False Queen

by Nikki Jefford

More and more eyes were looking our way.

  Good one, Mel. Way to stay inconspicuous. All I needed were some fireworks and sparklers to really bring attention to where I stood.

  I dove into the crowd, putting a wall of Fae between me and the smoking harpy.

  A footman rushed to her aid, slapping at the flames with a towel previously draped over his arm.

  The contessa rushed out of the ballroom in a flurry of smoldering skirts.

  I snort-laughed and was met with a pair of sparkling green eyes behind a white-feathered angel mask. The male chuckled. I was glad to see not everyone at this ball was entirely without humor.

  I looked the male over more carefully in case he was Malon in an angelic disguise to throw us off. But this male had dark brown hair, not black. He could have dyed it though.

  Noticing my perusal of him, he moved away from the two males and two females he’d been standing with. “I’ve never seen the contessa make such a hasty exit,” he said with an amused grin.

  “Yeah, where’s the fire?” I joked, but he didn’t laugh, just kept smiling. “I thought the theme was lace and feathers, not smoke and screams,” I added.

  This time, he did laugh, a polite chuckle that made my belly hollow out with unexpected longing and loneliness. The detached demeanor of this stranger made me miss Devdan’s hearty laughter and Ryo’s boyish grins.

  “Care to join me and my friends?” the aloof angel Fae asked.

  Join them in what? Standing around, watching everyone else? Gossiping? Sipping on bubbly wine?

  Boring!

  At least he was polite.

  “No, thanks,” I said, straightening my shoulders. “I’m actually looking for someone.”

  And oh pit, a quick glance around confirmed I’d lost track of Ryo in the scuffle with the contessa.

  The male flashed me a smile and a shrug before returning to his group as though we’d never spoken.

  The warm, muggy air inside the ballroom wafted over the bare parts of my legs as I moved swiftly around the room, turning my head from side to side. Where had Ryo gone? I didn’t see him alone or in any of the groups, and the incessant chatter surrounding me only exasperated my frustrations.

  Maybe I was moving around too much. With purposeful steps, I walked over to a column near the orchestra and took a position in front of it, where I forced my feet to remain still while I scanned the ballroom.

  I looked at the groups one by one, still seeing no sign of Ryo amongst them. Had he left while I wasn’t looking? Had Malon already lured him away?

  Pitberries!

  Grinding my teeth, I glanced at the dancers, the refreshment tables, and back at the dancers.

  Ryo was dancing!

  My jolt of triumph in relocating him faded when I saw his arms around a dark-haired beauty in a high-necked black dress with a keyhole opening above her breasts. A black-and-blue butterfly mask had been painted directly on to her face, and every time she lowered her eyelids, I could see they’d been painted black to blend in with the intricate design. Her dark brown hair had been swept into a loose bun to better show off the painted mask. She had full, sensual lips stained a dark, iridescent plum, and a petite, delicate body. Her effortless beauty added another weight to my belly.

  What did I care? Ryo should find himself a beautiful female to hold and kiss.

  But the thought of those plum lips on Ryo’s burned like acid in my gut. So what if she looked like a midnight goddess? Could she make Ryo smile? Laugh? Talk late into the night?

  Ryo wasn’t smiling, but he appeared intent upon the dark butterfly. They moved gracefully on the dance floor, steps I never would have been able to pull off. I could swing with a sword, but not to a rhythm.

  “Swords are cooler,” I muttered to myself.

  Ryo twirled the female around then caught her in his arms. They looked so good together it hurt. I wanted to push off from the pillar and turn my back on the dancing couple, but the pull of obligation kept me rooted to my spot.

  This assignment was beginning to suck.

  When the song ended, Ryo offered butterfly girl his arm and escorted her away from the dance section and straight toward the open doors leading out of the ballroom.

  Now they were sneaking off?

  My stomach dipped and churned. My heart felt like burnt coal. It was all so maddening and confusing.

  I thought Ryo had a crush on me. Some crush. First female to flutter her lashes at him and ol’ Mel became a distant memory. Males were pit heads. Complete and utter pit heads.

