The Dark Fairy King
Chapter 43: The Crumbling Council

Chapter 43: The Crumbling Council

I don’t know if I wanted to show Scarlette how wrong she was or if I wanted to believe Faragonda was innocent. Perhaps I just wanted space from Lumera.

With all my thoughts running wild inside of me, we hurried towards the council room. After all, that’s where Faragonda and Devyn were asked to remain, for a council meeting that did not happen.

Then I turned to the corridor with Scarlette beside me only to see the most appalling picture of laziness.

The guards lining the corridor were slumped against the walls, snoring, some even drooling.

"Wake up! You goons!" I barked, shaking the nearest by the shoulders. No response. Their chests rose and fell steadily, trapped in unnaturally deep sleep.

"Wait..." Scarlette tugged my arm. "Someone attacked them," she said as her eyes scanned the lingering traces of magic. A thin film of silver-blue dust shimmered on the ground.

A soft hum of energy buzzed from the sealed door ahead. Blue light pulsed through the engravings—eerily similar to what I’d seen before.

"Is that—"

"Anti-Magic Mages," Scarlette cut in, her voice tight. "The same blue glow we saw from Richard’s death."

My pulse spiked. Faragonda. Devyn. Were they attacked while we were with Lumera?

I slammed the door open, Scarlette behind me. Devyn lay crumpled on the floor, his chest heaving in shallow gasps. A glowing blue sigil burned bright on his forehead.

"Devyn—what happened?" Scarlette knelt beside him, desperately channeling her magic.

"It’s no use..." he rasped, his voice brittle as glass. "Just stop her."

’Stop who?" Scarlette asked in desperation.

He weakly pointed to the open window, his hand trembling. "Faragonda... she’s with them. He’ll target the next Fairy Elders... I refused to join. I will never."

With his final breath, Devyn’s body disintegrated, feathers bursting around us like a dying storm.

I staggered back, bile rising in my throat. Faragonda?

Why would she do this? What could make her turn on us—on him?

Or had she always been waiting for this moment?

Faragonda wasn’t just a Love Fairy Elder in my council. She was not just the most senior Love Fairy in the Kingdom. She was someone I’d looked up to. Trusted. She had fought beside us, guided us. And now... she had orchestrated this.

Scarlette’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. She had picked up the nominal roll, flipping it open with trembling hands.

"Ver... look."

Top of the list: Lumera, Light Fairy Faction. Devran, Dark Fairy Faction.

"No time to figure out Faragonda’s game or the Anti-Magic Mages," Scarlette said, her voice urgent.

I steadied myself. "We protect them. I’ll find Faragonda. She will talk."

"She’ll run," Scarlette warned.

"She can try," I said, voice brimming with anger.

I could not believe this betrayal. But I had to know why.

"Then I will protect Lumera," Scarlette replied. "What about Devran?"

"Devran can protect himself," I said dismissively.

"But he is just a stall keeper now, Ver... I will send a guard to look out for him," Scarlette replied. "It’s decided. I can’t lose any more people."

Just then, the doors slammed shut.

Sigils of the Broken Wands appeared on every door and window.

A blue light glowed around the perimeter of the room.

"Oh man... We are trapped," Scarlette panicked as she tried to use her red mists but to no avail.

I reached for my magic, calling to the shadows, but they didn’t come. It was like reaching out to grasp something that wasn’t there—like a limb had been severed. A cold emptiness gnawed at my chest, a vacuum where power used to hum. My skin prickled, the absence of magic more jarring than its presence.

"Scar... something is wrong. My powers aren’t working too," I said, puzzled. "This has never happened before."

It was at that moment I realised we had walked into a trap.

"So much for plans to divide and conquer," I sighed.

Scarlette kept silent, eyes scanning around the room.

Then, a familiar voice called from outside the room. "Your Majesties."

Then the door flung wide open. Faragonda.

"I wasn’t sure it would work," she drawled. "So I had a little help."

More palace workers stood behind her, each with a tattoo of a broken wand on their right arm.

Chefs, cleaners, guards, soldiers. United, against us.

"Why?" I asked.

"You mean why aren’t your powers working?" She mocked.

"Well, Anti-Magic Spells negate all natural magic. Your Majesties."

Faragonda walked around us proudly.

"Unfortunately, all your power is made from natural magic," she mocked. "I wasn’t sure how many sigils I needed to stop both you royal pains. So we surrounded the room with them. Think of this as your cage."

I felt the heat rising from within my skin.

Scarlette looked worried as she continuously tried her powers.

"Why did you go against us?" Scarlette asked.

"Well, because of your selfish union. The world is going to crumble," Faragonda explained. "We warned you, my Queen."

Faragonda turned to me. "And you, you treated my warning to you like it was a joke."

I kept silent.

"The prophecy," she continued. "It says that a child from Love and Darkness will be the harbinger of doom, and we need to cut our losses. For the survival of all of us. You guys are too blind to see it."

"Why now then?" I asked. "Why after all your contributions for unity amongst the Fairy factions?"

"Don’t you see, my King?" Faragonda mocked. "It is always us against you. The unity was for our survival against your selfish choices."

"Tell me what should we have done then?" Scarlette asked.

"Demote yourself? Leave the King? Maybe disappear?" Faragonda replied stubbornly.

So after all this, Faragonda was just another one of those deluded goons, believing in passé prophecies that don’t make sense. So easily brainwashed into extremism.

"I’ll ask again. Why now?" I demanded.

"So smug even when practically powerless, my King," Faragonda mocked. "But I will indulge you. A real King is arising. One that believes in the prophecy and actually works on it."

The palace workers behind her nodded.

"Then what about killing your fellow elders?" I asked. "Part of the plan too?"

Murmurs erupted behind her.

"That’s right, you clowns." I addressed the palace workers behind her. "She killed Clarice and Devyn. The Light and Dark Fairy elders, your elders. This woman." I pointed to Faragonda.

"What did she do to you? Bribe you?" I scoffed. "Weren’t Scarlette and I good to you?"

They looked at each other, confused, unsure what to do.

"Faragonda promised us survival," said one.

"Faragonda promised us transparency," said another.

"But did she tell you she would kill your revered elders—the very ones who represent your factions?" I shot back. "She went to kill them because they refused to bow to her."

"No I didn’t." She raised her hands. "I was just trying to make them listen. They refused."

"So you killed them," I replied fiercely.

Her throat bobbed, her words briefly catching. "I—I had to." She recovered quickly, but I saw it—the crack.

"I bet the rest of you don’t know what other lies she has been feeding you. Don’t you?" I turned to the palace workers behind her.

Their faces flushed, demanding answers from her.

"Don’t listen to him!" Faragonda yelled, her voice sharper now, strained. "He is turning us against each other. Don’t you guys want a future? Stop asking me questions."

"Refusing to answer questions already?" I mocked. "Some Fairy Elder you are."

Her lip twitched.

"Release us," Scarlette demanded.

But Faragonda refused.

"Are you going to kill us too?" I taunted.

"Well... and anyone who stands in our way," she warned.

Faragonda turned to those behind her.

"Stand with me," Faragonda barked. "I gave you a cause. For a life tomorrow. Don’t let him confuse you. We will serve the true King!"

Scarlette and I exchanged a glance. This wasn’t over—but we had cracked her armor.

The tide was turning.