The Fallen Queen is a heavy sleeper.
I woke up maybe an hour ago, but haven't been able to go back to sleep. Instead, I shimmied my way out of her arms without disturbing her, and I've been sitting here in her giant bed ever since. The chain is anchored to the wall, and it isn't long enough for me to go anywhere else. I've spent most of the time taking in the details of her bedchambers, reflecting on how exactly I got myself into this mess, and listening to the steady in and out of her breathing as I watch her sleep.
It's almost hypnotic. Because of her size, her breathing is a lot slower than mine. Several times, I tried to match mine to hers, but I felt like I was about to pass out. Yet she looks so peaceful and serene like this. Clearly the unspeakable atrocities she's committed don't weigh much on her mind. If she even thinks about them at all.
I sure do. A lot.
The thought has crossed my mind that perhaps a quick swipe of my claws or a good swing of my tail might secure my freedom. The next thought that follows is even if I somehow manage to kill her, I'm still on a cursed chain, and the only person who could free me from it would be dead.
Far from ideal.
However, I did find an answer to the question of how I got myself into this. That is to say, I didn't. The Goddess called for me, the Seraphim opened the portal, the mortals summoned me, and I was just doing my damn job. One step further? The Fallen Queen breached from the Hells and obliterated Settesia. That's why I left my damn skyland in the first place.
It's her fault. That's the answer.
Like so much else, it's the Fell's fault.
We can't visit Avi without going through a lengthy approval process. Why? The Fell might kill us. We can't wear dark red fabrics. Why? That's the Fell's color. We can't be out past sundown in the Heavens. Why? Darkness is the Fell's influence. We have to keep getting summoned here time and time again to fight against the Wretched Overgrowth. Why? The Fell keeps wiping out entire nations of mortal people. Sometimes Fables never came back to the Heavens after being summoned. Why? The Fell killed them.
That's why.
It's just… maddening. All of this, raging in my mind like one of my very own redstorms. This woman is evil. This woman is my enemy. This woman has ended millions and millions of lives across recorded history. This woman is a vicious, bloodthirsty, unfeeling monster who will rip us Fables to pieces on sight. A living horror, a waking nightmare, the scourge of light, goodness, and truth. The harbinger of the end. The wretched beast who will one day tear the Goddess down from her throne. The cruelest of fiends who will one day extinguish the sun. The Fallen Queen who will one day bring an end to all of existence.
So why does she look so tranquil while sleeping?
Why didn't she rip me to pieces on sight?
And why is she being so damn nice to me?
It doesn't make sense. I can't wrap my tail around it.
This is the woman Nyth sacrificed himself to defeat in the first place. This is the woman who nearly murdered the Seraphim by throwing him into the void of stars. This is the woman who cleaved Legend Shax in two, flayed Saint Carmine alive, set fire to the sacred Archbay where the Goddess birthed the Moons, shattered the Solar Shield in the process of crushing Legend Vitalius's skull in with a heel, snapped the Sunbeam into splinters just before impaling Legend Charybdis with her tail, ripped the head off of Legend Xayr and used it to gore Legend Jalik to death, and very nearly succeeded at launching the planet of Avi into the fucking Solaris.
And yet she tucked me in last night. Made sure I was comfortable. Even kept her distance. Before that, she brushed my hair and sharpened my horns for me. Before that, she let me bathe in her hot spring.
There can only be one explanation. She's trying to win me over for some unknown reason. Maybe she's plotting to extract some kind of information from me to use against the Goddess. Or use me as a vessel to execute some foul scheme of hers within the Heavens. Or trick me into becoming a Wretched myself.
Yes, this is my enemy. However much kindness she shows me, it's all orchestrated. This odd pampering, the doting affections, the tongue going up my neck to my ear, all of it is manipulation. Plain and simple. She claims to hate liars but she is the Foul Deceiver, and she wants me to let down my guard. I may be tangled in her web, but I'm not dead yet. There still is a chance I might find some way out of this. I just have to keep looking for it.
As for her chambers… Well, they aren't what I expected. There are no lynched disemboweled cadavers dangling from above, or caged prisoners being eaten by crows, or people being roasted alive for supper. She doesn't sleep on a bed of corpses. She sleeps on a nice, soft, gentle feather bed. The room is tidy and clean, decorated much the same as the giant chasm earlier. A hearth is burning within the far wall, and a number of pools babble here and there, lush with lilies and lotus flowers and little fish.
It's cozy. If I didn't know it belonged to the Fallen Queen, I might even think it's quite exceptionally pleasant. At least she has decent taste, I suppose.
She begins to stir and my spine bristles as my ears perk up.
Oh no. It's happening again.
Though she kept her distance when going to bed, while she's been asleep it's an entirely different story. Claws, talons, and tail reach out across the folds as she shifts in her sleep. The chain isn't long enough for me to get away. Once again, I am dragged into her full bodied embrace, like I'm nothing more than a pillow she's getting comfortable with. On her side, she hugs me to her bare chest and even hooks her leg across and around me, calf under both of my knees.
So, I lay there and stare up at the silk curtains draping from the ceiling like ship sails hanging low. This is the fate I am being made to suffer. Held like a doll by the most sinister wretch this world has ever known.
I let out a miserable sigh. I'll never see the sun again.
But…
She's awfully warm. Her body is like mine, lean and strong, but also soft. And her bed is comfortable. And it's quiet in her chambers. There's a hearth crackling and a few more spring pools bubbling too.
With a deep breath, I try to make myself relax.
It isn't difficult. I start to drift off within minutes.
Guess this isn't… so terrible… after all…