Princess of Faerl

*Aranelda*

I stormed to the dungeons. This person was going to pay and pay dearly. I wouldn’t imagine who could do this to her. She knew it was going to happen too. She did everything she could to make sure it wouldn’t impact us. There was no way it wouldn’t though. My fiancée is laying in a coma. My mate was near death. The ones in the dungeon right now were the cause of it. Apparently my father had beat me down there, but I wasn’t going to be stopped from exacting my own brand of justice.

“Apophis, what did you do??” A shrill woman’s voice flooded my ears. “Why are they talking as if you have a different wife and a daughter?” The words were dripping with self preservation.

“Why are you pretending you don’t know who my wife and daughter are?” The man spat back.

“Dad, who are these pathetic beings that are arguing with each other?” I let the disdain fall from my every word.

“This,” He pointed to the woman, “Is a creature that identifies herself as Krysta Bronzetail and insists she is the wife,” he points to the man, “of this destistable excuse of a dragon.” I raised my eyebrow. “Oh, right, it’s been a while since you’ve seen him, that is the ‘father’ of your mate, Eliza. Mr. Apophis Bronzetail.”

Red rage filled my eyes, “I will tear you limb from limb, heal you, and repeat the process over and over again.” I then looked to the woman who was whimpering, “What is her involvement?”

“Power hungry backstabbing witch, literally. She was Vyara’s best friend, and is still listed in the Kingdom Registry as Krysta Bluewind, magic user from the Coven Bluewind, betrothed of Thaddeus Moonchild, her mate. But was listed as a missing person.” Her eyes went wide, realizing they knew exactly who she was. “Missing for, oh, eleven years?”

“I am originally a Bluewind, but I never met my mate. If I had, I would have accepted him with open arms. Who are you to accuse me of such? That is horrible. I also do not know who Vyara is, why does everyone keep talking about this woman? I am the matron of House Bronzetail. I have been with Apophis for..” I cut her off.

“Let me guess, ten years. The same amount of time it’s been said that you’ve been missing, the same age as the oldest son of House Bronzetail that you did not birth, but gladly took the place of his mother, and the same amount of time that Eliza and Vyara have been locked in the tower except for school and once it was found that Eliza is my mate, the times where Eliza has been at the castle and both of her parents were required to be present.”

“That woman in the tower he said was his sister and his sister’s child that had committed treason to the family, and he served them his own brand of justice.” This woman was giving me everything I needed on a silver platter.

“Oh would you shut up you whore?” Apophis finally spoke up. “You have never been my wife, we were never married. Your name was never put in the house registry and you could never compare to the woman Vyara is. So why don’t you shut up as there is nothing for you to put in your mouth right now, and nothing needs to come out of it.”

I let out a dry laugh accompanied by a slow clap. “Apophis, you do know that I am fully aware of what you have done? And you, do what he says. Your words are not fooling anyone.” I then realized there were two guards tangled in vines, standing in a cell, “What’s the deal with them?”’

“Those were Apophis’ guards that were watching over the basement. They were questioned and your sister sent them here. They knew what Apophis was doing to Eliza.”

“Si…sister?” Kyrsta squeaked out, “Who is your sister?”

“Princess Elentari Tirisil, Lunar Guardian, future Goddess of the Night, and most importantly, your WORST nightmare. As for you, Apophis, I am YOUR worst nightmare. Dad, I don’t care what punishment you give to the guards, but this man, I want to give him his just desserts very publically.”

“I don’t mind you presiding over his judgement, after all the Goddess witnessed his transgressions, but do not do anything overboard in the name of fulfilling a void that the rage is creating.” My dad put his hand on my shoulder, “Needless violence does not make things better. Simply makes you look like an overbearing monster. No matter what he did.”

“How do I keep people from being like him? Being tainted the same way he has?” I wanted others to know that it wasn’t acceptable to be so power hungry. This wasn’t happening just because Eliza is my mate. “I do not want anyone to live the way Thaddeus has had to live. Knowing his mate was gone, unable to find her, and the immense pain he felt daily. Apophis is responsible for that too. The pain his wife felt at each moment of betrayal, he’s responsible for that. The pain my own fiancée felt that has her in a coma right now and his own daughter’s life is hanging by a thread, he’s responsible for that. How do I stop those evils from happening?”

At that moment, a feral howl could be heard from the top of the stairs. Kyrsta’s face went pale, as if it could get any paler. “I smell her, where is she? Did they find who took her? Where is my Krysta?” The voice was panicked and full of sorrow.

“So you didn’t know your mate or that you had a mate? You are a terrible liar. Something you didn’t know. The Beta of the Moonchild pack and her entire family live here in the castle. She has been my sister’s best friend for years and is now her personal guard. Your lie really doesn’t bode well for you.”

“Krysta!!!” Thaddeus was now screaming at the top of his lungs.

