The Dark Queen (The Dark Queens Book 5) Read Online Free Page A

leave.”
    Pain lanced through her heart like a thorn ripping through her flesh.
    “But...but...” Were the only words she could seem to stutter. “He wouldn’t allow it, surely.”
    Why did her tongue feel so numb of a sudden and her head so dizzy?
    There was too much noise, too many questions bombarding her consciousness to get any one of them out. The room was suddenly spinning out of focus. George was under Brunhilda’s spell, surely if there were someway to rip the necklace off him Fable could reach him, the real him and alert him to what the witch was doing. There was still hope.
    Right?
    She must have spoken her words aloud, because Mirror said, “The chance is slim, but yes, my queen, there is always hope. If only you had a fairy godmother.”
    Being a natural born denizen of the under meant Fable was never given a godmother. But she’d never needed one. Her magic was strong and powerful, and if she should fail, then there was always her father’s, grandmother’s, or grandfather’s to back her up.
    She’d always been protected, cherished.
    Loved.
    A wretched sound suddenly filtered through the room. The sound like that of a dying animal, only there was no animal dying, the sound came from deep inside of her as the hopelessness and emptiness of her future rolled out before her.
    To never leave this tower.
    To never know her magic again.
    To never know love.
    To always remain alone.
    Alone.
    Unwanted.
    And unloved.
    “Oh, my gods...” She rested her cold fingertips against her blazing hot cheeks.
    “Look at me,” Mirror spoke to her in a tone he’d never taken with her before.
    She wiped at her tears, looking up at him.
    “Remember who you are.”
    Frowning, she shook her head. “I know who I am.”
    “No!” He said with authority. “Remember who you are. Whose you are. You are the daughter of The King. You are the Queen of Shadows and Night, shackled or not; you are powerful and mighty. Mightier than that evil witch down there. It is why she’s chained you, Fable. It is why she’s locked you away. To control what she could not otherwise. Do not forget yourself.”
    Fable hadn’t realized she’d been walking toward the mirror until suddenly her hands were pressed against her brother’s face. “Why do you care? You’re just a mirror, you’re—”
    His eyes flashed with thunder and lightning, and ephemeral blue smoke coiled around his striking features. “I am so much more than that. I am a sliver of your grandfather’s soul. Meaning, I care for you deeply, my queen. I love you as he does. You are not alone, thought it might feel so.”
    “What?” She could hardly swallow her throat felt so tight. “He...he, did what?”
    Grandfather had spelled a sliver of his soul into the mirror? It made sense now why Brunhilda had not known the depths of Mirror’s powers. No witch—no matter how powerful—was stronger than the will of a god.
    “I know what that witch has done, my queen. And someday, it will not matter. For you will be mightier than she, even with your shackle on,” Mirror said gently.
    A different kind of emotion pounded through her veins then, fear, but also apprehension. Mirror had never spoken to her this way before. With such force and authority behind it.
    And she believed him.
    “You can free me from here? If you’re part of my grandfather, surely you’re powerful enough to break this enchantment.” She lifted her wrist.
    “No, not I, Fable.” He shook his head sadly. “But you. You are young, but someday you won’t be. Someday you’ll know who you really are.”
    “And who am I?”
    His grin was so heartachingly similar to her brother’s that she forgot he wasn’t. Fingers twitching against the cool glass surface, she could almost feel his soft skin and imagine his arms wrapping around her for a much-needed embrace.
    “You are the Queen of Darkness. Now, let me go find the guardsman, for he bears a tale worth hearing.”
    Mirror was gone for so long that day