His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

28: Finally

“I really blew it this time, didn’t I?” You mumbled to yourself.

The still water of the pond before you did not respond.

Days had gone by to the point that the weeks were pushing toward the end of the month already. These days aged you still, bringing you closer to a mortal death that remained a possibility with each minute. The gentle winds wisped through the loose locks of your hair, whispering to you soothingly rather than shouting like they had been back at that beach in Iceland. You sighed to yourself and shoved your hands in your jacket pockets. Your palm pressed over your phone that you had shut down a while back to focus on bigger concerns, but a new temptation to pick it out of one of your drawers hit you this morning before going on your forest walk. You fiddled in deep thought at the corner of the case, popping it off the device and then back on again repeatedly.

You were standing at the edge of the earthy flat of the woods. The tips of your boots hung over where the fresh spring grass grew around the pond water. Towering pine trees surrounded you and circled the area around the clearing. One could imagine envisioning them as giants overseeing your every move - like those basalt columns at Reynisfjara - but the only thing that was staring back at you was your reflection in the water when you leaned over to take a look at yourself. Above you in between the tree branches were clouds of gray hanging under the sky, only faint light from behind them telling you that it was still daytime. When the branches waved with the push of the forest breeze, the sky disappeared for seconds behind lush bunches of green pine leaves. You did not wave back.

A recent chat from the other day with your next closest friend in the lair (at least, when she was on two legs like yours instead of four) echoed in your head on repeat. You had been sitting up with your knees pulled to your chest on one of the main living quarters’ cushioned chairs as the woman stood across from you with crossed arms. Pitch was not around at the time, which meant it was a good few hours to let off some steam while you were being looked after under his orders.

“You practically have been married to him this whole time already,” Obsidian had told you, reminding you of your current living situation with the Nightmare King since last summer. “It’s more so the throne and title you’d be signing up for if you accepted his hand.”

“Which is the part that intimidates me most,” you responded. You were already willing to trade your mortal life for an eternal one, but being gowned in dazzling glory with a crown and scepter was a dream that you had not looked into since you were five. Not to mention the responsibilities that you did not spend the last twenty-three years of your life preparing for.

“It’s not like you’ll be looking after an entire country,” the woman reminded, dark wavy hair bouncing with each of her small movements. “Besides, you’ll be able to give me commands that I’ll be obligated to follow.”

“And what about the last girl?” You questioned. “The one that we all thought I was? Wouldn’t I be taking her place as queen?”

“She was only called that, at least as far as my understanding,” Obsidian answered. You noticed how when she passed under an overhead stream of light from above the lair’s underground borders, pale skin glistened like her eyes of amber. “She was never wed to him, and so did not earn her title by the love that he instead offers you.” A small friendly smile was granted to you by her. “In a sense, you would be officially the first woman to reign here.”

You stared without replying, for you did not know if that helped or hindered you.

“If it’s worth anything,” Obsidian spoke again. “I believe you would make a great queen.”