The Shadow's Star

Chapter 15

I stepped into a room full of dark fae, the room fell silent as each one of them looked to me, none of them seemed thrilled by my presence. Every surface in the room was black and gleaming, the room lit up by oil lamps lining the walls. The sea of fae parted creating a pathway leading to two thrones at the far end of the room. I noticed the familiar faces of King Daragan and Queen Esmeray sat upon their thrones and three tall figures standing by the dais. The general commander Tynan, second in command Spike and Azra. I clenched my fists tighter, attempting to stop my trembling hands as I walked towards the dark royals. Towards Azra.

"Light fae scum" one fae on the sidelines spat.

"Kill her!" The fae in the crowd nodded and murmured their agreement. I knew the dark and light fae didn't get along but I wasn't aware the dark fae harboured so much hate towards my kind. Panic began to set in hearing the threats to my life. I stopped before the dais glancing at Azra who stood staring blankly at the ground. Why did he bring me here? I waited for him to acknowledge me, to give me some kind of indication that everything is okay but he never did. Anger continued to simmer inside me, I pulled my gaze away from him and towards the King and Queen as the room fell silent with a raise of the king's hand.

"Hello, Aurora. You're probably wondering why you are here." The King addressed me.

"Something like that." My eyes flicked to Azra who raised his head, his expression a wall of steel. He looked at me like I was a stranger, like what had happened between us in that cave didn't really happen and I started to question whether any of it did.

"As soon as your father agrees to our plan you will be returned to your realm unharmed. Well done Azra" he looked to Azra who bowed his head in acknowledgement. "all your efforts have paid off." He added. All of your efforts. The realisation that Azra had kidnapped me as part of some plan to bribe my father into agreeing to King Daragan's terms began to set in. I began laughing hysterically, not because I found this situation funny, in fact, I was extremely terrified. I was laughing because if I don't die here in the dark realm I am definitely going to die when I get home by the hands of my father or Yetta.

"Is something funny?" King Daragan tipped his head and raised a dark eyebrow surprised by my sudden outburst of laughter.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" The crowd gasped at my use of bad language in the presence of royalty but I didn't care. I flapped my hands to my sides turning to face Azra.

"You brought me here because you want to use me to bribe my father?" The plan seemed ridiculous to me, I was his least favourite child, we barely spoke more than a few forced sentences every couple of months. There is no way that he would just agree to their terms. "You probably should have kidnapped one of the children he actually cares about".

Azra said nothing and I turned back towards the king when he spoke

"You are the only daughter of his heart bond, the living, spitting image of his one true love. I doubt that he is willing to part with you so easily. I bet it won't take long at all for him to bow down before me. Before us" he gestured to the room and the silent fae around us erupted into cheers, some of them shouting "light fae bitch!" And "Castellanios scum!" I flinched at their scornful words. The room was overflowing with hate and anger directed towards me. I felt like a baby gazelle in a lion's den. It only made the simmering anger within me boil to the surface. Azra had brought me here knowing this is would be the welcoming I would get. It made sense now why the dark royals never invited us to their palace if this is the kind of reception we would have upon our arrival. I directed all of my rage to the one person who put me in this situation. The one person that chose to befriend me, to sleep with me, to betray me. If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down fighting and I'm taking him with me.