Queen of Peace Read online

  “You’ve confessed your refusal to obey the laws of my home,” Fayeth said. “But I have no reason to send you back to the humans, if you’ve broken free. They’ll think you dead.”

  “If you don’t plan to kill me, what do you suggest?” Leyla asked, stepped into the shallow water in front of the elf, and found it pleasantly warm against her cold feet. “Should I live with you?”

  Fayeth scoffed, her face adopted a rapid succession of different expressions ranging from anger to surprise before Leyla thought she could see a faint blush on her high cheeks, framed by snowy hair.

  “Certainly not.” Fayeth averted her gaze. “But I could show you a place, where no one other than I will find you.”

  The elf turned her back on Leyla and waded through the water. Another animal stirred somewhere beneath, sending ripples across the surface of the pool. Leyla supposed she would be satisfied with the arrangement for now. It beat marriage.

  She hurried after Fayeth, slowed down when they waded side by side, and gazed at the tall iris mushrooms. She tried to get a glimpse of whatever animal lived in the water as well, but it did not reveal itself.

  “I wouldn’t mind if you were the only person I saw for the rest of my life,” she whispered. “I fantasized about living a fairytale as a child.”

  Fayeth opened her mouth to respond, changed her mind, and slipped her staff between Leyla’s feet instead.

  She tripped, landed with a loud splash. The elf hurried her steps on and left Leyla lying in the water. She swore she could hear Fayeth muttering as she pushed herself up.

  The woman was too easy to offend. Leyla had meant what she’d said as a compliment. She didn’t deserve to get her clothes soaked as a weird form of retaliation. If the elf kept dropping her in water, her armour would deteriorate until she couldn’t use it for protection.

  Fairytale Ruins

  Leyla gawked at everything, while Fayeth did her best to guide the distracted human toward a nearby ruin. She’d not suspected she would visit these ruins again, but the place she had in mind would fit Leyla.

  It wasn’t until she stood among the pillars on a worn stone path leading up to a decrepit wooden door that she regretted bringing the girl. Memories buried in the recesses of her mind threatened to erupt into tears, if she didn’t suppress them and think about something else. She’d spent some time with Syvis’ father in this ruin when it had been just another home.

  The human snuck up on her. But Fayeth did not wish to speak with her, if it could be avoided, so she walked up to the door and attempted to force it aside.

  Furore had been correct about the girl. She did seem innocent, for a soldier. Everything she said was too sweet, as if she picked her words with great care to mislead Fayeth. She might have believed that Leyla had been sent by the humans as a spy, if it wasn’t for the fact that the girl blurted out whatever nonsense occurred to her in the moment. Leyla didn’t think for a second.

  “We’ll be staying here?” Leyla asked and helped Fayeth move the door.

  It didn’t stay in place once the human used force. It shifted to the side, creaked, fell over, and stirred up dust. Fayeth didn’t feel like she’d done much to get the door loose. She doubted she would even have gotten it open without the human’s impressive strength.

  Leyla stared at her, for too long, before she smiled and entered the ruin.

  “You…” Fayeth cleared her dry throat. She needed a drink. They’d traveled too far without drinking. “You’ll stay here.”

  “Wow!” Leyla shouted. “All elves like this? It’s so spacious.”

  Fayeth breathed deeply and tried to stay in the moment. If she stepped inside, she would discover items which had belonged to her in the past, or worse, items which had belonged to Pharom.

  She thought she’d be ready sooner than she was, yet she couldn’t push herself to enter the old home. She froze for minutes. Her subconscious chained her to the doorstep. At least until someone gave her a nudge and shoved her over the threshold.

  “You’re welcome, darling,” Furore said.

  “Spirit, I…” Fayeth sneezed as soon as she breathed the air inside. Once, twice, she sneezed before she had to steady herself against the railing by the steps leading down into the main room.

  They hadn’t left a lot behind after all. A marble table with four chairs, a couple of bookcases, and a double bed. Lots and lots of dust had gathered over the years, but it wasn’t as painful as she’d expected to step inside. The memories only forced her to recall how someone great had loved her long ago.

