Consort (Noble Reckoning #1)

Chapter 13

Durin

For two days, I tended to the little shifter. And for two days, I could feel my soul again. But as Farris appears out of nowhere in front of me, reality snatches it away again. I should feel the loss, but I’m actually glad to be rid of the emotions the Omega stirred up in me. They made me weak, and that’s something I can’t afford to be.

Still, a sense of emptiness has settled over me, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

I examine Farris’s face for concern, but he seems at ease. My absence must have gone unnoticed. I grab him and pull him into a hug, grateful for his help.

“Whoa,” he laughs, surprised, but he hugs me back. “That must have been some good—”

I cut him off before he can finish. It was so much more than that.

“I didn’t expect to be gone for so long,” I say, releasing him.

“It could have been worse,” he says with a shrug. “I’ve heard some heats last much longer. You got lucky.”

Lucky to be with her, yes. Lucky to have a shorter heat, I don’t think so. I don’t bother to ask how he knows it was a heat. I’m sure he figured it out when he dropped the water off.

“How did it go with the list?” I ask, hoping to steer the conversation away from the Omega.

“I remained illusioned as you and searched for the fae,” he explains. “The first, Farron, is dead and probably didn’t have the power anyway. Lynoss and Phen are both, in fact, telekinetic. Lynoss practically demanded to be chosen. Phen was unable to hide his distaste for the queen. It also seemed he was downplaying his abilities when I asked him about his magic.”

“Where is Lynoss?” I ask.

“Wouldn’t Phen be a better choice?” Farris says, raising a brow at me.

“I don’t want to risk corrupting a good fae. It’s better to know where he is so I can reach out for help in the future. If I store the willing one with the other trash, it’ll be easier to keep an eye on him.”

“Smart,” Farris says with a nod.

“Thank you for this, Farris. I owe you, big time.”

He gives me a shove. “Taking down some of the queen’s filth is more than I could ask for. Just stay who you are.”

That won’t be a problem. My mission has a face driving it now. The Omega doesn’t seem to remember much of anything we shared, but I’ll remember for the both of us. Every touch, each release, the peaceful periods where we just held each other, her tiny hands on mine as she put them where she wanted them…

“Shit,” Farris mutters, snapping me out of the memories. “You like her. You like the shifter!”

Instead of scolding me, he laughs. If only I could find it amusing. I thought I was done with the emotional burden. Clearly, I’ll need to push her out of my mind completely.

But I can’t do that until I’m sure she’s safe. I sigh and look up at Farris to ask for one last favor. “Will you follow her? I’d like to know where she and her mother are staying so I can make sure it’s secure. I know you’re probably tired, but you can be done with me once you find them.”

“Easy,” he says. “Then, I’ll go get some heat of my own back in the village.”

“You’ve earned it,” I tell him with a grin.

He tells me where to find Lynoss, then vanishes. He’s illusioned so well I can’t even spot him. The Omega will be looking for bright blue hair and white clothing. She’ll never notice Farris following her.

I set off to retrieve the future soldier for the queen. The task is uneventful. Lynoss sees me coming and rushes over with a packed bag in hand. How loathsome to be that eager for evil work. I don’t say a word on the way back, letting him boast proudly of his magic as we walk. At least, this way, I don’t have to pretend to remember anything he and Farris talked about.

By the time we arrive at the castle, the sun is fading. I’ll be glad to hand him over and go get some rest. But Folas summons us to the throne room as soon as we enter the main doors. I’m surprised to see the queen already waiting there, lounging on her throne in a flowing, white dress. Did she know I’d be returning? Or does she just sit on her throne all day, giving soldiers ideas on how to torture others?

I push Lynoss down to his knees, and we both bow, waiting for her to speak. As I kneel on the hard, stone floor, the queen’s celibacy rule for her consorts comes to mind. I should be nervous that she’s found out about the heat.

Somehow, I find it hard to care if I die for even one of the moments I shared with the Omega.

