plsjustpretendimnothere

[plsjustpretendimnothere]

A Game of Shadows

Chapter 004

Chapter 003

The mask was safe, Azriel told himself. They could sleep a little easier at night knowing the Queens would never be able to wield it, not while it was safeguarded by himself and the rest of the Inner Circle. What Azriel couldn’t figure out was where the female had come from.

The group had disbanded as Cassian steered Nesta away proclaiming she needed rest. Azriel though stayed behind as he watched Rhysand pace deep in thought. Azriel leaned against the wall, arms crossed tightly at his chest as he contemplated on telling Rhysand about her; the High Fae female who can wield shadows working for the Queens.

He recalled flying through the clouds with Cassian and Nesta when his shadows tugged at him, urging him to fly lower. The fog and mist were so thick that he could hardly see until he broke through them, searching for what caused his shadows to set off an alarm.

He was no more than ten feet in the sky when he saw her there, about fifty yards away, shadows exploding from her as he made eye contact with her. He didn’t miss the disbelief on her face, mouth slightly ajar, her bright blue eyes widened as she placed him from the throne room, and how her hand trembled slightly as she readjusted her grip on her spear. 

Inexperienced. He thought, but he had to give it to her, she stood her ground when he turned for her. But bravery will get you nowhere without seasoned training.

“Azriel?” Rhysand asked as he came into view. “Is there something else?” 

He kept his expression cool, stoic even. “No,” he said shaking his head, dropping arms to his side and kicking off the wall. “Just thinking about what the kelpie said.” There was no reason to tell Rhysand now, not when there were still too many unanswered questions. No, he would only tell him when he could answer more questions than Rhysand could ask.

Rhysand nodded in understanding. “I need you to watch them, Azriel.” He said calmly. “But I need you to do it at a distance. I can’t risk you falling under the same spell as the men downstairs.”

Azriel gave a curt nod.  “Understood, I’ll be careful.” He said, voice rough. “I’ll see you in a few days.” As he turned and let himself be enveloped by his shadows.

He winnowed back into the Bog of Oorid, the atmosphere worse than before now that he knew what sort of creatures lurked beneath its waters. He hovered overhead but found no trace of the female behind the large rock she had taken to hiding behind before.

Find her, he said to his shadows and immediately they whispered back that she had gone south.

Azriel raised himself higher into the sky, breaking past the clouds as he let his shadows guide him to her. It wasn’t until near dawn before he found her huddled in a cave near the border of the Middle and Winter Court. Easing himself to the ground, he unsheathed Truth-Teller from his back and took silent steps blocking the mouth of the cave.

“Found you,” he growled, fist tightening around the hilt of the sword.

Maslynna jolted up, spear in hand as she lunged for him. Azriel caught the flimsy piece of wood, pulling it from her hands and breaking it over his knee before tossing it into the sputtering fire. Her face fell into a look of disbelief for just a moment before her eyes narrowed and her upper lip curled back into a snarl.

He leisurely stepped into the cave forcing her to retreat until she could go no farther, chest heaving. She quickly calculated her options, but between the roaring fire to her left and his massive wingspan blocking the mouth of the cave, she knew she had little to no chance of escaping without a fight.

He took a deep inhale as he stood sword-length away from her and Maslynna wasn’t sure if it was the fire’s golden light dancing on his face or the pure hatred expression on his face that turned his hazel eye molten.

“What are you?” He asked examining her from head to toe.

She blinked up at him. If she wasn’t so petrified of him she may have been able to appreciate his raw beauty. “What do you mean?” She managed.

Azriel scoffed. “How are you able to steal shadows?” He asked as his shadows curled around his arms ready to strike.

“I was born with them,” Maslynna answered with a shaky breath. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She had been born with them, with this new body of hers. “Weren’t you?”

He hissed at her then. “Liar,” he seethed. “I can smell it on you. You wreck of lies and deceit. I know it was you who tried to steal my shadows that day in the throne room. I could feel you pulling on them with everything you had.”

Maslynna felt her cheeks flush in anger. “I didn’t try and steal them!” She gritted out through barred teeth. “I thought they were mine.”

Azriel stared at her when his shadows whispered to him truth.

“How old are you?” She asked catching him off guard.

He looked back at her incredulously. “What?”

“How old are you? I thought the last shadowsinger died 750 years ago.” Azriel noticed how she relaxed as she asked, her shadows cautiously reaching out to his.

Azriel gritted his teeth. “And who told you that? The Queens?” He knew he was right when she flinched. “Why are you working for them anyway?”

Silence. Her eyes drifted down as her fingers wrestled at her waist.

“Nothing to say for yourself?” He snapped as he grabbed ahold of her arm tightly and pulled her towards him.

She yanked her arm back and free of his grasp as he lunged for her. Maslynna dropped down to a squat and used the dagger from earlier to slice across his shins in one quick clean sweep causing Azriel to stumble. She used that to her advantage and kicked him in the shoulder so he fell backward while she made a run for it.

Azriel cursed out loud and turned on his side, using his shadows to pull him back to him, his wings wrapping around them as a cocoon as he winnowed them to the dungeons of Hewn City.

