Dark Born

22

The Queen

Adam hadn't known what to expect when he broke into the chamber, but she definitely wasn't one of them. The single thought echoed through his mind as he stared at the woman more deeply now with the rush of adrenaline finally fading. And she wasn't just any woman; she was the Queen. Her silver hair fell loosely over her shoulder, catching the candle light. But it was her eyes that drew him in most; violet, calm, watching him as though he was something laid on the table. Her lips were still curved in a smile, and it seemed almost warm and friendly, but the hint of calculation behind them told him it was anything but real. She was incredibly beautiful, but at the same time she wasn't seductive; she didn't radiate any overt sensuality, her bust and curves were hidden beneath the silk nightgown she wore. She was just so stunning that everything else around her seemed dim and uninteresting by comparison.

He'd read stories about sailors who were lost at sea after being enchanted by sirens, and whenever Adam read them, he always thought that the men who succumbed to them deserved what they got, but now he understood it. There was a strong magnetic pull about her, like she was the only thing that existed in the world. It was hard to resist, but he tried his hardest to. Despite her allure, Adam refused to let it cloud his judgment. His senses warned him that she was dangerous, perhaps more so than anything he'd ever faced, and her appearance itself seemed like a weapon she used to deceive or ensnare. Worse still, there was keen intelligence burning inside her eyes.

The way she was watching him, with that calmness from earlier, as though she might learn all his secrets if she just stared long enough, it was a little unsettling. He'd never met anyone able to hold eye contact as long as she did, and he fought the instinct to look away from her gaze. It felt as though she was studying him, no... not felt, that was precisely what she was doing. From the moment he'd broken into her chamber, she'd been studying him.

"You were never asleep, were you?" Adam asked finally, his voice low.

She didn't respond right away. Instead, she moved gracefully to a small table close to her bed and took one of the seats. "I was curious about your intentions," she said finally in a soft voice. "Whether you'd try to assassinate me... or capture me." An amused smile curved her lips once more. "All the while, you didn't even know who I was."

So, it had been a test, that didn't surprise him too much. But what had given her the assurance that she wouldn't be harmed by him? What made her so calm and confident even now? She definitely wasn't naïve enough to leave herself defenseless, and simply trust the intentions of an armed stranger while alone in her room. Adam threw a subtle glance around the room, and once again, he saw that they were alone. The only other explanation was that she had magic, and it had to be incredibly powerful for her to have such belief in herself.

"And if I'd been here to assassinate you?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

She lifted her shoulders in a soft, elegant shrug. "Then we would not be having this conversation," she replied. "Fortunately for both of us, that was never your intention."

That was a coy answer. If he had been here to kill her, then it was simply a statement of fact that they wouldn't be having this conversation. But whether it was because he would have succeeded in taking her life, or because he'd be dead, was the part she left out.

The answer could be either, but somehow, he sensed that the latter was more likely.

"What do you want? Why did you help me?" Adam stepped closer to the table.

She watched him approach without the slightest tension in her posture. "What I want is not something you can easily offer," she said. "But I am very curious about you."

Curious? His jaws clenched. Did she already know about him? That wouldn't shock him, given all he'd already guessed about her. "Why?" His eyes tightened in suspicion.

"I suppose you could call it... fascination," she replied.

Adam regarded her for a moment, trying to fit everything that happened tonight into some kind of order. First, he had found the Hand of the King dead. Not wanting to take the fall for it, he had fled and ended up here, face-to-face with a woman who, he'd realized a few minutes ago, was the Queen. Her decision to help him before she knew anything had been strange, but stranger still was her reaction when she learned what had happened. After the guards had broken the news of the Hand's death to her, she had seemed quite shocked, and he'd even feared that she might report him after all. But she hadn't, and now, only moments later, it was as if the man's death meant nothing at all. There was none of the shock he had witnessed earlier, no sorrow, no anger.

There was simply nothing.

