Stone Queen

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Pain ripped through him in continual waves. Even now he knew he could never have left her alone. She was his air, his life and now that she was gone so was his heart. He didn’t know what to do, so he just stood. Only the thought of his son kept him from ending his own life.

  “I want you to let me take Juliana’s son with me,” Hugh said. “He shouldn’t grow up here. Our sister didn’t belong here and neither does her son.”

  “I’ll take him to Bellemare,” Thomas said. “To the mortal world.”

  Hugh glanced at his brother and nodded. “Aye, Bellemare. He’ll be safe there.”

  “And when his magic grows?” Merrick asked.

  “Then I will take him to Feia, to the faeries. We know magic and he will be loved and well cared for.” Hugh looked at the child in William’s arms. He motioned to the wizard to bring the baby to him. “It is what his mother would have wanted.”

  “I—” Merrick began, not knowing exactly what he was going to say. The baby would be safer at Feia, but the idea of losing him was too much.

  “Really, Hugh? Is that what I would have wanted?”

  “Juliana?” William and Thomas gasped in unison.

  “What?” Hugh breathed in surprise.

  Merrick was afraid to believe he heard the low, soft lullaby of her voice. He watched her come into the great hall from the direction of the stairwell that led abovestairs to their bedchamber. He tried to feel her power with his own, but it wasn’t there. It was as if she were truly gone. If this was a dream, if she wasn’t real, he didn’t want to wake up.

  Juliana looked almost like she had when he’d first laid eyes on her, those long years ago. She’d captured his notice one night as he flew through the mortal realm disguised as a falcon. Just like he did then, he now watched her walk toward him like a play. From that first moment, he loved her, as much as any creature could love. He hadn’t wanted to fall for her, but he had.

  Her long dark hair spilled in waves over her shoulders, so soft he wanted to bury himself in it for an eternity. Wide blue eyes stared into his soul and he let them. He was nothing without her and he couldn’t hide a single thing when he looked at her. She was his goddess and Merrick would let her have free use of him, for good or ill.

  Her white gown sparkled like faery cloth, so light it fluttered with each movement. More than a queen, more than an angel, she came to him—a perfect vision of his heart.

  “Give me my son,” Merrick said, his voice hoarse. Without taking his eyes from her, he went to Hugh. “Give him to me.”

  Hugh handed the baby over. Merrick hugged the child to his chest, crossing to where his wife was. Cradling the baby in one arm, he lifted a shaking hand toward her. He hesitated before touching her, staring into her eyes, willing her to be real. She looked down at the baby, her smooth cheek so close to his hand.

  “Juliana,” he whispered, forcing his hand to move. His fingers met with flesh and his heart thumped hard, coming back to life. In that second, he felt her again with his magic, felt her presence, felt her as surely as he felt himself. The power in her had shifted, no longer as strong as it had been in pregnancy, but still there under the surface. “Oh, Juliana.”

  Merrick let out a weak sob of relief, pulling her forward to his chest. He didn’t care if tears streamed his face, if he cried out loud, or if the goblins saw how he loved his queen. Love poured over him, filling his dark soul with the pleasure and light of the perfect moment. The baby was crushed between them but he was careful not to hurt his son.

  “Merrick, Merrick,” she whispered, over and over, his name like a song he’d never tire of.

  “Methought I lost you.” Merrick cupped her face. “Methought you were dead. I saw your ashes. Methought I killed you. What happened? Where were you? Oh, I do not care, just never leave my side again. Naught matters but us, right here, right now.”

  “Merrick, the goblins, they were in the hall. If they hear you—” she began.

  “Let them hear,” he drew back, leaning his head back as he raised his voice. “Let them all hear! I love you, my perfect wife, my Juliana, my queen, my heart, my life, my everything. I love you.”

  And then, as the echoes of his declaration died, something amazing happened. Nothing. There was no rush to claim his throne. The goblins did not revolt. His powers did not weaken. Everything was as he’d always hoped it could be.

  “I love you,” he said again. His bloodstained clothing dirtied hers, staining the pretty white. “I love you.”

