An overwhelming floral scent hit Ivy's nose before she had opened her eyes. She attempted to shift to her other side, thinking she was on her bed. When she tried to flip over, her arm didn't follow suit.

Hunter must be laying on me, she thought, yanking her arm to no avail.

Ivy peaked out from the bottom of her eyelids, horror befalling her features. Something glowed from a corner of the room providing the only light in the cell. Darkness blanketed the majority of the room, rendering her vision useless. Straining her eyes, she found spiny tree roots that poked out of the wall and encircled her wrists. The more she pulled, the tighter the chains became and the redder her skin grew.

How had she not felt this? Then again, she couldn't feel much of anything. The dirt under her, the temperature in the room, she couldn't tell you a single thing. For all she knew, it was blazing hot and she was sweating out of her clothes.

"A side effect." The voice hit her ears like a song floating through the air. The figure rested in the deepest corner of the room, shrouded in the shadows. "We couldn't risk anything waking you before we could secure you."

"What the...I'm not some package." Ivy trembled her curls, wishing she could run her hands through them and fix the rat's nest. Tangles pulled at her skull causing a throbbing in her forehead, a migraine in its infancy.

"Who are you anyway?" Ivy mused, biting her bottom lip. She twisted her torso in the direction of the faceless voice.

Sucking in a deep breath, a foot appeared in the dim light but kept their face out of sight. Before the person had a chance to respond, a door flung open. Dirt crumbled around it, the light pouring into the cell. Another figure waltzed in, a halo forming around their head.

"Leave us – now," the new voice commanded. Ivy didn't even get a chance to see who had been talking with her. The figure slithered out faster than a snake on the hunt.

The door closed, taking the light with them. As much as the brightness had stung her eyes, Ivy longed for it. Now that she was awake, the darkness pressed down and suffocated her. Ivy's chest heaved, unsure which would be her last breath. Despite not being able to see clearly, her eyes darted around looking for any sign of hope.

"Now, now, no need to be afraid."

The unsaid 'yet' hung at the edge of the sentence, a guillotine waiting to fall.

Light flooded the room, the flames dancing in the air. Ivy squeezed her eyes shut, shielding away from the sudden onslaught of the new lighting source. Blinking a few times, her vision adjusted to her surroundings. Ivy's mouth fell open at the sight of Queen Tatiana of the fairies.

"That's no way to greet the queen," Tatiana purred with a smug smile. The flames lit half her face, giving her more of a sinister look.

"You have me chained to a wall, unable to feel my surroundings." Ivy glowered at the queen, coveting Ella's powers. She'd love to set Tatiana ablaze right about now. "Couldn't greet you even if I wanted to."

Rolling her eyes, Tatiana waved the comment off with a flick of her wrist. None of this meant anything to her. Ivy wondered why Tatiana was here at all. The Pentacle hadn't done anything to anger the fairies.

"Can we please skip the bullshit and you tell me why I'm here?"

Tatiana glared at her and put a hand on her hip.

"Your majesty," Ivy added with a touch of sass and a smirk. Oh royalty and their formalities.

"I knew under that shy and introverted demeanor of yours, Ivy Vale, that we had a fire cracker." Tatiana beckoned a seat out of the dirt floor. Lowering, she crossed her legs and pulled her auburn locks over her shoulder. "I see it runs in the family."

Ivy's head snapped so fast to face Tatiana that she swore she heard a crack or two. Family? What nonsense did Tatiana spew? Ivy knew no one else who might be a relative, and her mother always said they were from California. Ivy had no family – at least not blood – in Malachi Peak.

Upon seeing Ivy's shocked reaction, Tatiana giggled and sounded more like a schoolgirl than a dangerous fairy queen. Famously known for changing her age to fit the mood, she had opted to appear around the same age as Ivy, likely a ploy to gain her trust.

Yeah, no way Ivy would let that happen.

"You have no clue." Tatiana clipped her voice at the end to put a pin in this conversation.

Ivy tugged forward, desiring to know more. Tatiana had reopened and rubbed salt into a years-old wound that Ivy wouldn't rest until she healed it. She filed the comment into the 'Do Not Forget' section of her brain.

Tatiana pushed off the makeshift chair and floated across the room with the grace of a gazelle. Her feet pattered over the dirt, her gown flowing around her legs. Kneeling down to eye level, she grabbed Ivy by the chin.

