The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

Tugging the sleeveless tunic over my head, I shoved my arms through and fixed the white fabric to sit on my hips. Raising my hands, I looked over my reflection as nimble fingers weaved little braids between wavy blue strands. Little pieces of silver flew from Cillian’s coated axe’s to form little charms that decorated the braids. Finishing, I held out a hand and twisted the rest of the silver coating into a perfect pair of waist chains. Locking them around my hips, I slipped on the sheath containing my swords and positioned it flat between my shoulder blades. Adjusting it, I gently pulled the diamond pendant out from underneath my tunic on it’s new metal lined cord and smoothed out the straps of the sheath.

Reaching over to the chest, I plucked blue rings off the wood one at a time and slid them onto my fingers. The pale gold ring, molded into a braided pattern, that Arseniy had given me stood out among the royal blue jewelry. After twisting it around my thumb, I left it alone and decided to use the last of my metal to create forearm guards. I wasn’t going to bother with a breast plate. The iron grappling hooks had pierced through it like paper and I doubted they’d use anything other than iron to bring me down. Not after they saw the effect it had on me.

Fluffing my hair with my ringed fingers, I gave myself a small smirk as I looked myself over, “Is it just me or do I really look this good all the time?”

“Whoever said God’s lack humility obviously never met you.” Dani called out from behind the privacy screen, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

Raising a hand, I flipped her off.

A snort echoed through the tent, “Very mature.”

“Thank you.” I replied, walking out to face her.

Yawning, she pushed the bowl of oats across the desk to the empty seat, “Sit. Eat.”

“Lilly? You look different today.” I mocked, taking the seat she offered.

Pink eyes rolled, “It’s too early for your shit. The sun hasn’t even risen.”

“So, why are you here? You’re not coming with us so you could have slept in.”

Shifting down in her seat, she snuggled further into the fur she stole from the bed, “Cillian popped into our tent this morning, startled the shit out of Calvin and then ordered me to come here with oatmeal. I’m supposed to make sure you eat before you guys leave, although I don’t know why he didn’t do it. Didn’t he sleep here last night?”

“Divines, Dani! What kind of lady do you take me for? He went to his own tent last night.”

One of her eyes, that had slid shut while talking, cracked open, “What are you going on about?”

“Just practicing for when I’m with the flower people.” I shrugged, taking a bite of the bland oats. “And he couldn’t do it because he went to get Fitzgerald.”

“What do you mean he went to get Fitzgerald? Fitzgerald Ó Maoilriain?”

“He really doesn’t deserve the prestige of being referred to by his whole name.”

“Macha,” She gasped, “You can’t bring a criminal to the Seelie Kingdom, to meet Oberon.”

Laughing, I kicked my legs up on the corner of the desk, “Uh, are you forgetting that I’m a criminal? These pretty tattoos aren’t just for decoration, Babes. I’m still wanted by half the realm.”

“Huh. I did kind of forget you’re a felon.” She responded with a slow blink. “So, why are you bringing the Dwarf? For amusement or an actual reason?”

Shoveling a spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth, I chewed and swallowed before answering, “Both, but I need a temporary representative for the smaller Faekind.”

“Do you really think he’s the best choice?”

“Wasn’t up to me. We dropped the news on the smaller Faekind yesterday and they spent all day arguing. Finally gave us a name this morning.”

“Really? And they chose-”

“Get your hands off of me, you murdering bastard! Do you know who I am, huh? Do you have any idea who your fucking with?”

Dropping my legs, I twisted to look at them in time to catch Cillian rolling his eyes as Grumpy stabbed a finger into his thigh with every question.

Flicking his gaze down, Lilly blankly stated, “Touch me again and I’ll twist your head off.”

“Now, now, Lilly. No, threatening my temporary council members. One of us has to at least look even tempered.”

The dark grey skinned Dwarf whirled on me with narrowed eyes and a sneer, “Oh look, it’s the thief. I should have known you come for my soul again.”

