Queen of Light (The Light-Bringer Trilogy, #3)

Two

Calista Pyro-Bjorndottir staggered back a step.

This can't be happening, she thought incredulously. James can't be in possession of Matias.

Cal opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. "H-h-how?" she stammered.

James grinned. "He ingested my blood," James said, his voice taking chills down her spine. "Your friend-what was her name? Luna, was it?" He chuckled, the sound making Cal's stomach turn. "The poison your friend slipped Matias Gomez was the only way she could back him into ingesting my blood without question."

"Keep my husband's name out of your godsdamned mouth," Cal snarled.

He looked at her like a predator would its prey. "You still got some fire left in you. You both do. All the more fun for me."

Her heart fluttered, hope igniting in her chest. "Matias is still alive," she muttered.

James scowled. "And he fights, too. Just like Jason."

Cal looked back at her father and brother. "Who is Jason?"

"His elder brother who he tortured into madness," Akaljot ground out.

"He is not my brother," James snapped, his voice distorted. His voice was a harsh, loud whisper that came a second before Matias's. "He's my counterpart." He chuckled to himself and Cal shivered from the sound of their combined laughter. "His screams of agony and his pain..." He grinned and licked his lips. "It was so enjoyable. He's the reason why I am called 'Lord of Madness.'"

"Did you murder all of those people?" she asked tentatively.

He shrugged, the chains clinking softly. "I have to have some fun," he said nonchalantly.

"What do you want with Matias?"

"To bend and break you to Melania's will. Turn him into a demon. Let's hope that he doesn't follow Jason's footsteps. I will escape at the first chance I get. It's a long, tedious process, after all."

Cal started to back away from him. She needed fresh air. Sunlight. She needed Matias, Matias, Matias-

"We're done here," she got out, her voice shaking.

She turned on her heel and strode out, each step slowly getting faster. She pushed the steel door open and the sunlight stabbed her eyes. Sound fell out of the world as Cal jogged through the city blocks and into the forest beyond. Her lungs burned and her eyes were blinded by tears. She braced her hand on the trunk of an arctic spruce and sank to her knees.

I will not cry, I will not cry, she told herself.

"I hate you," Andhera had said.

"Turn him into a demon," James had said only minutes prior.

Cal felt like the mask and gauntlets were locked back on her. Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. Her tears spilled over as she clawed at her arms, clawed at her face. She wailed as her nails drew blood.

She curled up into a ball on her side, her tears flowing freely. The cold of the Krigerean winter seeped into her bones and she let it numb her. Her breath fogged up the air and fatigue pulled at her. Cal let her fatigue take her away.

-

She swam towards the surface. But it never came closer. Her lungs ached and burned with every passing second without air. Her vision darkened and spots danced across it. Her eyes began to close as the air left her lungs.

A gloved hand reached down to her. Everything went black as she was dragged upwards.

Cal's eyes snapped open and she rolled onto her side to cough up the sea water in her lungs. Her eyes teared up and her lungs stung as she forced the water out of her. Once she stopped heaving, she took note of the gold armoured feet in front of her. Cal's gaze moved up until she saw the figure's face. The colour drained from her face.

She was staring at a mirror image of herself. Only, this version of her looked... older, somehow. The older Calista wore red and gold armour, flames flickered in her pine green eyes, and she held herself like a warrior-like a queen. She held a red-and-gold gloved hand out to Cal.

"Get up," she said.

Cal took her hand, the metal was warm and the red cloth was rough under her fingertips. Cal was dragged to her feet and she stumbled as she gained her footing. Cal looked around them. At the golden sand under their feet; the gray clouds in the sky; the roiling sea just feet away from them. The wind that blew off the sea whipped Cal's hair about, but the queen stood unaffected by it.

"Where are we?" she asked the monarch.

"Only you can answer that," she answered. The queen stepped closer, the flames in her eyes as clear as day. "Are you ready?"

Cal swallowed. "For what?"

Calista raised her chin and looked down her nose at her. "To be the monarch your kingdom needs you to be."