I’d said it out loud, the realization dawned on me, and it felt like I’d been struck with lightning.
Indra was a fucking fae witch. Witch fae were pale, tattooed, had a certain look, and not usually allowed this close to royalty for fear of betrayal. Jasper advising me was one thing. Indra posing as an elder of our people, the right hand of the Queen, making policy, was another. How did she hide her true nature so that she looked like the rest of us?
Magic.
The anger started to pulse through me, causing light to emanate out of my palms. I could see it lighting up my room from behind my closed eyelids.
How fucking dare she. How dare she mask herself as a common Summer fae and worm her way into the Queen’s inner circle. The light pulsed harder until it consumed me. Warmth spread across my skin, burning up my anger and Indra’s blocking spell right along with it. Because the second I thought of the poor Queen trusting this woman for so long, I was pulled into a memory, and the light behind my eyes ceased to glow.
The Queen was running down the small lane from the farmer’s land and toward the river. She stopped when she reached the river’s edge and looked into the water as it slowly turned from blue to black. The darkness was coming. I was inside Indra’s body, chasing the Queen, and I looked over her shoulder into the water. A fierce expression shone in the Queen’s eyes, and then I saw my reflection. Indra’s reflection since I was her.
Holy mother…
Indra. Even though she was a darker-skinned woman, there was a paleness to her skin, a tilt to her ears, a tattoo on her neck of a harpy. She was a dark witch…
A snapping twig brought both of their attention to the other side of the river.
An army of dark creatures stood there, ready to take on our small village. All that was left. Fae ran screaming and shrank back away from the waters, hiding in their houses. I recognized the house I lived in with my mother but not the old woman who slipped inside behind the doors. It made me wonder what happened to her…
The ground shook, and the Queen cast a look over her shoulder at Indra.
“Where’s my sister?!” the Queen growled at her, thick disgust in her voice.
Whoa…
Indra pointed to the blue door. “She’s gone after the crystals. Your daughter is safe inside with Trissa.”
My sister? Your daughter? I’d been taken to a time when this was common knowledge, and it punched me in the gut.
Arrows sailed through the air then, snapping on the rocks at the Queen’s feet.
Where were the warriors? Where was her backup?
I knew the answer, and it made me sick.
They were all dead.
The Queen growled, thrusting her palms outward, and a blast of light rocked the riverbank. The dark creatures hissed and fell backward, ceasing their advance. Next, the Queen bent down and started to claw at the dirt with her fingers until she reached damp soil.
What the…
I saw it then, golden light emanating off her skin as she nourished her deep connection to the earth. It seemed to thrum through the Queen’s body as she called on the earth’s magic. It zipped up her arms in blue and green arcs of electricity, and I felt the envy burn through Indra. She wanted that much power.
Slowly, the protection dome rose from the earth, shaking the small patch of Faerie just as the blackness and smoke started to creep forward from the woods. She was sealing it all off, saving what little part she could.
Indra just watched in fascination as the Queen pulled on her power and erected a dome over the last little bit of Faerie she could. When she was done, she panted and tried to stand, swaying on her feet. “I’m getting weaker…” she mused and wiped her hands on her dress before turning to face Indra.
“That should hold until we can—” The Queen’s words died in her throat as Indra threw a spell at her chest. It crashed into her, a ball of red magic, and splashed over her breasts. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, and Indra did a quick look around to make sure no one saw before catching the Queen in midair.
Anger like I’d never felt before thrummed through my veins, and I wanted to rip this paste off my eyes and go find Indra right now and kill her,