“First,” I stated, holding up a finger. “I don’t think I can steal from a mine that is legally half mine. Second,” I continued, flicking up another finger. “You’re once again mixing religions.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to be our God and Queen.” He sneered again.

“You should, since you convinced most of the smaller Faekind to side with me.”

He threw his little grey hands in the air and stomped his feet, “I told them no such thing! They’re lying! It’s a conspiracy!”

“A conspiracy?”

“A grape conspiracy!”

I didn’t want to ask, I really didn’t but the curiosity was too much, “Why is it a grape conspiracy?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Beca-”

Lilly’s large hand slapped over the Dwarf’s mouth almost covering the entirety of his face and started dragging him to the door by the collar of his tunic. “We don’t have time to watch her kick your ass. Let’s go, Cell Bait.”

Taking another bite, I stood and nodded at Dani, “Do me a favor and get in touch with Moira. Tell her to make me and Cillian formal wear for tonight at the Seelie Castle.”

“Theme? Masks?”

“For me, let’s go with regal boarding on villainous with a ton of sexy. And for Cillian, let’s do dark knight meets cruel prince. No masks.” I replied, walking backwards towards the exit.

She snorted, “Matching?”

“Ish. Not too much.”

“Alright, I’ll tell her. And be nice to those Seelie!” She called out as I slipped from the tent.

“I couldn’t if I tried.” I purred, coming face to face with the group coming with me to Flower City.

Pausing, I took a moment to admire my mate as he spoke to the others. Thick leather boots hit mid-calf and lead to a pair of long muscular legs encased in black leather. His sleeveless black tunic stretched over his broad chest showcasing his physique. Muscles underneath his dark oak colored skin rolled and flexed making my mouth go dry. Moving my eyes up, I trailed them over his strong neck to the smooth knife sharp planes of his face. Even among the Fae, his features were brutally sharp and masculine.

Probably due to his Frost Giant heritage but while other women of our kind might have found it ‘too cruel’. His looks had never failed to give me shivers down below most likely because his resting face looked like he was contemplating murder. Huh. Was Dani right? Was it a problem that I liked men and women who looked just as likely to kill me as they were to fuck me? Might be some deep psychological trauma manifesting but as my gaze dropped back to his thighs, I couldn’t find a shred of fucks to give.

Peasant, if you keep staring at me like that we aren’t going to go anywhere but back into that tent.

Lips twitching, I kept my eyes on his legs, Already regretting your earlier decree, Your Majesty?

A deep laugh echoed through my head, Pay attention, Cell Bait. We’re ready to go.

“My Queen?”

“Yes?” I asked, pulling my eyes away from Cillian.

Bria smirked, “We’re ready when you are.”

Quickly scanning over our rag-tag group and the small troop of soldiers accompanying us, I nodded, “Let’s get going then. Because we’ll be traveling to a place none of us have been to before except for Puck. Make sure you get a grip on or someone holding onto the Prince, he’ll be traveling all of us to the gates.”

There was a muttering from the crowd before they started shuffling around to link arms or grip shoulders. Motioning for Cillian to follow me, I walked over to Puck and grabbed hold of his arm while ignoring his shit eating grin. The kid was practically bouncing on his toes teeming with excitement that seemed to spill from every pore he had. Cillian’s hand slipped into my free one, bringing our palms together tightly and the smell of leather and metal to my nose. It was comforting and I was going to tell him that when something suddenly clutched onto my leg.

Looking down, I raised a brow, “I thought you hated me, you little shit.”

“Well if something goes wrong, he’s not going to let go of you is he.”

Fair enough, I thought with a shrug as the realm dropped out beneath my feet and resisted the urge to stab Puck when he shouted, “You are all going to love it there!”

…………………………

I did not love it here.

The second our boots touched down, we were met by a troop of soldiers in gold tunics and a male who rushed to embrace Puck. That wasn’t what bothered me, though I did enjoy how Bria stiffened at their embrace. No. What bothered me was how when they separated the male turned to me with stars in his eyes and tried to embrace me next. Key word tried because as soon as he turned on me with his arms outstretched, I sucker punched the motherfucker in the throat.

