The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

I must have blacked out at some point because one minute I was staring at the iron door of the interrogation room and the next I was surrounded by tents. Grunting as my knees gave out without warning, I blinked rapidly to bring my surroundings into focus. The camp. I was at the camp. We’re safe. I could relax. Soldiers in blue rushed towards us as Lilly gave a curse and hauled me up into his arms. The position caused my vision to swim from the way the wounds in my chest squeezed together and his arm pressed against them.

Divines, I’d almost prefer dying at this point. I thought, my mouth felt like a desert and the constant agony had my stomach rolling.

Inhaling deeply, I mentally tried to push the pain away as my internal temperature flashed from hot to cold and back again. This was bad. Very, very bad. Those fucking idiots left the iron inside of me for too long, the iron had seeped into my blood. Unless of course that was the plan...in that case they were brilliant. It wouldn’t kill me but it would make me extremely sick and weak until it faded from my system. But that could take months that we didn’t have and the wounds I was suffering from would definitely kill me first.

Choking back the need to hack up whatever was climbing up my throat, I sighed in relief as I was laid on something soft and stationary. Blinking heavily up at the grayish blue ceiling of my tent that I could have sworn was royal blue at one point, a dull buzzing filled my ears. My brows twitched but I was more concerned with the gurgling sound coming from my throat. Rolled to my side quickly, my vision was filled with black leather boots and a cream carpet that got soaked in what I think were the remains of my turnip sandwich.

A muffled sound came again as I was carefully turned onto my back once more. Something cool was placed on my forehead and I inhaled sharply at the momentary relief it brought me. Shivers racked my overheated body but the relief was enough to bring things back into focus.

“Macha, can you hear me? I’ve called the healer, she’s on her way. You’re going to be okay. Stay with me alright? Keep your eyes open.”

Letting my head flop to the side, I stared into pools of silver and worked hard to make my mouth move, “She can’t...help me.”

“Don’t say that. She’s a very respected healer, she’ll fix you right up. And then I can yell at you for getting hurt.” Cillian snapped, squeezing my limp hand tightly.

I wanted to laugh but I barely had the energy to stay conscious and telling him how to keep me from dying was more important. Licking my lips, I rasped, “It’s-It’s iron exposure.”

The fear that I had seen in his eyes earlier, that caused me more pain than the iron inflicted injuries had, returned. Like me, he knew what it meant. Iron exposure couldn’t be treated, the only thing the healer could do was make me comfortable as it ran its course. A course that would last for Divines only knew how long while my injuries killed me before then.

“I shouldn’t have traveled you. It sped up the process.” Cillian growled, the self directed anger obvious from the way he glared down at the furs. “How didn’t I notice? I should have noticed.”

“Stop.” I admonished him, my eyes sliding over the sharp planes of his face. “I hid it until now. I can re-relax here.”

Instead of giving him comfort, my words caused his silver brows to furrow deeply and his full lips to thin, “You mean you feel comfortable enough to die here. You’re going to make me watch you die again.”

“No. Not if you do what I tell you to.” I rushed out on a shiver, suddenly freezing.

Raw hope flooded his gaze, “What? What do you need me to do?”

Teeth clattering, I snapped them together as the room swirled, “Find her.”

“Find who?”

“My ex...collect...deal...talk to Dani...she knows.” I bit out before my vision went from gray to black as I succumbed to the pain. But the nothingness didn’t last long because my eyes opened seconds later to find blazing dark blue eyes drilling into my soul.

Pushing up onto my elbows, I gave him a slow look over, “Sooooo….I’m sensing a lot of hostility.”

“Really? How fucking observant of you.” He snarled.

With a sigh, I got to my feet and looked down at the realm’s beauty before looking at the raging Divine, “Is this going to be regular thing because-”

“I have never in my entire life seen a Fae with so little regard for their own life!” He roared, blue locks bouncing on his head with the force. “The amount of life threatening situations you mange to get yourself into, is fucking astounding! You don’t even have a good reason for all of the shit you get into either! First, it was the death deal! And I can’t even begin to describe how completely batshit insane that decision was! Even I wouldn’t do that! ME! And now, that one woman war army bullshit you just pulled-”

“You helped me!” I shouted in disbelief. Why the fuck was he so angry?