  Had Devdan moved on too? He’d been offering up kisses to every female he passed when I first met him. During our travels, he’d confessed that I was his first actual girlfriend. Perhaps he’d reverted to his old ways, decided that commitment was no longer his cup of cocoa, marshmallows or not.

  Tears stung my eyes. Years slipped away, making me feel like a child, sensitive and raw, nothing to shield my heart from aches and pains. I wanted to run from the room and find an empty alcove where I could sulk in private. I looked down at my corset and tall boots—a little girl playing dress up.

  Snap out of it, Mel!

  I straightened my spine, ran my thumb over the hilt of my short sword, and reminded myself that I was an adult female, and a badass one at that. I wouldn’t let emotions overcome duties.

  Head lifted, I strode after Ryo and his butterfly, my ruffled train swelling at the backs of my legs.

  Tailing them became a greater challenge in the corridor where there were no clusters of Fae to hide behind. I had to allow them to get far head and watch from behind corners. But Ryo never once looked over his shoulder. Someone really ought to speak to him about that. Not I, though. Aerith and Jhaeros were grooming him in the role of responsible prince—let one of them instruct Ryo on the importance of staying alert. Guess he had his mind occupied on other things.

  They were headed to his wing of the castle, at least I thought they were until they passed the fork that would have led them to Ryo’s chambers and took a left instead.

  One of the weights lifted from my chest even though there were plenty of chambers throughout the castle primed for clandestine meetings. Maybe he wanted to take her to Cirrus’s wing so he could look at her from multiple angles in the mirrors. They were headed that way. How would I hide among so many reflective surfaces?

  But again, they altered course, making their way to Sarfina’s quarters. I could not pick up any conversation, only the patter of footsteps over flagstones. Butterfly girl’s hand no longer rested on Ryo’s arm. In fact, a foot of space had opened between them. I ducked behind a corner and waited several seconds before peering back around.

  They stopped in front of one of the wide wooden arched doors that led to the outer courtyard. Ryo opened the door and disappeared, but the female remained. Once the door shut, she turned and flitted back down the hall, headed my way.

  I took off running down the empty corridor, sprinting around the next corner. There were multiple doors leading into the siblings’ shared royal courtyard. I’d used it as a shortcut of sorts the first time I’d been to Dahlquist, crossing the courtyard to get to whichever wing I wanted without having to walk all around the castle’s never-ending hallways.

  I didn’t want to enter too close to where Ryo had, so I raced to Teryani’s old wing, passing the stone statues that watched me run by with blank eyes until I reached the end of the hall, where her door opened into a row of tall hedges.

  Carefully, I cracked the door open and slipped out, pulling my ruffles with me before they could catch on the frame as it closed. I tiptoed my way along the foliage toward the corner of the courtyard outside Sarfina’s door.

  None of the lanterns were lit, and the slice of moon overhead provided little light. Using my fire magic was too risky, so I took slow, careful steps and kept to the hedges. Each deliberate step was a battle when I wanted to hurry across to the other side. And could someone please turn off the fountains? The steady trickling made it harder to hear.
It wasn’t until I’d reached the far corner that I picked up on deep voices. My heart hammered as I moved along the hedges, face-first so my train wouldn’t brush against the flat scalelike needles.

  “I have information that might make you change your alliance,” came the guileful drawl of a male.

  “I very much doubt that,” Ryo answered, his voice brimming with annoyance.

  Hearing him eased my breathing. He was close by and safe. For now.

  I crouched onto all fours, not caring how ridiculous I looked crawling over the flat stones nestled between dirt. The point was not to have anyone see me to begin with. I wanted to get a look at the Fae behind the condescending voice. It had to be either Albedo or Malon. Probably Malon.

  “Oh, Ryo, you have no idea, do you?” The male sounded gleeful.

  I reached the end of the hedges and craned my head around the greenery. Two dark figures faced off in front of a stone bench. They stood at similar heights, both with inky hair. I might not have been able to tell them apart under the cloak of night if it weren’t for the sleek horns that curved slightly to points above a head of black hair.

  “We are brothers,” the horned Fae said. “Me and Albedo and you, Ryo.”