Oh, and they were all smiling. Not grinning, not smirking, not even a hit of wickedness touched their lips. Just...smiling. Like psychopaths.

He’s lucky you got to him before my axe did.

Suppressing a smirk, I glanced at Lilly from the corner of my eye, If only.

The male with wheat colored hair stumbled back clutching his throat in surprise while choking. Soldiers rushed forward but Puck got to him first and they backed off. Holding the taller male upright as he choked, Puck swung astonished eyes on me, “Macha! This is my brother, Crown Prince Quinn. He was just trying to greet you.”

I plastered an apologetic grimace on my face and said, “Prison reflexes.” Like that should explain everything as I tried not to laugh at the now red faced Crowned Prince straightening up.

“That one’s on me, Pucky.” Quinn croaked before rubbing at the imprint of my rings on his throat and trying again. “Forgive me, Your Divinity. My excitement at meeting a living Divine and the next Queen of the realm overtook me.”

Your Divinity? I purred mentally to Lilly. How come you don’t address me like that?

Don’t even start, Cell Bait.

Preening, I tossed a lock of hair over my shoulder, “You’re forgiven.”

“It’s an honor to host you and your council. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had visiting Unseelie. We hope the ball tonight is to your liking as it is in your honor.” The Crown Prince cheerfully informed us like an unsettling copy of his younger brother. Great Divines. Were they all clones? Yes, now it makes sense.

Pucky clapped his hands, “Yes! She’s going to love it. Especially all the activities we have planned!”

“Activities, Pucky?” I forced out, around a tight smile.

“Yes, traditional Seelie games that we play to pass time. To give you a taste of our people.” Quinn replied, with a another fucking smile.

“I’ve actually avoided the taste of Seelie for a very specific reason. I’m a hundred percent certain I’m allergic.” I sneered dryly, ringing a laugh from the still smiling soldiers behind them. Fuck this, fake being nice took too much energy.

The little arms around my left thigh finally let go and Grumpy stepped forward with a sneering grin, “It’s been awhile since I swindled your kind out of some coin. So, what are we betting on? Nymph Resistance? Changeling Fights? Knife Roulette?”

Golden and wheat colored eyes blinked at the little gray skinned male before turning to each other. Quinn clapped a hand on Puck’s shoulder and released a deep belly laugh, “You were right, Pucky! They do have quite the humor! The others are going to love them.”

Whirling around, Grumpy grabbed onto the bottom of my tunic and yanked harshly, “You better sleep with one eye open, you purple headed bitch. I’ll get you back for bringing me to this hell hole.”

Purple...headed bitch?

Macha...

Eyes narrowing, I locked a hand around his wrist and then bent to grab his ankle with the other, “It’s royal blue headed bitch, you slimy little fuck!”

Ignoring his yells for help, I started to spin causing the others to step back as Grumpy’s body began to rise. With one last hard twirl, I released him with a snicker and watched him fly screaming into the golden tunic’d soldiers. The others behind me snorted and laughed while the Seelie stared at me flabbergasted.

Meeting Quinn’s eyes, I grinned sharply and winked, “I have a thing about mislabeling. You understand, Babes.” When he gave a slow nod, I looked past them all to the large golden and white marble gates, “So, are you going to let me into your precious Flower City or what?”

………………..

Behind the walls was pretty much what I was expecting from my nicer kin. All the homes from the very outer ring of the city to just before the castle were pristine. Bright green vines blooming with flowers crawled over colorful walls made of pearl stone and wood. The streets and paths of the city were filled with ankle length grass and large trees. It was as if they built around the forest instead of tearing it down to build on top of it. Sunlight reflected off the shiny stoned buildings of the city and gave everything a golden glow of etherealness. Flower City, as the Unseelie nicknamed the Seelies Kingdom, was everything the humans used to write about.

In other words, it was disgusting. Where were the carts selling weapons and sugar? Where were the dirt paths with metal and concrete buildings? Where were the drunkards spilling out onto the streets no matter what time of day it was? Where were the criminal hangouts for fucks sake?