—

It was easy enough to chain her to the chair in the dungeon as she seemed to be in a daze. With the final click in place, Azriel sauntered over to his workbench, lifting a tool to the light and examining it. 

“It’s warded,” he said as he heard her stirring. “So don’t even think about trying to escape. You’ll just make it worse for yourself.”

Maslynna raised her eyes and watched as he sharpened one of the knives before running a finger over the blade. “Are you going to kill me?” She asked sharply.

“Whether you live or not depends entirely on you.” He said cooly from over his shoulder before walking back to the female in the chair. “I have questions, and you have answers.” 

“What’s your name?” She asked nonchalantly, eyes stark as she ran her eyes over him and settled on the blade in his grasp. "What happened to your hands?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I’m the one asking the questions here, and I don’t see how knowing my name or anything else about me is going to help you.” Azriel knelt down in front of her and grimaced at her scent. “First, why were you in the Bog of Oorid?” 

Maslynna huffed a stray piece of hair out from her face as she flowered at him. “I was searching for something.”

Azriel felt himself blanch but composed himself before she could notice. So the Queens were after the mask. “What were you looking for?” He demanded as he ran the knife across her shins where she had sliced him.

She squirmed as the cool blade dug into her skin. “I don’t know.” She felt the blade kiss harder into her skin, her shadows racing down her legs and swarming him to stop.

Azriel pulled back the knife suddenly. Truth, his shadows whispered hurriedly. Truth truth truth. 

He stood from his spot and circled around her, dragging the knife along her arms and shoulders, noting how she shivered at the contact. “But the Queens did send you?”

Maslynna nodded, the blade running over the tattoos of her old scars from when. Briallyn had cut her for sacrifice. Her stomach rolled with nausea at the memory and she urged it to stay out. “They said they wanted to test me like before.”

Interesting, Azriel thought. “In what ways have they tested you before?”

“They had me find a crown they had placed in the palace.” She said and turned to look at him as he dug the tip of the knife into her throat. “I take it you’re pleased with my answers so far?” She spat.

He opted to ignore her baiting. “Was a Queen wearing the crown when they set you on this mission?”

She nodded solemnly. “Yes, she was.”

Azriel flinched and withdrew the knife, walking back to the workbench so he could process the information. “The men,” he asked as he played a cool air of indifference, examining a pair of tongs and before sticking them into the fire until they burned bright orange. “What did you guys talk about on the mission?”

“Nothing,” she said simply. Azriel turned around and saw that she had been watching him. “They never spoke. Not to me, not to each other. It was weird, I don’t think they really even slept or ate the entire journey.”

“Why were those men of Autumn acting strange but you aren’t?”

Maslynna shrugged. “When I was brought to the throne room I felt something coming off the crown. My shadows raced to my head and squeezed and told me to do as they say.” 

Azriel stared at her unblinking. Had her shadows been able to protect her from the crown’s influence? “Why are you working for them?” He asked.

Maslynna felt herself grimace. “I didn’t have a choice.”

He felt his stomach drop at her confession and worked up the courage to ask her his next question. “Were you born Fae?” 

Azriel had killed plenty of monsters in his long life, and he had never felt any sort of remorse for what he had done in his line of duty, that is until he watched her face crumble and the female struggle to hold back her sob.

“No,” she gasped. She had spent so long of her life trying to survive that she never had the time to dwell on what had become of her, never had to admit it to herself until now, and it hurt her heart.

Gods, he thought. They had her made. But he couldn’t show how it affected him. “Why did they choose you?” He resorted to asking. He wouldn’t get into the specifics, not today.

Maslynna’s vision blurred as she fought her tears from spilling over. “I don’t know,” she lied unsure if she had even convinced herself, let alone him.

Azriel walked back to his workbench and set the tongs down, bracing his hands on the stained wood and cooled his breathing. He remembered how Elaine and Nesta struggled, still struggled with adapting to their new bodies and this new world, and a small piece of him pitied the girl in his dungeon more than he would like to admit.

He turned and sat back on the bench, arms crossed against his chest and jaw tight as he let her get her emotions out. It wasn’t until her breathing settled and her cries turned to sniffles that he approached her again.

“Unfortunately for you, I think I have great use for you.” He said in the most unthreatening voice he could muster while still being stern. “I need to know what’s going on in that palace, but I cannot step foot near it. You will have to be my eyes and ears.”

She looked up at him with red eyes and shiny cheeks, her skin splotchy from crying.  “And if I don’t?” She asked angrily. She was tired of being used by others, being told what she can and cannot do.

Azriel chuckled as he pulled her dagger from his pocket and lifted it to her throat. “Then I’ll make it so you’ll regret not slicing your throat in the Bog of Oorid yourself.”

<>

So happy Azriel and Maslynna finally met, even though it wasn't the kind of meeting we were hoping for. I won't be posting for the next few days, but I will def. be mentally planning the next chapter. :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tag list:  @tele86 @quiet-because-it-is-a-secret

[plsjustpretendimnothere]

A Game of Shadows

Chapter 003

Chapter 002

She tightened the laces of her boots as the guards rounded the corner to her cell door, the keys that hung from their belts clinked and clanked as they marched at a fast pace, footsteps heavy as they came to collect her at the Queen’s command. She had heard murmurs of them sending her out of the palace walls. Still, she wasn’t given any information, just a new set of clothing and an extra portion of slop for breakfast. 

