Queen of Nothing
XII. The Protector
Pg 148
[i]We should leave.[/i] Glitch’s uneasy voice echos in Shadow’s mind. [i]I know how you feel about the city, and I’m not trying to separate you from Variks. But we aren’t safe here. Maybe you could… talk to him?[/i]
Shadow scrolls through a data pad, fingers dancing across the screen, though she’s hardly able to concentrate on her work. She stops, golden eyes raising to watch Variks from across the room. He’s making tea, nonchalant, like everything is fine.
Variks is very good at pretending everything is fine. She scolds herself inwardly. How could she feel angry with him when she is doing the exact same thing?
Her anger is fully snuffed out at the sound of a long, drawn out wheeze. Her heart clenches. She hates the noise, and instantly stands, approaching him. “Are you okay?” Her voice is soft, amber eyes beseeching. She holds out a hand but he waves it away.
“Yes, yes,” he insists, struggling to get the words out and his next inhale sounds so painful Shadow visibly cringes.
“Variks, what is going on with your throat?”
He sets the hot tea down for her but doesn’t even bother to respond before raising his own cup to his mouth. She watches his pained eyes close in contentment as the warm liquid soothes his throat. Shivering, he attempts to shake off her concerns once more but the hunter has none of it.
“Listen.” She grasps a real hand, her eyes hardening. “You need to understand that having a mate now… having [i]me[/i] now… means you have someone who cares about you. Get used to it,” she says fondly but with a sternness.
“You worry too much,” he croaks, looking away from her, perhaps in guilt.
“What happened?” she presses. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t be worried.”
“Must be the weather, yes? Or perhaps age.” He pauses, adding wryly, “Need I remind you I am hardly young anymore?”
“Eramis is practically as old as you and she is not wheezing.” Shadow responds, gazing up into softly glowing blue eyes. Her hands wander over his broad chest, feeling his strained breathing. “Don’t lie to me.”
Variks once again breaks eye contact. “Forgive me, sweet Shadow.” He wheezes, his real hands raising to run through her short black hair. “Variks is grateful for you and does not mean to mislead you…” He becomes hesitant and clumsy, retracting and rubbing his hands together. “I would prefer not to discuss the [i]unpleasant[/i] outbursts of Eramiskel’s council when I first arrived here.”
“What do you mean?”
He pauses nervously. “Phylaks is—“
“Phylaks? What did she do?”
Variks flinches, confused by how such warm amber eyes could turn into wrathful flame so swiftly.
“She hurt you?” Her voice is like the frigid ice of Europa.
Variks’s hand raises subconsciously to his throat. “Variks has dealt with worse. I did not lie when I told you the cold plays a part in-“
“That [i]b*tch[/i],” Shadow explodes venomously, whipping around to head straight for the door.
“Shadow, no!” Variks latches onto her arm and spins her back around to face him. “Wait, please—“
She stares into his eyes. He stares back, blinking softly.
Slowly, Shadow calms. The only place she can find such peace is in the depths of his blue gaze. “I [i]will[/i] speak with her later. You won’t stop me doing that.”
Variks sighs, clicking frustratedly. “If you simply [i]must[/i]. But, I highly advise against it.” He looks away, embarrassed and clearly concerned for her safety.
“I must.” Gentle once more, she sets his tea back into his hand. “Keep drinking. And let me know if there’s anything else I can get for you.” As she speaks she grabs a furred blanket and drapes it around his shoulders.
He shuffles in mild discomfort. Staring into his tea, he hides an awkward smile. She can feel him fighting it, irritated and a little ashamed but he doesn’t have the heart to stop her. “You are so—“
Variks doesn’t get the chance to finish as Shadow’s hands meet his face, guiding him down for his mouth to meet hers. His eyes flutter closed, lower hands meeting the small of her back and holding her close. “Shadow—“ he breathes against her lips.
The awoken woman pauses their passionate interaction only to gaze lovingly into his eyes. “I will protect you, forever and always. You can hold me to that.”
***
“Phylaks! We need to speak.”
The warrior sends a threatening hiss in her direction, but Shadow does not falter.
“Is that so, machine-spawn?”
Shadow strides up to Phylaks with a quiet confidence. “I won’t waste your time,” she says sharply. “I want to know what you did to Variks. Why is he wheezing through the night?”
Phylaks laughs dryly.
Though outwardly calm, Shadow imagines ripping Phylaks’s teeth out of her ugly mouth.
“Is this really what you came to pester me for?” she spits.
“I demand an answer,” Shadow insists, though her voice falters. Here, she does not feel like a Queen. And it has been made abundantly clear by Eramis that this was certainly not the case. Even so, Shadow cannot shake the memories of how she was treated when she lived with Variks and the reef eliksni. It gave her a confidence she should not have.
Phylaks looms over her with a sadistic grin. “A pity you missed our reunion… You should have seen the way your little dreg writhed and begged with my claws around his throat.” Her eyes are bright with vicious entertainment. “You ought to be thanking Eramiskel, or I would have snapped his traitorous old neck then and there.”
Gracefully, the hunter maintains her temper despite every muscle yearning to launch her at Phylaks. Skin burning with the heat of solar light, she fights the anger that works up her chest and sets her throat on fire.
Shadow inhales deeply, trembling with the effort. Control.
“Phylaks,” she says, her voice as tense as glass before it shatters. “Surely you know that is hardly appropriate treatment for a Judgment scribe, and I will not have—“
“Silence!”
Phylaks’s outburst is hardly as unexpected as the backhand that thrusts Shadow into the nearest wall. Pain lances up her shoulder and shoots into her head as she falls to her knees from the force of the impact. Grimacing, she presses a hand to her head as if it would stop the pain.
Phylaks quietly approaches and crouches to eye level.
Shadow meets her glowing gaze, equally silent.
Then the warrior speaks, her voice menacingly soft at first and then twisting into a snarl. “Perhaps Eramiskel did not make it clear enough but I assure you I [i]will[/i].” She grabs the front of Shadow’s cloak to bring her closer. “And I will continue to remind you for every day of your [i]wretched[/i] flesh-life.”
Shadow flinches at the teeth snapping within inches of her face.
“You are here [i]only[/i] because Variks could not find another [i]eliksni[/i] willing to lay with him, and [i]he[/i] is only here by Eramiskel’s order. You are [i]no queen[/i] and you [i]will[/i] bow to Eramiskel.” Her fist tightens around the fabric, causing it to pull against Shadow’s throat. She swallows, choking.
“I am here to make sure one way or another you get that through your [i]thick[/i] skull.” Phylaks shakes the hunter once, sharply, narrow eyed with hatred. “[i]Are we clear?[/i]”
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2 RepliesThis was the first chapter I read. It’s amazing and you are really talented. Hope you keep going. I do have a question though…why aren’t you playing D2? Sorry, I’m just curious. It’s always fun for my wife and I to play with people so deep into the game/lore.