The Faekind with me looked equally as repulsed the closer we walked to the castle. At one point, I thought the Seelie weren’t all that bad when a winged leopard chased down a pastel pink haired female. Only for all of us to groan in disappointment when we realized they were just playing. That was another thing about this Divines awful kingdom, there were animals everywhere. I knew Seelies had the ability to communicate with them but the amount of them roaming calmly through the streets was ridiculous. The dangerous ones didn’t even flash fangs or hiss as we passed!

This place is very...strange.

If by strange you mean utterly boring and grossly happy then, yes. It’s strange.

Shooting me an amused smile, Lilly shook his head and faced forward as we finally reached the castle road.

Puck and his eldest brother were chatting away in front while the rest of the Seelie soldiers lined the sides of our group. They kept the growing crowd of Seelie citizens from reaching us. Few of them sported curious smiles as they looked us over while most chanted something and waved their arms. Tilting my head, I drifted closer to the edge with Cillian at my side to see them better. Blinking at what I saw, I narrowed my eyes and gave them my full attention.

“What the hell are they wearing?” I blurted out in disbelief. “Quick, Lilly. Check my eyes, I think I’m stroking.”

Cillian leaned closer into my side, “Must be some kind of paint.”

“But, Why?”

Quinn, having overheard, looked over his shoulder and smiled at me, “Everyone’s very excited to meet you! You’re the last living Divine and they wanted to honor you by wearing your markings! Sweet, isn’t it?”

I looked at him and then back at the Fae, who had silver swirls covering their exposed skin, “They do know that these are prison tats, right? Not some Divine marking but my prison sentence? For high treason and suspected but never proven war crimes?”

“Yes! It’s been very inspirational to us all. Your story has inspired many.”

Squinting, I questioned, “My story?”

He nodded, “Of course! Didn’t Pucky tell you? Ever since you escaped Slykhelm, you’ve been the talk of the Kingdom! Especially among the females! There’s been an increase in female’s joining the army and sales in leather trousers! A whole movement of our female population, going out and doing the things they always wanted to do but felt like they couldn’t. It’s quite beautiful, our sister has even started to learn how to wield a sword and the other is learning masonry. The tale of your unbreakable spirit has given them all a source of strength.”

Humbled but utterly confused as to how I could inspire others with the horror show that was my life, I asked, “What are they chanting?”

He went to speak but Puck cut him off with a grin and stopped directly in front of me, halting our group, “You have a lot of names but there’s only one name they call you on this side of the realm.”

“Which is?” I replied around a closing throat. I didn’t deserve this, the way they were looking at me, of what they thought of me. I wasn’t someone to be inspired by. I was someone they should be horrified to become.

His grin grew wider, “The Unbreakable Divine. And they’re not chanting their singing. Listen, you can hear them.”

Hesitant, I walked to the front of our group and listened to the singing. Slowly the words began to take shape in my ears as the volume of the Fae increased now that I was completely in view. They cheered loudly, arms painted in silver to match my own and waved them high in the air for me to see. Some of them wore royal blue or waved little flags and ribbons that matched my Fae coloring.

There were even little braids littering the younger children’s hair as their parents held them and pointed me out to them with smiles. It caused my heart to swell and squeeze painfully in my chest, reminding me of the first time I’d seen someone wearing my color. Their chant rolled over me like a soothing balm before lighting a fire somewhere behind my heart.

“Unbreakable Divine, Unbreakable Divine! Oooo, how she shines! Fighting against the dark to bring us into the light! Stronger than a thousand and fiercer than the sunnnn! Hair as rich as the ocean and eyes that glitter like diamonds! She spins a deal smoother than wine!” The crowd seemed to swell in excitement, they’re voices rising, “Unbreakable Divine, Unbreakable Divine! Ooooo, she breaks all the rules! Mouth of a viper with a will stronger than iron! A little wicked, a little violent, she likes to see her enemies on a pyre! Seen the stars and came back twice! With a blackened soul but never broken! She isn’t perfect and she isn’t pure! She’s made mistakes and she’s paid the price! She’s everything a fae could pray for! Unbreakable Divine, Unbreakable Divine! Ooooo, And aren’t we glad she’s ours! Aren’t we glad she’s ours!”