They shackled her arms and legs as she left the dungeons and escorted her to the throne room where the Queens were waiting, Maslynna noticing a humming sensation radiating through her, drawing her attention to the crown they had asked her shadows to find, sat snuggly atop Briallyn’s head.

She stopped short of where the guards ushered her, hesitant to walk closer as the intensity of the humming increased. Briallyn smiled down at her from the dias all too easily, but it was not a smile that was endearing. No, it was laced with malice.

“Don’t you look better,” Briallyn started. “Not too bad looking once you’ve bathed and gotten a new pair of clothing.” She stared at Maslynna expectedly.

Maslynna felt something rippling her way from the Queen as her shadows rose to her head, squeezing tight and urging her to do what they said. They had never commanded her before, and the urgency in how they tightened caused her to flinch.

She blinked and forced a smile she hoped was believable before giving a bow. “Thank you, my Queen.” She stood back straight and asked in the affable tone she could muster, “How can I be of service?”

Briallyn smirked and glanced at the other Queens, nodding. “We have heard of your improvements with training and we have another test for you.” Maslynna blinked but kept her feelings of apprehension to herself. “You will go beyond The Wall to an area called The Middle. There, we have hidden something. Retrieve it and bring it back to us.”

Composure her shadows whispered.

“As you wish,” she said in coolness as her heart pounded against her chest.

Briallyn sank back on her throne, satisfied. “We have ordered some of the High Lord’s men to accompany you, to ensure your safety, of course.”

 Maslynna could taste the lie herself as it rolled from the Queen’s tongue, but she forced herself to give a polite nod. “Thank you, my Queen.”

“You will of course have to leave rather immediately, the journey to The Middle is quite far.” The Queen said in feigned dejection.  “Of course,” she said giving a bow to dismiss herself, turning on her heel to leave.

Maslynna kept her pace even though her legs were burning to sprint from the room. She had heard stories of what lay beyond The Wall, the sort of creatures that feasted on flesh and blood. She did not care if the Queen was having her babysat as they threw another test at her, she would find a way out even if it killed her.

She would leave. She would flee in the middle of the night and run as fast and as far as she could before she was caught, preferably before they reached The Wall. Both sides were dangerous, but she knew what enemies she would face in the Mortal Lands, and with her new strength she stood a chance.

“But!” Briallyn said after Maslynna had walked half the distance to the double doors. “We have one last order of business before you head out.” And Maslynna heard the Queen walking from the dias.

She turned back to face the Queen and waited until they stood inches apart. “I expect great things from you, Maslynna.” She said offering her hands and Maslynna had no choice but to place hers into the Queen’s palms. “I want to ensure our mutual success, with an oath.”

Maslynna watched as the Queen dropped a hand, taking a dagger from a guard at her side, turning over Maslynna’s hand before slicing a line into it. The Queen hummed before turning the knife onto herself and cutting open her palm as well.

“Come back to me,” she said lowly enough for just them to hear. “Do not try to run. Do not try to kill yourself. Do not lie to me. You are to serve me. Do you swear it?” She asked staring into Maslynna’s eyes for any hint of objection.

But Maslynna couldn’t deny the Queen, her shadows had ensured that when she first walked into the throne room. She was to play along in the Queen’s submission, but now she was to be sworn into a blood oath to keep up her initial lie.

Maslynna felt she was going to be sick on the Queen’s shows as she angled her hand towards the Queen and firmly grasped it, intertwining their blood and solidifying the oath. She was stuck. Any hope she had of escaping was squashed and hatred filled her veins. The Queen always knew. Was one step ahead somehow.

“I swear it,” Maslynna breathed as she fought to keep herself together. She needed to leave before the adrenaline took over and her facade broke.

“Good,” Briallyn said smiling widely. “You are free to go.”

With one last bow, Maslynna left the throne room. —

It had taken three weeks of walking for Maslynna and the men of Autumn to reach The Middle where the Queens had hidden another object for her to seek out. 

Maslynna didn’t know what she expected for their journey north, but it certainly hadn’t been that. The men hardly spoke to each other, and not a word to her, not that she necessarily sought them out either. Maybe that was part of the test, for her to go in completely blind and prove herself.

Despite the lack of communication between the soldiers, they knew how to work together when it mattered. One night as Maslynna stared up at the night sky waiting for sleep to take her she heard rustling from the other side of the camp. Sitting up she reached for the spear she had fastened on their journey and saw as a figure clocked by the darkness slithered into their camp. 

At once all of the men sprang from their positions on the ground and fought the creature. Maslynna noticed its scales for skin and snakelike body as it used its tail to trip the men as it made its way farther into camp, high-pitched hisses emitted from it as it was overwhelmed and taken down.

Maslynna watched in awe of the men when she felt something wrap around her ankle, too warm to be one of her shadows. Gripping her spear tighter she turned and threw the spear up and into the opened mouth of a second creature, its razor-sharp teeth and forked tongue close enough to her face she could see the life leave its eyes.

“What are these things?” She demanded from the men as they cleaned the blood from their swords and resumed their position on the ground, falling asleep as if they hadn’t heard her.

