Queen of Fate (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #3)

Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

The queen’s words cut me so deeply with hurt and rage that I didn’t trust myself to return to the dining hall. Because apparently, the queen hadn’t heard me. Despite her threats, despite her attempts at manipulation, I wasn’t leaving, and I saw what all of her words truly were.

A way to try and trick me.

A way to twist my emotions to suit her.

But I’d grown up with a master manipulator. Now, I could spy those acts miles away, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

Even though the queen wanted me to leave because it would be easier for her and the king, I had no intention of doing so. Still, I couldn’t help the fury her meddling had born.

I scoffed and paced back and forth in Jax’s suite. So much anger had worked up inside me that I needed to burn off some steam.

I sneered when I reached the far wall and turned. His mother had even used the ten Houses as a scare tactic to try and make me leave her son, yet I’d seen enough of our realm to know that the ten Houses could change at a king’s whim. And as much as she tried to declare that the throne needed the Houses, the opposite was, in fact, true. The Houses needed the throne.

The law of our land gave the power to the courts and the throne. Not the ten Houses of each kingdom. So while I knew that it made life easier for the throne if the ten Houses were functioning amicably, I also knew it wasn’t the be-all and end-all. It just made a king and queen’s life less encumbered.

And as for the promise Jax’s parents made to the Houses that their son would marry one of their daughters. Well, that was just too damn bad. They’d made that promise. Jax hadn’t, and I hadn’t either.

I paced even faster in Jax’s tower. I knew that Jax was still downstairs. I could feel him within the palace, and from the tug of his location along the mate bond, I was guessing he was still with his father. Most likely, he was getting an earful too.

Seething, I threw my hands up in disgust that his parents were being so difficult, and stormed across the room again. Magic crackled around me. The bedsheets flapped wildly against the mattress. The walls trembled. I was seriously ready to combust.

Taking a deep breath, I stopped and realized that I needed to expel some energy. My magic was roiling inside me so violently that I worried I would blow off the top of Jax’s tower if I didn’t calm down.

Tapping my foot, I tried to figure out the best way to do that. I could exercise, perhaps even grab Trivan or Lander or Lars and ask if they’d spar with me, even though I had no idea how to spar.

Or, I could leap from the window and see how well my shadow magic protected me in the wind’s currents. I’d learned on the Isle of Song that such a thing was possible for a lorafin who fully controlled her shadow magic. I’d just never had the opportunity to try yet. But apparently, my shadows could work as one with the air, and if I learned how to master that part of my magic, I could literally fly.

I made a face. No, that probably wasn’t very wise. I could just as likely end up on the cobblestones below, a bloody mess, if I didn’t do it right. It was probably best to try and master that skill with a location closer to the ground.

With a huff, I sat down on the sofa and realized the easiest option to expel my energy was to simply venture to the Veiled Between and speak with the semelees. In fact, there was no reason I couldn’t do a calling for myself right now.

My spine stiffened as soon as that thought struck me. I was free of my collar. Neither it nor the prison’s potions were suppressing my magic any longer. I once again had full access to my power, and I was finally at a place in my life where I truly could do a calling of my own in which I wasn’t going there to twist fate.

Just as I’d always dreamed of doing.

My thoughts turned to what I’d wanted to do my entire life when my thirtieth birthday arrived. Find my family and find where I’d truly come from. It suddenly struck me that just because my mother was dead, that didn’t mean all of my family had passed to the afterlife. Perhaps I had other family members somewhere on the continent.

And they’re probably not nearly as snobbish as Jax’s parents.

My heart began to pound with pent-up excitement, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner. But so much had happened since my collar had been removed. So much. And just because the queen accused me of being selfish didn’t mean that I was. I knew that I wasn’t. The entire reason the thought of doing my own calling to find my blood family had never occurred to me in the previous weeks was because I’d been thinking of others and what had needed to be done for them. Not what I could do for myself.

I sneered again when I thought of Queen Rashelle, then went to the bed and lay down. I was determined to put her nasty words behind me, and there wasn’t a better distraction than traveling to the Veiled Between and finally asking the semelees about my family.

Closing my eyes, I thanked the stars that the potions’ effects had finally worn off. Once again, it was as easy to access my magic as breathing, so I called upon my power and commanded it to take me away.

