Chapter 84 Dianna #2
My eyes burned as I looked at Reggie. He was more than a fate, much more than that to me.
He was family. My heart hurt as I remembered the first time he smiled at me.
He’d been so confused, as if it were the most foreign concept.
He’d stood vigil on the truly brutal nights after I’d lost Gabby.
Reggie had been a constant, steady presence, never judging or retaliating when the pain became too much, and I cast vile words at him, needing him to share my pain.
Reggie was like a father to me. He’d shared in the absolute worst time of my life, but he had celebrated the best as well.
He’d walked me down the aisle, toward the man who was my everything, witnessing our marriage proudly.
“Aww,” Nismera crooned, one hand under her chin, the other holding the spear to his chest.
I looked at Nismera, steeling my back. “Take me instead,” I said. “Punish me, whatever you have to do, but leave him out of it.”
“Dianna. No,” Reggie said, his tone jagged and his back stiffening.
“You want to make a statement? You don’t need him to do it. Take me, but leave him alone.”
Nismera’s lip curled, but relief flooded me when she nodded slowly and stood, taking a step away from Reggie. “You know, I expected more from the fabled queen sent to ruin me. This is just disappointing.”
I didn’t care about her mocking, just relieved she had finally moved the spear away from Reggie. I let out a low breath, but it stuttered in my lungs as she spun. She stepped away from us before raising her hands and clapping. We both jumped, and she laughed.
“Pathetic.”
I didn’t care. Nismera was threatening to take someone I loved from me, and I didn’t know if I could bear it. For Reggie, I’d be pathetic. It was an easy price to pay. He was worth so much more than my pride.
Nismera tipped her head toward the guards.
Their boots scraped against stone as they turned in unison and ascended the curved staircase.
We waited in silence until they reached the top.
I couldn’t see them from here, but I heard the dungeon door open.
I thought perhaps Nismera was about to leave, but my hopes died when I heard the murmur of voices.
The dingy cell filled with the scent of perfume and cologne as he royals flooded in, draped to the teeth in fancy garments, jewels, and shiny adornments.
I beheld the lords and ladies from the remaining seven realms and thought about how foolish we had been.
They were all here. Everyone Samkiel and I had visited, all the ones who rejected us.
They smiled as they filed down the stairs after the guards.
Nismera wanted a demonstration and was putting Reggie, Unir, and me on full display to prove her power.
She held a fate, an ancient, powerful god, and me, the object of her hatred and fear.
To them, she was beyond powerful, and they knew it was safer to kneel before her than stand against her.
I glared at them in disgust. They were idiotic cowards, all of them.
Their loud, luxurious outfits stood out like sore thumbs in the dungeon.
They were a sea of blue, emerald, gold, and white, and they looked as if they were headed to a gala.
The way their noses wrinkled in disgust told me this place smelled as bad as it looked.
One by one, they met my eyes, standing side by side with their partners.
“Welcome,” Nismera said, greeting them with a smile as they bowed to her.
Lord Iver made sure to look directly at me.
His smile was so wide I wanted to rip it off his face and make him eat it.
I didn’t see his trembling wife with him.
Instead, he’d brought another woman who clung to his side.
Piece of shit. “I hope the trip was not too hard for any of you.”
She said it so sweetly, and they ate it up like rats. Even her smile was welcoming, as if she weren’t the worst thing to ever exist in these realms.
“As you can see behind me, I have captured the greatest threat to the crown. I have the false queen, her fallen, disgraced fate, and their conspirators.”
The royals gasped and began to murmur, their hands cupped over their whispers as they glared down on us.
Her guards walked toward us, and I fisted my hands, but they did not stop for me or Reggie.
Instead, they reached for his sisters. Nismera continued to speak, walking in front of the lords and ladies, but my attention stayed on the fates.
The guards grabbed the fates and adjusted their chains before separating them from Reggie and latching them back together.
“What are you doing?” I asked the guards, but they ignored me. The sisters clung to each other, their wails making them sound more like wraiths than fates. The guards pushed them to the side as Nismera slammed the butt of her spear down onto the stone floor.
My head whipped toward her. She continued to pontificate, her hand outstretched toward us.
