Innocent

Chapter 6 - Alexi, Play Desperation

My sleep was restless that night.  My dreams were bloody and for once I didn't enjoy it.

Every time I tried to be friends with Alexi, it somehow ended up killing him.  Normally I find death to be refreshing or at the very least, comical.  But every time he died, adrenaline pumped through me and panic set in.

Eventually I gave up on sleep and checked up on the state of my kingdom.  I was very displeased with what I discovered.  

"Rilo."  I growled, my fingernails growing involuntarily into claws.  He was about to get disemboweled.  There he sat, as snug as can be on my throne.  Acting as if he was king.  

"Queen Dris!"  Rilo squeked, tumbling onto the floor at my feet.  That was better.  I wiped my boots on his shirt as I stepped over him.  He needed to remember his place.  Disembowelment was still on the table.

"Give me a good reason not to kill you right now."  I dusted off some sort of food crumb from my chair.  It was like he wanted me to murder him.

"I- I'm sorry.  But think of how annoying it will be for me to be replaced.  It would take at least twenty more years before you could have another Prince of Secrets.  And at least a hundred for him to be anywhere near as good as I."  Rilo stayed on the floor.

"It might be worth it not to have to see your ugly face again."  My jaw clenched as I tried to control myself.

"What if I traded your mercy for a secret?"  His face lit up as if this was a stroke of genius.

"It better be good.  The best secret you can find."  I hissed, planning on just killing him after he told me the secret, no matter how good it was.

"It's about Alexi."

I froze.

Alexi.  Curiosity burned my ears.  Or perhaps that was just a blush.  Either way I had to know.

"Go on."  I kept my voice as level as I could, not wanting to sound too excited.

"He is being collected."  Rilo said with a dramatic flourish.

I waited for him to continue.  He just stood there, arms spread like a true idiot.

"And?"  I yelled at him, voice booming through the big hall.  Once again fear sparked in his eyes.

"Queen Alyssa's other child, a daughter, has heard rumor of his existence and wants him to serve at her side."  Rilo spewed the information nervously.  I wished he was dead, but after that tidbit, I needed him.

"Dismissed!"  I stood and stormed out, leaving him on the floor.  

This information changed everything.  All of my plans were useless now.  I needed to collect Alexi before this "princess" did.  I needed to collect him now.

I strapped my twin daggers and a pouch of my sleeping powder to my belt.  Then, with a deep breath to calm me, I summoned the portal.

As I stepped through, I could tell I was too late.  The apartment's energy was wrong.  I continued on anyway.

The portal vanished behind me and I held my hands out, palms up.  Immediately, the started to itch as my dark magic fought with the lingering light magic in the room.  Yes, he was gone now.  Perhaps I could find a clue.  But even this was unlikely.  The light fae were very good at their jobs.  They wouldn't have been sloppy.

I searched the house silently, understanding that waking the baby would cause major problems that I didn't have time for at the moment.  His room showed signs of what could have possibly been a struggle.  But was so messy it was hard to know for sure.

With a big sigh, I sat on the corner of his bed.  What would I do now?  I couldn't very well just march up to the light court and demand they hand over my changeling.  They had as much of a claim to him as I did.  What I needed was for him to choose to leave them.  But without being able to reach him, that would be near impossible.

Well, I doubted there was anything I could do at that moment, so I went back home.  Perhaps an answer would come to me that night.