  “You alright?” Leyla asked. “It’s musty, but not terrible. I’ll clean it up for us. I visited a crypt, last year. The air was worse in there.”

  “You’ll stay…”

  Fayeth sneezed hard. The ancient railing she leaned on budged under her weight. If Leyla’s reflexes hadn’t been as swift as to rival thunder, Fayeth would have fallen face first into the room and cracked her skull on the corner of the table. But the human caught her in her arms.

  She found it surprising how the girl had already started removing pieces of her armour and didn’t wear more than a padded garment over her torso. Leyla was soft. It might be for the best that she hadn’t caught Fayeth while clad in armour. Steel had sharp corners, surely.

  “Need me to carry you outside?” Leyla asked, her pretty green eyes glanced toward the door. “You seem unwell.”

  “I’m fine,” Fayeth said. “Thanks for asking.”

  “You’re fine because I caught you. You could’ve broken a bone or died, if you’d been truly unlucky.”

  “Could you set me down?”

  An uncomfortable silence followed the question as Leyla considered her request. Fayeth felt the muscles in the girl’s arms constrain against her dress, and in some spots, her skin. It was an excruciatingly sweet sensation.

  “If you say you’re fine, sure, I don’t see why not.” Leyla dropped her legs.

  She didn’t release the rest of Fayeth until she’d steadied herself. They couldn’t stand closer than they did, Leyla’s breaths collided with her collarbone. Fayeth had an undeniable urge to listen to the cursed spirit and discover how far she could push this, if only to prevent her daughter from getting involved.

  Yet Leyla missed the tension between them and sat on one of the chairs placed around the table.

  Fayeth didn’t stick around. If she wasn’t about to break every vow she’d made to her people, she could flee and get some fresh air in her lungs.

  She strode up to the entrance and found Furore waiting outside, blocking the doorway. The succubus held a glass knife in her right hand and used it to pick at the long nails on her left. She’d positioned herself out of Leyla’s view.

  “We’re not going to leave yet, are we? That would be disappointing.” Furore stared into Fayeth’s soul with wild fire raging in her blood-red pupils. “This desire inside, building in the pit of your stomach, will kill you outright if you don’t get a single kiss from the human. Turn around, take a good look at her undressing in your former love nest, and ask her to give you what you crave. If you keep it to a single kiss, I’ll be awed by your restraint.”

  Fayeth lost a portion of self-control, turned around against her better judgment, and recognized the full power of the spirit for the first time. Too late, but at least she understood she couldn’t have fought Furore anyway.

  Genuine desire arose in her heart and mind to travel downwards along her neck and arms and grow powerful in her stomach. She couldn’t prevent it from doing so, yet even though her lips trembled with excitement, she wouldn’t ask the human for anything. The succubus couldn’t force her. Fayeth was not her slave, nor was she a slave to her own desires or foul, forbidden magic.

  “Leyla, could you—“ Fayeth bit her treacherous tongue.

  The girl looked up, pulled her greaves off her legs, and placed them on top of the table. When Fayeth did not continue, she focused on the armour pieces still strapped to her figure.

  “Yo
u’re utterly alone,” Furore said. “No one, not a single soul in the world, will learn about what transpires in this love nest. There isn’t a god who cares about you. They’ve taken a peculiar interest in countries you’ve never heard of, far to the south. The north bores them. Elves are so last millennia. Don’t you wish to prove them wrong?”

  If what Furore told her about the gods had a sliver of truth to it, Fayeth did indeed wish she could prove them wrong. But how would asking a human for a kiss accomplish that?

  “I wish you’d stop calling it a love nest,” Fayeth whispered.

  It may be true that the spacious room had once been a haven for two young elves, but she’d married Pharom later in her life. They hadn’t been illicit lovers meeting in secret. To have Leyla undress in this sacred ruin should fill her with wrath, yet it did the opposite.

  She watched Leyla remove the pieces of her armour and place it on the table with utmost care, as if the girl worried she might break the furniture Fayeth had abandoned to time.