  My mouth hung open. I couldn’t see Ryo’s reaction in the dark. I listened for his response, but Malon was the one speaking again, laughter in his cruelly pointed words.

  “Our father switched you with Lyklor when you were babies the last time our family was invited to the castle—a temporary glamour was all it took. By the time Uncle Merith figured it out, we were long gone and out of reach. To save himself the embarrassment of admitting he’d been duped by his brother, Merith raised you as his own.” Malon chuckled.

  “And what was the point of that?” Ryo demanded.

  “Payback for manipulating our grandfather into choosing him as successor to the throne even though our father was older. He dishonored Dahlquist’s longstanding tradition of an eldest son’s rightful inheritance. Merith convinced grandfather that our father was deranged and unfit to rule.”

  “It sounds to me like that was true if he would give up his own son out of spite.” Ryo’s words were clipped. He hadn’t moved.

  Malon paced languidly in front of him, his pointed horns stabbing the night’s sky. “Part of father’s genius. He planted you here early on. Set you in place for when it came time for our family to reclaim our birthright. And all the while, Merith could never forget that we had his golden-haired child—not with you around to constantly remind him.” Malon laughed maliciously.

  “Do my siblings know?” Ryo demanded.

  “Not yet, but they will soon,” Malon taunted.

  I could just make out Ryo’s glare in the dark. Again, I wanted to jump out and defend him, but I forced myself not to act rashly. If I interrupted or set Malon on fire, I wouldn’t get to hear the rest of what he had to say. What exactly did he want Ryo to do? And would Ryo really submit to this horned blackguard?

  As it turned out, they were brothers. I frowned at the thought of Ryo being so closely related to the little monster.

  “Pity our father passed on to the sky realm,” Malon said. “He would have made a powerful king. The citizens of Dahlquist would have respected him, unlike Liri. The nobles and townsfolk all laugh at our cousin behind his back. He crowned a human queen. No one will miss him.”

  “I suppose you think you could do better?”

  “I have no interest in the crown, but I will claim my rightful place as a prince of the realm.”

  “And you expect me to stand aside and let that happen?”

  I held my breath, intent on every word of their conversation.

  “We expect your full cooperation, little brother.”

  “And what of Lyklor?”

  “The silver-tongued traitor,” Malon sneered. “He pretended that father had done him a favor and he’d rather align himself with our family, but the moment we began to plot, he fled to his sister in Ravensburg.”

  I leaned forward. Teryani knew Ryo and Lyklor had been switched? Why hadn’t she said anything? I knew Aerith would have told me had she known.

  My stomach twisted. I wanted Ryo to prove his loyalty to Aerith—to tell Malon to eat pits.

  “What exactly are you hoping I’ll do for you?” Ryo asked.

  My breath stalled until my lungs burned for oxygen. The problem was, I’d been holding it for so long, I felt like I would gasp. And of course the courtyard had gone utterly silent at that moment.

  Hurry up and say something, Malon, so I can breathe again!

  Malon did better than talk. He laughed. And when he did, I exhaled.

  “First, you need to swear this conversation remains between us and vow fealty to Albedo and to me.”

  “I already swore an oath to serve Aerith loyally.” When Malon snickered, Ryo demanded, “What’s so funny about that?”

  Yeah? He wouldn’t be laughing if his pants suddenly caught on fire. My fingertips were itching to light this Fae up.

  “You may still serve her—if she yields herself and the throne to Albedo.”

  “She’ll never submit,” Ryo said.

  Damn straight! These Fae pricks didn’t know who they were dealing with. They could send Liri running off to Earth, but we weren’t going anywhere. It was all I could do to hold myself back when I desperately wanted to jump to my feet, storm over, and let Malon know that my brother-in-law-to-be had already killed their aunt—a queen—and that Malon was next.

  “Either way, you can hold up to your oath and still make yourself useful,” Malon said. “Swear to do what Albedo and I ask of you and to tell no one else. Give me your word that you will serve the interests of our family first.”

  He wouldn’t sound so smug if he knew how close he was to being roasted like a pig at a Hawaiian luau.