She gawked at them in disbelief. If the men were this unfazed by these creatures what other monsters exist out here? She shuddered at the thought and glared down at her sulking shadows.

Sorry, they seemed to say. It won’t happen again.

The first thing she noticed when they reached The Middle was how thick the air was. The heat was stifling but the moisture in the air suffocated her skin preventing her sweat from breaking and cooling her, so her shadows had taken the liberty of covering her to block out the sun. The second was how quiet it was. But it was not a calming quiet. No, it was eerie.

Maslynna walked towards the edge of the bog, its water so black her reflection was projected back to her. Her face was gaunt, but her eyes were filled with more life in them than she had anticipated, the blue striking. And her skin, much healthier looking and tanned than it should be for someone who spent most of their time stuck indoors. She turned her head and pulled back her mousey brown hair to reveal the pointed ears she toyed with at night. She knew she should be shocked, but she was taught enough about the fae growing up that her heightened senses and strength meant she was turned fae by the cauldron. 

She saw the pointed ears that she toyed with at night and noticed how her neck was more elongated, her lips fuller. Her shadows had told her she was beautiful, but this was the first time she truly got to see herself, her new self. 

“Is it in the water then?” She asked as she turned to the men, but they ignored her and did not so much as look in her direction. “Cool, thanks for the help.” She muttered under her breath as she dragged a hand threw her mousy brown hair and looked out into the swamp.

She had been searching for hours by the time she decided it was time for a break and lounged around a fallen tree, chugging her water as the sun beat down on her between the clouds. She hadn’t necessarily wanted to start searching in the water, but seeing as there was nowhere else on land for the object to be, she knew she would have to make the plunge soon if she were to go back to the Mortal Lands.

Maslynna laid back on the log and closed her eyes as exhaustion crept up on her. She would rest for just a minute and then resume the search she told herself as a gentle wind blew a cloud overhead, the cool breeze against her hot skin caused a ripple of goosebumps to appear and send a shiver down her spine when she felt it.

She sat up quickly as she noticed the faint vibration thrumming through her body. She knew it had to be the object the Queens had sent her to retrieve as it mirrored the vibration of the crown, calling her to bring it home. Maslynna stood and turned in the direction she felt tugging her the hardest and she took quick steps, the desperation of its longing overwhelming her.

She raced in its direction when she heard the men moving, unsheathing their swords and getting into their battle formation. Maslynna stopped and studied them when she heard what got their attention, a beating sound from above. 

Her shadows jolted outwards and moved sporadically around her before she saw a pulse of blue in the clouds. She watched as a shadow moved within the cloud, the blue flashing getting brighter the lower it flew towards them. An outline of wings appeared from the clouds as they carried the creature forward and she realized it had been the flapping they had heard.

She glanced at the men and saw they had knocked their arrows, ready to strike when the shot was clear. She turned back to the creature and her mouth fell ajar as it fully came into view and she noticed a man attached to the wings.

But not just any man. It was the man from the throne room. 

He was flying low enough she could see his eyes scanning the swamp, concentration etched into his jaw and brows as if he too was searching for something, her shadows exploded around her when his eyes found her.

His wings stopped and took smaller beats to hover him in the air as he stared at her. He recognized her, she realized, when his expression soured and he turned to fly towards her. Maslynna reached for her spear, ready to defend herself if needed when an arrow shot through the air and struck his left wing. 

Her shadows became erratic, swirling in the air and rushing towards his direction as he spiraled towards the ground, teeth gritted in pain.

He landed roughly but was able to stand in time to meet the onslaught of the Autumn’s Court men. Maslynna stood paralyzed as she watched him easily cut down the first few men even with his wing limp, the blue beacon on his suit blazing.

She didn’t even hear the second one coming. One second she felt bile rise in her throat as he was quickly becoming outnumbered and she feared she truly would become alone in this world when a flash of red fell out of the sky and began cutting down the men of Autumn in a fit of rage, the quietness of the swamp replaced with the screams of dying men.

He looked at her then, his sword piercing into the gut of one of the soldiers, buried to the hilt and exiting through the back. He pulled it from the man in a quick motion as if it was a threat. The same fate awaited her.

The second one; the one with longer hair and whose leather suit gleamed a red so bright it envied the sun, followed his line of sight. He would see her. They could see her through her shadows and they would know she would be next.

A voice in the back of her mind screamed at her to run, to flee before the rest of the soldiers fell and the two winged men would turn to her and cut her down where she stood, but her feet would not budge, so she watched as they made quick work of the men until there was only two were left.

The one in red looked past her, confusion knitted his brows together as he wielded his sword over his head and cut down a man's head cleanly from his shoulders with little more than a grunt.

It was then that her body finally caught up to her brain and she backed away and hid behind a large rock in a small patch of dense trees, just her eyes peering over to continue watching. The two men talked, the one with shadows like her bound the remaining men as he glared at her, letting her know she could hide all she wanted, but he would always find her.

Maslynna’s hands trembled and she reached for the small dagger she had stolen from one of the men the night before, ready to slit her own throat before allowing herself to fall to the hands of another. She pressed the dagger to her throat and willed herself to cut, but the oath she swore to Queen Briallyn prevented her from dragging the blade across her throat.