Swallowing thickly, I blinked aggressively to push the burning in my eyes away. A Ballad. They were singing a ballad about me. And soon as they stopped they started all over again causing my eyes to sting. Maybe the Seelie weren’t so bad after all.

Golden eyes popped up inches from my face,“Macha? Are you crying?”

Slapping my hand directly in the middle of his face, I shoved him away and sniffed, “I’m not crying, Sun Ray. You’re fucking crying.”

“No, I think I’d know if I was crying. Your eyes look gla-”

I didn’t stay to hear the rest of his sentence because with little effort I launched myself into the sky. Gasps rose from the crowd as I soared above them and pulled my swords from their sheath. The fire the Seelie had started behind my heart grew until there was nothing I could do but release it. Tossing the swords above me, a blue ring of flames shot out from my chest and casted a blue light over the Kingdom. Reflected off their shiny buildings, I grinned and flipped midair to dive back towards the crowd face first.

Awestruck faces watched my approach with growing concern the closer I got to the ground. At the last minute, a vine snapped out to wrap around my ankle and I shot Lilly a wink as I laughed before it whipped me back into the sky. Swords slipping back into my hands, I threw them again this time with flames lining the metal as they reshaped into a large sign. The vine fell from my ankle to surge past me, surrounding the sign in a swirling motion similar to my tattoos.

I hovered briefly in front of the sign with a grin and floating hair as I tapped my chin, it’s missing something...something...like...Laughing loudly, I tipped myself backwards and started flipping back to the ground in an uncontrolled free fall. Sighing, I breathed in the fresh air and weightless of it all before tightening my core and preparing to hit the ground. My boots hit dirt with a sharp crack and absorbed the shock of my landing by sending a wave through the crowd. They laughed and cheered loudly as the ground softly lifted them into the air before leveling out again.

Panting, I watched them all with a wide grin and then tipped my head back to see my masterpiece. Written in a metal, outlined in fire, and surrounded by swirling green vines decorated with blooming white lilies, my words were large enough for the entire Kingdom to see. Love the ballad and the name, Babes! -The Unbreakable Divine

The crowd chattered in excitement before the singing started up again with even more energy than before. Even the Fae I had brought with me began to hum the words and whispered begrudgingly that the Seelie had created a catchy ballad. While Afric sung the lyrics loudly and sometimes in the wrong order as we started moving again. Puck kept glancing back at me with a hero worshipping expression that I flipped him off for but he just laughed in response.

“So far, so good. I thought they’d be chasing us out of here by now.”

I gave Lilly’s arm a smack with the back of my hand, “Hey! People love me, I have a very lovable personality.”

“To some.”

“To all, Asshole. And you’re one to talk.”

He shrugged, “I don’t want everyone to love me. You like me. That’s enough.”

I turned to face him as we stopped in front of the castle doors and asked seriously, “If I squeal and pinch your cheek, are you going to get all grouchy?”

“Yes.” He scowled.

I was already reaching for his cheek when a sudden ache shot through my ankle, “Hey, murdering psycho and murdering bastard! No one cares about your Fairy love life!”

“Did you kick me?” I whirled on him with a snarl, kicking out at him only for a pair of arms to wrap around my waist and hold me back. “I’m going to fuck you up, you dull Pixie!”

The little Dwarf bared sharp teeth and pulled a dagger from his boot, “Pixie! PIXIE! Bring it, Bitch! I’ll cut you into a regular sized Fae!”

“A REGULAR sized-”

“My, my! I forgot how spirited you Unseelie are!” A deep voice bellowed with a laugh. Annnd….Of course, that was how I met the King of the Seelie for the first time.

——

I don’t have a lot to say other than...I LOVED this chapter, lmao. Who’d have thought the Seelie were fans of our murderous little female lead???

As always feel free to leave a comment or like! Thanks again for your patience on these last few chapters!

Smooches, Verbage💋