Page 21 of Their Queen

I nodded, continuing until several feet later, a faint whisper came to me. “It’s got to be her.”

“Shh…You’re going to give us away.” A soft oomph sounded out as if the second voice had elbowed the first.

A rustle, clothes against grass, met my ears. Cyerra caught my eye, an eyebrow raised in question. I nodded at her, giving her my permission. She stepped forward, her voice ringing with authority. “Show yourselves, by order of the Queen.”

“I told you it was her,” the first voice sounded out.

“Shut up, Liam,” the second voice hissed.

“Show yourselves now, or I will be forced to deem you foe,” Cyerra stated more harshly, clearly done with her warnings.

The image of an empty field and ditch fell away to reveal two children, who were standing, dusting their clothes as they did so. One boy and one girl. The boy stuttered, “We’re sorry, Your Majesty. It was Aspen’s idea.”

“Oh, it was, was it?” I said, raising an eyebrow at the girl in question.

She glared at the boy. “Thanks for ratting me out, Liam.” She hissed the words at the timid boy, who dropped his head in shame before turning to me. She curtsied as her voice shifted to a pleasant greeting. “It is an honor, Your Majesty. You’ll forgive our subterfuge, but we needed to be sure it was you.”

“And why is that?” I asked her, amused by her precocious nature, so grown up for all of her appeared age of eleven.

“It is difficult to explain, but Mother told me to keep an eye out for you and to bring you to her once you had arrived.”

“You were expecting me?”

“Oh, aye. It’s all the kingdom has been talking about.”

“And who exactly is your mother?”

“She’s the lady of the manor, Heir to the Autumn Court,” the little girl said proudly. She then grabbed my hand, making Cyerra lunge before I held up my free one to stop her. “Let me show you,” she said, oblivious to the fact that my Raven friend had been close to ending her.

She dragged me forward, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face as the boy followed along. The girl turned to him. “Liam, run ahead and tell Mother that she’s here.”

Liam nodded, darting off and disappearing from our sight about sixty feet away. One minute he was there, running toward an open field, and the next, he was gone. I pulled up short. “Where’d he go?” I asked the girl.

“Oh, that’s what I need to show you.” She grinned broadly and proudly. “We’ve been waiting for you. Come on, it’s just through here.”

“And where is here?” I asked her, completely confused now.

Cyerra leaned in to whisper, “It’s a shield and glamor.”

“But…” I started, not sure where to go with my question.

The little girl smiled up at me. “If you think this is awesome, just wait.” She didn’t explain further, just dragged me forward. I couldn’t help but balk at the faint shimmer in the air that I could see now that I was closer to where the boy had disappeared. I heard and saw nothing beyond it. No whisper of the wind over grass and leaves, no scuttling from field animals. Just nothing.

Looking to Cyerra, she just nodded that I should continue through, but both of us put hands on our weapons, my magic starting to surge in preparation for an ambush. We passed through the barrier, a faint tingling against my skin the only indication of having crossed over. As soon as the barrier magic left me, I bent over, my own magic surging forward so quickly and harshly that it left me gasping for breath as I desperately tried to contain it. I didn’t sense any harm or animosity from the girl or the barrier, and losing control now would be catastrophic.

As I finally wrestled control of my magic, tamping it back down deep inside me, my breathing slowed, and noises came to me. Hammering sounded out, voices yelling back and forth, laughter and chatter from dozens of people. Pushing up from my doubled-over position, I opened my eyes and finally got my first glimpse of what the girl had been talking about. “Holy shit! It’s a castle.”

“It’s much more than that,” a feminine voice sounded out, walking down a narrow path followed by Liam.

I turned to her, gawking. Her auburn hair and green eyes were so familiar that I was lost for words. She just smiled at me softly. “This is a headquarters, Your Majesty.”

“Headquarters for what?” I asked her, dumbfounded by what I was seeing and the scale of the operations here.

“Why for the war we’re about to wage on Titania, Your Majesty,” she said with a wicked smile.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I caught your name?” Cyerra asked harshly, moving to stand slightly in front of me.

“That’s because I didn’t offer it, but my name is Lady Aurelia, heiress of the Autumn Court before that bitch destroyed everything, taking my brother as her hostage as she murdered my parents.”

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