Guinevere's Grail | ✓ [BOOK 2]

~ 44 ~

NOTHING WAS HAPPENING AT the castle. Giselle didn't know whether to feel nervous or relieved, but she couldn't see anything in the distance, could not feel any more grief from her people beyond the pain the plague caused. There was no feeling of violence or discord in her kingdom. It felt like they were wrapped in a bubble, kept safe from every attack.

She thought nothing would happen. Nothing, she thought, until two separate, very distinct pains shot through her chest. Selene fell to her side, fussing despite Giselle's reassurances that she hadn't been injured.

"Something's wrong," she breathed. "Or maybe it's right. I--there's so much--"

Her voice caught, and the pain turned into a strange feeling, a startling one, and her heart took on an uneven rhythm. All around them, she could see the other Seelies clutching their chests, sharing looks of confusion, relief, and even pain. What the hell was going on?

It was tight, something was tugging on her chest, pulling her down to her hands and knees. It felt like there was a battle going on in her chest, like two tethers fought for control, until one wrapped around the other and, all at once, they were both cut away, letting her breathe once more.

"What's going on?" asked Selene, blue eyes flitting over all the others going through the same thing around them.

Giselle couldn't put her feelings into words, but luckily, she didn't have to. Her mother came up behind them, breath heaving, a wild look in her eyes, piercing through her dignified countenance.

"It's the Queen," she said. "Something's freed us from her."

* * *

Chalice felt out of place, their eyes flitting from Mab to Titania and back again. Two sisters, torn apart by time, faced each other on the steps of the palace, both angry and vengeful and vicious. They had their bets on Mab, with her large beasts and the mere fact that she was not currently suffering from a hole in her middle. It was unclear whether they planned to kill each other, if they even could, but they didn't know if they wanted to be present for the battle.

"You're ruining everything!" Titania cried out. "My palace will crumble!"

"Serves you right," said Mab. In that moment, Chalice did not see mere vengeance or wrath in her eyes. They saw evil, they saw hatred, they saw a need for blood, and it was all for Titania.

Somehow, Excalibur had found its way back into Titania's hand, though Chalice had little faith it would do any crucial damage to her opponent. She was the first to swing, starting a vicious battle of arms between her and Mab. Throughout every corner of the palace, guards came to her aid, but Eurion, Chalice, and the dragons fought them off, cutting through the crowds with ease. A storm was curling over their heads, darkening the sky and taking Chalice by surprise.

In the summer kingdom, they did not expect a storm. According to their research, it was always sunny. But today, with its Queen's high emotions and all the magic surging through the palace, they supposed dark, angry clouds made sense.

So far, Eurion had suffered no more than a few ugly yet inconsequential wounds, and Chalice didn't know whether it was because of how skilled she'd become or how poorly Titania fought. For a woman so powerful, they expected more than this.

"You're weak today," Mab said, echoing their thoughts. "That's dangerous."

"I'm fighting a thousand different battles right now," Titania said defensively. "I have given pieces of myself to my army. They're slaughtering your people as we speak, doing my work for me."