The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

“My informant says they’ll be staying on the compound while the General’s revise their battle plans. Last night’s battle pissed off Mab so as long as nobody sees us tomorrow we should be okay.”

Humming in response, I circled the colorful map of Tir Na Nog with critical eyes. Puck, Dani, Erick and I had mapped out the route we’d be taking to the last three major Unseelie Estates. We also circled the places that were being heavily patrolled by Mab and crossed out the areas that our armies had fought in. The bitch Queen had been getting increasingly aggressive with her battle tactics to the point that sometimes Cillian was only able to give us a couple of minutes heads up. But that wasn’t going to work with these last three, these families were a part of Mab’s Court.

The first of the three we’d be visiting was the Burns’s Estate that lay just beyond the Mab’s castle walls. With their father’s death last year by Mab’s hand, the family was governed by the eldest twins. Said to be fair skinned with bright yellow hair, Finn and Fiona Burns were rumored to possess a quick temper with a very untrusting nature. Though with the way their father was drawn and quartered for suspicion of treason, I couldn’t really blame them. The next Estate on the route was the O’Neil’s, the family was survived by one family member. A brown haired female named Imogen that Cillian couldn’t give us much information on. Just that she was quiet and tried her best to stay out of Court politics.

Skimming my fingers over the textured map, I tipped my head to the side and tapped the Estate positioned on the outskirts of the Unseelie Kingdom behind the castle. “Tell me more about the O Cathasaigh family.”

“They keep to themselves. The head of the family used to be very active in Court but withdrew in recent centuries. They have four children, all still very young. Some think that’s why they left the Court, to protect their children. No one’s seen them since.”

I shook my head at the golden headed boy, not believing that for a second, “You don’t withdraw from Mab’s Court suddenly and continue to live. Her paranoia should have driven her to slaughter them after the first century of their absence from Court. Yet she allows them to live on an Estate, quite literally behind her back….”

A sliver of unease slithered across my shoulders as I stared down at the dark grey structure drawn on the map. It resembled more of a guardkeep than an Estate...I didn’t like it. The story of the O Cathasaigh’s leaving, the position of their Estate, the fact that they were still alive, all of it went against everything I knew about Mab’s personality. It didn’t fit in nicely with the actions that I had grown used to hearing about or seeing from her. Which only made my unease grow, because if the O Cathasaigh’s really lived there then why were they kept so close? And if they didn’t, then who or what was in that Estate?

“Why does Mab do anything that she does? Maybe she wanted to keep a close eye on them? What does it really matter? We don’t even need them. After we recruit these next two we’ll have the matching number of soldiers Oberon required.” Dani raised a hand to squeeze my shoulder with a smile, “With the battles amping up, it’s the perfect timing. Soon, we’ll be marching on Unseelie Territory with thousands of Faekind at your back. Aren’t you excited? You’re finally going to end Mab’s reign of terror.”

Flicking my eyes from the map to her pink eyes, I replied as honestly as I could, “No.”

“What?”

“Fae are still disappearing all over the Outerlands, their magick is being stolen by Mab for whatever reason. Despite my best efforts to put a stop to it and it’s eating away at me.”

The short pink hair streaked through with black bounced around her shoulders as she motioned for the males to leave. Without a word, they left the tent but not before Puck shot me a warm sympathetic smile that I rolled my eyes at. Stupid little sentimental Seelie.

“Macha...I thought, you got over your guilt about that. It’s been centuries, this isn’t your fault.”

I cracked a self-depreciating grin before dropping into my desk chair, “Doesn’t make it hurt any less when a Fae’s body shows up completely drained of color. As long as I have to deliver the news to their loved ones and watch them break down, I will never get over the guilt.”

“This is about what happened a couple of days ago, isn’t it? What happened before the Reids left? I should’ve realized when you refused to eat dinner that night….Macha, she was grieving. She didn’t mean-”

My voice sounded detached to my own ears as I responded, remembering the words the mother had spit at me, “She meant every single word she said.”

I clenched my jaw as I gently set the body draped in white silk on the funeral pyre. A child no more than eight hundred, her soul burned away from the forceful taking of her magick. Light blue hair and eyes that I recognized from the battle at the Dunn’s Estate, now devoid of color in a sickening shade of pure white. My eyes refused to look at the Fae surrounding the pyre, with a burned soul we all knew that this was just a formality. Her soul would not be joining her kin and ancestors in the stars.

Gut wrenching sobs ripped through the grieving mother’s throat as she wailed her sorrow loud enough for the Divines above to hear. It was the only sound in the clearing, everyone else was tensely quiet or silently offering their support to the family. The father was more composed with one hand gripping his crying daughter and the other around his mate’s shoulders but anyone could see that his eyes held no light. My eyes darted away from the crushed family before I could catch their eyes, it was cowardly but what could I possibly say that could lighten the loss of their daughter? Nothing. There was absolutely nothing I could say because this shouldn’t have happened.

