by N. J. Cooper
“Darling, I am nothing if not grateful for your role in my plans.” Onyx bowed. The Queen scowled back.
“Our plans, Onyx. You are not the dictator. I run this show because I am the only one able to get you through. Do not forget that.” She snapped and closed the portal before he could respond before letting out an irritated growl, fixing her hair and waltzing out the door as if nothing had happened. Kyla’s jaw clenched. The whole time they had been trying to catch Onyx and Byron, the Queen had been revealing their plans. That’s how Onyx had stayed ahead the whole time, because they knew exactly what was happening. Kyla glared at the screen as another portal scene popped up.
“What secrets are you going to tell your best friend now, bitch.” Kyla whispered low out of pure anger but she regretted the words instantly as Zarek’s hand clenched on hers and he looked down at her with a worn look of utter despair. He had already lost his father and now his mother, she had to remember that, despite how much she wanted to tear her head off.
“When will they be here, my Queen?” Onyx asked as the Queen paced near the portal.
“Tomorrow morning. Kyla and Zarek will be going to the guard in Detroit then taking her mother to Atlanta. Onyx, the guard there are going to be protecting her.” Queen Lena bit. Onyx growled under his breath.
“Of course the King hides behind Arkin. That damn Alpha has been a pain in my ass for centuries and I can’t wait to end him. But first things first, is my ticket booked?” He asked. The Queen nodded.
“Done. You leave Detroit for JFK tomorrow and should arrive there right on time. There will be a car waiting for you to be taken out to the villa in Ridgewood, New jersey. I have the place being watched until then.” The Queen replied.
“Good. Let the bitch have her mother back, I will be gone by then and Byron should be ready with the sacrifices in the dungeon. How is he? Have you checked on him?” Onyx asked. The Queen sighed.
“I’ve tried but he is being guarded closely and Carrick is watching me like a hawk. I have the dungeons prepared though; salt lining, pentagram candles, and the alcohol that Byron has asked for is infused with holy water. The portal should open as expected while the Oracle chases her tail.” The Queen snickered. Kyla looked away from the screen, clenching her eyes shut so she could calm down. The Queen had taken things too far. It was one thing to want power but to be such an evil person to the core, was something else. Kyla wasn’t even sure how the Queen had managed to hide it for so long. Kyla didn’t think she could watch another betrayal from the Queen when the alarm blared and the voice said ‘failed,’ before the screen went black and Kyla took a huge shuddering breath in. Zarek shook from next to her.
“I don’t know if I can watch anymore.” Zarek whispered. Kyla stepped in closer to him, wrapping her arm around him as his body shivered.
“You have to Z. I know it’s hard but there is one more thing you need to see and if my tests were any indication, I think I know what it is. It’s going to be hard though, harder than what you’ve seen so far, but I’ll be here for you okay? I promise.” She whispered back, stepping in front of him to look him in the eye. He looked over her before nodding and pulling her into him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” He whispered against the top of her head. Kyla nodded, the tears falling down her cheeks as she held him.
“Don’t be.” She said then turned back as the screen flickered on. It was red tinged of course, and this time Kyla had to shut her eyes because the image that greeted her was something she never wanted to see again. It was Queen Lena and Onyx; together. They were in bed and they weren’t sleeping. Kyla cringed away as Zarek’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
“Tell me this isn’t true, Kyla. I need you to tell me that my mother didn’t sleep with Onyx and that she didn’t cheat on my father.” Zarek pleaded but Kyla couldn’t because she knew there was proof. And that showed when the scene changed. It was Queen Lena on a small mattress in a shadowed room with no one else around. She was screaming as her protruding stomach tensed under the blanket she wore. She had a damp forehead and tears falling as she pushed her son out. Byron. The Queen looked over to a shimmer in the room.
“Onyx. He is born.” Queen Lena whispered breathily as she grabbed her son from between her legs and brought him to her chest, checking him over as his cry pierced the room.
