Kingsbane

Chapter 28

     Siofra sat on her throne, twirling her dainty coronet around her finger, legs crossed and beautiful features set in a frown, as the members of the court squabbled below her. They were not at all pleased with her decision to bring a human into the palace. Their irritation was only furthered by the fact that every flower in the garden had turned black and shriveled in the night. She'd hardly said a word yet, and did not intend to until Siva arrived to back her up. Not that she needed him. She simply wanted him to deal with the trouble he'd caused.
    Glancing to her right, she sighed. Rafferty stood beside her, arms behind his back, and head held high. His medals were perfectly aligned and smudge-less, his uniform without a wrinkle. To anyone else he looked the perfect portrait of the general he was, but she could easily see the pallor in his face and the circles beneath his eyes. He, no doubt, was taking Sverre's mysterious demise hard.
    Besides herself, he had taken Sverre's banishment the hardest. It had been awful for all of them, but to Rafferty it had been a sharp cutting failure that cursed him with a deep, unfathomable hollowness he could not ever hope to fill. To owe Sverre and his family such a debt as he did, letting his friend and adoptive brother go through with that traitorous attack was dishonor enough to damn him. Yet, it hadn't. Her mother had spared him the disgrace, and he despised himself for it.
    At first, she'd had him watched constantly, fearing he may seek suicide. After losing his Bane and then his dearest friend, she'd thought for sure he'd break. But he hadn't, and even still he stood there, a stony, unwavering constant in her torrential life. It was by mirroring his strength that she had found it possible to fool her kingdom so long.
    The Court quieted as Siva appeared, a very anxious looking Grayson on his arm. They were both dressed splendidly, the boy looking every bit as royal as his lover. It was outstanding that a human could stand beside the Faery King and actually compete for the courtesans attentions. They squeaked and swooned from around the pillars on the outskirts of the room.
    Siva waved to them and smiled sweetly. Siofra seethed. Did Siva have to make more trouble? It was the damn Fertility Festival. Definitely not the best time to introduce a new consort! She slumped in her seat and put her face in her palm. Maybe it was about time she abandon the opposite sex as well. There seemed to be no end of trouble with men.
    "Your Highness," One of the older members of the Court bowed, his tone full of scathing, "Why have you brought such an abomination into this holy place?"
    "I apologize." Siva stated, looking down at his outfit. "Have I gone and clashed my colors again?"
    "The human, Your Grace." The man clarified. "We knew you had a sinful love for their kind, but never did we think you capable of such a travesty."
    "If you'd be so kind as to explain what exactly I am being accused of here?" Grayson looked up at Siva, impressed and unnerved by the calm, cold way in which he spoke. There was venom in his verdant eyes, a challenge beneath his words. He seemed every bit a snake as he was a king.
    "This human was brought here illegally. Harboring him is a disgrace to the palace and those who reside here." Another of the Court spoke up. "We have entreated Her Majesty to return him to his own realm, but she insists nothing of the sort can be done."
    "Are you calling her a liar, Lefou?" Siva raised an eyebrow and looked over at Siofra, who appeared as unamused as ever.
    "N-no, no, I was-"
    "Just say it. You don't believe me." Siofra sighed, waving her hand about her head. "I don't care. You won't be punished for suspicion. It is a suspicious situation, after all. But I can not open the Circle without the aid of Faery. It has refused my requests. I can do nothing more."
    "Then, My Most Precious Queen, simply house the wretch out of sight, someplace outside our hallowed walls." He suggested, bowing low many times as if to atone for the cruelty of his words. "If the people were to find out about him, they would surely panic."
    "Why?" She inquired coolly, looking over at Grayson and beckoning him to approach. Siva gave her a dark look, but she ignored it.
    "It's fine." Gray assured the king, gently leaving the support of his arm and obeying Siofra's summons. The Queen rose as he came closer, realizing that it was not for show that the boy had been so tightly clinging to her King, but because he was weary. She instantly felt guilty for her previously bitter thoughts.
    Reaching out, she brushed his face with her ring-bedecked hand, cupping his cheek tenderly. "What about him is frightening, Lefou?" She questioned softly, sending a warm, humming energy through her fingertips into Gray's body, unaware of his wish to be without healing influences. He said nothing, knowing reprimanding the Queen was probably not the best coarse of action to take just then.
