♔ 𝔉𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔶 - 𝕹𝔦𝔫𝔢 ♔

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♔ 𝔑𝔦𝔯𝔞 ♔

I have not taken this to be a gaudy display. I am dressed not too dissimilar to how I arrived. A dull blouse, a fitted pair of pants, my hair braided down my back. Two daggers are strapped to my thigh, and though the quiver is empty, I find comfort in having my bow hooked over my torso.

It is a horrible replay of how I did this the first time, walking to the ring where Blaze stood, after making him so many promises after what he did to Tirah. Though I have not spoken them, in my mind I have made so many promises to Zaire too, for what he did to Sloan, and they are all that repeat as I approach him.

I did not want company today. Calix, Libitina and Tynan await at the side of the ring. Cenred too, though I know he begged to speak to me before the final task.

I could not. I am not brave enough. It felt like it was a goodbye, and he is not someone I wish to say that to.

Neither, it seems, are the other three, who I have come to care for more than I would like to admit.

It should not trouble me. If I die today, I am dead, and it does not make much difference. Except, I know Cenred will mourn. Except, I know Calix will fall too. I know Libitina and Tynan will be wrecked, and that because of Zaire's delirious jealousy and hatred, that the Night Court and its people will be the first to feel his wrath.

After he has made a spectacle of my body. the Huntress that tormented Vrodora and its people, no longer. The justice so many of their kind deserved finally wrought.

I pause outside the circle, toes pressed against the line.

"Come then, Nira. This is what you wished for, is it not?" I meet his heavy gaze with one of my own, drawing a foot forward that takes me inside the circle and captures me with its wards.

I have broken from wards once before. Should I need to do it again, I will.

I have killed Fae several times previously.

I am more than the human he killed.

I am Queen Daenira Alinac-Tenybris. Lady Chaos. Bringer of Death. Tamer of Wyverns.

I am doing this for me. For Sloan. For Calix.

That is his throne.

"Do not look so panicked. You must know I do not want to hurt you."

My teeth grate together. "Do you not get sick of hearing your own lies?"

"Have you forgotten? Lying is something a Fae cannot do." I go to argue, but he beats me. "I do not want to, but I will, should I have to."

"I despise everything that you are."

"You are more me than you realise." He takes a step back, and gestures towards me. "Pick your stance. I will let you make the first move."

I straighten my spine and look him straight in the eye. "I dwelled on it last night. I wished to kill you like a human, but the more I thought about it, I think it would be far more embarrassing for you to be killed by the Fae you helped create."

He hums in understanding, but my words are enough for him to draw his layers of protection. His skin sports a pale glow as the power from within him reaches towards the surface. His eyes turn a luminous white, hair stood on end as though charged with static.

"Ah. You wish to kill me with powers that are not your own." A buzz of light sparks between his fingers, like lightning that shards through a stormy sky. Whatever power that Zaire posesses, he has kept most of it secret from me all this time.

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