  Fayeth bit her tongue again, lest it betray her, but she could not pull her gaze away from the sweaty and wet soldier. She’d dropped Leyla into shallow water twice, but she’d not expected it would result in this half-naked, athletic beauty seated on a chair in an elven ruin. Every fluid movement Leyla made caused drops of water and sweat to trail along her neck, arms, and toned stomach.

  Fayeth couldn’t tell what each drop consisted of. But if she’d been as depraved as Furore, she would have walked over to the girl and licked them of her scarred skin. She would have placed bets on each before tasting them. She wouldn’t have managed to resist teasing the innocent girl, endlessly, till she surrendered.

  When Leyla finished removing her armour and began to strip into her undergarments, Fayeth pushed her legs together under her emerald dress. It wasn’t like the girl would notice. She didn’t care that Fayeth hadn’t torn her eyes off her for several minutes.

  If Leyla wanted her to stop staring, she need only say so. No one could be as interested in their own clothes as the girl on the chair. She had to know.

  “Like watching a young deer stumble about, isn’t it,” Furore said.

  The comment made no sense. Maybe the succubus had tried to compare Leyla to a sight she thought an elf would find adorable, which in turn made no sense either. Leyla wasn’t cute. She was as desirable as any man. More so, maybe, because she had a forbidden atmosphere. No touching.

  Finally, after what might have been hours, Leyla lifted her head and looked at Fayeth. She appeared startled to find her staring at her.

  “Could you not have waited outside? I thought you left.”

  “I-I… I…”

  “Ooh, she’s onto you, elf.” Furore chuckled.

  The realization of how she’d stood and stared at someone undress in front of her struck Fayeth like a kick to the face. Leyla hadn’t stripped for her enjoyment. She must have walked around in soaked clothes because of what had happened earlier in the day, so when she’d gotten the chance, she’d undressed to salvage her armour.

  “You’re the deer, Fayeth,” Furore said. “Not too bright, easily distracted.”

  Her cheeks burnt red-hot. She didn’t know what to do when the succubus prevented her from fleeing, so she shut her eyes and prayed for someone to save her from the mess. Any god would do if they kept Syvis out of it.

  Cinder

  Leyla rose to her feet, she hadn’t intended to scare the elf into submission. Honestly, she hadn’t thought it possible. Perhaps she had been rude. After all, the quaint, dusty home belonged to Fayeth. She could understand if the elf worried she might steal from her, but there didn’t seem to be anything to steal. It wasn’t practical to drag furniture through the wilderness.

  “Fayeth?”

  Leyla crossed the room, leapt up the stairs, and approached the elf slowly. She had to fight to not sneeze when a cold wind blew into the ruin and stirred up a second cloud of dust. She succeeded, but Fayeth sneezed twice. The elf had the cutest sneezes. They sounded gentle, delightful, to the ears.

  “Fayeth.” Leyla said. “What’s wrong?”

  She pondered if she should poke the elf’s arm to get her to respond, but before she could, Fayeth whispered something inaudible. Did she whisper to herself, or Leyla? It had been such a quiet whisper she couldn’t tell.

  “Sorry, I didn’t hear, Fayeth.”

  “Would you protect me from doing dumb things like these?” Fayeth asked in a louder, braver voice.

  “Dumb things like what?” Leyla scratched her neck. “You haven’t…”

  Fayeth opened her icy eyes and stared Leyla down with a fierce heat which no one had cast her direction before. She gulped. Fayeth might be the death of her one day, and as the elf lifted both hands to her face, she suspected that day had arrived way too soon.

  But Fayeth only closed the short distance between them and pressed her lips against Leyla’s. She did not murder her.

  It took a second for Leyla to understand what happened, and when she did, she found herself shocked. Thrills ran across her skin. She’d never kissed a woman, didn’t know what the elf wanted. How could she please?

  Fayeth had shut her eyes to savour the kiss, but Leyla had not. She spotted birthmarks, freckles, attractive defects, in the elf’s face since she did not blink. The kiss ended, too soon, yet the heat in Fayeth’s gaze only increased in intensity when she retreated.

