I stepped over a man who was covered in enough blood to make me assume he was already dead, but his hand snapped out as I made a move to pass him by, his fingers biting into my skin as he hissed a plea for help.
I sneered down at him, about to end his miserable life too, but recognition filled me before I could make the killing blow.
Vard coughed out a mouthful of blood, his skin pale, my Seer looking on the verge of death as he waited on my help.
I considered leaving him there to die. Or even taking his life myself.
He’d failed me tonight.
What use was a Seer who didn’t manage to foresee such a devastating turn of events?
But as I raised my left hand with the intention of burning him to death, a whip of shadows yanked tight around my wrist and latched themselves on to the darkness which lurked within me, freezing me in place. My heart lurched in surprise which was quickly followed by rage as I realised what had just happened. What she’d just done.
“We might need him yet, Daddy,” the Shadow Princess warned, her dark eyes meeting my furious gaze, the challenge in them making my hackles rise. I needed to rein her back in. Get her under my control again before she became a problem. But if that superior look in her eyes was anything to go by then I was willing to bet that forcing her beneath my heel here and now wouldn’t be the smartest way to proceed. She was powerful in ways I couldn’t claim to be and with my hand now lost to me, I was at a severe disadvantage. But I was no fool. And she was still standing by my side for some reason, so perhaps there was something simpler than violence which I could use to keep her in her place.
“As you wish, my love,” I said to her in the same coddling tone I’d used to placate her while she was still bound to me through her connection to Clara. But there was nothing of that girl left in her now and as I looked upon the unfamiliar yet beautiful features of this new and unknown creature, I got the feeling she wouldn’t be so easily pacified.
But she seemed to accept my words all the same, her power withdrawing as she returned control of my body to me and I shrugged off the hold of the shadows.
She inclined her head with a twisted smile and I reluctantly sent just enough healing magic into Vard’s body to save him from the brink of death before turning away and storming back towards the palace.
I needed my fucking gold. And my throne. And my star damned crown.
Jenkins threw the doors to the palace wide as I strode past countless guards and FIB agents who were working to help or apprehend any survivors, ignoring them all as I headed straight towards the throne room.
The slap of my bare feet echoed through the huge hall as I headed straight for the seat of power where I’d been forced to bow to the Savage King far too fucking often in my youth. But I’d overthrown him in the end. Just like I would crush this pathetic uprising run by his untrained daughters and all the worthless Fae who had chosen to follow them in their hopeless quest to try and reclaim my crown.
“Where is Darius?!” I bellowed to no one in particular as Vard prostrated himself before the throne and the Shadow Princess began to slowly circle the room, brushing her fingers along the gilded cornices and seeming lost in her own world as the shadows trailed along behind her.
My gaze followed her movements as I assessed the changes in her, trying to figure out how best to tighten my grip on her now and wondering if Clara was gone for good or if I could coax that more compliant side of her back out again.
“I’ll get him, my liege,” Jenkins said. “He must still be consummating his wedding. Would you like me to bring his bride here too?”
I repressed a shudder at the thought of having to lay my eyes on the hideous girl I’d been forced to select as a bride for my Heir and jerked my head in a nod, knowing I needed to start thinking strategically. We needed to present a united front in the press. The Dragon King and his newly married Heir against an uprising caused by the Savage King’s daughters.
I sneered at the memory of the other Heirs fighting against me tonight, but that would just have to be smoothed over. I would make the other Councillors denounce the three boys. I’d claim the Vega whore had been fucking all three of them for months with her poisoned pussy and that the insane one had been whispering curses in their ears with her imaginary crows until they believed in them too. The Spares would take their places in the line of succession, and I’d see them all hanged before this was done to make sure no loose ends remained.
I placed my golden crown upon my head and closed my eyes as I fought against the rage in my flesh, trying to figure this out. I could fix this. I’d gone up against worse odds than this in the past and won.