“My Queen you have done me well. You will have the power you desire, I promise you. Now give him to the Vexerin’s, they will teach him what he needs to know.” Onyx said as a couple came through the portal, dressed in black and sauntering forward to take the baby. Queen Lena kissed him on his head then looked at the Vexerin’s, grabbing the one not holding the baby by the throat.
“You take care of my son or I swear to heaven and hell that I will make you pay. Never tell a soul who bore him or where he came from. Adopt him, raise him as your own and you shall be rewarded, betray me and I will make sure you suffer a fate worse than death. Do you understand?” She breathed. The Vexerin nodded as the other one wrapped Byron in a blanket.
“We swear it.” They promised rushing from the room with the baby as Queen Lena huffed and leaned back on the mattress.
“Goodbye Byron. I will see you when it is our time.” She whispered before closing her eyes. The entire stadium was silent, but Kyla was sure they could hear the harsh beat of her heart against her ribcage. She turned to look at Zarek as the alarm blared on the screen and the usual failed tone came through, but nobody moved. The screen shut off, going back to Queen Lena who was still on the hospital bed, and still nobody moved a muscle. Zarek stood, staring at the screen, his pulse fast as his breaths came quick and shallow through his parted lips. Finally, he turned to the realm.
“It seems we have the truth.” He said, clearing his broken voice, refusing to look up at the audience. Kyla stayed holding his hand as he clutched it in his, refusing to let her leave. He turned to Shemar.
“Wake her up. Bring her here.” Zarek ordered. Shemar hesitated.
“That may make her condition unstable, your Majesty.” Shemar warned but Zarek scowled.
“Bring. Her. Here.” He bit. Shemar nodded once and trotted off to get Queen Lena. Kyla watched on the camera as Zarek’s finger tapped on the podium, his face pale, his body tight. She wanted to help, to comfort him but she didn’t know how.
“He was my brother, Kyla. My brother. I killed him.” Zarek whispered and it had the tears springing to her eyes again. She had hoped he wouldn’t make the connection so quickly, but she should have known.
“If you hadn’t Z, then we would both be dead.” She whispered back, trying to remind him why he had done that, but he shook his head.
“My mother disappeared for ten months. My father said she needed space and had gone to spend some time in the human realm. I thought it was my fault because I was so young and my parents didn’t love each other the way other parents did, but it was because she was with him. She was with him in the Outlands, Kyla. Birthing a son that I never knew. A brother I never knew. I must have only been a year old, if that and somehow, I wasn’t enough. Do you think that’s because I was my fathers?” Zarek asked as they waited for Shemar who was still arguing with the nurse about the mother being woken up. Kyla leaned into Zarek and turned his face to look at her.
“Zarek, I am glad you are your fathers. Whatever her reasoning for turning to Onyx, is not your fault. It is because she needed something and couldn’t see that she had everything right in front of her. You can’t blame yourself for things that happened when you were barely a year old, that is not your burden to bare.” Kyla urged but Zarek shook his head, his chin wobbling as he held back tears.
“I do blame myself, Kyla. I do.” He sniffed before looking to the side where Shemar was dragging his mother in with cuffs around her feet and wrists. She was still pale and looked like she was using mostly Shemar’s strength to stand, but she had her chin high as she looked over her pointed nose at her son who was only just holding it together. This was
going to be one hell of a confrontation and Kyla didn’t know how the Queen was going to play it.
~ 18 ~
“Tell me it isn’t true.” Zarek pleaded with his eyes while his voice remained stern and authoritive. The Queen’s chin notched higher.
“Of course it isn’t. I would never betray Velatem or your father.” The Queen vowed. Kyla clenched her fists by her side, biting her tongue so she didn’t lash out at the lie.
“Then why does the serum say you failed? Why does the screen tell us otherwise? Mother, these tests are irrefutable. How can you hold your lies after that?” He demanded. The Queen’s defensive features remained without so much as a wince.
