The Faceless Woman by Emma Hamm (i love reading .txt) 📕

Bran slowly rose, unfurling his great height while feathers rippled down his neck and disappeared underneath the collar of his shirt.

“Mother—”

“Don’t interrupt me. You know I don’t like that kind of behavior.”

“And you know I’m no longer a lap dog.”

“When were you?” The queen glared at him. “You were always a difficult child. And now you’re insisting upon breaking a curse you have no right to break.”

“Enough.”

Aisling had never heard him speak like that before. The echo of beasts rang in his voice, the growl of an unknown creature stalking its prey in the darkness. For the first time, she understood why there were many who feared him. It wasn’t because of his power or his self-control, but because of what he hid from the rest of the world.

His mother lumbered to her feet. The heavy abdomen attached to her form dragged on the floor as she walked, audibly scraping the smooth stone.

“You dare speak to me that way?” she asked, her voice the quiet before the storm.

“You will not speak to me like that. Not in front of her, not in front of anyone.”

The queen cocked her head to the side. She observed her son as if he had said something that confused her greatly. “It has been too long since you have lived here with us. Perhaps you need a reminder of who your parents are.”

Aisling didn’t have time to warn him about the leg reaching through the webs for him. She barely noticed the dark shadow, infinitely larger than the queen, until it snaked around Bran’s waist and yanked him up into the webbing.

“Bran!” she cried out, racing forward as if she might grab him.

“I think not.” The queen stretched out a leg.

Aisling couldn’t stop her momentum. The grotesque appendage caught her at the shin, sending her tumbling onto the floor in a heap. Her hair pooled around her, dark strands melding into the floor until she couldn’t tell where the castle ended and she began.

She spread her fingers wide. She was here, in the castle, and no matter what the magic in this room tried to tell her, she still existed. The queen would not break her.

The ground shuddered as eight limbs stomped toward her until the queen hovered just out of reach. She could feel the heat emanating from the distended stomach. The faint scratch of bristly hair touched the back of her legs.

“How do you know my son?”

“I cursed him.”

“The binding curse? A relatively easy fix, but I sense you have seen him before.”

Aisling shook her head. “I’d never seen Bran in my life.”

“Bran?” The queen’s laughter shook through Aisling, who realized the Unseelie queen had played a card. The queen now knew how close they were. “Curious indeed, you are a surprising little changeling. Strange, really, your kind is rarely interesting.”

“I’m not the average changeling.”

“I can see that.” The queen stepped away. One of her legs trailed along Aisling’s, and she had to clamp her jaw shut so she didn’t whimper. “Still, it makes you even more interesting.”

“I have no desire to be.”

“You’ve been interesting all your life to many different people. First your own, the granddaughter of Badb was sure to get attention. Then by humans because you’ve always been different, unique, other. And now you are interesting to me. I’ll let you decide which of those is the most dangerous attention to catch.”

“Human,” she spat. “The answer will always be humans.” She pushed her body into sitting and glanced over her shoulder.

The queen’s face twisted in surprise before her slanted eyes narrowed again. “Humans? Dangerous? If that’s what you truly believe, then I wonder if you’ve ever actually seen danger.”

Aisling took in a deep breath. “If I asked you whether or not you were going to kill me, what would you say?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“That’s why I rank faeries lower than humans when it comes to danger. You cannot lie to me.”

The queen tapped a finger to her chin. “What would a human have said?”

“They would have said no. And it would’ve been a lie.”

“Oh, I like you, little girl. I like you quite a bit.” The queen sat back on her haunches and gestured for Aisling to come closer. “Let me see you.”

Aisling never thought she would go quietly to her grave. But each step brought her closer and closer to death, wrapped up in a gossamer skin and a sharp grin.

She took a deep breath and paused before the queen. “You wish to read me?”

“I wish to peel back your skin, crack open your skull, and peek inside your head to see how you work.” The queen reached out her hand impatiently. “Consider this my gift, as my son seems fond of you. I will only ask to see into your past.”

If the queen spoke the truth, then it was a good deal. Aisling placed her hand in the queen’s.

Magic tingled where their palms met, the queen’s covered in faint, bristly hairs. And for the first time since she broke the curse upon her face, the eyes on her palms opened.

The resulting surge of magic tossed her head back. She opened her own eyes wide, staring up into the ceiling, but she couldn’t see anything. Memories flashed before her gaze, too quick to focus upon and too hard to remember. They zipped through her mind at lightning speed until she grew queasy and weak.

Her heart sped up, her lungs worked to bring in enough air to keep her alive, and her mind threatened to shatter. It was too much, too fast, too powerful as the queen’s magic sliced through her sanity and dashed it to pieces.

“Oh,” the queen murmured and finally released her hand. “So, that’s who you are.”

Out of breath, Aisling replied, “And who might that be?”

“The little runaway. It seems you and my son have far more in common than you might think.”

“Explain.”

“Your parents made a deal. One Seelie daughter, beautiful, accomplished, and kind. In exchange, we would grant her a comfortable life. It is a good deal