“… united, we have done this. Think what else we can accomplish if we take it to the next level of cooperation,” she said.
“I wish to show you just what you have procured for me and how we will change the world. The gala is only days away, and soon everyone will see the true strength of our power. Power granted to me by your allegiance to the crown.”
My heart thudded as she turned toward us, the royals behind her watching with regal awe.
“With this medallion, we will transcend worlds and time itself. You will no longer be lords and ladies of your realms. You will be gods.”
That was what she’d promised them? Godhood?
That was why they followed her so blindly?
We’d been fools to think they’d ever join us in standing against her.
They did not want peace treaties. They wanted the power to conquer worlds just like her.
And why would they not want to follow her? After all, power begets power.
“Now for a demonstration.”
Nismera turned to face us, power emanating from her hand and infusing the shaft of her spear.
The medallion pieces buried below the head began to glow, and the tip pulsed brightly.
The room shuddered as if it struggled to contain the overwhelming force building within the spear.
Oh gods. With that weapon, she would succeed. We were all doomed.
My eyes cut toward Reggie. I knew what she was going to do, but maybe none of it would matter. Samkiel was going to rip the world apart when I died anyway.
“I love you,” I said to Reggie because I knew she would aim at me first. Reggie nodded, his eyes closed as if the fate thought he would never hear that word, much less have it directed at him.
“I lo—”
The spear sang through the air, the strike so brutal and fast it was impossible to track. Bright, harsh light exploded from it in a wave of blistering heat. Reggie’s head hit the floor, and I watched in horror as the rest of his body fell to ash.
I screamed.
Reggie’s ashes floated between us, and as the royals clapped and cheered, I marked each and every one of them for death. She’d lied to them, making them believe she could kill even a fate with that power, but Reggie was a little bit mortal. Because he loved me. Nismera hadn’t killed him. I had.
Her smile was filled with lethal amusement as she watched me lunge against my bonds like a mad, wild animal ready to claw her face to ribbons.
“Do you see the savage animal she is?” She turned to the room. “Feral like all beasts. This is who the false king wishes you to worship, to bend to. Will you follow in the footsteps of animals or reign like the gods you can be?”
“We follow the one true king,” they all said, their voices blending together, shouting praise and devotion to this monster.
The fates lifted their faces toward the sky and wailed in unison.
Whatever they’d seen at the moment of his death, penetrating their madness.
They clung to each other, their screams piercing the veil of time and space.
The guards rushed them out with a wave from Nismera’s hand.
More of Nismera’s guards shouldered inside, ushering the lords and ladies from the dungeon.
I watched through tear-soaked eyes, ensuring I memorized their faces.
I’d leave nothing in my wake, nothing but ashes.
“You fucking bitch!” I screamed, thrashing against the chains as Nismera stepped in front of me.
She grinned in satisfaction and slammed her boot into my face. Bone crunched, and blood filled my mouth. I landed hard on my back, the chains leeching my power and rage. I lay there, welcoming the numbness as she laughed.
“Thank you, Ayla, for giving me the one thing I always wanted. Power,” she said, crouching beside me and gripping my hair, forcing me to look at her.
“I owe you pain, Ayla, and I intend to deliver. Wipe your tears, fallen queen. We have a grand event scheduled for you tomorrow.” She shoved my head away before rising and striding from the room, calling out. “Sleep well.”
Unir called to me, but I ignored him, and eventually he grew quiet.
Finally, the only sounds I could hear were the trickling of water and my own labored breathing.
Wearily, I turned my head toward the ashes on the floor, staring at the singed marks where Reggie had knelt, the burned metal of the chains that had held him lying limply on the ground.
Gods, this was my fault. He was my best friend, and I had gotten him killed.
A choked sob escaped my throat, my eyes stinging as a dam broke in my chest. Soul or not, I felt it.
Rolling onto my hands and knees, I crawled to the circle and knelt beside it.
With trembling hands, I gathered the ashes with my palms, scraping across the stone.
Some unthinking part of me believed that if I brought them back together, I could make him whole once more.
It was a senseless need to grab at what remained.
I wanted to scream, rage, and curse the gods, but I couldn’t manage anything other than a whimper.