  “That… That wasn’t dumb,” Leyla said. Whatever she thought of the kiss, and she hadn’t had the time to process it, she did not think it dumb.

  “It was the dumbest thing I’ve done, in my life,” Fayeth said, adjusted her snowy hair, and turned to leave.

  “You should do it again,” Leyla said and reached out to grab Fayeth’s wrist to prevent her from leaving, but hesitated before she committed to the action. If she angered the elf, she would have no one to help her avoid Algora.

  “I won’t. Trust me.”

  Leyla couldn’t tell if it was the grief in Fayeth’s voice, or her own will, which convinced her to grab the elf when she was about to flee the ruin. Either way, it didn’t affect the outcome. She grabbed Fayeth’s wrist and held onto it.

  “Then…” Leyla spun the woman around. “I will. I’ll do dumb things with you.”

  She kissed Fayeth’s lips with fervour to prove how serious she was. Fayeth reacted in a similar manner to how Leyla had first reacted before she relaxed into the kiss. Leyla felt the elf’s fingers slide through her hair, and smelled Fayeth’s precious scent, but she focused on the kiss and the exploration of her lover’s lips. She grazed them with the tip of her tongue, nibbled on them, and adored their texture.

  She kissed Fayeth and understood she would never care about men like she cared about the elf. How could they compare to a queen? How could anyone? The elf’s feminine forms were new, exciting, though she had similar features herself. She hadn’t begun to explore Fayeth to her full extent yet.

  Fayeth cut the kiss short. Leyla tried to resume it, but she was hindered when the elf pressed an index finger against her lips.

  “You don’t have food, blankets for warmth, anything. I can return tonight, and…” Fayeth didn’t finish the sentence. She bit her tongue and slipped out of Leyla’s arms.

  “And what?”

  “I’ll bring you food and blankets,” Fayeth said, hurried outside.

  She did not give Leyla a second chance to prevent her from running away. Although, her proud gait could hardly be described as running. She moved with deliberate steps. Still, Leyla hated watching her leave. She should don her armour and go with Fayeth in case she needed someone to protect her against beasts.

  She had to remind herself that Fayeth didn’t require protection in the Freow Woods. Long before Leyla had been born, Fayeth had lived in the forest she’d ruled as its queen. If Leyla wanted a third kiss, and permission to explore Fayeth’s body for every little secret, she best be on her best behaviour. The elf could have anyone.

  Princess


  Fayeth shivered with each step. The succubus may have forced her to kiss the human with an ultimatum, but she did not regret doing it. She had to fight her own mind to not rush back inside and jump Leyla.

  She longed to have the girl’s muscular arms wrapped around her again, as tight as they could squeeze and hold. If the situation had been different, if she’d already had a warm hut for Leyla to stay in, she would not have torn herself from her new companion. She would have given in and stayed with the human all night.

  She walked until she was well out of sight of the ruin, made sure she wasn’t followed, and put her fingers in her mouth to whistle a specific, high-pitched note. The wind carried the tune far and wide, rustling the leaves of trees and bushes.

  A moment later a majestic elk, with sprawling alabaster antlers, appeared ahead of her bathed in sunlight. Another spirit. He could not speak like Furore, yet she valued him a great deal more for his loyalty and intelligence. He would not fight or draw blood at her command, but he would carry her wherever she wished to go.

  “Eina.” Fayeth bowed, walked over to the spirit, and ran her fingers along his furred neck.

  He lowered his head in what she’d always taken as a bow, before he laid down in the grass. She climbed up onto his back, whispered her destination in his ear, and held on tight. The elk took off and leapt past large swathes of the Freow Woods.

  No horse could move as fast as he did. If they’d had more like him during the war, they might not have lost. If Fayeth could have equipped an army with godlike steeds, she would have done so. The spirits would never have forgiven her for abusing them in such a heinous way, especially not if any of them had died, but she would have born the burden for her people. Sadly, the choice had not been available to her.

  The journey to the outskirts of the elven village took a while. She found it difficult to discern how many hours passed when she rode Eina. Everything flew past in a blur. Time did not exist. The spirit arrived at their destination and waited for her to dismount.