The second one launched from the sky in a hurry without looking back. The one with hazel eyes filled with hate stayed a second longer, eyes boring into her before flapping his wings and taking to the sky following the direction of his companion. 

<>

Whew! Wasn't sure I was going to get one out tonight, but here it is. If you are like me and like to have a visual aid to picture characters, my pfp is how I envision Maslynna.

Tagged: @tele86 @quiet-because-it-is-a-secret

Chapter 004

[plsjustpretendimnothere]

A Game of Shadows

Chapter 002

Chapter 001

The guards led her into the throne room where the Queens were waiting, her wrists and ankles bonded in metal chains for safety precautions as a metal sword dug into her back, edging her through the double doors and at the Dias where the Queens were sitting.

Briallyn sat up a little straighter, her interest piqued as Maslynna bowed before her. “Well?” She asked looking for the head scholar and captain of the royal guards. “What is there to report of her progress?” Briallyn demanded.

From her left the feeble old man hobbled forward a few steps, nodding his submission before speaking. “We have scoured our resources and have little more about the nature of shadowsingers my Queen. As you well know they are extremely rare, and I would presume if any more literature exists, it would be beyond the wall.”

The Queens looked down on him in disgust. “You mean to tell us,” another Queen spoke from the far edge of the thrones. “You’ve learned nothing more about their powers and capabilities?” 

The man shook his head in mournful defeat. “Nothing we do not already know.”

“Do we know how many shadowsingers currently exist?” Another Queen asked.

Maslynna noticed from the corner of her eye as the old man wrung his hands together nervously. “Our records indicate there hasn’t been a shadowsinger in over 750 years.”

Briallyn clicked her tongue in displeasure. “Pity,” she sighed. “See to it that we keep thorough records of this one.” She said nodding in the direction of Maslynna who kept her head bowed to the floor.

“Of course my Queen.” The old man said with another bow. “My apprentice has already started detailing her progress and our observations.”

Briallyn gave a curt nod in dismal before turning to face the middle-aged man to Maslynna’s right who took the silence as his invitation to step forward and report on her training.

“My Queens,” he started with a low bow.  “Her strength continues to improve every day. Quick and clever, I think she’d be a formidable opponent with continued proper training.” 

Masylnna’s lip curled in disgust. They took her life and manipulated it how they saw fit. First a prisoner then a sacrifice and now something to weaponize. She was to be their slave.

“How long,” a Queen asked. “Until she is ready?”

Maslynna could feel the captain looking her over. Assessing her. Judging her. Picking apart her strengths and weaknesses and valuing her to their cause. “A few more years, I would think.”

The Queen laughed as if what he said was the most absurd thing she had ever heard. “Captain,” she started as she leaned forward in her chair. “We do not have a few years. She needs to be ready in a matter of weeks.”

The captain stood straighter. “I understand, but as we do not know the extent of her —abilities, it is difficult to assess if she has reached her true potential. If we had more research, more time, I may be able to train her efficiently.”

“Do you not think you are capable of doing your job, Captain?” The third Queen asked eyebrows raised in question. “Perhaps we have no more use for you and find a replacement.”

The man flinched and Maslynna held her breath. The captain was cruel to her, all of them were cruel to her, but she knew him. She studied him while they trained and knew how to read him like a book. Starting off with a new and potentially crueler captain had her stomach twisting in knots. 

“That’s not what I meant,” he stuttered. “I’m a mere human tasked with training this thing.” He hissed. “We need the scholars to come up with more information.”

The two men began to bicker, throwing blame on the other in fear the Queens would find them lacking and have them released from their post, or worse, executed. Maslynna reveled in the disarray as the tension between the two men escalated, the shadows confined beneath her robes edging out from the tool and flickered excitedly as the giddiness inside her swelled.

“Enough,” Briallyn said raising a hand causing the two men to freeze. “I do not intend to send her into battle on the front line. In due time we may need her, but for now, she has more value in her other skills. How is she with wielding her shadows?” She asked.

The scholar and captain looked at each other, calling a truce. “The most comprehensive of her skills so far.” The captain said as the scholar nodded in agreement. “Allow her to demonstrate for you.”

The sword at her back turned harshly, demanding her to look up for the first time since entering the room. The Queens looked down at her expectantly, Briallyn nodding her head towards a corner at their left. Maslynna looked to where they wanted her to go before flicking her attention back at the three Queens, using her hands to pull her gown high enough to show off the chains that bound to her.

“It’s faster and easier for me to move when my steps aren’t limited,” she said coyly. “I know you are all eager to see my progress.”

The other Queens looked amongst each other nervously before looking to Briallyn to decide, the leader nodding to the guards behind Maslynna to unshackle her feet. Maslynna thanked the man quietly as she stretched her ankles in a roll, flexing her toes as she glided to the corner, the shadows taking care to stay hidden under the fabric of her dress and robes.

She turned on her heel and faced out into the open throne room, pulling on the shadows from the corner to cover her in darkness, the Queens murmuring amongst themselves as she disappeared from sight. Her shadows used the opportunity of darkness to caress her neck and face soothingly.

