The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

“My Queen, I must advise against this. We should make her come to us.”

Frustrated, I shook my head, “No. I let her come to me the last time and I lost.”

“But My Queen, the outcome of this attack is too unpredictable. Anything could go wrong.”

“It’s already been put into motion, Erick.”

This caused many sitting at the long table to pause and then a loud buzz of voices erupted inside the large tent. Earlier this morning, I had a group of soldiers line up three large tents back to back. Creating a long makeshift room that was adequate enough for me to hold a council meeting with both the Unseelie and Seelie representatives. Two of each species in the realm sat at the table, the Seelie on the left and the Unseelie on the right, and listened to me explain what needed to be done. Though not everyone was happy about it.

“The purpose of this council was to give each of us a voice in decisions that directly pertain to us! She has stolen our voice already!” A Seelie Troll barked. “Who’s to say this isn’t our future!”

His Unseelie counterpart, Coaimhe, yelled her own opinion from her position across from him, “This is a war, you idiot! One that is taking the lives of our people everyday! She doesn’t have time to take everyone’s opinion into account!”

“I second that!” Grumpy snapped, slamming his little fist into the wood. “The quicker this war is over with, the longer my Dwarves live! If Macha thinks this is the right call, then it’s the right call!”

“Of course, you’d agree with her! You’re Unseelie! How can we know this plan will even work? This isn’t another battle, it’s going to spark the climax of the war! Is the Divine even ready to face Mab? How can we be certain she’ll win?” Screeched a Seelie Pixie, the high pitched voice nearly lost in the chaos.

“It has to be done!” The Seelie Lamia hissed, purple eyes glaring down her side of the table. “We can’t afford to drag out the war any longer! Our people grow weary and the number of dead rises everyday! We need to be aggressive! I agree with the Divine’s decision, we need to attack the city!”

“This is insane! We cannot attack Mab in her own Kingdom! She’ll have the upper hand, how can-”

“Enough!” I shouted, banging my hand on the wooden table to gather their attention. “I have already put things into play that cannot be undone! As we speak, our allies within the Unseelie Territories and the Kingdom itself are mobilizing. Half the troops here are already marching their way to the outskirts of the Kingdom. The water Fae have been given orders to disrupt the Kingdom’s water supply and to defend our allies along the coast. This meeting is to get us all on the same page, not to debate the decision. It’s done. By dusk, we will be inside the city. Our forces will hold the kingdom as Mab and I finally put an end to this.”

“Dusk! You mean to face Mab tonight!” The Seelie Troll snapped, brown eyes wide. “We should have been told before you put our soldiers in danger!”

Fed up with this assholes negative attitude, I jerked upright in my seat and pointed at him, “What the fuck is your name? Cause you got a lot to fucking say but I bet, I bet! I won’t see your low wall looking ass on the battlefield later.”

“Excuse me? I have never been so-”

“You’re excused.” I snapped, rising to my feet and glaring at them all. “You all agreed to put me on the throne for a multitude of reasons. You all knew the kind of Fae I was, heard the rumors about me and how I do things. Yet, you put me on the throne. And while I will always try to take your opinions into account, this is not one of those times. We’re in the midst of a war for the realm. Now, is not the time to second guess or pussy foot around. This is what we’re doing, we go to war for the realm tonight. And after this if you want me off the throne, that’s fine.” Giving them a hard look, I finished with, “But keep in mind, I have no room for weak Fae on my council who’d rather spend their time talking than doing something to save the lives of their people.”

Silence stretched inside the tent until Oberon stood up beside me, “Macha is right. We chose her to lead us into this war, now is not the time to second guess her actions. She has fought with the troops since the beginning and put herself directly in the line of fire unlike any other ruler. Myself included. Unofficially this war has been going on for months and now that Mab is losing herself to her emotions, it’s time. We can’t afford to wait anymore and I believe Macha is more than capable of taking Mab down.”

He basically just repeated what I said. Why do they all look like they’re listening now?

Because he didn’t insult them all. You’re going to have to learn to be diplomatic at some point, Cell Bait. Your bulldozer approach to everything is not going to work every time.

Irritation rolled through me as I straightened up and pulled my hands from the table, “We leave in an hour. Ready your soldiers.”

Turning, I left without hearing them out and headed directly to my tent. The camp was bustling with the noise of excited soldiers and clanking metal. Two large tents were set up by the lake with Dwarves hard at work inside, trying to pump out enough metal to create last minute weapons. The lake itself was rippling as water Fae came dripping from it’s depths to help in any way they could. Large groupings of soldiers sparred against each other, warming themselves up for the real battle later. Forest Fae sharpened their wooden spears and bows at the edges of the clearing while some Unseelie shared with the Seelie how to best defend against Unseelie abilities.