  “I will not,” Ryo didn’t speak the words so much as growl them.

  Relief bubbled up my chest like fizz up a flute of sparkling wine. I knew Ryo wouldn’t succumb to this scumbag, even if he was his blood brother.

  Oh, how my ears were buzzing with information to pass along, but at the same time, I felt a prickle of unease along my spine. What would Malon do if Ryo refused to cooperate?

  Ever so slowly, I inched back behind the greenery and slipped my short sword from its leather sheath.

  “You’ve become one of them. Perhaps you hope to inherit the throne,” Malon said in a mocking voice. His tone became steely in the next instant. “If you even think about wearing the crown, we will end you.”

  “I’ve been threatened my whole life. That’s all you lot know how to do.” Ryo whipped out a dagger.

  “What are you going to do with that?” Malon sneered.

  “You’re coming with me to answer to Queen Aerith.”

  Malon dipped his head back, the horns tipping with him as he barked with laughter. I saw his hands slide behind his back and yank out a short sword.

  No!

  Every lantern in the courtyard flamed to life, abruptly cutting off Malon’s laughter. Momentarily distracted, he and Ryo turned their heads from side to side.

  “What is this?” Malon growled.

  In the glow of the lanterns, I was able to get a better look at him in his snug leather bodysuit and dark brown soulless eyes. A small pouch hung around Malon’s neck from a leather cord, and he wore wide boots that could be hiding daggers. I stepped away from the hedges, short sword in hand.

  Ryo’s eyes expanded on me as I strolled over to join him.

  “Who is this?” Malon demanded.

  “No one to concern yourself over,” Ryo said hastily.

  “Actually, you should be very concerned,” I said, staring Malon down. “I am Melarue Heiris, sister to the queen, and I know she’s eager to meet you.”

  Malon looked me up and down, a nasty smirk on his lips. “Well, Melarue Heiris, we wouldn’t want to interrupt your sister while she’s with my brother, now would we?”

  I met his smile with one of m
y own. “You’re right. I don’t like to interrupt Aerith when she’s in the middle of target practice.”

  The smile on Malon’s face vanished when he hissed. He lifted his sword and charged me. I crouched into the stance Keerla had taught me early on, bracing myself, ready to block his blade with my own.

  But before Malon reached me, Ryo bellowed and rammed into his shoulder, sending the two flying into the stone bench. They toppled over into the hedges behind. I hurried after them, leaping into the air and landing on the bench with both feet.

  Malon had dropped his short sword and Ryo scrambled over the ground to snatch it. While he did, Malon reached out and grabbed my ruffled train, giving it a rough yank that had me toppling into the hedge with them. The thick network of branches scraped through my lace sleeves. Note to self: Wear leather next time. At least the greenery served as a net to catch me and spring me back into action.

  Ryo was still crouched over, but Malon had stood, facing me with fury in his clenched teeth. I knocked a horn off his head, leaving him with one. Too bad that hadn’t turned him into a unicorn.

  Ryo jumped up and stood beside me, the short sword pointed like a wand about to cast a spell.

  Malon looked between us, snarling in disgust. “I see how it is, Ryo. You would go against your own brother in favor of this tart.”

  As I kicked out one booted leg, I released a battle cry. My foot landed in Malon’s gut. I’d been aiming for his nutsack, but the way he curved in on himself was still satisfactory, especially when he remained bent over. I’d gotten him good.

  Too late I realized he wasn’t clutching his stomach, but ripping the pouch from his neck. He jerked up, lips stretching into a smile as he lifted his cupped palm.

  “Mel, watch out!” Ryo screamed as Malon blew over his hand.

  Shimmery dust glittered toward us in the dark. A stupor came over me as I watched in wonder, staring into that illustrious cloud headed right for me. So sparkly. So pretty. So—

  Ryo jumped in front of me and yelped. I tried to close my eyes in time, but it was too late. Some of the particles made it in, burning and stinging, making my vision go blurry. From the way Ryo swayed and reached for me, I guessed he could no longer see at all. He’d taken the brunt of the cursed dust storm to protect me.