Page 62 of Their Queen

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I told her, thinking of my men. Arryn and Baer had been on board from the beginning. Baer’s own willingness to follow me blindly had been exactly what I needed at the time.

“But it is,” she complained. Sighing at the questioning look I gave her, she threw her hands into the air and turned back to look down at the courtyard. “I want more than blind faith. I want to be challenged. I want to have passion and excitement. He’s none of that.”

I couldn’t really argue with her on that point. I did have several mates who challenged me in the way she desired, and I found it refreshing, if not downright sexy. I remained quiet beside her, leaning my shoulder into hers as I waited for her to continue. “From the youngest age, I’ve wanted adventure. I’ve felt I was destined for more than just being the Chieftain of the Ravens. When you came, I saw the opportunity you presented. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be. He’s a great friend, but he’s more suited to being settled, living a life on a farm somewhere. His life should be predictable and boring. Safe.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I told her. When she turned to look at me, I admitted, “It’s all I’ve ever wanted from my life. I didn’t want all of this, but now that I have it, I can’t say I’d have it any other way. When my consorts dragged me here, I was determined to go back to Earth at the first opportunity. Now, I never want to leave them. Besides, who’s to say he doesn’t want the same things as you? He did walk away from everything he’s ever known, following us on a whim. Somehow, I don’t think he did it for me,” I told her.

She stared off into the distance, the twinkles of the fires spread below, people going about getting settled for the night, embracing their routines comfortably despite the upheaval of their lives. I envied their innocence. Granted, they knew the stakes, but they didn’t know just how much was weighing on tomorrow. That if I failed again, Avalon would surely fall to Titania.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Cyerra asked me, still looking into the distance.

“No. I don’t think I could ever be ready. Too much can still go wrong, but I’m confident we’ve done all we can. Now, we just have to have faith in Avalonia,” I said resignedly.

“I’m scared,” she whispered, a confession that drifted away in the breeze.

I pulled her into a hug. “You’d be a fool not to be. And to be honest, I’m terrified. I have so much to lose, but I can’t focus on that. All I can do is focus on the things I can change. Courage isn’t being unafraid. It’s being terrified but doing it anyway,” I told her as she hugged me back. The words and wisdom that Juniper had given me, what felt like so long ago, now being offered to help my friend.

Pulling back, she wiped the tears from her eyes with a laugh. “How’d you get so smart?”

I laughed in return. “I didn’t. I’m just regurgitating what others have told me. It’s okay to feel weak from time to time. Your friends will be there to help you in those moments. It took me way too long to figure that out. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Trust us to help you when you need it. Okay?”

She nodded. “Thanks, Rho. How’d I get so lucky to have a friend like you?”

I smiled broadly at her. “Maybe it’s because you’re just as crazy as I am? Together, the two of us are unstoppable.” I barked out a crazy and cartoonish villain laugh to lighten the somber mood.

“Hey! I’m not near as crazy as you,” she protested, smiling and pushing my shoulder.

Just then, a knock on the frame of the balcony sounded out. Both of us turned, our humor fading as we caught sight of Baer. There was only one reason he’d be interrupting us. He smirked playfully. “I don’t know, you’re both pretty insane.”

I laughed, taking his arm. “I take it Revna and Ramund found something?”

“Yes, they’ve been working with Jude to decipher the text,” he admitted with an apology in his eyes for ruining the buoyant mood.

I kissed his cheek, letting him know it wasn’t his fault. “Do you know what they’ve found?” Cyerra asked.

He shook his head. “No. However, they didn’t seem too happy about it when they asked me to get you.”

“Great. Just what I need,” I huffed in complaint. “Come on, let’s go see what they’ve found.” I urged him to lead me back to the War Room, the safest place for them to research after they had proven they were on our side. Now that they had joined us, there was no reason they couldn’t see the information and tactics we were using.

“Let’s just hope it’s something we can use,” Cyerra said, her face painted with hope even though her eyes belied the truth we all knew. My gut sank, knowing that whatever they had to tell us wouldn’t be good.

Chapter Forty Three: Rhowyn

“Oh, good. You’re here,” my grandfather said, stepping over and giving me a hug. I leaned into his embrace, still hesitant about what they had discovered. By the way Baer had made it sound, it wasn’t going to be pleasant news, but my grandfather’s easy greeting had me confused.

“So, Baer said y’all had found something?” I asked after he released me, gazing into his eyes as if I could find the answer there.

His smile slipped, and his brow furrowed. “We have. Some good and some bad.” He stepped back to let me walk toward the slate book. Still, I kept my distance. I didn’t want to be around it any more than I had to.

Instead, I walked around the table so I could look at them all. Lennox came to stand next to me as if he sensed I would need support for what they told us next. Which, of course, only put me further on edge. “Alright. I guess hit me with the bad news first.” My eyes tracked from my grandfather to Revna and Ramund, who were huddled next to the book.

They looked to my grandfather, who took a deep breath before speaking, his eyes watching me closely for my reaction as he filled me in. “We weren’t able to fully discern what all the inscriptions were. Chieftain Revna and Ramund were able to pick out certain symbols based on the tattoos that they had seen over the years, which allowed us to pick them out. From there, we did our best to determine just what was being said in the writings. That said, keep in mind that our translation is shaky at best.”

“Okay. I promise I won’t hold you to it,” I said with a smile, tilting my head. He was stalling now. They all were.

Another deep breath, another glance to Revna and Ramund, who nodded. “What we’ve been able to figure out is that these items were indeed important to the Fomorians, especially their King, Balor the Evil Eye.”

When he paused, I spoke, “That doesn’t sound creepy as fuck.” I laughed nervously. Who calls their king that? Sounded pretty pompous if you asked me. Maybe it was something along the lines of how the biggest, baddest dudes were always called Tiny. Looking around the room, it was clear my joke hadn’t hit the mark. Baer was the only one to even smile, but it was nervous and forced. Shit. This wasn’t good. “Just ignore me. Please, continue,” I prompted my grandfather to continue.

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