"A shame you won't be joining us." Tatiana's nails dug into Ivy's skin. Whatever numbing spell they had cast over Ivy had started to subside. She felt something akin to a pinch as Tatiana gripped harder, the veins in her arm popping out. She moved Ivy's head as if she examined a collectable antique. "You would have made a good fairy."

Ivy jerked her chin out of the queen's vice grip. Tatiana's face darkened for a hair of a second before regaining their cold, harsh gaze – a look she had perfected. Ivy remembered the way she questioned the Pentacle at the last Council meeting. The venom and contempt had dripped from her every word.

"I don't know what you had in mind, but I would never willingly join you," Ivy hissed between barred teeth. She longed for her vines and what they would do under her command. She envisioned them winding around Tatiana until it reached her neck and took away the queen's ability to breathe. The dark thoughts multiplied the longer Ivy stared at her.

"You wouldn't have had much of a choice," Tatiana countered with a smile straight out of a Botticelli painting. "Then again you may not have survived the transformation. It is quite painful."

Narrowing her eyes to slits, Ivy took a deep breath to settle herself. Queen Tatiana sought to push her buttons and play these games. Half of what she uttered consisted of nonsense. Fairies always spoke in double meanings; their true intentions lay between the lines. It's what helped them avoid lying without outright telling the truth.

"What do you want from?" Ivy sighed, her head falling to the side and her shoulders rolling in. Her hair fell forward and covered her eyes. Ivy tired of this game. She did not want to be chained to a wall nor did she desire being the fairies' prisoner any longer than she needed to be.

Tatiana's lips curved into a giddy smile. Stepping backward, she stood upright and rubbed her hands together unable to contain her glee. It took all of Ivy's willpower not to roll her eyes.

"You powers," Tatiana answered blankly. Ivy's mouth fell open. "But that's likely not going to happen. Your fate rests in the hands of someone else. I just get to play with you for now."

"More riddles. Great." Ivy couldn't contain the sarcasm that ripped through her.

The roots tightened around her wrists, sending spurts of pain through her arms. Her back arched at the onslaught of this new feeling, her face morphing into a grimace.

"It's starting to wear off then." Tatiana nodded. "It lasted a long time on you. We weren't sure when you would wake up. You did devour that treat rapidly and piggishly, if I may add."

Hate glimmered in her eyes as they raked across Ivy's body. Ivy shrunk under the scrutiny and weight of Tatiana's scrutinizing gaze. Even though she was somewhat comfortable in her body, she didn't enjoy being compared to the hyper-svelte queen. Then the comment dawned on her.

"Treat? What are you talking about?"

Queen Tatiana cocked her head to the side and puckered her lips. Curiosity shone in her now amethyst-colored eyes. Ivy gasped at the change in color. Minutes before the Tatiana's eyes had been arctic blue, growing darker as the storm stirred within her. Ivy had never seen a purple so striking.

"You don't know, do you?" Tatiana threw her head back and laughed, the sound of chiming bells tingling in the air. "You are quite dense, more so than I thought."

A growl grew from the depths of Ivy's core, her face twisting into a scowl.

"These insults are growing quite old now," Ivy parroted back the queen's phrasing. The longer Tatiana stood in the room, the more exasperated Ivy became.

Queen Tatiana's eyes morphed from their almost violet into the color of the wine she no doubt drank at her court. The storm was on the cusp of breaking. Ivy would be its sole victim – at least for now. No doubt Tatiana held centuries of hate and grudges. Ivy was merely a blip on her radar.

"We'll see if you keep up that attitude." Queen Tatiana stomped across the room, the flame growing dimmer with each stride. She pressed her hand into the wall, and a door creaked open. She flung it back and held out her hand in waiting.

Another hand cut through the light and took hold of the Tatiana until the body it belonged to came into view. Ivy felt Tatiana's eyes bore into her to judge her reaction. The queen's lips twisted in cruel merriment as Ivy's mouth fell open and her eyes bulged from her skull.

A/N

Yay! Finally an update. A few days late only because things have been a bit hectic here. Thankfully, the fires are calm. Not as much smoke in the air so that's nice. They're still blazing though :'(

(This is as of Sept. 1, 2020. Also, please, wake me up when September ends because it's about to be a LONG month. Screw unexpected car payments DX )

And I spoke too soon. Woke up today (Sept. 6) and it was smoky again. My poor state :'(

Now back to the story...

So we know of who is behind it, but only partially. Who do you think the other person is? Guesses below :)

Thanks again for all the loving on this. Really appreciate it <3