  Juliana grabbed him by his tunic, shaking him hard. “What took you so long to get me? Methought you would never come.”

  “You trusted the witch from the dungeon. She is evil. She betrayed us both.”

  “But, she had your blood. Why?” Juliana frowned. She again looked down at their son, smiling as if she couldn’t stop herself. “I cannot believe he is safe. When I awoke in our bedchamber without magic, methought he was lost. I feared Lucien had got him.” Then touching the baby’s cheek, she said, “So you are the precious angel that’s been kicking me for so long.”

  Merrick shifted his arm so Juliana could hold the child. She clutched him to her chest, not stepping away from Merrick. A tear slipped down her rosy cheek, dropping onto the swaddling cloth William had given him.

  “Juliana?” Hugh said behind them. “What is happening?”

  Merrick moved so Juliana could see her brothers standing behind him. He’d forgotten they were there.

  “Hugh.” Juliana grinned. “Thomas, William! I’m so glad you are here. I have missed you.” She turned, smiling around at everyone in the great hall. “I have missed all of you.” Then, eyeing Ean, she said, “Well, not you. I do not know you.” Adal caught her attention. “Or you. My apologies, but I promise to miss you later.”

  “Juliana, are you well?” Thomas asked.

  “Now I am.” Her happy smile shone on Merrick. “Now I am perfect. He has saved me and our son. Come see your nephew, Thomas. You, too, Will and Hugh. Tell me how beautiful he is.”

  Her three brothers surrounded Juliana and the baby. Merrick stepped back to Ean. Holding out his hand, palm out, he said, “I cannot thank you enough, brother. You have given me my heart back.”

  To Merrick’s surprise, Ean didn’t return the happy look. Sadness edged his eyes, darkening them slightly. He didn’t lift his hand.

  “Ean?”

  “You cannot know all that has happened and do not ask me to tell you,” Ean said.

  “What do you know? Is—?” Merrick started to speak.

  “It is not your son or your wife. It is none of that. In fact, it does not concern you.” Ean put his hand up to Merrick’s, pressing palm to palm. “I am happy for you, brother, for your blessing. Take care of them for I can never help you again. You have already taken everything from me. I have nothing left to give you.”

  Merrick frowned at Ean’s enigmatic words. “Is this about Wolfe? If there is a cure, we will find it.”

  “There is not. You know as well as I do. All we can do is hope that he does not follow the path of evil. Those of the lycan kind have done it before.” Ean glanced away. Neither one of them mentioned the fact that, in the one case they knew of, the lycan woman had been torn apart by her fellow wolves.

  “Is it the peace you worry about? I will not go back on my word. I will call the men off.”

  “The peace stands. It will take us both some time to convince our sides of it, yours more than mine I imagine, but we will start on the path.” When Merrick started to pry into Ean’s cryptic meaning, his brother lowered his hand. “Now, introduce me to your wife. I should like to meet my former blessed ward.”

  “Methinks we should call him Kynan Alwyn for the old Blessed King,” Juliana said.

  “Alwyn? For our grandfather?” King Ean asked in surprise.

  “He was the one who blessed my family. And Kynan, which means chief. He will be a great man. I feel it.” Juliana smiled at King Ean. She should have known him by his looks, but the truth
was, she was still overwhelmed by her ordeal in the Fire Palace.

  One moment, she was being held down on a table with her stomach ripped open and bleeding, the next she was on her bed—alone, disoriented and no longer with child. But then, she had heard something. A baby cried and she knew her child was alive. Warmth washed over her, sparkling around her like the night stars and she found herself in a beautiful gown, floating toward the bottom of the stairs. Air passed through her, tickling her insides. Seeing Merrick, even though red stained his clothes and hands, her heart sped and she couldn’t reach him fast enough. She’d longed for the look of his dark eyes, piercing her, full and solid. Only when Merrick touched her did her body right itself once more. She was where she belonged, at home, with him.

  Juliana looked at her husband. He nodded. “A fine name.”