“Rise,” the queen commands in her gravelly voice. She motions Lynoss to step forward. “Show me your magic.”

The bastard smirks and turns to me, effortlessly lifting me into the air like Mitah did to that poor shifter. It triggers my rage, and in turn, my magic. Instead of glowing like usual, my hands burst into flames of bright, blue fire.

This is new to me, but it feels strangely familiar. Like it was there all along, waiting to be unleashed. I wonder what else I can do.

I reach for Lynoss, but he jumps back and holds me just out of reach. Despite this impressive new ability, I feel powerless and trapped. Just like the shifter did. When I picture the terror on his face, my magic surges from my fingertips, the flames nearly reaching Lynoss’s face.

I swell with confidence at the new trick, but it’s not enough. I need to find more. I growl and push harder, determined to close the distance and snuff him out completely.

But the queen is no longer interested. “Good, good,” she says, with a wave of the hand. “Folas, go settle him in his new quarters.”

I study her face, shocked to find her looking truly bored. Lynoss gapes at her with his hand still raised toward me. He frowns, disappointed at her lack of enthusiasm, but he lowers me to my feet.

The two of them can move on if they want, but I’m not finished yet. I lunge at him, gripping his neck tightly with my blazing fingers.

The flames are too much, burning him too severely. I pull back on the fire and let the heat of my skin burn through his flesh like I normally would.

My magic is angry at me for holding back and burns me up from inside instead. I shouldn’t kill Lynoss, though. The queen may not be so forgiving a second time. And I don’t want the good telekinetic to be forced to take his place. Lynoss’s wounds are severe enough to be excruciating and will take time to heal, but at least he will live. My magic will have to be satisfied with that.

Lynoss cries out and stumbles away when I release his smoldering throat. The scent of his burnt flesh in the air fills me with a twisted satisfaction I don’t try to suppress. I hope the queen doesn’t call for a healer right away. I want him to suffer for a while. He’ll remember not to cross me, and maybe word will spread to the other nobles not to fuck with me, either.

Fading into the background is safer, but I couldn’t allow him to feel like he’d defeated me. Unfortunately, his cocky personality tells me he won’t give up so easily. I’ll have to watch my back now. Telekinetic power is one of the most difficult magics to fight against. I can’t afford to let him sneak up on me later. And I’ll need to practice my reach, now that I know my magic has one.

Folas looks horrified, staring at Lynoss’s charred throat with a disgusted grimace. When he realizes I’m now grinning at him, he lifts his chin and hurries toward the door on the other side of the room.

“Follow him,” the queen says to Lynoss, not even bothering to ask his name.

She also makes no mention of a healer. Folas will probably fetch one for him. But I enjoy watching Lynoss stomping away, wheezing and squeaking as he tries to hold in his cries of pain.

The satisfaction of watching the bastard suffer fades away as I’m left alone with the queen. My stomach lurches at the thought of being forced back into her bed again. I need to get the Omega out of my head, but replacing her memory with ones of the queen is not the way I want to do it.

Luckily, the queen has other issues to discuss.

“I appreciate violent displays of anger,” she says, drumming her fingers against the wooden armrest. “Go ahead and lash out whenever you want… just keep it away from Folas.”

Well, that ruins my plans. He was one snide remark away from getting his tongue fried off. He must be a good lackey to have her protection like that.

“You’re very powerful,” she says, pinning me in place with her stare. She looks so unthreatening with her leg thrown over the arm of her throne and such a lazy smile. “You said your parents were just simple fae...”

A fierce protectiveness washes over me. I thought she was done asking about my parents. They already lost me to my revenge. I can’t put their own lives in danger, too. I must be careful how I react, though. Trying to keep her away from them would basically paint targets on their backs.

“Yes, my queen,” I say calmly. “Until Mitah provoked me, my magic was also weak, just like theirs. Today is the first time I’ve produced flames like that.”

