The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

Chapter Three: Trust Us

The first fingers of sunlight stretched across the grass to cast themselves over my seated form. Even breaths filled my chest, while my eyes never strayed from the patch of grass directly in front of me. Slowly, I placed the tips of my fingers against the ground and then raised them. Nothing happened at first but then with a little nudge and a whisper, nature bent beneath my will. Five healthy flower buds sprung from the ground and stretched to reach where my fingers hovered above them. Opening my hand caused the buds to bloom into delicate white lilies that wavered in the breeze for a moment, bringing with it a sense of calmness.

After Puck had accepted the deal, we all agreed that'd it be better to finish our conversation in the morning. They then suggested that we should all share a room in case we were attacked in the middle of the night but I quickly vetoed that idea. I made them get their own rooms because the absolute last thing I needed right now was an audience to the shit show that was my sleep cycle. While I did owe them the truth about certain things concerning me and Mab, my personal issues weren't up for discussion.

So as they slept the night away, I ventured out into the woods behind the tavern and practiced calling on the abilities I wasn't supposed to have. Metal was by far the element that came the most naturally to me, I could bend it to my will with very little to no effort. Earth and fire were more complicated to control as the Seelie were the only ones who knew the techniques to commanding these elements. Unlike the others, they had a will of their own with almost no interest in following someone else's.

For the first two hours or so, I practiced weaving red flames into a barrier encircling the space around me leaving burn marks in the earth. They rose only as high as the top of my head before my right temple began to pulse in pain. A tell that the element was fighting back, that it wanted to follow its own course and not be directed by another's. It was at that point that I switched over to earth trying to coax it from its shell to follow my will.

Between the two, earth had always responded much easier to me than fire. It was more willing to bend and follow my direction if I was gentle with it. Instead of bending it sharply to my will like I would with metal, I used soft whispers and nudges to get a response from it. Put simply, I enforce my will upon the elements in three different ways. Metal needed absolute domination, Earth needed a lover's gentleness, Fire required patience and Water...I didn't think about water.

With a swish of my hand in a motion much like you'd use to twist a bottle cap, the flowers transformed rapidly. The white petals drifted softly to the ground while the stem thickened and overlapped the top. Bumps covered the newly formed vines until finally the thorns broke through with a gentle caress of my will. Bright green vines covered in black thorns, making them a bitch to pull from your body, twisted and intertwined like a nest of Lamia. Dropping my hand, I urged the vines to grow until they whipped around in the air a couple of feet above my head. Whispering words of fear and protection, I watched with a laugh as the vines turned and began ripping into the air in front of me.

Urging them back into the ground, I shook my head and patted the top of them like you would an obedient dog before they returned to the soil. Standing, I flipped the cloak's hood back over my head and started towards the tavern. Waist chains bumping my hips as I went, I was just about to exit the treeline when the soldiers from last night came through the back door. It slammed shut behind them as they chatted about making it back to base before the midday drills began. The young male I felt a strange sense of familiarity to was there nodding along to what the others were saying.

Pastel green eyes flickered over his surroundings before they locked onto my royal blue ones. Eyes narrowing, I stared back at him while trying to grab onto the thought that danced just out of reach. I knew this boy from somewhere but where? His own eyes grew warm before his pale lashes lowered following the slight bow of his head. The exchange only lasted a couple of seconds before he flashed a boyish grin to his watching friends and then they all winked out of existence. What the fuck was that? I'd say he was trying to flirt with me except it felt more...platonic and revered but even that didn't make sense.