Queen of Darkness

I walked up the steps that led to the deck of the ship. The sun was high up in the sky, signaling that it was midday. The sunlight kissed my face, causing my cheeks to warm up. I walked onto the deck of the ship, my boots tapping on the polished wood. I looked around, and the breath was taken from me. The ship was enormous: it had extremely big sails that fluttered in the wind; its hulls were a light brown, with intricate light-blue swirls painted on them that started at the bottom, and gradually made their way to the top; and the sea -- it was magnificent. It stretched on and on for miles; it was the only thing that you could see. It had an aqua-blue color that was lighter on the surface, and gradually became darker as the sea grew deeper. The sunlight reflected off the surface of the sea, making the water sparkle. It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen.

I walked towards Aelin, who was standing in the white-haired man’s arms, laughing. As Aelin heard the sound of my boots, she walked out of the man’s embrace, still smiling.

“I see you cleaned up well,” she said.

“I did, thanks. Who are all of these people?”

“I will introduce you to them,” she said as she lightly took my arm and guided me towards the center of the deck.

“Guys! We have an important guest here today!” she said as loud as she could over the roaring of the waves. “Get over here!”

All of the people on the deck -- a total of 7 people, excluding Aelin -- stopped what they were doing, and walked towards me. They all formed a circle around me, looking quizzically at me as if I were an interesting object that they had picked up along their journey.

Aelin first introduced me to the couple on my right: it was the dark-haired man who had come rushing to my room after I screamed, and one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. The woman had long, white hair put back into a braid and had gold eyes that shone in the light. The dark-haired man smiled, and his girlfriend still stood there, watching me with a close eye.

“Hi. I am Dorian. Sorry that I didn’t tell you my name when I came to your room earlier,” he said. The woman turned towards him, raising her eyebrows. His smile grew. “Oh, please, Manon. I didn’t do anything. The girl screamed. I had to go see what was going on. As you should know, a scream is not a very good sign.” The woman -- Manon -- smiled, and turned to me.

“Hi. I am Manon. Nice to meet you. It’s great to know that my boyfriend met you in your bedroom,” she smiled a feral smile that sent shivers down my spine. My face must have shown that I was scared, since Dorian elbowed her.

“Manon, you are freaking her out,” he said, turning towards me. “Sorry. Manon can be just a bit overprotective.” Aelin snorted.

“I also know someone who is like that,” Aelin said. She tipped her head back at the male standing behind her. She smiled. “In my case, it is called ‘territorial male nonsense’”.

“As I was saying,” Dorian said as he pointedly looked at Aelin, “Manon will get nicer after a while. Like she did with me.” Dorian looked down at Manon and smiled. It was a smile that told her “I love you”. A twinkle shown in his sapphire eyes. Manon looked up at him, and smiled that same smile. They both turned back to me.

“I am Aiyana. It is very nice to meet you.” I smiled, and Manon looked as if she wanted to rip out my throat. Dorian saw the look and laughed. Manon glared at him.

The white-haired man came out from behind Aelin and said, “I am Rowan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Rowan,” I said, and smiled. He smiled back.

I turned to my left, and stopped at another couple. The male had golden-blond hair that reached his soldiers, was tall, and extremely muscular. He had the same eyes as Aelin. His lips parted as he looked at me, and then his eyes widened. My eyes widened, too -- I knew him.

“Aedion? Is it really you?” I excitedly said. His eyes sparked.

“Aiyana!” he exclaimed. I leapt towards him and hugged him. He was like my brother when we were little kids. Gosh, I hadn’t seen him in such a long time! He squeezed me. We tore apart from each other and stood back, looking at how much we had both grown. “You look great, Aiyana! You look exactly the same from when you were little!”

“Same for you! You are so big and tall! What has happened to you?” I exclaimed.

“It’s a long story. I want to introduce you to somebody,” he said as he turned towards this beautiful woman standing by his side with green eyes and long, brown hair. “This is my mate, Lysandra.” Lysandra smiled from ear to ear.

“It is nice to meet you, Aiyana,” she said.

“It is nice to meet you, too Lysandra. I am glad you are taking care of Aedion. He needed someone to keep him on his toes.” Lysandra laughed.

“Oh, I sure do,” she said.

I looked in Aedion’s direction; his face showed that he wanted to kill me. I smiled. I then turned to another couple standing next to Lysandra and Aedion. The male was definitely Fae: he had pointed ears, short, black hair, and dark brown eyes. He was muscular and tall, and I could tell he was extremely protective of his girlfriend, who was looking at him as if he was ridiculous. The male’s girlfriend stepped out from behind him, and smiled. She was short, had brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and had brown eyes.

“Hi! I am Elide. I am Marion’s daughter. I think I met you multiple times when we were little,” she said.

“Hi, Elide. I remember you! Your mother was so sweet and kind. Your dad was too. I loved them! How are they?” I asked.

Elide’s face lost all happiness; she looked extremely sad. “My parents are dead. They were killed when I was little.” A tear fell down Elide’s cheek.

“Oh, gosh, Elide. I am so sorry.” I walked towards her and hugged her. “I am so sorry,” I muttered.

“It’s okay, Aiyana.” She stepped out of my embrace, and looked up at me. She smiled. “It’s not your fault. I am so happy you survived those slave camps. I am so happy that you are here.”

“Thanks, Elide. I am really happy I’m here, too.” Elide smiled, and turned towards the Fae male standing behind her.

“This is Lorcan, my mate.” She smiled up at him, and he smiled back. As he looked back at me, his smile vanished, and his face was set in a predatory expression. Chills ran down my spine as I stared right into his eyes. His stare seemed as if he could see right through me. “Lorcan, stop. You are being truly ridiculous. She is a friend. Stop it. Now.” Lorcan’s face softened, just a bit, but kept staring me down. “I am so sorry, Aiyana. He will become nicer in probably a year. It will take time, but he will warm up to you, don’t worry.” She smiled, and looked back up at him. He smiled, and laughed a bit under his breath.

“Nice to meet you, Lorcan,” I said as I smiled sweetly. He growled.

“Where are Fenrys and Gavriel?” asked Aelin. I froze.

“Who?” I asked, turning around.

“Fenrys and Gavriel,” Aelin slowly said, looking at me. “Is something wrong?”

My blood started to boil. “FENRYS AND GAVRIEL?” I growled as my voice rose.

“Aiyana, is everything alright?” Aelin questioned.

I started to tremble with rage. My eyes started to burn, and my expression became feral. Just at that moment, Fenrys and Gavriel -- out of nowhere -- appeared in front of me, blocking my view of Aelin and Rowan. Everyones’ faces hardened, preparing themselves to hold me back if something went out of control.

“You,” I spat at Fenrys. “You killed my parents. You killed them while I watched. You made me watch them be tortured by you!” I yelled. The killing calm was taking over. Fenrys and Gavriel blanched. Their faces turned white, and were standing there, paralyzed in shock. Everyone stopped breathing -- no one moved. I started to cry.

“You killed them for her -- for Maeve!” I screamed.

“Aiyana --” Aelin started. I cut her off with a glare so feral she stepped back in shock. Fenrys and Gavriel had not yet moved.

“We didn’t --” Fenrys began.

“Yes you did!” I roared and sobbed. Right when Gavriel moved forwards, everything exploded.

Written by Alexa Gantt