She stares at me with a distant look in her eyes. After a few moments, she rises and walks over. I bow my head and steel my nerves as her power slithers across my body. Through the foul sensation, a whiff of the Omega’s sweet, floral scent slips into my nose, and I freeze.

I should have found a stream to wash up in before returning. What if the queen picks up on her smell? It’s too late now. There’s nothing to be done. She’ll notice, or she won’t. I did what I did, and I don’t take it back. I’m thankful I don’t know where the Omega is hiding. Or her name. No matter what the queen does to me, she has no way of finding her.

But the queen seems to be too preoccupied with something else to notice. She reaches up and places her grimy hands on my cheeks. Magic flows through her fingers as she sends something cold and intrusive into my skin. It’s almost worse than the physical connection I was forced to endure with her that first night.

I buried those memories deep in the dungeon of my mind. But as she touches me again, they claw at the bars, viciously trying to resurface. I close my eyes and breathe slowly, pulling forth a vision of the little shifter instead.

She’s on her back in the straw with her arms outstretched at her sides. Her sharp, green eyes peer up at me curiously as I hover over her body. I’m deep inside, teasing her by growing and shrinking the knot with each roll of my hips. The slightest smile is hiding in one corner of her mouth, and I’ve made it my mission to pull it forward and spread it out across her lips.

I become so wrapped up in the memory, I barely notice when the queen releases me. If it weren’t for the new magic now barreling through my veins, I might have stayed in the past indefinitely.

But this magic is too foreign and powerful to ignore. It’s frigid and erratic, fumbling through the maze of my veins as it tries to find its way to my core.

Its unwelcomed, but I won’t deny how untouchable it makes me feel. I was impressed with myself before, but now… Well, now I understand what I’m truly up against. The queen has given me a taste of her magic, and it’s almost too much for my body to contain. The amount of power she must possess is beyond my comprehension. Taking her down is going to be much tougher than I thought.

But the hardest thing to wrap my head around is why she would share her magic with me. She didn’t do this simply as a defense against a single telekinetic. Why would a controlling, power-hungry ruler share her advantage with me? There must be a damn good reason, and I’m determined to find it.

But first, I’ll need to calm the battle raging inside me.

This magic is insanely powerful, but it feels tainted, like something stolen or cursed. My own magic is rejecting it, trying to purge it from my body. I’m afraid of who I might become if it remains in me for too long. And my magic seems to share that fear.

But something shifts as the new magic closes in on my heart. My fire stops resisting. It welcomes the icy energy, wrapping it in warmth until it settles. Both magics suddenly feel at peace instead of at odds. It’s like the queen’s magic sought solace in mine, then they merged into a single, dominant force that bows to only me.

“Burn the wall,” the queen commands, unaware of the alliance that just formed within me.

I move toward the wall she’s pointing at, but she grips my arm with her skinny, ice-cold fingers and stops me. “From here.”

I’ve heard the queen can strike from great distances, across fields or lakes, killing in an instant. If what I’ve heard is true, I should be able to burn the wall from where I stand.

Though I appear stoic on the outside, I’m dying to see what I’m capable of. I extend my hand toward the wall and visualize charring the light wood. I laugh as my blue glow blasts from my fingers like lightning, leaving a black scorch mark on the previously bare wall. With more control this time, I test my dexterity and slowly carve what I can remember of the queen’s crest into the wood.

“Well done,” she says with a hoarse chuckle, slipping her arm through the one at my side.

I ignore her nauseating touch and beam at my work. She can think me an arrogant noble, proud of the new strength she’s gifted me. But I’m simply imagining all the ways to use this magic against her. I’m itching to get out into the forest and test the extent of what it can do.

“Don’t use it unless you have to,” she says, stopping my fun before I even get the chance. “Grow the magic. Keep the power building inside.”

It’s as if she decided I was too happy, and she needed to crush me just a little. To keep me beneath her like the rest of the realm. I have no intention of obeying that command once I can work out why she’s given it.

