Read Child of Darkness-L-D-2 for Free Online

from Cedric? He is centuries old! She is a child!” He swallowed, and looked as though it pained him. “And what is to say that Cedric would not run from her? And from you?”
    “Cedric will do as I command. I am Queene!” It sounded so meaningless, like a child threatening during a tantrum.
    Malachi laughed. “Yes, he will bow and scrape, as all of your Courtiers do—because he must. How does that feel, Ayla, to know that those closest to you only do as you ask because they are accustomed to being ruled? To know that they do not do these things out of any love or respect for you?”
    “My Court respects me! If they did not, I would no longer be Queene!”
    “You would not be Queene if Cedric had not willed it so!”
    A knock sounded at Malachi’s door, and they both fell silent, not wishing to continue the fight, but not wanting to admit defeat, either.
    “Malachi, I have news.” It was Cedric.
    Ayla’s anger had not abated, and she glared at Malachi, defiant, as if daring him to open the door, warning that if he did, she would not relent in her argument with him.
    “Come in,” Malachi said, all the fight gone from his voice. He looked tired, as if every mortal cell of his body were weary. And in that moment, Ayla lost her anger with him, and it was replaced by that fear which had become all too familiar. Fear that he would succumb to his mortality soon, and that she would waste the time they had in petty arguments. They had already wasted so much time.
    Cedric entered, and, spying Ayla, carefully masked his expression. “She has been found.”
    Relief weakened Ayla’s knees, and Malachi uttered a quiet, “Thank God.”
    “Where was she?” Ayla would not allow even the ghost of the earlier tension to remain. She would not discuss the betrothal now.
    “She was on the Strip. Disguised as a Human, watching a game of Human gambling.” He cleared his throat. “I found her there, and brought her here.”
    “Thank you.” The fear in Ayla’s breast loosened its hold a bit. She had not ventured into danger, not as much as she could have. “Malachi, do you have a way to contact your search party? To call them back? I do not wish them to go far.”
    She did not wish them to go into the Darkworld, where their presence could begin a war. Wearily, Malachi rose. “I know where they plan to search. I will go to them.”
    “No,” she said, realizing too late how commanding she’d sounded, and how little Malachi would appreciate her tone. She forced herself to soften, willed away the anger and anxiety of the night. “You are tired. Send someone, but do not go yourself.”
    He should have argued with her; it alarmed her that he did not. He waved a hand to Cedric.
    “Can you find someone?”
    “I will see to it myself.” He turned toward the door, and paused. “Your Majesty, I did not tell the heir of what transpired at the feast tonight. I sent her to her chambers…I thought perhaps you would wish to speak to her, before she heard it from another source.”
    “I will speak to her. About your betrothal, and about her disappearance.” Ayla loathed the need to apologize that clawed its way up her throat. She forced it down. “I hope you realize that I am only thinking of what will be best for my daughter. And for you.”
    His wings, confined by his robes, rustled under their fabric prison. She saw the movement, a furious shrug, and again the apology that some regretful part of her knew should be delivered tried to escape.
    She was Queene. She would not let him force his guilt onto her. Cedric did not face her. The weight of his words was measured carefully. “I realize that you believe you know what is best, and that you are acting under that belief.”
    When he left, he did not slam the door, but it was, without a doubt, closed.
    “I do not do this to hurt either of them,” Ayla said helplessly, turning to Malachi. He’d already removed his robe, revealing his now-scarred skin and the metal-patched black