The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 27

"The guards that aren't in the Kingdom of Faerie are dead. The castle is unprotected. They'll find King Malachi and Queen Vesala by nightfall, I'm sure of it. They have nothing left with only their magic to hide them," Arthur informed me as he spooned soup into my mouth.

It had been two days since the battle began, two days of listening to the silence of the underground caves with nothing but the scurrying rats and dripping of mildewed water to keep me company whenever Arthur left. My anger for him had been building for some time now. Not enough to kill him, but enough to have to fight the urge to bite his fingers clean off every time his hands neared my mouth. My body was stiff from sitting in the chair for so long, only permitted to move when I had to go to the bathroom. The magic-stifling cuffs never left my hands, even when I had struggled to get my pants down to piss in a bucket. The only thing keeping me sane was that Arthur was feeding me information every other hour about the war every time he returned from his scouting. Death Bringer and the pirates had killed every member of court, leaving the rest of the kingdom untouched at least. I was glad that no more innocent blood was spilled than necessary.

Death had become very familiar to me. Gore and violence was something I was nearly desensitized to. Growing up in a kingdom where people were publicly executed by the masses for treason or overdue taxes and being exposed to a murderous king and queen at a young age honed me into a warrior long before I grew into a princess. I never had any friends, was never permitted into the villages, and never knew of companionship aside from my servant and Arthur, the only guard who paid me any mind aside from Maverick. Most of my childhood was spent training to fight or with my nose in a book, devouring endless knowledge at my fingertips. Books taught me of life and death, and how our souls reincarnated until we had learned all the lessons we needed to learn. I wasn't sure what kind of peace waited for fae at the end of the road, or if I would ever make it there, but there was a small comfort in knowing that it was a possibility. Perhaps some of the innocent lives lost along the way went somewhere better than here. And perhaps the less deserving ones went somewhere worse. I wouldn't know for sure until I got there, I supposed.

"If all of the guards are dead then you have nothing to protect me from anymore. Let me go, Arthur... Please," I begged, despite my pride.

Arthur eyed me suspiciously, taking in my pirate-like attire once more. "Bargain with me first... for my own security."

I thrashed in the chair once more, sending myself toppling over and crashing to the floor. "You wish to bargain! I owe you nothing! You took me against my will! Set me loose or so help me gods, I will not spare you for being there for me all of those years!" I screamed angrily at him, baring my teeth.

Arthur held his hands up reluctantly after setting the bowl of soup to the side. He carefully reached down and pulled my chair back upright. "Just hear me out, I'm not asking for much! You can't expect me to just trust you after you run away to be a pirate, for gods sake!"

"I didn't want to be a pirate! I just wanted to get away from here!" I roared, my power bubbling under my skin like I might boil over.

"Helena! I don't want anything from you other than for you to swear not to hurt me or have anyone else do the job for you. Do we have a deal?" Arthur snapped.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, shaking loose strands of hair from my face. His hand shot out and tucked them away for me with a gentle caress, his skin grazing mine lightly.

"Stop that," I warned him with a softness I hadn't had before, "and deal. You have a bargain."

The air swelled with magic, binding us both with a small visual imprint. A tiny black mark of ink surfaced above my ankle, mirroring his. It was a simple outline of a crown, solidifying our bargain. I clenched my fists together, regretting not getting to lay even a finger on him for locking me up. He bent down and unclasped the cuffs from around my wrists one by one. As soon as I was free, a thick blanket of ice covered the walls and ceiling of the dark room we had been hiding in. My power had been building for too long. Arthur stumbled back, his feet slipping on the ice as he tried to regain balance. He fell to the ground with a thud just as flames flickered around my feet, burning up and up until I was a living embodiment of a ball of flame. I was burning and freezing and melting. The air was thick with magic that had been wanting to be free for days.