Dark Queen: The Cybelline Prophecies

Chapter 68

The City of Light was famed for its mystery and beauty. It was a place that only those with magic were allowed to visit and only with the express permission of a Light Mage disciple. Very few have earned the right to enter the exalted city. But those who have seen it, boast of its magnificence.  It was vast maze of temples and towers, with universities for the magically gifted and places for visiting mages to live and stay. Here acolytes walked in measured steps, their white with gold trimmed robes reflected on the pristine granite walkway. They discussed politics, magic, and other things they had studied in the temples.  

In the heart of the Temples of Light, was a simple yet elegant castle that was always kept clean and ready for Her. 

Today the city was buzzing with excitement, for She had come home, many had seen her retinue in the streets, though few saw her.

The Lady of Light

"We have kept him in chains as you have ordered, my lady." A servant bowed to the vision of loveliness in front of him and opened the heavy iron-wrought door of the dungeons.

"Good." She swept past him with a smile, the scent of flowers lingering in the air as she walked down the steep stairs to the dungeons.

There were few criminals that were held here, as the light mages saw crime as unclean. Her footsteps echoed in the empty halls of black granite, the jailers bowing to her in the firelight.

The opened the door to the largest cell.

In the center, a golden haired man knelt, his hands and feet in manacles. A heavy collar was attached to his neck. 

"Do you remember the last time we stood in a cell together? Back then it was I in chains." She walked closer and lifted his head up with her delicate fingers.

"Do you hate me Jinon Sybarius?"

He stared into those eyes, unmarked by years but discolored by hatred.

"No."

"No? You're right. You don't hate me. You pity me."

She let go of his chin and chuckled, "You know, I thought that if I forced you to live all these years, if I made an enemy out of you, that you would hate me."

"I can't hate you."

"You never make things easy for me." 

"I won't let you go down this path, not alone."

The Lady of light turned around and asked coldly, "Where are they? Where have you hidden all of them away?"

He said nothing.

"You alone know the location of the Hidden Fae, if you tell me, I will give you everything you desire." the Lady of Light offered, her fingers tracing his brows, "Anything you want."

Jinon shifted his head away from her hands.

"After all these years, aren't you tired, Kyria?" 

The color drained from the Lady of Light's face.

"Stop calling me that. You aren't worthy."

"What would your father say if he saw you now?"

SLAP. The sound echoed in the chamber.

"He would be proud that his daughter avenged his death. He would be proud that I not only survived but conquered. I have protected the humans for centuries against the threat of the fae and folk. It will only be a matter of time before I find them."

"And then what? Kill them for their magic? Enslave them for sport? What depravities have you done in the name of protection. What atrocities have you committed?"