Stepping back from the pyre, I swallowed around a dry throat and delivered the funeral rites, “Fág d’ualaí sa réimse seo taobh thiar de réir mar a threoraíonn an deatach tú chuig d’áit i measc na réaltaí. Tá síocháin síoraí-” (Leave your burdens in this realm behind as the smoke guides you to your place among the stars. Eternal peace is-)

“Eternal peace? Eternal peace?”

I tensed as the viciously hissed words burned like acid, my gaze swinging towards the woman on the right side of the pyre.

The whites of her eyes were bloodshot and pinned on my form with so much hate that I nearly took a step back. Sky blue hair hung around her face in oily clumps that caused her appearance to look ragged and devastatingly disheveled. Sharp features were pulled together in a mix of rage and despair that cut deeply at my core as she staggered towards me.

“You think my ba-baby will find external peace?” Her voice broke on the mention of her daughter, though her light blue eyes were hard behind a film of tears. “How? How? When she has NO SOUL!”

Her scream of rage stole the words from my throat and it was all I could do not to walk away as shame and guilt flooded my body.

Taking my silence for an answer, the woman stopped her approach a foot away and stabbed a finger at the pyre, “She was a child. She was a child pretending to be a soldier in your war.”

With a discrete shuddering breath, I calmly responded,“It was her choice. She wanted to be-”

“She was a child! She didn’t know what she wanted!” The mother screamed, a sob bursting free at the end of her sentence. “Now, her soul is gone. Gone! And we’re here lighting her pyre like it matters! My Laoise will never reach the stars, she will never be reunited with her family because of you! It’s all because of you!”

The burn in my eyes increased as I fought against the overwhelming guilt that refused to let me breathe. My lack of outside reaction seemed to only antagonize her because suddenly her fists were pounding against any part of my body that she could reach. Her fist cracked against my jaw in a hit that connected with enough force to snap my head in the other direction. Catching sight of the soldiers moving forward with a frown, I raised a hand slightly ordering them to stop.

Turning my head forward, I stood there silently allowing the grieving mother to strike me without retaliation. Nails bit into my skin as she gripped my tunic and hammered her fist directly over my heart. Kicks battered my shins in intervals and punches busied the flesh of my stomach before her mate raced forward to tear her away from me. She fought wildly, light blue hair flying as she tried to rip his arms away from where they were latched around her stomach. A feral scream of pain tore from her throat before her eyes locked on mine.

Her mate was dragging her away from the pyre but it wasn’t fast enough to stop the words she screamed from reaching my ears, “Your not a Queen and you sure as hell aren’t a God! You’re just another royal, who doesn’t care about who lives or dies on the way to the throne! She doesn’t care about us! We’re nothing to her but the help! You all call her the one in the Divine Prophecy but she’s a fraud! She’ll get you killed! Mark my words! You’re all just trading one evil for another! The Great God Queen Macha is just like her mother!”

I stumbled back from the blow of her words, hitting deeper than any sharp blade could, before traveling away without a thought as to where I’d land.

A hand gently tugged on my left hand resting against the wooden desk followed by Dani’s soft voice, “Her mate apologized for her actions. He said that Laoise died doing what she’d always wanted to do. Fighting for the greater good. He doesn’t blame you and neither does their other daughter.”

“They should.” I replied, pulling my hand out from underneath hers. “All the families should.”

After a long moment of silence, Dani shifted in her seat, “Did you talk to Cillian about it?”

I scoffed, turning my eyes to hers, “No.”

“Why not? You have to talk to someone about what she said and how it made you feel. You can’t bottle everything up, Macha.”

Sighing, because I knew she was right, I responded, “He knows that I forgot to eat and that’s it. Cillian doesn’t need to know, he has more important things to focus on right now. I’m not going to distract him with my bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit and you know he’ll be pissed if he finds out from someone else. Forgetting to eat and not being able to eat because of what someone else said is completely different. You’ve been making great progress, Macha. I don’t want to see you backslide because of this. You just stood there and let her hit you-”

Throwing my hands wide with furrowed brows, I snapped, “What was I supposed to do? Punish her? Hit her back? For what? For wanting to hurt the person who got her child killed? I’d do a lot worse in her position.”

“I know but-”

“I don’t want to talk about this. Your not my fucking therapist.” I huffed out in frustration, rubbing my hands against the sides of my head. “Don’t you have something important to tell me.”

“Well, now I don’t think you deserve to know.”

Groaning, I raised my head and shot her a look, “You know I hate when people do that.”

She tucked a black streaked lock behind her ear with a sour look, “Do what?”

“What you’re doing right now.”

“I don’t get it. What am I doing?”

Our eyes locked in intense stare down that I knew neither of us was willing to back down from. Narrowing my eyes, I shifted until my entire body was facing hers from across the desk. Pink eyes squinted before she copied me, twisting her body to face me. We stared at each other for a long moment, our chests the only thing moving as we took steady breaths.

“You’re a real bitch, you know that?” I said, breaking the silence.

Dani shrugged, “With a friend like you? I’ve had to adapt. Do you know how many people want to kill you?”