  “I cannot thank you enough for what you have done,” Juliana said to Ean.

  “I suppose I should thank you for going to such lengths to end this war,” the Blessed King answered.

  Though he smiled, Juliana detected a sadness in the king. Though the feeling fed her power as such things had before, her body was calmer.

  “We must go,” Ean said. “The encampment will be expecting us back.”

  “Thank you,” Merrick said.

  Ean nodded, motioned to his commander and strode from the hall.

  “Juliana?”

  She turned to Hugh. He waved her to the side, leading her away from the others so they could speak in private. “What is it, Hugh? You cannot honestly be upset that I am not letting you take my son. I know you do not like Merrick, but—”

  “We thought he killed you.” Hugh’s eyes searched hers, as if he could discover some secret in her. “I worried that you had cast yourself into stone because of me. We know how important family is to you. My hatred of Merrick…”

  Juliana touched Hugh’s arm when he paused. “Of course, I want my family at peace. You are my brother, Hugh. Nothing will change that, not marriage or time. You did not do this to me. You are not at fault. I cannot explain why exactly that I did this, but methinks it was to have peace in my home. The baby is powerful and there is so much good in him. Methinks his power overwhelmed me until all I could think of was peace. I needed peace in this realm.”

  “But you are used to war. Juliana, you grew up around it,” Hugh said.

  “Methinks it was my son who wanted it most,” she whispered.

  “Kynan? But, how can that be?”

  “You should know by now, brother, that nothing in this realm is what it seems.” She looked over to her family—Thomas, William, Merrick—all focused on her child. “My son is so powerful, but he can handle it. He will grow to know his magic. Methinks what I felt was some sort of magical pregnancy sickness. I felt so much that my mind could not handle the rush. The more the baby grew, the stronger it was. What I did, I did for Kynan. Or mayhap because of him. I’m not really sure.”

  “You know that I try…” Hugh hesitated, but he didn’t need to say more. Juliana understood.

  “I know.” She touched his arm. “I know you do not like him because you love me. I understand and would not change the fact that you love me, not for anything. Methinks, you will come to respect Merrick in time, perhaps even see him as a brother. But, if anything, as immortals we have time.”

  “I have served under you long enough to know when something is very wrong, my king,” Adal said as they slowed their mounts. They rode hard and fast from the Black Palace. Ean couldn’t help it. He had to get away.

  “It is naught,” the king said. “The unblessed powers do not sit well with me.”

  “Nor I,” Adal agreed. “Forgive me for prying, but there is something else, isn’t there? When you two were gone, I felt a strange shift in my bones. The baby, is he—?”

  “It’s not the baby,” Ean said softly, “at least not in the way you think. The baby is as any other creature, only with strong magic. There is the ability to be both good and evil in him.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Ean looked at his trusted friend, perhaps the most trusted friend he had. Pain rippled over him, hard and heavy as it stuck in his chest. “It took a great blessing for that child to be born and we all know that magic comes with a price.”

  “And the price of Kynan’s birth?” Adal frowned, studying the king intently.

  “My future,” the Blessed King said. “The price was my future. To bless the unblessable, magic took my future child, my future wife and happiness as trade. When I helped him free his family, fate took mine from me. I felt it being ripped from my destiny, as real and as agonizing as my heart being ripped from my chest. Merrick will now have the family life that should have been mine.” Ean lifted his jaw, trying to fight down the pain. “He has taken everything from me. I have nothing left but my rule. But, considering I have the throne that should have been his, perhaps this is just.”

  “Are you certain?” Adal’s unicorn pranced nervously, feeding off the anxiety of its rider. “Mayhap, the unblessed presence drained you. Mayhap…” The commander looked helplessly around, as if the trees could tell him some answer.

  “I knew before Merrick even asked that for him to have a son would take my sacrifice. A trusted light wizard foretold it.” Ean held up his hand, stopping Adal from speaking more. “I knew what I gave up and I know what I took in assuming the throne. Fate can be a cruel mistress to us all, but this is the destiny she has chosen for me.”