She walks halfway across the room then turns as if she’d just remembered I was here. “Eat and rest. I’ll call on you when you’re needed.”

She turns back around and walks through the doorway leading to her chambers. Without me. I hurry in the other direction before she can change her mind and call me back. Though I’m relieved to be spared from her bed, a deep sense of unease rolls down my spine. The magic feels peaceful within my own, but I can’t help but wonder about her strange instructions.

I eat a quick meal in the dining hall, foolishly allowing the little Omega to interrupt my thoughts. But once she has, I can’t think of anything else. Her behavior was so different when she was in heat. She had moments of feistiness, but she was mostly needy and sweet. Once her fever broke, she was brash and rigid, no tenderness in sight.

I know when she woke, she saw me as the enemy. She immediately realized what I’d done to her body. There was no use trying to convince her I’d done it for her . But I was impressed by her strength. It was clearly there before I met her, and that intrigues me. The urge to see more of her is overwhelming, but it’s a very bad idea.

I finally reach my room, exhausted and hoping for some rest. When I step inside, the two servants from the other day attack, stripping me of my cloak and tugging off my boots. I’m fully bare before I can even react.

“Filthy!” the sterner one scolds. “It’ll take more magic than I can beg for to get these garments clean. Better off tossing the whole pile.”

“No!” I yell, grabbing the cloak out of her hands. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t try to take it again.

“This one stays,” I say more gently, pressing it against my chest.

As I watch her consider it, I wonder what magic they possess. All fae have some kind of magic. It must be mild for them to be servants to a consort. I want to ask, but rescuing the cloak is more urgent. I refuse to let go of it. There’s nothing the servants can do to make me. With my additional magic, I doubt there’s a fae in the realm, save the queen herself, who could make me hand it over.

It smells like the Omega. Her essence is woven into its threads. As exasperating as this foolish attachment is, I can’t let go of the only physical thing that I have of her. I lock eyes with the servant, daring her to try and take it from me.

The calmer one covers her mouth and giggles, softening the other’s stern expression.

She relents. “Fine. But into the bath with you,” she says, pushing me into the steamy bathing chamber. Folas must have told them I had returned.

“I can heat the water next time,” I offer, smiling over my shoulder at her as I toss the cloak onto a seat against the wall. “It’d only take me seconds. I’m sure it was more work for you.”

The servants glance at each other, then at me. “That’s acceptable,” the stern one says before gasping and narrowing her eyes at my groin.

“Shit,” I say, trying to glamour the curls away before she grabs her blade.

“Oh, it’s fine,” she says with a wave of her hand. “The queen won’t need you for that until the Radiant Season begins. In with you!”

I step in the steaming water, both relieved and surprised at the revelation. “Really?”

“Mm hmm,” she says as she soaps up the same scratchy cloth as last time. “She will only require you to perform at each season change.”

“Don’t ask why. We don’t know,” the younger one says

That’s… odd. I thought the point of a consort was to provide companionship and sexual pleasure. She only feels the need for release four times a year? And at specific intervals? Why did she take me the other day when it didn’t fit the timeline? Was it to test my willingness? My skills?

“I can see your mind flopping around,” the kinder fae laughs. “If you figure it out, do share the answer with us. We’ve been trying to work it out for ages.”

“ When I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know,” I tell her, lowering myself into the water.

I’ve uncovered a mystery most don’t even realize needs solving. I know something I shouldn’t because of them. Of course I’ll share the answer when I find it.

The servants allow me to recline while they bathe me. I figure out what their magic is as they apply the oils and massage my scalp again, much less formal and hurried than before. That same drifty feeling comes over me, and it finally registers–serenity. The magic I need more than any other for this job.

After my bath, I dress in the clothing they laid out for me and crawl into bed. Holding on to the peaceful feeling, and the cloak, I try to empty my mind so I can truly rest. No queen, no magic, not even a fascinating Omega shifter who’s hiding from her own kind.

Just a blank mind, a hollow heart, and a much-needed escape.