HER.

Watched as they all embraced each other and unimaginable fury burned in me.

That damn child ruins everything, everything in my life.

I should have killed her when I had the chance.

Now here she was throwing a wrench in my carefully crafted plans, plans I had painstakingly put together over the years.

“so, what are we going to do my lady?”

Ilchor asks turning away from the annoying tableau, “I told you to kill her when you had the chance, now she’s grown up and taking over, and a mighty fine young lady she is too.”

Ignoring the remark, I huff turning from the annoying sight as well, who knew she would be capable of freeing the High king?

I shouldn’t have used my blood to seal the sword, at least now I knew.

“he’s going to be looking for you.”

“who Rhysand? What would he do even if he finds me?”

“he is useless without his inner beast, he won’t do anything to me when I have control over Rhian.”

“but that’s just it, Sybil, you don’t," he says smugly.

I lash out clawing his face, “that’s my lady to you, and don’t you remind me that you were the one that failed me in the first place.”

“I…”

Before he gets a chance to defend himself, I cut him off, having glimpsed a very pleasant albeit unexpected surprise.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?” I ask almost giddy with joy as I stare up at the Bright king’s devastated face.

Ilchor and I are standing in the shadows close to the Thorne Academy Administration building, all our focus trained on the group in front of it, if not for the girl looking up, I wouldn’t have seen or sensed him, I was distracted, rookie mistake. The idea irks me more.

The idiot followed them here, and he let them escape.

He never learned, did he?

Maybe I’ve been going soft on him, but pushing a broken man too far was never a good idea though it seems that coddling him wasn’t cutting it.

I’ve got to appreciate the resilience in the man though, his mate was dead, by his hands, his former friends and family despise him, and the air he breathes and I’m pretty sure his sons plot his murder day in and day out, but he never breaks.

“Oh, you picked wrong Dary, I didn’t ask for much, but Meagan always wins in the end, well, not this time.” I finish off my whisper with a giggle.

I look at Ilchor just in time to see him mask his fear and it thrilled me, I smiled wider and watched ecstatic as he tried to collect himself.

I advance on him, pushing him against the wall, “you picked right, didn’t you love? You wouldn’t leave me for anyone better, would you? I ask hands on his throat, razor-sharp nails dancing on his jugular.

He visibly swallows, tremors out of control, call me crazy but I loved it when a powerful man, was reduced to trembling because of me.

But now wasn't the time, despite how thrilling tormenting him would prove to be.

Looking back on the group, I find nothing, they must have gone inside.

The wards at the entrance are reinforced so I can’t follow them inside, bummer.

“We’d have to wait for them out here,” Ilchor says still grabbing his throat.

“I know that captain obvious,” the man had the brain cells of an emu, sometimes I wonder why I kept him around, but every queen needs minions, and he was the captain of mine.

It seems we didn’t have to wait long, the girl in question walks out huffing her face red if that was even possible with her colouring, she didn’t get it from me that’s for sure.

She stomps past us not even bothering to look around, amateur.

“What did they tell her in there?” Ilchor muses and I can’t help but wonder the same.

The girl huffs halfway across the quad, and I can’t help but scoff, is this what was attractive these days? She wasn’t fit, nor did she move with grace, how in the world did she enchant everyone?

A scream jolts me from my thoughts and I watch agape, as a colourful tiny creature comes tumbling towards the girl half-flying half-walking arms outstretched.

“Mama!”

Ilchor and I grind to a halt at the entrance to a black building watching everything unfold in front of us.

I watch fascinated as the girl's face crumples and she falls to her knees grabbing the thing close to her bosom and smothering it.

“is that a child?”

See why he’s an emu?

She starts full-on sobbing just as a group of very beautiful males tumble out after the child, the one on the lead looking quite like Khalil Rathe, the reigning monarch of faery. The surprises keep on coming.

Ryder had not told me that the girl had a child, who by the looks of it was her biological offspring, I could see the resemblance.

“Looks like a rainbow farted on the kid,” Ilchor says still staring, but he wasn’t staring at the kid, he was staring at its mother, his comment meant to fool me.

All these males forget that I see all and he cannot hide the hunger in his eyes when he stares at the girl.

After the tearful embrace, the group trudges back inside, with the boys herding around the girl like a pack of overprotective mama bears, it infuriated me, I deserved that kind of attention too and I was going to get it.

“I’ve seen enough, let’s go back.” I say turning to leave, “we have a few people to punish back home and a lot more pain for the girl to plan, and I think I have an idea where to start,” I grin picturing the colourful child.

The answering psychotic grin on Ilchor’s face reminds me why I keep him around, he was a monster to complement mine.

We walk towards the barrier careful to avoid any eyes since I couldn’t keep the veil up for long, and I hadn’t fed in hours, but before we could jump through the portal, a group of voices reaches us, with the loudest being annoyingly shrill.

“I don’t get it, what does she have that I don’t?”

“why do they care for her so damn much, I’m the one who should be there, the one who should be living next to him!”

“I had she came back with them, Keon and Killian,” a different voice pipes up as they come into view.

I dredge up the last of my energy and lift the veil again too intrigued to leave.

Five girls come into view, with the one in the middle, whom I assume is the shrill one, surrounded by the est.

“Ah, another beautiful queen and her not-as-beautiful minions,” I mutter.

“Shut up Ashley,” one minion shushes the other, “that isn’t helping!”

“Argh! I would literally do anything to make her disappear so that things go back to the way they’re supposed to be! Anything!" shrilly shrieks again stomping her foot, such a child, but what a useful one she would be.

“Now, now child," I say dropping the veil and advancing on the girls, who scream and scoot back with wide eyes, “there’s no reason to throw a tantrum, how about I help you get rid of the pesky pest.”

I grin as I watch the girl overcome her fear and lets her greed and jealousy take over.

This will turn out to be way simpler than I imagined, and I wouldn’t even need to get my hands dirty.

“Now, beautiful,” I pause watching as she preens at the compliment, so easy, I inwardly scoff, “tell me all about this pest.”

“Who are you?” she asks trembling and trying to hide it.

“Me? I’m your faery godmother,” I answer with a shit-eating grin.