  Lucien glared at Anja, his hands still covered with Queen Juliana’s blood. Stalking her around his hall, he threw a stone block in her way, causing her to jump and run around them.

  “Do not blame me, my king!” The child’s voice rang playfully. She might be angry with him, but she was still enjoying his temper.

  Ari watched, as she had through the whole ordeal, not sure what to feel. The new darkness in her stung with acute disappointment that such a powerful surge of energy to the Damned throne would be lost. The old light rejoiced. She hid the light from Lucien, doing her best to smother it out. Still, there were times when it tried to peek through, when she couldn’t suppress it and she became glad that the Unblessed Queen and her child were safe.

  “She did it!” Anja pointed to where Ari stood. Ari stiffened, worried about how much the child suspected. “And you! This is your fault. Your weakness for her is weakening your rule. Send Ari back to the dungeons where she belongs. Let me show her the true depths of what our hell can be.”

  Fearful that the soothsayer would reveal her deeds, Ari hurried forward, grabbing the child as she tried to run past. Anja yelped in surprise at being caught. Ari held her up, gripping her little dress with both hands.

  “I know it was you who sent the knife to Merrick,” Anja whispered.

  Ari glanced at Lucien to see if he had heard. He was coming for them, but his expression hadn’t changed. His annoyance continued to direct itself at the child.

  “Take her!” Ari threw the soothsayer down hard. “Put her in the dungeon. Her visions are clearly useless, otherwise she’d have seen this. She would have known.”

  “My visions are—” Anja cried.

  “Are pathetic,” Ari yelled at her. Pouting her lower lip, she swung her hips as she moved toward Lucien. “Put your little pathetic doll away, Lucien. I have much bigger games to play with you.”

  “Aye?” He quirked a brow, his gaze dark with wonder.

  Running her hand over his chest as she passed him, she went toward the altar. “Aye. You promised to chain me down, if it was my will.” She sat on the stone ledge, still bloody from the failed deeds. Slowly, she rolled down to her back, lifting her hands over her head. “It is my will, Lucien.”

  The chains snapped up in response to his biting desire, locking over her wrists and pulling her down hard. With a harsh wave of his hand, he slapped Anja with his power, sending her flying across the room. She slammed into a wall with a heavy thud. The soothsayer only laughed. Lucien swiped his hand again and this time her
body squashed into the floor, disappearing as he sent her back to the bowels of the palace.

  “Leave her there.” Ari’s eyes narrowed as she commanded and begged Lucien at the same time. She parted her thighs in invitation. “She is of no use to us.”

  “Us?” The Damned King stood before her bound body, looking down as the clothes melted off her form.

  “You and me, Lucien.” Ari arched her back, thrusting her breasts up as she pushed toward him. “Us.”

  “Are you sure there is nothing we can do for poor Kalen?” Juliana asked, stroking the dark locks of her son’s head. The baby slept on their bed, nestled perfectly between them. Though tired, she didn’t want to close her eyes only to discover that she was dreaming. “We owe him much.”

  “Leaving him alone in his tower chamber, away from everyone, is the best we can do for him. He will have to work out of the madness in his own time.” Merrick touched Kynan’s back, almost petting him as he ran his fingers over the supple flesh. They’d talked for hours, about everything that had happened, saying everything that needed to be said.

  “And the old witch? She should be punished for betraying us.” Juliana put her hand over Merrick’s and squeezed.

  “She will be. Ean has agreed to take her once the war is officially ended and he will lock her away in the Golden Palace’s prison, surrounded by happiness and light. She will have nothing to feed on and will lose all her powers because of it.” Lifting her hand, Merrick gently kissed it. “The old crone will never hurt anyone again.”

  “You never told me how she got your blood.” Juliana pushed up from where she laid, lifting Kynan into her arms. Sitting on the bed, she rocked her son.

  “I traded it to her for something more important.”

  “And what was that?” Juliana could tell he wanted to lie to her.

  “Thomas’ life. It was the only way to save him.”

  “That first day of battle,” Juliana said in understanding. “He did die, didn’t he?”