Nodding to those I passed, I held out a hand and snatched something that a Banshee tossed to me before he quickly dropped to his knees. Continuing on, I opened up my palm to look down at the squishy object I was given. Bluish red, the small heart in my hand had probably belonged to some kind of bird or rodent. I would have been mildly grossed out if it wasn’t for the fact that the Banshees have been offering me sacrifices since they heard we were going to war. Two growing piles of dead animals and organs had even sprung up on either side of my tent entrance. Afric said it was customary to offer their chosen patron a sacrifice before going into battle. And since I was still alive and therefore didn’t have a shrine, this was the only thing they could think of doing.

Allowing the small heart to roll off my hand and into the pile beside my tent flap, I pushed it back and walked in. Only to immediately groan at who was waiting for me inside and the pain already pulsing at my temple. Striding to the tent, I ignored the boy sitting at the desk and the other sitting on the bed. Taking the pitcher of sugared whiskey Afric had given me as his sacrifice, I poured some into a brass cup and tossed it back. The burn in my throat relieved some of the stress from my shoulders until I looked at them again.

Light green eyes tracked my movements since I entered the tent with a cautious expression from his spot at the end of the bed. While a pair of cool lavender orbs watched me with amusement in his reclined position at my desk. But when the pale pain in my ass opened his mouth to speak followed by the brown pain in my ass, I held up a finger. Pouring out another three finger serving, I downed it in one impressive gulp that set fire to my chest.

Giving a little shiver at the taste, I slammed the cup onto the wood, “What the hell do you two want? And again Daithí, you are not supposed to leave your tent.”

“Sister, you don’t really expect me to. So why disappoint?”

Rolling my eyes, I pushed his feet from my desk, “What are you doing here?”

“We want to fight.”

“We?”

Baris stood, shaking his head, “We didn’t come here together to ask you. I was already here when he showed up.”

Pinging my eyes from one to the other, I nodded slowly and rounded the desk. Grabbing the back of the chair, I smiled down at Daithi and then warped the wood so his ass hit the floor with a thump. He grumbled, looking very un-princely and then got to his feet to stand in front of me beside Baris. Looking from one dumbass to the next, I kicked my feet up on the desk and leaned back.

Lacing my fingers over my stomach, I raised a brow, “You two want to fight? Fight where? Fight who? Each other? I don’t think I’d even pay to see that, Babes.”

“In the war.” Baris answered first. “To prove myself.”

“To gain your trust since that seems important to you.” Daithí answered dryly.

“A war, Babes? What war? Are we going to war? People really don’t tell me anything, how irritating.”

“Macha.”

“Sister.” Both of them dead panned at the same time.

“There is no way you two twats, actually think you’re going to fight in my war.” I said, voice thick with disbelief.

Lavender eyes narrowed before Daithí mocked, “Isn’t it the realms war? Don’t we have a right to fight for our world’s safety?”

“Yeah.” Baris chimed in. “Isn’t it inhumane to deny us our rights?”

I laughed, “What rights? You’re on thin ice with my army and you’re a prisoner of war.”

“A prisoner of war? This is how you treat your beloved brother?”

“Beloved?” I laughed harder, cheeks warm with the heat of the whiskey. “Divines. You’re lucky I haven’t cleaved your head from your neck! Beloved!”

Baris stepped away from the slightly amused looking Unseelie Prince, “Well, what about me? Watching you get hit with those grappling hooks really shook me up. This is history in the making, it’s life or death for hundreds of Faekind. I want to do my part.”

“Your ‘part’ is staying your ass here, so I don’t have to worry about you getting killed on the battlefield.” Pausing, I looked him over, “Isn’t there something you want to do? Besides being a soldier?”

“It’s my legacy, everyone on my fathers side has been a soldier or something similar.” Baris replied, sounding vulnerable. “Are you discharging me from your army?”

“I haven’t decided yet. But Syrus isn’t a soldier, you don’t have to be either.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, furrowing pastel green brows, “I don’t know anything else.”

Letting him stew on that, I turned to Daithi and cut him off before he could speak, “No. I don’t need the distraction of waiting for a sword in my back while fighting Mab.”

“Sister, honestly. I could have run away or gotten one of the Unseelie soldiers you flipped to release me by now.” He replied, lips curling into a smirk as he lifted his cuffed hands. “I want to see you win.”

