Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 53

He struggled to stay balanced but somehow made his way to the stable door gate. He pushed it open, leaning heavily on it, and stepped out into the barn. Cole hissed his name after him, but he ignored her and she was forced to jump to her feet and storm after him.

She caught his arm in the barn, forcing him to stop. He grimaced and she realized she had grabbed the arm that had been injured. Someone, she assumed her mother, had bandaged it overnight with some scraps of cloth torn from something larger, though blood still seeped through.

"You need to slow down. You're injured, and my mother won't be able to go far in this condition."

"We don't have the luxury of waiting," he replied. "It's too dangerous to be in Avallen. We need to get more magic in our rings and get out of here."

Cole opened her mouth to reply, but someone else interrupted her.

"Tanwyn!" a voice called from somewhere outside the barn. "Come out, dear nephew. It appears I have to give you a talking to. Again."

The voice brought with a strange sense of time stopping. Cole could feel the blood coursing through her veins as though it was made of ice, and she glanced over to see Tanwyn rooted to the spot, staring at the arc of light coming from the barn door. Cole slowly reached behind her, closing the stall door and securing the lock. Her mother was in no condition to try and escape, but no one would suspect that one last person was left behind.

Tanwyn shook at Cole's side, a leaf in the wind. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, and she was worried for a moment that he might collapse. But as soon as his fear had started, it washed away as quickly as mud from skin, and he tossed his head as gracefully as a stallion.

With his mouth clenched, he strode toward the barn door, only slightly unsettled on his feet due to his wound. If anyone had not seen him a moment before, they would think that nothing in the world was bothering him as he stepped into the sunshine.

Cole followed behind him, knowing that if the voice wanted Tanwyn, it would know about her as well. She was only a few steps behind him, and had to squint into the bright sun as she waited for her eyes to adjust.

A moment later the glare dissolved away to reveal a small battalion of faerie soldiers in plate metal armor that resembled spring green leaves. Their long hair hung in intricate braids down their backs, and their wings curved serenely along their backs. No one had any weapons drawn, though their swords were within easy reach, and magic, of course, was at their fingertips.

However, the guards were not what drew everyone's attention. Though there were many, and they were most likely not a common sight in a small village, everyone who had stopped on the street to stare and gawk had their eyes pinned on a single woman standing at the head of the small army.

With hair the color of sunbeams and curls that were as soft as cream, she stood a head taller than any of her guards. Her skin was moonlight, dusted with the shimmer of stardust, and her eyes were a pure aqua that matched Tanwyn's. While Tanwyn's face itself looked full of mischief and untruth, this woman's pitch black wings and sharp cheekbones looked as if they belonged to a bird of prey. Her eyes were piercing weapons, pinning Tanwyn and then Cole under their powerful gaze.

"Aunt Gethwine," Tanwyn said, bowing his head but otherwise acting as if this was a casual social call on a lovely afternoon. "A pleasure to see you, as always."

Cole swallowed hard. This was the queen of the faeries? She looked as if she could well control an entire country and be a threat to Thijs. If someone had told Cole that the queen was not born from parents, but instead from power and might, she wouldn't have doubted them.

The queen drew in a long breath through her nose, her eyes closing as she did. "My little nephew, you seem to have caused an unnecessary amount of trouble in the human world."

"What trouble is that, Aunt?"

Queen Gethwine's eyes flew open with an angry flash. "My spies have reported that you've been meddling in Soma affairs, riling up King Thijs and attempting to kill his son."

"Ah. That," Tanwyn said, and he even had the nerve to smirk. "Well, I know how much you'd like to wipe Soma and King Thijs off the map, and how the council is mistaken in thinking it too much to bite off."

Queen Gethwine's lips stretched into a cold smile. "You know me well, but you also seem to have forgotten who exactly you are."

Tanwyn's smirk faltered for just a moment. The queen pressed on.

"You see, you've forgotten that you come from a bumbling idiot mother who had herself executed due to her incompetence. Her laughable attempt at taking the throne from me was a lesson for us all in comedic tragedy." She examined her nails, as if she hadn't a care in the world. "And yet here you stand, thinking that you could somehow do what she failed so spectacularly at?"

"I never wanted to take your throne," Tanwyn replied, his voice for once unsure and unsteady.

"Oh, are you sure about that now, Nephew?" Queen Gethwine said, her eyes boring into him. "You plan to take away the biggest threat to Avallen, clearing your way as a hero and the savor of all Eldritch king. And who do you plan to save Avallen with? Why, our friend here."

All eyes swivelled to Cole.

Her breath caught in her chest under the weight of the sudden attention of an entire village. She lifted her chin, clenching her fists and hoping that she looked as if she didn't care that they were all staring at her now with narrowed eyes and taking in her shorn hair and dirty clothes. They surely knew she was a human, a complete outsider in their world, but that didn't mean she had to be less than them.

Queen Gethwine's lips rolled into a smirk. "So arrogant," she said. "Just like your mother."

Cole's eyebrows dipped together. "My mother? How do you know her?"

Tanwyn butt in on her words, covering them up with his own. "She's a girl I thought expendable. She has no bearing on my plans other than being a pawn I needed to kill the prince."

"Oh, I wish I could believe that," the queen said. "Wouldn't it be nice to wrap up this whole ordeal and be done with it?"

"She's no one, your highness," Tanwyn said, staring his aunt directly in the eyes.

The queen sighed. "Well, your little nobody pawn left a little something behind at the ball. A certain Eldritch-made dagger, which would surely be enough evidence for Thijs to gather the remaining reluctant human countries to his side against us. If your foolish appearance at the party wasn't proof enough."

Tanwyn frowned. "I admit it was not what I wanted," he said. "You can punish me, but the girl was just a tool. She had no idea what I was planning or what is going on between humans and Eldritch."

"I don't think so, Tanwyn," the queen said, her voice suddenly becoming quiet and hard. "You know exactly who she is, and you want to repeat the mistakes of your mother."

Tanwyn clenched his teeth, his jaw jumping from the tension. "You don't want to discuss this here, Aunt. There are many ears listening."

For a moment, the queen paused as if what he had said actually made her stop to think. Then she strode forward, bridging the gap between the soldiers and Tanwyn. Her gown, a brilliant scarlet red, swept up a cloud of dust as she stopped in front of him, now close enough for him to hear her, but where the soldiers and gathered village people wouldn't be able to make out their words any longer.

"Are you threatening me?" the queen whispered, smiling though her features looked ready to murder him with her bare hands.

"I'm merely saying that I have information that would cause you a lot of trouble with the people and the council," he replied.