Chapter 557

The fact that Elain was not currently killing Vassa seemed an achievement to her. Instead, she just stared at the redheaded mortal woman, looking her over slowly, as if taking in every detail. If Vassa had been speaking with Graysen about her, it was no wonder this was the information she had been given. Elain thought about the words, and the fact that she hadn't leaped at Vassa, ready to hurt her, and decided that she was not offended by anything this mortal woman said. Elain knew very well that she was not cold; the things she had done with Lucien and the way they were with one another would more than attest to that. She did not think of herself as cold, and she knew that Lucien did not. Nobody that Elain actually cared about would consider her that way, and so the words had no impact upon her.

"It's interesting that you think that." Elain said after a few moments.

"You think so?" Vassa asked, the smile dropping from her face. The queen took several steps forward, eyed locked on Elain, "I would think it would be clear to everyone."

"Do you?"

"You were made High Fae," Vassa said, "And almost instantly were given Lucien for a mate… and yet wanted nothing to do with him…"

"I suppose I had other things on my mind," Elain replied flatly, "Being tethered to someone I did not know, possibly for all eternity, was not high on my list of desires."

"I would not have been that way." Vassa sniffed, "Anyone worth anything would not waste a good male like him."

"Right…" Elain just blinked, watching as the mortal woman before her seemed to grow frustrated at her lack of reaction.

"It makes no sense that someone like you would be mated to someone like him. Your father told me about you, he was always talking about you. His favourite daughter. He seemed to think you were gentle and sweet, but it is clear you are just simple minded and weak. Lucien is neither."

Elain took a small step backwards at the mention of her father. She had previously thought that it was nice that he had found Vassa, a young woman he could be kind to after his own daughters had been taken from him, but now she couldn't help the sneer that formed on her face. "If you think kindness is weakness, Vassa, I pity any Court you ever find yourself ruling over."

"Kindness gets you nowhere."

"Were you like this before you were cursed?" Elain asked, wondering if this twisted view was coming from pain and bitterness, or if it had been a part of Vassa's personality all along.

"No." Vassa replied, "I was far more naive. Look where it got me."

"You really don't have to be like this…"

Vassa laughed, actually throwing her head back, as the loud sound echoed around them. "You have no place to tell me how to be. You got everything."

"What?"

"Look at what was done to me against my will. Sold to that…" Vassa shook her head, unable to say his name, "and cursed. But you? Nothing of the sort… what did you get out of what was done to you? Turned High Fae, even more beautiful than I suspect you had been. Special Seer abilities… and Lucien for a mate." Vassa's face twisted as she looked at Elain.

Looking at Vassa, Elain thought that she knew why the mortal Queen, Jurien, and Lucien had gotten along so well. All would have felt rejected by society and as they'd had nowhere else to go and nobody else to turn to. Regret flowed through her, and she hated that she had ever made her mate feel that way. "If you think what happened was easy for me…" Elain shook her head, "I lost my entire world… I nearly died, nearly lost myself to the…" Forcing herself to close her mouth, Elain stared at Vassa. She did not owe Vassa an explanation of what had happened to her in the weeks after she had been put into the Cauldron.

"Are you jealous, Vassa?" Elain asked, "Is that why you've come here? You think that you can somehow win Lucien? Do you think that will make what happened to you better?"

"Lucien and I understand one another." Vassa said sharply, "We've had so many conversations about the horrible things that have happened to us. We are the same."

"You cannot have him." Elain replied simply. "It's not going to happen."

"We'll see…" Vassa stalked forward and, for a moment, Elain thought that the other woman was going to strike her, but Vassa passed her by quickly and strode from view into the rest of the garden. Elain just stood where she was, stunned by that conversation, and trying to sort it all out in her head.