I dropped my feet from the edge and sat up with a fake surprised gasp, “Well, when you put it that way…..no.”

“What if we do a deal? I hear you’re excellent at those.”

“A deal?” I purred, my interest peaked.

He nodded, “If you let me fight against Mab, I promise my actions will only be to help you.”

“As tempting as that is, I have a better idea. You keep Baris out of trouble and away from the war and in return, I take your cuffs off.”

The two boys side-eyed each other in distaste making me think my idea was a damn good one. Pale purple eyes swung back my way, “Isn’t he too old for a babysitter? Wouldn’t my talents be better spent helping you win the war?”

“You’re telling a prisoner to watch me?”

I stood up with a smile and rounded the privacy screen, pulling my metal off as I went.

“Macha.”

“Sister.”

Laughing, I switched out my white tunic for a long sleeved royal blue one, “I didn’t hear the magic word.”

“How old are you? Why are you so immature that you need me to watch you?”

“How old are you? Why are you so untrustworthy that you need to watch me?”

Listening to their bickering, I watched my blue metal coat my forearms and lift with little spikes. Taking a small piece of silver off my waist chains, I tightly braided my long hair to lay down my back underneath the sheath. With my swords securely strapped to my back, I walked back around the privacy screen.

“Do you know how many times I could have ratted you out to Mab? You’d be dead if it wasn’t for me.”

Baris made a face with a tilt of his head, “I must have missed the part where that entitles you to anything concerning me?”

“You two sound like a more respectful version of me and Cillian.” I snorted, moving to the desk.

“Where is my brother?”

I poured out another serving of whiskey, “Helping the troops get ready to move out in the next thirty minutes.”

“Should you really be drinking before going off to fight our mother for the realm, Sister?”

I shook my head before swallowing the whiskey, “No. But alcohol helps to numb the physical pain that I will be going through in a couple of hours.”

“Having doubts?”

“Mab is going to wound me, there’s no question about that. It’s just a matter of who deals the final blow. Hence the whiskey, cause it will be me. Even if I’m headless, I’ll kill the bitch.” I replied, locking gazes with his pale lavender eyes.

“How would that work exactly?” Baris questioned.

I laughed as I walked towards the exit, “I’m a God, Babes. I don’t have to explain shit. And that deal expires the second I step out of this tent, Daithí.”

A weight settled in the air the closer I got to the exit until the Prince’s voice rang out in a dry tone, “You have a deal, Sister.”

Light shined against the royal blue fabric of the tent at eye level as I ran my tongue over my sharpened teeth and flashed him a grin over my shoulder, “Good choice, Little Brother.”

“Then why do I feel like I’ve entered a dangerous game with no rules?”

Laughing, I exited the tent, “Because you have.”

……………………

“How are they looking?”

Cillian glanced over at me, “Good. The younger ones are excited but it’s their first war so it’s expected.”

I nodded, looking over the field filled with mobilizing soldiers, “Do you think it’s too soon?”

“It’s abrupt, Cell Bait. But it’d be naive of everyone to think it wouldn’t be. There’s no gentle build up to a war.”

“What if I can’t do it?” The weight of his gaze drilled into the side of my head but I kept my eyes forward, “We’ve all fought so hard and lost a lot to get to this point, what if I fail everyone again?”

“Do you really believe that? Because that’s the biggest load of bullshit to come out of your mouth in a long time. You’ve come so far, Macha. You’re not the same woman you were the last time you faced Mab. You’ll win and you’ll put that bitch in the ground where she belongs.”

“But if-”

“You will.”

Turning, I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to face me, “Cillian, listen. If it looks like I’m losing, retreat and evacuate the domestics camp to the human realm. Head to the cabin in the woods where you found me with the wolves. Kaiya will help.”

Silver eyes glance over my shoulder, “They’re waiting.”

Giving him a long look, I turned to face the thousands of Faekind lined up in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I shouted out over the silent camp, “I know many of you thought we still had a while before the war! Some of you may be scared or second guessing your part in this, so am I!” Fae gasped and shifted in nerves, glancing at each other at the admission. “I’m here to tell you that’s normal! We’d be just like our enemies if we didn’t feel that way! The difference between a civilian and warrior is the way you wield those feelings! And make no mistake! The second you walk off that battle field, dead or alive, you’re a warrior! So use your emotions! Use that anger, use that fear and let it drive you! Let it fuel you but never let it cloud your judgement! Do you hear me?”

Soldiers banged their weapons together in answer with a grunting call.

“Then let’s move! We have a motherfucking war to win and history to make!”

