Cold Queen - K Webster Page 0,12
of my own choosing. Angry at those who were happy. Angry for not having the gifts my father had.” A single tear slides down her temple. “I wanted to die.”
Fury bubbles up inside of me. She is a queen. Queens don’t give up because things aren’t going their way. It screams of weakness. No wonder she is fading. Elzira isn’t worthy of being a queen. Her heart isn’t in it.
“I stood before them,” she whispers. “I waited. And then they smelled me. Just one at first. His head poked up and his soulless eyes found mine. Starved. They eat human flesh, you know.”
Yes, I do know.
I’ve seen one too many of my men with their throats ripped out by these mindless savages.
“He made a cry of some sort that alerted the rest. Then, all of their black eyes were on me. Even the small ones.”
The Damned may be lost to the madness, but they have an inherent urge to breed. But they rear up more monsters. The children are the worst. Most don’t live beyond infancy because their parents are neglectful, but some do. And as they grow, they’re more feral than the others. No memories of what it feels to be human. Horrible little creatures.
“They charged for me,” she breathes, her blue eyes glimmering brighter. “I ran. So fast. I’d wanted to die, but then, I didn’t. Simple as that. Fear chased away my anger and I ran for my life. When I imagined what it would feel like to be eaten by those things, I exploded with emotion. The beast I’d assumed was anger that lived inside me roared, Ryke. It broke free and came forth.” She holds a hand up between us. “The beast came right through my hands. Cold and malevolent. It needed to escape. So I aimed the beast at them. At the things.” Her lids blink several times before a sinister smile creeps up her face. “The beast was my gift. Cold. Diamondblades. Weapons made of ice. I lit up the night sky with brilliant blue light as I destroyed them. All of them. Even the small ones. Within a matter of minutes, I’d taken out the entire nest.”
“You found your gift, Punisher,” I say, pleased with the turn in the story. “Now tell me how you lost it.”
Elzira
I don’t hate the warmth. Not even a little bit. His heat thaws me. Has me thinking clearer than I have in some time. While he’s a terrible man with nefarious intentions with my sister, I can’t help but secretly thank him from waking me from my fog.
He may be utterly delicious to look at and smell enticing, but I know what he is. Who he is. He’s an enemy set out to destroy what’s mine. To take what’s mine. I’ll never allow that to happen.
“I still have my gift,” I lie, narrowing my eyes at him.
The maddeningly beautiful man smirks. “No, you don’t.”
“Just because I refrained from using it, doesn’t mean I don’t still have it.” Now that’s the truth. I know it lives inside me. The beast is dormant and sleeping. Weak and dying. But it’s still there.
“I suppose I believe that. Tell me why you’re so weak. When did that start? Is it a condition passed down from your mother?”
The mention of my mother has me bursting with fury. I attempt to shove his big body off mine as a growl ripples from me. “Get off me!” Before I can claw his face again, his features contort into something frightening as he pins my wrists once more.
“Claw me again and I’ll take my whip to your ass,” he snarls.
I gape at him in shock. Images of me bent over my bed with my dress pushed up my back has unwelcome heat flooding my cheeks. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I’d take great pleasure in reddening your ass, Queen.”
“You’re infuriating,” I hiss. “How do your people endure your presence?” I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, that’s right. They don’t. They pillage and attack others so they’ll be banished to Equatoria just to get away from you.” I laugh at him. “I’d eat the kimilla too if it took me away from you.”
“Your barbs will never penetrate me,” he says with a smug look. “I applaud you for trying, though.”
I’m about to curse him some more when a sharp pain seizes my stomach. I whimper and close my eyes. These pains come more often lately. They’re followed by dizziness and weakness. Everything turns my stomach—much as it