Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• thirteen •

Song: you should see me in a crown - Billie Eilish

I stayed in the study watching the sunrise behind the mountains of Kingstown through the windows.

I watched the sleepy city hundreds of feet below come to life with the sun. Eventually, the sprites in the night gave way to the sun and with it the city bustle. I heard the common city noise-- the voices of people as they woke, the cars as they went about their morning. The boats and ships docked in the harbor and I imagined most were fishermen bringing in the day's haul.

It almost seemed normal.

I watched families meet and children dance and run around a fountain near the gates of the Keep. I could hear their loud laughter despite being so high up.

I smiled as I watched a little boy and girl hold hands and splash each other in the fountain.

I heard someone's pounding footsteps approach the room. Knowing it was one of only two people, I didn't turn.

"Oh, you're awake. Good." Asmo cleared his throat. "I was going to take the box to breakfast for you to sign the parchment."

"I signed it hours ago," I only said, resting my head against the pillar I leaned against. "It's in the box. It's ready."

There was barely a moment's hesitation. "Good." He chuckled. "You can't imagine how popular this particular law is. Vyssen has been on me for days about it."

"Hmm," I answered as I watched the city. "Weddings are a wonderful occasion."

"This will be the biggest party in decades. The Council is paying close attention to this wedding as is everyone else."

I took a drink from the tea in my hands. "Faeries are known for their parties," I repeated quietly. I smiled watching the children run back to the buildings near the fountain. "What's Kingstown like? I want to see it one day."

I heard him approach but he maintained his distance, not crossing to behind the desk where I was. "Busy. Very much how Paris was like when we visited. My apartment is near a block full of very well known restaurants. It attracts faeries even from the other queendoms since Warren came into power. The nightlife, however, is relatively quiet."

"I prefer the quiet."

"I will take you one day." After a moment, he spoke again. "The man from the cabin. He's been laid in one of the rooms downstairs. When you're ready I can take you."

My eyes didn't tear from the children below. "Did you know that I don't remember anything from before I went to my human parents? I walked out of the woods on my own and found them. I made them my parents. They don't even know how old I was." I smiled as the boy splashed the girl with water from the fountain again. "I want to believe that I probably had a care-free childhood like those kids down there." I shrugged. "Maybe we all did. Sometimes I wonder if they saw what would happen coming or only a few did and warned the others. I always wondered if I would ever meet someone that would tell me the answers, that would tell me why I survived but the others didn't." I sighed. "No one in any of the parties ever talks about it, or even ask me about it."

"They're all ashamed of what they participated in. Looking at you reminds them of their shame."

I turned to look at him. "Including you?"

His eyes didn't waver. "Yes, including me. I participated until Robyn's plans expanded to all of the Light fae. Despite what people think of me, I will not kill the innocent. That's when I told Warren. He had isolated himself in his home in the mountains after his wife's death, he had no idea. He was the only true heir and the only one that could command Robyn's opposing forces."