The vein in his neck throbbed concerningly as his eyes glowed brighter and Malachy screamed, “That’s not the fucking point! You could have gotten yourself killed, for good this time! They weren’t fucking around with those iron grappling hooks, Macha! For Divines sake, who fucking raised you?”

“No one, you insufferable twat!”

His chest heaved as he blinked at the remembrance, “Right.” Visibly relaxing, Malachy lifted his chin and straightened his shoulders, “That changes now then. I’ve watched you your entire life-”

“Cause that’s not creepy as fuck.” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

He shot me nasty glare, “So I’m going to repeat every lecture you never heard me scream at you as I watched you do something stupid. Let’s begin with-”

Dropping my arms, I stepped forward, “Wait a minute, I’m almost three thousand years old! You can’t lecture me on-

“The day you left my nut sack was the day I gained the irrefutable right to lecture you no matter how fucking grown you think you are. So sit your ass down and listen.” And the motherfucker actually had the gall to point at the floor.

Raising my chin, we stared each other down until he took a step forward and my ass hit the floor quickly. Not because he intimidated me or because I really wasn’t sure who’d win in a fight, “I’m sitting because my feet hurt. Not because you told me to.”

He snorted rudely before slapping his hands together, “As I was saying let’s start with the day you said your first cuss word because that’s where I think everything started going down hill.”

Wrinkling my nose, I snarked, “Oh? It wasn’t the day I left your deranged nut sack?”

Ignoring me, he continued, “That absolutely horrendous fucking potty mouth of yours has gotten you into more trouble than I can count-”

“My potty mouth?” I blurted out, completely bewildered.

“And it all started with that shitty guard you had when you were four hundred. The blame is equally on him but you should have known better than that, Macha!” Malachy stated, working himself up again. “I mean, you knew it was a bad phrase. And I know you knew that it was becuase you grinned like a fucking little shit after you said it! You made that poor maid cry! What kind of child does that? What the hell were you thinking! ”

Recalling the memory and the anger that came with it, I snapped, “That she shouldn’t have taken my fucking Choco Blast!”

And there went that vein in his neck again, “That doesn’t mean you can call her a CUNTY SLAG!”

“Well, if the shoe FUCKING FITS!”

…………………..

Cillian’s P.O.V.

The second her pretty blue eyes rolled to the back of her head, I leaped to my feet and pressed two fingers against the side of her throat. My shoulder slumped in relief when her pulse pushed back against my fingers. It was faint and irregular but it told me my stubborn mate was holding on. Her brows twitched and her mouth pulled down into a frown as if she could still feel the pain.

With a pinch in my chest, I brushed the bloody hair from her face and whispered, “If you’re not alive when I come back, I’m going to yank your ass back down from the stars. Do you hear me, Cell Bait? You don’t have permission to die.”

Giving her a hard look to get my point across that she didn’t see, I turned and tucked the war plans inside her desk before leaving. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting Macha’s ex but I’d meet them all if it meant saving her life. Those wounds were too severe to survive on top of going through iron exposure. So if I had to put my jealousy aside, I would. I didn’t have to like it or be corgel but if need be, I had no qualms about dragging Macha’s ex here kicking and screaming. A small petty part of me wanted her to be difficult about it.

I was out of all emotions except for rage, the fear of losing her having lost its hold moments after I watched her eyes roll back. This was the second time Macha was dealt a killing blow on my watch and I was fucking pissed. She didn’t need me to rescue her but I could at least make sure she never needed to rescue herself ever again. I felt helpless in that interrogation room and I didn’t do helpless. It wasn’t me. I was still a cold angry bastard despite my emerging emotions and I needed to express these emotions I felt earlier the best way I knew how. Violently.

Shoving the flap of the tent out of my way, I stalked forward a few paces before turning to face Macha’s personal guards. The entire unit that took shifts guarding Macha’s quarters day and night were stationed every two feet around the large royal blue tent. The four in front faced me, their weapons drawn and hanging loosely at their sides. Colored eyes scanned the crowd before all four pairs pinned themselves to me, their spines straightening further.

