Their Banished Queen

Chapter 3

Maeve's P.O.V.

It's been two weeks since the mating ceremony, and every day since I've had a pit in my stomach, like something terrible is about to happen.

       Sebastian has been great, really great actually. Our people have warmed up to me. And today is my birthday, which means that my banishment will be lifted very soon. Everything seems to be looking up for me. And yet, the constant dread has kept me up at night.

      Even as a child I was paranoid. I guess that's something that comes with the territory. The vampires had sent mercenaries to kill us when we were days old. We are constantly surrounded by guards and our food is tested for poison.

       But this feeling isn't just paranoia. I know something is going to happen, I just don't know when or what.

"May I have this dance, Your Majesty?," my mate interrupts my thoughts.

"You may," I say as I offer my hand out.

I may not be in love with Sebastian, but I do have love for him. Maybe one day that could grow into something more, maybe not. Either way, I'm satisfied with the way things turned out.

As he leads me onto the dance floor, a hot pain begins to build in my stomach. It's so intense that I almost double over. I tighten my hold on Sebastian's hand unconsciously and he spins around, concern on his face. "Are you alright?"

I shake my head as the pain spreads and Ash is at my side in the blink of an eye.

"Maeve?," Ash catches me as I collapse.

"Mason," I gasp. "He's in trouble."

I struggle to clear my mind as I grip Ash's arm tightly. "Nunc dissipati peribunt."

My stomach lurches as the world changes quickly around us. Ash groans, "Oh, I did not like that." I stagger to my feet and follow the scent of blood.

As I'm running, I feel it. Not just the loss of Mason, but also my mom and father. That just makes me run faster, because I refuse to believe it. But when I get to the spot where the celebration was taking place, I stop in my tracks.

There is no sense of panic. All of the guards and guests are just standing around the bodies of my family with blank stares on their faces like this is a regular occurrence.

I push my way through the crowd of people and grab a guard. "What happened here?"

He blinks, looking dazed. "I don't know."

"Just get away," I snap. "All of you, go." I step over my father's body as the crowd disperses and kneel between mom and Mason.

This is a sight that will stay with me for the rest of my days. It was one thing to feel a fraction of what Mason did, but to see it is completely different. They all suffered a violent and bloody end and no spell in my arsenal can help.

I drop my head onto Mason's chest and clutch onto him. I'm covered in warm blood now, and the feeling makes me want to vomit.

This isn't happening. It's a horrible nightmare and I'm going to wake up any minute.

But it's not a nightmare, it's all excruciatingly real. I want to cry and scream and curse whichever god allowed this to happen, but I continue clutching onto my brother's body.

Part of me is tempted to stay here until they lay Mason to rest. We came into this world together, we should leave it together.

That is until I'm reminded of Morgan. I sit up immediately and find a guard who is still standing around nearby. "Where is Morgan?"