Lovely Dark Things

FIFTEEN (ISELEN POV)

"There's sweet wine in that bottle," the queen waves her hand to point at the table and Ruby moves closer to pour two glasses while I sit down on a couch. It's true that I'm used to deal with Baalberith's cold weather after so many years but, after traveling for a few weeks under the bright sunlight through the light elves' island and Ariel's forest, snow and hail almost froze my bones when we got off the boat at the port. Luckily, my heating system is still working well and My Lady's wine cellar is excellent.

"Thank you," I whisper smiling at the assassin who sits down next to me. Slaves and the God of War's priestesses who serve the queen walk out of the room finally leaving us alone.

"So?" the beautiful elven lady asks impatiently and I can feel her magical energy vibrating like a warm wind swirling around her body, shaking the crimson silk embroidered with gold of her dress, but she's restraining it so she doesn't hurt the weak human. It's pretty obvious that My Lady is not as calm as she pretends to be.

"Ariel admitted it all," my wife answers with a hint of disbelief in her tone of voice. "She didn't try to deceive us or hide information. She was delighted to tell us her story, even proud of her feat because she believes she tricked the Witch King."

"That resentful idiot," the queen rolls her eyes, upset. "Not marrying her was the best decision my son has ever made. What did she tell you?"

"The baby arrived to the forest when the previous priestess of the Oak of Ages sanctuary ruled," I answer frowning. "Come to think of it, she never told us what happened to that lady and how she got her position."

"Ariel arrived to Athel Forest as a refugee pretending to run away from her terrible fiancé who declared a civil war against the light elves," My Lady replies snorting scornfully. "She started plotting in secret since the first minute and got rid of her rival easily. The wood elves have always felt inferior, belittled by their cousins from Avelorn, but they actually admire them and would like to be like them, sophisticated, elegant and envied by all the races. A lady from one of the most important families of Lothern came to the forest and hypnotized them all with her fake cosmopolitan charm."

"She got rid of her?" I repeat bewildered.

"Poison, probably," Ruby answers smiling amused. "It's clean and effective, spilling blood with knives draws too much attention."

"You're right," the queen nods. "Where's my daughter?" The assassin and I exchange a look, concerned, and My Lady frowns. "Is it that bad?"

"The princess was raised by an elven couple who worked at the sanctuary," I answer after taking a sip of wine. "They had a good social position without being aristocrats and were close to the priestess, I guess this way she could keep an eye on Eldire on behalf of the wizards. The girl had a normal childhood from the point of view of a wood elf."

"Ariel became the new Lady of Athel," Ruby continues the story and I nod. "But nobody bothered to inform her and tell her who the girl was, I bet only a handful of people knew Eldire's real identity in the Oak of Ages court. The princess was a young teenager back then and her adoptive parents weren't close to the new priestess. She had a fairly normal life till, eventually, someone told Ariel everything about her past."

"What happened? What did the bitch do to take revenge on my son through his sister?" the queen asks quietly. I think she's beginning to understand the problem.

"She reached an agreement with the Pale Queen: she'd give her the girl and the Witch King would be punished for breaking up with her in exchange," I answer grimacing. "Actually, Ereth, Goddess of the Underworld, tricked her because she wanted to marry him instead of killing him, the king is still alive and the Pale Queen has the princess too. Ariel didn't know that the Goddess of the Dead wanted to turn her former fiancé into her new consort in the realm of shadows. She was very angry when we told her although is still proud because she was able to keep you apart from your daughter with her machinations."