Scowling, I barked, “No one besides me, the healer, Dani and Puck get past you to the Queen. No one. If they do, it’ll be your heads rolling. Do you understand me?”

Shouted ‘Yes, Commander.’s rang loud and clear from the men and women.

“Pass the order down the line.”

Not wasting another second, I started towards my tent to quickly change my tunic when I caught sight of the Fae that I needed. Puck, Dani and the healer came rushing around a white tent looking frantic and out of breath. Pausing in the middle of their path, I watched them approach and picked up my axe that laid forgotten a few steps to the left. As soon as we appeared in the middle of the camp Ihad started shouting orders and trying to get Macha inside her tent quickly, so I hadn’t noticed when she dropped it.

“Cillian, how is she? How bad is it? I heard some Fae say she was unconscious, is that true?” Dani shot off the questions at a rapid fire speed, bright pink eyes wide in concern.

Instead of answering, I fixed my gaze on the older Fae with long light pink hair streaked with gray carrying a black bag, “Healer Eabha, the Queen is lying unconscious in her bed. It’s iron exposure along with multiple injuries so make her comfortable until we return. If she isn’t alive when we get back, you’ll join her on a pyre, understood?”

The older woman didn’t look the least bit offended, “Of course, Commander. As it should be.”

Without another word, she walked past me and into the tent as I gave the others my undivided attention.

“It’s iron exposure?” Dani croaked, snapping a hand out and creating a cyclone of wind around us.

I nodded gravely, “The wounds will kill her before she gets over the exposure. Puck, can you fight?”

“I’m a Prince, Commander. I might not like to but I can.” The golden eyed boy responded, his voice holding none of it’s usual happiness.

“Good. Get in there and watch the healer. Question everything she gives Macha and stay vigilant. Anyone besides the three of us and the healer enter? Kill them. ”

“Understood.”

Dani dropped the barrier of wind for him to leave before it snapped back up around us, “Do you think she’ll pull through? I can’t imagine Macha dying for good. It’d be like...well like a God dying.”

I bristled at the reminder of what could happen and eyed her vulnerable expression, “She’s not going to die. Before she fell unconscious she told me that to save her life I needed to collect on a deal. But I don’t understand how it’s going to help.”

“What deal?” She urged, frantically. “Tell me exactly what she said.”

“She said to find her ex and collect on the deal for her. To talk to you, that you’d understand.”

Dani’s sharp features twisted darkly, “Are you sure that’s what she said?”

“Positive.” I replied, slightly unsettled to see anything other than a lighthearted or neutral expression on her face.

“Fuck. There’s only one ex Macha’s ever done a deal with.”

“Who was it?”

Tucking a piece of wayward black and pink hair behind her ear, she scowled, “I’ll explain on the way. I want to check on Macha real quick, let’s meet back here in two minutes.”

“You know where to find her then?”

Something dark briefly passed through her eyes, “Yeah, I know where she is. I’ve been keeping tabs on her ever since they split. In case, she ever thought it’d be a good idea to reconnect with Macha.”

The wind faded away with her last sentence and she walked briskly towards Macha’s tent without another word.

Continuing the short way to my own tent, I pushed the entrance to the side and stomped over to the chest at the end of the bed. Dani’s tone of voice and the look I caught in her eyes told me that she’d kill Macha’s ex before allowing her back into her best friend’s life. But from what Macha told me, Dani’s hostility didn’t make sense. Macha had said they ended it mutually when it’d gotten ugly, there had even been a fondness in her tone that had irritated me.

Pulling out a black tunic with a blue C embroidered over the heart, I quickly swapped out my tunic. There was probably more to their relationship then what Macha had told me and I hadn’t cared enough to to find out. So I doubted that I would like whatever Dani was going to tell me about the woman, much less the woman herself. No, I knew I wouldn’t like the woman. And I was already hoping she’d give me a reason to threaten her. I’d feel like an irrational jealous asshole if I wasn’t sure that if the roles were reversed, Macha would be thinking the same.

A warm smile tipped my lips as I slid on my sheath to rest against my back, Except she wouldn’t look for a reason. She’d just do it.

