COF 4: The Abject Throne

19 | Destruction (II)

Her own heartbeat thundered in her ears. Where...

She gasped as air flooded her system once more, the leash around her neck loosening. Her vision brightened and a semblance of a cubical room slowly formed. It was white all over. A woman stood a few paces away. Who...

As her senses returned, she felt her stomach pressing against the cold floor. She squirmed. Hmm. Stone. Something lashed around her muscles, pinning her arms behind her. Her legs refused to follow when she directed them to move. What's going on?

A grunt escaped Reeca's lips as she wrenched her eyes open fully. She swiveled her head only to find out there's nothing holding her down. She gritted her teeth and tugged against her invisible constraints.

A hissing laugh made her freeze.

"Kriachoria!" Elred's voice screamed. Reeca whirled to the shard fairy who was in the same situation as her on the floor. It took a while, but Reeca realized that the shard fairy wasn't wearing any glamour. Elred's pale face was gaunt with dirt staining it in wide and thin flecks. Imperfect.

Where were the thrones?

Reeca clenched her jaw and attempted to call her magic. There was nothing except a weak sputter.

"My dear Elred," a silky voice cooed. Reeca dragged her eyes towards a woman clad in an imposing black dress matched with a black cape. It was her. The one whom Reeca saw last in the prison. Elred called her Kriachoria. Reeca's eyes widened as her gut twisted. Could it be? The Sovereign. That woman was the Sovereign. What has Reeca done?

The Sovereign knelt in front of Elred and titled the shard fairy's chin up with a finger. "You shouldn't have bothered to visit," she grinned, showing off her perfect teeth. "You're not missed."

Real fear shone in Elred's eyes. For once, the shard fairy didn't utter a smart-mouth reply. Reeca snorted. "It's my idea. Leave her alone," she said. When the Sovereign's empty eyes met hers, a shiver went down her spine. Elred shook her head. Stop this, the shard fairy seemed to be saying. Reeca plunged on. "Elred is following me around now. I'm the one you need to talk to."

The Sovereign clasped her hands. "Ah, Rikavien Torlin," she drew up and strode to where Reeca lay. "Has your guilt been absolved yet?"

Reeca drew her eyebrows together. How did the Sovereign know? Reeca shook her head. No. She would not give in. She gulped against the dryness in her throat, against the lump of fear growing in it. Her lips quivered as she forced herself to meet the Sovereign's eyes. They were dark, cruel. There's nothing human or fairy in them. "I have no guilt," she said.

The Sovereign snorted. "No guilt?" she hummed. "Tell me, what power source did you use to ascertain the thrones' locations?"

Reeca's stomach sank. How...? Who was the Sovereign and why did she know everything? From behind the Sovereign, Elred squirmed. She seemed determined to get Reeca's attention.

So Reeca focused on the Sovereign.

"I should thank you, by the way," the leader of the Synketros said. Her slick, ankle-high boots tapped against the stone floor in a series of stringent clacks. "Not only did you manage to destroy your possible alliance with the Virtakios and secure a surer way of winning the war, you told me where the rest of the thrones are and how many the Heiress had."

The Sovereign crouched by Reeca now. "Where are the thrones you stole?" she asked. "Tell me that and I might let Elred live."

Reeca spat at the Sovereign's feet. "In your putrid dreams," she hissed.

The Sovereign's hand clapped Reeca's face. Reeca's head was thrown sideways as her neck turned on its own. A numbing throb flared on her cheeks. She tasted blood on her lips. A sigh blew out of the Sovereign's lips as she cradled her hand to her chest. "I can't believe I had to touch a lowlife like you," she pointed a disgusted glare towards Reeca. "How ungraceful."

Reeca cursed at the Sovereign, as much as her breath and her mouth allowed her to.

"Well," the Sovereign sighed as she straightened. "Since I won't probably get what I want with you this way, I guess I had to try a more persuasive way."

The Sovereign's boots slapped against the floor as she strode towards a doorway that appeared with a wave of her hand. "Prepare to see your beloved Narfalk destroyed," she yanked the door with a nasty creak. "I haven't enjoyed Helinfirth since Elred decided to do it for me. But Narfalk? Oh, it's going to be so glorious."

"What can you do? Throw a few pebbles?" Reeca snorted.

The Sovereign smiled even wider. "You'll see," she threw her red hair over her shoulder in a graceful wave. "I did destroy Peltra to prove a point, you know?"

Reeca's amusement faded. Peltra?

The moment the door slammed shut was when her throat flared up once more, cutting off her air but not enough to kill her. Elred's distressed expression and the knowledge of what was to come glinting on her eyes were the last thing that Reeca registered before the darkness claimed her.