Blood pumping, Faekind began to disappear from the field in large groups still cheering in bloodlust. It was both a prideful and bitter thing to witness, the souls we would lose today already weighing on my tattered soul. May the Divines grace those brave enough to die.

………………...

Traveling to the edges of the Unseelie Terrioritories, we met up with the rest of my army and began pushing our way through the cities. My allies had already gained control over most of the area making it easier to reach the Kingdom. The port cities were still fighting against Mab’s troops but from what Bria told her brother they’d have it within the hour. Afric and the Banshees scurried through the shadows ahead of our large presence, scouting out the areas for Mab’s soldiers. But so far we’d only been met by stragglers and small enemy scouting groups.

Gripping the reins tighter, I cautiously scanned the empty street we were marching down. Mab had to know we were here, she could probably see our approach from the tallest point in her castle. Which begged the question, where were all her soldiers? Cillian rode beside me on his own Kelpie with a white knuckle grip on his axe, tense in apprehension like the rest of our army. Seelie and Unseelie alike along with thousands of Faekind marched at my back as we decreased the distance between us and Mab’s Kingdom to twenty feet.

The concrete and stone walls of the Kingdom began to cast a shadow over us caused by the dwindling sunlight. A feeling of unease creeped up my spine as I looked along the tops of the wall to find the soldier posts empty. Clopping Kelpie hooves and stomping boots echoed over empty streets giving an eerie feeling to everything. Narrowing my eyes, I raised a closed fist beside my head and listened to the sound from behind me come to a sudden stop. Silence poured over us as the last of the sun disappeared behind the frame of Mab’s castle. And that’s when I caught it.

Just a small metallic wink in the night sky but it was enough for me to spring into action. Pressing my hands into the base of Kelpie’s strong neck, I pushed down hard and swung my legs up onto her rump in a crouch. Standing, I snapped my hands out wide and raised them in a smooth motion that caused a wall of earth to rise with them. The dirt wall littered with roots rose up high above my soldiers heads and shielded us from the attack. Large metal and ice cannon balls slammed into the wall hard enough to make the ground shake and rain dirt down over us. Fisting my hands from the strain of holding it strong against the physical attack and the Fae trying to yank it from my will, I turned around.

Seelies casted balls of flames over their palms to lighten the darkness I casted over them. Thousands of rows upon neat rows of bodies gazed up at me from their feet or Kelpieback, some with poles that carried my royal blue flag proudly. Looking over their shadowed faces, I nodded down at Dani and waited until she moved up to place two fingers to my throat, “This war is everything you’ve been fighting for! It’s everything your parents dreamed of and it will be everything your children thank you for! This is your chance for freedom! Freedom Mab has stolen from us! She made a deal with the realm when she sat on that throne and has delivered nothing! She grew complacent as we grew angry and resentful! That was her mistake! For thinking for even one moment that we had given up! ”

War screams and pounding hooves answered my roar, threatening to block out the ear shattering cannons battering against the wall at my back. “Tonight, we bring terror to her door and a river of blood to her city! It’ll be her people left bleeding out in the dirt like cattle! It’ll be her home we bring crashing to the ground! It’ll be her death that marks the pages of history on this day!”

A bead of sweat trailed down my temple from the strain on my will but they were worth it. They were all worth it. Banshees thumped their staffs with bellowing screams and Trolls stomped causing the ground to shake as the Lamias hissing vibrated the air. “Tonight, all of us will leave a piece of our soul in this war! Because tonight, WE WRITE OUR VICTORY IN BLOOD AND ASH!”

The army in front of me rolled with energy and bloodlust as their war cry’s increased in volume. They pushed forward, drawing their weapons, ready to charge forward. Turning, I dropped down on my Kelpie and pulled my swords from their sheaths. My will was beginning to fray underneath the group of Fae trying to wrestle the wall from me, but I had one more thing to say before I dropped it.

Looking to the left, I met silver eyes, Cibé sna réaltaí nó i mbua, buailfimid le chéile arís.

Cibé sna réaltaí nó i mbua, buailfimid le chéile arís. He repeated with a nod, his voice sure and confident.

Taking a deep breath, I dropped the wall on my exhale.

——

Cibé sna réaltaí nó i mbua, buailfimid le chéile arís.

Means: Whether in the stars or in victory, we will meet again.

I like the dynamic between Daithí and Macha, I wasn’t sure how it’d work but I’m satisfied. Did anyone miss Baris? Is there ANY Baris fans? Lol. Also, I’m pretty sure I’ve spelt Syrus twelve different way by now.

Leave a comment if you found the chapter enjoyable!

Smooches, Verbage💋