The Faerie Curses

Chapter Forty-Six: Ruler of Deception

"Marissa," Diandre breathed, nudging my side.

I looked away from the hanging bodies of the guards, my throat closing with guilt.

I had been the one who caused them to go searching for the royal family. Now, they were both dead and gone like countless of others perishing in the shrieking night.

I could see everyone clearly now once the moon shifted out from behind the clouds; each figure was sharpened into bright clarity. But something was horribly wrong.

Queen Titania stood in front of Glen on the bridge, shielding him with her wide wings as she glared protectively at the tattooed sprite. But there was something behind her eyes that scared me, something I had never seen before on the face of the summer queen: fear.

Uncontrollable fear. She was shaking in her ballgown, her auburn hair rustling in the breeze like coils of fleeing flame.

Glen was gazing at Titania in utter confusion, sparks igniting between his fingers.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice wavering with uncertainty. "Mother, what is it?"

The tattooed sprite, his ink designs coated in dry blood, grinned at the royal family wickedly. An iron scythe flashed in his hands, a blade moistened with scarlet stains of his victims. It glittered menacingly beneath the light of the stars, and my stomach churned with nausea.

Queen Titania's gaze was fixated on the scythe, and her green eyes widened in complete terror along with something else: recognition.

"Not you," she whispered. "Not you."

"Did you miss me?" The sprite cackled.

To my complete astonishment, he had not spoken to Glen, but to the queen.

"Get away from us, you bastard," Titania commanded the tattooed sprite. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. "You were never supposed to come back here. Not after what you had done to my family."

Glen gripped his mother's shoulder, his wings beating nervously.

"What are you talking about?" He exclaimed. "How the hell do you know him, mother?"

The tattooed sprite chuckled darkly. "You've fooled the boy very well, Titania. That enchantment in his mind has proved to be a complete marvel. He can't recollect a single thing from twelve years ago."

Twelve years ago. The year King Oberon was murdered.

Diandre and I shared a look of silent horror.

Glen's eyes filled with raw betrayal as he jerked away from the queen. He recoiled from Titania's touch as if it has burnt him, and I watched him back away towards the lake.

"Mother," he whispered. "Tell me that he's lying." He blinked at her desperately, his auburn hair tickling against his face. "Tell me that you weren't the one who put the block on my mind, the block on everything that connected me to my own father."

Hurt was etched into Glen's features. I could see his magic power growing wild and confused between his fingertips, sizzling with frantic, panicked energy.