Even if she'd secretly hated the man's gut and couldn't mourn his death, he expected at least the shock aspect to still be there. A loss like that must have some kind of effect politically, and she had to be aware of that as the Queen. Yet she didn't seem even mildly concerned. The only explanation that made sense was if she already knew it would happen, and that would mean she'd been involved in it. He didn't bother asking himself if someone like her was capable of sanctioning a murder, she was, a hundred and ten percent she was.

But if she'd been involved in it, why protect him? Why not allow the guards capture an easy suspect to save herself any future trouble? Unless she wanted something important from him? Again, he wondered if she already knew about him before this meeting.

"Fascination?" Adam said finally and shifted to lean sideways against a wall. "You know what I think is really fascinating... you." For the first time ever, he saw real emotion break through, surprise flashing across her face as his tone grew sharper, more cutting. She might be a queen, she might be beautiful and deadly, but he wasn't one of her subjects, and he didn't scare easily. Besides, he was too tired to keep walking on eggshells. "You've just heard the Hand is dead. Earlier, you pretended to be shocked, now it doesn't seem like it's even a concern. You don't even care that you might be speaking to his killer."

She hesitated for a moment. "Were you his killer?" she asked.

"I wish I was, but when I found him he was already dead," Adam answered honestly after a brief consideration. He knew that he'd just admitted to infiltrating the castle to kill the Hand of the King, but at this point he didn't think that it mattered. "Someone else beat me to it... probably someone here, in the castle." His gaze never wavered from hers as the words parted from his mouth, and it was enough to get the point across.

Another flash of surprise ran across her face as she caught his veiled accusation, but she quickly smoothed her expression back into a blank mask that revealed nothing at all of the thoughts going through her head. Adam's last words just floated unanswered in the air for a moment as she stared at him with those piercing eyes, just studying him, calculating, as though he was a new kind of human she'd never encountered before. Then, after several seconds of heavy, thoughtful silence, she found her voice once again.

"I'm quite surprised," she said slowly and tilted her head. "First, you pointed your sword at me, a grave offense. Many would have groveled and begged for forgiveness, but you did not. Instead, you carry on as though it were nothing." A faint, curious smile curved her lips. "And now you speak to me so casually, even going so far to accuse me of a horrible deed." Her eyes stayed on him, bright with interest rather than anger. "You are bold."

Adam shrugged at her words. "I'm full of surprises. Besides, I didn't accuse you of anything. I just don't think attending dinner parties is all you get up to."

She let out a soft, almost imperceptible laugh and leaned back into her seat. "Dinner parties, you say? They're delightful," she responded in a light voice. "You get to hear such interesting things... like a strange boy who's been causing all sorts of problems." She gave him a pointed look, her smile stretching just a little wider... only a little.

That answered his question, shedidknow about him before this meeting. The only thing left to figure out now was how. Given her utter lack of concern over the Hand's death, he doubted they had been friends or even allies. Maybe rivals? That would certainly explain how she could know about him by observing her competition, and it also gave more weight to his suspicion that she might have been the one to actually kill him.

"As for your insinuation," she continued, her voice still calm but now edged with a certain sharpness. "I had no hand in Lothar's death. He was a despicable worm, and I cared little for him, but crushing a single worm amounts to nothing when the rotting corpse that continuously breeds them still exists. Though, with how thoroughly he'd sullied himself, I always suspected his end would come soon enough. It was inevitable."

It was the first time she'd spoken without pretense, and he sensed it was a calculated return for his own open admission about sneaking into the castle to kill the Hand. Still, he believed her. A lie here would serve her no purpose.

"Do you know who killed him? What he was involved in?" Adam asked.

From the way she spoke, she obviously knew the answers to his questions. And the metaphor she'd chosen--worms, a rotting corpse--wasn't careless. It suggested that there was something larger festering just beneath the surface, something that had made the Hand what he was... perhaps even controlled him. It couldn't be the King. If everything Elsa had told him was correct, the man was weak, he had no interest whatsoever in ruling.

Several other possibilities raced through Adam's mind. It could be a cabal of corrupt nobles pulling strings from the shadows. The Knight Order? That might explain why Julius worked with the Hand, and there was also the Church, they had a lot of power in the kingdom.

