She stepped onto the ledge, nothing more than a shadow in the night. The wind had died down and the skies calmed for the time, but a storm was coming. A storm whose outcome would last many lifetimes.

She stared at the young girl, Lucifer’s daughter. Her eyes were blue like his, but she looked like her mother. Every bit as beautiful as the Deadly Sin of Lust. If the girl proved to have half her cunning and none of her father’s ego, they might actually win this game. Might.

“Having second thoughts, Sinumpa?” the voice said from behind her. A dark Seelie man with red runes upon his skin stepped up on the ledge. They watched the girl and her guardians from afar, just as Sin had always watched her.

“No. I will do what must be done,” she said with a determined hush that whispered over the sleeping city.

“And compelling my lover; was that part of what had to be done?” the man asked, an edge of spite in his tone, but he knew better than to push it.

“Her mind was too strong for me to get her straight to you. The rubrum’s was easier. More pliant. We’ve been over this. You know why I chose him. Don’t tell me you are growing a heart now.” She inclined her face toward him and raised a single white eyebrow. Her mercury eyes bore into his with secrets that even the old Fae did not and could not possibly know.

“No,” he relented. “But you almost showed your hand. The green one is onto you, and she does not have the distraction of four lovers to stop her from seeking.”

“The green one doesn’t possess enough information. As it was, Ruby needed the push,” Sin replied. Like a lone wolf, she had stalked this child for twenty-three years. Always waiting in the shadows. Always watching. Not even her master knew that she had followed Lola and the girl many years ago, that she had kept tabs long before Satan’s fall.

Her master was powerful and cunning in her own right, but Sin had been planning her freedom for many years now. She had learned from the best.

Beside her, the Seelie man snorted. “You made her think her familiar was dead. She could have destroyed the city if you’d made that spell any stronger. She only felt an echo of the loss of losing a familiar. One of your riskier moves, that was. I don’t disagree with it, but it was dangerous.”

“She is not one to break easily. I needed something to unite them and spur her into action. Without that, your sister would still be trapped down there, need I remind you.” She didn’t look at him, but he cut his eyes sideways, pursing his lips in annoyance.

“They would have come for her familiars eventually, and Morvaen would have dealt. She was punished for her disobedience, and now I have four Seelie who are willing to attest to the girl’s morals. It’s a win-win, the way I see it. She will have allies to usurp her father’s killer, and we will have the chance to return home.”

He clenched his fist in strength, turning his attention back to the blue-haired woman. She had the gauntlet crossbow attached to her arm. It fit perfectly, but that was no surprise. He’d used her hair to craft her something that would be exclusively hers. It would never miss. It would never run out of arrows. She would never lose it.

The magic that went into its creation was a small price to pay for what the young queen would bring him. It was an apology, for what he and the white-haired woman had done to her. What they would do to her, to see their ends met.

“Return home…” Sin paused, drawing his attention back to her. “Do you still wish to return home after all this time? Hell is not what you once thought it.”

The man went quiet as the night sat around them. The air stagnant, but not quite stifling. He truly hated this world and the limitations it brought.

“Anything is better than here, where I feel my immortality slowly leeching away. This land does not like magic…” he trailed off, examining the fine wrinkles that had begun to form on his hands. Five thousand years. That’s how long he had walked this earth.

But age was catching up with him. After so long, one might think he was ready for what came next, but all the ancient Fae wished was to return home. It had been far too long.

“The time is coming. The Sins have called upon her, and even Death knows better than to resist their summons. She will be tested, and should she survive, they will back her. It won’t be long now, Donnach.” Sin clasped a hand on the elder Fae’s shoulder and he did the same to her. It was a sign of respect; a parting of ways, similar to goodbye, but not so informal.

“She must survive. The fate of the worlds depends upon it.” A sliver of his age and desperation leaked through into his voice. He had held on for thousands of years, just for this moment. He wouldn’t lose it now because of the Sins and their games.

“Ready your people, friend. I will watch over her.”

As she always had.

But she looked forward to the day the only back she had to watch was her own.

Freedom was so close. One wrong step would send it all up in flames.

She wouldn’t allow that. She couldn’t.

The Seelie man tipped his head to her and Sin disappeared into the night. In the blink of an eye, her white hair vanished, leaving nothing more than a flowery scent she could not rid herself of, although she had tried many times.

Donnach turned back and looked across the street through a glass wall while Ruby and her protectors remained oblivious to the Fae watching over them. She was young and inexperienced, but she was also his only hope.

Because in this deadly game of chess, everyone knew the most powerful piece on the board was the Queen.