Descendants of the Kings (Book 2)

Ch 4.2: Welcome back

CW: for violence, mentions of death and talks of miscarriage

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Minna struggled to turn, her body locking up horribly. She ached all over, but it was nothing compared to the pain blooming in her stomach. With laboured breath, she barely managed to gasp, "What have you done, Mair?"

Mair was unruffled. She sat in her seat, looking every bit like the Queen she was about to become. "You've always had such a bad habit of eating too much when you're nervous. It's terribly unladylike. Only the peasants eat so crudely."

Dots danced in Minna's vision. She leaned heavily against a side table, nearly knocking over a vase as she staggered. Her body weighed down on her, her limbs began to go numb. Through blurry eyes, she could see her fingertips turning purple.

"You poisoned me?" She could barely hear herself clearly. "Why would you do this?"

"Of course not. What good is a dead bride?"

Minna's legs gave out and she tumbled, kneeling in front of Mair. In her pain-addled state, she only thought of the child in her womb. Her stomach, where sickly pangs ran through her, like needles and pins.

"Callan will come for me," she gasped, cradling her stomach. "He'll come to find me, and you'll be sorry."

Minna had never been one for violence, but at that moment, she knew that if Callan came, he would tear the palace down for her, and she would gladly let him. She wished he'd come and take her away, protect her, as he'd always done. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms again.

"I hope he does," Mair hummed. "I hope he comes and sees his bride, bent over herself, writhing in pain. I hope that once he finishes wrecking it all, like the savage he is, he comes near you and finds out that there are few things worse than being betrayed by our own."

"It'll be such a treat to witness. It was a shame I never got to see the other one's death. Well, they look uncannily similar, so I suppose that I can imagine what the other one looked like dying, as I watch your Faerie Beast perish."

Through the dull buzz in her ears, it took Minna a moment to make sense of what Mair was saying. When she did, it still took a moment to process. She didn't want to understand.

"What are you talking about?"

Mair kept toying with something in her hands, just like she'd been doing for the past hour. Minna had been so nervous, she hadn't paid it much mind. But now, kneeling in front of Mair, she could finally see what it was. A dagger. Carved with strange, glowing runes on the surface.

"It's curious how much the mere promise of power can buy you," she said, touching a finger to the sharpened edge. "A tempting whisper in the right ear can grant you all sorts of things. A cursed dagger, for one," she pointed the tip at Minna. "A cursed dagger and a mere suggestion can do wonderful, wonderful things. Start a riot. Kill a Prince. Cause a war."

Despite the heat eating Minna alive, her body felt cold all at once. A horrible, slimy feeling took over her. She couldn't take her eyes off that dagger. The glowing runes mocked her. Wasn't it so similar to the shape of the wound that had taken Finny's life?

It had been so unexpected as well. A huge orcish clan had been warring against the Elves for decades. Looting villages, terrorising people, attacking travellers and wrecking supplies. Callan and Finnian had managed what their father hadn't--a peace treaty in exchange for a portion of lands for the Orcs. It had been all settled. They'd gathered for a formal signing of a treaty, and then... another uprising. The Orc clan leader's youngest son had led a group of rogue followers into attacking. It had been a bloody battle, many had died, and many had been wounded. Including Finny.