“Girl,” the Queen to the left of Briallyn said. “We have hidden a crown within the palace. Use your shadows to find it and tell us the location.”

Maslynna mentally called on the shadows within the palace to search the rooms and report back whether the object was hidden within. Within mere seconds the shadows whispered in her ear that the crown the Queens had hidden was stashed away in a crate in a forgotten storage room on the third floor.

Her whispers gushed over the design of the crown, minimal in design, the golden crown brandished with spikes elongated around the perimeter. Her shadows thought it was a shame it was locked away, abandoned as if longed to be returned to its rightful owner.

“In a box on the third floor,” Maslynna repeated, describing the crown as her shadows described.

“Very good,” Briallyn said indicating she had seen enough and was satisfied with the results. Maslynna pulled the shadows back and stepped forward with a subtle nod before the guards came forward and secured her once more. “I want you both to continue training with her. We are to meet with the high Lord of Autumn at the end of the week and her shadows will be invaluable to us then.”

Maslynna, the scholar, and the captain of the guard all bowed to the Queens upon their dismal, making for the spare stables they had been using to practice and hone her shadow's powers. 

—

After five days it was time for the mortal Queens to meet with the High Lord of Autumn. Tensions were high as the palace staff waited for their guest's arrival. Briallyn had briefed the scholar and captain on the specifics of of her training for the meeting, so they pushed her and her shadows to the limits harder, and longer, than they had the past three months since she was pulled from the cauldron.

At first, her shadows were contained to her, just swirling and snaking their way over her body, exploring. As days passed the length at which she could wield her shadows expanded from within the room, to rooms next door, until today where she could command the shadows within the property of the palace. It had taken months of trial and error to get to where she was now. And if she wasn’t with the scholar wielding her shadows, she was with the captain learning to wield weapons. 

She quickly out-mastered him once she regained her strength thanks to her new fae body, but that didn’t deter the captain from playing dirty and throwing soldier after soldier at her until she was overwhelmed and on the brink of unconsciousness. 

The Queens though demanded more of her. They knew the tales of the power shadowsingers held and were greedily waiting to utilize that power for themselves. What they did not realize was that the shadows slithering along Maslynna’s skin had a mind of their own and would not so easily be wielded by anyone other than her. They were loyal to her and her alone, given to her by the cauldron itself.

Late at night, she would often light a candle and just watch them play in the light. At first, the shadows had terrified her and she tried to scratch them out of her skin with bare hands until chunks of flesh were lodged underneath her fingernails. But then at night, as she lay in the cellar, the shadows would come out and fuss over her, soothing and caressing her, comforting her in her darkest time, and she came to appreciate them.

 When she was alone they liked to come out and explore, but when they sensed danger, they coiled back to her body like a snake and whispered to her. They protected her, and while she didn’t fully understand them, she would stay up late into the night practicing her ability with them on her own and uncovered more of her ability than she would let on to her captures. 

So here Maslynna stood, in the corner of the throne room off to the side of the Queens chairs, wrapped in her shadows waiting for the High Lord of Autumn and his men. She was instructed to use her shadows and keep track of all of the High Lord’s men said and did during the meeting, as even though they were allies, there was little trust amongst the two groups.

She was notified that the court had arrived when her shadows rushed back and banded around her body updating her on their movements. She looked between the door and the Queens sitting on the dias, drawing more shadows in to cover herself in them until she became invisible.

Nothing of interest was being said by the fae warriors and it calmed her that they stayed within the palace rather than snooping around the palace and its grounds. It didn’t take long for the meeting to be underway when the High Lord stepped into the throne room, neither side keen on exchanging pleasantries. 

A shadow tightened around her arm, tugging on it gently to get her attention but Maslynna couldn’t look away as the situation between the Queens and the High Lord became more heated. The Queens still did not trust the High Lord and informed him they would need a great number of his men to carry out a task if he was truly their ally. The High Lord of course objected, his voice raising in pitch with each word he said back.

The shadows tugged headers, lifting her hand and dropping it at her side before swirling around her face, obscuring her vision. She blinked rapidly before noticing how frenzied her shadows were racing around her.

What is it? She asked them as they whispered to her where to look. Her gut twisted as she followed, eyes catching on a man in the opposite corner on the far side of the room. He was so tall that she knew he would tower over her even all the way from where she stood, tan skin kissed by sunlight and hair black as night. He was staring at her as if she were a ghost, his hazel eyes unmoving as she took in his wings and tracked the shadows swirling around him.

Her skin pricked as her blood chilled. Never had her shadows done something so blatant as roaming around another person. She tugged on the mental leash and wielded them to return to her and she grew frustrated as they seemed to coil around the man tighter, darkening into the blackest of tattoos.

She held his hazel eyes as his turned hostile from her tugging on his shadows, her shadows whispering one of us into her ear, and Maslynna’s lungs began drawing in deeper breaths as the realization dawned on her; she was not alone in this world, and the thought scared her more than she had been when the cauldron spoke to her.

The Queen's guards threw out their swords and shouting rang through the room as the Lord of Autumn advanced towards the dias. Maslynna’s attention snapped towards the High Lord as he knelt before them, her eyes quick to snap back to the spot where the stranger stood but, he was gone.