“Well obviously she tampered with it. I’ve been trying to tell you how far she will go to end me, and clearly the poisoning didn’t make you see.” The Queen lied. Kyla couldn’t hold back this time, the accusations were too much.
“I did not! We all know why you are sick, and it is not poison. You are sick from failing the tests. Stop blaming me for what we both know is your doing. Everything those tests just exposed is true, and I know because I saw it and the King knew too.” Kyla snapped. The Queen turned her body away, refusing to look at her.
“Zarek, arrest that traitor and let us be done with this day. I am weary from the serum.” The Queen tried to tug on his guilt but Zarek’s face stayed stoic.
“You have been arrested, Mom. I’m sorry that it has to be that way, but I can’t ignore what we all just saw on those tests. If it was anyone else, you would demand an execution. That is our way, and I think you know that.” Zarek said stiffly as he stepped forward. Kyla glared with wary eyes, watching the Queen. Her stomach was turning as the tension in the stadium grew with every passing second. The Queen had been outed and everyone knew it, even her. The truth was in her narrowed eyes. Kyla stepped forward with Zarek, he might expect his mother to go quietly but Kyla didn’t. The Queen looked over both of them with another glare before sighing.
“Fine. What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? That I regret what I did?” The Queen asked with a sarcasm that grated Kyla’s nerves.
“I wish you would tell me that it was a lie and be able to prove yourself to me and our realm again, but I don’t think that is going to happen, because it is true, isn’t it? You really conspired with Onyx, cheated on my father, bore a son to the evil that tried to kill us?” Zarek demanded, his fist clenching, his voice getting gruffer with every word. The Queen clasped her hands together and didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed, instead her chin went up again and she nodded once.
“I did and I would do it all again. Your father was weak, he shouldn’t have been King. Your grandfather, now he was a ruler. He left the lands how they were, a primitive state that let creatures live as their natures needed, now we are all a bunch of locked up animals, dying out and breeding weaker and weaker with every generation. If you don’t let things go back to how they were, then we will die out, Son. That is not evil, that is doing what is best for this ungrateful realm.” The Queen explained with an anger, Kyla had barely seen. An anger that she assumed was meant to justify her decisions, luckily Zarek was passed that. He shook his head then turned to the realm.
“Velatem, I ask you. You hear my mother’s words, her reasoning, do you agree? Let me see how many of you believe we are safer, happier in a world of anarchy with no rules and no consequences? Because I am not convinced. I believe since my father changed the way we live, we have been in happy peace, living in habitats we are safe to raise our children in, safe to live our natures in and not worried of the next threat that lay in the shadows. I believe that we need consequences to make sure we can stay that way. I also believe that just because we are labelled monsters by humans, that we do not have to be them. We may have natures that are not of the purest kind, but we do not have to be killers. We can have humanity, we can raise our families and have children that we love as much as any other, we can have an environment that we want and get a say in, not one filled with fear and hatred, run by no one but those who are willing to kill for the power. I ask you, Velatem, do you believe we are better off as a single habitat left to chaos? Raise your hand,” King Zarek beamed across the stadium, his voice echoing out to the stunned, sombre faces of the audience. No one’s hand raised. Zarek waited agonizingly long before he let out his breath and spoke again, “Now tell me, who among you, believes in the way we live now? In keeping our families safe and our habitats secure?” Zarek boasted. Every single hand in the audience raised. Some were more hesitant, but they were there, and Kyla smirked, turning to the flushed Queen as Zarek nodded. “Thank you, I’m glad to hear it.” He said then turned to his mother, “You see, mother? Your ways of hate, fear and power are outweighed by the many. The Velatem you seek to control is not the same as it once was. We have subdued whatever darkness festered within us and now we live how we want. In peace. I wish you could see that.” Zarek said wistfully. Kyla grabbed Zarek’s hand again as she couldn’t resist the urge to have his skin against hers in some way. He was so strong, so sure, such a good King that it had her heart melting and aching to be with him.
