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something, she stopped and smoothed her loose, frayed braid behind her ear. She turned and opened the
cabinet and drew out a stone tablet, which she clutched to her chest like a babe. I know well what you
are. A lowly Assassin, born on the Strip to a Faery mother long since banished from my kingdom and a
Human father who died in the gutter, racked with disease from Human vices. If my brother had chosen a
mate from the noble class, even one of my ladies-in-waiting, he could have disguised his intentions. She
held out the stone tablet, motioning for Ayla to take it. Read this! Read this and tell me that my brother
is not playing me false!
The stone was heavy, and Ayla fumbled with it a moment before she could right it in her hands. She
glanced over the inscription for only a moment before handing it helplessly back to Mabb. I cannot
read, she said, feeling more ashamed of the fact than she ever had before.
Mabb s smile twisted cruelly. Of course you cannot. But regardless, you would not be able to decipher
these markings. It is in an old language, one that few in this stinking world remember. She took a breath,
closing her eyes as if to calm herself. When she opened them again she was regal, royal despite her
ragged hair and flushed skin. It tells a prophecy of a time when the Fae would be forced to live
underground. For centuries it was assumed that the prophecy foretold the invasion of Humans in our
beloved Éire, that forced us to spread over the Earth and shelter in cairns and lakes and sea caves. But
as even you, with your limited intelligence, can guess, it alludes to this time, that we are trapped below the
Human cities, scavenging for sustenance and comfort, barred from nature and sunlight, entombed like the
dead!
Mabb s hands trembled as she placed the tablet back in the cabinet. The prophecy speaks of one who
will save our race, free us! A mighty warrior Queene who will lead a campaign, scouring the Earth and
making all right once more.
Mabb, in all of her fine silks and delicate jewels, her body frail and small boned, was the furthest thing
from a warrior that Ayla could imagine, but she had more sense than to speak such a thing to the
Queene s face.
This great heroine, Mabb continued, her eyes growing bright in her fervor, will be born of both
worlds, above and below. And her name will be remembered in the hearts of Fae and Human alike, for
all eternity. And I intend to be that Queene!
Though Mabb had not asked her a question, Ayla could not keep silent. But it could not be you. I
desire as much as anyone to see the hopes of the Lightworld restored by some great figure, but you are
Fae.
Do you dare to claim that this fate might be yours, instead? Mabb came forward, drawing the other
dagger from her hair as if she would stab Ayla. Do you dare to insinuate that I cannot free my people?
Queene or not, Ayla would show no fear to an opponent. I am merely stating the facts that you yourself
spoke. While I am not proud enough to see myself in your words, the prophecy says it will be a
half-Human Faery that fulfills this roll. Your Majesty is many things, but certainly not Human.
Mabb laughed, mocking again. You know so little. My brother is full-blooded Fae, that is true. My
mother, whore that she was, conceived him off one of her guards. But her lusts ran to the bestial, and she
coupled regularly with a Human male she kept here, in the Palace. I was the product of their perverse
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union.
It was almost so sensational as to insist Ayla call the Queene false, but Mabb worked the ties of her
gown, opening it as if she did not stand in the presence of a near-total stranger. Have you never
wondered why I do not display my wings? Why I keep myself covered at all times? The ribbons of her
bodice slipped through their grommets as she violently jerked them free, one pair, then another pair, the
fabric gaping apart and exposing the white skin beneath. No one, not even my ladies-in-waiting, see me
completely exposed. It is too shameful, despite my great destiny, and I would not have anyone know the
low, common origins of my birth.
She shook the gown free and turned slowly. What Ayla saw made her gasp out loud. There was the
proof to Mabb s sensational story, jutting from her back, twisted and half-formed. Two small, pathetic
flaps of white skin hung from protruding bones, their blunt, round ends betraying them as Human. They
did not move of their own accord, but Mabb reached to smash them flat against her back as she drew
her gown up, the skin swaying sickeningly as they folded over each other.
Ayla said nothing, only stared as the Queene pulled her gown closed and retrieved her daggers to right
her hair. Only after she d consulted her looking glass and found everything in order did she address Ayla
once more.
You will speak to no one of what you have seen. In time, I shall think of a crime great enough to banish
you from the Lightworld, and then you will be nothing. Satisfied at this pronouncement, she went to the
wall, where she slid a false panel aside. You may go. Through here. I will not have you in my private
audience.
Frozen, Ayla s feet would not move. If she told Mabb now of her failure to uphold the geis, the Queene
would have the excuse she wanted to exile Ayla. Or, she might choose instead to have her executed.
Before, the prospect seemed less horrifying. For breaking her vow, the punishment was deserved. But
to be sacrificed to Mabb s vanity? That was something that Ayla s small, hard-won pride would not
allow. She squared her shoulders and left the room via the secret passage, which spit her out near the
Assassins Hall. Then, she left the Palace altogether.
The streets of the Lightworld were quiet. Most of its inhabitants slumbered now. Ayla ached to do the
same. She thought of Garret s bed, how soft and warm it had been, how she d slept so hard she hadn t
dreamed. It would be so easy to return, to submit to whatever punishment he chose to inflict, as long as
she could sleep for now.
But he d warned her that she would never leave his sight again, and she did not doubt it. As long as she
was close to him, she was close to Mabb s treachery. The Lightworld, once her home, now seemed alien
and dangerous.
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