The Revenant Queen 2 (wlw)

Chapter Thirty- Six

The horror of seeing the dead bodies against the manor's ground rocked Colette to her core the moment she set foot outside. An epiphany sparked and crumbled pieces fell into place and the image forged in front of her left her eyes bulging from her head.

The girl never took Queen Adira's threat seriously but now that the mid day's air was inundated with the stench of copper and death and nothing but dark and gnarled bodies laid against the grass, Colette finally understood that a threat was made in her presence moments prior. Her majesty didn't just speak because she wanted to but it came from a place of grief and a deep-rooted promise that was fulfilled.

Colette didn't know how to quell the shaking of her body as she counted a hundred and twenty guards before losing count due to the cluster of bodies near the water fountain.

The sound of the wind that danced through the armoured bodies filled the air with an eerie hum as Colette took in the horrific scene, jolting her to reality once more.

Mangled limbs and eviscerated bodies sprawled about like gory flowers in the late spring day. The blackened blood added a grave aesthetic to the already morbid sight and as she calculated the labour it would take to clear the dead away from the land, Colette swallowed the lump that sat in her throat.

Adira was nowhere to be seen amidst the scene and quickly the girl realized and she ran back into the building once she allowed herself to tune into the commotion from within the manor.

Revenants were talking: some were praising the good thing Adira had done which was cutting down the citadel guards like trees while others were concerned it would come back to bite them in the rear. There was a discourse among the people and in the centre of the combination of praise and anger, Colette spotted Adira.

The woman observed her people with her body covered in splashes of blood. Some of it tangled in the strands of her raven hair. About the entirety of her tanned skin, there was a lone scratch that laid down the side of her arm. It was the only physical sign besides blood that wasn't hers to show that the woman was indeed a part of a brawl. 

"I would like for you to.." Adira started to say and the noise had lessened once the people realized their queen was speaking.

"Burn the bodies," her majesty finished in a strident voice and several revenants nodded in unison. They immediately left the room and one-third of the sounds in the vicinity went with them.

"The rest of you should entertain those that arrive. We will be giving Mclean a proper funeral once they come. A funeral that he deserves," she stated so softly afterwards.

The silence that came once she'd finished her request left the people hurt and concerned. Adira couldn't even look them in the face and they were all aware. The revenants saw the way her amber eyes glistened as she gazed everywhere but upon them. They even acknowledged that she paid no attention to Colette but quickly left the room.

And at her absence, Colette had never felt that piercing feeling in her heart before. Yes, she'd felt and experienced hurt but never like that. The way that hypothetical stake pressed into her chest when she realized Adira did not acknowledge her was more than Colette could ever bear. She didn't know what to do with herself except stand there and wait, hoping she may have jumped to conclusions and Adira wasn't hostile towards her too but would turn around to take her away so that they could process the situation together. Instead, the brunette was met with an empty vicinity. All the revenants dispersed the room with glowing crimson eyes, leaving her alone with tears filling up in her eyes at the situation.

Running off in the direction she knew her majesty might've gone, Colette barged into the woman's chamber shortly after to find her stripping out of her bloodied apparel.

"Adira," she whispered.

The door creaked as she carefully shuts it, separating their bubble from the outside world but she was met with more silence and it gnawed at her mind.

Adira didn't want to speak because of her state of shock and grief. She heard the girl but was too deep in her thoughts to dive up from those streams to poke a hand up in the air signalling that she was still there. It felt like a tedious and exhausting task. Instead, she chose silence, silence because at that instant she felt so angry at everything.

The queen felt angry at the universe for allowing this thing to happen, she felt angry at herself for not picking up on the energies that had shifted which she failed to acknowledge, she hated Colette then for siding with Mclean over a decision that influenced his demise, she hated the vampires and the council and a those who followed them.

Leaving her back turned to Colette as she walked away, Adira stepped into the bathroom where she locked herself in. She stood under the steaming shower, its hot drops sprinkled against her body, rolling from the root of her head, travelling down the length of her body until it ran into the drains.

She didn't leave until the blood was washed clean from her body and when the woman walked back into the room, she saw Colette curled up against her bed, her soft sniffles filled the room.

The realization that the girl was crying finally penetrated the thick walls in her head and within seconds Adira was beside her love.

"I am sorry," the words came out as a whisper but Colette heard them and they were enough to ease the flow of her tears. Still, however, the queen's back was to her. And the brunette could do nothing but watch the water droplets as they cascaded from her taut skin.

"I am sorry," those words were repeated.

"For what?" Asked Colette. She rose from the bed, wiping the tears from her face and pushing at her runny nose.

"For whatever has hurt you."

Shaking her head, Colette crept over to her majesty. She placed her hands on the woman's wet shoulders, her hands touching her damp her. The girl quickly incited her to turn so that they would face each other and when they did Colette saw the aloofness on the woman's face.

"You didn't even look at me since we came back to the manor and I know Mclean's death has made you hostile towards me and I don't blame you; you're hurting, you're grieving. I know you are angry because ultimately it was my fault for following his lead and I wouldn't blame you for-"

"Don't speak such absurdity," Adira interposed so sternly Colette flinched.

Quickly her majesty rose from the bed, her lean frame stood in front of the girl. When she looked down her gaze was so soft and sad Colette recognized the grief and hurt that sat behind those honey-coloured eyes.

"None of this is your fault," she whispered, blinking rapidly and then her mouth was snapped shut. The muscles in her jaw worked as she quietly chew her sadness away.

Queen Adira didn't stick around, she hid in the closet until she resurfaced with a very nice black dress Colette had never seen before. She towel-dried her hair and as she did Colette decided it was best to leave. Isabella was right, the woman did need a moment to garner the pieces of the tragedy and she was going to give it to her because she felt like if she didn't she'd understand even more why the woman's mother warned her.

Quietly shutting the door, it separated the two people but in her privacy, Adira's heart ached at the way she handled the girl. Despite knowing she should have been better, the raven head just couldn't when she felt like her heart had ripped from her chest.

And in the time she was alone, Adira allowed the tears she'd been holding back since she left her ceremonial chambers to flow. She didn't want to let them come freely but the mere thought of her not being able to bring Mclean back struck even harder and sobs that she'd never experienced before rocked her body. The crippling feeling of hopelessness and sadness caused her knees to grow weak and she stumbled to the bed where she sat down. The tears came and they came bountifully.

Curling up against the bed, Adira cried as she wondered why she couldn't reach the man in hell. There was no trace of him there nor did she get the opportunity while doing the ritual to speak with the devil to bargain for his soul once more.

Whatever was about to happen was indeed a game-changer because the inability to seek the devil out meant that she had no power to save any of her people if they needed her and that too caused her majesty to cry.