"Perhaps," she replied to his question after a moment.

Adam frowned thoughtfully. "Perhaps?"

She gave no response to him, only smiled faintly and let the silence stretch between them as she began studying him again. Their brief exchange of honesty was over it seemed, and he realized then that she had been clever with what she revealed. She could have simply denied any involvement in the man's death, but she'd gone further, planting thoughts of an even larger conspiracy in his mind, enough to pique his curiosity, perhaps to draw him in.

Damn... she was good. Exactly what he'd always imagined queens to be.

Adam pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning against and moved toward the table where she was seated, resting his arms on the back of a chair as he leaned forward.

"What do you want from me?" Adam asked slowly.

"As I already told you, to satisfy my curiosity," she said. "You're quite fascinating."

"I don't doubt that," he said, the words coming out even, thoughtful. "But the Hand is dead, the same night I snuck into the castle. That makes me the obvious suspect, it doesn't matter whether I did or not, yet you're hiding me. If that's discovered, there'll likely be consequences, serious ones. You expect me to believe you're risking all that out of simple curiosity? Fascination?" He gave a small shake of his head. "I don't think so."

She tilted her head. "Then what do you think?" she asked.

"I think you want something," Adam answered carefully. "Something worth risking treason for. And right now, you're deciding whether I might help you get it."

There was a prolonged silence as she watched him with a cold stare. Adam knew he wasn't wrong in his assessment, she clearly wanted something. But as Queen, she probably preferred things to be more subtle, and he'd just called it out directly and openly.

"It seems you're not only bold, but clever as well," she replied. "You're right, I do want something. As for whether you might be of any help to me... we shall see."

"You don't even know me besides whatever you've heard."

"That is true," she said. "But it takes a rare kind of boldness to infiltrate a castle in attempt to murder the Hand of the King. Determination, as well. I admire that." Her gaze held his. "And your cleverness... you'd be surprised how uncommon that is."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not for hire," Adam responded. He had no interest in whatever political games were unfolding. There might be a larger conspiracy at work, but his fight had been with the King's Hand, and with the man dead, he hoped his troubles would end there so he could finally move on to more important things.

In the back of his mind, Adam knew it might not be that easy. If the Hand had truly been controlled, then whatever group had been pulling his strings would know about him, and they would know about the attacks, as well as all the people he cared for.

This might only end when they were all dead...

Either way, he wasn't about to work for her. They might share enemies--she clearly despised the shadowed group, referring to them as a rotting corpse, and that might be why she'd even hinted at it in the first place--but he didn't intend to become hers to command.

He wouldn't become her blade, if that was what she wished.

"As I said," she replied smoothly. "We shall see."

Why did that sound like he wouldn't have a choice?

"Tell me, why did you come this night to kill the Hand of the King?" she asked. "I am aware you caused complications for him, but what drove you to this?"

He hesitated. For someone who seemed to know so much, it was a bit surprising she didn't know everything, and he wasn't about to enlighten her now. If he revealed that the Hand had attacked those close to him, she might only latch onto the fact that he had people he cared for. It was like facing a shark in water, he felt as though she would smell his blood the moment he let anything slip. He couldn't drop his guard, not even for a second.

Adam shrugged. "He was evil, so I thought I'd do some public good."

"With how weary you seem," she said, eyes narrowing. "I'd wager it wasn't merely escaping the guards that wore you down. You were tired even before you set foot in the castle, and yet it didn't deter you. That kind of persistence is rarely born from just duty or justice alone. It's... emotional." Her voice dropped lower. "This was personal."

"Is it?" Adam asked, keeping his voice controlled while his mind fumed. She was too fucking intelligent. Nothing could slip past her.

She rose to her feet, and he straightened as she came to stand before him. She was shorter than he was, barely reaching below his shoulder, tilting her head back to meet his gaze. Standing close, her beauty hit him like a beam of light, he couldn't see a single flaw in her skin, not one imperfection. How could anyone be so... perfect?