“I’ll handle him.” My dad spoke up.

“I think she should face him and tell him what she did.” I wanted her to have to admit it. I looked over her neck, seeing a very faint outline of a wolf and a woman with sparkling wind surrounding it. “They mated and marked. He knew she was alive and felt the infidelity too.”

My father nodded, “Bring him down.”

Thaddeus came bounding down the stairs, “Krysta, my love, you’re safe. I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you. I’m so sorry.” He fell to the ground sobbing.

“Before you apologize to her, you should hear what she has to tell you.” I spoke softly, hoping he would understand.

“No matter what she says, I owe her an apology. I felt it, every time they used her. I felt the pain. It was so horrible my mark started to fade.” His sobs were too much to take.

“So you never knew your mate, never met him, and had no idea, huh Krysta?” My father’s voice was crisp and clear. Void of emotion. It was now Kysta’s turn to sob.

“He made me. If he didn’t he was going to kill everyone I loved. He would have killed the entire Moonchild pack.” She was a good actress, but not good enough. Luckily for me a silver mist appeared and took shape.

“Krysta Bluewind, what a disappointment you are. Do you know why marks fade?” Selene wasn’t going to hold back any punches. “Do you, Thaddeus Moonchild?”

Thaddeus tried to speak clearly, but barely managed to croak out, “When love can no longer be felt.”

“Almost correct. Krysta, you want to try and answer?” Krysta shook her head no. “Well then, since I created mates, mating marks, and the such, I’ll give you the correct answer. Marks fade with betrayal. If you had been forced, drugged, kidnapped, or even suffered from Stockholm Syndrome, the marks would not have faded. As it were, your marks are almost gone. This is a blessing for you, Thad, as I have a second chance mate for you. You also will not feel any more pain from Krysta, or her impending sentence, which most certainly involves death.” Her words carried a finality about them.

“And you, you pathetic wyrm.” Her gaze moved to Apophis. “You are not who you say you are. The real Apophis is still back at House Bronzetail, in a cell. He has been released and reunited with his wife. You however, will now die. This execution will be done VERY publically. I will not have you tampering with my children, my bonds, any of it.”

The man’s face turned to a sneer, “What? In the last twenty years your head has been so stuck up the queen’s family business that you didn’t have time to do anything about his plans, now you’re going to interfere? It will be your downfall.” The man’s features changed into a deranged looking shell of a man.

“Shifter, you have no idea what I do and do not know. I have had my eye on you. How do you think Eliza was saved?” Her eyebrow raised. The man looked horrified.

“No! I slashed her neck. She’s dead! She’s dead!” He cried out.

“Thank you for your admission of guilt.” My dad laughed.

“Wait, Krysta, you were never in danger? What about the letters? You said you were taken and drugged. My pain was from them using you and abusing you.” Thaddeus was beside himself.

“You stupid simple wolf. If she was being held captive, how would she get a letter to you? Magic? If that was the case, wouldn’t she free herself from her bonds and portal herself to you? Not enough magic to do it? Is that what she wrote? Oh you’re so pathetic.” The shifter was speaking, and I couldn’t take it any more, I raised my hand up to silence him, but little did I know I took away his ability to speak. I truly silenced him.

“Thank you, if you weren’t going to, I was.” Selene smiled at me. “Though, he is, for once, being honest. He spoke the truth. Please, go find your second chance. Live with her, love her, and have the family you’ve always wanted. You’re still only 30. You’ve got over a hundred years to live, possibly a lot more than that. Your mom is what, 150? You’re part vampire too. Your life expectancy is damn near 500 years, at minimum. Go live it. Please.”

“I Thaddeus Moonchild, reject you, Krysta Bluewind, and denounce the vow of mateship due to your infidelity and desecration of our bond.” Thaddeus wiped the tears from his face, standing tall. “May the bond be severed cleanly, and never again allow you the comfort of my love.”

Krysta fell onto the floor, writhing in pain, “I will not accept.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Thaddeus and Selene said at the same time. The pain Krysta was feeling projected onto the shifter as well, he doubled over, feeling as if he had been through the ringer with an MMA legend.

“Selene, I leave the executions to you. I need to be with Stacie.” I relented, understanding now that I did not need to be the vision of wrath right now. The Moon Goddess, keeper of our peace and mother to all the night children would do that just fine. “And when I can, may I come see Eliza?” I asked. She nodded.

“Let me get through this, and then I can grant you and Stacie safe passage. They will heal faster together, and your sister will need you there as well. Tomorrow we free Endymion. We need to speed up our plans. Chaos is beyond on the move.” She spoke inside my head. “I cannot let the shifter know any of this. He is in league with Chaos.”

I nodded, patting Thaddeus on the shoulder, “Let’s get out of here. We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us. Let’s not dwell on the past.” We walked up the stairs and talked the whole way. Life was going to change, yet again. Hopefully for the better now.