War of Winter (Iron Fey Fanfiction)

Chapter 26 - The Summer Queen

          The first look that appeared on the Summer knight's face, put a magnificent smile on Crystal's. First, it was shock, which quickly delved into anger and then disgust. He reeled back, releasing Crystal who, as soon as her feet hit the ground attacked. 

     She pivoted to grab her knife while she launched an ice dagger at his face as he drew his sword. He dodged the ice shards and lunged at her, a fireball materializing in his fist. Crystal acted on instinct, flicking her wrist and using her glamour to freeze his feet in place. 

    The Summer Knight was hit with the knife in the gut, but instead of keeling over and dying like Crystal hoped, he growled and yanked the weapon out of his abdomen. With murder in his deep brown eyes, he stalked toward Crystal, this time calling white fire to him and inching it toward her, making her dance back to avoid the flames. 

    He herded her one way, then another. He laughed as sweat beaded on her forehead and she concentrated on not being burned alive. Oh, how she loathed Summer fey. Anger so fierce it almost made her see red licked up her body, pulling adrenaline and newfound determination with it. She would not be toyed with by some menopausal  Summer whelp. 

    She formed an ice dagger in her palm and lunged, ignoring the flames as they licked her boots. Her glamour quickly snuffed them out. She barreled into the unexpecting knight, bringing up against the tree and pinning him there, her dagger to his throat. Unfortunately, it began to melt due to the temperature of his skin and his surrounding glamour. 

   "You dirty bitch. And to think I had my mouth on a Winter wh-" he began, snarling, but Crystal politely interrupted him. 

   "I'm deeply honored," she smiled coldly before moving to slice his throat. 

   She never got the chance. At that moment, two pairs of hands grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back, one knocking her blade from her hand. She fought like a wild cat, her glamour going wild. But apparently, the two Summer soldiers holding her were stronger because after thick layers of frost covered the surroundings, fire quickly followed it. 

  It was no use wasting her energy; she was trapped. Ceasing her struggling for a short while, she blew a stray strand of hair away from her face. "Bastard," she muttered. 

  "I could say the same for you, Winter whore!" the soldier holding her on the left snapped, slugging her in the ear. She gasped at the pain and shut up. 

  "Take her to Titania - she'll deal with her properly," the knight she'd been previously fighting said, wiping a trail of blood from his lip. When had she hit him? Crystal thought. 

   The two soldiers began to tug her away before she realized what was really happening. She only hoped Rowan hadn't got caught by now. In the best situation, she'd be held as a prisoner of Summer. The worst, well...

   She swallowed and tried to act cooperative as the soldiers dragged her to Queen Titania's tent. When they arrived, Crystal was promptly shackled, slugged once more in the ear, then thrown at the Queen's slippered feet. 

  Crystal righted herself in a kneeling position and glared up at the Queen of Summer. Her auburn hair glistened in the morning light and her eyes, somehow, were scarier than her mother's. Which was near impossible. "Well, whatever is this?" she spoke, her voice like a lilting fountain. 

  "We found this whelp having a little skirmish with Jax, here," one of the soldiers replied. "Gave him a bloody lip, she did." Jax stepped forward and nodded to the Queen, his lip still bleeding. 

  I would've given him a lot worse if you dumbheads had not interrupted us, Crystal thought. The Queen was silent for a few moments before regarding Jax with a glint in her eye, a devious smile pulling at her lips. Was she and he...? Crystal almost visibly gagged.  

  "Well, dear Winter girl, I'm sure you know that you are quite far from your side of the battlefield, no?" Titania asked, tapping her fingers against her chair. 

   Crystal did not respond. 

   "Are you alone? Or did you drag along one of your icy counterparts along?"

  "Not here, I didn't. I wouldn't endanger my own kind," Crystal gritted out through her teeth. Her heart was pounding. She wanted Titania to just name her punishment and get on with it, none of this stalling nonsense.

   Titania considered this for a moment. "What were you doing on Summer's side? I'm sure it wasn't just to chat, now, is it?" A smile that made chills crawl up Crystal's spine was tugging at Titania's lips. 

   Crystal did not respond to this. Only glared at the Queen, wishing she could use her glamour-

    As a matter of fact...Crystal reached out, trying to feel her glamour, to call it to her. No. 

   "Ah, yes, dear Winter girl," Titania drawled. "You won't be creating an ice rink here, dear. Now, let us discuss the consequences of your presence here and furthermore attacking one of my soldiers."

   Crystal was about to say that he provoked her but then shut her mouth. What good would it do? She wasn't getting off the hook free. Not by Titania's card. "Now, I suppose a simple branding wouldn't be too harsh, no?" she said, looking to her attendants, who were standing a ways back and staring at Crystal fearfully. 

   Crystal curled her lip at them all. 

   "Or, perhaps, public humiliation?" Her eyes glinted at that. "What say you, General?"

  One of the soldiers shifted. Nervously. "Whatever you deem as best, my Queen," he replied, his voice shaking a little.  

   Despite her attempt to be brave, Crystal's heart began to pound a little. She swallowed and did not drop her gaze from Titania's as the Queen said, "ah, yes. I think that would suffice just fine." This time she did smile, and it haunted Crystal to the bones.