“We shouldn’t have to subdue our natures, damn it!” The Queen snarled stepping forward with an outstretched hand before Shemar yanked her back. She struggled against the grasp then glared at Kyla, “This is your fault, Oracle. Oh, how I wish I had killed you when I’d had the chance.” She snapped as Kyla shrugged.
“Yeah, too late now.” She teased as the Queen shrieked, her heel stamping against the stage. She lunged again but Shemar had a tight grip on her Highness.
“Enough, mother. You are charged with treason and conspiring against the realm. You will be banished to the Outlands with a lifelong sentence. Your powers will be stripped, and you will no longer hold any of your titles. Effect of immediately.” Zarek announced. The Queen’s jaw dropped before she snapped it shut and this time when she lunged, she grabbed Shemar’s hand and crushed it in her grasp, so he had no choice but to let her go. She ran forward, pouncing on Kyla with a grace that she shouldn’t have had, landing over her and knocking them both to the ground. The Queen’s long manicured nails wrapped tightly around Kyla’s throat before Zarek could stop her.
“Don’t touch me or I’ll crush her neck.” The Queen snarled, as her fingers pressed into her skin. Kyla gasped against the constriction trying to draw in breath, but she was barely able. Her face flushed with heat as she tried to pry the Queen’s fingers off.
“Get. Off. Me.” Kyla spat as her head throbbed and her blood burned. The Queen shook her head.
“No. You ruined everything. It was all planned. I was going to have Onyx and Byron. They were mine and willing to do anything I asked with the promise of a title and power. We were going to have Velatem back to how it was and rule over everyone who tried to challenge us. Now they are dead, and I have nothing to lose. So, I am taking you with me little girl.” The Queen challenged, her grip tightening. Kyla could barely hear her. She didn’t have long left if the blurring vision was anything to go by so she definitely didn’t have time to listen to the Queen’s monologuing or whining, so Kyla latched her hand on the Queens and sent a powerful volt of electricity through, zapping Lena with as much energy as she could while being suffocated. The Queen gasped and released her hold which gave Kyla enough time to gasp in breath. She shoved the Queen off her and rolled away, jumping to her feet as the Queen stood and brushed herself off. Shemar went to move in, but the Queen was faster. She was going for Kyla and by the flushed cheeks and glaring eyes, Kyla was pretty sure the Queen was going to follow through on her threat of murder. But she never got the chance. Zarek stepped in front of Kyla.
“No!” he boomed, his voice carrying through the enraged stadium of people who were all ready to come down there and avenge Kyla. She would have smiled if the Queen wasn’t still staring her down.
“I don’t want to lose another son, Zarek. Get out of my way. Once she is gone, you will see. You will understand what I am
trying to do for us. What needs to be done.” Queen Lena breathed.
“You are not going to kill her. I won’t let you, if you want her, you have to go through me.” Zarek replied darkly, his hand on the sword that rested on his hip. The Queen rolled her eyes.
“Have it your way then. I should have let Onyx kill you for what you did to your brother. I wish it had been you instead of him, he never questioned me.” The Queen snapped, and Kyla’s heart ached with so much pain for every wince her comment made Zarek hold. He shrunk back from her vile words before a shadow fell over his face.
“Fortunately for me, I had enough love from my father to cover the deficit from you. And he taught me mercy. So, I will disregard your attack and you will be banished, attack again and I will order the execution got it?” Zarek snapped. Kyla’s chest tightened at the pain he was trying to hide. He had lost so much more than she could ever relate to, his father, mother and the innocence he’d had when they first met. He was different now and it was thanks to the woman who was still digging the knife in a wound that she’d made.
“You won’t. You can’t. He has too much influence over you.” The Queen sneered, and they all knew she was talking about Zarek’s father. Zarek drew his sword and aimed it at her.
“Try me.” he whispered but it wasn’t soft. It was a harsh whisper that sent goose bumps over her and it must have made the Queen reconsider too because she sighed irritably and held out her wrists.