"You do not trust me," she said, stating it as a fact rather than a question. "That is a wise decision. Truthfully, I would think less of you if you did. Still, know that I do not intend to become your enemy. And if you cannot believe my words, then believe my intent; I would gain nothing from it." Her voice was firm and steady as she spoke.

Adam heard her words, but they made no real impact. He couldn't bring himself to trust her at all. A warning echoed in his mind; never make a deal with the devil, not that he believed she was one. And yet... she gave the impression of someone who would stab him in the back without hesitation, then claim they didn't need to be enemies for her to kill him.

"If you don't intend to be my enemy, then what do you intend?"

She smiled softly. "Everything in due course," she said, then threw a glance toward the balcony door. "It seems things have finally settled down. You should return home and get some needed rest, but I'd like us to continue this conversation another time."

At her words, Adam calmed down and listened. The bells had really stopped tolling, and the rumble of guards rushing through the castle had ceased, but he'd been too engrossed in their conversation, too captivated by her, to notice anything. It seemed that as hard as he fought against the magnetic pull of her presence, he was still affected by it.

Adam glanced back at her. "I don't suppose you have a secret passage?" he asked.

"Nero," she called silently.

Shock gripped Adam as a hooded figure suddenly shimmered into existence behind the Queen, and as they drew back their hood, his shock deepened. It wasn't just a figure, it was a woman, or rather, an elf. The long ears protruding out of her cropped white hair clued him in immediately. But she wasn't anything like the "fair elven maidens" he'd read about in stories, or seen in the movies, no... she was different. Her skin was a smooth, ashen gray, almost metallic in the candlelight, and broken only by a thin scar that cut through one eyebrow. Her lips were a darker shade of the gray, same as her brows, and her eyes were a deep, piercing red he'd never imagined on a person, seeming to glow from within.

He knew that other races existed in this world. Lorelei was demi-human, Elliot as well, and he'd seen a few others about. But he was still astounded by the elf's presence, it was like it further drove in the reality that he was in a proper fantasy world. Her appearance was... he couldn't use beautiful, or even cute, the words felt too soft to describe her, though she was intensely good-looking. She was just striking, almost unreal, even as her features were twisted by the dark, near-murderous expression hardening her face.

Where had she come from? It was as if she'd just materialized out of thin air. Some kind of stealth skill? Like his own? No, he doubted it. The reaction of the men he had killed in the alley made that clear; they hadn't encountered anything like his ability. He simply ceased to exist, becoming a shadow that stretched wherever darkness fell. But hers... hers seemed different. She likely still existed, just slipped beyond the sight of ordinary eyes. He wondered if he would be able to sense her if he used shadow-warp... probably.

Either way, it was great he realized this. He was aware that there were other types of stealth abilities, but it was his first time seeing one. He could learn how it worked.

Adam turned his attention back to the Queen and caught her eyes on him, seeming a little pleased by his reaction. No wonder she had been so calm about the whole thing. She had never been vulnerable, not for a second. While he held a sword to her throat, there was a dagger aimed at his back the whole time. Did she have any more surprises?

"Nero is Dökkálfar, or Dark Elf," the Queen said as she returned to her seat. "Given how shocked you appear, I take it you haven't met one before?"

Adam shook his head. "No," he answered.

"I suppose that's not too strange, it's widely known that they don't tend to make too many friends. But Nero and I share a bit of history, and she's sworn herself to me."

"I see." Adam nodded, though he wondered why she was telling him.

"Nero, see that he leaves the castle safely," the Queen ordered.

The dark elf who had been standing silently and watching him the entire time with anger clear in her features, finally moved, giving a nod. "Yes, Your Majesty," she said, her voice light, and surprisingly softer than her appearance hinted. He hadn't expected it.

Adam murmured his thanks to the Queen and followed the elf across the chamber until she stopped at a shelf set against the wall. Despite her dainty size, she pushed, sliding the large structure aside to reveal a narrow door hidden behind it. Then, she pulled the door open, exposing the dark passage beyond and stepping inside without a word to him.