I pushed the warm thought away as it brought a pain to my chest when I remembered that she was lying unconscious a few tents away. Sliding the axe into the holder, I left the tents with firm steps that led me back to where Dani was waiting for me. Her features were drawn together in expression of worry as her right foot tapped excessively.

“She doesn’t look good, Cillian. She looks pale. Macha’s never been pale.”

Stopping beside her, I held my elbow out for her to take, “I know. So, let’s go collect on that deal and get her back to normal.”

Nodding, Dani hooked her arm in mine, “Divines, I never thought I’d have to see this bitch again.”

Before I could prompt her to explain what we’d be walking into, a prim voice called out to me. Scowling, I turned my head to see a woman with dark red hair marked through with baby blue rushing towards us. Her tunic hung slightly on her slender form and my eyes caught the blue S.C. embroidered in the black material. This must have been the woman Macha put in charge in our absence and my fathers betrayal. An old advisor that Macha trusted enough that only four soldiers secretly watched the woman’s every move and reported it back to her.

Dark red eyes bounced between us as she reached us, “How’s the Queen?”

“Lugh, She’s-”

I cut Dani off with a clipped, “Recovering.”

“I see.” The woman replied slowly, dark eyes searching my own. “That news will do well to sooth the Queen’s people. I’ll make sure to spread the word after I visit with the Queen.”

Raising a hand, I blocked the woman’s attempt to move towards the tent, “The Queen isn’t taking visitors today.”

“I am the Queen’s trusted advisor, surely-”

“As I said, the Queen is not taking visitors today.” I repeated. “If you’d like to be useful, tell everyone that the Queen apologizes for scaring them but that she is making a quick recovery.”

There was a heavy moment where we locked eyes until the woman nodded, “Understood, Commander. May the Divines guide your journey.”

Sliding my eyes to Dani she took the hint and tightened her arm in mine before the realm dropped out beneath us. An endless abyss of darkness greeted me with the disorienting sensation of weightlessness and the ignorance of time. I was silent for a few minutes until our feet briefly touched down and the darkness swallowed us whole once more.

“Explain.”

Dani shifted, the skin of our arms rubbing together, “Nimue Meagher, Macha’s ex, is a less than legal sugar merchant. Basically she’s a pirate that docks regularly at the port in Deireadh Aillte with her crew.”

“So she sells more than sugar?”

“No but sugar is distributed in controlled quantities regulated by the Kingdoms. Sure, an individual Fae can smuggle it in without anyone being the wiser but Nimue’s sugar is special. She thickens it into a pure paste that can be smoked or eaten.”

“That’s not something new.” I pointed out, mildly confused.

Our feet hit the ground again before Dani replied, “It is when she has a recipe that mixes the highly unpredictable Pixies ambrosia with human manufactured sugar. Her product is one of a kind and Nimue corners her market viciously. ”

My brows rose, unwillingly impressed, “How? You’d have to be insane to come up with that idea, let alone try it out. Ambrosia is just as likely to blow up in your face as it is to get you high and human products react unpredictably with Fae resources.”

“I’ll give you one guess as to who gave her the recipe.”

“Macha.” I shouldn’t have been surprised by the news. It seemed my mate had an affinity for creating things that she wasn’t supposed to, like the chocolate wine.

Dani laughed, “Yeah. A bored Macha turns into Mad Scientist Macha.”

“Noted. So I’m guessing that was the deal then? Macha gave Nimue the recipe in return for a favor to be determined at a later date?”

“Yes and no.” She replied. “You see, Nimue was always terrified of dying but loved her dangerous lifestyle. So in her spare time she trained in every type of combat she could. She also researched and found ways to prevent or cure almost every type of poison possible. Macha knew this obviously, so in return for the recipe she demanded a prevention or a cure of her choosing to be determined at a later date. Macha also threw in her regular tricky wording that would allow her to change what she got out of the deal, just in case.”

I grinned at Macha’s foresight, “Divines. That woman is fucking genius with deals, isn’t she? So if there’s any way to cure iron exposure…”

“I’d bet your weight in gold that Nimue knows how.”

