.
Pent up rage poured out of me, and the foundations of the castle shook with the current of power flooding through my veins. My ears popped, and I realized I was howling as every unfairness, humiliation, and shame in my life was dealt with, one after the other, making the queen the noose upon which I hung the evil that had befallen me.
Aelbrin’s blade went up again. Before he brought it down, he glanced at me. There was a question in his eyes. Although his jaw was tight, I understood he was asking permission, asking me to back down so he could finish what he started.
Power surged through me, and I reached out to hold it back, but it seemed like a broken dam, churning with strength, too strong to pull back. I managed to nod at him, even though magic leaked out of my eyes in a dazzling array of green and gold, casting its shimming luster across the throne room.
The sword came down, straight and fast, glinting in the firelight, and the Dark Queen’s head rolled end over end. Her cold dead eyes glittered as they stared directly at me, as though she could see, even in death, what I’d done.
I lowered my hands as weariness consumed me. The sudden energy faded, and I leaned back, collapsing into the seemingly waiting arms of the tree. My vision swam but I still made out the figure rushing toward me. Aelbrin. He cupped my face.
“Yula? Yula!” he called.
And then I faded.
Chapter 9
My eyelids fluttered, and a softness surrounded me. I heard my name, whispered through the wood. I opened my eyes and saw I sat on the throne, and below me, where the court of the Dark Queen had been, was the destruction of the castle. The smoking bowls of incense were
gone, along with the chained dancers, lost souls who hopefully found their escape.
Fingers tip-toed across my arm, and I turned my face to meet Aelbrin’s dark eyes. Blood splatter stained his shirt, and his cloak had been tossed over one shoulder. Unruly hair framed his gallant face, and my heart flip-flopped. I touched his shoulder, gratified by what he’d done. Whether it was for me or him did not matter. He was free.
And then I noticed something. I snatched up his hand, staring at the smooth skin. The rune of the Dark Queen had faded, melted away in the aftermath of her death.
“Is it over?” I whispered.
His hazel eyes were serene, and a calmness enveloped me as he squeezed my hand. “Not yet. You have taken the place of the Dark Queen, but Mabon still comes. If your magic is strong enough, you can bind the forest and keep the creatures of the night from escaping to terrorize the world outside our borders.” He frowned, and his eyes shifted away.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The Queen of the Wildwood used the energy of the runes to help hold back the night terrors. If there are no rituals, no runes, your power might not be strong enough to hold back the creatures. Especially when the seasons change into the dark months.”
Understanding overwhelmed me, and I swallowed hard but kept my eyes fixated on him. When he touched me, an undercurrent flowed from me to him and him to me. A power. I felt it strong and intense, like nothing I’d experienced before.
I squeezed his hand and I knew, with certainty, my power was far stronger than the Dark Queen’s. The monster within had been awakened. Its presence tugged on my heartstrings, begging to be let loose. I’d survived the dam, and I could survive this. “I can hold them. But what of your people?”
A light came over his shadowed eyes, and his fingers grazed my knee, a reminder of our tryst in the cave. Despite myself, I shivered, and an ache for his touch filled me.
“My people are safe from the firedrakes. For now. They will continue to live in the grove and return to the trees they were birthed from. But you did something else, something greater. You healed Mother Tree,” he looked up at it with reverence. “She will grow again and become a mighty tree of the forest.”
I gazed at him with amazement. “And what about you?” Wonder thrummed through my voice. “You are free now, too. You can return to your people.”
He blinked. “That life is gone. If you will have me, I will stay here with you, and help thwart the plans of the dark forest. It is still thick with the seeds of evil she planted long ago. If the forest realizes its mistress is dead, it will fight back. I’m afraid you have exchanged your soul in servitude to the wood. I’ve always been drawn to you, Mistress Yula. I didn’t know why until now.”
He tilted his head, bringing it closer to mine. Despite what we had been through, he still smelled like the wildwood. His warm breath lingered above my lips, and I angled my head, teasing him.
“I hope your attraction to me is not only because of my power,” I said.
His hand squeezed my knee. “Nay, I know you have felt the connection too.”
Without allowing me another word, his warm lips captured mine.
A moan escaped from my throat, and my arms went around his neck, pulling him closer until there was no space between us.
“Aelbrin,” I whispered when he pulled back, a warm flush coming to his face. “Thank you.”
He helped me to my feet and held me close. I relaxed against him, enjoying the calm after the storm.
“Thank you, Yula,” Aelbrin said softly, kissing my cheek. “You are Queen of the Wildwood now. And I’m your knight.”
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading Queen of the Wildwood.
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Read the next tale:
Sacrifice of the Woodcutter
Acknowledgments
A special thanks goes out to readers far and wide who enjoy these kinds of stories and send kind words and notes. I’m always happy to hear from fans. I truly hope you enjoyed this tale and are looking forward to the many fantastical stories to come.
Also by Angela J. Ford
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The Four Worlds Series
The Complete Four Worlds Series Boxset (Books 1-4)
The Five Warriors
The Blended Ones
Eliesmore & the Green Stone
Eliesmore & the Jeweled Sword
Tales of the Four Worlds
Prison in the Sky
Myran
Legend of the Nameless One Series
Legend of the Nameless One Boxset - Books 1-3
Citrine’s Monsters (prequel)
Realm of Beasts
Realm of Mortals
Realm of Ice
Realm of Rulers
Night of the Dark Fae Trilogy
Pawn
Fated
Noble
Tales of the Enchanted Wildwood
Queen of the Wildwood
Sacrifice of the Woodcutter
Lord of the Castle
About the Author
Angela J. Ford is a bestselling epic fantasy author who has sold over 30,000 copies and has had over 10 million page reads in Kindle Unlimited. Her books have been ranked bestsellers in multiple categories.
She enjoys traveling, hiking, and playing World of Warcraft with her husband. First and foremost, Angela is a reader and can often be found with her nose in a book.
Aside from writing she enjoys the challenge of working with marketing technology and builds websites for authors.
Angela is passionate about helping indie authors succeed and runs a community and podcast called Indie Author Lifestyle.
If you happen to be in Nashville, you’ll most likely find her at a local coffee shop, enjoying a white chocolate mocha and furiously working on her next book.
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