His Red Queen

Chapter Six

"Don't do it." I turn around to see Elane Haven hiding in the shadows.

The wedding is in about an hour and everyone should be getting ready. I am already dressed, a white and red gown that Maven had designed for me. I have no time to deal with Elane right now. Elara told me to stay away from Elane because she is untrustworthy.

"What?" I ask, picking up my pace, trying to get away from her.

She pulls me into her corner quickly, her long nails digging into my wrist. I try to jerk away from her but she puts a hand over my mouth when I try to yell. Elane looks down at me not menacingly but concerned.

"What happened to you fighting, little lightning girl?" She knits her brows together as she studies my face. "Is it these things?" Pointing to my bracelets, Elane purses her lips. "I can get Evangeline to get rid of them for you."

"How can I trust you?" Elane has been nothing but cruel to me. Always following Evangeline around like a puppy, her little sidekick in her harassing. "Why would you want to help me?"

She shakes her head. "We have a common enemy here."

"Who?" I gasp. "Cal? The Scarlet Guard?"

She laughs at me, a high-pitched, girlish laugh that ends in a light wheeze. "Of course we hate them," she says, "but we have an even greater enemy and she is here, in this palace." She whispers the last bit and lowers her voice even more as she leans closer to me. "Do you want me to tell you who or do you want to figure it out in an hour when you marry King Maven?"

"Who?" I force the words through clenched teeth.

"Elara."

Now, I laugh. "Elara has been nothing but kind to me."

"Don't you remember?" Elane huffs. "She's gone into your mind and is controlling you. Get it out. You're about to make a mistake. One that will hurt both of us." She looks at me pleadingly. "Please," she mutters.

For all I know, she could be lying to me. But she is not the first person to say Don't you remember? And Elara is a whisper and my memories from the past weeks are fuzzy. "How do I know she is in my head?"

Elane taps a finger on her cheek. "Go see Maven."

"But the wedding's in less than an hour!"

"Go, little lightning girl, before you damn us all." With that, she releases her grip on me before disappearing into nothing but light coming from the window.

I quickly turn in the other direction and dart for Maven's room upstairs. When I get to the door, I rap on the door, heart pounding against my ribcage. Whatever Elane believes, we must both be in danger. No response.

Maven!" I shout as I knock harder on the door. No response again. "King Maven!" I try to open the door but it's locked. I slam my body at the door, trying to break it down but I am called the little lightning girl for a reason. And without my lightning, I am just a little girl. I wince in pain as my shoulder hits the door.

"What are you doing?" Maven stands above me, peering down at me and my disheveled form on the floor in a heap of white and red skirts. He extends a hand to help me up but I shake my head. "Mare, what's going on?"

I stand up and take a step back. "You tell me."

"What?"

"Is Elara in my head? Something doesn't make sense. My memories have been fuzzy and she's acting different." I rub my throbbing temples.

Maven stares at me, his bright blue eyes darkening. His mouth drops open. "Why would she do that? Oh." He pauses. "What happened below the Bowl of Bones?" He sounds afraid now.

The answer leaves my mouth quickly, without me even having to think. "Cal left me to die and you saved me."

Maven puts a hand over his mouth, eyes wide. "My mother," he growls before taking long strides down the hall toward a salon.

I don't miss the little flames that form on his twitching hands. He bursts through the door, me not far behind. Elara is perched on a couch, Evangeline to her right. They snap to attention quickly and don't have time to say anything before Maven lifts his hand, a ball of flame, glowing blue and white. The heat instantly rises in the room and I even take a step away from him.

"You'd better fix her mind right now, Mother." Maven glowers at Elara.

Elara adjusts her tiara absentmindedly. "But, don't you have what you want? She's right here. You have your precious little red rat. I've only helped you. If she remembers the truth, she'll run."

"The truth?" I interject.

Evangeline fails to hide her amusement. "About time you figure it out."

"Shut up, Evangeline," Maven grumbles. "Now, fix it. I don't want Mare here with lies in her head. Tell her the truth. Fix her memories, even if she is angry about it. She will still be my red queen because I, the king, said so."

Elara huffs, "As you wish."

Instantly, my head starts pounding again and I go blind for a solid moment. I feel Maven wrap his arms around me, to stop me from falling. And it all comes back to me at once.

I am back in the moment where Cal was forced by Elara to kill King Tiberias. The silver blood splattered. The sickening sound. Maven betraying us all.

I feel as if I am falling and then I am back in the cell below the Bowl of Bones, waiting for my execution. Maven walks in as king.

"I can save you."

"Be my red queen."

My acceptance, betraying Cal and the Scarlet Guard in order to protect my family and myself. Cal was never the betrayer. I betrayed him after Maven betrayed us both.

And then, everything else comes to me. Maven putting these bracelets on my wrists, taking away my powers. Elara and Evangeline are not actually being kind but instead, trying to turn me into their little puppet in order to get under Maven's skin.

I open my eyes, limp in Maven's arms as he looks down at me, pale and concern-stricken. A sob ruins my composure and I break down crying as I push away from Maven.

"I'm not doing this." I yank at the bracelets at my wrists. Trying to dislocate my thumbs so that I can slide them off, I let out a cry. When that doesn't work, I turn for the door, wanting nothing but to get away from these people. No, these monsters.

"We made a deal, Mare," Maven says from behind me. "You know that now. You have the truth once more."

For only a day or so, I was in this ignorant state of bliss. Now, I turn to Maven and have no idea what to say. "Did you want to keep lying to me?"

"What?"

"You've done it before! I-I thought you were good and then you betrayed me and then I still accepted your offer. And you did it again. I shouldn't be surprised," I cry. Balling my hands into fists, I take a deep breath as if I have been drowning. And I suppose I have been drowning in a sense. But now that I have surfaced, my mind stings and my heart is broken once more.

"I'm not the one who tampered with your memories! I wanted you to remember everything that happened. I wanted to believe you forgave me and that you do still love me even though you wanted Cal first." Maven walks towards me slowly, his steps calculated and equal rage and hurt painted on his face.

"Don't touch me," I snap, taking a step away from him.

Maven laughs coldly at me. "We made a deal Mare. I'd better see you in the throne room in ten minutes." He storms off and I am left in the hall, alone, questioning everything.

Elane emerges from nothing and I jump. "Were you watching this whole time?" I sigh.

"Yup," she says. "Now, if you know what is good for you, disappear and don't ever come back."