Islinda’s scream echoed through the room as she saw Aldric crumple to the ground under the relentless assault of Queen Maeve’s flas. The scene before her was a waking nightmare as Aldric, was being burned alive, his agonized howls filling the air while Maeve cackled like a madwoman.
There was nothing but twisted satisfaction etched into Maeve’s face as she intensified the attack, the flas growing hotter and more vicious with every second.
"You should have never been born!" Maeve shrieked, her voice deranged, the fire burning hotter with her rage. "You’re mad because I was responsible for the attack on your mother, well guess what? I don’t care! I should have made sure you died along with that fool Nova! Perhaps then, Valerie and I could have had the life we deserved without you and your mother’s ddling!"
A maddening glint flickered in her eyes, her words steeped in venom, and for a mont, it was clear that all her years of cold calculation had given way to raw, unbridled hatred.
For a mont, Islinda stood frozen, her mind reeling. She had co here to stop Aldric, to keep him from doing sothing he would regret. But watching him suffer, hearing Maeve’s deranged words, sothing snapped inside her.
The shadows around her surged forward, responding to her fury before she even realized she had called them. She hurled her magic toward Maeve, the force of it ripping through the air like a thunderclap. Maeve’s eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t have ti to react before the shadows struck her, knocking her backward. The flas died instantly, and Aldric collapsed to the ground, smoke rising from his body.
The mont the attack ceased, Islinda rushed to Aldric’s side, her hands trembling as she helped him to his feet. His clothes were scorched, hanging in tattered shreds from his body, and his skin was raw, blistered from the searing heat. But even now, as she touched him, she could see the telltale signs of his Fae healing, his wounds slowly beginning to close.
"Are you okay?" Islinda asked, her voice thick with concern.
While this was happening, Asher who had been dodging the attack took the opportunity to escape before he beca a casualty in this chaos. He ca here to tell Aldric the truth, which he had done. He was not returning to that cold room again. He would rather die.
Aldric grunted, his jaw clenched in pain. "I told you not to co here," he groaned, forcing himself upright, though his body trembled from the strain.
"I can’t leave you alone, you idiot," Islinda replied sharply, though her voice softened as she added, "And you can’t kill her, Aldric. If you do, it will ruin everything. There are bigger things at play."
But as she looked into his eyes, she saw sothing that made her heart drop. Aldric’s gaze was cold, unforgiving, filled with an unrelenting thirst for vengeance. Her words were falling on deaf ears. She knew that look—Aldric had crossed the line. There would be no reasoning with him now.
Before Islinda could protest, the shadows surged around her, pulling her away from Aldric with a force she couldn’t resist. She stumbled, falling to the floor, and when she scrambled to her feet, a wall of shadows had ford between them, cutting her off from the room. Islinda slamd her fists against the wall of shadows, shouting his na, but there was no response. She was locked out.
Inside, Maeve had recovered, her face twisted in fear as she realized she was now alone with Aldric. The shiver that ran through her was palpable, her bravado slipping as she faced the full weight of his wrath.
"I thought of a thousand ways to deal with you," Aldric said, his voice low and chilling as he stalked toward her, shadows curling around him like a living storm. "But now... I think I’ll take my ti. I’ll see for myself exactly what you did, and then I’ll decide the most painful way to send you to hell."
Before Maeve could respond, Aldric was on her, his hands gripping either side of her head with brutal force. His fingers dug into her skull as he forced her head still, his eyes losing focus as his magic took hold.
Maeve scread as Aldric invaded her mind, her hands clawing at his wrists in a futile attempt to pry him off. The pain was imdiate, searing through her like a thousand daggers, as Aldric ripped through her mories, sifting through her thoughts like pages in a book.
The first mory unfolded before him, a scene of his mother, Queen Nova, and Oberon laughing together in the snow. Nova threw snowballs at Oberon, her face radiant with joy, while Maeve stood in the side, watching them with envy and resentnt. Aldric could feel her emotions like his own—her jealousy, her bitter hatred.
The mory shifted, and now Maeve was in a darkened alley, passing a sealed envelope into Ramirez’s hands. Aldric saw her lips moving, telling Ramirez where Queen Nova would be traveling, how she would be vulnerable. He felt the cruel satisfaction radiating from her as Ramirez nodded and slipped away into the night. Maeve had set it all in motion— the attack of the dark Faeries on his mother.
As the mories continued to unfold, Maeve scread louder, the agony of Aldric’s ntal intrusion taking its toll. Blood dripped from her nose, her eyes rolling back as she struggled to push him out, but Aldric held firm. He wanted to see everything, to feel every twisted plot she had hatched, to understand every betrayal
Maeve’s screams were loud, her body convulsing under the strain of his power. Tears stread down her face as she struggled, the pain too much to bear.
"Please," she begged, her voice raw, desperate. "Stop... Aldric, stop!"
When Aldric had seen enough, he yanked himself out of her mind with a force that sent Maeve collapsing to the floor, gasping for breath. Her body trembled, blood staining the corners of her mouth, and her mind felt fractured, barely holding together after the brutal invasion.
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