Part 003

[plsjustpretendimnothere]

A Game of Shadows

Chapter 001

Nothing was going to deter the Mortal Queens from becoming High Fae. With a new plan and a new secret weapon, they are determined to level the playing field when it comes to learning the secrets of the masterminds in Prythian and the Night Court.

All rights go to SJM. The only character I claim as my own is the female lead. This story will contain mature and graphic(death, depression, gore *will add more as they arise*) literature that may be disturbing for some people.

Frenzied and hushed chattering could be heard descending the staircase and unto the dank cobblestone landing that led into the dungeon. Sets of multiple hurried footsteps made their way down the long hallway, the voices becoming more discernible as they approached her cell. They were women, their voices higher pitched than any of the guards who usually patrolled the musty ward.

Maslynna sat on the floor in her cell, the words the women were speaking drifting into her ears but she did not process what they were saying. Her legs were pulled tightly to her chest, her right arm wrapped around the front of her waist, and her left hand rested on the stained cotton blanket they gave her when she first arrived. She stared off absently eyes gazing over towards the cell door where the shadows of the torch outside in the hallway danced with the floor through the gaps on her ironed barred door.

“How can you be so sure?” One of the female voices questioned. “It worked for the two Acheron girls but not for one of us.”

Maslynna lifted her eyes as the group of women stopped outside her cell. Eighteen months. They had her thrown in and forgotten about her as she all but withered away from starvation, the air so cold it seeped into the watery stone flooring, freezing her to the bone. 

“The second sister took power, upsetting the balance of the cauldron. I believe if we were to offer a blood sacrifice, it may be enough to restore the power and appease the cauldron.” The one closest to the door said peering in, her eyes bright with vengeance despite the skin surrounding them littered with wrinkles.

“But Briallyn,” another voice started. “To restore that amount of magical power would require more blood than what a single human could sacrifice without losing their life.”

Maslynna’s eyelids drooped closed and her head dipped to her chest, too exhausted to remain awake. She had been too weak to even stand for the past three months, her pants long soiled causing the small cell to become foul to everyone who did not have to endure the smell at all hours of the day.

The leader, Briallyn, fumbled with the lock to Maslynna’s door. The hinges groaned as it was thrown open and the group of women rushed forward, turning their nose up at the sight and smell of her. “Don’t think I haven’t considered that.” She snapped over her shoulder as she came to kneel in front of Maslynna.

Fingers threaded themselves through her hair, wrenching her head back hard. Maslynna groaned in pain, her eyes squinting shut as the pain ricocheted through her body, her chapped lips cracked and bled as she moved her mouth to whisper a plea. 

“Quiet!” Briallyn yelled shaking Maslynna forcefully. “Look at me.”

Maslynna’s face scrunched in pain. “Please,” the young woman begged her voice so hoarse it was barely audible. “Kill me.” 

The sound of a slap echoed off the walls causing her to fall to her side before Briallyn yanked her back upright by her roots again. “I’ll do no such thing.” She sneered. “Now look at me!” She screamed shaking Maslynna again.

A sob racked through her. She was so tired. So, so tired. She no longer felt the pangs of hunger or thirst. She didn’t exist in her own mind. Maslynna was a shell of herself, day in and day out an empty husk as she waited for death to find her, placing a kiss to her brow, a promise, as it swept her into its arm and carried her out of this life, out of the numbness and into an eternal, peaceful nothing.

The fingers tightened in her hair daring her to disobey again. Slowly, she pulled what little energy remained to open her eyes and look at the Queen who was assaulting her. She watched through half-lidded eyes as a slimy smile cracked the Queen's face in half. “Yes,” she said running the crook of her finger along Maslynna’s cheek and the rough skin of her lips. “This should do just fine.”

“Guards,” Briallyn ordered plainly as she threw Maslynna’s head from her grasp, wiping her hands on her dress robes as she turned to leave. “Bring her to the room. It’s high time we test my theory.”

Maslynna’s body fell forward, her nose fracturing as it broke her fall. She felt hands wrap around her arms and the sound of the lock on her chains breaking free before she was pulled to her feet and dragged out of the cell. The blood that gushed from her nose spilled into her mouth as they dragged her limp frame from the prison cell and up the stairwell, the tops of her feet raw as they were sliced on the jagged edges of the rocks.

At one point in her life, she would have fought tooth and nail to free herself from the guards, fight the pain they inflicted on her, and make a run for freedom. She had once mourned that Maslynna. But they had broken her, and she tried to take solace in the fact she no longer felt pain. Too far removed, or too far gone. She knew she was on the brink of death and she allowed herself to hope that Queen Briallyn was wrong, and the sacrifice they required of her would end up killing her in the process. 

The guards dragged her through the palace until they reached the Queens who stood in a circle around a large boiling cauldron. Briallyn was centered at the front sharpening a knife and pointed at the guards where she wanted them to stand with Maslynna.

“Arm.” She demanded, her own hand outstretched waiting for them to place Maslynna’s in her grasp. 

The guards pulled back the long sleeve of her tunic before Briallyn roughly grabbed it and yanking Maslynna closer, the elder Queen examined her arm closely as she ran the knife gently from her wrist up to her elbow. 

