A Tale Before Two Alphas Series Book 2

YUS

When I opened my eyes, Yus was there by my side, her many hands and slender fingers busily clicking away with her knitting needles. For someone who’d just experienced a mental breakdown, this should have been unsettling. But instead, it was the most comforting thing in the world. It reminded me of a mother knitting by her sick child’s bedside, like the maids I’d seen who usually worked in the kitchens.

“I swear, Hades is going to think I’m getting weaker if I keep waking up in bed like this,” I muttered, sitting up and rubbing my face. To my surprise, my hands were trembling slightly, and my whole body felt a bit shaken. The last thing I remembered was the world changing colors and everything becoming hilariously funny. Then, everything went dark.

“Not at all. You’ve handled things much better than the others. Honestly, I’m surprised you came out of one of his tantrums unscathed. That much unchecked power?” Yus made a disapproving sound, one of her arms waving dramatically and pulling some shimmering fabric along with it before returning to her work. “That’s why none of you ever last too long. I had high hopes until we got the news. It’s best if you two stay away from each other for now. Save your energy.”

I sat up and examined the layers of fabric she was piecing together. The colors seemed to shimmer and flow, brighter than anything I usually wore, yet with a pearly essence that made it look muted and white unless the light hit it just right. There were a few accent colors she seemed to be adding, but I had no idea what it would look like when finished. It had to be something special.

Yus was making something different than usual, and she was giving me advice. She didn’t usually do that unless she was worried about me. “You’re making a gown. A special gown. Like for the Winter Court. Why?” I asked, slowly sliding out of bed and testing my legs before trusting them with my full weight. I picked up my breakfast tray, planning to take it back to bed to eat.

“Summer has announced its arrival,” Yus replied, her tone matter-of-fact and slightly…unsettling. “Only the king, of course. His queen is too snooty to leave her domain. She loves to remind him that he only holds his position because of their marriage.”

“Is that why Hades is so upset? We’ve already had visits from two courts. Why is this different?” I asked, my tone innocent and curious.

Yus put down her materials and frowned, her hands folding in her lap as she tilted her head to look at me, her face full of concern. “I want the king to be happy as much as any other Faerie he’s protected,” she said, closing her eyes for a moment before looking at me again, her gaze soft.

“But not at the expense of his kingdom. I know you understand that, which is why I’m telling you this. Last night, Hades stepped down from leadership. His council will rule the Underworld and make decisions as soon as you pass on. No one knows why.

“There are rumors that he’s going to abdicate his throne on this side as well, although I highly doubt it. So his noblemen were the ones turning away patrons for court before his return, without his consent. The castle is in an uproar, and news travels fast. The King of Summer senses vulnerability, and Hades’s brother would love nothing more than to strike while he’s weak.”

“Hades has a brother?” I asked, lifting the lid from my food. The lid felt so heavy I almost dropped it before setting it on the bed. Hades’s magic had really taken a toll on my body… It was hard enough just to sit up and eat.

I tried not to show how tired I was, doing my best to keep my breathing steady despite the pain in my lungs. It made me worry. If I died, what would happen to me in the afterlife?

“He used to be known as Zeus, but he’s trying to distance himself from that name since humans started showing his true colors. Now he goes by Oberon. He and Tatiana rule most of the Never Never in Summer and are doing their best to make the Black Court seem like nothing but a rumor.

“They’re doing a pretty good job, which is good for creatures like me. But things like this…they complicate matters.” Her words were almost a hiss now. Maybe it was involuntary, or maybe it wasn’t. Yus seemed very on edge.

It was as if her true hatred for humans was finally showing, and the anger was directed at me. “Leave,” I said, my voice firm and hollow. I knew Yus could never truly hate me. She was probably just worried about change, and I understood her fears. Faeries just didn’t behave predictably, and reacting poorly wasn’t in a human’s best interest.

Yus’s eyebrows (or what I imagined to be eyebrows) raised in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“I said leave my room.” My words came out in a shriek that I’d only felt in my head but had surprisingly come from my lips. I’d had enough of today. The exhaustion and anger were too much, and her attitude about things I had no control over was too much.

Yus stood up in a huff. “Majesty,” she said, her words bitter. Then she lifted all of her spindly arms and, with a slow curtsy, disappeared into a black crack that seemed to split open in my floor. She jumped down like a spider falling purposefully in the garden. Part of me wondered if I’d imagined that, and she’d actually shrunk down into a tiny spider on my floor and was still quietly there.

I stared at my food, my bones aching, and the darkness setting in. My appetite had disappeared again as I looked at my plate. Instead, I felt like I might throw up. The room was spinning, and I felt as trapped as I had when I lived with my mother.

My escape was within my four walls and down a path to the open sky. Despite my shaky legs, that was the only place I wanted to be right now. Especially if it was where I might take my last breath.