She's Mine

Chapter 17

My mother's eyes hardened slightly, and I noticed her hands clench her other one with extra grip; I could almost see her trying to contain her obvious irritation.

It seemed like she had caught onto my sarcasm.

Whatever. 

I walked forward and brushed past them, past the grand staircases that intertwined on the second floor, until I noticed the big family portrait, which surprisingly had me painted on there too, I looked around the age of three.

It seemed nice, my innocent smile seemed to cover the tightness of theirs. I rolled my eyes at the painting, I didn't like it one bit. 

I sauntered through large wooden double doors and stopped in the centre of the enormous room, where I beheld the two towering thrones. Regal and dominating. The thrones were fearsome and had a strange aura to it as if the black stones were sucking up all the light in the room.

The thrones were made of a black solid material that rose high and changed to an elaborated pattern then stopping at a sharp tip. Sharp enough to cut. There were swirls and traces of moonstone and opal all over. The cushions were a silk black and the arms of the thrones bent near the end into a loose curl.

Behind me was one enormous window that viewed the moon. There were white curtains pinned on the side and a painting on the far wall opposite the door we just came through. I walked closer towards the strung-up painting and stopped close enough to be able to examine what it was about.

It was a painting of a war zone, Fae fighting with long swords and axes and daggers. There was blood everywhere and on everyone, and there were hundreds of rotting corpses discarded on the mud and gore-filled ground.

It was quite a horrible painting. 

I glanced at the title that was carved on the border of the image: 'Path to Power'.

Disappointment and disgust sluiced through me, as I realised that the stories and rumours were all true, these monsters were really related to me. But I knew that they weren't my parents and they would never be my family; my true family had died in a wildfire a while ago.

"Do you like the painting?" the king said, as he leaned down slightly to whisper it in my ear. I felt the shiver of disgust crack through me, and I had almost jumped in fright but had managed to rein the shock in and compose my face into slight boredom.

"I've seen better," I said, as I turned to face him.

His lips curled up in wicked amusement as he looked over me, up and down, a dark intent in his eyes. Fury and disgust swirled and curled in me, setting my fire to heighten in my veins. I let some of it out, by curling it around my fingertips and hands as if it was a large snake. I let some of it burn in my eyes.

I watched him catch the fire snake that curled around my arms now, and swam in delight, as his eyes widened slightly, and he took an almost imperceptible step back. He looked at my face and then at my eyes, that burned and raged with the fire I had set in them.

"I don't care that you are my father, I will gauge your eyes out if I catch you looking at anyone like that." I said through clenched teeth, and then in a second, I clamped down at my white-fire and it all winked out as if they had never been there in the first place.

"Is everything alright here?" the queen's voice rang through the room, the sound cold and stern.

"Yes," I said and displayed a smile that dripped with nauseating sweetness. I didn't give the monster in front of me a second glance as I walked past him and towards the other fiend.