My lorafin magic instantly responded, and I shot across the galaxy, through the stars, and to the Veil.

I entered it just as fast, and the semelees surged forth.

My queen. They collectively bowed as one. You’ve come. What is it you seek?

I paused momentarily and allowed myself a second to appreciate the enormity of this situation. Finally, I was going to learn about my blood family. Tell me if I have any family in the fae lands. Tell me if any of them are still alive.

The one nearest me swirled around my ghostly limbs, its cool black scales sliding along my essence. Your mother is dead, but your father is alive.

It felt as though my heart stopped. He is?

Another semelee surged forth. Yes, and you have a sister, several aunts, an uncle, and many, many cousins.

I have a sister? Aunts and an uncle, cousins too? It felt as though I couldn’t breathe. Where? Where can I find my sister, my father, and the rest of my family?

Ironcrest. You hail from Ironcrest Kingdom, my queen. Your guardian found you outside of Parvol in the Wood. That is where your mother perished at the hand of your former guardian.

In other words, Guardian Alleron hadn’t lied about killing her. Of course not. He hadn’t been able to lie once Jax’s Mistvale commanding magic had seized him.

Did my guardian know of my other family members?

No, my queen. You were the only one with your mother when he happened upon you. He knew nothing beyond her.

I tried to take some comfort in that, even though there was nothing noble about it. I could only thank the gods and goddesses that my sister hadn’t been with us when my mother was killed. Surely, Guardian Alleron would have murdered her too.

I thought of my dead mother, her soul in the afterlife. I could summon her, speak with her directly. I could do so right now.

At just the thought my heart raced, and I decided against it at the moment. I would find my blood family first, then I would summon my mother, after I knew more about her. Meeting her, even if she’d died, was going to be so emotional that I needed to mentally prepare myself.

I took a deep breath. Where can I find my sister?

She’ll be at the Ironcrest Ball next week. The semelee on my other side showed me a picture of her. I gasped. She looked similar to me yet different. We shared the same green eyes, but whereas my hair was chestnut brown, hers was golden. Yet our mouths had a similar shape, and our ears the same curved point.

What’s her name?

Lorasbelle.

And my father? Will he be at the ball too?

Yes , one of the semelees replied. The fates have woven for the entirety of that night. Their fate is sealed. Both will be there. Unless you would like to twist fate again and make it otherwise?

No, I won’t be doing that again anytime soon.

A smile spread across my ghostly face as I thought of what next week would bring. I had a father who was alive and a sister . I had an actual blood sister, and her name was Lorasbelle, and next week she and my father would be at the Ironcrest Ball. I could meet her. Meet him . Finally, I could meet my family.

What does my father look like?

They readily showed me an image of him. He had blond hair, like my sister, and a mouth shaped like mine.

Tears threatened to form in my eyes. I had a real blood family. Thank you , I said to all of them.

The semelees bowed as one. Yes, my queen.

I shot back through the galaxy and came awake upon Jax’s bed. A smile danced upon my lips, and I couldn’t wait to tell him about it.

I didn’t have to wait long. Jax stepped over the threshold into his chambers a short while later, looking as irritated and angry as I’d felt initially arriving here.

“Gods, they’re impossible ,” he groaned.

Laughing, I launched myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I kissed him frantically, excitedly, my energy so exuberant that he instantly started laughing too.

“I take it that you had a better evening than me?” he said, chuckling between my kisses.

“No, not at all. Your mother was absolutely horrendous to me, but I don’t even care anymore because I have the most exciting news.”

I quickly told him what the semelees had revealed to me, and his eyes grew wider with every sentence I shared.

“And not only do I have a father, but I have a sister too, and her name’s Lorasbelle. She and my father still live in Ironcrest Kingdom, and they’ll be at the ball next week. I can go there, and I can meet them. I have a family, Jax, a true family !”

A wide grin burst across his face. He whooped and picked me up, spinning me around the room until I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

Finally setting me down, he cupped my cheeks and kissed me soundly. “Then next week we’ll be at the ball, my love. We’ll attend Ironcrest’s Ball together, and you’re finally going to meet them.”