    "The darkness in him, Your Grace. The evil that lingers within every human's heart. Has it not tainted our people enough? After all we've lost because of his kind-"
    "Do not speak to me of loss!" She hissed, her mahogany eyes flashing red suddenly. "His kind? They have taken nothing away from us that we have not freely given them first! It was our kind that could not stay away. It was our kind that become so enthralled. Humans thought us nothing more than stories until we revealed to them otherwise. Why should this one sickly boy be punished for the insatiable desire we once had for his delicate species? We hold as much evil as any human."
    "That is treasonous talk." Lefou breathed, taken aback.
    "Treason?" She spat. "Against who? Against the Queen? Against Faery? Shall I dethrone myself? Shall I beg myself for mercy? Don't you think that would be a biased trial?"
    "Your Highness." Rafferty whispered, pushing off the wall and coming to stand beside her. He looked down at her with that unmoving face she so envied, that mask of calm she wished she had he strength to continue to mirror. But she didn't. Faery had stolen her reserve, had spirited it away with Sverre. Until he was returned to her, she felt she may never know a stable moment again.
    "What would you have me do?" She breathed, looking out at her crowd of baffled advisors. "I can not kill him, and I can not send him home. He is gravely ill. Would you prefer I dumped him in the forest to die or keep him here where he can be monitored and cared for in a way more becoming of The Queen of Faery?"
    "Goblins brought him here, give him back to them. At least they are already too blackened to be effected by his wiles." Lefou growled, forgetting in his anger, to whom he spoke. "Do your duty!"
    Siva was about to jump the bastard when Siofra's crystal clear laughter shot around the hall like a thousands aimless bullets. "Why am I so surrounded by fools? Surely, I deserve a more competent Court than this!"
    "Siofra." Raff warned. He went unneeded.
    "He said to me 'do my duty'." She scoffed, brushing Grayson aside as she descended the platform. "Do you know my duty?" She pointed her scepter at Lefou, and then at Siva. "Do you? Does anyone?"
    No one responded, the air around them nearly too heavy to draw breath from. Any plants in the room had withered and the lights dimmed. They all felt the hum of power beneath their feet and were afraid. Faery was there, and yet the flowers died? Why? The bewilderment kept them quiet.
    "My duty is to protect my people." She informed. "My duty is to seek out anything that means to do harm to my kingdom, and destroy it. I feel that I have done so, thus far. Has my rule been unsatisfactory to you somehow?"
    "No, Your Majesty." They chorused. Lefou fell to his knees at her feet, but before he could begin his sickening grovel, she went on.
    "This human does not threaten Faery." She insisted. "The thing that jeopardizes us is people like you. Those who have forgotten love. Those who hate and judge and whisper in the dark places, and then dare accuse others of treason."
    "My Lady, please-"
    "All of the things we have ostracized our very brothers for, we ourselves are guilty of. Tell me, are we now any better than those we deem Unseelie?"
    "Your Grace, I-"
    "Yes, there is a problem in my kingdom, Lefou, but it is not this boy. There is a darkness in my lands, but this boy did not bring it. Faery withers because long ago my mother forgot mercy and banished my soul."
    "Siofra, that's enough." Siva breathed as ice crystallized on the walls and floors around them.
    "Until the wrongs we have committed against our own is forgiven, until the innocent blood is washed away, we will never again know the warmth of Spring."
    "You damn us!" The man cried, grabbing hold of the hem of her gown.
    "Then perhaps fire is more suiting!" She roared, sending him up in flames and stalking out of the room without a backward glance.
    "She's fucking lost it." Siva murmured, hurrying over to where Grayson stood, watching the man writhing in flame below him.
    "It's a wonder it took this long." Raff sighed, clapping Grayson on the shoulder. "If you two plan on sightseeing, you best get to it before the world withers."
    "We'll be back for the festival. Put that guy out." Siva waved a hand at the group of nobles. "Do you idiots really think Siofra would use real fire on someone? It's just magic." No one moved. With a sigh, Siva waved his hand and extinguished the fire, leaving Lefou whimpering in pain, but otherwise unharmed. "Alright, someone get us a carriage!"