My mouth hung open in a silent cry, tears streaming down my face and mixing with the fine powdery dust. This was all that was left, just like Gabby.
I had lost him, too. Another person whose only mistake was loving and caring about me. Was this all I was good for?
Resolve and determination hit me harder than any punch or kick Nismera could administer.
I may have had hesitations about being queen and ruling these realms beside Samkiel, but gods above and below, I would not allow that psychotic bitch or anyone like her to carry that title any longer.
I no longer cared what they thought of me or our union.
If having me as their queen made others rebel, so be it, but these realms would be free of her if I had to rip her to pieces with my bare hands.
“Death!” I called.
No answer.
“Death,” I summoned, nearly begging.
An icy chill filled the dungeon, and suddenly we were no longer alone. I couldn’t see him, but I had no doubt he was here.
“Do something,” I demanded.
“I cannot,” he said, his voice making my bones ache.
“Yes, you can. You did it last time for Samkiel. Do it again,” I said, looking up, my fists full of crumpled remains.
He appeared, a cloaked figure that looked as if darkness had grown a body. His hood hid his face, and the only feature I could discern was the shimmer of his eyes. I was fine with that, unsure if I was ready to see Death’s actual face.
“I cannot because I did not.” Empty eyes met mine. “You did.”
“Then let me again,” I begged. “Teach me how?”
“You gave up your soul for one. You have nothing left to give for another.”
My heart broke and cracked wide open once more. “Then take something else, anything else.”
Death’s eyes met mine, and something in that alien gaze made me wonder if he’d truly cared for Reggie, too. “You have already given too much, and he’d never forgive me for hurting his little girl.”
An echoing howl engulfed the room, and then he was gone. I was left with just emptiness, its cold much harsher than even Death’s presence. I picked up the singed cuff that had been on Reggie’s wrist and hugged it to my chest before lying down in the ashes. The world seemed a bit duller now.
“Dianna.”
That voice cut through my harsh sobs.
“Akrai,” Samkiel said across our bond as if trying to figure out if I was crying from being tortured and bled or worse. “Tell me where you are.”
I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. I didn’t even remember putting the ring back on.
“Akrai, baby. I can feel your pain. Tell me something, anything. Please.”
The tears came faster, their burn even more intense, and my sobs turned silent. The act of breathing was just too difficult to maintain. I knew that pain. It was an agony I thought I’d never again have to endure. I was such a damn fool.
“Reggie.” My voice felt flat and broken even through our bond, hollow like the hole in my chest. “He’s dead.”
Samkiel’s shock sliced across my mind like a harsh wind, turning painfully frigid as it transitioned into pain, and perhaps rage.
“I’m coming for you,” he said, and this time, the words were an unmistakable demand. “I’ll …”
Samkiel’s words stopped as if someone had pulled him out of his thoughts.
His anger fed mine, and I was grateful to have another emotion to focus on.
Just his presence in my mind and the sound of his voice lent me comfort and strength.
Despite his own pain and grief, it helped to share the burden, and I knew we were both stronger for it.
Nismera was wrong. Samkiel and Gabby had taught me that love did not make you weak. It made you powerful.
The renewed pain swallowed me, and I knew she had to have heard my cries.
I did not hide them. I would not disrespect Reggie’s life with whimpers.
He was loved, and he deserved to be mourned.
I would take this time to grieve, and after that, I would do what I did best, because he also deserved to be avenged.
Tonight I would weep, but come first light, I would rage.
Samkiel sensed the resurgence of my distress and tried to reassure me, promising that he was on his way, but I was too deep in my grief to respond.
Distantly, I heard Unir calling to me again, but he was the last person I wanted to talk to.
I tightened my fists, gripping the remains of one of my closest friends, and curled up on my side.
With each sob that wracked my body, every wail of pain, my determination grew.
She had not won, and she had no idea who I was and what I was capable of.
She would never break me, but I would destroy her.
As I let my grief and pain pull me into darkness, a memory rose from the past.
“What is a forsaken blade from?” I asked Kaden.
He tossed a glance over his shoulder as I toyed with the serrated blade in my hand.
“Ig’Morruthen bone.”