My boots hit the ground for the fifth time, the surface slightly shifting beneath me. The smell of sea salt and seasoned fish rode the sharp breeze that tickled the shaved sides of my scalp. Dani released her hold on my arm and stepped back as our vision returned to expose the port. We landed at the shoreline with sea foam licking our boots, a fair distance away from the brightly lit tavern. Jagged cliffs curved widely around the short dock that held the tavern at the end and the small beach it sat on.

The deep crescent shape of the port made it impossible to see how many ships or who’s ships were docked from the outside. Dotting the sea, their anchors kept them stationed securely about five miles out while their inhabitants rowed into port. The drunken yells and laughter flowing out of the tavern along with the rowboats rocking against the docks legs, left no doubt as to where they rowed to.

Colorful flags with various designs topped the ships, rippling in the wind and declaring their owners. Quite a few belonged to well known pirates throughout the realm while the others were harder to place. Falling into step beside Dani, I kept my eyes on the ships as we walked towards the tavern. A blue flag crowning the ship at the very end stole my attention and I slowed to look at it fully. The muscles in my shoulders pulled tight the longer I stared at it, not because it was blue. But because it was the exact same shade as Macha’s Fae coloring down to the same shiny tint with a lime green dagger printed on it.

“Let’s get this over with.” I spit, speeding up my pace.

Jogging slightly to catch up, Dani bounded up the stairs of the dock, “Agreed. Who knows how much time Macha has and I don’t care to be around Nimue longer than need be.”

“Macha told me they ended things amicably before it got worse between them.” I gently pried as the wooden slats creaked beneath our weight. So despite the angry urging inside me to speed this along, apparently I wasn’t above prying.

Dani snorted, “Yeah, I guess for them it was amicable. I was overjoyed when it happened. Nimue brought out the worst in Macha in a bad way. Always getting into shit and having Macha bail her out when she couldn’t finish what she started. Bitch was always jealous of the way that people feared and loved Macha in equal parts. She wasn’t good for her, not like you are.”

“Me?”

“Yea.” She said, looking up at me with a smile. “You give Macha balance, Cillian. It may not seem like it but I’ve never seen her this rational and content. She’s genuinely happy with you.”

I fought down a ridiculous need to smile at the news and rubbed at my mouth in an effort to hide it.

The rickety door of the tavern flung open under the force of a man stumbling out. Criss crossing on his legs, a roar of laughter followed him out from the light inside as he gripped the railing of the dock and hurled up the contents of his gut. Scowling, I followed Dani’s lead and side stepped him to continue to the door.

“Oy! Lass!” The drunken sailor suddenly barked, causing us to turn. “Your pink, I’m pink, let’s blend.”

As the man laughed loudly at his own pick up line, Dani raised a pink brow and then smiled.

I watched intrigued as she walked up to the man and then suddenly grabbed him by the frizzy fuchsia roots of his hair. Still smiling pleasantly, she rammed her head against his before swiping his legs out from underneath him and sending a hard kick to his gut. The man rolled off the dock and into the water with a slash while Dani slapped her hands together.

“I’m suddenly realizing why you and Macha are best friends.”

Laughing, she walked back over to me, “Everyone doesn’t get it at first until someone irritates me. Macha gets more pleasure out of doing things like that though, so I let her do it.”

I nodded in understanding and then swiveled on my heels to face the door, “You ready?”

“Oh, yeah. I hope she makes this difficult, I’ve been salivating at the chance to kick this bitch’s ass.”

“Funny,” I replied, lips kicking up at the corner as I gripped the handle of the door. “I was hoping for the same thing.”

——

It’s motherfucking Dani and Cillian adventure y’all! I did not see this happening but here it is! I’m excited, I hope y’all are too! It’ll be interesting to see how they play off of each other! And what about Macha’s toxic ass ex Nimue, hmmm? See there was a reason why mentions of her were sprinkled through the book! Okay, lmao. Show of hands, who’s actually surprised that Macha’s ex is a drug dealing pirate? Or that Macha got bored and created a new drug?

Get ready to meet The Ex in the next chapter. Annnnd...drum roll please...the main character for next book will be revealed!

As always, share your thoughts if you wish! Silent readers, I appreciate you!

Smooches, Verbage💋