Queen's Shadow || Kingdom at the End of the World - Book II

[1] Hel's Heart

The sky was silent.

Red stars burned in a bed of black soil. They hung from gnarled roots far above Hel's dark lands, watching. Whispering. The wind carried their song on quiet nights - notes of terrible sorrow and fierce joy. The melody was ever-changing. Its cadence was born in turbulent happenings in the worlds Above, spilling through Hel's skies as wan echoes. Rae rarely cared to listen.

At present, there was little to hear. The quiet left the night gutted.

Carmen watched the distant stars with the look of a man gazing into the past. Rae reached for him. She slipped her hand under the heavy hood of his cowl and gently cradled his face. Carmen leaned into the caress, heedless of the sharp claws that tipped Rae's fingers. The shadow of sadness marring his expression lifted.

"I had forgotten," the man murmured.

Rae dragged her thumb over a sharp cheekbone. "What have you forgotten, dear heart?"

"The weight of heaven's silence," Carmen said.

Carmen's lips were cold. They warmed under Rae's, his mouth softening from its tight frown. Rae kept close after they broke apart. The thick cloak covering Carmen's shoulders was not enough to keep the frost of nights in Hel away. The man shivered in her arms. He was taller than her, but slighter. His bones were thin and hollow. Rae resisted the urge to tighten her grip. There was no need to keep Carmen tethered to earth.

His wings had long been clipped.

"The skies don't govern us. Their petulance is not our concern," Rae reminded.

Carmen laughed. Rae kissed the sound from his lips, greedy for his happiness.

"Mari disagrees," Carmen told her.

"Mari is bored, and prone to dramatics. She will find something else to brood over soon enough." Rae drew the fur-lined hood over Carmen's head, smoothing down tuffs of white hair and ink-black feathers. Carmen's eyes fluttered in pleasure.

"I will help you preen when we return home," Rae laughed. Carmen hummed in agreement, eyes lazy.

Rae pressed a kiss to the man's cheek and stepped away, though she was reluctant to part from her companion. Carmen hunched into himself. The land was dead under their feet, the air cold enough to burn. Those born in Hel did not feel the difference between scorching days and frost-bitten nights. Creatures from the lands Above who found their way into the realm were not as fortunate.

Rae sliced her palm open with a flick of a clawed finger. Blood budded over the wound and sank into the hard earth.

"The Queen calls," Rae bid.

The ground fractured. A shadow slipped through the cracks, condensing into a large beast. Black fur covered its body. Tall antlers crowned its head, spearing toward the heavens like the branches of some ancient tree. It towered over Rae and Carmen both, blocking the sight of the silent stars.

Rae bowed her head. Carmen knelt. The beast watched them with cold eyes until at last it snorted, sending a gust of scalding air over the barren land. It stooped with regal slowness. Its size diminished, until its shape was that of an uncommonly large horse. The antlers remained. They were the color of bleached bones, protruding from a mane that flowed like ink. Rae was careful not to touch the antlers when she mounted. Carmen slid into place behind her, quick and silent. He put his arms around Rae and nestled close against her back.

The beast rose. It stomped at the ground, powerful hoofs breaking through the soil. The pace it set was hard and fast from the start. Rae clutched at the beast's dark fur as hard as she dared. Carmen's arms went tight around her, but his knees barely pressed over the beast's flanks. Rae held her tongue over a warning. Carmen was gentle to a fault. She gripped Carmen's hands where they clasped over her belly, letting him hold on to her instead.