“Do be a good girl and try and bleed directly into the cauldron, won’t you?” She said contemptuously before flipping the knife over and slicing down Maslynna’s arm. 

Through hazy eyes, Maslynna saw her blood beading from her skin before running down her arm and into the cauldron where it diluted the water into a tinged red color. 

“More,” Briallyn said through gritted teeth, squeezing Maslynna’s arm hard to draw out more blood. Much to her dismay, Maslynna’s cut started to clot and Briallyn swore.

“Perhaps she is dehydrated, we could wait a few days until she is healthier and try again?” A fellow Queen offered before slinking back into her place as Briallyn glowered at her.

“No,” Briallyn said curtly. “No more waiting. If the girl doesn’t wish to give up her blood I shall just release more exits for it to flow.” She said swiftly before carving another line through her other arm.

The cauldron boiled red as Maslynna stood there with her arms stretched over it, her blood sizzling as it made contact with the heated water. But it still did not satisfy the Queen who took it upon herself to slice deep slashes across Maslynna’s palms and twisted her nose until the clot loosened and blood poured out from there again, too, shoving Maslynna so she was hunched over the brim of the cauldron as to ensure no drop of blood was wasted.

“Look, Briallyn!” The other Queens murmured. “The cauldron is reacting!”

Briallyn watched as the cauldron’s boiling grew, her heart racing in anticipation. She could not, and would not, hide the satisfied smile at her plan coming to fruition. “I knew it would work.” She muttered to herself, her hand coming to rest on the brim of the cauldron and basking in the steam rolling off it. “Wait— what’s happening? Why is slowing down?” She barked.

“Briallyn, it is not enough blood.” A Queen said meekly.

The other Queens bowed their heads in submission as Briallyn began to curse. “No!” She screamed angrily as the water calmed into a placid surface. “Gods be damned if this doesn’t work. I will bleed every last human to death if it means I can reverse this curse!” 

She grabbed Maslynna and sliced at her upper arms before turning her back to the cauldron and hacking at her back and sides, her breathing ragged as she pushed Maslynna with enough force to send her falling over the edge and into the cauldron.

Down and down she sank until she bottomed out. Maslynna smiled to herself, choking on tears of joy as her blood continued to pour from her body. Not too much longer and she would leave this world, a light already starting to form in the distance and was growing rapidly to reach her.

The white light encapsulated the entirety of her vision. Peaceful. Serene. This was the promise death had given her. She opened her arms to embrace it when a black shadow darted out and pulled her arm back to her side. She felt a jolt at the base of the cauldron, the water beneath her starting to boil again.

No, she thought, reaching with her other arm, but that too was swept back at her side by another shadow.

The black shadows seeped in from the sides, ebbing and flowing as they overtook the light, chasing it away until it was nothing but the size of a lone star in the night sky.

No, she screamed as she began to panic, kicking frantically to free herself from the shadow's grasp and swim towards what remained of the light, but they wrapped around her arms, legs, feet, neck, waist, her entire body, and dragged her down to the bottom of the cauldron where the water was boiling so fast and hard she knew it must be overflowing when it spoke to her. 

She sobbed as it did so, shaking her head and asking it to please let her go, to just let her die. She begged the cauldron but her pleas fell on deaf ears as it repeated what it had told her, the shadows squeezing tighter as she fought against them, against the cauldron, until they knew that the cauldron had broken her, too. 

“Pull her out.” Someone shouted shortly before Maslynna was heaved out of the cauldron and dropped onto the floor as gasps filled the room.

She was exhausted and her body was sore. Pain. She felt pain now. She shot open her eyes and looked down at her palms, her skin now gleamed, and white tattoos lay upon her skin where she had been forcefully cut.

“Move,” Briallyn said shortly. “Let me see her.” The Queen knelt in front of her once more and put both hands on her face forcing Maslynna to look at her. “What did you do? How did you do it?” She demanded. 

“I—“ She gapped, the words the cauldron whispered replayed in her mind. “I don’t know.” She said shaking her head. “I didn’t do anything. I thought I was going to die.”

“Liar!” She bellowed, raising a hand to strike and Maslynna braced herself for the sting on her cheek that never came. “Wha— how are you doing that?” She asked.

Maslynna cracked open an eye and noticed all of the other Queens standing before her, some looking terrified and others looking elated at what they saw.

“Doing what?” Maslynna asked before tracking their eyes to the floor beneath her where the shadows that had tied her down at the bottom of the cauldron were swirling over her bare knees.  Maslynna screamed and pushed back on herself, slapping her skin to brush off the shadows as they snaked over her legs. “What are these things?” She asked, her voice raised in panic.

It was Briallyn’s self-serving laugh that retrieved Maslynna’s attention, her eyes shining with a joyfulness that oozed with cruel intention. “Oh yes, I can most certainly work with this.”

<>

Authors note;

Hey! Thanks so much for making it to the end of the first chapter! Currently, I've only read the ACOTAR series and am currently in the process of reading TOG, so this story may not be aligned with SJM's plot and CC, but that's the beauty of fanfic! I am taking the liberty to change the timeline a bit to fit the flow a bit more to my liking, so I hope you all don't mind. :)

Chapter 002