Chapter Two-Hundred-And-Seventy-Nine
**3rd Person POV**
When the flames began to lick her skin she let out a scream of absolute terror. She could feel the heat in her very bones. Huge droplets of tears fell from her eyes but they were not enough to stop the flames from engulfing her body.
Then it came to her—the name she had to call.
Aurora
She screamed the name as loud as she could bring herself to and it was all over.
****
Harlin was present when Nydia was dragged into the furnace. He wondered if his mother was going to experience the same fate. It seemed very likely owing to the dreams of fire that kept reoccurring. He looked at his fingers that still carried burn marks from the dreams he'd been having. He wished there was a way to make it stop.
Then he thought about the vampire's offer and wondered if it was still available.
****
“It has been a pleasure indeed knowing you, King Armand,” remarked Regina.
They were all enjoying a meal hours after Nydia had burned in front of them.
Regina could still hear Nydia's screams ringing in her ears. In fact, she knew she had not been hearing things when she'd heard her scream Aurora.
Regina had realised then that the Faes of Mount Shasta had chosen Nydia as their next queen.
Regina thought that Nydia indeed was quite lucky. She had not gotten to beat the full impact of her sins. She'd had it too easy. She would even be spared the pain of remembering her past. It was like she was getting a second chance to start life all over.
Of course, no one at the table would know this even if they saw Nydia again, she would be a Fae Queen and they would not recognise her as the same person.
“Indeed, I hope that the day comes when we will be able to visit each other more freely,” said King Armand. Queen Agatha rolled her eyes; she hoped such a day would never come. She was more than happy that they would be leaving her home tomorrow.
She was especially uncomfortable with Gabriella’s attachment to Harlin. Perhaps her daughter just loved torturing her by seeing men she did not approve of. Then there was Kristoff, her son who did not seem very happy that Charlotte would be leaving. Queen Agatha just wanted them to leave. The sooner they were gone, the sooner her children would be able to return to their senses.
“That day may be sooner than we realise. Lady Francesca, it must hurt that no one recognises your pain,” said Emily, catching Francesca off guard. She had taken it for granted that nobody knew about her relationship with Major Drieden. All eyes were now on her and she was not sure how she was supposed to react.
“My pain?” she quipped stupidly.
“You have recently been widowed. Major Drieden was your husband, was he not?” asked Emily.
Lady Francesca swallowed painfully.
“I… we were not so close as… we had a…”
“Did you hide your marriage because you thought you would be persecuted?” asked Emily.
Francesca's heart pounded loudly in her chest. She had no response for her queen.
“Your father has been arrested for conspiracy to commit treason but you will be spared as I believe the marriage was forced,” said Emily.
Francesca still remained quiet.
Harlin, who was seated beside her, reached out under the table to squeeze her hand. The gesture surprised Francesca. After all, she had done to Harlin by using him for Lowell's gain, she was not expecting any kindness from him.
****
“Thank you for…” Francesca started to say but Harlin stopped her.
“I was only being kind, I still want nothing to do with you,” Harlin's voice was harsh, leaving no room for friendship.
“I understand that you…”
“You understand nothing,” came Harlin's response.
“I just want you to know that I'm really sorry,” said Francesca.
Harlin's heart broke a little. It looked like she meant it too. He could tell that she had lost a lot of weight since before his accident. He wondered if she was taking care of herself at all.
“Harlin?” another voice quipped. He turned to see Gabriella standing behind him. When she saw Francesca, she frowned.
“I'll come back later…” She was going to leave but Harlin held her hand.
“Please leave,” he told Francesca.
“I'll be sad to see you go,” commented Gabriella when Francesca was out of earshot.
“Me too,” returned Harlin.
They had become friends in just the few days since he had woken up.
It was a special sort of friendship but neither of them did anything to make it more than friendship because they did not want to start something that would be impossible to end.
****
“We must say our goodbyes tonight,” said Charlotte. She had to admit that Kristoff was perhaps the only person she'd had a somewhat meaningful relationship with. All the other guys before him were flings that she could not stand after the affair was all over. They were all too shallow-minded for her and could not bear that she was a lot stronger than they were or that she was heir to a powerful Kingdom. Kristoff was the only man who did not seem to care too much.
“Must we?” quipped Kristoff as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Our relationship has no future, we both know that,” replied Charlotte. There was simply no world where she could marry a vampire. It did not matter that she was going to be the queen of a hybrid pack. Ashton's damage had scarred her people enough.
“Why not?”
“My people…”
“Are we not allowed to have personal lives because we are to be monarchs?”
“Kristoff, you know better than anyone that marriage for us is more about politics than it is about love,” replied Charlotte.
She thought about her aunt, Emily who had not married Captain Thoma first because her father had wanted her to, and then when she became queen, she had realised that such a match would have weakened her rule.
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