“Not nearly as many who want to fuck me.”

A full blown laugh escaped her lips, “I can’t believe you just said that with a straight face.”

“Are you calling me ugly?”

“No, I-”

I waved a hand with a sly grin, “No, I get it. You’re still jealous about the Julius Cesar thing. I would be too.”

“I am not-”

“It’s okay, really. I understand.” I replied, leaning forward to pat her hand. “It’s not everyday a woman can bang a Roman Emperor turned Dictator and a Egyptian Queen.”

She yanked her hand away, “Richard the Lion Heart.”

“What?”

A smug smile stretched across her face, “Richard the Lion Heart, King of England at the time.”

My jaw dropped, “No.”

“Yes. Handsome bastard. Took a bit of seducing but Macha...it was so worth it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me! You bitch!” I laughed leaning forward, giddiness filling me at her reveal.

She waved her hands, “He’s not my usual type and you had just been thrown in prison. I literally couldn’t tell you.”

“Are you trying to say that you forgot you slept with Richard the Lion Heart?” I spat in disbelief.

Her hair swished as she laughed, “I haven’t had anyone to tell in forever. It’s not like I could tell Calvin that Richard had more than just a Lion’s Heart but it’s stamina too.”

I slapped a hand on the desk as my stomach began to ache from laughing, “You’re lying!”

“I swear on the Divines.”

“Oh shit, wait wait-” I called, trying to catch my breath. “Your favorite sex memory, worst sex memory and the best sex you’ve ever had. Go.”

Pink eyes roamed the room as she thought about her answer, “Richard the Lion Heart for sure, I still haven’t beaten the record for that night. Ummmm, Oh! This Seelie Fae, I forget his name but he kept praising me the entire time. I felt like he was an over supportive coach, it was so awkward. And-”

“You fucked a Seelie?” I grimaced, smothering a laugh.

She scoffed, “Like you haven’t.”

“I haven’t.”

“Liar.”

I shook my head vigorously, “No, really. Even their fiercest warriors are too nice for me.”

“That’s because you like men and women who are just as likely to kill you as they are to fuck you.” She laughed.

I blinked, “You say that like it’s a problem.”

“Annnyways, Calvins the best sex I’ve ever had. It’s just different when it’s with your mate.” She shrugged with a dreamy look.

I pretend to gag before saying, “My turn. Julius and Cleo, obviously. It just felt so risky and dangerous-”

“They tried to kill you afterwards.”

“-it was a major turn on. Worst would have to be the Banshee I slept with before going to prison, she would not stop screaming. I would barely be doing anything and she’d shriek so loud. Dani, she bursted both my eardrums.”

The bitch just laughed.

“And the best…-”

“Like you even have to think about it.”

I rolled my eyes, “Stop interrupting me. The best is Cillian but- but! It’s because we’re insanely sexually compatible. I don’t have to tell him what to do at all unless he’s being difficult.”

“I agree.” She nodded. “The sexual tension between you two is almost physically present.”

Smiling, I released a content sigh, “It is, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of Cillian…” Dani sing-songed. “How are things between you two?”

“You already know all the important things like how we’re destined mates and our temporary mental link. What else could you possibly want to know, Babes?”

“Well for starters, how are you guys dealing with the long distance thing you’re doing?”

I sunk further into my seat and shrugged, “Fine. We talk almost everyday but I still miss the jackass, you know? It’s weird not having him shove food down my throat or turning around and not finding him just a step behind me. ”

Dani gave me a bright smile, “I love this for you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“No. I’m serious, Macha. I don’t think you could have found a better mate than Cillian. You guys are perfectly matched.”

Rolling my eyes, I shot her a look, “We have our own special brand of issues.”

“Every mated pair does but I’m confident you’ll work through them.” She responded, eyes sparkling.

“We will in time.” I muttered, not interested in discussing exactly what those issues were. Thankfully, Dani changed the course of our conversation.

“Now, about what I wanted to tell you...it’s more of a question.”

Raising a brow, I motioned for her to continue.

Eyes flickering around the room, pink brows raised slightly, “Well, remember when I told you that Calvin wanted kids?”

“Yes.”

“We talked it over and we’re going to start trying after the war.”

“That’s great, congratulations!” I grinned.

She nodded, “Thanks. But the question is, we were hoping you’d be our child’s Godmother.”

Images of teaching a young child with Dani and Calvins features how to cause the most damage with their abilities floated through my mind. Followed closely by images of me showing them how to wrap anyone and everyone around their little finger. And just generally teaching them how to be the best Unseelie possible…

“On second thought-”

“I accept.” I purred, eyes no doubt flashing brightly.

Her head tilted cautiously, “You know, now that I think about-”

“Too late. The deal is done, your first born is mine.”

“Macha!”

“I’m joking.” I replied, rolling my eyes. Mostly.

——

Hopefully this was a little satisfying after a while with no update. I just got my wisdom teeth removed otherwise I’d have updated twice like usual.

As always, comment or vote if you feel liked the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