A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

Starvos blustered as I pulled on my nightdress. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. He’s a known menace, but no one’s ever spoken of him going this far.”

“Hard to tattle when you’re dead.” Nyfain glanced at Calia. “You good? Did anyone try to come this way?”

“No, sire,” said one of the guards in front of her.

“I set them to watch her after dinner,” Starvos said.

“If they see the demons coming, they’ll do great.” I finally pulled the dressing gown over my head. “But if sex demons get too close, the guards won’t be much good. Calia knows all about that.”

“Yes, sire, she’s right,” Calia said.

“I can mix an elixir tomorrow to protect them against the sex demons,” I went on. “I don’t have enough everlass to make it for the whole castle, though. Not yet. You’ll need to pick and choose which of them you’d like to oversee the rest.”

Starvos shook his head. “This is preposterous. You act like we’re under attack.”

Nyfain pointed at the guards protecting Calia. He didn’t comment, though. We could both see that Starvos was in denial.

Nyfain put his hand on my back and guided me toward the stairs.

“Thanks for checking on me,” Calia called, stepping out of the door.

I put up my hand to her as she turned to face her king.

“The demon king might switch his efforts from them to me,” I heard her say. “He might act like he follows the rules of the magical world, but it’s just that: an act. I tried to tell you that. Now you see.”

“We’ll talk about this in the morning,” Starvos said right before we were out of earshot.

“We stay together from now on,” Nyfain told me as we descended the stairs. More servants were running around, frightened looks on their faces. “We have another three weeks here before we all go to the council. We’ll need to be vigilant.”

The next day, Nyfain came with me to the gardens, our guard and my family fanning out behind us. This time a few of the demons came, too. Sonassa trailed behind us, guarding our rear, and Govam and Denski flanked us. The rest stayed back at the castle.

We had faerie guards, Starvos not trusting the demons, or maybe us. He was not having an easy time reconciling the fact that demons had barged into his castle to attack his guests.

“Son, Queen Finley,” Arleth said by way of greeting, her gaze lingering on my belly. “That could’ve been a close call last night if those demons had reached you.”

“Their magic doesn’t work on me,” I told her, pointing at Vemar and then at the patch of everlass. “Vemar, grab some other strong dragons and sit here, will ya? I need to get more plants growing as quickly as possible.”

“It doesn’t work on me, either,” Nyfain said, stepping in amongst the plants. “I would’ve woken up before they reached us.”

“Still.” Arleth shook her head. “The council meeting can’t come soon enough.”

“Nyfain, I need you and my sister to sing to the plants, okay?” I said. “Make them grow big and strong. I’ll get busy making that elixir, and then I’d better find something more challenging to focus on.”

“Hey.” Nyfain pulled me closer, his golden eyes trapping mine. “We’re going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you two.”

I gave him a small smile before leaning into his warmth and security. “I know. But I’m high-strung. I need to keep busy.”

He kissed me softly. “Just as long as you aren’t worrying. It’s not good—”

“Do not tell me that it’s not good for the baby. Our kid will need to be tough to deal with us. They might as well start now.”

“It’s not good for you.”

“Or the baby,” Arleth called.

I sighed in annoyance and headed toward the tent. Hannon followed me, carrying a couple of items I needed that didn’t grow in this garden.

“Sable, sing with Nyfain,” I instructed as I made my way.

“Okay, bossy, sheesh,” Sable muttered.

Nothing of significance happened for the rest of the week. We worked the plants and took meetings with Starvos, telling him more about life in the demon castle. It pained him to learn what had happened to his people, and I wondered why Calia hadn’t shared more about her experiences previously. Then again, she hadn’t hung around long enough to really get into it. And maybe she simply hadn’t wanted to.

When nothing happened, and nothing continued to happen, I started wondering if Dolion had realized he’d crossed a line. Maybe he was planning on taking this up politically instead of attempting to murder us again.

I should’ve known better.

This time, though, when he came for us, he made it personal.

FORTY-ONE

Finley

A loud rap sounded at the outer door of our suite. Leala paused in what she was doing by my dressing table, looking over at me with a lifted eyebrow. She was asking if I was expecting anyone.